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American Morning
Tax Cut: A Back Door Stimulus?; Dems: Obama Caved to GOP; Remembering Elizabeth Edwards; Cheney Facing Bribery Charges; Missing Soldier On Video; Aussies Blame U.S. For Leaks; CNN Documentary Reflects on John Lennon's Death; Huckabee's Presidential Ambitions; New Test Reveals Protein That Can Lead to Heart Disease; Heart Disease Test; Wallet that Curbs Your Spending
Aired December 08, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks so much for joining us on this Wednesday, the 8th of December, on the 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. The president on the defensive with Democrats on his decision to support a tax cut extension for the richest Americans. It is not sitting well this morning with members of his own party. But is this deal actually a backdoor stimulus for the economy?
ROBERTS: The government of Australia defending WikiLeaks' chief , Julian Assange, insisting that he is not to blame for embarrassing document leaks at the State Department, pointing the finger instead at America. And now, Assange and Sarah Palin are engaging in a war of words.
CHETRY: Also, some troubling numbers out on American schools and how they rank compared to the rest of the world. The U.S. used to be at the top of the class. Now, well, just average and the real eye- opener here is who's ahead of us.
Well, President Obama taking a real beating this morning, not from Republicans but from his own party. Democrats ripping the deal that he cut to extend the Bush era tax cuts. In the last hour of AMERICAN MORNING, the president's senior adviser, David Axelrod, spoke to John and insisted that his boss had no other choice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: Typical family in this country would see a $3,000 tax increase on January 1st, unemployment insurance would end, and 2 million people would be -- see their lifeline cut, people who are desperately seeking work right now and the economy would take a huge hit for that. It was interesting to see economists across the board, from left to right, say that this package would create additional significant economic growth, some revising their estimates up by a full percentage point in terms of economic growth, millions of jobs. All of that would be lost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Christine Romans joins us now to break it a little bit down more. And a lot of people have been saying that this tax cut deal is a backdoor stimulus, and David Axelrod seeming to add a little fuel to that fire. But don't say stimulus, though.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUISNESS CORRESPONDENT: Right. No, don't call it a stimulus. As we reported yesterday, economists consider half of this stimulative to the economy and there are some certain things in particular.
The unemployment benefits extension, we know that that money immediately goes into the economy. The president only got 13 months of that, not two years, like the tax cuts for the rich and everybody else, but 13 months. That money, a dollar in a jobless check, economists say, is anywhere from $1.60 to $1.90 in economic benefit.
Cut the payroll taxes -- that means somebody making 40,000 grand is going to see $800 more in their paychecks next year. Cut business taxes and extended tax credits for college tuition.
And one thing David Axelrod said that I found interesting. He said that, you know, look, even in some of the deficit-cutting plans out there, the payroll holiday was part of those deals. Yes, but that was meant to be a sweetener to take some pain further on out to try to balance the budget. Instead, you got a lot of sweeteners here and nobody --
ROBERTS: And extra sweeteners.
ROMANS: And nobody is taking the pain longer. So, that's where some of the criticism is coming. Yes, short term, there are some stimulative things in here, but there are also some things in here that are going to cost a lot of money, and you don't see the fiscal restraint or a plan in Washington for a plan to take this back eventually. And some of this is going to have to be -- excuse me -- have to be taken back eventually. No question.
CHETRY: And you talked about that. You said that once people get used to seeing those tax cuts, any tax cut allowed to expire feels like you're paying more.
ROMANS: It does. And when you look at the stimulative effect of the tax cuts themselves, it would have hurt the economy to take them -- to take them back. But it's not necessarily new stimulus to just leave them as they are.
CHETRY: David Axelrod's point, which is that by going forward with all of this, you're eventually making it a better environment for jobs, for hiring, for businesses.
ROMANS: And that's what they're all hoping for. Look, you got to get -- we have got to get an economy that's growing more strongly than 2 percent or 2.5 percent. There's no question about that. And many people say the jobless benefits will help that, the payroll tax could help that. The tax cuts for businesses could help.
We're trying to find that magic scenario in Washington that's going to be the thing that gets the economy growing again. You know, so far, we have had a lot of stimulus in the economy from the Fed and from Congress, and we're still limping along here.
ROBERTS: Has anybody done the calculation? Because this will cost $900 billion over two years.
ROMANS: Yes.
ROBERTS: Anybody done the calculation that the increased tax revenue from the projected economic growth will offset the cost?
ROMANS: I don't know. We don't know what the -- I mean, we -- look, we thought the first stimulus, the White House thought the first stimulus is going to keep the unemployment rate at 8 percent, right? So, all of those calculations were wrong.
So, we just know. That's my educated answer to that.
ROBERTS: All right, thanks.
Stimulus or not, the deal is not sitting well with some of President Obama's supporters, not no way, no how. House Democrats met last night. They're telling the president the compromise with Republicans comes at too great 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, that you never -- you know, that 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)
CHETRY: Our Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House. And, Suzanne, the president went before the cameras yesterday, he defended himself. In fact, he, you know, likened the GOP to hostage-takers in somewhat he was saying, and he sounded just as equally frustrated with the liberal base.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, you know, it's really interesting, Kiran. We really rarely see the president frustrated like that. But it was a flash of anger, frustration, at his own party, members of his own party. It's no surprise, no mistake that we saw the president come out in this kind of impromptu press conference yesterday that you have spoken with David Axelrod this morning.
The vice president is going to be heading off to the Hill to talk to angry Democrats again to try to get all the tension down, if you will. Because there are a couple of things the president is trying to emphasize here. First of all, he's trying to convince the American people that, look, he had very little choice in the matter, that he had to negotiate with Republicans.
He used some language that some Republicans found offensive in this hostage-taking situation. He said, bottom line is, he wasn't going at those middle tax -- the middle class tax cuts that he wanted unless he gave it to everybody across the board.
But he did get something out of it. The extension of those unemployment benefits for at least 13 months or so.
He is also trying to explain to the Democrats that he does have a spine. That they have to take a look at what he called kind of the long run instead of the short run. That this is the new political reality that they're dealing with here because Republicans have more responsibility, more control and the Democrats need to compromise.
Here is how he put it yesterday.
(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, essentially, the president is calling foul on the Democrats and he's saying, look, you know, we have a lot of work to do but we have some major compromises that if you're too pure in your ideology, you're just not going to get anything done. And that is what he has been saying.
One of the things that he's going to try to do when he's going to go back and talk to Democrats as well, is he's going to keep talking about what he has done. Health care reform, major legislation, the economic stimulus package -- all of these things that following the campaign and following the president he talked about and that he has moved forward. We'll see if that's good enough for some of the liberal Democrats and many who are very frustrated with this president, thinking that he's abandoned the party and the philosophy.
ROBERTS: So, among the Democratic opponents to this, is it all just noise that they're making here to get on the record on opposition to it, or could they actually derail the deal?
MALVEAUX: I -- you know, honestly, John, I don't think they're going to derail the deal. I think what they're looking at is things around the edges. They're obviously looking at the estate tax. They're very upset about that. That is something that they can take a good close look at.
But the bottom line is even if they go -- the vice president goes to them, they express their anger and displeasure, they're not going to not pass anything for this lame duck session of Congress because, automatically, that would mean tax increases for everybody -- because, automatically, the Bush tax cuts expire by next year. Nobody wants to be responsible for that.
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning at the White House -- thank you.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan says it is a wake-up call -- the new numbers showing that U.S. continues to lag behind the rest of the world in education. American kids ranking 25th in math, 17th in science, and 14th in reading.
So, how do other nations stack up? Well, take a look at China, ranked number one in math, in science, and in reading for the program -- by the program for International Student Assessment. And the Chinese not the only ones taking us to school -- Finland, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Switzerland and New Zealand all beating the United States in last year's test scores.
ROBERTS: You don't stay on top for long if you can't educate your kids.
CHETRY: Right, without an education.
ROBERTS: College education could become a path to citizenship with both houses of Congress expected to vote today on the DREAM Act. The bill will give some illegal immigrants brought to the country as children a way to get legal status by going to college or potentially joining the military.
CHETRY: Well, she's being remembered for resiliency and grace this morning. Just a day after announcing that she was stopping treatment for cancer, Elizabeth Edwards died yesterday in her home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She was just 61 years old. Her estranged husband, John Edwards, was there with her. She leaves behind her two small children, 10-year-old Jack and 12-year-old Emma Claire, as well as her daughter Cate who's 28 years old.
In her last interview on the nationally syndicated "The 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, "THE NATE BERKUS SHOW": It seems that you've really found the beauty throughout the journey.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: Yes. There's certainly parts that weren't all beautiful.
BERKUS: Sure, sure.
EDWARDS: You know, there are parts that were really just, you know, primarily pain. But in the end, you know, you reach for the things that are going to give you comfort, the beautiful things -- you know, 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)
ROBERTS: Candy Crowley joins us live now from Washington.
And what do you think her enduring legacy is going to be? I would -- I would think grace in the face of some pretty stunning adversity.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think so. I mean, it's quite a story. I mean, obviously, she was quite helpful during the health care debate. She was instrumental in her husband's both his -- both of his bids for the presidency and his vice presidential run.
So, she -- there were a lot of politics to Elizabeth Edwards. But it's her story overall, one of a woman who was hit many times in life with the death of her son and followed by her husband's dalliance with another woman and having a baby with another woman and then this cancer. And so, there's just a story about her kind of getting up in the face of it. She didn't curl up and go back to her house.
I remember when they decided -- I remember that press conference in North Carolina and they said, well, her cancer's come back and it's in her bones and it's not curable, but we're going to go on with the campaign -- we all went, what?
And in retrospect, looking who Elizabeth Edwards was and what she had shown herself to the country to be, it made a lot of sense. She wasn't one to go and sit home and stay on the beach. She wanted to continue her life. And her life was out in the public eye.
So, I think resilience is the exact right word.
CHETRY: And she was also very candid about it in her second book, as well, when, you know, she went out there to talk about the book at a time when all of the salacious gossip was out there about her husband and Rielle Hunter and the baby and what -- and what her relationship was with the child. And she just really was pretty brutally honest about all of it.
CROWLEY: She was. And that's the side, I think, of Elizabeth Edwards, because we talk about her grace and about her resilience, and this is the other side of resilience, and that is that she was one tough woman.
And she was tough in the campaign. She was really the marshal in the Edwards' campaign and a lot of staffers, a lot of his staffers did not like it. But she -- what she said was usually went and certainly was always taken very seriously.
So, this was a serious woman. She did not take this lightly. Obviously, her husband's affair -- and it was very clear in that book and in those interviews afterwards how furious and resentful -- I mean, there was -- there was a lot of resentment in that book and in those interviews, understandably.
ROBERTS: Do you think she got a bad wrap for being tough on the campaign trail? You got to be tough if you're running a campaign.
CROWLEY: I don't know if a man just died and we said he was tough, I think people would take it as a bad wrap. I mean, she was tough. And as it turns out, she needed that both in her private life and her public life.
ROBERTS: All right. Candy Crowley for us this morning -- Candy, thanks.
CROWLEY: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Already, the deep freeze and digging out and even more snow is on the way in parts of the Midwest and Northeast. The cold snap is stretching all across the country right now.
These pictures came from an iReporter in Oregon. Like a Christmas card -- ice-covered trees, snow on top of that. Not quite as pretty, though, in Buffalo, where parts of the city got more than two feet of snow and more lake-effect snow is on the way.
CHETRY: Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center.
I think the bird in that one shot was saying, hey, enough of this. OK?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. I think he had something to say. I wish we had a caption or you can fill in the blank or whatever caption you like.
Good morning, guys. Again, yes, we'll start off with the snow totals for the four days across parts of Upstate New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, anywhere from two to three feet and some of these areas. So -- and it continues to come down and although the ribbons of lake- effect are beginning to get a little bit thinner. I think by this time tomorrow morning, will start to really wind down this event. But another six to 10 inches, or four to eight, depending on where you are possible over the next 24 hours.
The other big story, of course, is the cold air. Temperatures down across the Northeast in the 20s. Back through Chicago, in the teens. Even further to the West and South, temperatures in the single numbers -- four right now in Minneapolis, six in Indianapolis, about as cold as the colts right there, maybe colder.
And down across the Deep South, 23 in Atlanta, 27 in Birmingham. So, we continue to see sub-freezing temperatures there. And across parts of Florida, similar numbers, although a little bit warmer. I don't think we'll see a widespread damage from this cold snap but most of the temperatures got below the freezing mark weren't there for very long across most sensitive spots.
So, at least for this round of cold air, we're doing OK down in Florida, but we've got a couple of more still to come next week and beyond.
John and Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: Rob, thank you.
Coming up next, the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks jailed but not sentenced this morning. He's got a beef with Sarah Palin. And she's firing back.
ROBERTS: And Dick Cheney facing bribery charges? We'll tell you who's making the accusation against the former vice president.
It's coming up now 15 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: I was stopped on (INAUDIBLE) and said breaking the law. Maybe, we know something.
ROBERTS: A little Judas Priest at 8:17 in the morning.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Seventeen minutes past the hour.
The Nigerian government filing bribery charges against former Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney is involved in a scandal from his days as CEO of Halliburton Energy. The case centers on a former Halliburton subsidiary, KDR, which admits paying $180 million in bribes to Nigerian officials to build a liquefied natural gas plant there. You got all that? Well, Cheney's attorneys call the charges against him baseless.
ROBERTS: The family of a missing U.S. soldier confirming that he is the one seen in new video 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: The Australian government is blaming the United States for those embarrassing state department leaks last month. Australian foreign minister, Kevin Rudd, says that WikiLeaks (ph) chief, Julian Assange, should not be held responsible for the unauthorized release of those classified cables. And he's also questioning the adequacy of U.S. security saying that the leaks were America's fault.
Meanwhile, things were reportedly chaotic at WikiLeaks. An anonymous activist says contact with hundreds of volunteers has been cut off. Information stored in Assange's private messaging account, and staffers have no way to get access to it. And now, there's a war of words between Assange and Sarah Palin. Assange, in an editorial publish in the Australian newspaper writes, quote, "Sarah Palin says I should be hunted down like Osama Bin Laden." Palin denying she said it, tweeted back, "Someone making things up again? Keep seeing this quote attributed to me. Huh?"
ROBERTS: While Assange sits in a jail cell in London, American officials are scrambling to prosecute him or at least attempt to. Two problems they have come up with charges that will stick, and they may have to get in line. Our Jeanne Meserve is live in Washington this morning. And Jeanne, it seems everybody wants a piece of this guy.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's true. You know, U.S. officials have made it very clear they want to prosecute Assange, but they're not saying yet how or when. The arrest of the WikiLeaks founder yesterday in Britain has the potential to cut two ways. It could complicate things 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 could speed things up, but extradition from either Britain or Sweden could be tricky. It depends on their laws and the extradition treaties they have with the U.S. Sweden may want to try Assange first since he was arrested that its (ph) request. That could slow things down.
On the other hand, the Swedish investigation of the allegations of rape and molestation, and possibly, a Swedish prosecution could give the U.S. more time to build its 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, WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: 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: Bottom line, 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 say -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve in Washington for us this morning. Jeanne, thanks.
MESERVE: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, coming up, bling, baby, bling. This one's got plenty of it. We'll tell you why this mural has one New York City neighborhood up in arms after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-three minutes after the hour. Time for our "Morning Talker," stories that got us talking in the newsroom. The next stop for Wesley Snipes? A federal prison in Pennsylvania. The judge ordered the 48-year-old actor to report tomorrow to begin his three-year sentence for failing to pay taxes. Snipes' request to spend the holidays with his family was denied. He told Larry King last night that he's dreading going to jail but hopes that his prayers for reprieve will be answered.
CHETRY: Well, this baby's got bling and lots of it. It's a store front mural in New York City featuring a baby wearing a massive gold dollar sign necklace around his neck along with stacks of cash and gold. The work was created for a pawnshop, but residents of the Crown Heights neighborhood are upset -- already upset with the pawnshop opening, and they say that the mural sends the wrong message and that's an insult to the community.
ROBERTS: Well, it's certainly hard to get all of your ducks in a row when the wind is blowing like it does in Toronto sometimes. This video shot just outside the city. A major gust of wind sends the ducklings tumbling in all directions, and then watch, a little bit later on here, even mom has trouble staying upright.
CHETRY: Look at --
ROBERTS: Whoa! Can't catch any lift when the winds coming from behind. There is a happy ending to it, although. Mrs. Malik (ph) finally gets her babies all back in a row, and its make way for the duckling once again.
CHETRY: Good job, mom.
And into the mouths of babes. Check out this video of a toddler trying to get a drink of water from a garden hose. He comes so close. He goes. Comes so close. Just can't make it, though. Finally, sticks his hand in the water. And manages to get a little taste. There he goes. Whoo.
ROBERTS: Got pretty wet in the process.
CHETRY: So cute.
ROBERTS: Well, coming up this morning, remembering John Lennon on today, the 30th anniversary of his murder. We'll talk with some of the last people that ever see him alive. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: It's going to be a day of tributes for John Lennon on this, the 30th anniversary of his death. You're looking now live at pictures from the Dakota apartment building where John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived with their son, Sean, and where Lennon was gunned by Mark David Chapman the night of December 8th, 1980.
John Lennon, of course, lives on today in his music and his message of peace. We spoke with three people who were with him on the day he died. People who witnessed Lennon's final moments.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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 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. I kind of held her, comforted her. And then she kept saying, can you go see how he is? Can you go see? I said, OK. You stay here. I went into the emergency room and I looked at Lennon, and I knew he was going.
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 and say, you know, Tony, if he had to die in somebody's arms we're glad it was you that responded. They used to say that to me.
ROBERTS (on camera): I can see the emotion of the day even 30 years ago is still right there. Do you think back to this often?
PALMA: Sure.
DR. STEPHEN LYNN, ROOSEVELT HOSPITAL: Several things happened after John Lennon died. First, most of the staff burst out in tears.
ROBERTS (voice-over): 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 how will say? What am I going to tell her?
ROBERTS: He delivered the terrible news to Ono. Then he stepped out before a roomful of cameras and reporters to tell the world.
LYNN: I 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: You know, this is so much of a -- such a tragedy for Yoko, Sean, for son Julian, all the people close to him, but then also for people around the world because he was just starting this brand new phase in his life, new album out, planning on going on a tour and the promise of what might have been had he not been killed that night over the past three decades.
CHETRY: Just -- you're absolutely right. And also, the fact that it's so raw and feels like it was just yesterday for the people that lived it. They'll never forget.
ROBERTS: Surprising that Tony Palma and Laurie Kaye could be so emotional about it, recounting it three decades later and it wasn't even -- when I did the interviews it was I think September and we weren't close to the anniversary, and there it was right below the surface.
CHETRY: Yes. Amazing.
Time now for a look at the top stories. Remembering Elizabeth Edwards this morning. She died yesterday at 61 years old a day after announcing she was stopping treatment for breast cancer. She's being praised for resiliency after the death of her teenage son and her husband's high profile affair and in the face of a disease that would take her life.
ROBERTS: The Australian government blaming the United States and not the founder of WikiLeaks for those embarrassing State Department leaks. Australian foreign minister Kevin Rudd is questioning the adequacy of U.S. security measures and says jailed WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange should not be held responsible for the unauthorized release of those classified cables.
CHETRY: Contaminated cash in your wallet? A study says a chemical -- toxic chemical commonly found in plastics has also turned up in tests on paper money in receipts. Coming up what some scientists say about BPA.
ROBERTS: This just in to CNN -- Amtrak service between Baltimore and Philadelphia has been suspended. Amtrak says it shut down the line on the northeast corridor due to damage to an overhead wire system. Repairs are under way and are expected to last at least a couple of hours. So, if you're planning on taking something out of Penn station, either one, in New York or Philadelphia, it looks like it's a little while before you get going.
Looks like a top Republican presidential prospect is channeling comedian Roger Dangerfield's line "I don't get no respect." Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is hoping to steal some of the spotlight from Sarah Palin. Like Palin, Huckabee has a book to sell. Jim Acosta talked to him at a book signing in Florida. Jim joins us now live from Sarasota. Hey, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. Yes, definitely a little less frosty of a reception here in Sarasota, Florida, yesterday than we got going to that book signing with Sarah Palin up in Iowa last week where we tried to ask questions and got tossed out of a Wal- Mart.
Mike Huckabee talked to reporters for about 30 minutes yesterday after his book signing, and you're right. He has been sort of sounding like the Rodney Dangerfield of the potential 2012 candidates, saying where's the respect? I have a book out, too. Hundreds of people show up to my events, as well, and yet the media doesn't talk about me quite as much, or at least he said some of that to "Politico" earlier this week.
When we asked the governor at the book signing about that, we said, well, you know, you are a contributor to FOX News and don't do a lot of interviews with the press. What about that? Doesn't that perhaps hinder some of your exposure student opportunities out here? Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: You said something earlier about, you know, why am I not getting more attention. Wouldn't you get more attention if you weren't solely working for FOX News, a contributor for FOX News and what should Americans make of the fact so many potential Republican candidates for president work for FOX News, if I may ask?
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: Is this on? OK. Let me sign this. And then I'll give you the answer, while I'm thinking of a really, really good one.
ACOSTA: Should I ask the question again?
HUCKABEE: So I can give you a totally different answer? Give that back to Lee. God bless you, ma'am. Good to see you.
ACOSTA: Wouldn't you get more attention if you weren't just working for pox news? What should Americans think of these potential contenders paid employees of FOX News?
HUCKABEE: We all need jobs. At a time of high unemployment we did not want to become yet another statistic. No, I think the point is particularly in the Republican primary I'll probably speak to more Republican voters at FOX News than I will any other forum.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUCKABEE: So we had a little fun there, pressing the governor about that. He also seemed to enjoy it, as well and was giving it as good as he was getting it.
And John, I think this might be the future of covering Republican presidential politics over the next several months. We may have to go cover these candidates at book signings because of their contractual obligations with a rival news network opposed to giving interviews.
By the way, he has another book coming out in March and out, you know, promoting that book on tour across the country then as he's doing right now here in Florida, one of those critical states when it comes to presidential politics.
ROBERTS: I wanted do get your take on the difference in body language and reaction between Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin when you tried to talk to her in spirit lake, Iowa, last week.
ACOSTA: Well, I have to tell you. This event yesterday, it was night and day compared to the Sarah Palin event up in Iowa. It was not tightly controlled. The media basically were allowed to have free run of the store. We were only a few feet away from Governor Huckabee, watched his whole book signing.
After it was over, you know, I along with three or four other reporters just asked question after question, and he couldn't have been nicer answering the questions, and basically, you know, listened to everything we had to ask and responded back to us. And so we essentially ran out of questions.
So a remarkably different event compared to what we dealt with last week. And when we asked asking him about Sarah Palin, he said, you know, honestly, you know, if I do run, I'm looking forward to running against her. He said he doesn't consider her an opponent, more of a colleague, and didn't take any opportunities to take a swipe at her as Mitt Romney did last week questioning why Sarah Palin quit as governor of Alaska.
Huckabee is definitely sounding very much like a presidential candidate. He is trying to figure out how to do it, what the timing is like in terms of when the best time is to jump into this thing.
ROBERTS: Jim, trying to talk to Sarah Palin last week, she got up from the table, almost looked like she was about to bolt, and then thought better of it.
ACOSTA: That's right. We were tossed.
ROBERTS: Jim Acosta for us in sunny if not cool Florida. Thanks very much, Jim.
CHETRY: Scientists say it's toxic. Now researchers say it could be in your pocket or anything when you handle receipts or money. A chemical detected on cold, hard cash.
ROBERTS: And hey, this could be big news, a simple test to predict your risk of death from heart disease. It's a simple blood test. We'll tell you how it works.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: There's dirty money and then there's this. A study out today saying a chemical used in a lot of manufacturing of products including plastics can actually come off cash register receipts onto the money and get into your skin.
BPA is widely used in plastics and cash register paper and has been linked in the past to cancer, diabetes and infertility, but anything that has proven that has not happened yet, and manufacturers argue it is safe even though public interest groups wants Congress to pass legislation to reduce exposure. Canada in September declared BPA a toxic substance.
ROBERTS: It's being called one of the most powerful predictors of death, a new test that could tell doctors if you are likely to suffer heart disease.
Dr. James De Lemos just researched it. He's an associate professor of internal medicine at University of Texas-Southwestern and joins us now. Doctor, thank you for being with us. This is a variation on a commonly used test in the emergency room to detect if someone had a heart attack. What is it? How does it work?
DR. JAMES DE LEMOS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, UT SOUTHWESTERN: This is a test that reflects cardiac muscle cell injury and what we're detecting here with the blood test is lower levels than previously. What we are seeing in the general population are very low levels of chronic damage to the heart.
ROBERTS: So this chemical, this protein is called Tropidan. People might be familiar with that. Is it a sense if you have some sort of latent heart disease you have elevated levels of the protein circulating around in your blood? DE LEMOS: That's exactly what we believe. We see that very low levels of the protein circumstance late when the heart is abnormally enlarged or weak, and that may be a precursor for development of heart problems later in life.
For example, we see in the two study that is premature death is increased markedly over a six-year period as it the risk of congestive heart failure.
ROBERTS: The population studied, overall 25 percent showed evidence of elevated levels of protein. You identified also some specific at-risk groups. For example, men more likely to have elevated levels than women 37 to 13 percent, African-Americans had higher rates of the protein than whites and Hispanics did, and 58 percent of the people 60 to 65 had it, as well.
I think those figures are pretty stunning considering a quarter of people have some evidence of heart disease that could lead to sudden death.
DE LEMOS: I agree. I think it's quite striking that such a high proportion of individuals have measurable levels of this protein, and I think it highlights the possibilities that we may be able to use this test to identify disease that people didn't know they have and at a time to prevent the complications from that disease.
ROBERTS: Yes that's a question I have, once -- once you have elevated levels of this protein, is -- is the die pretty much cast or is there something that you can do to turn things around?
DE LEMOS: Well, we don't know for sure yet and that's certainly the focus of what we'll do in further studies but we do have evidence from one of our studies that levels of troponin that are high initially and but fall over time are associated with a much better prognosis so it does suggest that this might be a modifiable risk.
And what we need to do to modify that risk really remains to be determined although we think that better control of blood pressure, diabetes, weight loss and exercise may be things that can lower the risk associated with this marker.
ROBERTS: You said a couple of things that people might go on to develop if they have evidence of this elevated protein are enlarged heart or weakness in the heart muscle that's what it detects, but what about somebody who is just -- has atherosclerosis you know plaques building up in the arteries? Will this detect that?
DE LEMOS: It does but not to the same extent as it does the muscle problems in the heart. I think unlike blood cholesterol and tests like C-reactive protein which are tests for atherosclerotic plaque, we believe this is really a test for problems with the heart muscle itself.
ROBERTS: Right. So could this -- and -- and we should point out to folks at home that this test is being used in Europe right now. It hasn't been approved for use in the United States but should it get approved, perhaps -- perhaps as a virtue of the research that you've been doing, could people go in to their doctor and this would be as routine a test as -- as checking for as you said C-reactive protein and cholesterol, other markers for heart disease?
DE LEMOS: I do think that's exactly how it would work. It would be measured in the office setting along with those tests and it would detect a different component of cardiac problems than you detect with those tests and would lead doctors to initiate either further testing or some preventive therapies that could lower the risk.
ROBERTS: One particular catch -- one catch in particular -- potential catch at least is if somebody goes into the emergency room, thinking that they've had some sort of cardiac event and they do have low levels of troponin to begin with and you use this sensitive test on them, would -- would it make it perhaps difficult for doctors to determine whether this is an acute condition or a chronic condition?
DE LEMOS: That's an excellent point and I think that's a potential issue with this test that because so many individuals have detectable levels during daily life, sorting out when they come to the emergency room whether they're having a heart attack is going to be a bit more challenging with this sensitive test than with the -- the test we're currently using in practice.
ROBERTS: But it sure sounds very promising on the surface at least. We'll see where the research goes. Dr. James De Lemos, thanks for being with us. Congratulations on the research by the way.
DE LEMOS: Thanks for having me.
ROBERTS: All right.
CHETRY: Well, it wasn't Lassie to the rescue; it was Lassie who needs the rescuing. A dog takes a plunge on an icy pond and the owner almost followed. But we'll tell you how it all ended.
ROBERTS: Yes and extreme cold across the country; more ice and snow on the way through the weekend. The forecast just ahead. It's now 12 minutes to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Doesn't it just look cold out there when you check out the skies this morning in New York City? 28 degrees right now, going to a little bit above freezing, a high of 35 today.
ROBERTS: Well, paws through an icy pond. Take a look at this. What else, a golden retriever fell through the ice on a pond behind its owner's home in Indiana. The dog's owner tried to save it herself but couldn't. So the fire department sent in a diver who came to the rescue in the bitter cold. And look at that. The golden retriever back out, as intelligent as ever.
And it's going to be freezing again --
CHETRY: Poor thing. ROBERTS: -- in the Midwest. I -- I have golden retrievers for like the last 20 years. And a couple of mine went in the pond just like that.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Good thing they weren't not fast --
ROBERTS: Is it my fault? Is it my fault for -- for letting it go in the pond? Perhaps. But it's going to be very cold across the country today.
CHETRY: Yes and just try to keep your dogs off the ice. Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center for us this morning. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Six degrees right now in Indianapolis.
CHETRY: Yikes.
MARCIANO: So you know, at -- at that point, you know, lakes may be just frozen solid. So still you may want --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: It's too early to chance it.
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHETRY: We can wait until February.
MARCIANO: Keep -- keep the pups off the ice. Maybe the little ones you put in your -- in your bag maybe they'll be a little bit safer. But definitely cold, bring your pets inside. Take care of your pipes, the plants. You know it.
Twelve degrees right now in Chicago; it's four in Minneapolis. And St. Louis seeing 17 degrees so, everybody getting the cold air.
The Northeast, actually fairly mild with temperatures in the 20s. Ribbons of lake-effect snow showers continue to come off Erie and Ontario, especially. And we may see a few more inches pile up today between today and tomorrow morning. Still have lake-effect snow warnings in effect until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow and again it could see maybe of up to a foot in some spots on top what they've already seen.
Temperatures down across the south, very cold, teens and 20s getting in to the Deep South; well, we're getting a little bit of a moisture trying to get in through here. Very, very dry air, so even though the radar is showing of a potential of seeing maybe some snow in Montgomery and Atlanta, I don't think we'll see much more than a flurry. That is about it.
Here are some of the snow totals across parts of the northeast. Just for three-day -- three-day totals there, almost three feet in some spots. So it could always be worse. I know it's kind of chilly there in the Big Apple but not too shabby considering. John and Kiran back up to you.
ROBERTS: It could always be worse. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you guys.
CHETRY: Well, it's easy to lose track of how much you're spending during the holidays.
ROBERTS: So what about getting a wallet that cuts you off when you're out of money? We'll tell you about this coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning. She joins us now -- we were just chatting about this incredibly innovative gadget that she is about to --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: It has come to this.
ROBERTS: Everybody's got an incredible shrinking wallet --
CHETRY: Yes, exactly.
ROBERTS: This one actually snaps shut.
ROMANS: It does. This is something called a proverbial wallet that the scientists at MIT have come up with. Three different kinds of wallets that are meant to give -- let me have a second -- it processes -- oh gosh -- promotes ambient awareness of the users account balances and financial situation.
It is a scientific way -- ok. Let me just show you what they are. First of all, let's take the first one here, this one is the buzzing wallet called the Bumblebee. Every time -- it uses blue technology and every time there's a transaction it buzzes. If you do a big transaction, it actually buzzes a lot -- it's like a trip to Starbucks is a little buzz.
There's one that's hard to open called the Mother Bear. There's a hinge in the Mother Bear that as you have less money in your account, it gets harder and harder to open it up so that you can reach in and get your the credit cards out.
And there's also the peacock. The peacock actually shrinks and grows depending on what your financial situation is. So you have it in your pocket and you can feel it getting bigger and bigger. You say, "Oh, I'm going to -- I think I can go and buy something." It gets smaller, "Oh, I can't buy anything."
It's hysterical. It is basically artificial intelligence for your financial wherewithal for people who may not have the common sense. Obviously, it's just a concept that the scientists have pulled together. It's meant to show basically how to use something that they call haptick (ph) feedback.
But it says in our consumer culture, there's a disconnect between decisions and consequences. And so they made a wallet that will give you the financial --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: They're putting it that way because it's so easy to swipe. I mean it doesn't matter if you're spending $10,000 or $10, if you have a credit card, it's the same swipe. So they're sort of putting that back.
I mean if you had to carry $10,000 in bills instead of --
ROMANS: I know.
CHETRY: -- you can feel it.
ROMANS: You can feel how much money you have and what your situation is. I love the idea of using sort of this artificial way to feel how much money you have and that it has come to this that we don't have any kind of concept of how much money we have. Some people have these spread sheets where you can look on your phone at any moment to see what your net worth is. People obsessively do this, it's kind of the same sort of thing.
ROBERTS: That gives me an idea maybe for the taser credit card. When you go pull it out, it gives you a 10,000-volt shot.
ROMANS: A cattle prod shock. A jolt if you go too much into debt. I love that.
So the proverbial wallet, there you go. I prefer the buzzing one. I would like -- the Bumblebee would be the wallet that I would carry in my purse.
CHETRY: You know, the Peacock is a little freaky. I don't think it will make it past airport security.
ROMANS: Right. And there's a Jon Stewart joke and it's something about --
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: The guy with the -- ok.
ROMANS: Moving along. Moving along.
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
Thanks, Christine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Brand new aerospace flight could be just minutes away. Spacex's (ph) Falcon 9 rocket and dragon capsule now scheduled to lift off at 9:03 from the Kennedy Space Center. It would be the first commercial spacecraft to orbit the earth and return successfully. Liftoff was delayed from yesterday to fix a cracked nozzle in the rocket.
CHETRY: Wow. I love how much the NASA control tower looks like our control room. Same --
ROBERTS: Maybe we should get into the business of launching. We can launch them right out the top of the Time Warner.
CHETRY: Same brain thrust doing the same thing but one's TV and one's aeronautical engineering.
ROBERTS: There you go. Inherent dangers in both.
CHETRY: Exactly.
That's going to do it for us. We'll see you right back here bright and early tomorrow morning.
ROBERTS: "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now -- good morning, Kyra.
