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American Morning
Obama Defends Himself on GOP Tax Deal; Remembering Elizabeth Edwards; Prosecuting WikiLeaks Chief Julian Assange; Gas Prices Hit Two-Year High; Surviving Breast Cancer; Huckabee in 2012?; 30th Anniversary of John Lennon's Death
Aired December 08, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Wednesday morning to you. It's December the 8th. Thanks for joining us on AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here's what we're talking about this morning.
President Obama forced to defend a deal that he made on tax cuts, telling angry Democrats the fight is not over and accusing Republicans of holding the middle class tax cuts hostage. We're live at the White House with new developments this morning.
ROBERTS: The passing and the extraordinary life of Elizabeth Edwards. She died yesterday after a six-year struggle with breast cancer. We'll take a look at her life, the losses she suffered, the struggles she overcame, and the causes for which she fought with family friends this morning.
CHETRY: And it's the return of pain at the pump in many parts of the country. Gas prices back on the rise, the highest that we've seen in over a year. In many places it's already over $3 a gallon. So how high will it go? We'll check in with Christine Romans.
ROBERTS: But first, President Obama's decision to support a tax cut extension for all Americans, including the wealthiest is not sitting well with some of his supporters on the left.
CHETRY: House Democrats met last night and they're telling the president that the compromise with Republicans comes at too high of a price.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: I honor the president for wanting to try to solve these problems. And I'm not saying that you never compromise or that you never, you know, you never do deals. This is Washington, that's how laws get passed. But he just -- he and his team just don't seem to be that good at it. And that's a real problem for a lot of Democrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our Suzanne Malveaux is live for us at the White House this morning. And, Suzanne, the president went before the cameras yesterday, almost in emergency press conference to defend himself.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John and Kiran. I mean, one of the things that happened as we saw the president kind of a rare flash of frustration there at that press conference. Clearly what he's trying to do here is a couple of things. First, he is trying to convince the American people that he had very little choice in the matter when it came to dealing, with negotiating with the Republicans. He said essentially that they had taken hostage over the middle class tax cut and therefore he had no choice but to extend it to everyone because he did not want the middle class to suffer. And this is something that he is trying to convince folks that negotiations, a compromise did actually work. It brought about an extension of 13 months of unemployment benefits that would not have been there.
He's also trying to convince Democrats, his own party, that he does have some spine. You saw Congressman Weiner. There are many other people who are very frustrated, very angry with this president. They don't believe that he's been true to his Democratic beliefs. The president made a couple of points saying, look, look at the long-term here, not the short-term. This is the political reality that we are dealing with here. We need to work with the other side. He also at the same time tried to show -- and I covered the president during the campaign for a year or so -- that he's the same guy, that he was campaigning, that he is not pulling back on the promises that he made to the American people and the Democratic principles. Here's how he put it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I don't think there's a single Democrat out there who, if they looked at where we started when I came into office and look at where we are now, would say that somehow we have not moved in the direction that I promised. Take a tally. Look at what I promised during the campaign. There's not a single thing that I've said that I would do that I have not either done or tried to do. And if I haven't gotten it done yet, I'm still trying to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So the president's asking for us to take a tally. And what is he talking about? He is talking about major legislation. He's talking about health care reform. He's talking about an economic stimulus package, regulations for financial institutions when it comes to their behavior. These are the kinds of things that he's putting out there and he's saying, look, guys, you know, I've gotten a lot of stuff done. We have a lot that we still have to accomplish, but let's just hold off here. This is really disingenuous for you to accuse me here of not really moving forward and following what it was that I campaigned on.
CHETRY: Yes, and in terms of this deal getting done, even if every House Republican votes for it, they need 39 Democrats to back it. And you have Blue Dog conservative Democrats who said they can't back it and you have some of the progressive and liberal members saying that they may not back it either. So could this actually be derailed?
MALVEAUX: It's a very good question. I don't think it's going to be derailed. But let's take a look at how the White House is behaving here. You had the vice president yesterday on the Hill trying to twist some arms here and convince the liberal Democrats that look, please go along with this. He's going to be returning to the Hill today to talk to the same folks. So they do feel that there's some pressure here that if there was a Democratic revolt. I don't think that's going to happen for the sheer fact that if there's no legislation that happens by the time the lame duck Congress is out of session and that essentially is next year, then everybody's going to get a tax hike and nobody wants that. And the Democrats certainly don't want to be blamed for that or be responsible for that. So we do see that they're going to be pushing back in some ways, probably a little bit around the edges, not the meat and potatoes of the deal that was done yesterday.
ROBERTS: See where this goes. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House this morning. Suzanne, thanks.
Coming up at 7:30 Eastern, by the way, we're going to talk to David Axelrod. He's the senior adviser to President Obama about the criticism that the president is getting from members of his own party.
CHETRY: Well, she's being remembered for her resiliency and grace this morning. Just a day after announcing that she was stopping treatment for breast cancer, Elizabeth Edwards passed away at her home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She was just 61 years old.
ROBERTS: Her estranged husband John Edwards was there. She leaves behind two small children, 10-year-old Jack and 12-year-old Emma Claire, and their daughter Cate, who's 28 years old. In her last interview on the nationally syndicated "Nate Berkus Show" back in September, she said she drew strength from them in the face of so much pain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATE BERKUS, HOST, "THE NATE BERKUS SHOW": It seems that you really found the beauty throughout the journey.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: Yes. There are so many parts that weren't all beautiful.
BERKUS: Sure. Sure.
EDWARDS: You know, there were parts that were really just primarily pain. But in the end, you know, you reach for the things that are going to give you comfort -- the beautiful things, your children, the people that you love and care about. And also try to surround yourself with the things that make you feel better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, CNN producer Raelyn Johnson joins us now on the phone from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Raelyn followed the Edwards, both on them on the campaign trail in 2008 and got to know Elizabeth pretty well.
Thanks for joining us on the phone, Raelyn. Does this come as a surprise to family and friends? Or did they know over the past few weeks that the end was probably near?
RAELYN JOHNSON, CNN PRODUCER (via telephone): I think they've known over the past few weeks, unfortunately, that the end was near. But it doesn't make it any easier. I don't think anyone who has covered the Edwards' thought that this day would come so fast. Elizabeth Edwards was determined and strong and to fight what her prognosis was. We thought that if anyone was going to pull through and beat this somehow it would be her. But as we know, she didn't.
ROBERTS: You know, Raelyn, this is a woman who's been through so much. I mean, going all the way back to her diagnosis with breast cancer in 2004 and the operations, the treatments after that, and then the whole thing that kind of blew up in her face after the 2008 election campaign. How do you think she is going to be remembered?
JOHNSON: I think she is going to be remembered as sort of the feisty, sassy woman she was. I can think so much about -- so many memories on the campaign trail with her where a particular instance in Waterloo, Iowa, where we were outside an Obama headquarters, and she made her way over to the door, parked herself there, and made sure that everyone shook hands with her and said hi, I'm Elizabeth Edwards and we're on the same team. And that's what I'm going to remember about her. Her strength, her keeping me strong in my difficult situations with my family and cancer and realize and thinking about the children who wake up this morning thinking about the mother that they have to bury. Unfortunately, it's terrible.
CHETRY: It sure is. Especially, I mean, the two young children, as well, just 10 and 12 years old. Dealing with that has got to be extremely difficult. We had talked about how she was surrounded by family, including her estranged husband John Edwards. I mean, we know about the high-profile infidelity and all of that that happened and her embrace even of his child with Rielle Hunter. What was their relationship like at the very end?
JOHNSON: I think at the very end we all knew that John and Elizabeth Edwards would be there for their children. Being a mother for her is and was the most important thing. And I think that she found a place in her life and in her heart where she could deal with John Edwards. They were separated but they had still taken family vacations the summer with Jack and Emma. And I think that to this day, Elizabeth Edwards in the end -- she sort of wrote the narrative that she wanted. It's the story that ended a lot sooner than she wished.
ROBERTS: Hey, Raelyn, and if this gets too personal, no need to answer it. But you mentioned that she helped you with your own family's battle with cancer. How did she help you?
JOHNSON: I did. I mean, I was back on the road in 2008 when my father was first diagnosed with cancer, and he's sort of battling his second time with it. And all I can think about is how optimistic and strong she was. And you want to go home after a long day on the campaign trail and cry, and think to yourself and somehow the people that she surrounded herself with, the people that I was surrounded with in the campaign, she gave me a great sense of sort of resilience, which we know is Elizabeth Edwards' trademark. And she makes you optimistic, she makes me stronger. I can't help but think that part of my own dealing with my family comes from the time that I spent being with her.
ROBERTS: And that's such a terrific gift for her to give, as well. Raelyn Johnson on the phone for us this morning. Raelyn, thanks so much.
Coming up at the bottom of the hour, we're going to speak with Dr. Freya Schnabel about what we can learn from Elizabeth Edwards' battle with breast cancer and how vital early detection is.
CHETRY: Also in the next hour, we'll be talking to Karen Finney, a friend of Elizabeth Edwards. She'll share some of her fondest memories as well, and talk about the lives that she touched, how she handled so much loss, and how she got tough when she needed too.
ROBERTS: Well, also new this morning, the family of a missing U.S. soldier confirming that he is the one seen in a new video that was put up by a group with ties to the Taliban. Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl from Ketchum, Idaho, was reported captured 18 months ago in Afghanistan. The 23-year-old was last seen in a hostage video that was released by the Taliban back in April.
CHETRY: Well, both Houses of Congress tackle immigration reform today with votes expected on the Dream Act. The bill would give some illegal immigrants brought to the country as children a path to citizenship if they go to college or join the military. The White House is pushing for it, but many Senate Republicans are opposed.
ROBERTS: Contaminated cash in your wallet. Remember the stories in Miami about $100 bills being contaminated with cocaine. Well, today it says Bisphenol A rubs off cash register receipts, getting onto your skin in paper money. BPA is widely used in plastics and cash register paper. It's been linked to cancer, diabetes, and infertility. But experts believe the levels detected on receipts are safe and won't pose any health risk to you.
CHETRY: Well, brand new era of space flight could lift off later today. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule would be the first commercial spacecraft to orbit the earth and return successfully. NASA wants to see if it's cheaper and more efficient for private companies to ferry cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station.
ROBERTS: Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines. Our Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center for us this morning.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Snow totals for upstate New York, part of Ohio and Pennsylvania are getting pretty impressive here the past few days. Three feet of snow in spots or almost that falling. Clay, New York; Liverpool, New York; Syracuse, New York, seeing almost 30 inches, and parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania seeing some significant amounts as well.
Check out some of the video coming to us. Parts of Cattaraugus County and upstate New York really getting pounded with the snowfall. And -- with that, you know, the snow shovels are out and the plows are out. And you're just having a hard time getting passed it. That's for sure.
As far as the advisories that are in effect today, still some lake effect snow advisories out and for a few more inches. But all in all, this event will begin to wind down throughout the day today and tonight. But cold air certainly is a huge issue.
Down in Florida, these are the record lows yesterday. Thirty-nine degrees in Naples, 36 degrees for the record low in West Palm Beach, and 31 in Vero Beach. And right now, we're seeing similar numbers, 34 in Orlando, 26 in Jacksonville. The good news is that we haven't seen a tremendous amount of 25, 26, 28-degree temperatures for two or three hours at a time. And that would do widespread damage to the citrus growers down there. So hopefully this morning will continue to get lucky. Yesterday, no reports of significant damage even though temperatures like Birmingham and Atlanta are starting out in the lower 20s.
John and Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: Yikes. And those snow totals piling up. You got 33 inches in some places. It's only the second week of December.
MARCIANO: It's only just in time.
CHETRY: I know. All right. Thanks so much, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: Well, still to come this morning. Now that the U.S. knows where Julian Assange is, will that make it easier to prosecute the WikiLeaks founder? And what exactly can he be charged with in terms of the WikiLeaks? Jeanne Meserve is live in Washington ahead.
ROBERTS: Oil, gas, and your wallet. Prices at the pump on the rise and could be reaching painful highs just in time for Christmas.
CHETRY: Gone with the wind. See what happens when a group of ducklings come face-to-face with a powerful gust.
Twelve minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifteen minutes past the hour.
New this morning, the Australian government is blaming the U.S., not the founder of WikiLeaks, for the embarrassing State Department leaks put on the website last month. Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd says that jailed WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange should not be held responsible for the unauthorized release of those classified cables. Rudd has publicly shrugged off claims in a classified United States document that describe him as an embracive, impulsive control freak.
ROBERTS: Meanwhile, things are reportedly pretty chaotic over at WikiLeaks despite transition plans that were laid out before Julian Assange was arrested. An anonymous activist says contact with hundreds of volunteers has been cut off. Their information is stored in Assange's private messaging account, and staffers have no way to get access to it.
CHETRY: Meantime, U.S. officials are scrambling to make a case against Julian Assange. They'll have to figure out what exactly he can be charged with and then they may have to get in line.
ROBERTS: Yes. Jeanne Meserve is live for us in Washington this morning. And, Jeanne, a lot of questions about how all of these might play out and kind of who gets first crack at him.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And not many answers at this point, John and Kiran.
U.S. officials have made it abundantly clear that they do want to prosecute Assange, but they're not saying how or when. The arrest of the WikiLeaks founder yesterday in Britain has the potential to either complicate or simplify a U.S. prosecution, legal experts say. The U.S. now knows where Assange is and where to direct an extradition request. That's a plus. But extradition from either Britain or Sweden could be tricky because of their laws and the interplay with extradition treaties. Sweden may want to try Assange first since he was arrested at its request, slowing things down. But on the other hand, the Swedish investigation of allegations of rape and molestation and possibly a Swedish prosecution could give the U.S. time to build its own case.
Experts speculate that the U.S. will try to increase the odds of a successful prosecution of Assange by using a number of different statutes relating to the possession or release of classified information. The Espionage Act of 1917 is one, but legal scholars say it has drawbacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN VLADECK, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: One of the hardest and most important things for the government to prove is that the defendant knew that what he was doing was violating the Espionage Act. This is part of why I think we've heard about these letters that the government sent to Assange before the latest round of disclosures, warning him about the potential effects of these leaks.
If those letters are sufficient to establish that Assange knew what he was doing was illegal, I think the government's case will be a lot easier.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MESERVE: The bottom line is, what is the likelihood that Assange will eventually be convicted in a U.S. court? At this point, we don't know the strength of the evidence against him. So it is impossible even for legal experts to speculate on that.
John, Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Yes. One of those big questions is because Assange is an Australian citizen, can the U.S. charge him with espionage?
MESERVE: Well, you know, I spoke to legal experts about that yesterday. They said, yes, foreign nationals have indeed been charged under the Espionage Act. But there may be a question about where the espionage or alleged espionage took place. There have been cases where the alleged espionage has taken place overseas and prosecutions have been successful, but it hasn't been tested at the U.S. Supreme Court, and further complicating this issue is the fact that the servers involved here may have been in the U.S. So does that mean the espionage was conducted here or overseas? It really gets quite complicated. It's going to be a lot to sort out.
CHETRY: All right. Jeanne Meserve for us this morning, thank you.
MESERVE: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, coming up, it doesn't take much for Sarah Palin to generate political buzz, as we've seen. Well, now, Mike Huckabee, another potential top Republican candidate, is trying to steal some of the spotlight as he sells his own brand new book.
ROBERTS: And a group of ducklings take flight, only not by choice. Wait until you see the video this morning. Our "Morning Talkers", coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-one minutes after the hour. Time for our "Morning Talkers".
The red nose still leads the way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STAN FRANCIS, "SANTA CLAUS", RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED REINDEER: Rudolph, with your nose so bright, wouldn't you guide my sleigh tonight?
BILLIE MAE RICHARDS, "RUDOLPH", RUDOLPH, THE RED-NOSED REINDEER: It will be an honor, sir.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Yes, reporting for duty. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" holiday tradition on CBS scored 12.2 million viewers last week -
CHETRY: Amazing. ROBERTS: -- beat out all the other holiday specials including the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting, and "The Grinch that Stole Christmas", and, Rudy was one heck of a lead for the Victoria Secret - lead-in, rather, for the Victoria's Secret fashion show with - which had - I can't even talk about this without stumbling, which had its best year since 2003.
CHETRY: So you had the family viewing and then you had the Victoria's Secret fashion show back-to-back.
ROBERTS: Family night on CBS.
CHETRY: Well, the Atlanta Falcons and their cheerleaders doing their parts to tackle childhood obesity. They set a Guinness Book record yesterday for holding the largest virtual Phys Ed class ever. Two thousand two hundred eighty-eight kids successfully completed a half- hour workout at the Georgia Dome. Kids in classrooms across the country exercised right along with them, thanks to a live web cast.
ROBERTS: Good for them.
This next video has become an online hit. This was shot just outside of Toronto where we know the wind can blow. A mother duck and her ducklings unaware of what's around the corner, a sheer force of wind sending the baby ducks tumbling in all directions. Even mom struggles to stay on her feet there.
Luckily, though, it ends with - it ends with mom getting her ducks all back in a row.
CHETRY: The - the mother duck really did get blown around there, too. All right. Well, all's well that ends well.
ROBERTS: Mother ducks are sometimes not the brightest of animals I've discovered. Like, with walking -
CHETRY: What, lying there (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: - walking across the grate and all the ducklings go down through the grate.
CHETRY: Poor things. But the -
ROBERTS: But we - we did experience in my in-laws place out in San Diego, did duck, but -
CHETRY: Did you get them out?
ROBERTS: It didn't end well with that duck.
CHETRY: Oh, thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Yes, but -
Coming up, they were with John Lennon in his final moments. Thirty years after Lennon's murder, they remembered what happened as if it were yesterday.
CHETRY: All right. Also, the average price now for a gallon of gas rapidly approaching $3 a gallon. It's the highest we've seen in more than two years. So just how high will it go? We're checking in with Christine Romans, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. Twenty-seven minutes past the hour right now.
We're checking in with Christine Romans, who's "Minding Your Business" this morning. We're talking about gas prices and oil (INAUDIBLE).
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They're going up.
They're going up. Gas prices are going up. You're going to probably see $3 a gallon gasoline, if you haven't already, by Christmas. Some places like Hawaii and some of the high-tax states are already above $3 a gallon.
But $3 a gallon gasoline is coming, folks, and you're starting to really complain about it. Here's what it looks like. About $2.96, the national average.
Look, that's what it's done just since before Thanksgiving. Look at the right side of that chart. That - that tells you - well, you've been telling me, hey, wait a second, I'm noticing it's costing more to fill up. Yes, it does. And the question you're asking is why?
Why is because gasoline prices are tied to the price of oil, and oil is back above $90. It hit $90 for the first time since October 2008. Remember October 2008? Not a great time in the global financial system. We're back to that level, though.
The global recession dampened demand for oil. Now you've got high, high demand from BRIC - Brazil, Russia, India, China. Those emerging economies are doing well. They're consuming a lot of oil. Their middle classes are starting to grow. That means people are putting oil in their cars and in their factories, and you're starting to see oil prices move higher. There are some economists now who also are expecting $100 oil again, guys, maybe - maybe next year.
So that's what we're looking at right here. Peter Beutel, who is from Cameron Hanover, who's an oil analyst, likes to always tell me that for every penny of an increase at the gas pump, that's $4 million a day out of the pockets of American consumers. So this acts as a tax on the American consumer. It's something that you should prepare in your budgets and prepare in your expenses.
You have to think about oil prices could continue to move higher here, and not because of increased demand in the U.S. and Europe -
ROBERTS: Yes. It's interesting that we're not driving.
ROMANS: It - we are not driving it. It is demand from other countries. And this is a kind of a new reality as you think about other parts of the world driving the global recovery and big middle classes being - emerging elsewhere. We're all going to be competing for the same natural resources.
So, an interesting twist on that. So what - you'll notice at the pump, that payroll tax holiday that you all are getting, if you make $40,000 a year, right? You get $800 back from the payroll tax holiday. If it goes through, you're going to use some of that money to pay for your - to pay for your gas.
ROBERTS: I got - I bought a hybrid the other day, so -
ROMANS: Did you?
ROBERTS: -- hopefully saving some money on gas (INAUDIBLE).
ROMANS: Yes. That's right.
CHETRY: That's got to be the trend for people.
ROMANS: That's right. I mean, we've got to find a way. You've got to find a way to cut those -
ROBERTS: By the way, we haven't heard much about that in the last couple of years.
ROMANS: If you see $100 oil again, you will start hearing about it some more. Yes.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: Sure.
ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour now. Time for your top stories this Wednesday morning.
President Obama trying to convince Democrats that his tax keep (ph) deal with Republicans is necessary because, without their support, the deal could fail. As it stands this morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he doesn't believe the compromise can be passed as is.
Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen is in South Korea this morning to shore up U.S. military support for Seoul against aggression from the Communist North. Mullen is calling on China to exert political pressure on North Korea, saying they have a unique responsibility to control the behavior of their ally.
And remembering Elizabeth Edwards. She died yesterday, just 61 years old, one day after announcing that she was stopping treatment for breast cancer. She's being praised for her resilience after the death of her teenage son and her husband's affair, and in the face of a disease that would take her life -- Kiran.
CHETRY: John, thanks.
And nearly 40,000 women die of breast cancer every year in this country. But a diagnosis is not a death sentence. Early detection is really the key to a fighting chance at survival.
And joining us now is Dr. Freya Schnabel. She's the director of breast surgery at NYU's Langone Medical Center. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
Elizabeth Edwards' struggle, of course, highlights early detection. She herself admitted that she perhaps could have caught it earlier if she had gone and gotten screened earlier. What is the take-home message for women, especially women in their 30s and 40s, about keeping up with this?
DR. FREYA SCHNABEL, NUY LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER: I think early detection remains our greatest weapon against breast cancer. And early detection affords women two enormous advantages. First of all, better prognosis and better outcomes when the disease is detected earlier. And second of all, the opportunity to have more favorable treatments that interfere a lot less with normal daily life.
CHETRY: Meaning that if it's caught earlier, it can be treated earlier, you may not have to go through, what, chemo and radiation in some cases?
SCHNABEL: And, in addition, it seems clear that when the disease is detected earlier, women have a greater opportunity for breast conserving surgery and they don't need to have mastectomies as part of their treatment.
CHETRY: Well, that's also interesting because one of the things about Elizabeth Edwards is she did get a lumpectomy. She also then had radiation and chemotherapy. And then her cancer had spread, as we know. She'd broken a rib. It found that it spread to her bones and then ultimately to her liver.
Is that a result of not catching it early enough or is that a result of choosing the lumpectomy over perhaps of a double mastectomy?
SCHNABEL: It's very clear at this point that for 30 years of experience around the world of breast-conserving surgery, it's very clear that for appropriately selected cases, the outcomes are the same. So I wouldn't really correlate anything in terms of her surgical choices.
The other thing that we have to say about breast cancer is it can be unpredictable and some cancers are biologically very, very aggressive and as a result, unfortunately, resist even our best treatments.
CHETRY: One of the other questions that a lot of people have is what is the best screening tool? There's been a lot of talk mammography versus MRI versus sonogram.
SCHNABEL: Well, today, mammography remains the single imaging modality that we have that we can show really good evidence that mammography reduces the death rate from breast cancer. And there's no other kind of screening method that we have that information about just yet. So, mammography really has to say, we have to say that it remains the cornerstone of breast cancer screening. CHETRY: And then, what about MRI? If you're, let's say, in a high- risk group or you have a family history -- is that something that you should consider?
SCHNABEL: MRI is definitely a very, very sensitive tool -- perhaps the most sensitive tool that we have to diagnose breast cancer. But because of some down sides, including difficulty and convenience, intravenous contrast, et cetera, it really remains something that we use only to screen the highest-risk women on a regular basis.
CHETRY: Also, because of the false positives sometimes, correct?
SCHNABEL: Correct.
CHETRY: Another question that people have is, of course, the controversy that erupted last year and we had you on that lot about the recommendations, perhaps moving back in age one (ph), you should get it done. What is your best estimate? What is your best advice, rather, of when women should start with baseline mammography?
SCHNABEL: Well, I know that you know this. After that big controversy last year, most of the major national groups, including the American Cancer Society, did not alter their guidelines. So, the way this stands today is that for younger women who want to maximize their opportunity for early detection, we are continuing to advise them to have annual mammography beginning at age 40.
CHETRY: It also says that, for example, if you have a family history. So, let's say your mother was diagnosed of breast cancer at age 45 -- you should be getting screened 10 years before the onset of your mother's cancer?
SCHNABEL: That's the current rule of thumb guideline. And, obviously, one would modify that depending on whether or not other family members had breast cancer or other elements of personal and family history. But that's the general guideline.
CHETRY: How are we moving forward in terms of the genes and figuring out whether or not you have these mutations.
SCHNABEL: Well, BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are the genes that we can currently test for and certainly give women the highest potential risk for breast cancer, this is not the end of the story. And there are lots of different research projects going on all around the country and around the world trying to identify what other genes may be responsible for increasing a woman's risk of breast cancer. But also understanding what are called the epigenetic phenomena that modify the expression of a particular gene in a particular individual.
CHETRY: So, that is still an area of intense hope into the future?
SCHNABEL: Intense research.
CHETRY: Great. Well, Dr. Freya Schnabel, always great to get you on and to get your take. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
SCHNABEL: Thank you.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran.
Coming up: Sarah Palin's been getting all the attention, but Mike Huckabee is saying, what about me? I might be considering a run for the Republican nomination in 2012, too. He spoke with our Jim Acosta at a book signing in Florida. And Jim got a little different reaction from Mike Huckabee than when he tried to speak with Sarah Palin about that.
And remembering John Lennon on the 30th anniversary of his murder. We'll talk with some of the last people to see Lennon alive.
It's 35 1/2 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Well, it looks like a top Republican presidential prospect is channeling comedian Rodney Dangerfield's classic line, "I don't get no respect." Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is hoping to steal some of the spotlight from Sarah Palin.
CHETRY: And there's a lot to steal because she's certainly been in the news. Palin, like Huckabee -- Palin and Huckabee both have books out.
Well, Jim Acosta had a chance to speak with him about 2012 at a book- signing in Florida. Jim's live for us in Sarasota this morning.
So, of course, famously, when you went to Sarah Palin's book signing, the music went down for a couple of seconds when you tried to ask a question, they weren't happy about it. What happened at Huckabee's?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Kiran, maybe it's because we're in Florida, but we got a less frosty reception than we got up in northern Iowa. Let's just say Mike Huckabee was happy to take plenty of questions at this book signing yesterday.
And you're right, he does sort of feel like the Rodney Dangerfield of the potential 2012 candidates. He doesn't feel like he gets much respect despite the fact he does well in the polls; despite the fact that he has a loyal following. He had a couple of hundred people show up at this book signing, one of several book signings around the state.
But we asked Governor Huckabee, you know, why is that? Why aren't you getting as much attention as Sarah Palin these days? Might it be because you have an exclusive contract with FOX News and you aren't allowed to do a whole lot of interviews with other media outlets? And here's what he has to say.
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ACOSTA: What do Americans think of all these potential contenders who are paid by FOX News?
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: We all need jobs. You know, in the time of high unemployment, we did not want to become yet another statistic. No, you know, I think the point is, particularly in the Republican primary, I probably speak to more Republican voters at FOX News than I will any other forum.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: So, there you saw the Huckabee humor on display as we saw back in 2008. You know, he has another book coming out in March, and John and Kiran, I'm starting to feel like as a political reporter covering these potential candidates, we might just have to go to their book signings to get a question at them over the next several months.
Huckabee told us yesterday he's not prepared to make an announcement yet on running for president. He says that might not happen until the second half of next year. That's a lot later than we've seen in elections past, guys.
ROBERTS: Quite a difference in his reaction to hers, too, when you threw the question. She looked like she was ready to bolt. Huckabee just seemed to be happy to talk for a little while, happy to be talking to anybody.
ACOSTA: Yes.
ROBERTS: So, what about Sarah Palin? He certainly could end up facing her in the Republican primary if they both choose to run.
ACOSTA: That's right.
ROBERTS: Did he talk about her at all?
ACOSTA: He did. And, you know, a lot of the speculation right now as to why these candidates may be jumping in late is about her. Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania said the other day that he's thinking about waiting to see what she does.
And so, we ask Governor Huckabee what about Sarah Palin? What do you think of the fact of running against her? Might she suck up all of the oxygen as you seem to be complaining about right now? And he said, you know what, I don't worry about the competition. Here's what he had to say.
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ACOSTA: Well, Governor Romney said the other night on the "Tonight Show," he couldn't imagine a situation where he would quit as governor of Massachusetts. Do you feel the same way? Could you imagine a situation where you might have quit as governor of Arkansas?
HUCKABEE: I'm not going to second-guess Sarah Palin's decision because I wasn't in her shoes. And I know that so many times, people want to second-guess my decisions. But they didn't walk in my shoes that day. So, you know, I'm very grateful for Sarah Palin's voice and the real energy that she's brought to our party. I don't consider her an opponent. I consider her a colleague.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: So, you saw a different approach there from Mike Huckabee when it comes to Sarah Palin. Mitt Romney last week on the "Tonight Show" took a couple gentle jabs at Sarah Palin as you heard in that question there, saying, you know, he's not sure he would have quit as governor as Massachusetts.
Huckabee with the clear opening to take a similar jab decided not to do so. He told us yesterday he doesn't want this GOP-nominating process to become like a demolition derby, as he described it. But he's sounding very much and looking very much like a presidential candidate, guys.
CHETRY: Well, it seems he doesn't want to knock her. They work at the same place right now. And when you talk about that delay in jumping into the race and announcing -- I mean, you would, technically as a candidate, you'd have to stop working at, you know, a cable outlet, right?
ACOSTA: That's right.
CHETRY: So, part of this delay -- I mean, isn't that there are many candidates, in the Republican side at least, potential presidential candidates, who are employed there.
ACOSTA: That's right. And Mitt Romney, you know, he's not a contributor over at FOX, Mike Huckabee did take a jab at that and said, is Mitt working over there? Maybe I need to give Roger Ailes a call.
But you're right, if they do start leaving those gigs over there, you know, there's this whole issue of paying the bills. But Huckabee does have another book coming out in March. It's going to be called "A Simple Government," sort of like his "Simple Christmas," a Christmas book that's out right now.
So, again, another one of these presidential candidates sounding books that's about to come out from Governor Huckabee. He sure sounds like a guy who wants to get in this race. He's just trying to figure out the timing of all of this and what makes good sense for him.
ROBERTS: We'll see if the collegiality lasts through the debating process, as well.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Jim Acosta for us -- thanks so much, Jim.
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: Still to come this morning, Rob's going to be along with the morning travel forecast. Some places, like the northern part of the state of New York, got a lot of snow.
ROBERTS: They did. Yes, lake effect snow, almost three feet.
Plus, high-tech help for critical patients in the ambulance -- see how it could make the difference between life and death.
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CHETRY: Emergency room doctors may soon be able to virtually hitch a ride in an ambulance bringing critical care to patients before they even reach the hospital.
ROBERTS: It's pretty incredible piece of technology. Gary Tuchman shows us how it could save lives in this week's "Edge of Discovery."
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Headed for Cincinnati's Children's Hospital is an ambulance loaded with high-def video conferencing technology so that what you see here inside the vehicle is what doctors see in the hospital's critical care unit like in this practice run. Part of a pilot program, this technology is currently being used in the transport of premature infants and incubators.
DR. HAMILTON SCHWARTZ, CINCINNATI CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: For the first time, physicians can see what they need to see with their own eyes and trust their own judgment that the care they're directing is right for that patient.
TUCHMAN: A transport AV computer is mounted on to the patient's stretcher.
SCHWARTZ: It has two cameras attached to it. It has a camera that sort of hovers above on a swing arm and that is a high definition, rotating 360-degree camera that has tremendous zoom capabilities. And the other camera is on a retractable pen light.
TUCHMAN: A digital stethoscope onboard along with noise-canceling headphones allows the hospital staff to hear breath and heart sounds clearly.
SCHWARTZ: Myself and my team believes that this transport AV system will save lives with this ability to speed up critical care that we're able to provide for these patients.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Pretty amazing. The doctor's right there in the ambulance all the way along.
CHETRY: It is cool.
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) what's happening with the patient. CHETRY: Right. And in cases like that, a lot of times, the children have to travel by ambulance, and they have to go long distances to get taken to another hospital. So, the doctor can actually be there.
ROBERTS: What's next?
Hey, how about weather. Rob Marciano is in the Weather Center in Atlanta for us this morning tracking it, and baby, it's cold outside.
MARCIANO: It is. And that trend will continue. Make it a couple days where temperatures moderate just a little bit. But all in all, the weather pattern is going to keep the eastern half of the country pretty cold, and with the warm waters of the Great Lakes, you get lake-effect snow. So, another day off, and although, things will be winding down. We still have some lake effect snow advisories that are posted for parts of Northeastern Ohio, Erie County, Pennsylvania, and up through Western and upstate New York.
Syracuse getting a little bit more today as the flow has turned a little bit more west/northwesterly. 28, 29 degrees in New York right now. 24, 25 in D.C. So, certainly, cold enough for snow there, but most of this moisture not getting quite that far, maybe a couple of flurries expected today. Don't want to forget about our friends in Vermont. They don't get quite a lot of lake effect, but certainly, they had enhanced snow from not only the lakes, but the stubborn low that's been over Quebec.
And what it is just digging out of it and, yes, of course, playing in it quite a bit. Couple of feet of snow in some spot there. This is a shot out of East Berkshire from Malaji (ph) right on the border of Canada, and some of the skiers towards up there including (INAUDIBLE) not snowing for its all natural snow getting well over a foot of fresh powder. So, northeast skiers (ph) getting to it as well. Everybody benefiting from an early start to this season.
Hey, some rain across parts of New Orleans, and also some snow trying to get into Alabama and Mississippi, but, it's pretty cold here, obviously cold enough for snow, but also pretty dry. So, we're not looking for too much here in the way of snow. I don't think they're going to be cancelling schools, maybe a flurry or two. That is about the weather out here and some storms rolling into the Pacific Northwest. Again, the highlight will be temperatures that will be in the 30s across the south, that doesn't seem right, not yet at least. John and Kiran, back up to you.
ROBERTS: You know, Rob, we were laughing yesterday when you accidentally hit snow totals for Birmingham instead of Binghamton on the screen right. MARCIANO: And (INAUDIBLE) is trying to snow there right now.
ROBERTS: Maybe, it was just an imminent (ph) forecast.
MARCIANO: Exactly.
CHETRY: That was good forecasting, Rob. All right. Your top stories coming up just minutes away, including trying to sell it to his own party. Democrats fuming over President Obama's tax deal. They say they're not happy with it, and neither are you. We're live in Washington with more.
ROBERTS: And right after the break, it was 30 years ago today that the world lost John Lennon. We'll take a special look back at his last interview and his final moments. Stay with us.
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ROBERTS: Fifty-three minutes after the hour. It was 30 years ago today that John Lennon was gunned down outside of his New York City apartment building, the Dakota. There are remembrances planned here in New York City and across the country and, indeed, around the world today. Lennon, of course, lives on today in his music and his continuing message of peace.
As part of a CNN documentary, we spoke with three people who were with Lennon in his final moments.
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LAURIE KAYE, CONDUCTED LAST LENNON INTERVIEW: We entered through their assistant's office.
ROBERTS (voice-over): Laurie Kaye was at the Dakota the day Lennon died. She was part of her radio production crew that conducted the last interview John Lennon gave.
JOHN LENNON, SINGER: Here we are. I'm going to be 40. Sean's going to be five. Isn't it great? Life begins at 40 that's so they promised.
ROBERTS: There was a particularly point moment in the interview where Lennon says, quote, "I consider that my work won't be done until I'm dead and buried, and I hope that's a long, long time."
KAYE: You know, when you hear somebody say something like that, you never think, and your life is going to be over like that. You know, it all stops in an instant. You think, yes, he's going to be around forever.
ROBERTS: Later that night, Laurie heard the news on the radio that Lennon had been shot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Former Beatle, John Lennon, has been shot at his Manhattan apartment tonight. Police say that Lennon was taken to Roosevelt Hospital where his condition isn't (ph) immediately known.
KAYE: I was stunned. I was stunned. And something in me said it's worse than they've made out on this announcement. I got to the hospital, which I remember having glass doors, and I could see through the doors Yoko with a lot of people, and at one point, she just literally fell, like collapsed. There I go again -- with grief. And I knew, I knew that she was told that he died. TONY PALMA, FMR. NYPD OFFICER: The nurses were waiting out there with a gurney.
ROBERTS: New York police officer, Tony Palma, had brought John Lennon to the hospital in a squad car and stayed with Yoko Ono while doctors tried to save her husband's life.
PALMA: She's in shock, hysterical. So, I kind of held her, comforted her, and then she kept saying, can you go see how he is? Can you go see -- so, I said, OK, you stay here. I went into the emergency room, and I looked at Lennon and I knew he was gone.
ROBERTS: In fact, Lennon may very well have died in Palma's arms as he raced him to the emergency room.
PALMA: People used to come up to me and want to touch me, you know, and they'd say -- you know, Tony, if he had to die in somebody's arms, I'm glad that was you. (INAUDIBLE). They used to say that to me.
ROBERTS: I can see the emotion in the day even though it's 30 years ago. It's still right there. Do you think back to this often?
PALMA: Sure.
DR. STEPHEN LYNN, DIRECTOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE: Several things happened after John Lennon died. First, most of the staff burst out in tears.
ROBERTS: Dr. Stephen Lynn was the director of emergency medicine at Roosevelt Hospital. He was not prepared for the enormity of the task that lay ahead, informing Yoko Ono that John was gone.
LYNN: In my head, I was saying to myself, what am I going to say? How am I going to handle this? What am I going to tell her?
ROBERTS: He delivered the terrible news to Ono. Then, he stepped out before a room full of cameras and reporters to tell the world.
LYNN: I'd put my hands out so as to say, please be quiet, I have something to say. And it almost looked as if I was leading people in prayer. In spite of all of our efforts, John Lennon died shortly after 11:00.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS (on-camera): It's amazing too, 30 years ago, three decades ago, so long ago, and brings back such emotion.
CHETRY: And the people that you interviewed still tearing up and, you know, crying, in some cases, as they remember what happened three decades ago.
ROBERTS: Crying not only for a life lost, but crying for the promise of what might have been if not --
CHETRY: And to hear him say that he hoped he had -- ROBERTS: Yes, he talked to a couple of people. He had a strange sense of something going on. Calling it impending doom or just a real sense of his own mortality. Record producer, Jack Douglas, said to us, he said, I've never worked with anybody who's had a sense of his own death before. But then, at the same time, he was so excited about getting back in the music business and recording these albums and maybe going out on tour. We just will never know what would have been.
CHETRY: I know, and it's sad. Great that we remembered it, though, with your documentary. It's a good one. Three minutes till the top of the hour. We'll be right back.
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