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American Morning
Obama on a Roll; Korean Tensions Rise; Contaminated Water; Changes At Gitmo; Cady Coleman in Space; Fire on Chicago's South Side
Aired December 22, 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: Crossing the top of the hour. It's 8:00 Eastern on this Wednesday, the 22nd of December. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts. Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we're in the short half of the countdown now, aren't we? Three days to Christmas.
I'm Carol Costello, in for Kiran today. We have a lot to talk about.
Developing news out of the Korean Peninsula to tell you about: South Korea is holding more live fire military drills. It's also planning some massive drills for tomorrow. The exercises were planned last year and leaders say they are not a response to the North's deadly shelling of the island of Yeonpyeong.
ROBERTS: A state of emergency in effect in parts of southern Nevada. Here's something you don't hear very often. In Mesquite, some roads are completely un-passable because of floodwaters. Communities are working with emergency crews to protect vulnerable areas around the Virgin River, which is expected to crest today.
COSTELLO: And in just over an hour, President Obama is scheduled to sign the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," the military's ban on openly gay soldiers. And then it's all eyes on the Senate where there's a critical vote expected today on a new arms agreement with the Russians.
ROBERTS: First, repealing "don't ask, don't tell." For President Obama, it is a campaign promise kept even if it took him two years.
Our Dan Lothian live at the White House this morning.
And, Dan, dare we say it, the president appears to have his mojo back in the last couple of weeks.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And as you know, you pointed out that the president, really, this was part of his 2008 campaign agenda talking about he wanted to make sure that this was repealed. He repeated that again in the State of the Union address. But it took some time.
There was a lot of pressure from the left, from liberals who do not think that the president was moving quickly enough to get this repealed. The president countered by saying that he wanted to make sure that this was done carefully, that was done the right way.
And so, finally, the president after making a lot of phone calls, working with lawmakers up on Capitol Hill, will be able to get this done, will be signing it later this morning, a little bit more than an hour from now.
Critics, though, have been saying that this was going to impact combat readiness of the troops. They did not -- they felt that this would be disruptive. The president and the supporters of this said that what this will do is only strengthen national security.
So, as the president signs that repeal this morning, it will bring to an end what has been this 17-year policy, John, Carol.
ROBERTS: And, Dan, what's going on with the strategic arms reduction treaty and what's the president been doing trying to get it through?
LOTHIAN: He's been pushing very hard, working the phones this week, not only the president, but also the vice president. They also did the same thing over the weekend, as well, last weekend.
What were they doing? Well, even though there was so much information out there already, this had been debated and reviewed for months, White House officials saying that the president and the vice president wanted to still present whatever information was out there that could sway some of these skeptical lawmakers, and it appears that they were able to do that because by CNN's count, at least 11 Republican senators say that they will vote for the final treaty.
So, we expect that he will have another victory when it comes to that later today, John.
COSTELLO: So, the lame duck session, not so lame. Dan Lothian --
LOTHIAN: That's right.
COSTELLO: Dan Lothian live in Washington -- thanks.
Now, once the Senate votes today on the START Treaty, the next order of business is expected to be that 9/11 first responder health care bill. That would provide free medical care for hundreds of men and women who rushed to the Twin Towers on that terrible day and are now suffering health problems because of it, even nine years later.
The bill's price tag, by the way, $6.2 billion and the fast track it's on now has some Republicans balking, like Oklahoma's Republican Senator Tom Coburn. He says he will try to block it, claiming it's overly generous, that it fails to consider existing benefits and past payments to first responders. He also believes it will create a $3.2 billion health care entitlement while wasting $3 billion on unnecessary or duplicated compensation.
ROBERTS: Live fire military exercises on the Korean Peninsula would have the world -- or they have the world, rather, watching to see how North Korea is going to react.
COSTELLO: Those exercises planned last year. Leaders say they are not a response to the North's deadly shelling of the island of Yeonpyeong. Exercises earlier this week bringing both sides to the brink of war. The South is also planning additional drills tomorrow. The army says more than 800 military members will join in the exercises, as along with fighter jets and anti-tank missiles.
ROBERTS: Our Kyung Lah is live for us in Seoul, South Korea, this morning. She's been following all this.
And, no question, Kyung, this is serving to ratchet tensions even higher.
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, a lot of eyes, again, on the Korean Peninsula, John, as temperatures appear to be dropping down after those controversial drills on Monday. So, as you mentioned, these drills are extraordinarily large -- the largest winter air and land drills that this country has ever seen.
Now, the government is quick will point out that these were scheduled a year ago and, so, they do plan on moving forward. But certainly, this is a show of force. It is a message to North Korea. And just as we saw, again, temperatures starting to cool, concern is, is that this is going to make the Korean Peninsula hot again -- John, Carol.
ROBERTS: Kyung Lah for us this morning -- Kyung, thanks so much.
Well, if you've got a ski trip planned over the holidays, you're going to love this. In Colorado, another two to three feet is expected to hit the central mountains today. That is on top of the two to four feet that fell over the weekend. They're loving it in Steamboat Springs.
Take a look at that. Oh, yes, skiing through the trees. It's beautiful thing.
So far, it's snowed 17 days so far this month. It's going to be a banner Christmas holiday for people up there.
COSTELLO: So, the skiers are happy but a lot of people are not so happy this morning. Well, take a look at these pictures out of California.
Flash floods trapped this couple in their car in Carlsbad. That's a road. Emergency crews came to the rescue. They had to use a raft to help them to safety. Flash flood watch does remain in effect for the area this morning.
ROBERTS: Now, unfortunately, it's supposed to get worse before it gets better in California. Our Rob Marciano is in the weather center in Atlanta. He's got all the details about what's about to transpire over the next 24 hours.
What's up, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, think the rainfall rates when these storms come through, these thunderstorms come through, are going to be more intense than what we've seen and, unfortunately, flash flooding is going to be the main risk, along with mudslides and this part of the world, you know, the terrain is so rugged, gravity just works against you completely.
And now, the back end of the system, the thing that's been driving the whole bus is about to push through and you can kind of see it swinging through southern California right there. Already, it's producing upwards of 20 inches of rainfall in some spots across SoCal. There's Crestline, 20 inches right there; Bass Lake, 18 inches. Even in Utah, Nevada. So, we've seen flooding issues and mudslide issues across several states in the west with this particular storm.
All right. Now, San Francisco down to San Diego, for the first time this week, the entire West Coast really is pretty much solid with heavy rain, most of which is south of, say, Long Beach, getting down towards San Diego right now. But individual thunderstorms this afternoon could produce anywhere from two to four inches more snow and some of those red highlighted counties, already, some flash flood warnings around the Vegas area and just south of San Bernardino, as well.
If you are travelling today, Los Angeles and San Francisco, of course, you're going to be in the issues of the weather. Over an hour delay there expected. Denver, Houston and Charlotte, 30 to 60-minute delays. It's still blustery across the Northeast although relatively snowless; New York metros will see some delays, 30 to 60-minute there.
All right. Here's the forecast weather map for today. Relatively quiet across the eastern third. Record breaking temperatures yesterday in Dallas, highs over 80 degrees. They'll cool down to a chilly 64. Don't you feel horrible for those folks in Texas today?
That's been the hot spot all week long. Everybody will be -- most folks will be seasonably cool as we get towards the Christmas. So, even if your Christmas isn't white, it will, at least feel, you know, like you can wear one of those obnoxious sweaters and get in the spirit that way.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Or those nice scarves that relatives make you. It's like, what?
MARCIANO: Embrace it.
COSTELLO: Embrace it.
ROBERTS: We've got the Grinch over here on our left this morning.
COSTELLO: I meant that in a loving way.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Coming up: 88 straight wins. It seems like one of those sports record that would never be broken. That was then. This is now. The UConn women's basketball team, the Lady Huskies, making history with their 89th straight victory.
We're going to talk with a former UConn star who was there when the streak began.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A military video game "Call of Duty: Black Ops" has just topped the billion-dollar mark in sales. What, it's been out for six weeks? It's insane.
The manufacturer, which would be Activision, said users have collectively spent more than 600 million hours playing "Black Ops" since its release. The average player logging on more than one hour a day -- actually, they log on once a day and they play for more than one hour during each session.
ROBERTS: Pretty incredible.
Well, golfers, the next time you slice a drive into some else's fairway, you're not legally obligated to yell fore. A New York doctor took a friend to court after being hit in the eye saying he was negligent because he didn't yell "fore." A New York doc who took his friend to court after getting hit in the eye during a round of golf, he claimed his buddy was negligent because he didn't yell "fore."
Well, New York's court of appeals disagreed, ruling that golfers have to accept an inherent risk of being hit by a ball once they step on the first tee.
COSTELLO: He sued his friend, golfing buddy?
ROBERTS: Yes, you know?
COSTELLO: What a guy!
ROBERTS: Injury is injury.
COSTELLO: I guess so.
They make millions of us miserable every year. We're talking about those nasty sinus infections. We have to talk about that this morning. I'm sorry.
Some researchers are now suggesting a surprising way to avoid the pain rather. Humming. They say studies show humming keeps the air flowing between the sinus and naval cavities -- nasal cavities.
ROBERTS: You'd have to be humming from your diagram to get to that naval cavity.
COSTELLO: Sorry about. It's early.
Anyway, supposedly, humming when -- you know, when you create that vibration in there, will protect you against sinus infections. So, the next time you feel it coming on, just hum.
ROBERTS: Hum away. Yes.
Well, it could be the spiciest tweet you've ever heard. Victoria Beckham, aka, Posh Spice, tweeted, quote, "Loved having my Spice Girls home for dinner last night." The tweet has fans talking about another reunion tour for the pop group. There are rumors swirling that the group could be planning a stage musical called "Viva Forever." Spice Girls sold more than 80 million albums back in the 1990s.
COSTELLO: Coming up: 88 straight wins, it seems like one of those sports records that would never be broken. Well, that was then. This is now. UConn women's basketball team making history, 89 in a row! We'll talk with a former UConn star who was there when the streak began.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: California senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein demanding the EPA take action to protect the public from a suspected carcinogen in drinking water. A report this week found high levels of hexavalent chromium in the tap water of 31 cities across the country. The senators say they'll introduce legislation setting a deadline for the EPA to establish a standard for the chemical, also known as chromium-6.
The Obama administration wants to make a major change to procedures at Guantanamo Bay. Publish reports say advisers want to create something like a parole board to evaluate whether a prisoner can be safely transferred to another country. This proposal is different than a system used under the Bush administration because it would draw participants (ph) from many agencies, not just the military. There are 174 prisoners at the base right now. Forty-eight are being held indefinitely without trial.
ROBERTS: Seventeen minutes after the hour now. UCLA coach, John Wooden, was known as the wizard of Westwood. This morning, UConn women's head coach, Geno Auriemma may just be the sorcerer of stores (ph). His team made history last night winning their 89th straight game. The Huskies broke the record set by Wooden UCLA men's team back in the early 1970s.
Renee Montgomery starred on the UConn team that began the streak a couple of years ago. She's now a member of the WNBA's Connecticut Sun, and she joins us this morning from Charleston, West Virginia. Renee, it's great to see you this morning. Let me ask you, first of all, how does it feel to see this streak that you helped start a couple of years ago go into the record books?
RENEE MONTGOMERY, FORMER STAR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: It feels great. I mean, now that I'm watching and I'm a fan now, I kind of forget that I was a part of it, but just seeing them, I feel like a fan. I'm cheering, I'm sweating like I was playing because I'm so nervous for them, but thank goodness they've kind of won by a lot. So, I haven't had been worried about it.
ROBERTS: Yes, it was quite a game last night, 93-62 over Florida State. Do you think this is a bigger for the fans or for the players?
MONTGOMERY: I don't know. I think it's big for the fans and the players. I know that UConn, we have such a great history with our fans. They support us whether we have a good season or bad one. And for the players, it just shows a lot about focus and determination because, I mean, even though we have talent, it takes something else other than just talent to win 88 or 89 games in a row.
ROBERTS: After win 88, Coach Auriemma kind of let loose saying, I don't think that there would be as much attention on what's going on now if we were chasing a women's record. The fact that we're chasing a men's record has got a lot of people interested and has some people rooting against us. They wanted UCLA's record to stand. What do you think?
MONTGOMERY: I think that I'm surprised it took him so long to let loose. I was expecting that a long time ago, but I do agree. I a lot of people are surprised that a women's team can break a men's record, and also, you know, John Wooden is thought of in a high in aspect, and I'm glad that coach could break the record because he belongs in that class.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, you know, Coach Wooden's grandson, I guess, was at the game.
MONTGOMERY: Yes.
ROBERTS: And he remarked that Coach Wooden would have really appreciated what the Huskies did. That he believed that women play the game in the way that it's supposed to be played. Do you agree with that? And what's the difference?
MONTGOMERY: I do. And I think that people that know basketball understand how hard it is no matter what sport you're playing to break that type of record. So, for his grandson to come out all the way from the West Coast and support the streak that's going on and to show that they are proud of what's going on, I mean, it says a lot because people that are John Wooden fans are torn. They don't know whether to cheer for us because we're breaking the record or what to do. So, for him to show up and show his support, it means a lot.
ROBERTS: Well, Renee, break down what he said for me that the women's game is more true to the original form of basketball than the men's game is now.
MONTGOMERY: I think they say that because women, we still have to rely on fundamentals. You know, men, and a lot of times, they're so athletic that, you know, if they throw a bad pass, someone is athletic enough to catch it or they throw an ally hoops and they're dunking. They're playing above the rim a lot of times that women, we have to support each other. We have to rely on each other to play a team game rather than just a one-on-one basketball style.
ROBERTS: So, that holds true, of course, unless you're Mia Moore.
(LAUGHTER)
MONTGOMERY: Yes. She can play above the rim at times.
ROBERTS: I'll tell you, yes, she got 41 points. It's a shame she didn't contribute last night. Forty-one points in the win. And I was fascinated. Unfortunately, we don't have video to show you here, but ESPN's Sport Science Program did an analysis of her game. They found that she can jump 26 inches which is just two inches off of the NBA average of 28 inches. And that she can pass off a pass in milliseconds. Faster even in the strike of a rattlesnake. Is she a real phenomenon?
MONTGOMERY: You know, I watched her every day in practice, and sometime, I be like, wow, she's good. You know, like you just -- when you practice with someone every day, you kind of get used to their game, but she just does things that surprises me, and especially, in the games.
It seems like, you know, you see her practice. Within the game, she takes her game to whole another level. You know, like, wow, this girl, she's the real deal. You know, you hear about people, but then, you want to see it yourself. Oh, I got to see it for a couple of years, so I know. She's -- it's true.
ROBERTS: Did you think, perhaps, she has a future in the WNBA?
MONTGOMERY: Perhaps. I think she will be the number one pick in the draft. I don't even think they should start the clock, (ph), they should just announce it and then go straight to the number two pick.
ROBERTS: No question. She's great player. Hey, you've got a T- shirt on this morning. Tell us what it says on the front and back.
MONTGOMERY: I do. It says records are meant to be broken on the front. On the back, it says Husky nation. I think it's obvious reason why I said that, but I made the shirts a while ago and I'm telling people, I'm like, you know, everyone was worried about the Baylor game and Ohio state's good, and I do think both of those teams, they're great.
Baylor, I mean, it went down to the buzzer. I'm telling you, I was sweating when that happened, but I still -- you know, I still felt strongly that the record was going to get. So, I made this shirt and they've caught on a lot. A lot of people have gotten them already. I saw a couple at the game, so it's exciting. ROBERTS: Let me just ask you this. Records are meant to be broken, and that includes the women's basketball team record that you just said of 89. How long do you think that's going to stand for? Is there anybody who's even within striking distance?
MONTGOMERY: You know, there's a lot of good team this year. A lot of people are talking about how the talent level has dropped, and, you know, I don't think that's necessarily true. As you saw, Baylor, it was a tough game. We barely got out there with a win, and we have Stamford coming up. I mean, Stamford is always a hard team to play against.
They're disciplined, and they don't make mistakes. So, I don't necessarily know if you can just think that we're going to just run to the finish line, and I have any hard games. I'm pretty sure that there's going to be some tough games, but I think that they can keep the street going.
COSTELLO: Renee, this is Carol Costello. I was just wondering, the game for UConn was a sellout. I mean, it was a sellout, and you don't see that many times in women's basketball games.
MONTGOMERY: Right.
COSTELLO: I just wonder what the streak means to women's sports overall.
MONTGOMERY: I think to women's sports overall the attention that it's getting, whether -- whether or not the reason for the attention is good or bad, a lot of people are saying, you know, maybe the tension is because we're only breaking the men's record or because people are watching to wait for us to lose, but whatever their reason is, they're watching the game, and they're recognizing that OK, these girls can play.
So, I don't know what people's reason is or motives for watching the game, but no matter what, they're still in front of the television, and they're watching women's basketball. So, to me, I think, that's an accomplishment in itself.
ROBERTS: And play they can and the streak continues, too, you know? They're at 89. Who knows where it will end. Renee Montgomery, great to talk to you this morning. Thanks so much for joining us.
MONTGOMERY: All right. Thank you for having me.
ROBERTS: You bet.
COSTELLO: She was awesome.
Recovering from the recession, will it be men or women that will come out on top once the economy finally rebounds? Our Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business." She joins us now, and we're climbing slowly out of the recession.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We are.
COSTELLO: So, who will come out on top? Men, women?
ROMANS: Well, we call it the he session or the man session because the recession is hitting men hard than it's hit women because they were traditionally in housing, construction, manufacturing, these jobs that we've lost. Those have been dominated by men. But women it turns out are more likely to come out on top as the economy starts to recover.
Bank of America economist in (INAUDIBLE) Bloomberg news fascinating saying that women will recover faster than men as the U.S. economy rebounds. Why? Well, look at it right here. The male unemployment rate is 10 percent. This is the most recent number from the November jobs report. Women is 8.4 percent. Ethan Harris and that Bank of America noting that the gap has never been that wide.
You've never had such a widespread like that. Women are in careers like health care, education. These are areas that are adding a lot of jobs. Women have the majority of nine of the ten fields the labor department says will be the fastest growing over the next eight years. Women more are getting degrees more than they have at any other time. Women earn a majority of the doctoral degrees, the master's degrees, the bachelor degrees.
And we know that if you have at least a bachelor's degree, the unemployment rate is 4.6 percent. We also know that the economy that is replacing the old manufacturing export-based economy of the 1980s and 1990s, the economy is something that favors science, technology, engineering, math, things that require degrees. So, you have women here. They call it in this note, the long on women trade.
You know, you're long on a stock. Well, that the economy is long on women here right now, and in this Bank of America note, they're actually recommending certain kinds of stocks and areas to be invested in based on the fact that women also control the purse strings of the household's --
COSTELLO: You're making it sound very sad for men.
ROMANS: Oh, I don't mean to be -- men had it good for so many years, girl.
COSTELLO: Screw (ph) them.
ROMANS: No.
ROBERTS: We had our time.
ROMANS: No, no, no. Seriously, women still earn less, 79 or 80 cents on a dollar to a man. There's a couple of reasons for that. Ethan Harris in this note points out that there are interruptions for child care. There still is discrimination in the work place or -- reasons why women are still behind for some -- there are still problems. I'm not saying the women are coming out glowing here, and now, the superpowers of the economy.
I'm just saying that jobs that are being created and the way -- the places where the economy's starting to move forward on the jobs front it looks as though women seem to be positioned for whatever reasons in those areas. We talked here on the program about the rise of the power wives. You know that a larger share of women now are outearning their husbands than any time since women joined the workforce.
ROBERTS: And that hold dynamic. It's affecting relationships as well.
ROMANS: And the rate of marriage. And one thing to think of, too, is that for men, there was the steppingstone of the manufacturing job, the factory job, and women were kind of left out of that to a large degree. So, women went to teaching and health care in the like. Those are the areas --
ROBERTS: Wise choices in the long run.
ROMANS: Well, in the long run, it turns out that women kipped the part of the economy that's actually being shipped overseas.
ROBERTS: Yes.
ROMANS: And so, women have managed to avoid from that outsourcing and offshoring.
COSTELLO: And we can play basketball, too.
ROMANS: I know. Well, I personally am not very good at basketball, unfortunately, but --
ROBERTS: Which is surprising given your height.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: I know.
COSTELLO: She's 6'5".
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: Just kidding.
ROMANS: In heels.
COSTELLO: Yes. It's just about 30 minutes past the hour.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: It's time for this morning's top stories. A state of emergency in effect in parts of Southern Nevada and Mesquite. Some roads are completely unpassable because of flood waters. Communities working with emergency crews to protect vulnerable areas around the Virgin River. That river is expected to crest today.
ROBERTS: South Korea holding more live fire military drills today. The drills were planned last year, and leaders say they are not a response to the North's deadly shelling of the island of Yeonpyeong. Tomorrow's exercises are expected to be some of South Korea's largest ever.
COSTELLO: And later today, the Senate may vote on a $6.2 billion 9/11 first responder health care bill that would provide free medical care for hundreds of men and women who rushed to the Twin Towers on 9/11 and suffering from health problems because of it.
ROBERTS: In just over 30 minutes' time, President Obama is scheduled to sign the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," the military's ban on openly gay soldiers.
COSTELLO: And not long after that he'll be heading to Hawaii to join his wife and kids for a little R and R. Our Ed Henry is already in Hawaii and he paid a visit to Pearl Harbor and found two gay veterans saying they're waiting a long time for "don't ask, don't tell" to go away.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John and Carol, we came here to Pearl Harbor to gauge reaction to the presidents historic signing of the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" and we found two gay veterans living in this state who said there are gays buried in military cemeteries all around the world, maybe even some entombed in the wreckage of the USS Arizona there behind who are finally getting some recognition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Jeff Cadavona and Dale Head served in the U.S. military long before "don't ask, don't tell." Back then, gay people were simply banned from serving and Jeff who was in the air force and not open about the sexuality said it was like being hunted.
JEFF CADAVONA, RETIRED U.S. AIR FORCE: When I was in the military in the '60s, that -- that hammer over you for being openly gay, if they found you out, they'll kick you right out.
HENRY: Dale, who was in the army, simply gave up and did not reenlist.
DALE HEAD, RETIRED U.S. ARMY: The reason I got out down in Hawaii was I had to make a decision whether to live a double life as so many do in the military, or be honest about it and just get out.
HENRY: Most of the straight veterans we spoke to at Pearl Harbor sympathetic to the plight of the gay comrades. Lee Hall, a veteran of the Korean War, said there were some in his unit who did not like serving with gays, but he says it never affected operations.
HENRY (on camera): And you think that will be justice served for people who have been kind of having to keep their sexuality secret? LEO HOLL, RETIRED U.S. ARMY: I think so. I think so. You know, those people are -- they're soldiers, sailors, or marines first, you know. And they do what they're told just like the rest of us did.
HENRY (voice-over): A long time coming for Jeff and Dale.
HEAD: I thought it would come sooner.
CADAVONA: Yes.
HEAD: But it's here now so --
CADAVONA: We're happy.
HEAD: It's very pleasing to live long enough to see it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: I came here to Pearl Harbor expecting to find more people opposed to the repeal. But we spoke to veterans and nonveterans of all ages and saying it was a long time coming and would have happened sooner expect for politics. John, Carol?
COSTELLO: And the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" not just paving the way for gay Americans to serve their country. It's also the beginning of a new era for military recruiters on at least one elite college campus.
The president of Harvard now welcoming the ROTC back to campus. The decision ends a decade standoff that dates back to the Vietnam War. Harvard's president says the "don't ask, don't tell" policy was the final barrier to reinstating military recruiters.
In fact, members of the ROTC had to take classes off the campus and couldn't graduate with their uniforms on. But I guess that's all about to change.
By the way, the president's scheduled to sign the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" at 9:15 eastern, and you can watch that ceremony live here on CNN.
ROBERTS: When a major bomb plot broken up in England this week and 12 suspects taken into custody, it seems America's top intelligence officer was in the dark. James Clapper, the director of the Department of National Intelligence was being interviewed by ABC's Diane Sawyer on Monday and hours after the arrests had not only taken place but had been widely reported on news stations around the world including CNN.
But when Sawyer asked Clapper about the plot, he seemed a little bit out of the loop. Here's an excerpt of Sawyer's interview that aired last night on ABC's "World News Tonight."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DIANE SAWYER, ABC NEWS: How serious is it? Any implication it was coming here? Any of the things they have seen were coming here? Director Clapper?
JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: You read the arrests of the --
SAWYER: The arrest of the 12 --
CLAPPER: -- by the British this morning. This is something they informed us about early this morning was taking place.
SAWYER (voice-over): Later in the interview, I came back to the director. Did he really not know?
SAWYER (on camera): I was a little surprised you didn't know about London, Director Clapper.
CLAPPER: I'm sorry. I didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Sawyer's staff gave Clapper 24 hours to provide a follow-up explanation. He put out a statement, quote, "The question about the specific news development was ambiguous. The DNI's knowledge of the threat streams in Europe is profound and multi- dimensional, and any suggestion otherwise is inaccurate."
COSTELLO: London?
ROBERTS: It's a lovely place in the wintertime.
COSTELLO: Exactly. A lot of people are stranded there because they're -- anyway.
Coming up, the most expensive show ever on Broadway, also, the most troubled. The question everyone is asking now, is "Spiderman" the musical too dangerous to go on? We'll talk "The New York Post's" theater writer just ahead.
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ROBERTS: At the cost of $65 million, "Spiderman, Turn off the Dark" is truly Broadways high wire act, and it seems what can go wrong has gone wrong.
COSTELLO: That's an understatement. Just this week, actor Chris Tierney was seriously injured in a fall during a preview performance. There he is on the stretcher there. He is the fourth actor to be injured in this production which is fraught with technical and financial problems.
With all of that, how the heck does the show go on? Joining us now is Michael Riedel, theater and arts writer for "The New York Post." Thank you for coming in.
MICHAEL RIEDEL, "NEW YORK POST" THEATER AND ARTS WRITER: Good morning. Nice to be here.
ROBERTS: Good to see you.
COSTELLO: You have seen one of the preview shows.
RIEDEL: I was at the historic first disastrous preview, which was almost four hours. Stopped and started six times, I think. And I'll never forget the image of kid playing Spiderman. He was supposed to fly to the top of the theater, over the heads of the audience in a big climatic, dramatic moment. And he did 15 feet and then dangled there and playing imaginary guitar.
And three rather large stagehands came out and were just kind of trying to grab his heel. And I thought, for $65 billion million you get a guy in a costume playing an air guitar.
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ROBERTS: Where else do you get that? Maybe "American Idiot."
RIEDEL: Right.
COSTELLO: I was going to say, so is this hopeless? The more serious issue is some of the actors, especially Mr. Tierney, is seriously injured and in the hospital.
ROBERTS: Is the thing too dangerous? You had another actor who broke two wrists.
RIEDEL: We've had four injuries already. You've got a kid that broke the foot in rehearsals, a kid who broke both wrists. And then the first preview, Natalie Mendoza, one of the stars in the show, got hit in the head with a cable, suffered a concussion. And now you have the most serious injury of all, this kid Chris Tierney, the aerialist with broken ribs, intensive care, internal bleeding.
I am hearing from my friends involved in the show and actors that work on Broadway but not in this show, real concerns about what their union and what the state labor inspectors are doing to ensure that the show is safe.
All of the stunts were passed on by union officials and by state labor people here in New York and they were Okayed. And since then you have had these two accidents. And I know the show's canceled for this afternoon, the matinee, but they're going to try to go up tonight. Inspectors are going through everything again, but I can tell you that tonight when those kids are harnessed in and start flying, they're going to be very nervous and tentative.
ROBERTS: You can imagine they're not going for the stunts with the same sort of confidence as before.
RIEDEL: It's interesting -- the audience they are getting now, this is a bit ghoulish but it's true. The box office is through the roof. People are now going to see a train wreck, you know? I think there are kids going to see the show and think it's like that "Jackass" movie where the people doing the crazy stunts to injure themselves. And tonight I bet you'll see people getting out the video cell phone cameras all ready to get them.
ROBERTS: They're coming for the car crashes. If you're superstitious, and people on Broadway are, which is why you never say have a good show, you say "break a leg," going back to 2005, Tony Adams, the original producer of this, was over at the edges, the guitar player for U2, he and Bono wrote the place for this, he was at his place to get the contract signed, had a stroke and died in the hospital.
RIEDEL: Yes, Tony, who I must say was a friend of mine and a very experienced producer. He produced all of Blake Edwards movies, "The Pink Panther" movies, a great guy, and this was his idea. It was his dream. Signed up Bono at the Edges and Julie Thaynor to direct the show. And he was at the Edges apartment and dropped dead of a massive heart attack right on the Edges kitchen table. And that began the saga of this show.
What happened was Tony's lawyer, an incompetent producer named David Garfinkel (ph), got hold of "Spiderman" and a year ago turned out he was supposed to raise $45 million. He barely raised that and the checks bounced on the people that worked on the production. That threw the show into financial limbo.
Bono called in a friend. And Michael was walking in with his girlfriend to a Nancy restaurant in Spain and it was Bono. And Bono said, my house is on fire, you have to put out the fire. And he brought Michael to New York and he raised the money, now $65 million to get the show up.
So you have had this financial chaos for a long time. And now alongside of it you have this production chaos. You have a show that doesn't run properly.
COSTELLO: Let me ask you this, because it is disturbing thinking about the show going on even though the actor seriously injured and is in the hospital with internal injuries. Why not cancel this show for a while? Why not some state authority come in, cancel the show until they fix the problems before someone dies?
RIEDEL: Yes. It's a very good question. You know, the state labor people said they don't have the authorization to shut down this private enterprise. Equity in a severe case could say we feel it's unsafe for our members to perform the show. They have not said that yet. The official line is that the show goes on tonight and Thursday and through the weekend.
To be cynical about it, there's a lot of money on the table here. The show set to gross well over $1 million dollars next year. The box office is going through the roof because of all the publicity. I think in the long run they will never recoup $65 million. The who is too expensive to be profitable.
But right now you get a sense they want to grab as much money as they can in the glare of the spotlight.
COSTELLO: And in the meantime people are getting hurt and in the hospital. It's unbelievable.
RIEDEL: I've been covering Broadway for 20 years and I've never seen a train wreck this epic size.
ROBERTS: Michael, great to see you this morning.
RIEDEL: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thank you.
What is coming up next? I don't know.
ROBERTS: It's been a rough week of weather in California.
COSTELLO: Oh, that.
ROBERTS: It may actually be getting worse. Your extreme weather update is coming up next.
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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Oh, it's a beautiful day in Atlanta this morning, isn't it? Actually, it is beautiful when you take a look at the temperature; 59 degrees right now. I'll take that.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Later on today, though, it's only going to be 58.
COSTELLO: Oh well, gee.
ROBERTS: So things will go downhill from here.
Rob Marciano at the Extreme Weather Center in Atlanta for us this morning with a look at the weather across the country and all eyes on California today.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. No, this storm will eventually be moving off to the east but the back half of it, the kicker are the parent storm, the thing that's been driving the series of storms and the -- the tropical moisture from -- from Hawaii is now beginning to kick through and as that happens, things will begin to change somewhat over the next 12 hours.
In the meanwhile, we have one, two, three states; California, Utah and Nevada that have seen rainfall totals over a foot. Here is what it'll look like in Mesquite, Nevada, yesterday where -- there's a state of emergency there.
Normally an area, that's you know, you go there on vacation. You go play golf. You do that kind of thing but you get a -- a little bit of rainfall there and it does a whole lot of damage. State of emergency for Clark County, and you can see those homes flooded there.
All right, here's where the rain is right now. And again, from San Francisco down to San Diego, are pretty much solid. We'll get into an area later on this morning and this afternoon where it will become a little bit more sporadic but then the instability comes in. We could see some thunderstorms which may become severe, not only in the form of heavy downpours which could cause some flash flooding but maybe some rotation causing maybe a tornado or two.
So two to four inches of additional rainfall on top of what we've already seeing. Of course, that will be snow across part of the mountains; one to three feet across the Wasatch. Two to four feet expected additionally across the higher terrains of the Colorado Rockies and in most cases ski resorts have received anywhere from three to four feet already in these areas. Not mentioning Mammoth which has seen 15 feet.
There you go. And then these unofficial reports, where people don't even go here this time of year. These are automated stations; 204 inches of snow, the Mammoth Mountain seeing 186 -- 15 and a half feet of snowfall there.
All right. Eastern half of the country not too shabby, we are breezy across the north east. The weather across in -- really in New York hasn't change a whole lot the past couple of weeks; 38 degrees for the expected high temperature. It was 85 yesterday in Dallas.
I do want to point out what this storm is going to do. Our forecast is for it to scoot across the southern tier states, maybe take a little bit more of a southern track so the hopes or fears of seeing a tremendous snowstorm for the northeast and New England over Christmas, right now our models are trending a little bit further to the south which would skunk you guys as far as the snow is concerned.
But computers are off, usually it helps for this storm to actually get over the Rockies first and then the computers will nail it down. So there's still hope for Baltimore maybe to get an inch of snow.
COSTELLO: No, no, I want to be skunked.
MARCIANO: Nothing like being skunked on Christmas.
COSTELLO: I want to be skunked in this thing. Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
COSTELLO: Ever wonder what it's like to travel to space? Well, we just asked astronaut Cady Coleman. She's been on board the International Space Station since last week. We'll have her answer for you -- next.
ROBERTS: First thing, bad hair day.
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ROBERTS: It's seven minutes now to the top of the hour.
308,745,538 and counting -- the initial results of the 2010 census show the U.S. population has grown nearly 10 percent over the past decade to nearly 309 million people. The census also reveals a population shift to the south and the west. As a result, eight states including Florida and Texas are going to gain seats in Congress. And ten states including New York and Ohio are going to lose them.
COSTELLO: We've been tracking her for months and now that astronaut Cady Coleman is finally in space, we decided to find out firsthand what it's really like up there. Cady blasted off last week on board a Russian Soyuz rocket leaving her husband and 10-year-old son behind for six months.
Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we asked her if expectations of space travel lived up to reality.
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CADY COLEMAN, ASTRONAUT: You know, I've gotten so I feel actually right at home here. I think it's just like any other place and then sometimes there are things that remind me that we are in space. Like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, you have --
COLEMAN: Every second of it really is -- and I think so few people get to come up here and we feel so lucky. And, you know, I've gotten so I actually think it's normal to open up my little cabin and you know float down the lab and eat breakfast. And I just -- I think it's an amazing place.
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COSTELLO: So cute. I like it that she -- she has a little stuffed tiger that she took from her son --
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ROBERTS: Yes.
COSTELLO: -- to remind her of her son and she keeps him on a leash so she won't lose him.
ROBERTS: And you know, they're allowed to bring two pounds worth of personal effects up into space and the only thing that she brought was she brought this very expensive flute that was given to her by a member of the chieftains.
So she's hopefully --
COSTELLO: And she's going to play it in space, John. There you go. ROBERTS: -- going to take that out and play it in space. She hasn't had an opportunity to yet but she will. She's got six months there. So --
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COSTELLO: Sure.
ROBERTS: There'll be some time for personal exploration I would think.
Coming up, a spontaneous eruption of holiday cheer, Jeanne Moos takes -- has her take on those flash mobs for the holiday season.
It's 55 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: And just before the top of the hour, we've got some breaking news and some unbelievable pictures to show you this morning. This is out of Chicago where just before 7:00 Central Time a massive fire broke out in a building, there was a collapse.
Initially it was believed four firefighters were trapped in that building. Now, it's down to two and frantic rescue efforts under way to try to reach those two trapped firefighters.
COSTELLO: Well, you see all those firefighters there. Initially the call was to come and fight this fire in this abandoned brick building which is apparently on East 75th Street in Chicago.
They thought four firefighters were trapped inside. They -- they sent out a mayday call. More firefighters were called in. They managed to rescue two of the trapped firefighters but as you can see, they're still working to rescue two more.
Well, it's frigid in Chicago; 23 degrees.
ROBERTS: Yes, it's only 23 degrees this morning.
COSTELLO: They're having problems with frozen hydrants which is slowing them down. You know, it's hard enough to fight a fire in frigid temperatures without the problem of frozen hydrants.
ROBERTS: We have seen them bringing in some of their rescue equipment in there trying to cut through the debris to try to get to them; also, trying to lift off pieces. Saw one fellow with something that looked a little bit like a jackhammer trying to move through a couple of things.
In a situation like this, obviously, time is of the essence because of a number of different factors; heat, potential lack of oxygen. If they had gone inside the building, they most likely would have been wearing a respirator. There's a chance though that they're out of air or the respirator mask has been knocked off. COSTELLO: And most likely it's an older building. It's a brick building which meant part of it probably collapsed. So who knows if they're trapped under debris inside that building which would make things much more difficult for firefighters.
ROBERTS: All right. So this is a story that we're going to keep watching for you this morning as things unfold as you can imagine. Because it's only been under way now for, oh, probably about an hour --
COSTELLO: Call went out at 6:54 a.m. Chicago time.
ROBERTS: Right. So that was just an hour ago. We are going to keep following this. Information will start to trickle in over the next little while.
Let's hand it off, in fact, to our colleague Kyra Phillips, who's in the "NEWSROOM" in Atlanta -- good morning Kyra.
