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American Morning
Crude Video Controversy; GOP House Versus Obama; iPhone Alarm Glitch; Deadly Monsoon Rains in Australia; Frigid Weather Storming into Southern California; Weight Loss for Food Lovers; Broadway Stunt Safety
Aired January 03, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and happy 2011. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Our first AMERICAN MORNING of this new year. It is Monday, January 3rd . I'm Jim Acosta.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us, this morning.
We have a lot to talk about today, so let's get right to it. First a developing story out of the Pentagon. We're waiting to get reaction this morning, after a U.S. Navy -- the U.S. Navy has a series of videos that are out, they're now looking into it. It shows some behavior that's questionable aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S Enterprise. On these tapes it features sailors on camera, in raunchy scenes with sexual content, in some cases, gay slurs. Top officers aboard not only knew about it, but at least one of them -- as you can see from the videotapes -- was behind it.
ACOSTA: Frigid winter weather storming into southern California. Heavy snow and high winds forcing the shutdown of a major interstate. And more snow is on the way.
CHETRY: Also, President Obama is returning to a new reality in Washington this week. He's entering 2011 with a new Republican House of Representatives. Congress people promising to pick apart the health care law. We're live in Washington with a look at the battles that could be shaping up this year.
ACOSTA: And as Kiran mentioned, just a few moments, a developing story this morning -- the U.S. Navy trying to explain lewd and crude conduct aboard an aircraft carrier in the war zone.
CHETRY: Navy brass now looking into the series of raunchy videos produced at sea and then shown to the crew of the USS Enterprise. The man behind them is now the ship's commanding officer.
Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us live this morning with more on what's going on.
Hey, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to both of you. Look, think of it this way -- what if this was your workplace and this man was your boss and you were out to sea for six months, isolated from home. When a carrier goes to sea, the commanding officer, his word is law. That man is now under investigation, the man, Captain Owen Honors, under investigation for these activities back in 2006 and 2007 when he was number two in command of the Enterprise and they deployed to the war zone.
A number of videos made and shown to the ship's crew of 5,000 -- Honors appears in them repeatedly. He is said to be behind it all. The videos show cursing, anti-gay slurs, simulated medical exams, simulated sex activity. We're not going to show you that, but we did clean up some so you can see what we're talking about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This evening, all of you bleeding hearts and you (EXPLETIVE DELETED), why don't you go ahead and hug yourselves for the next 20 minutes or so because there's a really good chance you're going to be offended tonight.
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's he talking about.
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just (EXPLETIVE DELETED) can't get that. Finally, let's get to my favorite topic and something foreign to the gay kid over there, chicks in the shower. This is certainly the most popular video of any of the actual movie videos. It's also the one that's landed me with the most complaints.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: After all the scandals of recent years in the U.S. military, how could somebody do this? How could this still happen? That's what the Navy is now investigating.
But it goes further than that. There were other senior officers on board who must have known, it's believed, that these videos were shown over the ship's closed circuit TV system, what did they know, what did they say, what was the command environment on board the Enterprise that made anybody think this was a good idea, were any of the ship's crew coerced into participating in any of this. This is all now under investigation by the Navy -- Kiran, Jim.
ACOSTA: Yes. And, Barbara, it's just starting to think that somebody thought this was a good idea not to excuse the behavior, but to put it on tape, where it could be preserved and used against them at a later date. I mean, that to me is the stunning part or one of the stunning parts.
What is the Navy having to say about this right now?
STARR: Yes. You know, I think almost everyone is just shaking their head in disbelief to use the most polite expression. Originally, when the Navy was queried by "The Virginia-Pilot" newspaper which had the videos, the Navy had not viewed them. So, they issued a statement saying, quote, "That the videos were not created with the intent to offend any one. The videos were intended to be humorous skits."
But a Navy official tells us then-top commander saw the videos, saw what they were dealing with, ordered an investigation, and issued a new statement saying, quote, "Production of videos like the ones produced four to five years ago on USS Enterprise were not acceptable then and are still not acceptable in today's Navy. The Navy does not endorse or condone any of these kinds of actions."
Worth remembering, when the Enterprise was on deployment when all of this happened, there were soldiers, marines, tens of thousands of troops in the war zone, fighting, dying, getting wounded while some of these people on board this aircraft carrier were doing this -- Jim, Kiran.
ACOSTA: Barbara Starr, live at the Pentagon -- thanks, Barbara.
CHETRY: Thanks so much, Barbara.
Well, snow on New York City streets now replaced by piles and piles of garbage waist high.
ACOSTA: Like a blizzard of trash.
CHETRY: Exactly. Well, first, there -- and there's a picture of it. I mean, that's what it looks like in many areas of New York because the sanitation crews were, of course, busy trying to shovel out the snow. Well, they are resuming garbage collection today. While the city focused on snow removal, the trash just simply piled up.
But there is a silver lining. Police say that a man, he was disturbed, he jumped nine stories out of his building in an apparent suicide attempt and he survived because he landed on soft piles of trash.
ACOSTA: Flooding at a factory in Billings, Montana, causing a wet mess in the streets. Crews are working to clean up the waste water that poured out from a sugar cooperative. Police say the water is mixed with calcium carbonate and sugar beat pulp. Factory officials say it is not hazardous.
CHETRY: And sunny California, southern California at least is anything but these days. They got another blast of winter weather, creating a traffic nightmare Sunday. Snow and high winds forcing a major highway, Interstate 5, the area known as the Grapevine, to shut down. More than 100 vehicles ended up stranded.
ACOSTA: The weather's not always great in southern California, I guess.
CHETRY: No. ACOSTA: Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center.
That is a mess over there.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
CHETRY: And then last week, they were dealing with all of that flooding, the aftermath of the mudslides. What a mess.
MARCIANO: Yes, it's been a couple of weeks of not so nice southern California weather. That's for sure. And we continue that today.
Here are more video out of that area, just north of L.A., on the I-5, heading over the mountains there. Santa Clarita, between 1,500 and 2,000 feet, that was enough to, you know, get snow on the palms there. Even get the kids out there, make snowmen and pop a couple of golf balls in there for the accessories.
All right. More rain and snow expected today. And then we're going to move this thing out. But it continues to drench some of those hillsides that don't need anymore water, again, drying trend beginning tonight with snow at the higher elevations, winter storm warnings post-snow and lake-effect snow warnings are out for Upstate New York, because of lake-effect snows.
Places north of Syracuse expected to get it today, maybe some flurries down across the Big Apple. More seasonable temperatures today as compared to what you saw New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and yesterday. And the snow that was on the ground creating a bit of a fog issue yesterday morning, that's not the case today because it is cooler.
Little storm system rolling across the Midwest and upper Great Lakes, western Great Lakes, this isn't going to be too big of an issue. We don't have warnings or watches with this thing. But it will dump a little fresh coating of snow across places like Minneapolis, maybe Chicago, as well.
But a welcome break for folks east of the Mississippi, mostly sunny skies in places like New Orleans, Atlanta, which had their little snow scare and white Christmas. And now, things are getting back to normal -- at least for now. Stormy pattern kind of reinstates itself to get towards the end of the week. So, enjoy this couple of days break.
Jim and Kiran, back up to you.
CHETRY: All right. Rob Marciano for us, tell you to get a little bit of a break -- thanks so much.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: Well, coming back to a different Congress, President Barack Obama returns home this week after enjoying a vacation in Hawaii. And the new Republican Congress will be aiming to unravel some key victories of his first two years, including health care.
ACOSTA: The president is starting off 2011 a lot like he started 2010, tackling stubbornly high unemployment.
Dana Bash is live in Washington this morning -- and jobs may be issue number one. But there's going to be some gridlocks standing in the way come just a few days from now. The president may wish that he had gotten more golf in Hawaii earlier this week.
Hi, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. Well, he's going to be up against a well-known golfer, and that is new -- the person who is going to be the new speaker of the House, that is going to happen on Wednesday -- of course, talking about John Boehner. And after, Jim and Kiran, the House -- the new House Republicans actually vote for him as the speaker -- they are going to approve a new set of rules. And most of these are direct response to the anger and frustration with Washington that Republicans say helped put them in the majority.
Here are examples. No tax hikes can be used to pay for increases in mandatory spending. Legislation must be public, online for three days before the House votes on it. Every bill -- every bill must include proof that it has constitutional authority. That's an add by the way to Tea Party activists who say that Congress doesn't do enough to focus on the Constitution.
And on that note, you guys, for the first time in history -- the first time in history, on the House floor, the Constitution will be read aloud on Thursday, the second day in session.
ACOSTA: And, Dana, I mean -- I think one of the goals we're going to see for the Republicans I think, you heard predictions I'm sure as we heard predictions, is that they are going to try -- the Republicans are going to try to go after health care reform and pass a repeal bill before his State of the Union address. I mean, there is serious talk about this.
BASH: There is serious talk about it. It is absolutely an early priority to try. And emphasize try. Listen to what Fred Upton said yesterday. He is the incoming Republican chairman of the energy and commerce committee. That is the committee that has jurisdiction over health care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. FRED UPTON (R), MICHIGAN: Early on, in fact, prior to the president's State of the Union address, you're going to see a vote to repeal health care in the House. And I'm convinced that not only will you have all of the 242 Republican vote for it, you will have a significant number of Democrats as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BASH: Now, here's the reality check. Even if he is right, that there are enough votes to override a presidential veto in the House, there almost surely will not be in the Senate. That's why, ultimately, Republican sources say their strategy is death by 1,000 cuts. Jim and Kiran, that means that their best bet is to try to defund key parts of the law and make it hard for the administration to implement.
ACOSTA: All right.
CHETRY: Tough job ahead. We'll see what happens. I mean, you know, we always talk about this when gridlock happens. I mean, are they really doing the best job for the American people. We'll have to wait and see.
Thanks, Dana.
BASH: Thank you.
ACOSTA: Well, the men and women who rush to the World Trade Center on 9/11 are now eligible for federal health benefits. President Obama signed the $4.2 billion bill yesterday. It provides coverage for those sickened by toxic pollution at Ground Zero. A White House staffer flew with a copy of the bill -- you heard about this? Actually flew with a copy of the bill from Washington to Hawaii so the president could sign it over there while he was on vacation.
CHETRY: Yes, symbolic move. You know, try -- it's gone through so much. Now, it's finally a done deal.
ACOSTA: It is law.
CHETRY: Well, an unsolved mystery in Arkansas this morning. Officials there say they don't know why 5,000 birds just fell from the sky before midnight on New Year's Eve. Most of the red-winged black birds and starlings were found over a one-mile area northeast of Little Rock.
Some of the theories that they're looking at: a lightning strike. They also say, perhaps, the birds were roosting and a New Year's fireworks display may have actually disrupted them and caused severe stress.
Earlier, we talked to somebody from fish and game. They are going to be doing testing on these birds. And they say they should know what caused them all to die sometime today.
ACOSTA: Yes.
And the social networking site that just keeps on growing, Facebook, could be worth $50 billion. Have you heard about this? Goldman Sachs and a Russian investor just bought a $500 million stake in the company, which I thought was just about connecting with old high school friends. But, apparently, it's like this massive company now. According to "The New York Times," the deal values Facebook at $50 billion, making it worth more than companies like eBay, Yahoo! and Time Warner, which is our parent company. As for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, analysts estimate his personal worth may have just doubled to nearly $14 billion. Not bad for a little college experiment.
CHETRY: It was a way to collect with your college friends.
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: And now, he's the youngest billionaire.
ACOSTA: He's rolling in it big time.
CHETRY: Paying the price for rewards. You have a credit card that gives you cash back when you spend? Well, watch out. They could end up digging you deeper into debt.
ACOSTA: And are you ready for playoff football? Yes. Who got in, who got robbed, and who can go all the way to Super Bowl XLV in Dallas.
CHETRY: The number one New Year's resolution people want to lose weight. But people also want to still be able to eat. Well, if you love food but you want to lose some unwanted pounds -- well, we have some good news for you. Good eats that are actually good for you, too. It's a food cleanse -- coming up.
Thirteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Christine Romans is here now. She's "Minding Your Business" this morning. And these credit cards out there that pay you cash back, sounds like a great deal.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, I want money back.
ACOSTA: Sounds like you can't lose.
ROMANS: I wonder why the banks do that. I wonder why they pay you back if you use (ph) their cards. I wonder why -- maybe it's because they somehow make money off of this, right? They do. They do. You don't get them for nothing. The Chicago Fed from the fascinating, fascinating study about why do banks reward their customers to use their cards and found that for the $25 cash back you get from using a 1 percent, for example, they said 1 percent cash back reward cards for $25 reward, you actually spent 68 more dollars in a month.
And by the end of the quarter, you spent $115 extra than people who weren't being enticed to spend by 1 percent cash back. So, the bottom line for this is the rewards cards, at least, in this case, according to the Chicago Fed study that's going to be presented at a big economic conference this week, these reward cards entice you to spend more money and to get in more debt.
CHETRY: All consumers (INAUDIBLE). I mean, look, you can buy two T-shirts for 15, but --
ACOSTA: Yes.
ROMANS: We have to be smarter. That's the whole point. You don't get something for nothing. I mean, right? There's no such thing as a free lunch. Pick your cliche, I don't care.
CHETRY: A bird in the hands worth seven in the Bush.
ROMANS: Right. There's a reason why they do it. There's a reason why they do it because they want to give you something back so, you know, so you use their card, A, but also, you are spending a little bit more. Be disciplined always with your credit cards. Please be disciplined. Can you pay it off? You know, don't put it on there, unless, you can pay it off right away. Now, there's a big kind of debate. Some people say if you can't pay something that you put in the card off in three months, don't put it on there. I say, if you can't pay it of when you get the bill, don't put it on there because it means you can't afford it.
CHETRY: Because that's two more months of paying an interest rate.
ROMANS: Right. Now, they didn't -- this did not study the ones for credit card miles, for the airline miles and --
ACOSTA: Oh, don't get me started.
ROMANS: Now, a lot of --
CHETRY: Does that work for you?
ACOSTA: It works for you, but, you know, they send these free companion tickets every year with the one I use. And I end up not using the companion tickets. I'm thinking of myself why -- there goes 150 bucks.
ROMANS: I got to spend $25,000 -- $25,000 to get a free ticket. And then, suddenly, it's 40,000 miles to use the ticket. And, oh, by the way, there are all of these blackouts and stuff so you can never use it. So, all of these -- just be smart. Just be smart about the cards. And I love the Chicago Fed actually studying it and going to present it to this economic conference this week.
ACOSTA: Does the book give cash back?
ROMANS: No, it doesn't.
ACOSTA: If you're smart, it does.
ROMANS: It gives valuable tips that will save you money for the rest of your life, Jim.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
ACOSTA: Thanks, Christine.
CHETRY: Well, plenty of people said this to the boss. I'm late, but it wasn't my fault. It was my iPhone's fault.
ACOSTA: Yes. What's next, the dog ate my iPhone?
CHETRY: Exactly. Well, the New Year's glitch that may a lot of people miss their appointment this weekend thinking (ph) it wasn't a Monday. Eighteen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. "Morning Talker Time". A symbol of America and of America's struggles right now, the White House. The White House, itself, losing nearly quarter of its value during the housing crisis. The website for real estate, zilo.com, says that the house is actually depreciated. It was 332 million, now, it's going for 253. Good news, though, it's not for sale.
ACOSTA: Yes. As long as it's not foreclosed on, that would be best.
Apple promises a glitch with iPhone alarms should be fixed by now. Alarms on the smart phones set to go off in the first days of 2011 -- or 2011 as we're not calling it, failed. Single use alarms were not affected -- were affected, excuse me, but not recurring alarms. Big difference there. Plenty of people complained they overslept and missed appointments over the weekend, and of course, they blamed it on their iPhone.
CHETRY: That's right. Got to set a backup alarm too if you have to be there, I guess. I learned that the hard way.
ACOSTA: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, he's so adorable, even though, he's hating on everything. It's the first cute kid video of the year.
ACOSTA: With (ph) an outfit.
CHETRY: I know. We hope to have many more. This is a little baby who has a new favorite word.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED KID: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you have a good Christmas?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you love your mommy?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you love your daddy?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: No. No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you love your uncle?
UNIDENTIFIED KID: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Poor little guy. He's just saying no to everything.
CHETRY: He's so cute.
ACOSTA: Ask him if he wants to go to Disney world, you will get --
CHETRY: I know.
ACOSTA: Believe me. Trust me.
CHETRY: That's true.
ACOSTA: And eat your heart out, Jerry Jones. Atlanta Falcons player showing their owner, Arthur Blank, some love with a Gatorade shower. You don't see the owner getting up very often.
CHETRY: No, this is brave, right? This is pretty brave.
ACOSTA: I hope they all have a job after this.
CHETRY: Yes.
ACOSTA: This happened after Sunday's final regular season game. The celebration coming after the Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers, 31-10, sewing up the number one seed for the Falcons and home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
CHETRY: Yes, he's a good sport about it. He's just happy they got in.
ACOSTA: He did --
CHETRY: And did as well as they did.
ACOSTA: And I think he probably wouldn't be too upset with another one if they win the Super Bowl.
CHETRY: Exactly. Well, the Falcons are one of 12 teams still standing after the regular season. Will the dirty bird make it back to the Super Bowl? We're going to talk to former Falcon star, running back, Jamal Anderson. He's going to join us ahead. ACOSTA: And using helicopters to round up thousands of wild mustangs. Animal rights groups don't like it. Why the government says it has to be done?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Well, the NFL regular season is a wrap, and the playoffs are now upon us.
CHETRY: It was an exciting football Sunday yesterday, wasn't it?
ACOSTA: Unless, you're a Redskins fan.
CHETRY: Yes. Sorry about that. Well, the wildcard weekend begins Saturday, the Saints will be playing the Seahawks, the Jets are playing the Colts, and on Sunday, the Ravens meet the Chiefs and the Packers take on the Eagles. So, a lot of excitement going on.
Joining us from Atlanta to talk more about the road to Super Bowl XLV, former Falcon's running back, Jamal Anderson. You know how they're always complaining about the BCF and say let's change things. We have to change things.
ACOSTA: That's the point.
CHETRY: Now, you have a team that got in, Seattle, with a record -- a losing record, bottom line, because the NFC worst as people like to call their division. What's going on?
JAMAL ANDERSON, FORMER NFL PLAYER: Well, you know, a lot of people are upset about it. I mean, obviously, it's in the rules. The Seattle Seahawks beat the St. Louis Rams last night, won the division in the NFC west, the worst division in football this year, and they're in the playoffs. And their teams, the Bucks that are 10-6, the Giants that are 10-6.
There are a lot of angry people because there is a losing team. But listen, they won the division. These are part of the rules which I think probably there's going to be some conversations about these rules changing. Like we said earlier, you know, a couple years ago, the Arizona Cardinals, they were 9-7.
They did have a winning record, but they went on and had an amazing run in the playoffs and almost nearly won the Super Bowl. So, anything's possible. Although, I think the Saints are going to be able to handle business in Seattle this weekend.
ACOSTA: And Jamal, I'm going to propose a new rule. If a team wins a division but has less than a 500 season, I think that playoff spot should go to whoever I guess --
CHETRY: To another wild card.
ACOSTA: To another wild card caliber team.
ANDERSON: Right. ACOSTA: You know, whoever finish with a better record than that division winner. You think Roger Goodell is going to take me up on that?
ANDERSON: I certainly think that there are going to be some conversations about it because, again, there are a lot of people upset. This was setting up this whole season, Jim. We watched this division with the St. Louis Rams. The 49ers are supposed to be the break out team in this division, and the Seattle Seahawks were just up and down all year long, and now look at it.
You know, that game, that game was the NFC West championship game last night between the Rams and the Seahawks, and they're in, and they're a team -- I mean, you have a 10-win season in the NFL, that is a successful year. You are expecting to go to the playoffs, and there are a couple teams now who are going to be sitting at home watching this Seattle team in the playoffs, hosting a playoff game.
CHETRY: I know.
ACOSTA: That's insane (ph).
CHETRY: I really did feel bad for the Giants yesterday because they tried. You know, they had a great game yesterday, sorry --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: And you feel bad for the Giants, and you're like -- I know you're riding with the Eagles a little bit.
CHETRY: Yes.
ACOSTA: (INAUDIBLE)
CHETRY: I felt bad because I mean, as you said earlier, they should have gotten it done before. They didn't. And, you know, --
ACOSTA: And everybody likes Eli Manning.
CHETRY: He's a good guy. He's hard to hate.
ANDERSON: Eli is one of those guys that when he's having a bad game, it kind of hurts you because of his expressions.
ACOSTA: Yes, exactly.
ANDERSON: It's kind of like help the guy out a little bit, you know?
ACOSTA: Quarterbacks, Brett Favre, I think we almost saw him tear up at the press conference yesterday in Minnesota. And he threw a shout out to the Green Bay Packers fans which I thought was very classy basically saying I'm not coming back. This is it. You believe him?
ANDERSON: Oh, you got to believe him. You got to believe him. I mean, at this point, Jim, look what happened to him this season.
ACOSTA: Yes.
ANDERSON: I mean, obviously, you know, the off season with the Minnesota Vikings, he went through the whole soap opera with Brett Favre. I do not begrudge Favre for coming back. The Vikings looked like a team who are going to be capable of having another very, very successful season. All of the pieces were in place, and it just didn't work out.
CHETRY: Yes.
ANDERSON: And you know, at the end of his career almost like autogram were watching Favre get pulled out every time in a different game. He's getting knocked out, he's bleeding, he's got concussions.
CHETRY: All right. So, who do you feel worse for him or Donovan McNabb? I mean, poor guy, you know. If the Eagles go to the Super Bowl with Vick, you know, and you got Don McNabb benched with the Redskins, I mean, that's kind of depressing for him.
ANDERSON: It is very depressing for him. I got to remind you, the team in the NFC with home field advantage is the Atlanta Falcons. So, if the Eagles do go to the Super Bowl, they're going to have to come through Atlanta to do it.
CHETRY: That will be a good game.
ANDERSON: So, it's going to be -- that's kind of the game that -- that is setting up for everybody right now if these teams handle business. Now, listen, I'm certainly -- no disrespect to the defending Super Bowl champs because the Saints will go on the road, and they're going to be a very, very tough team in the playoffs. And in fact, the Packers are going to be tough, too. And then you flip on the AFC side, and Jim, we talked about with it earlier, Tom Brady and the patriots outstanding.
ACOSTA: I know. They're unstoppable. Well, Jamal, we won't ask you to do the dirty bird for us this morning because, you know, --
ANDERSON: Let them get close. Let them get close.
ACOSTA: Let them win some games first, and then, we'll come back.
ANDERSON: I'm telling you, the Falcons, home field advantage for the Falcons, home field advantage for the Patriots, the two best teams this year, so it may be a collision course.
CHETRY: Jamal Anderson, great to talk to you. Take it easy, thanks.
ANDERSON: Thank you, guys, always a pleasure.
CHETRY: Well, it's half past the hour. It's time for us to look at the top stories. There is a controversy making waves in the U.S. Navy right now, sailors caught on video in raunchy skits with sexual content, gay slurs aboard an aircraft carrier at war. The man behind those videos is now the officer in charge of that ship.
ACOSTA: Relief teams are rushing supplies to flood-ravaged parts of Australia. Monsoon rains have killed nine people and chased thousands from their homes across Queensland. Water levels are expected to crest at 31 feet. Forecasters say it could be days before conditions improve.
CHETRY: Developing out of Hollywood, this morning actress Zsa Zsa Gabor rushed to the hospital and will have to have part of a leg amputated in attempt to save her life. A spokesman says that cancerous lesions started appearing on one of her legs. They were worried about gangrene taking her life, so they had to do the amputation. She is 93 years old.
ACOSTA: And we've been talking about this all morning long. Out west the wild mustangs that roam the countryside, they are an iconic symbol of the region. But these days the federal government says the mustang population is growing out of control and draining the regions resources.
CHETRY: So the bureau of land management is using helicopters and they hold these roundups where they chase the horses into pens by the thousands. Animal rights groups say it's cruel and they are out to stop it. John Zarrella is in Miami this morning with more on this. Hi, John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kiran, Jim. If you have one of those state quarters, the Nevada quarter, for instance, and you look on that. You know what's on there? A mustang. And there are more wild horses in Nevada than any other state.
But as you mentioned, they are, activists say, being systematically removed by the federal government. The federal government says look, it has to remove a number of horses in order to control the population. At the very least it's a controversy that pits the government against the activists.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: There is no secretariat, no Sea Biscuit, no black beauty. Here they have no names. None needed. In their eyes you see who they are, rugged, powerful, independent. They are the wild mustangs of the American west.
LACEY DALTON, LET 'EM RUN FOUNDATION: Out here you hear it all the time. The cowboy will say, you know, the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.
ZARRELLA: Woven generations ago into the fabric of the land they have become the focus of lawsuits, even protests as far away as New York.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help save America's wild horses. ZARRELLA: The horses are at the center of a tug of war between the U.S. government chasing them down with helicopters and animal rights groups who want it stopped.
RICHARD COUTO, ANIMAL RECOVERY MISSION: The roundups of the wild horses and borrows in the United States is a true holocaust of the animal world.
ALAN SHEPARD, NEVADA BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT: We can't let one horse impact everybody else by taking all of the feed, the water, do damage to the habitat.
ZARRELLA: The disagreement is clear cut. The Bureau of Land Management, BLM, is charged with caring for and managing nearly 40,000 horses and burros roaming on 26 million acres of the west. While this federal land, your land, was set aside for the horses, they don't have free rein. The land is considered multiuse.
SHEPARD: Wildlife, livestock, recreationist, mining interests, whatever.
ZARRELLA: The BLM insists it must reduce herd size because the land can't sport the numbers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This ain't Kentucky blue grass.
ZARRELLA: So it holds roundups. Last year the goal -- remove 12,000 horses, that's right, 12,000, and take them to holding pens.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our land. We want the horses on here, most of us.
ZARRELLA: Armed with cameras and recorders, the activists document what they see as brutal roundups. Here a helicopter chases one single burro, eventually knocking it over. It staggered off. Here you are looking at steam rising from the backs of chased down, exhausted horses. The BLM says less than one percent of the animals die in these roundups. Activists say that's one percent too many.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now, the Bureau of Land Management insists that at these roundups that it holds it has absolutely nothing to hide. We went along on one of those roundups, and it was surprising to us just how close to the roundups they wouldn't let us get. We're going to show that tomorrow. And you can be the judge whether you think the BLM has anything to hide. Jim, Kiran?
ACOSTA: An eye opening story. John Zarrella in Miami for us this morning. Thanks, John.
CHETRY: All right, don't call it a diet. We're talking about good food that can help you kick start your weight loss for the new year. We'll see what's on the menu and how easy some of this is to prepare coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back. A perfect segment for starting the new year. If you want to start the new year eating right, losing weight and not feeling deprived of great tasting dishes, here is your chance.
CHETRY: BonAppetite.com has a food lover's cleanse. It's not one of those de-tox starvation feeling diets. It's for people who truly love food but want to eat healthier. And Marissa Lippert is a nutritionist. She helped develop the program.
So, thanks for being with us. Everything here looks delicious. I noticed there's not a lot of pastas or potatoes, but you're not talking about with just sipping a little bit of pepper and honey and hoping for the best.
MARISSA LIPPERT, NUTRITIONIST: This is not your deprivation diet, a lot of seasonal ingredients, feeling satisfying foods. We wanted to specifically focus on fresh ingredients that fill you up. So we're able to just get our digestive system a break. We came off of a month-long binge with the alcohol and the sweets and heavy holiday meals.
We just wanted to clean it up little bit. So we brought in wonderful satisfying indulgent recipes. We're relishing seasonal fresh ingredients, lots of fruits and vegetables, beans, whole grains, some dark chocolate in there.
ACOSTA: This is not -- is this only about losing weight?
LIPPERT: It's not even --
ACOSTA: Some of this looks really good.
LIPPERT: We're going to lose weight on the back end. It's really about kicking things up a notch, filling up with satisfying food, losing weight at the same time.
CHETRY: You waited. It was styled so beautifully.
ACOSTA: I know. I've been looking at it.
CHETRY: We want to let people know this is on our website by the way, CNN.com/AmericanMorning. But tell me about this grain that is --
ACOSTA: I'm hearing about it everywhere.
CHETRY: It has protein in it. What does it taste like?
LIPPERT: It's amazing. It's a full source of non-animal source of protein. It's a complete protein which is pretty rare. It has powerful anti-oxidants, great fiber. It tastes very nutty. This is a warm kinua, great for breakfast. This is a nice swap. And again, it's high in fiber so it gives us a lot of long lasting energy throughout the day.
CHETRY: You can make it the night before. LIPPERT: You can. You can make multiple servings for the week. It's supre-easy.
ACOSTA: And is that good to go? I want to take a taste. I never had it. I love blackberries.
CHETRY: Go for it. This is a beautiful looking lentil soup, but you kicked it up a notch
LIPPERT: We kicked it up a notch with some curry. You get all that flavor from spice without any of the calories or fat. And lentils are fantastic. You want to work in whole grains and lentils and beans, very satisfying food. It's freezing out. We're back to cold weather. This is a lovely winter couscous. We swapped out the couscous with a cracked wheat, high in fiber. So fiber is great. It fills us up. We eat less. The weight starts coming off.
Look at these butternut squash, chick peas, tons of vegetables.
ACOSTA: And you've got some expensive looking items. This looks sort of expensive, the grain-fed beef. What do you suggest for folks on a tighter budget?
LIPPERT: What's great, you can do -- we wanted to work red meat in here. We did choose a grass-fed beef because it's lower in cholesterol and it's still flavorful. We've got sweet potatoes, so inexpensive and so great in terms of antioxidants. And look again, all of the lovely spinach, or arugula, tons of vegetables on the plate.
CHETRY: What is your best way to cook the sweet potatoes?
LIPPERT: I love roasting them.
CHETRY: What is the oven on?
LIPPERT: About 400 or so, a little olive oil, salt, pepper, maybe a little cayenne.
ACOSTA: This is how my table looks every day, just a pile of chocolate. We pile that up. Now, cleansing?
LIPPERT: Food lovers cleanse, food lovers being the name of the game. So of course we have to get some indulgence in there. Dark chocolate is one of those so satisfying because it's so rich. So you need a bite or two.
ACOSTA: I had my main course.
CHETRY: He needs a little caffeine added on to the five coffees.
LIPPERT: We wanted to work dark chocolate in. The point is not to feel deprived. This is a great quick snack or light dessert, a little yogurt which we did keep in some dairy. And tangerines and --
CHETRY: I want to ask you about what is not here, because sometimes it's easier if people know what I should try to avoid. So white potatoes and white rice, you're not a huge fan of those?
LIPPERT: We wanted to highlight some of the other great types of healthy carbs that are satisfying and filling, energy boosting, long lasting. We end up filling up faster so we eat less. So that's why we ended up focusing on the sweet potatoes, butternut squashes, really very -- more satisfying foods.
We also dumbed-down the alcohol, which is a no-brainer. I think after New Year's we can take a break. And we bumped up specifically citrus fruits and vegetables. We wanted to -- so refreshing. There is no better way to get a nice boost of a natural sugar in that sweetness. And we're giving our digestive systems a break.
ACOSTA: We need all the vitamins we can get.
LIPPERT: If you're bloated that's a great way to get rid of that extra water weight.
CHETRY: For a guy like Jim, six feet or so, roughly like 180, what should -- what calorie count should he be in?
LIPPERT: If you're trying to maintain, and you're active, around 2,200 to 2,400.
CHETRY: What about girls like us?
LIPPERT: If we're not trying to lose weight you want to stay in the 1,500 to 1,800 calorie range, depending on your fitness routine.
CHETRY: All right, sounds good. This all looks beautiful. I can't wait till I can try some more. Go for it. Marisa, thanks for joining us.
LIPPERT: Happy New Year.
CHETRY: Happy New Year to you, too. This is with "Bon Appetite" magazine, and it looks like it's going to be something for Jim over here. Thanks so much.
ACOSTA: I'm going to stay here the rest of the show.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: For the "Food Lover's Cleanse" head to CNN.com/am. We're going to be linking to it, some of these cool recipes. I like that better than oatmeal. Give it a try. It's got protein. It's 45 minutes past the hour.
ACOSTA: Quinoa (ph) was good.
CHETRY: Ok, can I taste this?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty-seven minutes past the hour. Now that we're eating healthy -- that was some good stuff, huh? ACOSTA: I feel better already. I could do three more hours of this.
CHETRY: Right, because you were just eating the chocolate bar.
ACOSTA: That's true.
CHETRY: I love it. You got to add some greens in there, Jim.
ACOSTA: Yes, I know. I took a little sample for the road.
CHETRY: Well, the top stories this morning that we're following for you.
President Obama signing the 9/11 health bill into law. The $4.2 billion measure will provide coverage for those sickened by toxic pollution at Ground Zero. A White House staffer flew with a copy of the bill from Washington to Hawaii.
ACOSTA: That doesn't happen every day.
CHETRY: No -- so that the President could actually sign it and get it done while he was on vacation.
ACOSTA: Amazing.
And an unsolved mystery in Arkansas: the 5,000 birds fell from the sky just before midnight on New Year's Eve. Most of them were found dead over the same one-mile area northeast of Little Rock. One theory that New Year's fireworks may have stressed them to death, officials are investigating.
Hotmail users that logged in over the weekend some of them found to their shock their e-mails had disappeared. Some logged in to empty inboxes and folders simply gone. Microsoft has been working that to resolve the problem since Saturday. The company will not say just how widespread that is.
ACOSTA: And I feel bad, it's sort of like you know did you bring enough for the rest of the class? I mean all of this food up here, our Rob Marciano --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Is stuck down in Atlanta.
ACOSTA: -- in the Extreme Weather Center.
CHETRY: It's not fair.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
ACOSTA: He needs a little quinoa.
MARCIANO: Yes, it's -- if it's not bad enough than on Christmas day I was stuck at the kiddie table in the kitchen. CHETRY: Did you get sick of the kiddie table?
MARCIANO: It's -- you know, I'm kind of used to it being down.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Right.
MARCIANO: I mean, in case in point there Jim. You're making us hungry down there. But I love the fact that we're starting to do some cooking segments even if it's low cal.
ACOSTA: Bring it on.
MARCIANO: Good morning guys.
Hey, listen, I want to start with this. What's going on, what has happened in Utah. We mentioned a 4.9 magnitude quake earlier that's been revised to 4.5; regardless that will be enough to shake you out of your shoes just a little bit.
No reports of any major damage. It's about 200 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. This is all part of the Wasatch fault which creates the Wasatch mountains which -- kind of go up to about 1,000 -- yes 11,000 feet. And get yourself some world class power that's for sure.
Some snow is coming into southwest Utah that will get into the Wasatch later on today. It's all being driven by this, yet another storm across southern California and this is driving rain and snow into some of the higher elevations.
As a matter of fact, there is winter storm warnings up for parts of the hills around Los Angeles, and the Grapevine, I-5 north of or the 5 freeway, as they say north of L.A., is shut down until further notice because of the snow. So certainly it continues to be interesting there. But they'll dry it out tonight.
Speaking of interesting, it was very interesting though, to end our New Year, New Year's Eve in Minnesota brought in quite a bit of snow. And this is some of the snow footage that our iReporter Funda Ray sent in to us.
And it got to about two feet tall in spots because of the drifting of the snow. And that did not allow her to let her pooch out to go outside and do whatever pooches do in the snow. And that could be an issue. Speaking about your -- your garbage men going on -- not doing everything they need to do as far as cleaning up the streets of New York, both snow and garbage. Well, if you can't let your dog out that could be an issue too.
Thirty-three right now in Boston; we are back to seasonable temperatures across the northeast. Some lake-effect snows is expected across upstate New York, Syracuse northward could see a foot or two as the lake-effect snow machines begin to crank. But other than that it's pretty quiet east of the Mississippi river; a little storm system kind of clipper -- clipping across parts of Northern Tier and the western Great Lakes. That will drop maybe a couple inches of snow.
But that is about it. And that is good news for folks who have been dealing with some treacherous weather. So a couple of -- a couple of days break here, maybe some slight delays across New York City today but the -- the more intense delays will be out in Los Angeles. High temperature in the Big Apple will be in the mid-30s.
Jim and Kiran, send me some of that food; FedEx it down here.
ACOSTA: It is on its way, Rob. Thanks so much.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: Either that or when you come up we'll make it for you.
MARCIANO: I like that, thank you.
CHETRY: All right.
ACOSTA: It's from the heart, with love.
Well, I think something we can agree on pandas are awfully cute. What about cows? Put the two together, and boy, do we have a treat for you. Check this out.
CHETRY: I love it. I love it.
ACOSTA: I love this story.
CHETRY: It's so cute.
ACOSTA: The panda cow named Ben was born on New Year's Eve on a farm in Colorado, panda cows are a rare miniature breed of cattle especially bred to look like a panda. And there are said to be only about 25 of them in the world. For good reason, they are just so darn cuddly and adorable.
I've always said about the show we just need more panda cow bell.
CHETRY: We need more panda cow -- (INAUDIBLE). And you know what else we need? We need a mascot. So if anyone has 30k laying around this guy is great. He's only going to grow to 4 feet and only weigh 1,000 pounds. So he won't take up much room.
ACOSTA: I'd like to see the panda cow explore the space.
CHETRY: He can hang out with Phil in the control room.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. Eight minutes to the top of the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ACOSTA: Welcome back. The "Spider-Man" stunt double, who fell to the stage during a performance last month, he will be out of rehab later this week. 31-year-old actor Christopher Tierney suffered broken ribs, a skull fracture and three cracked vertebrae from the fall. Several performances of "Spider-Man, Turn off the Dark" were canceled after the accident and Tierney's dad says his son can't wait to return to the show which sets up our next story.
Correspondent in a trapeze.
CHETRY: Susan -- she sure is or in some sort of sash.
ACOSTA: Some kind of thing.
CHETRY: Yes. Well, Tierney is one of four cast members who actually got hurt during that $65 million Broadway spectacular; a lot of accidents. Some of them are raising concern about the overall safety of people who are doing stunt work and whether or not more should be done to make sure no one else gets hurt.
ACOSTA: Well, Susan's -- our CNN's Susan Candiotti talks to the group of acrobatic dancers about the risk they take on the job every day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their flowing moves and dazzling artistry are both stunningly beautiful and a bit frightening to watch.
GUINEVERE DIPIAZZA, OWNER, AERIAL ACROBAT ENTERTAINMENT: You know when you're performing a trick and you just, you know, something that's a little bit sudden or quick or swift and you get that from the crowd, it's really exciting.
CANDIOTTI: But there are risks. Will the knots hold? Will the rigging bear an acrobat's weight?
VIRGINIA LOGAN, STUDENT AERIALIST: Don't you forget the liner, if it's get a step, it's one thing, but if you're --
CANDIOTTI (on camera): If you fall --
LOGAN: -- you know if you fall -- game over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And to sides, it's beautiful.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): An actor in "Spider-Man" who plunged more than 20 feet during the recent stunt is the fourth performer injured in the $65 million Broadway play still in previews.
(on camera): How dangerous is this profession?
DIPIAZZA: Ok. Well, danger is -- is kind of part of the game. CANDIOTTI (voice-over): More than a game. It is serious work.
DIPIAZZA: Ten, nine --
CANDIOTTI: Guinevere Dipiazza is an aerial acrobat who runs her own small troop performing throughout New York.
DIPIAZZA: Rotate it a little bit more so that the knot faces you.
CANDIOTTI: "Spider-Man's" accidents are the talk of the aerial community.
ELIE VENESKY, PERFORMER, AERIAL ACROBAT ENTERTAINMENT: One person getting hurt, then it -- it's not necessarily the show's fault. But four people --
LOGAN: If I was in that show, I mean, it's hard. That's a big machine to be a little tiny cog in. So I don't envy those performers.
DIPIAZZA: Reach your right arm out to the side.
CANDIOTTI: Barely dangling off the floor, they gave me a small taste of their techniques.
DIPIAZZA: There you go, so even just sitting is a little bit difficult.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): It is -- it is to keep your upper body straight without falling.
(voice-over): These aerialists are self-regulated. They watch out for their own safety.
(on camera): And each time you perform, how do you deal with the risks?
VENESKY: I never perform anything that I haven't done in practice at least 100 times. I'm always sure that my rigging is secure.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): For Dipiazza there are no shortcuts. A close friend fell to his death two years ago working for another company. Since then, for her, safety is paramount.
DIPIAZZA: I felt like this was a really good way to -- you know, keep his memory alive and you know inspire --
CANDIOTTI (on camera): Inspire others.
DIPIAZZA: Inspire others, yes.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): To make her art safe or at least as safe as it can be.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, thanks so much for joining us this morning. We'll see you back here bright and early, Tuesday, 6:00 a.m. That's it for AMERICAN MORNING.
ACOSTA: And "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts right now. Happy 2011 -- Kyra.
