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American Morning
Mother Nature Piling On; Price of Freedom; House Reads the Constitution; London Terror Alert; So Long Free Checking; Lawmakers Challenge 14th Amendment; Facebook's New Friends?; Yacht Home To Most Exclusive App
Aired January 07, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Glad you're with us. It is Friday, January 7th.
Thank goodness, right?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Thank goodness. But we got a little something working, cooking that's not going to make a great Friday.
CHETRY: I know. I love this. "The New York Post," "Memo to Mayor Mike: It's going to snow today, post alert city hall."
Of course, in the aftermath of the botched cleanup after the last blizzard, I guess the papers want the mayor to be aware.
HOLMES: You know, that is a public service they're providing, just giving the mayor a head's up, it's going to snow. And we're talking about this for good reason.
Kiran Chetry, I'm along with here with -- I'm T.J. Holmes. Good to have you here with us this morning.
But, yes, the city is going to get another chance at this. Everybody says they botched it the last time around. So, we got another snowstorm and another chance for New York City to make up for some of the mistakes, maybe see if they learned from some of the mistakes from last time.
We're expecting some six inches of snow in some places around the New York City area. You could get that by this afternoon. Of course, you'll remember that big Christmas blizzard debacle. Now, we're wondering, can the city handle it?
CHETRY: Also, two sisters just hours away from their conditional release from prison. They've been behind bars for 16 years in Mississippi. That condition, one sister must donate a kidney to the other. We're live in Mississippi with this developing story.
HOLMES: A Washington state couple have lost their minds. They came out and publicly let everybody know they now have $190 million in the bank. Why would you do such a thing?
No. Of course, this is the couple claiming their half of the multimillion-dollar jackpot. And you need to hear the system they used to pick the numbers. Pretty cool.
CHETRY: That's right. And they say we're not going to be one of those statistics that falls on hard times after winning the lotto. We're going to do it the right way.
HOLMES: We'll check in two years.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Up next: another snowstorm bearing down on the Big Apple right now.
Here's a look at the weather map this morning. New Yorkers still bruised, of course, with the memories of the Christmas weekend blizzard that shut down the city. Well, today, another blast of extreme weather could drop up to a half a foot of snow in some areas, closer to maybe one to three inches in the city.
HOLMES: All right. Jason Carroll out in New York City for us.
Jason, good morning to you. We have seen some heads rolling, investigations are taking place as well. But everybody wants to know, you know, we'll deal with that later. But can the city handle it this time around?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the big question. The city certainly says it can. You know, right here, what we have is some 365 salt spreaders ready to go, 1,700 snow plows ready to go. This time around, T.J., the city says they've learned their lesson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Much of the snow from the holiday blizzard is gone from New York streets but not the resentment over how the city and its mayor responded to it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was bad. It was really bad. I mean, even in my area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never saw New York like stuck that way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I seen the ambulance was stuck right in the middle of the street. So, I said, this is really bad.
CARROLL: Now that New York is bracing for more snow, the city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, says this time, the response will be better.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: While I realized there were problems with the city's snow cleaning efforts last week, we want to assure all New Yorkers that we're doing everything in our power to make sure we don't experience those kinds of problems again.
CARROLL: Problems such as not knowing the location of salt trucks, not knowing where cars were stuck, and overloaded 911 system, approximately 170 ambulances stranded in the storm.
The fallout: the mayor demoted the former chief of emergency medical services and reassigned two city sanitation chiefs.
BLOOMBERG: For nine years we have insisted on accountable from all agencies and all city employees, from top to bottom. And when something goes wrong, we stop everything, we find out what went wrong, and we fix it. And we can spend a lot of time, should have, would have, could have, my focus has always been how can we do it better tomorrow.
CARROLL: The mayor has initiated several investigations into the city's response, already coming up with recommendations, some will be used today -- such as equipping more than a dozen salt trucks with GPS and deploying scout teams to trouble spot.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: So, T.J., Kiran, some improvements definitely in place. You know, we actually spoke to a lot of New Yorkers yesterday about whether or not they thought the city had, in fact, and the mayor had learned a lesson. Many said, yes, they believe the mayor has learned a lesson. But just as many New Yorkers told us they shouldn't have had to learn the lesson in the first place -- T.J.
CHETRY: Yes, some are saying this is going to be the next test. However, we're not expecting nearly as much as we did the Christmas Day after blizzard. The mayor is also taking heat about where he was during that last storm.
CARROLL: Very -- absolutely, Kiran. During a press conference yesterday, he was asked a few times about whether or not it was appropriate to sort of be not in town or not around, so to speak, and the deputy mayor as well, and what would that be part of a new sort of emergency snow plan as well. The mayor sort of dodged that question, basically saying, I have a right to a private life. So, we'll have to see if he's continuously hounded on that question in the future -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Jason Carroll for us this morning -- thanks.
HOLMES: Thanks, Jason.
CHETRY: We're going to check in with Rob Marciano right now. He's tracking the storm from the extreme weather center in Atlanta.
So, it's being billed this is the next big test for the city. But we're not going to get anywhere near what we got, right?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is an opportunity to look -- for them to look really good, I think.
We are going to get some snow. But you're right, it's not going to be -- the blizzard we saw last go around, it was never that setup to begin with but certainly has the potential to dump a significant amount of snow in pockets. Although, today, it looks a little bit weaker than it did yesterday.
Nonetheless, the radar is lighting up with a little bit of white, and means snow from D.C. or just north of D.C. and through Baltimore and Philadelphia. That's where the most intense bands are right now.
As we go throughout the day, and this thing begins to shift a little bit farther to the east, it will probably see some intensification, but we don't expect it to last all the way through tomorrow like we originally did, and that means we'll probably see lighter amounts, probably less than a foot in New York City, which is a lot less than what we got over the Christmas Day storm. But upstate, it probably will be a little more intense there. So, six to 10 inches expected there.
And the pink areas you see there, though, winter storm warnings for parts of the lower Hudson Valley, kind of stretching into the Finger Lakes and parts of the Adirondacks, probably in the realm of three to six inches of snow in the New York metropolitan area out towards Long Island and throughout Connecticut as well. So, that's what we think is going to happen with this particular storm.
We're also watching in what will probably be a more significant winter weather event for the deep -- for the South over the weekend into Monday, ice and snow and you guys know that New York may have messed up on this last snow event, but they have the resources, the South doesn't really have the resources or the know how to deal with ice and snow, and that storm is developing and looking a little more severe for Sunday night into Monday.
So, we'll talk more about that as well as the New York snow event in about 30 minutes -- guys.
HOLMES: All right, Rob. We appreciate you, buddy. Talk to you again here shortly.
CHETRY: We're also following a developing story out of London this morning. British intelligence reports point to a possible terrorist attack that would target London subway stations as well as airports. CNN has learned that security officials are concerned about an attack being planned in or near the city of London. Britain's threat level is at severe. Police sources say increased security is in effect at transportation hubs.
We're going to be getting a live report from Matthew Chance in London with more on how they're preparing for this possibility at the bottom of the hour.
HOLMES: Also developing this morning, police looking for the person who mailed two incendiary devices to government buildings in Maryland 20 miles apart, these things were. Two employees were slightly injured here, had their fingers burned. One device was addressed to the governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley; the other to the Maryland Department of Transportation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG SHIPLEY, MD STATE POLICE SPOKESMAN: Both packages were opened there was a reaction, a reaction that caused a flash of fire, brief flash of fire, smoke and a smell. This is not to be compared with a significant explosion that you think of when you say that word. And I want to stress that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Officials say a message was also found in at least one of those packages and that message, the person who sent it, appeared to be complaining about road signs that urged drivers it to report suspicious activity.
CHETRY: Well, neighbors of a former Pentagon official found dead in a Delaware landfill say that they're baffled about the bizarre behavior that was captured on surveillance video in his final hours. John Wheeler walking around, lost, disoriented in a Wilmington, Delaware, parking garage. He had a shoe in one hand. The parking attendant said he looked lost and friends don't know what to make of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT DILL, WHEELER'S NEIGHBOR: I remember one time his wife said, you know, if Jack didn't have a GPS, he'd get lost in the driveway.
PHOEBE DILL, WHEELER'S NEIGHBOR: We've never seen him inebriated. Was he inebriated when he wandered around like that? I don't know that he would ever take drugs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Police have ruled Wheeler's death a homicide, but there are still a lot of questions as to when and where and who may have killed him.
HOLMES: Well, authorities say a Pennsylvania man had a loaded gun on him, but instead he used his teeth to attack two FBI agents. This was near Pittsburgh. Prosecutors say the man, Emerson Begolly, bit the agents when they approached his car to serve him with search warrants. Agents say the man, yes, in fact, had a loaded gun. Begolly was under investigation for alleged postings on jihadist Web sites.
CHETRY: This morning, two sisters are about to be released from a Mississippi prison after spending 16 years behind bars, but their freedom comes with a price. One sister must donate a kidney to the other who would die without a transplant. The condition for the release is drawing national attention.
CNN's Martin Savidge is live outside of the prison in Pearl, Mississippi.
So, more about this -- when do we expect the sisters to walk out of prison?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
Well, that's the real question right now. Authorities say that the release could come around 8:00 local time. That'd be -- well, 9:00 Eastern Time. The NAACP which says they will be picking the sisters up, Janice -- Jamie and Gladys, rather, Scott, say they will try to do that earlier, maybe around 7:30 if prison officials will allow it. So, it remains to be seen.
Once the sisters are freed here from the central Mississippi correctional facility, they're going downtown to Jackson, about 25 minutes away, and it's expected there will be a news conference this afternoon. After that, then comes the trip to Pensacola and the joyous reunion with their families.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE (voice-over): For years, family and supporters of Gladys and Jamie Scott have pleaded, prayed and protested for their release from a Mississippi prison. The two were sentenced to life 16 years ago for armed robbery, a crime that netted $11.
(CHANTING)
SAVIDGE: Governor Haley Barbour suspended their sentences. Their mother got the news in a phone call from a reporter.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
EVELYN RASCO, MOTHER OF GLADYS AND JAMIE SCOTT: I just went hysterical. I had to stop the car. I was driving at the time when he called me and I got so emotional, thanking God that finally this has come to an end.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Governor Barbour said he wasn't releasing the sister because their sentences were too severe, but because the prison board said they were no longer a threat to society and for medical reasons. Thirty-eight-year-old Jamie needs dialysis three times a week in prison. Her 36-year-old sister has offered one of her own kidneys for transplant. The governor says the operation is part of the stipulation for their release.
But some believe there is more than just humanitarian motivations at work here. Many expect Governor Barbour, a Republican, plans to challenge America's first black president in 2012.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been asked a lot of questions, did the government do this for political reasons. My guess is, he did do it for political reasons. But, on the other hand, I want to commend him for a movement which spoke humanity.
SAVIDGE: Throughout their trial and imprisonment, the sisters have maintained their innocence, as has their mother who says one of the alleged victims later came back and asked Gladys out.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
RASCO: So, if somebody robbed you, would you come back to date them later?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Governor Barbour has come under criticism from the medical community because they say it's unethical, essentially because when you donate an organ, that's the way it works in this country, you donate organs, you're not supposed to give it any monetary or value at all. Well, this release would indicate if you give a kidney, there is a value to it because it gets you out of prison. That's why the medical community has very been upset.
However, the governor seems to have backed off that condition in later statements -- Kiran.
CHETRY: That's interesting. I mean, the other question, wouldn't she donate it anyway to her sister -- I mean, without being ordered to do so if she had the opportunity?
SAVIDGE: Exactly. She had already come out and said, I think it was about six months previously, that she would, of course, out of love to her sister, do whatever it takes to try to help her. The other thing that isn't clear at this point, whether, in fact, they are a medical match. That had never been determined when they were in prison.
So, there are still a lot of ifs that don't necessarily mean the surgery could go forward between the two sisters.
CHETRY: Well, certainly a big day for them after being in prison all those years.
Martin Savidge, thanks so much.
SAVIDGE: You're welcome.
HOLMES: All right. Well, they have six children, they have 23 grandchildren, now they have $190 million.
CHETRY: So just maybe they can pay for all of those grandchildren to go to college, just maybe.
HOLMES: My grandchildren as well.
We're talking about Jim and Carolyn McCullar here. This is the Washington state couple that has come forward and let us know who they are as they claim their half of Tuesday's $380 million mega millions jackpot. Now, he is a Vietnam veteran, as well as a retired Boeing employee. Let's hear from the really happy couple.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM MCCULLAR, MEGA MILLIONS JACKPOT WINNER: When we were first married, we had to peel cascara bark off trees and dry it and sell it for cow laxative just to buy food for the kids. I don't think I have to do that anymore. Yes. We've gone through some tough times, but we always believed that God would get us through them and he did, every time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: God just hooked them up, did he not?
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: But don't you love when it happens to nice people. You know what I mean? I mean, come on. They seem so sweet.
HOLMES: They do seem very sweet. But there's no crying in $190 million.
CHETRY: Oh, I would be bawling, baby. You would cry.
HOLMES: It's Jim and Carolyn. How did they do this? Their birthdays, one is 8/15/42, the other is 4/25/47. So, you do a combination of their two birthdays. They played those numbers, they hit the jackpot.
CHETRY: Yes. But how do they decide whose birthday year was the mega ball number?
HOLMES: They go back and forth with the number, they start with one month, and this month, and that day and that day, they went back and forth. They had a system played all the time.
CHETRY: Well, it worked clearly.
HOLMES: Congratulations them.
CHETRY: Absolutely. Wish you the best.
Well, in Congress, even the simple things can get a little complicated. Here's what happens when the lawmakers try to recite the U.S. Constitution, arguments, omissions and a major interruption. Straight ahead.
HOLMES: Also, smokers out there, a lot of places now. You know you can't smoke inside, but you're running out of places to smoke outside. There's a brand new ban, maybe the first of its kind -- we'll tell you about it just ahead.
CHETRY: Also, you can forget about free checking. The nation's largest bank about to roll out new fees even for basic accounts. We're going to break it down for you.
Fifteen minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Eighteen minutes past the hour right now.
Did you sit and watch the reading of the Constitution all day yesterday?
HOLMES: Start to finish. Oh, you didn't? I thought it was required for us all.
CHETRY: Today on Capitol Hill round one. I have the pocket Constitution on my iPad, does that count? OK.
The renewed battle over President Obama's health care reform just hours from now, the House of Representatives takes the first step voting on the ground rules for debate on a health care repeal bill and final vote scheduled for Wednesday. Republicans control the House so they can push this repeal through that body, but Democrats, of course, rule the Senate and the White House is promising a veto.
HOLMES: And, as Kiran was just mentioning House Republicans, they started of the week, you know, they're in charge now, in power, one of the first things they wanted to do was read the U.S. Constitution on the House Floor -- a first for the House.
CHETRY: And that simple idea proved to be complicated -- no surprise.
Our Jim Acosta is live in Washington with some of the drama surrounding this bit of political theater. Hey, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Yes, I was hoping that they would sing the words of the Constitution like they did on "School House Rock," but I was disappointed there.
You're right, T.J. and Kiran, this -- this was history. Historians say this has never been done before. John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, led off the reading of the Constitution.
But none of this happened without just a little bit of controversy. There was the portion of the Constitution that was read by Congressman Frank Palone of New Jersey referring to the requirement that the president of the United States be born in this country. Well, when that happened, a birther in the House gallery, that's the area of the House of Representatives where visitors are allowed to come and watch the proceedings, screamed out "Except Obama, Except Obama."
That woman was tossed out of the proceedings and then there was some other controversy surrounding the reading of the Constitution. Some members of the Congressional Black Caucus objected to the fact that certain portions of the Constitution were not read. Those were the portions that were later amended, and that includes the part in the original Constitution that referred to slaves as three-fifths of a person and Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. of Illinois said, not reading that portion of the Constitution ignores the struggles of African- Americans in their march for true equality in this country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JESSE JACKSON, JR. (D), ILLINOIS: Many of us don't want that to be lost upon the reading of our sacred -- of our sacred document. And so with that said, I thank the gentleman for yielding and I just wanted to indicate that this is done with sincerity, it is not done to take a shot at the idea of reading the Constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now, House leaders who were organizing the reading of this Constitution say they wanted to address that by having Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights leader, read the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, which ended up outlawing slavery - T.J. and Kiran.
HOLMES: All right. That was kind of one of the first things they wanted to do. But they're getting to the business now, this health care vote on possibly repealing the president's health care reform law. But, now there's some new numbers that are coming out that might have people pausing a bit on Capitol Hill before they take that vote.
ACOSTA: That's right, T.J. Democrats have some fresh ammunition in this fight over the repeal of the Health Care Bill. The repealing the Job Killing Health Care Law Act as it's called, the Congressional Budget Office came out with a report yesterday saying that if you repeal the Health Care Law, it's going to add in -- take a look at this. We have a graphic showing you this. It would add $230 billion to the deficit over 10 years.
Now the new speaker, John Boehner, said he's not buying those numbers. He thinks that they just don't add up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: If you believe that repealing Obama Care is going to raise the deficit, then -- then you would have to have some way to offset that spending. But I don't think anybody in this town believes that repealing Obama Care is going to increase the deficit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now, there's a procedural vote that is set for today to get the debate started on repealing the health care bill and a final vote could happen on Wednesday, guys.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll see what happens. Thanks so much, Jim.
ACOSTA: You bet. CHETRY: Good to see you this morning.
HOLMES: Well, another battle possibly going to take place or will take place up on Capitol Hill and around the country is about illegal immigration. But the fight is not going to be over securing the border, over building a wall. It's going to be over birth right citizenship. That's shaping up. We're going to have a conversation about that this morning.
CHETRY: It's a (INAUDIBLE). And the reading of the Constitution and then perhaps challenging portions of it --
HOLMES: The Constitution itself.
CHETRY: -- like the 14th Amendment.
The golf -- the world's fastest golfer -- we're not saying he's great in terms of actual, you know, making putts, you know, sinking the holes, but he's fast, pretty fast, fast enough to set a world record.
Twenty-two minutes past the hour. Love the hairdo, too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Twenty-five minutes past the hour.
You're used to the smoking bans for indoors, but in one New York suburb -- now, you've got to watch where you smoke outside. Village of Great Neck, it's on Long Island, banned smoking on the sidewalks along its main streets. It could cost you $1,000 if you get caught lighting up. The mayor said smoke from the outside gets into the stores, customers complained there, so they shut it down. But you were telling me, Kiran, there were other places that have much (INAUDIBLE) than this.
CHETRY: Yes. Maryland -- a suburb in Maryland not far from where I grew up, Chevy Chase doesn't allow you to smoke.
HOLMES: Outside of it --
CHETRY: Outside.
HOLMES: -- at all.
CHETRY: And any other public areas, no.
HOLMES: Where can you smoke?
CHETRY: I guess your car. Your house.
HOLMES: And that's it.
CHETRY: That's about it.
HOLMES: Smoking is bad for you. Just stop it, anyway. CHETRY: Yes, it is.
Well, he was the odds on favorite to be the top pick in this year's NFL draft. You love -- you love --
HOLMES: This story.
CHETRY: Right.
Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is deciding to stay in school, kids. Luck's father, a former pro quarterback, says the possibility of a player lockout or being drafted by the lowly Carolina Panthers did not affect his son's decision. He says his son is old school and he's committed to getting his degree.
Luck was the second -- was second in the Heisman Trophy voting. He also led Stanford to a 12 and 1 record and an Orange Bowl victory.
HOLMES: Can't you always go get that degree?
CHETRY: Yes, you can. But, I mean, it's interesting. I mean, maybe he'll be just as good next year. But sometimes lightning never strikes twice.
HOLMES: Hope so. It doesn't. And last year's number one overall pick got $50 million guaranteed, so he's giving up that kind of money. Stanford is a lovely campus, but, hey, come on, man.
All right. Come on. We're talking about the fastest golfer on the planet.
CHETRY: We didn't say most accurate.
HOLMES: He's not. We don't know how good he is. Well, he's just hitting the ball into a neck -- a net, here, I should say.
Here he is, David Ogron, I hope I'm saying his name right, but you see how he does his thing. He holds five world records in the sport of speed golf. Who knew there was such a thing? Two of these records certified by who else, "Guinness Book of World Records," will give you a record for anything.
He's going for another record tonight. He attempts to hit more than 50 golf balls in 30 seconds. Each one, though, has to travel at least 100 yards at a minimum 30 degree arc to qualify.
CHETRY: And his caddie or whoever is, you know, putting the balls down there, he has -- he has to be quick, too.
HOLMES: OK. How many broken fingers do you think he's had --
CHETRY: I know.
HOLMES: -- over the years?
CHETRY: Poor guy. He has -- he has to be just as precise as the golfer. Well, good luck to him. It's great. I love the pants.
Coming up, London on high alert, fears of a possible terror attack that could target the city's transportation hubs. The latest from London on this developing story, just ahead.
HOLMES: All right. And everybody wants a piece of Facebook. Want to get your hands on the red hot social network market? Well, could possibly Facebook be going public? Some think it's on track to do so. We'll say you it could happen. We're getting close to the bottom of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: All right. There needs to be a poll question of the day. That's all we talk about now, Andrew Luck, Stanford quarterback.
CHETRY: Yes, the decision to stay --
HOLMES: Stay in school.
CHETRY: -- instead of potentially being drafted for millions. Not potentially being drafted. Definitely being drafted and making potentially millions and millions.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) of money. We will talk about that a little more this morning. Interesting story.
But welcome back. I'm T.J. Holmes, along with Kiran Chetry at the bottom of the hour.
A look at the things we're keeping a close eye on: the weather. We got another snowstorm rolling in this way, particularly to New York City, some of the parts of the Northeast as well going to be under some winter storm watches and warnings. This is what you need to know right now, is that it's not expected to be as bad as that Christmas weekend blizzard. So, it's not going -- it's not expected to shut down the city, but still, up to six inches could fall in some places today, maybe by this afternoon. A lot of people wondering: is New York City ready to handle it this time around?
CHETRY: And a couple of hours, two sisters will walk out of a Mississippi prison after serving 16 years behind bars. The state's governor suspended the sentences of Gladys and Jamie Scott on the condition that one must donate a kidney to the other. The two were sentenced to life 16 years ago for armed robbery. Corrections officials say the sisters, quote, "no longer pose a threat to society."
HOLMES: And the military may be trying to get some spending under control. Yesterday, the Defense Department called for $78 billion in spending cuts. Those cuts include a reduction in the number of Marine Corps and Army personnel.
CHETRY: We're following a developing story out of London this morning. Police are stepping up security at the city's transportation hubs after reports of a possible attack being planned, much like the coordinated attacks in Mumbai, India, back in 2008. Terrorists rocked the Indian capital, killing 175 people and injuring dozens more.
CNN's Matthew Chance is in London with the latest on this new potential threat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm here at Kings Cross train station in London, one of the major transport hubs, the British security officials have based on a higher state of alert. The terrorist threat level here and in other key train stations and airports across the country have been raised from substantial to severe.
Officials say it's a precaution and that there's no intelligence of an imminent attack. But there is an increased police presence as you can see here, and the thousands of commuters that pass through every hour are being warned to be vigilant.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have been living in London and this is just something we live with.
CHANCE: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't feel more panicky today than on other days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's something you think about all the time after what happened a few years ago. So, yes, I suppose I'm a bit more concerned.
CHANCE: Kings Cross has been targeted by bombers in the past, most recently in July 2005. In fact, the whole of Britain has remained on a general severe threat level for the past year, amid fears of a Mumbai-style gun attack in Europe, possibly here in the British capital.
Matthew Chance, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: All right. We're joined by Christine Romans right now, "Minding Your Business" this morning -- talking about bank fees.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Bank fees, I told you they were coming and they are.
You know, we have all these new rules to prevent you all from these credit card fees. Well, now, the banks are finding other ways to put the fees on. And it's in banking checking accounts. Quite frankly, you're going to probably be seeing huge new fees in a lot of different bank accounts -- we're watching in particular Bank of America.
Why does Bank of America matter? Well, Bank of America is 57 million households. That is half of the bank accounts in this country are Bank of America checking accounts. So, that's why that matters.
This is the kind of new fees they are testing. One, the B of A essential account. The very simple account, $9 monthly fee for no minimum balance. If you have a couple -- if you carry $200 or $300 in your bank account every month and you don't have a lot of bells and whistles, they're g going to charge you $9 to keep the money there.
And this is what the spokeswoman from the company says, "Many of our customers choose to have a monthly fee. They like that predictability." I'm assuming that means as opposed to not knowing where the fees are coming.
Here's the next one, an enhanced account, $2,000 in that account or $5,000 across other accounts with Bank of America, use a credit card once a month, you will not have a fee. And if you have, you know, 20 grand sitting around, use a linked credit card once a month, then you won't have to or you have Bank of America mortgage or investment account at Merrill Lynch, then you won't have a fee as well.
Look, bottom line for you folks, is that you need to pick up your feet and walk out the door and find a place where you're not going to have fees, if these fees bother you. There are credit unions. Most credit unions do not charge for checking. There are a lot of online banks that don't. Again, if you make sure that you're diligent and meet some of these other requirements, then you don't have to pay a fee.
But this is basically, you're going to be -- you're going to pay in a lot of cases for your own money. This is a pilot program in three states, but they're trying to test it out and see if they can do it nationwide.
CHETRY: I mean, you talked about this before, how they had to make up money somewhere else -- I mean, because the overdraft fees are being limited. Things like that.
ROMANS: Costs about $200 a year to keep -- for them clerically, for most banks, clerically, to keep a checking account. They're going to figure out --
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: -- send all your monthly statements out by paper and all of that stuff -- I mean, it does add up. But still, you're right, there are ways that you can, you know, do smart things to get around it.
ROMANS: Community banks, small banks, also, they -- all these CEOs are always calling me and saying, "Christine, you got to remember, we don't charge, we don't charge." So, they are always very eager to get the business from the big banks.
HOLMES: All right.
ROMANS: There you go.
HOLMES: All right. (INAUDIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Christine Romans --
CHETRY: Just keep it under the mattress, don't pay fees.
HOLMES: Old school, yes.
ROMANS: When you have tens of thousands of dollars sitting around in your checking account?
HOLMES: I do not.
ROMANS: Neither do I.
HOLMES: All right. Thank you, Christine. We'll talk to you again here shortly.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Coming up: birth right citizenship, it is the next big immigration battle. Several state lawmakers are challenging the idea that babies born in the U.S. are automatically U.S. citizens.
HOLMES: Also, you got a luxury yacht, you're cruising in. Well, here's an app for that. Would you believe? You can cruise like P. Diddy. You are not going to believe this place.
It's 36 minutes past the hour.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it shows the ignorance of this bill and I just want to give you --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- a copy of our flyer and other people here today recognize that this bill is ignorant and wrong. It's inhumane, racist bill, and it will be stopped. It will be stopped. I'll tell you that much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: What you are seeing there is the disruption by some protesters of a move now to get rid of birth right citizenship. What we're talking about here is a movement by some states which you are seeing there, the press conference at the National Press Club earlier this week, a movement by some states to get rid of birth right citizenship.
Now, you hear that -- a lot of people think what exactly are we talking about? Well, the 14th Amendment, you know what we're talking about there. If you're born in this country, you're a citizen, period.
Here's the text. You might remember it, the 14th Amendment, maybe from your school days. But it says, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States are subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States." Period, point blank.
Many believe you can only change that by changing the Constitution. But, like you just saw in the press conference, some states have their own effort, think they can get around changing the Constitution.
Also, Congressman Steve King -- he introduced a bill on Wednesday that wouldn't change the Constitution but change statute and thereby changing birth right citizenship. He's a Republican from Iowa and the chairman of the House Immigration Subcommittee and he joins me this morning.
Sir, thank you for being here with us this morning to explain what is really an emotional topic for a lot of people. So, you tell me, how does specifically, birth right citizenship contribute to the immigration problem in this country and affective so much that you thought the first thing you should do on Wednesday of the new Congress was introduce a bill getting rid of birth right citizenship?
REP. STEVE KING (R-IA), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE IMMIGRATION SUBCOMMITTEE: Well, T.J, it's become a practice. I don't think an accurate reading of our Constitution. You read the clause in the 14th Amendment that says "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof." And "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" was put in there specifically to make sure that there, first of all, is an exemption for certain Native American tribes that had a certain sovereignty, they weren't subject of the jurisdiction of the United States. And if some had become American citizens automatically, they might have lost some of their rights -- the tribal rights that they had.
So, we need to define this correctly. But the impact of the anchor baby industry is this, that there is some turn key operations out there, for example, pregnant woman in China, can contract with a turn key operation, to be smuggled in -- pregnant and smuggled into the United States, have the baby, get the little footprint on the birth certificate and fly back to China and wait for that child to get old enough to start the family reunification plan.
We're looking at numbers as low as 340,000 anchor babies a year. The higher estimates are 750,000 a year. We're looking at perhaps as many as a million in this upcoming year, America that has their immigration out of control and granting somebody to catch into this giant ATM that America has become a welfare state.
HOLMES: Representative King, we got to clear a couple things up here because the thing you spoke of there with the Chinese coming over, there's a whole industry of birth tourism. We know about that.
Now, that is not in the massive numbers -- no one thinks that contributes to our illegal immigration problem. Like you said, they come here, some on visas, these pregnant mothers, have those kids, take the kids with them to their home country and then the kid can later have access to our education system. That's one problem.
There's another issue of people walking across the border sometimes, to have their baby.
Now, which one of those two are you kind of getting at that is really the bigger problem that's contributing to the huge numbers of illegal immigrants in this country?
KING: The bigger problem are the bigger numbers and the bigger numbers are coming across the southern border, that's clear. But it's important that we establish a law that is balanced and affects everyone. And so, I wouldn't discriminate in one way or another, whether they're coming from China, Asia, Russia or Mexico.
But, as an example, I was down at the Tucson University Hospital, the most southerly trauma center in Arizona, the rest have closed because of the cost of serving people that aren't able to pay the bills, and they have a multiple birth mother. They went to Mexico to train the Mexicans on how to deliver five babies, snuck across the border anybody. It costs the taxpayers $125,000 and there's five new citizens then that are come from that. Multiply that, think 340, 750,000, it's out of control.
HOLMES: And, Representative King, you call these anchor babies. What does that mean? What is the benefit -- not to the child necessarily -- but what's the benefit to a mother to have a -- to be an illegal immigrant but to have a legal child here?
KING: Well, when the child reaches of age, then they can bring their family in and the family reunification plan. And so, the family tree comes into the United States and over a period of time, they have access to the welfare benefits, too.
HOLMES: Representative King, I know that might alarm some people to hear that, the family tree. But you know, I know, you have to know this, that child has to be 21 years old before they are able to bring someone over. Then when they bring someone over, that person would have to be on a green card for five years, and then it would take another year to take an oral and a written immigration test. We're talking about a 26-year investment to try to bring over family members.
Now, if you just are saying of age, is that not just misrepresenting exactly what's happening here? It's not a real benefit to come over and wait 26 to 30 years before you can bring over other family members.
KING: Well, I said specifically of age and that's going to imply either 21 or 18. I'm trying to give some utility a language here. But, you know, you may be presuming in the way you stated this, T.J., that the family members always stay in the foreign country until the baby that's born is an anchor baby is 21 years old. In many cases, that's not the case. They've come in illegally. They'll stay here illegally. And then, when they get -- when they've been here long enough that they can be brought in through the path for citizenship for a green card and finally citizenship. They'll do that if they choose.
All don't want to be citizens, but the benefits of this, the benefits from American citizenship, citizenship should be precious and should have value, and we must have control of it. The constitution directs Congress to establish immigration policy, and we need to do that. We've legislated in the past on what is a citizen. I would not be addressing this from a statutory perspective if it weren't for the clause in the 14th amendment.
If it just said all persons born in the United States are citizens of the United States, I would wash my hands and say we got to amend the constitution, but this clause directs Congress to make this definition, in my view. And I think that's what we need to do.
HOLMES: Representative King, as you know, this is an emotional issue for people on both sides of you as well, so we certainly appreciate you being a part of the conversation. We will continue to follow with you as we watch your bill, make it along, and see where it does go in the House. Sir, thank you so much for being here and spending some time on what's been a busy week and big week for you guys up there on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much.
KING: Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Still to come on the Most News in the Morning, we're checking in with Rob Marciano. He's keeping an eye on the storm that's headed to the northeast. Certainly, not going to be like anything like the Christmas Day after blizzard, but we are getting some snow. He's going to have the morning's travel forecast right after the break.
And, could 2012 be the year of the second dotcom boom? The rumors swirling this morning that Facebook could be on track to go public. New details just ahead. It's 47 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Oh, look at that shot this morning. Where are we? Is that Central Park? Twenty-nine degrees right now. I love when New York City looks like -- I mean, I love when New York City looks, you know, downright rural sometimes. That's Central Park this morning. Twenty-nine degrees.
Little bit later, going up to 35 degrees, and The "New York Daily" newspapers just want the city to know, memo to Mayor Mike, it's going to snow today. Post alert city hall.
HOLMES: The public service. That's what we're supposed to do here.
CHETRY: That's right. Bloomie's popularity in downhill slide because of the storm.
HOLMES: Again, the journalists doing their duty, keeping people, the public sometimes, politicians informed, just like our Rob Marciano. Keep -- Rob, let the mayor know what he needs to prepare for today.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Although, I'm not nearly as creative as those writing the headlines for "The New York Post" and "The Daily News." They've got some creativity, that's for sure.
CHETRY: They sure do.
MARCIANO: Oh, yes, downhill side. You might be able to get out there and do a little sledding today. I think you will. And there's still some leftover snow from the last storm last week, at least, in the grassy areas. Here it is, it's moving across much of the northeast right now. The heaviest bands are now moving through Philadelphia, just moved through D.C. I don't think we'll see anything in D.C. out of Baltimore as well. But from Wilmington out through Philly, a bit of a messy commute there in the city of brotherly love.
The snow is beginning to accumulate on the roadways as this pulse starts to move into central and Southern Jersey. A little bit up the turn pipe. We are looking at light snow now falling in New York City. Not really accumulating on the roads just yet, but I think by the time the commute comes later on this afternoon is what we'll start to see a little bit of a mess. So, how much snow do we expect to get? Probably in the realm of three to six inches in New York City and Long Island, parts of Jersey, Connecticut Coastline as well.
The winter weather advisory was put in effect last night, downgraded from a winter storm watch, but there are winter storm warnings that are posted for some of the counties just up the Hudson. There are six to ten inches maybe a little bit farther to the north. So, this is not going to be the boxing day blizzard that we saw last week, that's for sure, but it will be accumulating snow, and it will be an opportunity for the sanitation department and the mayor to look pretty good here by having a much, much easier task of cleaning up the streets.
Boston, New York, metros, Philadelphia, if you're traveling by air, we're going to have some issue today. There's no doubt about that, because of the low visibility and the snows that are accumulating. Over an hour likely at those airports, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Cleveland, 30 to 60-minute delays. Chicago, you'll see a little bit of snow as well, some gusty winds there, and Atlanta, 30 to 60-minute delays and the San Francisco a little bit in the way of delays, as well.
So, here's the map. We are seeing some snow outside of New York City today, a few inches of accumulation in spots. But what we're also watching is what's going to be developing over the weekend. This could be much more serious and potentially crippling for the south. We're going to have cold air that's going to drive in behind the storm that's moving through New York right now.
That will set up shop over the weekend, and then, we're going to have a Gulf Coast storm develop and that will throw moisture into this cold air and a snowy, icy mix beginning Sunday night into Monday, and this could be a serious situation across Dixie and the mid-south. So, you guys got is small potatoes, I think, compared to what we'll see on Monday.
CHETRY: No, you're right. They've been hammered with that type of weather, and we're only in January right now. So, not been easy.
MARCIANO: Just be careful on the way home this afternoon. It is going to be messy across New York and the metropolitan area.
HOLMES: Rob, we appreciate you.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: They're the big winners, half of the two that split that huge mega millions jackpot. Retired Vietnam vet and his wife coming forward to claim half of the mega millions, $190 million. And they're sharing the system that they used to pick these winning numbers.
HOLMES: Also, you're always on Facebook, might as well own a piece of Facebook. Are they about to go public? Fifty-two minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Fifty-six minutes past the hour. The stage is being set for Facebook to go public possibly as early as next year. You know, whenever I hear this type of stories, you know, I always wonder how many people really think it applies to them, because we can't get a piece of this.
HOLMES: Oh, I was just about to say, I was ready for this. I'm getting ready for this.
CHETRY: You can't afford a piece of this.
HOLMES: How do you know what I can afford, Kiran?
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: If you can afford a piece of this, we're best friends. One reason, though, according to news reports, the site is on the brink of hitting 500 shareholders, and so, when that happens, federal law demands that the company release its financials, and at that point, most companies opt to go public. And if you're in, hey, I'll piggyback.
HOLMES: This is how you know I'm not in because I'm going to show you a yacht here that I will never have a chance of setting foot on. We're talking about a super duper high-tech yacht home to the world's most exclusive iPad app. It lets you control just about everything on the yacht from the temperature in the cabins, the light, the blinds, the entertainment.
CHETRY: So, who would be on this yacht?
HOLMES: Who would be on such a thing? His name is Sean Combs. He is the one currently occupying it with some of his family members. We're talking about P. Diddy here. Everybody, when you step on, you get an iPad complimentary to use, at least, while you're on board to spend a week on this thing, already, my man here, shaking his head, $850,000 to spend one week on that yacht.
CHETRY: Oh, I guess it comes with a cruise, so you know it's worth it. I know you can buy several homes.
HOLMES: You could do a lot with $850,000. If you got it, do your thing. That's a lot of money for one week.
CHETRY: You could even do more with $190 million. We're going to hear from the lotto winners, at least half of the lotto winners, who split that huge jackpot coming up. We'll be right back.
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