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American Morning

Murder Mystery Rocks Washington, D.C.; Scandals Continue for NFL's Brett Favre; Mega Millions Up to $330 Million; New Developments in Michael Jackson Case; Health Care Repeal Effort; United Flight Diverted

Aired January 04, 2011 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. It's Tuesday, January 4th. 7:00 a.m. here in New York. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Acosta. Lots to talk about this morning.

And our top story, a murder mystery that has rocked Washington and shocked people who knew the victim. An aide of three Republican presidents and the man who helped build the Vietnam Memorial Wall found dumped in a Delaware landfill. We will have the latest.

CHETRY: Brett Favre may be retiring for good, but the scandals keep coming. Now he's being sued for harassment by two massage therapists who are claiming sexually suggestive text messages from Favre when he was with the Jets cost them their jobs.

ACOSTA: And we're talking about mega millions and the winning ticket is projected to be worth $330 million or more tonight. That's if somebody wins. It might wind up being the single largest lottery payout of all time. And the jackpot has grown $40 million in the last 24 hours.

CHETRY: Up first this morning, new developments in the Michael Jackson death case. His doctor heads to court today. Some attorneys telling us they believe the defense is going to argue that the king of pop killed himself. It is a stunning twist in the case, and our Casey Wian is live in Los Angeles this morning with the latest. Hi, Casey.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Later this morning prosecutors will try to persuade a Los Angeles judge that they have enough evidence to charge and to try Michael Jackson's former personal physician with manslaughter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My brother, the legendary king of pop, Michael Jackson, passed away on Thursday, June 25th, 2009, at 2:26 p.m.

WIAN: More than a year and a half later, the cause of Michael Jackson's death is clear, acute intoxication of Propofol, a powerful surgical sedative. But who caused the death remains the focus of a criminal court case focusing on Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician. Murray was treating Jackson with the drug and several others to help Jackson sleep as he got ready for a grueling series of performances.

Hours after Jackson died, investigators had Murray's car towed from the estate where the singer drew his last breath. They searched his offices in Las Vegas and Houston as well as his home. An autopsy found that proper procedures were not followed in administering Propofol to the 50-year-old singer.

SANDI GIBBONS, LOS ANGELES D.A.'S OFFICE: Today, the district attorney's office filed one felony count of involuntary manslaughter against Dr. Conrad Murray in connection with last summer's death of Michael Jackson.

ED CHERNOFF, MURRAY'S ATTORNEY: Dr. Murray did not cause the death of Michael Jackson. The fact that the circumstances may be unusual, may be demonstrated to be unusual, does not make egregious.

WIAN: A judge released Murray on $75,000 bail and ordered him to discontinue administering heavy sedatives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want you sedating people.

WIAN: He was, however, allowed to continue seeing patients.

ED CHERNOFF: There was no way Dr. Murray would pump Michael Jackson full of Propofol sufficient for major surgery and walk out that room. It's not going to happen.

WIAN: If ordered to stand trial and convicted, Murray faces a maximum four-year prison sentence.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: Dr. Conrad Murray has pled not guilty. Last week his defense attorneys indicated that they may focus on a mysterious syringe found near Michael Jackson's body. They are suggesting that perhaps someone else injected the singer with that fatal dose of Propofol.

CHETRY: Casey Wian for us this morning, thanks so much.

ACOSTA: Now to a shocking story and a compelling murder case that has investigators scratching their heads this morning -- 66-year-old John Wheeler, a former Pentagon official and aide to three Republican presidents, has been found dead in a Delaware landfill. His body found dumped in Wilmington's Cherry Island landfill on New Year's Eve. It arrived there in a garbage truck.

CHETRY: The case has now been ruled a homicide. Police are asking the public for leads. They say no one reported Wheeler's body missing before it was discovered at the landfill, and the only thing investigators are hearing is about a property dispute that wheeler had with a neighbor. His attorney says that dispute never reached a level like this. We will continue to update you as we get more information this morning. ACOSTA: Also, President Obama this morning is reportedly considering a major move in his administration. Senior White House officials confirm talks that could bring former commerce secretary, William Daley into a senior role, possibly as chief of staff. The administration is adjusting to Republican gains in Congress and is getting ready for a pre-election campaign.

CHETRY: Some urgent recommendations from the national transportation safety board this morning concerning gas pipelines may come after an investigation to that explosion you may remember in San Bruno, California that killed eight people and destroyed 37 homes four months ago. The NTSB is concerned about recordkeeping at utility companies and wants emergency reviews to ensure that all pipelines are being operated at safe pressure levels.

ACOSTA: More trouble for Brett Favre and not on the football field. He's being sued for sexual harassment. Two massage therapists claim they were fired from their jobs with the New York Jets when they complained about Favre's text messages. One of them, Christina Scavo, alleges Favre sent texts to her and another unnamed therapist, suggested intercourse.

It allegedly says "Brett here. You and Chrissie want to get together? I'm all alone." The suit says Favre then texts "Kind of lonely tonight. I guess I have bad intentions." We'll ask how much trouble Favre could be with a legal expert at the bottom of the hour.

CHETRY: Also for the first time, we're hearing from the Spiderman stunt double seriously hurt during the preview performance of "Spiderman, Turn off the Dark" on Broadway. Christopher Tierney talked to a New York TV reporter about his accident on stage last month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened that night when you fell?

CHRISTOPHER TIERNEY, SPIDERMAN STUNT ACTOR: It was just, you know, a bit of human error. I'm supposed to jump off the bridge, but it catches me, and I was tethered to my back, but it just didn't get tethered to the stage. And so when I went out and as I do with everything, I just go for it, there was no pulling myself back.

I was falling and then I saw once I hit the darkness of the stage, I had to just turn it real quick so I wasn't going to fall on my head, and I crashed on my back. The last thing I remember was, like, just going oh, god. And that's it. And then I kind of passed out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Tierney's injuries included a hairline fracture of the skull, four broken ribs. He cracked three vertebrae. He is now out of the hospital and he wants to get right back into it. He says he can't wait to get back to the show.

ACOSTA: He looks like he's doing OK. Spiderman lives. Now to a story we've all been talking about this morning. This is big water cooler material I think -- 330 million reasons to go out and get a lottery ticket this morning. The mega millions lottery is hitting a big jackpot total. It could all be yours. The latest estimate for tonight's mega millions jackpot, look at that number -- $330 million. I could think of a few things to do with that kind of money.

If one person wins it, he or she will receive the single largest payout in U.S. lottery history.

CHETRY: So mega millions played in 41 states and D.C. I remember when we used to get our relatives in Delaware buy it for us. Now you can get it.

ACOSTA: It is just about everywhere.

CHETRY: The fever is building as fast as the jackpot. Allan Chernoff watching the growing lines in New York where people are already making plans to spend their fortune. I love whether the jackpot gets big it starts to exponentially go up.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here is the incredible thing. The odds of winning that jackpot are one in 176 million. I know I've got the winning ticket here, but all these other people are telling me they also are going to be winning the jackpot, so I don't know.

At least I can say we've got a lucky line over here. The reason the jackpot is so big this time? We've gone 15 consecutive drawings without anyone winning the jackpot. So now we're up to $330 million. I can barely say that number. This woman has just bought her winning tickets. Now you got three tickets.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three tickets -- myself, my husband, and my son. That's all I ever buy.

CHERNOFF: What are we doing with that money?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take a vacation, right? Get a mortgage.

CHERNOFF: But you also told me you were planning on seeing family. Does that mean you're traveling? Or they are coming to your doorstep?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would probably see a lot of family I had never seen before if I win.

(LAUGHTER)

CHERNOFF: Christina, good luck to you. Let's hope you win, and here is hoping I win a little bit too. Maybe you can win two bucks, so a bit more of a chance of that. Jim, Kiran?

CHETRY: All right.

And Christine Romans joins us right now. This is funny, too, Christine, too. You're not into the whole lotto thing. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: But "The New York Post," they put a few psychics on the case. And they say the win lever be a woman from New York and a recluse, someone whose personality is very unusual. How did they know? Oh they haven't drawn the numbers yet.

I have decided I would take the lump sum and I would buy a house in Tennessee. So this is what you could buy with that money if you want. Take $330 million. It would run the government for about 47 minutes. That's how much we spend in the United States government in 47 minutes.

It would buy 1,549 homes in country right now. And there are a lot of homes for sale that could be snapped up. It would buy 2,775 Maserati gran turismos. Think of this. The GDP of the Federated States of Micronesia is about $238 million. So, look, that's bigger than the output of the entire Federated States of Micronesia. And you could afford to pay the payroll of the Yankees.

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA: Opening day payroll. Check it out.

ROMANS: There you go.

ACOSTA: You could own the Yankees for a season.

ROMANS: What you could do with $330 million.

CHETRY: So you are saying you could buy A-Rod?

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: Just to put into perspective, folks, how much money that is. It is a lot money.

ACOSTA: And it's a game for the mathematically challenged.

ROMANS: It's one in 176 million. I think the odds are just about as high to find the winning ticket on the sidewalk.

CHETRY: Hold on, the psychic said because we are in a partial eclipse of the sun in Capricorn, which rules big money, someone is going to win.

ROMANS: A woman that's a recluse, does that rule us out?

CHETRY: I think so. And Jim.

ACOSTA: Thank you so much.

ROMANS: We can all dream. We can all dream.

ACOSTA: It is 11 minutes after the hour.

(WEATHER REPORT) CHETRY: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, thousands of birds in a bizarre death drop. Coming up, test results pointing to a possible cause. We'll have the latest.

ACOSTA: Also, trouble on a flight from Chicago late last night. The plane sent to Canada. Passengers are now waiting to get on their way again this morning. We'll have more on that. It is 14 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back. Republicans in the House could hold their first vote on the repeal of the president's health care reform bill by the end of the week. It's not expected to get too far beyond the House, but our next guest is so opposed to the reforms that he's passed up government-offered insurance for himself and his wife. Joe Walsh is the congressman-elect from Illinois' 8th Congressional District north of Chicago. He joins us live this morning in our Washington bureau.

Incoming Congressman Walsh, thanks for joining us this morning.

JOE WALSH (R), ILLINOIS REP.-ELECT: Thank you, Jim.

ACOSTA: And we'll talk about your personal situation and why you're forgoing federal health insurance for you and your wife in just a moment. But let's talk first about this effort to repeal health care reform. Do you think it's going to succeed? Because, you know, they're basically in Washington right now that there's just no way that the Senate will pass it. It's still in Democratic hands, and there's really no way the president is going to sign this. So is this just a symbolic move?

WALSH: It's a big part of why we were sent to Washington. I know that I and a lot of my fellow freshmen ran on repealing Obamacare. The folks in my district told me month after month that they wanted this thing repealed. This is an example of the Republicans very seriously following up on what we said we were going to do. So I mean, most importantly, it's why we were sent here.

ACOSTA: Yes, and let's talk about this decision that you've made. You've decided to forgo congressional health insurance. As most Americans know, the perks are pretty good in Washington for members of Congress. And your wife, from what we understand, has a preexisting condition, and so this will essentially affect her health care. Tell us about this decision.

WALSH: Yes.

ACOSTA: Why did you make it?

WALSH: Well, and again, importantly, Jim, this was a pledge that I made almost a year ago, last January during the primary election, when Congress was attempting to exempt themselves from Obamacare. I didn't think that was right and I think a lot of Americans didn't think that was right. Look, I don't want to burden -- and I know it's not a huge number. But I don't want to burden the American taxpayer with my health care bill. The federal government is my employer. Right now, the health care system has a real bias against folks who need to shop out there in the individual market. My wife and I now are going to have to go through the struggles that a lot of Americans go through, trying to find insurance in the individual market and having to deal with problems of preexisting conditions.

ACOSTA: And do you think your fellow members of Congress who do accept federal health benefits are being hypocritical?

WALSH: No. You know what? This is -- this is my decision. I believe there are a couple other freshmen that feel the same way. I just feel we were sent -- I feel I was sent to Washington to be something different. I think that folks out there are tired of people in both parties who for too long have -- haven't experienced what most Americans go through. We tend to pass laws that impact the rest of us, but not members of Congress. There's going to be a real serious, I think, change in culture here in Washington. This freshman class, Jim, we're coming here to just conduct real business.

ACOSTA: Right.

WALSH: And there are a lot of folks like me.

ACOSTA: Sure. And you mentioned earlier that you and your wife will have to go out on the open market and buy health insurance like a lot of Americans out there. Democrats will argue that that's the whole reason why they passed health care reform. It's because many American who go out on the open market, people who have preexisting conditions have been shut out of that marketplace in the past. Aren't you subjecting yourself to the very system that has really put a lot of Americans in a financial bind?

WALSH: Well, you're right, Jim. But, again, the argument here, the debate here, is their solutions with Obamacare will make this situation even worse. That's what we ran on. That's what the American people elected us on. Look --

ACOSTA: Let's be specific. What exactly in the bill do you have a problem with?

WALSH: Virtually the entire bill. And most importantly, Jim, it's this. This bill is a job killer. Small business right now in this country is scared to death of the costs and they don't even know the full costs of Obamacare. Republicans very quietly and very seriously want to set about the task of putting Americans back to work. One of the first strong signals we can send is repealing Obamacare.

ACOSTA: And, Mr. Walsh, let me ask you because this issue of preexisting conditions has come up in the polls. And many Americans say that they like that particular aspect of the bill. That it would ban companies from, you know, essentially denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions and folks like that. So what would you do with those millions of Americans who can't get health insurance because of that issue? And, I mean, are they just supposed to go to the emergency room? Are they supposed to rely on charity? Where do they go?

WALSH: No. What we need to do, Jim, again, and it's a change in mindset. We need to free up private insurance of the numerous mandates and regulations they're under right now that make it so difficult to deal with things like preexisting conditions. What we don't want to do in this country is ever get to the point where individuals can -- can get sick, can have an illness and then purchase insurance. We don't do that with auto insurance, so we need to make sure that there still is a system in this country where folks are paying monthly premiums. We just don't want to get into a system where people can purchase insurance and then drop insurance whenever they want to. That's not -- that's not going to help the system at all.

ACOSTA: Yes. And I have to wrap this up. But just very briefly to those people in your district who might say, boy, that's kind of cold, to not accept health benefits through the federal government when your wife has a preexisting condition, you would say what? Just very briefly.

WALSH: Look this is an important principle. My wife and I are going to struggle a little bit because of it. But I was sent to Washington to do what I said I was going to do. And this is a pledge I've had out there for a year.

ACOSTA: OK. Well, Congressman Walsh, thanks for coming on this morning and talking about your position. And good luck in Washington.

WALSH: Jim, thank you.

ACOSTA: Thank you, sir.

Kiran?

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, coming up, victory sweet for the Stanford Cardinals. Rolling to an Orange Bowl victory win over Virginia Tech in Miami last night. Highlights of the game coming up.

Twenty-three minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: That's a big newsroom.

CHETRY: It is.

ACOSTA: It's just massive.

CHETRY: Humongous.

ACOSTA: How did we do that? Incredible.

CHETRY: Just built it one brick at a time. Here we are. ACOSTA: And here we are.

Time for "Morning Talkers." Time now for the stories that got us talking in the newsroom this morning, besides the mega millions.

CHETRY: Puppies.

ACOSTA: Puppies.

CHETRY: Puppies and dreams of being millionaires.

ACOSTA: Animals always work in these segments. It's playtime at the pool for a cute pug pup. Check this out. There's a little surprise waiting under that volleyball. Watch out, little guy. He finds out the hard way. Heads up.

CHETRY: He's OK, though. There he goes.

ACOSTA: And he's OK. He falls head first into the pool skimmer. He never saw that coming. Poor little guy. But he's a pug. They bounce back from these things.

CHETRY: They bounce right back. Puppies are just resilient. Love it.

ACOSTA: They are.

CHETRY: Well, get in here, Madge (ph). They've got a meerkat riding a tortoise. This picture was taken by one of our iReporters, Catherine Davies. This is at a cheetah rehabilitation center in South Africa.

ACOSTA: Oh, look at that.

CHETRY: First of all, I love just looking at meerkats in general. I can look at them all day. Add the tortoise, OK, and you have a slow ride.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHETRY: There you go. Testing the meerkat's patience, no doubt. We're told at one point, the meerkat actually tried to bite the tortoise on the head. The tortoise did not seem to notice or care.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHETRY: You know, I wonder if he even noticed the meerkat was sitting on his shell.

ACOSTA: I wonder if he noticed that. I don't think they feel that.

CHETRY: No.

ACOSTA: Not every New Yorker was snowed in. Remember the big blizzard. Well, not everybody was stuck.

Check this guy out. He was skiing down Park Avenue going --

CHETRY: Crazy.

ACOSTA: Kind of like waterskiing. He was being pulled behind a car. We don't recommend that you do this at home. He made it up to 40 miles per hour, ladies and gentlemen. He hitched a ride from his friend late on Sunday night when the streets were totally empty.

CHETRY: That looks like fun, actually.

ACOSTA: Except for a foot of snow. That looks like a lot of fun.

CHETRY: This is quite a dangerous iReport for many reasons.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHETRY: Number one, you shouldn't probably be doing 40 on Park Avenue at any time. But how about in a snowstorm?

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHETRY: And if the guy is driving and taking this iReport, that's even more dangerous.

ACOSTA: I love that.

CHETRY: But pretty cool.

ACOSTA: Only in New York.

CHETRY: Only in New York, kids.

ACOSTA: Top stories just minutes away, including trouble on a flight from Chicago last night. The plane was sent to Canada. Passengers now waiting to get on their way again this morning. We'll get you an update on that.

CHETRY: Also, some new sexually-charged allegations against Brett Favre and now a lawsuit to go along with it. We're going to be speaking with Stephen A. Smith and Paul Callan about the quarterback's troubles, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Beautiful shot of the sun coming up over New York City this morning. 31 minutes past the hour. 7:30 actually on Tuesday, January 4th. Well, you know, much of the northeast and the mid-Atlantic getting up into the 40s or even in some places the 50s this afternoon.

ACOSTA: We'll take it.

CHETRY: If there is any snow left it will most likely melt away. And welcome to "American Morning." Thanks for being with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.

ACOSTA: And I'm Jim Acosta. Here are this morning's top stories. Police in Delaware trying to figure out who killed a decorated Vietnam vet and hero to other veterans. The body of 66-year-old John Wheeler, a former Pentagon official, was found dumped in a Wilmington landfill on New Year's Eve. Wheeler led efforts to build a Vietnam Wall on the National Mall.

CHETRY: Also a flight taking off from Chicago diverted to Toronto. It happened late last night. United flight 940 was on its way to Frankfurt, Germany. But the airline says that an electrical issue ended up cutting the trip short. The airport in Toronto tells us that the plane did land safely. Passengers are then going to be put on another plane to Frankfurt sometime today.

ACOSTA: And hot on the heels of a sex scandal that tarnished Brett Favre's Hall of Fame reputation and left him with $50,000 fine from the NFL. Favre has been hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit. Two female massage therapists who worked for the New York Jets claimed they were fired after complaining about lewd text messages sent by Favre when he was with the team in 2008.

CHETRY: Right now, we did a check of the weather headlines with Rob Marciano.

A little bit of a calm right now between perhaps two systems but in some places we're getting up in the 50s today.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, not too bad actually. And you know, just the end of last year, we had crazy weather but we had the old lunar eclipse, that was a full one. Last night or early this morning, depending on where you are, there was a partial eclipse of the sun, a little bit more rare and this picture coming to you from the Netherlands. Our friend (INAUDIBLE) tweeted this to us. By the way, if you live over there. I know most of this was tough to see because a lot of Europe was shrouded in cloud covering, kind of happened as the sun was rising but if you have more pictures, go ahead and tweet them. Put them on the air at Rob Marciano CNN. That's a gorgeous shot. Love it.

All right. A little bit closer to home, here's what's going on weather wise, we do have some snow showers that are rolling across the Great Lakes. This is part of a little clipper system that's kind of starved of moisture. So it's heading across the Great Lakes and kind of scooping up just a little bit of water and dropping it in the form of snow across parts of upstate New York. It will be right below freezing for the next few hours and them climb above freezing in New York City and D.C.. That will feel good. May see a sprinkle or a spritz from this but I think most of it will stay, I'll say north of Poughkeepsie.

If you are traveling though, there are some wind issues in Boston and New York. Maybe some small delays of 30 to 60 minutes delays. Also some wind in Chicago and low clouds expected in Houston. Here is your forecast. Boy, this just feels good to show you. Compared to the last couple of weeks, this is a cakewalk. This is a powder puff weather map. New York, 40. 54 in Atlanta. It will be 62 in Austin. 63 in Los Angeles, after the rains and snow yesterday. As a matter of fact, here you go. Vegas, we have to show this again. This is a crowd pleaser. Because you can never get enough snow that will come out of Vegas. This is out of the western edge of town, the suburbs out there.

Keith Lehman sent this in. The strip got about a trace. So that was enough to break a record. But these folks got about 3.5 inches. So a rare sight both on the eclipse side and the snow in Vegas. Play the lottery tonight. Things are starting to line up, guys.

CHETRY: You're right. The eclipse, that was a beautiful shot that they got of the partial lunar eclipse. And could be, of course, your lucky day. You never know.

ACOSTA: You never know.

CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right.

CHETRY: So a lot of people are still wondering what the heck caused all those birds to fall out of the sky in Arkansas. Well, early tests are showing that it was likely massive trauma that killed those birds on New Year's eve. Wild life experts now think that the birds were startled by fireworks high in the sky and so they flew low, colliding with each other, hitting houses and trees. Many of the dead birds were red-winged black birds, and they're said to have very poor night vision.

ACOSTA: FEMA still hasn't recovered more than $600 million in bogus payments. That's what a new investigation found more than five years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Many of the payments were made by mistake or because of fraud. FEMA told CNN it's being responsible with taxpayer dollars.

CHETRY: And they certainly didn't sign up for this in Southern California. Snow and ice in the L.A. area closed to a 30-mile stretch of i-5 known as the grapevine north of Los Angeles. Things are getting back to normal this morning but it took some people two hours just to go five miles. It was even worse for others who ended up having to pull over and sleep in their cars.

ACOSTA: Still to come this hour, the incredible shrinking doughnut hole. It's not a breakfast treat. It's one of the new rules for health care coverage in the new year. What you need to know, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: 39 minutes past the hour. We have an "A.M. House Call" for you now. Even as House Republicans are pushing for a repeal, more parts of President Obama's health care reform plan actually kicked in this week. And thanks to one of them, the infamous Medicare Part D doughnut hole may be shrinking.

Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with me now. You know, of course, this is a huge issue for seniors. How much of this coverage gap in terms of prescription drugs will be closing for many seniors out there?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I feel like we've been talking about this for a couple of years now. And that this doughnut hole which a lot of people has sort of know about generally that maybe not specifically is something that's been a big issue for some time. The way to think about this - you think about a doughnut, and obviously has a hole in the middle.

For seniors who get their prescription drugs through Medicare Part D, what would happen, they would pay only a quarter of the cost of those prescription drugs as they eat through the first part of the doughnut, up to $2,800. When they got to the hole, they would be responsible for the entire cost until they got to around $4,500, $4,550 to be specific. And then they would start to get help again in terms of defraying some of those costs.

What they are saying here now is that in the middle, where you're in that part where you had to pay the entire cost of prescription drugs, you now get them for 50 percent the cost. And that's what starts to shrink the impact, if you will, of that doughnut hole. The trajectory they're saying, Kiran, is to ultimately get rid of the doughnut hole altogether and maybe make it a 25 percent co-pay on all the prescription drugs all the way through a person's entire need for prescription drugs. But that's what they specifically mean by that doughnut hole shrinking, defraying some of the costs of those prescription drugs right in the middle there.

CHETRY: And this is interesting because a lot of people then say to pay for some of the other provisions have to start kicking in as well, right? And there is this debate over some of it. Universal health care, requiring that everybody gets some sort of insurance and also some questions about whether if you can pay more, should you pay more?

GUPTA: Yes, it's a good point. I talked to several people about that exact issue with regard to the doughnut hole. Some say look, a lot of the extra costs of providing these prescription drugs at 50 percent of the cost may come more from the pharmaceutical companies rather than a discount or sort of an incentive from state or federal funding. So it's unclear exactly who is going to absorb a lot of the costs, the extra costs of providing those drugs at half the price.

But you're right, in order to get the plan to work as a whole, it sort of banks on the idea that a lot more people are going to be buying into the affordable care act as a whole, Kiran.

CHETRY: And this is the other interesting thing, we talked a lot about pre-existing conditions and we heard so many heartbreaking stories of people that simply couldn't get coverage because they were already ill. That is ending this year. Yet it's interesting, we haven't seen as many people as some thought to sign up for this, versus the people that are actually eligible. What do you think is going on here?

GUPTA: It's interesting. First of all, for children, the idea that insurance companies can no longer discriminate based on pre-existing conditions, that's in effect now. For adults, that specific provision will take effect in 2014. What's happening now is sort of interesting, Kiran, sort of this period in between where they have something known as pre-existing health insurance, which it's a type of temporary insurance to try and help people who have - adults who have some sort of pre-existing condition get health care insurance.

Now, you're right. About five to seven million people roughly would be eligible for this type of insurance. But only 8,000 people around the country have signed up. It's unclear exactly why. Part of it is the scenario is like this. You say you need to get the sort of pre- existing health care insurance, you have to show that you have been uninsured for six months to qualify. That may be hard to do if you have a significant illness, having been uninsured is a big deal. Maybe they were buying into these higher premiums so they wouldn't qualify because of that. But you're absolutely right, 8,000 people out of five million.

CHETRY: Yes, they say that and some of it that maybe some of the people don't know that the program exists, and they are trying to get these advocacy groups out there to sort of make people aware that there is this measure in place until as you said the pre-existing rule kicks in a few more years.

GUPTA: That's right.

CHETRY: Interesting stuff. And as we said, the political fighting still continues as House Republicans promising to try to repeal aspects of it.

GUPTA: That's right. A big vote this Friday. It's unclear exactly what will happen or what will happen after that. But you're right. It's one of the first things they are doing out of the gate here.

CHETRY: Sanjay, good to see you, as usual. Thanks so much.

GUPTA: Happy New Year, Kiran.

CHETRY: You too.

ACOSTA: Well, coming up, a simple blood test could prove to be a life saver for cancer patients. We'll tell you why medical experts are calling it a major breakthrough.

And a little bit of warm-up along the East Coast this Tuesday. Rob will have the full travel forecast right after the break.

It is 43 minutes after the hour.

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CHETRY: Forty-six minutes past the hour right now. Well, his Hall of Fame career may finally be over, but Brett Favre is getting dogged now with new allegations of sexual harassment.

ACOSTA: Joining us now for some perspective what this could mean for Brett Favre, legally, and for his football legacy, Stephen A. Smith, a nationally syndicated radio host, and Paul Callan, criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor.

Gentleman, thank you for joining us, this morning.

And, I guess, Paul, let's start with you, because I guess there are some legal questions here. And this is -- I mean, this is a tough one. Because, you know, this is going to be difficult to prove, right? It's a he said/she said, except you do have you text messages.

PAUL CALLAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, yes. It's not only a he said/she said, but it's in writing because of text messaging, which boy, it's really doing a lot of people in lately. It's a dangerous, dangerous thing.

But, from a legal standpoint, the women involved -- the massage therapists -- may have a real problem pursuing this case because the law says they might be independent contractors, might not be direct employees of the Jets or of Brett Favre directly. So that is going to make it difficult to bring this case.

CHETRY: All right. Well, let's take a look at what the messages are. One says, "Brett here... you and Chrissy want to get together? I'm all alone."

The other one says, "Kind of lonely tonight, I guess I have bad intentions."

What do you make of this, Stephen?

STEPHEN A. SMITH, NATIONALLY SYNDICATED RADIO SHOW HOST: I think it's a complete waste of time. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that this is --

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: You know what? Listen. First of all, We don't want to make light of sexual harassment. That's a very, very serious thing. But I think it's important to notice and to recognize that the people making light of the are the actual accusers.

Because Brett Favre -- this happened in 2008. Well, what on earth took you so long? It's 2011. Now is when you come forward with this? There's a 2008 season, a 2009 season, a 2010 season. You're talking about waiting about what happened -- the fallout from the Jenn Sterger situation? Well guess what? Deadspin.com printed that a few months ago, not a few years ago. You had ample time to address this particular situation.

But, then let's get into the particulars here. OK, he sent a text message. Let's assume that they're absolutely correct and truthful in what they're saying that he sent them. OK. He's a married man, he certainly has questions to answer to as it pertains to Mrs. Favre. There's no denying that.

But the reality is, is that if he indeed sent it and you didn't accept his advances and you don't have more ample evidence that shows that he sent you additional text message, well, then the reality is, is that he made a pass at you, you turned him down. What in God's name is your husband doing calling him up demanding an apology? I don't know what world you all live in, but if you got a gorgeous woman, OK, usually men make passes at them. You don't call up and say, you know what, how dare you make a pass at my woman. That's ridiculous.

CALLAN: I think we're hearing some common sense here, as opposed to what the law probably, actually says with respect to this stuff.

SMITH: Absolutely.

CHETRY: But they're saying that when they complained they lost their job. Now, the timing may be, as Stephen's saying, suspect, but they're saying their career suffered because of this.

CALLAN: Yes. There is a statute that says even if you're an independent contractor, if you lose your job as a result of sexual harassment, you can bring a lawsuit.

But Steve raises a very legitimate point here about the accusers. I was reading this complaint this morning. Do you know what they did? They attached pictures of scantily clad women from Jets calendars to the actual complaint that was filed in court. This is one of the most salacious, sexually provocative complaints I've seen filed in a case. That's been done for one reason -- to attract press attention and so there will be pictures of scantily clad women in the newspaper.

ACOSTA: Let me jump in here because, I mean, isn't there a case to be made that we have seen a lot of pro athletes misbehaving lately? And, at what point do some of these guys have to behave themselves --

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: I mean, they can damage to their sports organizations, they can cause damage --

SMITH: Really? That's your definition of causing damage to a sports organization? I'm sorry. Last time I checked --

ACOSTA: There are a lot of kids who look up to Brett Favre. What are they supposed to think about this?

SMITH: Absolutely. And I don't want to make light of that. That's a very serious thing right there. But let's real about something here. Usually when you're a professional athlete, as somebody that has covered professional sports nearly 20 years, I assure you, most of the time, they're the ones being approached. It's not the other way around, contrary to what people want to believe.

Brett Favre is not only a future Hall of Famer, he's somebody that made $20 million. And to touch on your point, sir, because I wanted to make this -- and it's important that this is ellicuted (sic). The reality is, is that it was just a story in the news the other day about how you had Chief Justice John Roberts talking about how the federal -- you know, the Supreme Court is inundated with cases because he wants partisan politics to be shelved aside so federal judges can be elected so they're not inundated with cases. It's nonsense like this that inundates our court system because, really, at the end of the day what are you after here? You want an apology from Brett Favre? That's why you spent your money on the lawyer? That's why the lawyer is speaking out for you?

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Settlement out of court here?

CALLAN: You know, there might be a settlement out of court to avoid embarrassment for the Jets. But in terms of a provable case that a jury would buy into, I got real problems with this.

This happened in 2008. Why would you wait around until 2010 to file a lawsuit if it was such a serious matter? I think a jury's going to look at it and say, you know something? Massage therapist for a professional football player, three text messages, what does it ad up to, really?

CHETRY: Well -- speaking of what it adds up to, just quickly, I mean, the allegations by Jenn Sterger that you were talking about, that he sent her provocative messages. You know had to pay a $50,000 fine for that?

SMITH: Well, he paid the $50,000 fine because he wasn't forthcoming with the NFL. Why would he be forthcoming with the NFL if he wasn't forthcoming with his wife? Why? I'm not telling them anything I didn't tell my wife.

CHETRY: This is a sad way for one of the most beloved quarterbacks to go out.

SMITH: Not at all. He'll be in the Hall of Fame for women, sure. You might have an issue with it. But the fellows, we're going to look at him and say, he's a future Hall of Famer, you understand? And that's that. That's how we're going to look at it. Somebody needs to say it.

ACOSTA: Something tells me there might be an added sensitivity training class over at the New York Jets in the coming months, and maybe perhaps here at AMERICAN MORNING, Stephen.

SMITH: Call it what you want.

ACOSTA: Stephen A. Smith and Paul Callan. Thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate it.

CHETRY: All right. Still ahead, we're checking our top stories --

ACOSTA: We knew what we were getting into when we had Stephen A. Smith on, right?

CHETRY: -- coming up right after the break. Fifty-two minutes past the hour.

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CHETRY: We're going to have your top stories coming up. We'll be right back.

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