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American Morning
Congressman Weighs in on Carrying Weapons; Gates Tours China's Nukes; A Look at Australia's Katrina; Help for Haiti's Young Children; Where the Jobs Are
Aired January 12, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Buried in white. A battered northeast suffering a third major storm in three weeks. This morning, Newark, LaGuardia, JFK airports, for the most part shut down. New York all the way to Boston, we've got a problem today on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And hello to you-all on this Wednesday, January the 12th. Welcome to this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. Kiran Chetry has the morning off, and we begin with that major storm that forecasters are actually calling a weather bomb where two storms merged in to one big one and explode.
Let's take a live picture from Central Park in New York City just outside our studios right here. The big apple seeing the effects of this weather bomb, more than eight inches of snow already on the ground.
HOLMES: And the storm is massive, as we're saying here, smothering the northeast with more than a foot of snow. In a lot of place the winds are promising now to pick up this afternoon. So that's going to make the bad conditions even worse.
CHO: In fact, here's the latest storm forecast when all is said and done -- Philly gets up to four inches, New York, almost a foot, Boston more than a food.
HOLMES: And it's not just the northeast waking up to snow this morning. The northeast has company, a lot of it. Take a look here. We have 50 states in this union, and 49 of them currently have snow on the ground. Can you guess the one that doesn't? Hawaii? No. They've got snow there. It falls in the mountains pretty much all winter long. The only state right now that's avoided the icy blast, Florida.
CHO: We have a team of reporters covering this storm. We'll get to them in a minute. But first we want to get a check of the other top stories.
She keeps defying the medical odds, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords surprising doctors by breathing on her own for the very first time since she was shot through the head. We have new pictures first from the hospital of her husband by her side. And all of the latest on her condition is just ahead.
HOLMES: There's the picture Alina was just talking about. It really does tell the story. You don't need to say much over this picture, the husband in the hospital room holding his wife's hand. The only part you see of her is just the hand there. But it really tells the story. He's keeping by her side. So much more on this story coming up for you.
Also today, the president is going to be flying to Tucson, Arizona, today. He's going to leading a memorial service for the victims at the University of Arizona. The White House says the president still working on his speech right now trying to find the right tone in these remarks.
CHO: And countdown to disaster down under. A major city, the third largest in Australia, Brisbane, stands in the path of furious floodwaters. The building in this video is actually a restaurant. It's floating down a river of mud and water. We will be live on the ground in Australia ahead of what some fear could be its Katrina.
HOLMES: Let's head back to this weather now. And of course with this weather comes all these problems when it comes to airline travel. So take a look here. We've got hundreds of flights in the northeast already canceled this morning. These are pictures in particular from Boston. This was last night. Thousands of air travelers already stranded.
Our Carter Evans is live for us at LaGuardia International Airport. So I've been in that airport plenty and there's usually a lot more going on around 7:00 a.m. than is going on right now around you.
CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, T.J. I think people got the message last night and a lot checked with airlines and found out flights are canceled. As the morning progresses we're getting a clearer picture of the impact on this storm in the northeast region.
This is from the port authority which manages the airlines in the area. JFK airport, 300 flights canceled, here at LaGuardia 650 flights canceled. In Newark, Newark Liberty Airport, 425 flights canceled.
Here in the airport, here at LaGuardia, there are always people that get stuck. No matter how hard you try someone is going to get caught in the middle. We saw people sleeping in the terminal this morning waiting to see if they can get a flight out. Many people are saying the airlines are telling them they're going to have to wait until the afternoon.
There is good news, though, if you are planning to travel in the northeast today or tomorrow or perhaps evenly yesterday. Most of the major airlines are now offering waivers for travel in the northeast, meaning if you have a ticket for today or tomorrow and need to change it, there's no fee. So that is some good news there.
The other good news on the ground, I was looking outside and the tarmac looking pretty good. They have the snow cleared. The snow seems to have tapered off quite a bit. The roads are clear. So it appears once they get things back under way hopefully things will get back up to speed quickly.
One interesting note, though, T.J. and Alina, I checked on the FAA website several times this morning to get a gauge on delays in this region. The FAA website still says there are only 15-minute delays in all of these airlines. But we know that now not to be true. If you have a flight definitely call your airline before coming to the airport.
HOLMES: We can get that website updated at the FAA. Carter Evans, we appreciate you this morning. We'll continue to check in with you.
CHO: In the south they're still socked in this morning, paralyzed by snow and ice. Our Rob Marciano is tracking the extreme weather for us and live in midtown Atlanta. So Rob, tell me, where is the heaviest snow right now, and when is this storm system going to move out to sea, as they say?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Alina, the back edge of this thing is already through the New York metro area. So it's a fast mover. That is the good news. But it is, again, affecting the entire eastern third of the country, including places like Atlanta where we got another punch of the cold air behind this blizzard developing across the northeast.
Blizzard conditions most likely in Boston where that orange sliver is where we have a blizzard warning. Elsewhere it's a winter storm warning, 12 to 18 inches potentially. We've already seen those numbers in Connecticut where it's still snowing and snowing at rates quite impressive.
We've got the tropical moisture from the southern storm and intensity from the northern storm. Those two coming together is allowing this thing to really crank up across the northeast. There you see the heaviest snow totals or snow accumulations right now happening across parts of Connecticut and Massachusetts.
And the winds are picking up in Boston as well. We expect those to gust over 30 miles per hour throughout the day today to reduce visibilities. It's going to be awful across eastern parts of Massachusetts.
The heaviest totals from Connecticut River valley up through southern New Hampshire, and these are the totals that we have right now. 14 inches so far right now in Goshen. Burlington 12 inches and Berlin 12 inches as well, Central Park eight inches, Philadelphia five inches. From New York City basically southwest your snowfall has so far ended.
Temperatures here in Atlanta back into the 20s, windshields in the teens. Even though you hear on Peachtree Street they were able to treat roads somewhat, the slush that melted briefly yesterday has refrozen again this morning. So winter just doesn't want to quit from north to south. Alina, back up to you.
CHO: Silver ling of course is great weather for skiers. All right, Rob Marciano, thank you so much.
MARCIANO: That's true.
HOLMES: Let's switch from Rob Marciano over to our Jason Carroll. He's standing by for us in Central Park. Good morning to you once again, Jason. We got the report there's at least 8.8 inches of snow fallen in Central Park. So much of the story as you know is how the city will perform versus the way it performed during the major blizzard Christmas weekend.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You really hit it, T.J. That really is the story at this point because, let's be honest. The snow has stopped falling. In terms of the eight inches in Central Park, you can see what that kind of looks like. So people who don't live in snow states, it's just about up to the ankles. New Yorkers can deal with that.
It's really how New York responded to the last storm. That's what we're really talking about here. And the city now has a new 15-point snow plan in place. More plows out in the street. More salt spreaders out in the street. If you want to see what they look like you can take a look. Streets out here looking pretty good. That's in part to the new plan where you have more plows and spreaders, additional equipment from private contractors. There is now GPS in some of the plows out there. Scout teams out on the streets as well.
T.J., they are equipped with video monitors. So they can report back in real-time where some of the trouble spots are. I want you to listen to how the mayor responded to a question in terms of what New Yorkers are expecting this time around.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, (I) NEW YORK CITY: We do know that we didn't do the job that New Yorkers rightly expect of us in the last storm, and we intend to make sure that that does not happen again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: And, T.J., if you look up, you can see the skies are looking pretty clear right now. Perhaps that's a storm we have weathered this storm. Whether or not the mayor has weathered it we'll have to see.
HOLMES: Maybe this will be a good test run, if you will. This storm significant snow but certainly not as bad as that other blizzard, so maybe they can work out the kinks in this one. Jason, we appreciate you. Talk to you again soon, buddy.
CHO: We have some promising news this morning on the condition of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Doctors say Gabby, as her friends caught her, is breathing on her only for the first time. She can also reportedly move both of her arms. She is, however, still in critical condition.
And also for the first time we are seeing this touching photo from inside of her hospital room, her husband, Mark Kelly, a NASA astronaut, holding her hands and holding vigil at her bedside. And some of his prayers may have been answered.
Last night on "JOHN KING, USA," our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta talked about this encouraging step and what doctors have to watch out for now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: She's improving. I think that's the biggest thing. Breathing on your own is a significant development. She may still have the breathing tube in. A breathing tube does lots of things besides actually providing breaths through a ventilator. It helps protect her airway and helps prevent from aspirating and possibly causing pneumonia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: In the meantime, Arizona will not let protesters near the funeral of the youngest victim of the shooting. Governor Jan Brewer signed emergency legislation yesterday barring protesters from coming within 300 feet of the funeral. It is a direct a response to the Westboro Baptist Church's plan to protest the funeral of nine-year-old Christina Green.
HOLMES: Also new this morning, we're hearing for the first time from the parents of the accused killer. Our Ted Rowlands live for us in Tucson, Arizona, where it's just after 5:00 a.m. good morning to you there, Ted. They had an apology in this statement.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, T.J., the family of Jared Loughner hasn't said anything publicly yet but they did release a statement yesterday. And it reads in part "There are no words that we can possibility express how we feel. We wish that there were so you could feel better. We don't understand why this happened. It may not make any difference, but we wish that we could change the heinous events of Saturday. We care very deeply about the victims and their families. We are so very sorry for their loss."
That was a statement which was hand delivered to the media which is camped outside the Loughner home. Loughner's parents have not said anything publicly. Last night they did leave their home for the first time since they got word of Saturday's shooting. They were covering their face somewhat when they got into their car with their dog, but they did not say anything to the media. That is all we have from them at this point, but the only thing we have had from them since Saturday's shooting.
HOLMES: And, Ted, a memorial -- another memorial last night?
ROWLANDS: Yes. This was really the first of what is going to be a series of different gatherings here in Tucson. This is a local mass here in Tucson which brought a lot of people out. Then also last night we had people coming to the memorial behind me. This has grown over the last few days. Governor Jan Brewer was here looking through some of the mementos left on the lawn here at the hospital lawn.
And then of course the president and the first lady will be here today for a service or a gathering, if you will, at the University of Arizona. That starts at 6:00 p.m. local time. Then, T.J., the funerals -- nine-year-old Christina Green will be laid to rest on Thursday and then from there will be continuing funerals for of course the victims of this horrible tragedy here in Tucson. So we're beginning to see the memorials starting last night.
HOLMES: Ted Rowlands for us in Tucson this morning. We appreciate you.
CHO: Still to come this morning, escape from the disaster zone, evacuations are under way as flooding threatens to all but wipe out one of Australia's largest cities.
HOLMES: Also, but coming up next, lawmakers are talking gun control as a new legislation that needs to be considered. But others are actually saying they're going to start carrying guns after this assassination attempt on a U.S. congresswoman. We're going to talk to one congressman who has a concealed weapons permit, and he plans to carry. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
It's 13 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Sixteen minutes past the hour now here on this AMERICAN MORNING. It's been the talk really of the past several days how best to protect members of Congress. They have a meeting going on today. They're going to be talking about security after that attack on Congresswoman Giffords. Some are talking about possibly beefing up security, maybe more guards. Talking about even Plexiglas the House gallery.
Some are, however, taking matters into their own hands, deciding it's best for them to make sure they arm themselves including my next guest, Congressman Jason Chaffetz. He is a Republican from Utah joining me this morning.
Sir, I appreciate you taking the time out and talking about this. Certainly a sensitive and emotional topic, very personal for you all. So thank you for being here. You had a concealed weapons permit before you were ever elected to Congress, is that correct?
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: Yes, yes.
HOLMES: Now why did you feel the need to have one in the first place?
CHAFFETZ: Well, it's just a personal security measure on my part. I feel comfortable with it. It's not for everyone. Nobody should rush out because of what happened on Saturday and suddenly start to do something new. But for my own personal security, I just felt comfortable around firearms and I feel comfortable with concealed carry permit. I don't do it all the time but I do it sometimes and I just feel more comfortable doing it.
HOLMES: Will you start doing it more now after this incident?
CHAFFETZ: Well, I mean, I might do it a little bit more regularly, but I don't think we should overreact to what happened in the tragedy. It was a very isolated incident. Even if, you know, that had happened in Utah, heaven forbid, I don't know that it would have necessarily solved anything. So, yes, I mean, it's something I did before Congress, I've done since I've been elected to Congress and I will continue to do.
HOLMES: What necessarily is your level of concern or what has it been for your own personal safety? And have you had not necessarily close calls but at least incidents or even threats to you that kind of raised some red flags for you?
CHAFFETZ: Well, I think -- look, I'm just entering my second term. I've only been here 24 months. But unfortunately, every member of Congress both sides of the aisle I think has had a degree of threats that have come in a variety of different forms. We're going to have to get more serious about some of those threats. I think the follow- through that happens is going to have to be taken a little bit more seriously. I think everybody is on edge. We're praying and rooting for our colleague in Gabby Giffords.
But, please, we've got to follow through on some of those that are obviously off-balanced that can't distinguish right from wrong, that can't distinguish reality. Those need to be taken a little bit more serious. But at the same time, I don't think there needs to be special rules or new legislation to do something special for members of Congress. I don't think we need to go that far.
HOLMES: And you're talking about there certainly a lot of things being thrown out there. I know you're all having a pretty big meeting today to talk about security.
CHAFFETZ: Yes.
HOLMES: But one of those people going to be at that meeting and you want to be talking at that meeting is the sergeant-at-arms, Terrance Gainer. He was on with me a little earlier this morning, and he said period, point blank and unequivocally, we do not need to have members of Congress carrying guns because that just introduce -- you introduce more guns into the situation. What is your response to that at least?
CHAFFETZ: Well, it is my Second Amendment right as a law-abiding citizen to go ahead and carry a weapon if I so choose. I do not do it here in the Capitol. There is a huge security force. There would be logistical challenges. But what I do in my own district, in my own state, which is done by a lot of my other residents of my state, I think is something that is a personal choice of mine. And I don't think it creates more of a problem.
HOLMES: All right. And last thing here, I'll give you a moment here to wrap this up. People may not realize that your next door neighbor in Congress, the person whose office is right next door to yours is Gabby Giffords. Just give me your thoughts on your neighbor and what she appears to be doing right now is remarkable in her recovery.
CHAFFETZ: Well, I think the nation is in shock. And look, we -- it's the whole spectrum. It's the sadness, then the devastation of seeing that little 9-year-old girl who was shot and the other people that were killed and the grieving that we're going through. We're also rooting and cheering and so excited and praying for Gabby Giffords and her recovery. It's the entire spectrum of emotion around here. And, gosh, God bless her and God bless those who have been affected by this. It's really striking a chord and I know it is with all Americans.
HOLMES: All right. Well, Congressman Chaffetz, I certainly know you all are going through a tough time. I bet your colleague is your friend and literally in your case --
CHAFFETZ: Yes.
HOLMES: -- it is your neighbor up there on Capitol Hill. Sir, thank you for taking the time out with us. We'll continue to touch base with you down the road.
CHAFFETZ: Thank you.
HOLMES: Thanks so much.
All right, Alina.
CHO: Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, a CNN exclusive. One year after the earthquake in Haiti, we return to an orphanage where children were living in squalor. Now just wait until you see the difference that just $6,000 made.
And later, where the jobs are. Companies are hiring out there. We'll show you where to look.
It's 21 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twenty-three minutes past the hour. Welcome back to this AMERICAN MORNING.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates granted a rare inside look at China's nuclear defense system. Gates got an up-close look at that country's nuclear arsenal as he wrapped up a four-day visit. Gates meeting with the vice president there. Afterwards, Gates said he talked nuclear strategy during the tour and even invited a Chinese general to see a nuclear command center in the U.S. Gates left for Japan to continue his three-nation Asian visit.
CHO: Well, these are desperate hours in northern Australia. A flood emergency forcing tens of thousands of people out of their homes. That country's third largest city, Brisbane, is bracing for almost certain disaster this morning. A wall of water described as an inland tsunami is closing in. The surge has already swept away cars and trees in a neighboring city. Hundreds of homes in the region have been swamped. Dozens of lives lost. Dozens more missing and the worst of it is on the way.
Our Phil Black is live in Brisbane this morning for us. Phil, the pictures coming out of there are just extraordinary. Tell us what the situation is like right now.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Alina. Well, the floodwaters have been rising here throughout the day in Brisbane. And it's probably fair to say that Brisbane residents I think were taken by surprise by just how quickly the Brisbane River broke its banks and how the water then rose through their neighborhoods, streets and homes. And so through the day here, we've seen a fairly desperate effort among locals to get into those homes and save whatever personal belongings they possibly can before ultimately giving up. Those homes and businesses to the floodwaters.
The floodwater is still rising here tonight. It is expected to do so through the night before peaking in the early hours of Thursday morning here Brisbane time. And the prediction at this stage is that some 20,000 homes across this city are going to be flooded with another 20,000 affected by the floodwaters in different ways -- Alina.
CHO: Phil, I have to ask you, you know, the pictures of the rescues, the helicopter rescues are just extraordinary. I mean, in terms of evacuations, how much of the area has been evacuated and where are those people going for shelter?
BLACK: Sure. We've seen some very dramatic pictures out of this region of Queensland over the last day or so. Some particularly dramatic pictures just outside of Brisbane where that wall of water you were talking about flooded through a town where the death toll from that flooding incident alone is already at 15 with another 40 people still missing, still unaccounted for. They're still searching for them. That floodwater is now making its way down towards the state capital Brisbane and as a result, well, thousands of people have had to leave their homes behind.
There are evacuation centers in and around the city that are holding thousands of them. But many of them -- it's probably fair to say that most of them have gone to stay with friends and family. But we do know that it's going to take a long time for these floodwaters to subside. It's going to be some days yet before people can go back to their homes knowing they can do so safely and begin the big job of cleaning up -- Alina.
CHO: And let's hope that at least some of the dozens of people missing are actually with friends and family and they've reached higher ground.
Phil Black live for us in Brisbane, Australia. Phil, thank you.
HOLMES: Also coming up next on this AMERICAN MORNING, we've been talking to you a lot about the weather this morning for good reason. It is being called a weather bomb. Two storms getting together literally exploding and the snow is coming down sometimes by the foot in some places. We'll tell you exactly where this storm is headed with the latest. That's just ahead.
CHO: Then a little later, mayonnaise, tires and a health plan? It's true. Find out about Sam's Club's latest offering.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's 27 minutes past the hour.
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HOLMES: Oh, a beautiful -- another beautiful shot of New York City this morning, I believe. That sunrise this morning, and again that picture really belies what's going on down below on the streets. We have at least eight-plus inches of snow on the ground here in New York but still not as bad as that other huge blizzard a lot of people will remember from Christmas weekend.
CHO: What a beautiful sunrise.
HOLMES: Gorgeous, gorgeous shot this morning.
CHO: Good morning.
HOLMES: Bottom of the hour here. Yes, good morning to you all in New York wherever you may be. Glad you're right here. I'm T.J. Holmes.
CHO: Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. Kyra has the morning off. And here are this morning's top stories. The map well - it tells the story. The northeast is getting pounded by a third snowstorm in as many weeks. Almost nine inches have fallen right here in New York City. Many flights to the three major airports in the area have been canceled. At the same time, parts of the south still frozen solid after the storm that have hit earlier this week.
And in Arizona, this just continues to be a remarkable story of survival and maybe now recovery. Hopeful signs that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is getting better. She remains in critical condition. Doctors say she can now breathe on her own and that they're starting to ease her off the sedation.
CHO: And along with industrial-size ketchup and mayonnaise and laundry detergent, guess what, you can now get a health plan with your bulk buys at Sam's Club. The wholesale warehouse is actually now offering a $99 prevention plan. Now we want to be clear that this is not health insurance but rather it's a program that provides you access to a 24/7 nurse hot line.
HOLMES: Well, it was one year ago today, Haiti was hit with a devastating earthquake. Killed at least 230,000 people. Displaced five times that. Over a million Haitians lost their homes, forced to seek refuge in makeshift tent cities. Today, about a million people still remain homeless. They're living in camps like the one you're seeing here outside of the presidential palace.
There are, however, encouraging signs of rebuilding as well. The buildings on this street you're seeing here, destroyed by the earthquake, a year later, cars, people starting to move along that street.
Well, for the kids who lived through the disaster many were in desperate need of food, water and medicine. In fact, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta showed us one orphanage still in shambles six months later. Today, though, a different story. And Sanjay Gupta joining us now live with an exclusive look at the difference, Sanjay, of a few thousand dollars can make.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It doesn't take much, T.J., I think that's what's most striking here. This story will probably make you feel good and slightly shocked at the same time because there are improvements being made, there are gains being made but they are coming slowly. And so many kids are still living without some of the most basic supplies. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Hard to forget these faces. We first met them six months ago. Smiles amidst squalor. 350,000 orphans, best guess, and many like this little guy, don't even have a name.
(on camera): Don't know how old he is. He's an orphan in this orphanage among lots of other children. 40 to 50 at any given time. That's how many kids are taken care of. I want to show something else as well. Take a look at this particular building. Just look at the floor over here. That's where they sleep. There are no bedrooms. Find a place and sleep for the night.
This is the kitchen for all those children. This pot of beans, it's their food for the entire day. Simply not enough. I decided to call a contact of mine.
ERIC KLEIN, CAN-DO.ORG: Hello.
GUPTA: Hey, Eric, it's Sanjay.
KLEIN: Hey, Sanjay. How are you?
GUPTA: We have some happy kids.
(voice-over): Eric is with can-do.org. He found a warehouse full of supplies willing to stock a truck full of food. Since then Can-Do has received donations from CNN viewers. They took that money and stocked up on supplies and hired local Haitians to help revitalize the orphanage. Today for less than $6,000, the kids have new beds to sleep in, electricity. For the first time, a kitchen.
KLEIN: Kitchen cabinets maybe cost us $500 just for the material. This is a water filtration system here. Pour the water in and clean water through.
GUPTA: The thing about all these changes is they didn't take very much money. $20 for buckets of paint, $60 for cement for new floors, a few hundred for the beds.
KLEIN: So we have two bathrooms in here now. Plumbing in here, septic.
GUPTA: So a total of two bathrooms for under $400. But despite all this, the kids are still living on the edge. Remember this little guy? He's no longer on the floor. We found his new bed. But it was empty. He was so malnourished, he was taken to the hospital for care.
KLEIN: This is what they have for food here.
GUPTA: Once more, down to their last bag of rice and beans.
Haiti, one year later. An orphanage full of kids who are still smiling but still waiting for something as basic as a regular meal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: You said at the beginning there it might make us feel good to see this story but leave us scratching our heads at the same time. How is something like this and what has happened there and still what's going on there now, how is any of this even possible?
GUPTA: I know. I mean, it's hard to believe, T.J., I mean those billions of dollars that have been pledged to this country. A few things. First of all, not all the money has arrived to the country. We've talked about that over the last year. But T.J., it's a little bit more complicated than that. It's part of what the third world is all about. Sometimes even if you get supplies into country, supplies that could feed those kids so a child is not hospitalized a year later for being malnourished, even if those supplies in the country distributing them to places like this orphanage can be really difficult. Only five percent of the rubble that we've shown so many pictures of in the streets has actually been cleared up. Five percent.
So you simply navigating the roads is challenging. Communication literally from one place to two blocks away is nearly impossible. So getting supplies that are in one place distributing to a place where they're actually needed is much more challenging than it should be in many ways. But that's what's happening here, T.J..
HOLMES: All right. Sanjay, we appreciate you as always this morning. Amazing it was a year ago today that all this began and still a year later. So much help still needed there. Sanjay, thanks as always, buddy.
CHO: Some encouraging signs of hope, obviously, as well. We'll talk to our Soledad O'Brien about that. She was at an orphanage during the height of the tragedy. She'll have an update for us. So we look forward to that.
Up next on "American Morning," the unseen side of the Tucson tragedy. Jared Loughner's parents said there are no words to express how they feel. We'll talk to one woman next who lived through something similar. That is next on "American Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: 40 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to "American Morning." The family of accused gunman Jared Loughner has made their first public comments since the Tucson shooting saying in a statement in part they don't understand how this happened and that "there are no words that can possibly express how we feel." It certainly is an unthinkable event to live through.
Our next guest Jeannette Halton lived through something similar. Her son Timothy struggled with mental illness and is now serving a life sentence without parole for killing a police officer in 2007. We also have in our studio, Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman who is the head of the Psychiatry Department at Columbia University. Thank so much, both of you for being here.
Doctor, I'll get to you in just a moment. But first Jeannette, I suppose my first question to you is I can only imagine how much this struck a chord in you. My first question is what went through your mind when you first heard about the shootings in Tucson?
JEANNETTE HALTON-TIGGS, MENTALLY ILL SON KILLED A POLICE OFFICER: Oh, my gosh. Well, my first reaction was the little girl. The little girl. And of course the congresswoman of course and I saw reports today that she is doing much better. I thank god for that. My prayers are with her of course, all the victims, the Loughner family as well.
CHO: But as a mother who went through something similar - your son shot and killed a police officer in May of 2007 and now serving life in prison. You know, I'm sure in a lot of ways as you mentioned you felt for the Loughner family as well.
HALTON-TIGGS: Oh, of course I did. Of course, I did. Not to take away from any other members of the family, but my heart just went out for the mother. My heart went out for the mother. I know how I felt when my child did a heinous act. And I can imagine what they're going through as with the statement that they said today. There are no words to express. Sorry doesn't say it all. They are victims as well. But they have to be silent victims.
I know the press said that they sent in a statement, that they did not come out and speak. I felt the same way at first because I said "what would you like me to do come on my front lawn so you can stone me? I mean, there are so many victims in this situation. It's a sad situation.
I mean, the shooting victims, the family, the area is trenched in fear right now. It's very sad all around.
CHO: I know you called life with your son Timmy a "hellish nightmare."
HALTON-TIGGS: Yes.
CHO: When did you first notice the problems he was having? And what did you have do about it?
HALTON-TIGGS: Well, I noticed his problem somewhere around age eight. And the courts had brought it to my attention first. So I wasn't the first one to know this, because he was arrested at eight years old for - he went to juvenile court - for torturing small animals. And that just raised a red flag. And he had little bizarre things that he would do around the house and I was reading that the Loughner family at some point stopped Jared from playing with other children and Jared literally looked outside from the inside at other children playing and at some point in my son's childhood, I had to do the same thing because certain things that he was doing I was afraid to put him around other children. I was very cautious with him.
And my daughter at some point got jealous of that relationship that I had with my son but for some reason I knew something was wrong. And I did get him a big brother because I am a single mother and his father was not in his life. And my family is a majority of women. I felt he needed a male role model. Maybe that could help him. I got him counseling. He went to a special school for children with behavioral problems. He's very bright, very bright but he had behavioral problems so it was a very young age when I noticed.
CHO: Well, doctor, you were nodding your head when Jeannette was talking here. Obviously, no parent wants to believe the worst could happen or the worst about their kids and yet you don't want to turn your back on your flesh and blood. So how as a parent do you know when normal problems, normal kid problems then turn the corner into something more serious? And then what should you do about it? What are those red flags? What's the solution?
DR. JEFFREY LIEBERMAN, DIRECTOR NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE: Well, Alina, first of all, let me express my sympathies to Ms. Halton-Tiggs for what she has had to experience, going through something like this and somebody who treat such a patient is really a living hell. But parents are in a tough position because on one hand when your child is growing up, you don't want to be overly involved, overly protective, overly controlling.
At the same time, you have to recognize that there are signs that there could be problems with the person's mental functioning just like if you have fever, if they have respiratory symptoms, if they have diarrhea. So, what do you do? The first thing to do -- and I always tell people err on the side of caution -- be overly inquisitive and overly proactive. So if you have concerns that the child is 8, 10, a teenager, talk to your pediatrician. Your pediatrician says, oh, he's just going through a phase, it will pass. If it doesn't pass, you say it's not passing, I think we should do something.
Most pediatricians would evaluate and if they couldn't make a decision, get a referral, a psychiatrist. If there's problems in school, ask to see the school guidance counselor or school health service.
CHO: Yes.
LIEBERMAN: But don't be passive about it, because if you wait thinking it's a transient phase and turns into something really serious, it could be too late.
CHO: Deadly. That's right. Treat it as something serious because it just could be.
Jeannette, one last question for you. I can -- I can only imagine that your heart goes out, as I mentioned earlier, to the Jared Loughner family.
JEANNETTE HALTON-TIGGS, MENTALLY ILL SON KILLED A POLICE OFFICER: Definitely. My heart and prayers.
CHO: I'm sure, I can only imagine the guilt that they're going through, the shame that they're feeling, could they have done anything about this. What is your message to them? And, also, do you have a message to the victims of the shooting?
HALTON-HIGGS: I have a message to the victims and the Loughner family. Right now, we're only human beings. At this time, you have to rely on your higher power, whatever that is. Jesus Christ is mine. That's what pulled me through this.
And may I please comment on Dr. Lieberman's comment, his statement? He is so correct. I mean, you have to look for signs. We as a society, not only parents with their children, we have to look -- start looking for the signs.
We have to accept mental illness. We have to get rid of the stigma surrounding it. We just have to accept it and look for the signs -- the teachers, counselors, anyone who come in contact, the college people that came in contact with Jared.
We have to look for these signs and we have to act on them. I mean, I know a lot of people don't like the way we fly now being pat-down, the searches and everything. But after 9/11, how can you question that? We have to err, you know, to caution.
CHO: Jeannette Halton-Tiggs --
HALTON-TIGGS: My heart and prayers do go out to family and the victims as well.
CHO: We thank you so much for your unique perspective, Jeannette Halton-Tiggs.
HALTON-TIGGS: Thank you.
CHO: Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, thank you so much for joining us.
LIEBERMAN: My pleasure.
CHO: It's 47 minutes after the hour. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, about 10 minutes to the top of the hour.
We told you -- and we've been telling you all morning, 49 out of the 50 states right now have snow on the ground in some way, form or fashion this morning. We are just seeing an extraordinary time for the weather. So, there's a lot of weather advisories, watches, warnings, you name it.
Hard to kind of discern the difference between all of those. So, let me let David Letterman break this down for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch, which will soon be upgraded to a winter storm warning watch, to be followed by a warning, warning, and then a warning watch warning, and then a watch, watch warning watch and then the warning itself, and then a warning, warning, watch warning, and then a watch, watch and finally --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All clear!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- as the storm ends.
Since the forecast may change, we've also have issued a warning watch alert update watch warning.
The National Weather Service, so advanced, it's simple.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: See, it's a good thing to have Rob Marciano to clear things up for us.
HOLMES: So, Rob, what are we under right now in some parts of the Northeast?
CHO: A watch, watch, warning watch.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, when I was at school, the answer was "E," all of the above. And we'll just go with that.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: All right. It can get confusing, but, you know, isn't that what the federal government is for?
Basically a watch means that we're watching out for it. It's probably going to happen. A warning means that it's either happening or is definitely going to happen and pretty much how it breaks down.
Speaking of, here's a look at the watches and warnings across the Northeast associated with this storm that's blowing itself up here and really deepening quite rapidly. Take a look at the maps. Winter storm warnings, that is the pink for a good chunk of the Northeast.
All right. Forgot about the advisories, that's a kind of step down from warnings and watches. It means, you know, that's -- by the way, that's all relative to where you live. Syracuse and Binghamton under a winter weather advisory. Blizzard warning up for Boston, by the way.
You know what? Let's take the live shot from Boston. WCVB, it's blowing sideways there, quarter mile visibility, temps in the 20s, and winds at -- gusting over 40 miles an hour. Full-on blizzard Beantown right now and that's going to continue through this afternoon, with heavy snow, you might see some thunder and lightning as well.
Back to the maps briefly, the backside of that, we're going to see heavy snow across Connecticut and other parts of New England, as well, over a foot, as well. And the back side of this is bringing cold air all the way down to the south, including Atlanta. So, we saw temperatures briefly rise above the freezing mark yesterday in Atlanta and that helped the roads melt just a little bit, threw down the gravel here on Peachtree.
But yesterday morning, they were ice skating right on this road and this sidewalk is -- well, you can almost do that, as well. So, we're still in the deep freeze here across the South and that is associated with that storm across the Northeast.
By the way, guys, hard freeze warning up for parts of the South tonight. So put that on your list.
CHO: Got it.
MARCIANO: T.J., Alina?
CHO: All right.
HOLMES: Reynolds, thanks. Not Reynolds, that's Rob. Excuse me. Excuse me, Rob. Sorry about that.
CHO: Very quickly, we're just getting this into our newsroom from Amtrak, that there has been a temporary service suspension if you're planning to go by train. The Acela Express and Northeast Regional train service between New York City and Boston has been temporarily suspended. So, we'll keep you posted on that.
HOLMES: All right. New York, several places, Boston used to dealing with snow. But there are some cities that don't get a whole lot, not really sure how to deal with this. One city's approach -- plan A is simply just wait and let the stuff melt.
CHO: And New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, he's made some enemies with his hard-charging style, and some admirers, too. We'll talk with him live on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We are getting close to the top of the hour and this may be the shot in the arm that weary job seekers have been looking for. The unemployment rate in December fell to its lowest level in some 18 months. So, who's getting hired and where exactly?
Our Christine Romans is taking a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Good afternoon, everyone. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here at the January meeting of the Job Success Club, job seekers aren't feeling a recovery just yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a start.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a start.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
LEN GARRISON, CAREER COACH, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: A lot of people talk about how the market's getting better, but really, what happens is for each person, it's very personal.
ROMANS: Members of this group at Rutgers includes a business analyst with 15 years of experience, a dual engineering major laid off last spring, a recently graduated geography major.
(on camera): People are getting hired. We're not -- we're not creating enough jobs. But people are getting hired. Who's getting hired?
TIG GILLIAM, CEO, ADECCO: The more education you have, the better. And that's true in this job market, even more so than it was only five years ago. So, it's the finance and accounting skills, the IT. skills, the engineering skills, which greatly improve your chances of finding a job.
ROMANS (voice-over): It's leisure and hospitality and health care, too. Those fields saw the biggest growth last month but regardless of field, many job seekers say the toughest part is just getting a foot in the door.
SAM CHACKO, JOB SEEKER: The challenge for me, at least, it's been -- I know I have the skills but it's kind of frustrating because I don't know how to market myself to get employers to notice me.
ROMANS: And that's just what the members of the Job Success Club hope to figure out.
GARRISON: I mean, the goal of the Job Club is I'm the only person left. That would be the ideal dream that I'm the only person sitting in the room.
Be really -- be really focused.
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
