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American Morning
Snow Shuts Down South; Suspected Gunman in Court; Clinton In Yemen; Biden In Afghanistan; Douglas: "Tumor Is Gone"; Turning Tragedy into Triumph
Aired January 11, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. It's Tuesday, January 11th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Alina in for Kiran Chetry.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could be here with us.
Let me give you the good, bad, and the badder (sic) news, all right? And what we're talking about is this storm, you know, the one that shut down the south, and canceled thousands of flights, has a lot of people stuck, calls to a lot of fender benders. Well, that storm is on the move. It's left the south. The bad news is that it's coming to the northeast.
The even badder (sic) news, as I said, is that it's actually about to merge with another storm into a much bigger monster. New York, Boston could be next. Another northeast blizzard -- are you kidding me -- on its way. And we're talking about feet of snow, possibly. Rob Marciano will tell us where, when, how much. He's coming up.
CHO: A lot of people stuck in the airport, hopefully watching us for these updates.
The Tucson shooting suspect, meanwhile, in court yesterday. He could be facing the death penalty. And we're finding out a lot more about his troubled past. In a moment, we'll hear from a former friend of the alleged gunman who says this is not the Jared Lee Loughner he once knew.
HOLMES: Also, you folks that want the iPhone but not so fond about AT&T -- well, it just a few hours, you could get the news you have been waiting on. Verizon expected to unveil its own iPhone. It's the news a lot of folks waiting for, maybe even for years. But it might cause a problem for folks on Verizon who don't have and don't want an iPhone. We'll explain that.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHO: But at 8:00 in the East Coast, we begin with some breaking news up first. Snow and ice shutting down Dixie and this is what it looks like right now on I-285, a major to thoroughfare in Metro Atlanta. The DOT is telling us that 15, at least 15 tractor trailers are literally stranded, parked on the highway, blocking traffic because it is simply too icy to get around.
HOLMES: Yes. And this is a major highway, the major highway, 285, that really goes literally in a circle around the city of Atlanta and it is absolutely necessary for anybody to get around. So, if you got that thing blocked, nothing is happening. You do see a few vehicles and these pictures moving a little bit, albeit slowly.
Let me show you some other pictures, some other vehicles that were moving not necessarily in a straight line. You expect to see this, of course. Folks braving it, trying it, think they can handle it and it doesn't happen. Police even stopped responding to accidents unless somebody said they were hurt or trapped because they were telling people to stay off the roads. You go out there, you kind of doing it at your own risk.
Now, the major winter storm is building up a little more steam. It's going to be getting a little help from another storm system as it heads to the Northeast.
Our Rob Marciano is live outside of Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park with a look at where the -- where this thing is headed now. And I keep hearing you guys talk about it's actually going to meet up with another storm system?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, we've been paying so much attention to the southern ice storm that this other snowstorm that's been fairly significant across parts of the Plains and the Midwest has been slowly and quietly progressing eastward. And that's what we're looking at for a little bit of a combination of the two.
You mentioned what was going on around 285, with temperatures below freezing now, we've got -- we've got issues across the South and even right now, we're still feeling some drizzle into sub-freezing, even though it's not being shown on the radar there, obviously, a little bit further to the north and east, that's where the bulk of the leftovers is across parts of North Carolina where a mixture of sleet and freezing rain is falling there and then into the Delmarva, we're trying to see some snowfall develop.
All right. The other system we were talking about, you see some of the snow across parts of Indianapolis and Louisville and just south of Chicago, those two will meet up and converge into the Northeast. And let's look at what that track -- how that's taking shape across parts of the Northeast. It will ride the I-95 corridor but it's going to stay offshore. So, that means everybody gets snow north of Baltimore, D.C.
And here's how the numbers shake out: four to eight inches expected in Philadelphia. Six to 12 expected in New York City. Nine to 15 expected in Boston. And that doesn't include the wind.
So, winter storm warnings posted. We may very well see blizzard conditions as thing makes its way up towards the Northeast. Meanwhile, the wake of it, it's going to bring down even colder air than what we've seen here. We may warm up in the Atlanta and South for brief period of time this afternoon and then we go back into the teens and potentially staying below freezing tonight.
So, you're going to see mostly snow in the Northeast, but here in the South, snow and sleet and freezing rain has completely iced over these roads. This is probably -- Marietta Street, one of the better roads that I've seen so far this morning in Atlanta as far as what the conditions are like. You go around the other parts of the city, highly trafficked streets and you've got -- you've got ice that's one, two, three inches thick and glazed over to the point where you get no traction.
So, this city shut down again. The buses aren't running. Schools and government buildings closed again. They may be shutdown again tomorrow, unless we get a significant warm-up this afternoon -- T.J., Alina.
HOLMES: And it sounds like you said that significant warm-up wasn't necessarily coming. So, you could be paralyzed there for another day or so.
Rob, we appreciate you this morning. Thanks so much.
He's showing us what's happening on the roads out there and, of course, in the air, not a lot happening, at least around the Atlanta area. Thousands of flights canceled. Delta alone canceled a couple thousand flights yesterday, planning another 1,400 cancelations today. Look at that.
CHO: A lot of people sleeping in the airports, you know, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, the busiest airport in the world, tells us this morning that four of its five runways are back open this morning, but deicing the planes continues to be a big problem right now.
David Mattingly live for us at the airport this morning.
David, that is a little bit misleading, right? Because there aren't a lot of flights getting out today.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We've got four out of the five runways here at the nation's busiest airport are open and ready for business. The problem, we're told by airport -- the airport authority here, is that they can't get people in to service a lot of these flights. So, the problems that Rob was showing just a few minutes ago of all those glazed over roads, it's keeping the employees from getting to work here at the airport to get those flights in the air.
And the result, you see behind me, stranded passengers. Some of these people stranded since Sunday. Delta, the largest carrier here, canceling 1,900 flights yesterday, 1,400 flights today. And now, everyone's just waiting to see if their number comes up. They'll get that lucky call to say their flight is going to get in the air.
But this board here really just tells the story. When you don't have people to service those airlines, this is what happens -- canceled, canceled, canceled, canceled, canceled, canceled. It's all over the boards here. There's very few flights that are running on time. There's one to Los Angeles. There's one to Detroit. There's one to Aruba. Now, that's a flight to be on today.
But very few flights are getting out of here today even though the runways are open. The deicing equipment is there. It's working and getting things going here. But everything starting up here today with a trickle and not with a flood.
CHO: All right. David Mattingly, not so encouraging news from Atlanta's airport there. Thank you so much.
We have another big story that we're following. New developments now -- three days after the shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona, that took six lives, suspect Jared Loughner's parents are in seclusion in their home. And next door neighbor said they're devastating and might be on the verge of breaking down, after finding out their son is the suspected gunman from Saturday's tragedy.
Wayne Smiths says Randy and Amy Loughner called him yesterday and asked them to bring in their mail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAYNE SMITH, LOUGHNER'S NEIGHBOR: She's in bed. And she's just broke down, just nervous wreck. And he's in there crying just walking around.
They're not going to come out. You can sit here until the Hades freezes over, he's not going to come out. He did tell me to tell you guys when he gets to where he can, right now he can't talk, guys. He can't get out three words without crying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Hey, we're starting to get more now about the suspect's past, including this internet rants, and also, his he run-ins with campus police when he was in college.
CHO: Susan Candiotti live for us in Tucson this morning.
Susan, Loughner made his first appearance in court yesterday. It was about 15 minutes long. What happened?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These are fairly routine hearings, but in this case like this they're anything but. Because everyone is watching the suspect's every move.
And Loughner was walked into court wearing shackles. He was paying strict attention to what was going on. He answered each question the judge asked him in a clear, loud voice, saying "yes" most of the time. He said he didn't enough money for an attorney, and so, one was appointed for him, a federal public defender who's very experienced in high-profile cases.
At one point, she rested her hand on his shoulder during the course of this hearing that was very, very short, as we said.
And afterwards, the judge said his ruling was that he would, not surprisingly, told Loughner to remain in detention considered a danger to society. And after the hearing was over with, the U.S. attorney for the district of Arizona issued a statement and it reads, quote, "We are focused and we are determined to achieve justice."
So, the next time you see Loughner in court, it will be on January 24th, a preliminary hearing. It's possible he might be indicted before that -- Alina.
CHO: All right. Susan Candiotti, you know, one quick question I do have about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Is there any update on her condition? Of course, everybody wants to know.
CANDIOTTI: Yes, we talked to the hospital a little while ago and they said it is not appreciably changed overnight. She remains in that medically induced coma and again, this is the third day -- this is when the brain swelling would normally peak. There's been no swelling and they're watching that very carefully.
We'll get an update later this morning.
CHO: All right. Susan, I know the next big step would be to have those breathing tubes removed. So, hopefully, that will happen soon.
Susan Candiotti, live for us in Tucson -- Susan, thank you.
Meanwhile, a controversial church group from Topeka, Kansas, plans to picket the funerals of the Tucson shooting victims. Now, you may be familiar with the Westboro Baptist Church. In the past, their members have picketed the funerals of AIDS victims, gays, fallen soldiers, even Coretta Scott King.
But when Tucson residents heard that they planned to picket the funeral of 9-year-old shooting victim Christina Green, they put their foot down. They're planning to erect eight-foot by 10-foot angel wings to keep those protesters away.
HOLMES: Also new this morning, we have been talking about weather here and the snow and the ice. Well, take a look at this. Rain waters -- raging rain waters, floodwaters I should say. You can see them sweeping away cars here. This was after -- this was at a parking lot in Australia's Queensland state.
Again, this is in Australia. They've been dealing with flooding problems there for several weeks. At least eight people have been killed. Another 72 are still missing. New concern now about actually getting supplies into the area.
CHO: And new video just into us. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returning to a London courtroom this morning. And there he is leaving.
Assange is fighting extradition to Sweden. Officials there want to question him on sexual assault allegations. The procedural hearing is expected to determine when Assange's formal extradition hearing will take place.
HOLMES: Also this morning, he was once one of the most powerful men in Washington. You might have forgotten this part. He was recently on "Dancing with the Stars," as well. We're talking about the former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
What's happening with him now? Well, he's been sentenced to years in prison.
CHO: Plus, amazing news this morning about Hollywood's superstar Michael Douglas, who says he has beaten stage four throat cancer. What he's learned from the grueling battle and what's next? We'll tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Fourteen minutes past the hour now. He was at one point, not too long ago, one of the most powerful and visible men in Washington. Now, Tom DeLay has been given a three-year prison sentence. The former House majority leader convicted of money laundering and conspiracy in November as part of a scheme to funnel money to legislative candidates in Texas illegally.
DeLay telling the judge, quote, "I can't be remorseful for something I don't think I did," end quote. Listen to his attorney now outside the courtroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK DEGUERIN, TOM DELAY'S ATTORNEY: If I told you what I thought, I'd get sued. This will not stand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And that was it. Man of few words, and he alked away from reporters to that point. DeLay is now out, though, on $10,000 bail this morning. Could be out for years, actually, while his appeal is being heard.
CHO: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's tour of the Persian Gulf region has her in Yemen this morning. The surprise visit is the first time a U.S. Secretary of State has been there in more than 20 years. Clinton is meeting with Yemen's president and other lawmakers. She says the U.S. needs to broaden its dialogue with Yemen given the country's reputation as a haven for al Qaeda.
HOLMES: Also this morning, the Vice President Joe Biden is in Afghanistan. He's there to assess security ahead of the planned U.S. troop withdrawal starting in July. Now, Biden telling reporters there in Kabul that U.S. troops would stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014 if the Afghans wanted them to. He's going to be meeting with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, a bit later today.
CHO: And it's early, but a new Gallup Poll charting the Republican candidates for president in 2012 says that former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee, the man you see there, is apparently the most likable. His net favorability rating, according to this poll, is significantly higher than Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin. Palin, though, is by far the most recognizable.
HOLMES: I want to tell you now about Major Richard Winters. You may not know that name, but Major Winters has died. You'll know his story in all likelihood, though. He was the commander of Easy Company whose service was documented in the popular "Band of Brothers" books and mini series. Now, Winters was 92 years old. He took control of Easy Company on d-day, led them through the battle of the bulge.
CHO: We're hearing from Michael Douglas this morning who is declaring that he's victorious over stage IV throat cancer. The Oscar-winner was diagnosed over the summer telling NBC that he's got it beat. The tumor, he says, is now gone. Douglas says he lost 32 pounds during radiation treatment. He's gained 12 a bit back, so far. The 66-year-old actor says he has a new appreciation for just how precious good friends and family are and that the affection from his fans has hit him at a much deeper level.
HOLMES: It's so great to hear. That sort of sounds like he is on his way to recovery and doing a whole lot better. So, hope he's well.
Also coming up, did you hear about that earthquake over the weekend in the northwest? We're talking about in Seattle. Yes, they had an earthquake.
CHO: Not what you think.
HOLMES: It's not what you think. It was actually caused by a running back. We'll explain exactly what happened coming up.
CHO: Plus, alcohol, money, sex.
HOLMES: Talk to me, Alina.
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: It all pales in comparison, apparently, to what college students really want in life. Are you serious?
HOLMES: So, they want something more than those things you just listed?
CHO: Apparently so.
HOLMES: All right.
CHO: We'll tell you about it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Apparently, you stayed up to watch a game last night. HOLMES: You know, I didn't sit through the whole season to miss the final game of the college football season.
CHO: Who needs sleep?
HOLMES: Who needs sleep.
CHO: Apparently, it was a dramatic finish to last night's BCS title game. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Auburn wins the BCS National Championship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: That's something they haven't heard in a long time. That was Auburn Kicker West Byron with a 19-yard field goal that gave Auburn a 22-19 win over Oregon. Auburn caps off a perfect season with its first national title since 1957. Good for them.
HOLMES: Well, another big game over the weekend, so big it actually caused an earthquake. Now, take a look at this play. This is Marshon Lynch fighting off at least eight -- watch what he does to that -- oh, that's embarrassing. A 67-yard run. Again, just about every saint gets a hand on him. Now, this triggered such a reaction from the crowd, they were so loud that it actually registered as a seismic event.
An earthquake was caused after this by the cheering of the crowd. This is Qwest Field out there in Seattle where it's known as being with the loudest place in the NFL. One scientist even said people a half mile away could have felt that earthquake.
CHO: Wow. Salma Hayek news this morning, apparently, getting wicked. The actress is producing an eight-hour mini series for ABC based on the "Wizard of Oz." Now, unlike the smash Broadway musical, there apparently won't be any singing in this one. The mini series is expected to follow the book more closely than the musical does in telling the back story of the wicked witch of the west.
HOLMES: Love the Broadway show.
CHO: I do, too.
HOLMES: Here are your options college students, money, sex, booze, or compliments. Which of those would you say that college student would want the most of?
CHO: It's a trick question.
HOLMES: You know the answer. Yes, praise. They want encouragement more so than anything. This is a new study. It looked at what young people love the most. It found that they just want people to love them. Everybody wants that. Dog gone it, people like me. It says they would take a boost of their self esteem over, yes, even getting paid or even having sex.
CHO: Times have changed.
HOLMES: They have.
CHO: Well, techies have been dreaming about this day for a very long time. Verizon is now expected to get the iPhone, not just AT&T anymore. But no matter what type of phone you have, you might not be excited about the aftereffects of the deal. Christine Romans is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Twenty-six minutes after the hour. Time for this morning's top stories. It could be the death penalty for the suspect in Saturday's Tucson shooting spree. Jared Loughner made his first appearance in court yesterday. His head completely shaved. He is facing murder charges.
HOLMES: Gabriel Giffords, doctors say she is holding her own. Also, that she's responding to verbal commands, also gave a thumb's up even yesterday. Arizona congresswoman still, however, listed in critical but stable condition from that gunshot wound to the head. Doctors and friends say they're increasingly optimistic that she will survive.
CHO: Stuck at the airport for at least another day. Delta has canceled another 1,400 flights today because of extreme snow and ice conditions in Atlanta. That's the busiest airport in the world. And that is on top of the 1,900 flights it grounded yesterday. The storm is now threatening the mid-Atlantic and the northeast. New York City could see another foot of snow by tomorrow night.
HOLMES: Also, this just been to CNN, Defense Secretary Robert Gates with the bold new warning about North Korea. He now says the north could have a missile capable of hitting the U.S. within five years. Gates made that prediction Tuesday after meeting in Beijing with Chinese president, Hu Jintao, about how to handle the North Korean threat.
CHO: Also brand new overnight, China has reportedly tested its first stealth fighter. It could end up being a major challenge to U.S. air superiority. For weeks, there have been rumblings that China was about to test its first jet that can't be detected by radar. So far, though, nothing confirmed by the Chinese government.
HOLMES: All right. Twenty-seven minutes past the hour now. It has been one of the things that kind of turn people of to getting an iPhone. You have to be with AT&T.
CHO: Right.
HOLMES: That may not be the issue anymore. We might know this in just a few hours. Our Christine Romans standing by with this new that is welcome news. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That noise you're hearing is the sound of a Verizon iPhone calling. At 01/11/11, how very Apple, there will be a press conference of Verizon press conference where expected that it will announce that it will begin carrying the Verizon iPhone. The iPhone, of course, has been wildly popular for both Apple and AT&T. And many analysts say you could see as many as nine million to 12 million iPhones in 2011 for Verizon.
AT&T has sold 11.1 million in its first 9 months of 2010. That's the most recent number for that. I mean, really, it's really an astonishing the popularity of this data traffic, up 5,000 percent on the AT&T networks since it began offering the iPhone a couple of years ago and that's one of the reasons why AT&T gets slapped so often by some of the consumer folks who say that they haven't been very happy with their service on AT&T.
Anyway, can Verizon handle it any better? Is Verizon's network any better equipped to handle all of this? Well, it's spent billions upgrading its capacity. An executive for that company has said I think we can handle it, absolutely. Now the question is will it be on the old 3G network or the 4G network which is to get to really be launched fully. You may not be able to chat and surf if the Verizon iPhone is on that old 3G network.
Another thing here, AT&T already out slamming its potential new future competition saying the iPhone is built for speed. I'm not sure iPhone users are ready for life in the slow lane, although, there are plenty of people who are saying they expect defections from AT&T immediately. People even paying a couple hundred, $300 to break their contacts with AT&T, so they can try Verizon service.
Still a lot of questions, though, of how much it will cost. We're thinking maybe by the end of this month, you might be able to get this phone. What will the data plan look like Verizon? Verizon right now has a $30 unlimited data plan. Will this iPhone be in there? We're not sure yet? This is what AT&T's plan looks like, $15 for 200 megabytes, $25 for 2 gigabytes.
It sounds like I know what I'm talking about when I say gigabytes and megabytes like that, right? But, look, I mean, this is a lot of questions to be answered. We'll know in a few hours.
CHO: Well, competition is good for the market, always, right? Good for business. Good for the consumers.
ROMANS: It's just these phones are such data hogs that even if you're not using one of them, you got to wonder and worry about whether these networks can handle it. And if you're going to lose calls and lose capacity because just so many people out there surfing, downloading stuff, streaming videos, talking on the phone, it's almost like a 20th century infrastructure for very 21st century stuff.
CHO: We have to get with the program.
ROMANS: They say they can handle it. AT&T always says about Verizon they're not battle tested like we are. So don't think Verizon is going to be able to handle it any better than AT&T.
CHO: Fighting words.
ROMANS: Exactly.
HOLMES: I was quiet because I'm a data hog.
ROMANS: You are?
HOLMES: Yes.
ROMANS: Do you talk, listen to music?
HOLMES: Talk, listen to the thing.
ROMANS: Download the movie?
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: All kinds of stuff.
HOLMES: Thank you.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
HOLMES: Ford hiring right now. Ford says it's hiring 7,000 new jobs in the U.S. by the end of the 2012. It's first time the company's adding jobs in some ten years and lost 100,000 employees over the past decade.
ROMANS: And did you know there are ten other jobs hired for every one Ford job. There are ten jobs in the communities around it. So that is more than 7,000 jobs.
HOLMES: Great. Who knew?
CHO: That is good.
HOLMES: Can you stay here?
ROMANS: Yes, only saying nice things for the rest of the hour.
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: What's the plural of Prius? Well, you better figure it out -- we apparently have -- because Toyota is creating a new slew of models including this one, a station wagon. The new model is expected to go on sale later this year. It was unveiled yesterday at the Detroit auto show. The new Prius gets, get this, about 42 miles per gallon in the city. Not bad.
HOLMES: I'll wait for the coupe.
Coming up next, is it bad science? The work of a British researcher linking autism with childhood vaccinations, that has now been rejected. But it may, of course, already started all this information that has been spreading and spreading and started with what people call the panic virus.
Up next, we're talking to the author of the book about the panic virus and about vaccine fears and why it's turning into a public health disaster. It's 32 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 35 minutes past the hour now. Welcome back. He was the one guy who started all this debate about autism and its link to childhood vaccines. We're talking about this researcher, Andrew Wakefield. All of his studying, all of that has pretty much been debunked and thrown out at this point.
Still, the debate is there. Autism, is it caused, is there a link with the childhood vaccines? I want to welcome into the studio with me now our next guest. He's author of the book "A panic Virus, a true story of medicine, science and fear."
Seth Mnookin has been doing research on this topic for quite some time. I appreciate you being here. Simply put, we're treating it like an issue and you think it's not. There's a debate going on but there shouldn't be.
SETH MNOOKIN, AUTHOR, "THE PANIC VIRUS": I think that's exactly right. We have had this discussion. We have had really dozens of studies into this. It's one of the most studied issues involving childhood health. We see real repercussions now with declining vaccination rates and we know that there's not a connection between vaccines and autism.
HOLMES: How much responsibility do you put on this one man Andrew Wakefield for quite frankly causing a public health scare or even disaster?
MNOOKIN: Right. Well in 1998 when he first published this paper linking the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine to autism, that certainly set off a lot of the anxiety we still see today. I think that our industry probably shares a lot of responsibility, too, because --
HOLMES: The media you are talking about?
MNOOKIN: The media, yes, because for years after this was an issue settled, we continued to present it as a real debate. I think we fell into the trap of on the one hand on the other hand even after there really weren't two sides.
HOLMES: And you say like we do in this business, the whole objective is to be objective.
MNOOKIN: Right.
HOLMES: You let one side have their say, you let the other side have their say. But you are saying in doing that, in presenting it to the public, we are not saying to them, actually, the two sides aren't equal?
MNOOKIN: Right.
HOLMES: It might seem like there's no consensus and two different schools of thought, but there's a tiny community believing there's a link.
MNOOKIN: Right. And it's an issue because even in a news report that can go in depth, a newspaper article, a segment on TV, you can't ever present a million doctors on one side and a tiny handful on the other, or all of the research own one side versus a very small amount of research that's been shown not to be reliable.
So when you have two people it seems like the actual opinion's split 50-50 long after that is actually the case.
HOLMES: Seth, here's the problem right here. When someone on the other side says, all right, I'm saying vaccines are linked to childhood autism, you say no.
MNOOKIN: Right.
HOLMES: Then what does cause it? We can't answer that yet.
MNOOKIN: That absolutely is the problem. Autism is a terrifying disease for a lot of people. We are not adequately able to find out the cause.
I think one of the real tragedies of the focus on this debate is that research and time and energy that could have been devoted to looking into what the causes were has been focused on redoing these studies, on addressing this issue over and over and over again. So we haven't been able to put the time and focus on looking into what those causes might be.
HOLMES: Now, can you -- you have done this research over years with the book now. Can you confidently sit here and say to parents certainly engaged in the debate doing research out there, absolutely, folks, vaccines are not going to cause your child to have autism?
MNOOKIN: Yes.
HOLMES: You have no problem saying that?
MNOOKIN: I have no problem saying that. It is -- there have been millions of children that have been in research studies. It is something that scientists and researchers around the world have looked at extensively.
I'm glad it is a topic that was looked at extensively. I have a child. I think it's incredibly important for parents to know that vaccines are safe. This is an issue that has been arguably the most studied issue in childhood health and I can confidently say that.
HOLMES: As you know, there are plenty of parents throughout with children with autism who this is a very serious and very passionate, emotional debate and they believe through and through and we can't explain why the numbers have gone up, they have their schools of thoughts out there.
Seth, thank you for being here. Congratulations on the book. Years of research went into this, an important book part of the debate going down the road.
MNOOKIN: Thank you so much, it was great to be here.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks.
CHO: All right, T.J., thanks.
It is going to b one monster storm. Snowstorms from the south seen live here and the Midwest are about to merge, bringing one powerhouse hit to the northeast. So how much snow are we going to get? Rob Marciano and Jacqui Jeras team coverage following this one live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Almost everywhere you look this morning waking up to some snow, right, if you're east of the Rockies. Look at that. That's Chicago, right there downtown Chicago. Some light snow right now, 26 degrees. The snow, of course, is going to get heavier later and they'll climb one degree to 27. That's the high.
HOLMES: And where else might the snow be getting heavier today?
CHO: Well, you take your pick.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHO: Anywhere up the eastern seaboard including New York. We'll get socked.
HOLMES: Yes. We are talking about the big storm that just caused all kinds of fits in the south. It is about to merge a bit with another storm and then do a dumping here in the northeast. Rob Marciano live for us in Centennial Olympic Park. Explain how this thing is supposed to work today.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's all about mergers and acquisitions. And the deal's going to come down on New York City, Wall Street, appropriately enough. The two systems are going to combine, and the one across the south has got plenty of energy and, obviously, done a fair amount of damage.
Temperatures still below freezing in Atlanta, Knoxville, back to Raleigh, still seeing freezing rain and freezing drizzle here in Atlanta. Not showing up on the radar but the deep south has low-level moisture and temperatures below freezing sown we're still seeing some glazing happening as we speak.
Northern parts of the area seeing that snow from Chicago south heading to the east, going to combine with the low and moves up the mid-Atlantic and Delmarva. It takes some energy from that Midwest storm and becomes a pretty strong nor'easter. And we're thinking six to 12 inches in New York City, four to eight in Philadelphia. The latest computer model, not indicated here, ramps the numbers up more. We'll see what happens with the freshest numbers in and could be even worse than that.
All right, let's talk about Atlanta, which is shut down again for the second day in a row, and the interstates are what's affected the most. I -- I do want to show you this live traffic camera which has been -- just south of the airport. That had -- as a matter of fact, this is a tunnel that goes underneath Runway Five and tractor trailers have been stuck there all -- all morning long because as they come out of that tunnel underneath the runway, the road is glazed over and they can't get up there.
So 285 is the road where -- where tractor trailers are forced to go on, because they can't go right through the city. And there's been jack-knives all over that interstate system. And scenes like this had been prevalent across the area and we don't expect that much in the way of some warming.
You know, I don't know if you heard that but here in downtown Atlanta some of these taller buildings we have seen sheets of ice come crashing down onto the sidewalk. So a fairly a dangerous situation here at Atlanta as this stuff tries to melt.
This is probably the best-conditioned roadway in Atlanta here on Marietta Street. Driving into this area and not only the interstates but some of the other roads in -- in -- in mid and downtown completely glazed over. And you -- you don't -- you'd think Atlanta's flat when you drive around here any time of the year.
But now that it's iced over it feels like -- you see -- you notice hills you have never seen before and you have to plan your trip accordingly if you are going to try to drive but I wouldn't do that unless I have at least a four-wheel drive vehicle if not some chains.
And temperatures will get above freezing, guys, briefly today and then below freezing again tonight. So, this may not go away for quite some time and you're going to see some snow up there across the northeast and it's going to get nasty. Back to you.
CHO: Thanks a lot, Rob.
It feels a little like San Francisco where you are right now, doesn't it? All right, thanks.
MARCIANO: I wouldn't mind that.
CHO: I want to get to the airport situation --
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: All right guys.
CHO: -- because some of you are waking up at the airport this morning. Massive travel problems; flights are canceled at airports all over the country.
Jacqui Jeras in the Extreme Weather Center with an update for you including some big problems right there in your own backyard right there, Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely, and like Rob mentioned I think that's one of the things a lot of people who don't live in Atlanta don't realize is how hilly it is. We're in the foothills of the Appalachians.
Ok, so even though the snow and the ice has stopped for the most parts in parts of the southeast and just because they are not reporting delays at the airport doesn't mean that you don't have a lot of cancelations. So calling ahead is certainly one of the best things that you can do.
So we've got problems with our second storm in the Midwest. We have our first storm down here that's starting to move into the mid- Atlantic so throughout the day today and into tonight we'll start to watch these delays progress on up to the north and the east.
We already have problems right out of the gate already this morning; yes, we've got ground stop right now in Charlotte. This is where they have been seeing some of that freezing rain which means that nobody's taking off from other cities to get into Charlotte.
Chicago O'Hare has delays over two hours, about two and a half now and note, there are also arrival delays coming in to the city. And Miami we've got departure delays, an hour and 45 minutes because we have fog in that area there for today.
So a lot of cities are certainly are going to be impacted by these airports. And really, almost everywhere east of the continental divide has the potential to be impacted by these storms. And remember places like Hartsfield, for example, it's the world's busiest airport so when you have problems there that affects flights all over the country.
Alina and T.J., back to you.
CHO: All right. Jacqui Jeras, thank you, I think.
HOLMES: Yes, all right. Well, it's been one year as you know now since that earthquake that devastated Haiti. Haven't forgotten and we're going to be taking and certainly -- it looks back as we commemorate that anniversary but up next a truly inspiring story.
A one survivor trapped under the rubble for five days now has a brand-new future ahead. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be up live with her story. That's next.
It's 48 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well it's 51 minutes past the hour, it was exactly one year ago tomorrow when that massive earthquake leveled Haiti's capital city of Port-au-Prince, nearly a quarter million people killed.
CHO: But one survivor who was trapped under the rubble for five days has found a way to turn tragedy into triumph. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from Atlanta with this incredible story. Hey Sanjay, good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
You know, I still -- it's a hard to believe thinking about someone trapped under rubble for five days, just the pain of that, the anguish, just not having access to any water. It's remarkable.
You know, I saw it firsthand. Port-au-Prince so densely populated. So many building with just poor building codes that caused the images that you see there on television but there were some remarkable stories of people who did survive and are now getting on with their lives.
We want to introduce you to one of them today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): As the walls disintegrated, as the ceiling crumbled, Darline Bertil' first thought was the world is ending.
DARLINE BERTIL, HAITI EARTHQUAKE SURVIVOR (through translator): I didn't realize that it was an earthquake.
GUPTA: When the earthquake hit Haiti, Bertil was at work.
BERTIL: The mirror broke and the glasses and bottles blocked the way. You couldn't even run. And then, the ceiling fell on us.
GUPTA: Within seconds Bertil was entombed, pinned beneath a co- worker and a mound of rubble for five days.
BERTIL: After a while, I felt like I was in a dream. After that, I didn't know anything.
GUPTA: Bertil awoke after a three-week coma aboard the "USS Comfort". She had no idea what happened to her or her country.
BERTIL: I opened my eyes. There were a lot of bright lights. I spoke to someone. And I said to him, what happened to me? Up until now, I didn't know that I had lost my two hands.
GUPTA: The gravity of her situation sank in. Without hands, she could no longer support her family.
BERTIL: In my country, they shun handicapped people like me.
GUPTA: But Bertil soon recovered the strength that characterized her before the quake she decided that overcoming her own tragedy could only happen by sharing her strength.
BERTIL: My big dream is to help others who have been injured like me.
GUPTA: Inspired by her, Bertil's doctor decided to help. He contacted a state senator in New York where Darline has family, who arranged a visa, transportation, and medical care, including prosthetics for Darline.
DANIEL SQUADRON, DARLINE BERTIL'S DOCTOR: It's an extraordinary thing to have gone through what Darline has gone through and instead of curling up inside yourself, to expand your dreams and expand your goal.
GUPTA: While Bertil recovers here, her spirit, she says, is already in Haiti.
BERTIL: I have thought, why, why me? Perhaps it's to help me realize all is not lost. Even though I'm handicapped, all is not lost.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: You know I'll tell you, lost both of her hands, think about that. It's -- it's just remarkable but -- but hasn't lost her hope for sure. She -- she is improving physically as you saw there. But mentally, as well, which is, you know, obviously of real concern here. She wants to get a degree in psychology and go back to Haiti to try and take care of people who have suffered amputations and are dealing with some of the same things that she's dealt over the last year.
HOLMES: Yes did I hear that right? A degree of psychology and head back to help the folks at home, huh?
GUPTA: That's right. I mean, you know, that -- that -- she -- she really has felt the need to go back there because she knows so many of the people are -- are dealing with the same things she dealt with. She had tremendous resources here but so many people, I can tell, you simply don't have those same -- same resources in Port-au- Prince and those surrounding areas.
HOLMES: All right. Well, Sanjay, we -- we absolutely appreciate that update on a story we saw -- so many stories of heart break at the time but some of triumph it appears at this point.
CHO: That's great. Thank you for that, Sanjay.
GUPTA: You bet.
CHO: Its 55 minutes after the hour. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Well, that's an appropriate song today, isn't it? You know, it is quite a sight as a major snowstorm puts the south in a deep freeze and the rare sight of snow had some people acting in, shall we say, strange ways? Like these folks you're about to see in Concord, North Carolina. Street boarding as they call it. IReporter Rob Harrison and his friends did it. You know, I mean, they look like they were having a good time. We don't necessarily recommend that you try it but -- they're pretty good.
HOLMES: Necessarily -- let's go with the full disclaimer. Don't do this. We do not recommend you do this at all.
Also, we have been seeing so many snow storms and so many weather situations we have an impressive team of meteorologists and correspondents here. But we had to bring in some help to cover the latest here. So say hello to our newest correspondent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AIDAN KATE ISAACS (ph), KID REPORTER: Hi, my name is Aidan Kate and today we'll be introducing snow. It snowed today and there's a lot of snow that there's some snow on everyone's boots where they go. So, everyone having fun out in the snow. Now back to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Thank you Aidan Kate Isaacs, reporting for us there in Louisville.
CHO: She was pretty good.
HOLMES: She is very good, even though her mom is looking for her comb right now. That's all right.
CHO: She's good enough to run for my -- you know.
HOLMES: Absolutely, you know. That's one of those we'll come back later when she's a big journalist somewhere working down the road when she's an adult. We'll bring that tape back and so, we knew her when.
CHO: That's right. That's it for this edition of AMERICAN MORNING. Thank so much for joining us. I'm Alina Cho.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. Good to work with you once again here, Alina.
CHO: Good to see you.
HOLMES: It's been awhile for us. But time for us now to hand it over to Kyra Phillips who is handling things at the "CNN NEWSROOM" for us. Hello, Kyra.
