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American Morning
A "Cold War" Moment; Gaga Could Male $100 Million; Halle As Aretha; Is Breastfeeding Alone Best?
Aired January 14, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, hey there, everybody. Good morning to you all on this Friday, January the 14th. Welcome to this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We have a lot to talk about this morning. Let's get you caught up on the top stories.
It's amazing. Doctors were actually using the term "miraculous" to describe the slow but steady recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Her eyes, they say, now track movements in the room, an encouraging sign that she's increasingly becoming more aware of her surroundings. They have also been doing physical movements with her, sitting her up and dangling her legs on to the -- over the side of the bed. And doctors say that they actually may remove her breathing tube today.
HOLMES: Also, we're going to show you here in just a moment a really remarkable moment from the White House briefing room. There was a tense exchange between a Russian reporter and the White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. And the topic was the tragedy in Tucson.
Our Ed Henry was there. He'll tell us how this all happened.
CHETRY: And this could be a new, cool, easy way to file your taxes. There's an app for that, apparently as easy as snapping a picture of your W-2 with your iPhone. Are there any security concerns, though? Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
HOLMES: Let's turn back to Tucson now and the miraculous -- again, those are doctor's words, miraculous -- the recovery of Gabrielle Giffords. Her recovery is moving forward. The latest is that her eyes are tracking movement. Now, that is a big deal and very encouraging. She's able essentially to follow things in the room.
They say she's aware of the surroundings. Also, she's getting help to sit up now and is able to move both legs off the edge of the bed. The other development we just told you about, her husband says that possibly they could remove the breathing tube as early as today.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, her husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly, is still scheduled to be the commander of the final mission of the space shuttle. This is something that he had been preparing for -- the Endeavour's final mission in April. He says that he's hoping he can still fulfill that obligation
But just in case he needs to be at his wife's side, Astronaut Rick Sturckow has been named as his backup. Sturckow will begin training next week at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
HOLMES: Also, as part of the investigation there in Tucson, there was a lot of attention focused on a mysterious black bag that the alleged shooter was purported to be seen with. Well, that bag has been found. You're seeing exclusive pictures here of the recovery of that black bag.
According to police, the ammunition that was found in the bag does, in fact, match the ammunition used at the scene. The FBI is now combing over whatever is in that bag to try to help this investigation along.
CHETRY: Well, today, Arizona mourns the judge killed in the shooting. Federal Judge John Roll will be laid to rest later this morning in Tucson. This comes a day after the funeral for the youngest shooting victim, 9-year-old Christina Green.
HOLMES: We want to turn now back to the White House. Sometimes, naturally, it is a little heated between the reporters and the press secretary. They want their question answered -- maybe they're not getting one. It gets a little heated.
But this was a little bit different yesterday. There was an exchange between the White House press secretary and a Russian journalist, but the topic was the shooting spree in Tucson that Robert Gibbs certainly took offense to when he was asked whether or not America's freedoms may have contributed to it.
Take a listen to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREI SITOV, ITAR-TASS NEWS AGENCY: This is America. The democracy, the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly, the freedom to petition your government, and many people outside would also say -- and the quote-unquote, "freedom," of a deranged mind to react in a violent way is also America. How do you respond to that?
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: No, no, I would disagree vehemently with that. There are -- there is nothing in the values of our country, there's nothing on the many laws on our books that would provide for somebody to impugn and impede on the very freedoms that you began with by exercising the actions that that individual took on that day.
That is -- that is not American. There are -- I think there's agreement on all sides of the political spectrum. Violence is never, ever acceptable.
We had people that died. We had people whose lives will be changed forever because of the deranged actions of a madman. Those are not American. Those are not in keeping with the important bedrock values by which this country was founded and by which its citizens live each and every day of their lives in hopes of something better for those that are here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, senior White House correspondent Ed Henry was there. He had a front row seat as that whole thing unfolded. So, what was it like to be there and how unique was that exchange?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Very unique. I mean, it's pretty chilly here outside this morning, Kiran, but there was kind of a chill going through the briefing room and felt like the Cold War for a couple of minutes, you know, a little uncomfortable. You don't usually see reporters like Bill Press you saw, the liberal radio talk show host there, a couple of seats away, shaking his head and saying, "No, that's not true."
Usually reporters kind of don't comment on each other's questions, but I think that this one just seemed, to some in the room, including me, to go a little bit far and sort of suggesting, like, look, if things were just a little bit more like Russia, this never would have happened. And it's interesting because even as people, including Robert Gibbs and some of the reporters were a little -- thought it was a little odd, nobody cut the reporter off because we do have the freedom of speech here, number one.
It's funny. Someone just sent me a message on Twitter saying, could you imagine if a Russian reporter got a little snippy with, say, Vladimir Putin or someone like that, a public official, in Russia, they might get a little bit of a different reaction.
HOLMES: That's a pretty good point. It would be a much different reaction but the reporter, you talked to him and he -- maybe we didn't hear the first part, but he did start by saying his condolences to the Americans, to the families, to the victims, as well. What did he have to say about the question?
HENRY: Yes. I talked to Andrei Sitov , and he's been around the White House beat for a long time, by the way, dating back several years and he basically said, look, he wanted to make clear that he offered his condolences to all the families of victims, et cetera but just said, look, you -- Americans just need to understand that there can be a downside to the freedoms and he believes that there's sort of an uncomfortable conversation that Americans don't want to have right now about gun control. And he said, look, if you want to prevent something like this in the future, you're going to need more gun control.
I think he's right that a lot of Americans don't want to have this conversation right now, in part because it's just a few days after the tragedy. And I think emotions are still pretty raw and you saw that in Robert Gibbs' response. There's no doubt there's going to be a gun control debate in this country. But just a few days after the tragedy just -- this was yesterday, a day after the president's big speech, it just kind of seemed line maybe there needs to be a little bit more time before you jump right into that.
CHETRY: All right. Ed Henry for us this morning -- thanks so much.
HOLMES: Thanks, Ed.
HENRY: Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, the U.S. Navy is now putting an officer's retirement on hold as they investigate the scandal over the leak of those raunchy videos. Rear Admiral Lawrence Rice, he's a former commander of the USS Enterprise, was supposed to retire at the end of the month. The video shown aboard the aircraft carrier featured profanity, antigay slurs and sailors in suggestive poses. The man behind them, Captain Owen Honors, was relieved given desk duty earlier this month.
HOLMES: We want to turn to some weather now. We're going to turn in particular, just to show you a picture here of Atlanta where the mayor is making some promises.
Now, what's happening there right now is that the temperatures are going to be above the 40-degree mark for the first time since that big snow and ice storm. Still 18 degrees right now, but a little later, it's going to warm up a bit up to 42 degrees. That's a big deal. A lot of snow and ice are still on the ground and need to melt.
The mayor, though, his promise he's making is that they will be able to clear the ice and snow from the streets and the sidewalks downtown. There are a couple of big events, including the Falcons playoff game this weekend and also the Hawks are playing, happening on the same night downtown. A lot of people are going to be there.
CHETRY: The Falcons playoff game. They're not playing themselves. They're playing the Green Bay Packers.
HOLMES: Whatever. But the game is inside. It's in the dome, Georgia Dome. It's not a problem for the game, but people getting around, it could be a mess.
CHETRY: They're trying to use the public transportation and the sidewalks and 42 degrees may not cut it.
HOLMES: All right. Mayor Reed --
CHETRY: You're on it, right?
HOLMES: You're on it.
CHETRY: Bonnie Schneider is in the extreme weather center for us this morning. It's also, you know, of course, a travel day for a lot of people, beginning of the weekend. What are we looking like?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we're looking a whole lot better in the South than we were at the start of the week when we had so many cancelations and just complete shutdowns of airports from that storm and turn into a blizzard in the Northeast. But it's still icy out there. Be careful.
Temperatures are in the 20s. It's 20 in Atlanta, 16 in Nashville. It's only 24 degrees in Mobile, Alabama -- very cold, indeed.
And it will remain icy just for the next few days, and then we'll start to see some big improvements. As high pressure slides to the East, we're looking at a big pattern change for the beginning of next week and what that means is you'll see warmer temperatures all the way up to 55 in Atlanta, for example, by Tuesday. It will stay cold, though, out to the west and unfortunately that cold weather is kicking up some snow.
We have a line -- a big, kind of, a snow band working the way to Detroit right now and you can see that sliding in. So, be prepared for a snowy commute in Michigan as well as in Cleveland, and we may see some flight delays due to that. But most of this is going to be just kind of a quick storm -- T.J., Kiran.
HOLMES: We'll take. All right. Bonnie Schneider for us this morning -- we appreciate you.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
CHETRY: Well, the case against Arizona mass murder suspect Jared Loughner and the legendary lawyer who's going to be defending him -- we're going to be speaking with FBI agent Todd Letcher, next.
HOLMES: Also coming up, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he is out in Tucson. He has been there talking exclusively to some of the doctors getting some access to them, those who took care of Congresswoman Giffords, but also talking exclusively with her husband Mark Kelly.
It's nine minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twelve minutes past the hour. Welcome back to this AMERICAN MORNING.
Bernie Madoff is still going to be paying some money back and a lot of it. A judge has approved a deal to add $7 billion to a victims' fund. The money comes from a deceased investor's estate. This money is a part of, certainly, Bernie Madoff's money, but also, some of his wealthiest investors, the widow of the investor here in particular we're talking about says her husband was unaware it was even fraud going on.
Also, tell you about Lawrence Taylor, the former New York Giant great linebacker. He has pled guilty now to two misdemeanors, including sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute. You may remember he was arrested last year for having sex with a 16-year-old girl.
This deal is going to allow him to avoid jail time. He does get six years probation and going to have to register as a sex offender -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, it could be a big break for investigators in the Tucson shooting. A black bag found just blocks from accused shooter Jared Loughner's home. Authorities say that it contained ammunition matching what was used in the shooting.
Representing Loughner in the case will be 58-year-old Judy Clarke, a public defender who has had some notorious clients like Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and even the woman who was found guilty of murdering her two young sons, Susan Smith.
Todd Letcher went up against her when he defended the Olympic Park bomber, when she defended Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph. He's a retired FBI agent and joins us now.
Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
TODD LETCHER, RETIRED FBI AGENT: Than k you.
CHETRY: So, just an interesting note about the case and how it's played out. Many in Arizona's judicial system had to recuse themselves because a federal judge was killed in this case. And in terms of public defenders, a lot of people who refused I guess to represent this suspect. So, then, Judy Clarke sort of steps into it, and she's notorious for taking on cases that other people don't want to touch.
What is she like and why does she do this?
LETCHER: I have respect for her. I think she's very smart. She knows the law. She's particularly adept at navigating federal cases involving the death penalty. She puts together a good team that surround her and she's a tireless advocate for her client.
I think her belief stems from the fact that every defendant deserves adequate representation.
CHETRY: She also is an opponent of the death penalty, and there are some who say, wait a minute, you know, she's highly respected in the legal world, yet she's had some of the most notorious killers off of death row. She's responsible for, right, Eric Rudolph not getting a death penalty. Perhaps making some sort of agreement as well for Ted Kaczynski and Susan Smith.
LETCHER: Yes. I mean, she's going to try to do the best she can as far as representing her clients and she's got a lot of resources to draw on. She's had a lot of experience as I said in these high-profile cases.
I think -- the other thing I admire about her is she's not going to try the case in the media. She's very understated in her approach, but that belies a very aggressive advocate for her client.
CHETRY: And as we talk about her client, and, you know, a lot of people are looking back and pouring through the history of the suspect and saying, were there any signs? Were there anything that could be done ahead of time to perhaps prevent this tragedy? And you said that similar questions were asked as you were investigating Eric Rudolph.
LETCHER: Yes. My prayers go out to the victims and their families. I think from a law enforcement perspective, your ultimate mission is to protect the people that you serve.
CHETRY: Right.
LETCHER: The problem with the lone wolf offender is they give you very little information that allows law enforcement to predict that something's going to happen. They're loners. They tend to stick to themselves. A lot of times they're socially inept. And if they're planning something, you're not going to know it. You're not going to be able to get intelligence about what's going to happen. So, I think there's a frustration in law enforcement in dealing with the lone wolf offender.
CHETRY: In terms of the investigation and how this is proceeding, we don't have many details right now, but we do know that he is not said to be cooperating with police in this situation. So, if they have to move forward, you know, if he's going to plead not guilty and they're going to move forward, you know, is this a pretty easy -- not -- I mean, you know, an easier case to put together because of all the eyewitnesses, because of the potential for forensic evidence?
LETCHER: I think the facts of what happened are going to be hard to dispute with all the eyewitness testimony and that sort of thing, but I think for Judy Clarke, she's very good at getting to know her client, defendant. Sitting down, talking to them, learning what makes them tick, and I think, ultimately, that helps her decide what avenue she's going to take in putting up a good defense.
CHETRY: Even if he does escape the death penalty or even a conviction on the federal level, there's also the state charges, as well. He's -- there are some of these federal charges for the attempted assassination of a congresswoman, murder of a federal judge, and then, you have the other people that were shot, killed and wounded, as well.
LETCHER: Right. Judy Clarke's adept at dealing with these multi-jurisdictional types of cases which could involve either federal or state prosecution, and I think, ultimately, what she'll attempt to do is reach some type of global settlement where from a federal side, she'll attempt to resolve that aspect but state side, as well.
CHETRY: All right. We'll see where the investigation goes from here. Todd Letcher, thanks so much for joining us this morning. We appreciate it.
LETCHER: Thank you.
CHETRY: T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Well, coming up, he is 6'4" tall. He's a freshman. Trying to earn a spot on a college basketball team in Illinois. You're going to be pulling for this guy, but one stat is going to throw you off. His age. Seventeen minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: You got to see this. A video has posted online this week of a rat crawling all over a guy who fell asleep on the subway.
(LAUGHTER)
FALLON: Yes, the video was shot by a guy who didn't help a dude who had a rat crawling on him in the subway!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That's a pretty good point.
CHETRY: Oh, come on.
HOLMES: No. Come on. You can help this guy out. And when we show you this video here, folks, just get you ready for this.
CHETRY: I have goose bumps already.
HOLMES: This is when we should give you a heads up and say the video you're about to see might be disturbing.
CHETRY: Unless, you're Shrek. And then, you're fine.
HOLMES: But look at this, folks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (voice-over): Put the cereal down, your breakfast, for a second. Look at this rat. It's running all over the place, in the subway, and it crawls up a guy who's sleeping. People start laughing. He wakes up when it's on him finally, but that is -- is that what happens here?
CHETRY (voice-over): Look. I mean, this wasn't pleasant for the rat either, T.J., OK?
HOLMES: It wasn't.
CHETRY: No. He was trying to just get to the next car. He got a little bit -- they don't have great vision. They're better off at night, you know, and he was messed up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES (on-camera): Everybody's -- why does everybody find that funny?
CHETRY (on-camera): It does.
HOLMES: That's disturbing.
CHETRY: It is funny, though. I mean, are you -- I'm not -- my friend had a pet rat. So, I mean, they're little weird when you touch at them first, but then you get used to them. She did. She had a pet albino rat.
HOLMES: Exactly, the response -- you just throw your hands up on that.
CHETRY: She actually washed it a lot with Purell and so it had a greenish tint to it after a while. It was serious. A poor thing. It was cute.
HOLMES: OK.
CHETRY: Anyway, Martha Stewart is recovering. I guess, this is more socially acceptable to have a dog as a pet.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: I think it is.
CHETRY: Well, you don't have to worry about your rat head butting you. Poor Martha Stewart has nine stitches this morning because she startled her dozing French bulldog, Francesca pow. I hope we have the picture. She let herself be photographed while she was getting the stitches. Do we have that? Oh. Well, that's when the dog jumped up and slammed into her face, and she went to the hospital. And she got nine stitches in her upper lip.
HOLMES: OK. Let's move on from pets right now and turn to Lady Gaga. I'm not sure how much money she made last year, but Forbes saying she's about to make a whole lot of money this year. They are saying she is going to rake in $100 million this year alone. Now, she is going to be touring. That's going to bring in a lot of money but also get a new CD coming out, merchandising, endorsing, $100 million.
CHETRY: Good for her. Keep working it, girl. Good for you.
Well, Aretha Franklin's life is going to be making it to the big screen, and Oscar-winning actress, Halle Berry, is reportedly going to portray the queen of soul. The film is based on Aretha's autobiography, "Aretha: From These Roots," published in 1999. She certainly had a legendary life. There's a picture of Aretha back in 1970.
HOLMES: Wow.
CHETRY: Appearing on the BBC's "Cliff Richard Show." 68-year- old Franklin is currently recovering from treatment for pancreatic cancer.
HOLMES: All right. One more note here for you for the Super Bowl. I think it was announced not too long ago. You might know the Black Eyed Peas is going to be headlining the halftime show but the national anthem that's going to be sung by Christina Aguilera. The Black Eyed Peas, a lot of people paying attention to that. I believe that's the first time that a hip hop or R&B group was coming back since we had the whole incident.
CHETRY: Oh!
HOLMES: Back in --
CHETRY: Poor Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson.
HOLMES: Did you just say poor Justin Timberlake?
CHETRY: They caught a lot of heat for that. What?
HOLMES: Nothing. OK. Let's move beyond that.
CHETRY: It was a wardrobe malfunction, you know. Malfunction.
Anyway, he is 6'4". He's freshman. He's a walk-on, and he is trying to win a starting spot on a basketball team but Jermaine Townes is 39 years old. But, you know, he could be a healthy, young 39. (INAUDIBLE) protected teammate, but he's a veteran of Desert Storm, and he says he's giving it his best shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERMAINE TOWNES, BASKETBALL PLAYER: I said, coach, got 39-year- old war veteran here. Do you have any room? I said, I want to try out. He was like, come and see me tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I saw was a 6'4" guy that has some pretty good shooting touch. And with that, who knows where it can go?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, he says he'll convince the coach to start him by working twice as hard as everyone else.
HOLMES: We will have to keep up with that one.
CHETRY: Yes. That will be interesting to see if they put him on the team, how he does.
HOLMES: Thirty-nine years old. That would be a (INAUDIBLE)
Coming up, Christine Romans, she's going to be up here in a bit. I was going to say Christina Aguilera on the mind. I'm sorry. She is going to be -- she's going to talk to us about the particular app on your income taxes. Also, she has some news coming in to us about JPMorgan Chase and their fourth quarter earnings. This could give us a sign about where exactly we are in this recovery. Those numbers coming up.
CHETRY: Banks recovering.
Also, she has made some major leaps in her recovery. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to be here talking more about Gabrielle Giffords' recovery, speaking with her husband and her doctors at Tucson's University Medical Center. And we're going to get new exclusive details when Sanjay joins us live. Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Twenty-six minutes past the hour. Christine Romans here with us once again, "Minding Your Business."
CHETRY: This could be your ticket for filing your taxes, but --
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: First, I want to tell you about JPMorgan Chase ratings. They were good. Up 47 percent. Another very nice quarter for JPMorgan showing, I think, that some of these American banks have shrugged off the vestiges of the great recession of financial crisis and are back to doing what they do best which is make money.
The banks' fourth quarter topping estimates as they say on Wall Street, meaning, it did better than even many Wall Street analysts have an expecting. We'll be watching the bank ratings and we'll like to see just how well they're doing. As you know, the big story in banks has been that as they have had to shut down their FEMA sheens because of new rules they've managed to find new ways to make fees with many cases. That means I'm your checking account.
CHETRY: They also ask about some companies paying dividends again, right? For the first time --
ROMANS: Yes, they are. They are. And that's good for shareholders. You can complain about it if you're a customer, but then, if you're shareholder, the banks are saying, hey, wait a minute.
CHETRY: Right.
ROMANS: I'm starting to get some money on the other end. So, yes, investors are starting to see dividends being paid again. And, of course, all of these new fancy little gadgets. You -- we didn't bring it up, but if you have a Smartphone, you can do this new turbo tax program. It is free to download. Taxes. There's an app for that. It's crazy that -- the way things have changed. If you file 1040 easy form, you can download for free this turbo tax Smartphone application to -- we just went through it, very easily go through your taxes.
You snap a photo of your W-2 and it will auto fill in all of these lines. We tried to do it in a couple of the lines. It couldn't quite see some of the federal income tax with holdings and stuff, so then you can manually enter that and quite, easily, you preview it and you file. If you file it, there's a fee for that, $14.99. They tried this last year on state forms in California, and the results, apparently, were good enough that they're rolling it out nationwide now.
CHETRY: Because, you know, they talk about sometimes you just have a typo, you know, just like human error, printing your taxes. So, that's interesting that it might save them some headaches, the IRS, and you, if you can skip with autofill.
ROMANS: You want to make sure you double, triple, quadruple check everything. That's always the best idea. You know, I really like the human eyes of my accountant, because, you know, to find things that I didn't see which I find interesting because it's always the same documents, and I am a numbers person. But, you know, it's very complicated, and at times, can be complicated.
This has been 1040 easy. So, this isn't -- this is the easiest kind of thing to file. And 14.99 is a heck of a lot cheaper than walking down the street and buying an hour of time from a tax preparer. Question is, is it safe? We and the thing about your Smartphone is it has so many things about you on there. Do you want to -- and the technology's all encrypted. That's all fine. But someone to steal your phone or to lose you will lose your phone, all of this information --
CHETRY: It is still password protected, right?
ROMANS: It is still password protected.
CHETRY: See, I would be concerned about downloading a dummy app. I mean, a fake app that was trying to --
ROMANS: And that's a very good question. They're already out there, as a matter of fact. So, you want to make sure that you download the appropriate one, not one from someone who's trying to steal your identity or steal your money. So, that's a very, very good point. I'm glad you brought that up.
HOLMES: Can you use the app over and over each year or it's just a one-time thing and maybe you can just delete the information you put on it?
ROMANS: I think -- that's a very good question. I'm not sure. But you would pay every year when you will do it.
CHETRY: Yes, but, come on. You're going to have a brand new iPhone 16 next year. I mean, you're not going to need your --
ROMANS: That's true, who knows about technology? It's just another way to get excited about tax day in America.
CHETRY: Yes, you're right. Thanks, Christine.
HOLMES: Thank you, as always.
It's the bottom of the hour now. It's time for a look at stories making headlines, including another step closer to sainthood or Pope John Paul II. It has now been certified that he performed one miracle, and he needs to be certified for another. But the formal announcement came a little earlier this morning.
CHETRY: Also the Environmental Protection Agency is pulling the plug on one of the nation's largest mountain top removal mining protects. The EPA says that Arch Coals Spruce number one mine in West Virginia would have creates 110 million cubic yards of waste. Environmentalists call it a historic decision. Mining officials say it's chilling that it will cost the region a quarter of a billion dollars and 250 high-paying jobs.
HOLMES: Also, everybody was searching for this mysterious black bag that allegedly the shooter in Tucson had. Well, that bag has been found. The alleged shooter apparently tossed it somewhere. He was seen with it. It was tossed. Looking at exclusive video now that CNN has of the bag and recovered.
It is now being looked over by the FBI, but according to police ammunition was found inside that did in fact match the ammo used in that Tucson shooting.
CHETRY: Well, doctors calling the recovery of Congresswoman Giffords a miracle. Her eyes are now tracking movements in the room and an encouraging sign that she's more aware of the surroundings. They also say that she was able to pit up in bed with help and move both legs. Doctors say they may try to seat her in a chair today, and they are also talking about removing her breathing tube today, as well.
HOLMES: All right, Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta spent some time in Tucson. He's back now in Atlanta and joins us live. He is still in Tucson? Forgive me, you're still in Tucson. Forgive me there, Sanjay. You spent some time with the doctors, her husband, as well.
Let's start with her condition. We are hearing six days after being shot in the head sitting up, moving her legs, tracking things as well with her eyes. Let us know. The doctors using the word miraculous. How miraculous is this, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They did some incredible work, T.J. There's no question and may be a little bit humble of what they have been able to accomplish calling this a miracle possibly but, you know, regardless, you're right. She is not had as they say one day that's sort of slipped backwards, something that the chief of neurosurgery here expected saying there's good days, bad days. When I talked to her Captain Mark Kelly, he said there's been no bad days so far. That's how he put it to me.
He was in Houston when this all happened. The chief of staff for Congresswoman Giffords called him and said, you know, got to come to Tucson right away. He is a pilot, astronaut, got access to a plane. He was here in 45 minutes and right as they were wheeling his wife out of the operation out of the surgery and into the ICU. He talked to the doctors at that time and really understood the details of what had happened.
I asked him specifically about when the president came to visit. I think this is -- gives you an insight into how the congresswoman's doing. I said, do you think your wife knew the president was there in the room? And he sort of paused and he said, "Yes, I think she knew that the president was there and trying to figure out why he was there." And that's just a little bit of an insight of how her mind is starting to press things and starting to put pieces of the puzzle together.
I asked Dr. Lemole, the chief of neurosurgery about awareness. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Do you feel that she understands all that happened to her?
DR. MICHAEL LEMOLE, CHIEF OF NEUROSURGERY: I'm starting to think so.
GUPTA: She knows?
LEMOLE: I was there when the congresswoman and the senator were in the room. And to see her open the eye and look at them, there's no question in my mind. And she's done that for her husband, as well. Those glimmers of recognition, that tracking of the eyes tells you a whole lot more, that she is aware of her surroundings to some extent, coming in and out perhaps, and that she is trying to engage that reality, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: And as we said, as you said, T.J., she is holding her legs over the side of the leg, moving the left arm really well. Hard to say the right arm and may get the breathing tube out as soon as today. T.J., Kiran?
CHETRY: She is the most critical still in the hospital, but there are other shooting victims recovering. Do you have any updates on the conditions of others being treated?
GUPTA: Yes. I went by and saw a few of the patients yesterday. And, you know, you got the makeshift memorial going on behind me. Ron Barber, you may see video of him there. I had a chance to talk to him. He's a staffer for the congresswoman. He was 40 years in the development of the disability world and retired and came back to work for her and standing next to her on the day at the Safeway.
You know, what he described was just a story that's hard to believe still but standing next to her. Looking at the congresswoman when she was shot and then he turned the head from the direction of the noise, and he was shot in the face, shot the leg and slumped down and literally lying right next to the congresswoman and lying down slumped down side to side his front to her back.
And he was completely delirious and trying to figure out what happened and then Gabe Zimmermann fell, clearly shot. And, you know, Ron told me he said that "Gabe was so still, I knew that he had died." That's when he was describing to me. He was frantically searching for the blackberry and think about calling Gabby's parents to tell them what happened.
He was bleeding profusely. He had a life threatening injury in the leg and Anna came up with the bare hands and stopped the bleeding in the leg and out of the corner of the eye Daniel Hernandez walked over to the congresswoman cradling her trying to open up the airway. So it was horrible, and there were heroes amidst the horror is how he described to me.
HOLMES: All right, Sanjay, we appreciate you. We look to forward seeing more of your interviews and the access there in Tucson. Thanks so much. We'll talk to you plenty and of course to viewers this week, special edition of "Dr. Sanjay Gupta M.D." coming from Tucson, Arizona. The doctor who saved Gabrielle Giffords life will be showing Sanjay just how it all happened. Again, that's Saturday and Sunday morning 7:30 eastern time.
Right now it's 37 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Will it be a golden night Sunday for "The Social Network" or will "The King's Speech" reign at the Golden Globes? Either way it's a big Hollywood weekend with the first star-studded award show of the season.
And joining us with a preview is "US Weekly" senior editor Bradley Jacobs. Thank you for being with us this morning.
BRADLEY JACOBS, SENIOR EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": It's good to be here.
CHETRY: It's interesting because, well, we'll talk a little bit about the best picture situation. "True Grit" many people feel they were shut out. But it's a great movie, and I guess the foreign press didn't think so.
JACOBS: It's funny because the foreign press has the opportunity to nominate five dramas and five comedies, and in the comedies category they nominated "Burlesque" and other movies that nobody particularly liked. So, yes, it is unusual that "True Grit" as a box office phenomenon over two or three weeks didn't get a nomination. But still there are still great movies in the category.
CHETRY: Well, one of them is the one that's starring right now Natalie Portman, a lot of buzz about this "Black Swan," this sort of dark ballet movie. She lost she said 20 pounds for the role and the poor thing was already as skinny as a toothpick.
JACOBS: She is incredible. This is by far my favorite movie of the year. I have seen it twice now. And Natalie Portman is in every single scene. She will I guarantee you never have a role this good for the rest of her career and never have -- be able to show the depth, the emotion. It is such an incredibly haunting performance. I am looking forward to seeing her win the Golden Globe on Sunday. Not sure to win the Oscar, but this was a game-changing role for Natalie.
CHETRY: You think she is going to win it?
JACOBS: For her category. You have best actress drama and best actress comedy, so they can love everyone. They can have a zillion best friends.
CHETRY: "The King's Speech," Colin Firth's role, and Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network." Which one will be on top?
JACOBS: I think Colin Firth is going to win. Every woman talks about "Pride and Prejudice," he has so many great roles in his career. He did not win last year. The stuttering is incredible in this movie, the relationship between the two men. It's a historical performance, playing a real-life person and all things that Golden Globe people and Oscar committee -- Oscar voters love. It's Colin on Sunday night.
CHETRY: Talking about drama, best movie, actually, I thought this was interesting. I saw "The Social Network," it was a good movie, but best picture?
JACOBS: Yes. It was the best reviewed movie of the year. People just loved it.
CHETRY: Besides "Toy Story 3."
JACOBS: It was up there, too.
The thing about "The Social Network" is it keyed into something that's happened in the last couple of years, which is the mainstreaming of social networking. Facebook, of course, and everything else on the web, PDAs, everything we are doing, any restaurant, any club, everyone you see is typing in to hand held things.
CHETRY: You are saying has a lot of momentum because it is so now?
JACOBS: Yes.
CHETRY: As its own movie?
JACOBS: I thought it was constructed incredibly well. To take a legal case, a bunch of rich guys at Harvard fighting over millions of dollars and make it compelling and dramatic, I thought Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher did an excellent job and, yes, it will win for certain on Sunday night, as well.
CHETRY: All right, TV real quick. "Glee" for --
JACOBS: Best comedy.
CHETRY: Or "Modern Family"? JACOBS: "Glee" won last year. It's between the two. I think that this is the year for "Modern Family." I feel like it connected with people. Every single one of those characters is so dynamic. It's so funny. "Glee" is excellent, too. I would be happy if either one of them got the prize.
CHETRY: I know where you will be Sunday night, watching, seeing if your picks are correct.
JACOBS: Absolutely. Checking, checking. Hopefully they will be.
CHETRY: Bradley Jacobs from "US Weekly," thank you. He brought a magazine. We go through it so quickly and can't keep our eyes off of it. Thank you. T.J.?
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: All right, Kiran, thank you so much.
CHETRY: Don't worry, I'll give it to you when I'm done.
HOLMES: Thank you, Kiran.
Coming up, we're talking about big storms for three weeks now and finally talking about a big thaw this weekend. Your forecast is coming up. It's 44 minutes past the hour.
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HOLMES: Good morning, everybody. And good morning, Atlanta. Atlanta, under the big chill but now the big thaw. The temperatures are going to go up a bit today. And finally melts a lot of that snow and ice that's really paralyzed the city for past several days. And we've been talking about a promise that Mayor Reid, there. The mayor has said that, hey, we're going to have everything squared away and good to go by this weekend and have the Falcons versus Packers playoff game --
(CROSS TALK)
CHETRY: Good game.
HOLMES: -- and the Hawks games, so he said everything is going to be good. Actually, I talked to him just a second ago. I sent him a quick text and say, hey, we've talking about you this morning. The promises you're keeping. And his response was that they have been blamed, Atlanta has been blamed for a lot of things including highways, state highways that they have no control over.
Everybody just kind of blamed the city for it. But he says here, the city will be fully operational this weekend. You have my word on that.
CHETRY: All right. Good. It's been a tough, it's been a tough winter so far for mayors like Bloomberg -- (CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Yes. It's a good point.
CHETRY: -- and Governor Christie and now your mayor over here. Because yes, people expect the basics --
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: -- they want their streets cleared.
By the way after T.J. was scoffing at the "US Weekly," Miss Bonnie Schneider, what's he looking at right here under his desk?
SCHNEIDER: "Us Weekly."
CHETRY: Of course, you know how guys are, they pretend they can't get that stuff.
HOLMES: I -- I don't ever get one these, it's fascinating stuff.
SCHNEIDER: He likes pop culture.
It is fascinating. We'll talk about it when you get back, T.J.
HOLMES: Yes.
SCHNEIDER: I'll get and check in on all the celebrity gossip.
What we're looking at right now unfortunately, though, is some definitely rough weather for western Washington. It's been a real rough go of it. A series of storm systems have come on through and that's really brought a lot of rain.
Unfortunately, two mudslides occurred yesterday. We have some pictures to show you of the cleanup and you could see the loose debris and the mud and the road closures. Look at the force of that. Unfortunately, the threat remains as we go into the weekend because we are anticipating unfortunately more rain for the western part of Washington state. So be careful out there.
Now this is also going to impact travel; we're looking at some delays about 60 minutes possibly in the Seattle area. There is some snow in the Midwest and that will affect your travel in Detroit. So right now the heavier snow bands are just coming in from the southwest of the city and they'll sweep across this morning.
Also look for snow in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and in Buffalo but this will be light. We're not expecting heavy accumulation which is some good news so we'll be seeing some better conditions there.
Elsewhere across the country, we're looking at bright sunshine for Los Angeles, gorgeous day there, 79 degrees. And in Atlanta, it's so nice to see something above 40; 42 degrees. Now, the normal high temperatures in the mid-40s for this time of the year but I can tell you, we are looking at some big-time improvements where we're going to see high pressures slide to the east and temperatures will moderate -- moderate to about 55 on Tuesday. So eventually we won't see any ice around here.
In the meantime it's 26 degrees in New York City for a high temperature today. That's warming up from the current number of 20. So not much of a warm-up at all. It's also very cold in the northeast and to northern New England where you're shoveling out from very heavy snow this week.
T.J., Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, Bonnie Schneider for us, thanks so much.
I'm going to show you some cool pictures right now and this is Mt. Etna, roaring back to life. The most active volcano in Europe, in Italy there. The smoke and ash spewing into the air during this hour eruption this week. In fact, they had to shut down a nearby airport. This is the first eruption of Mt. Etna since 1992.
HOLMES: Well, coming up, did you know you're most likely to work out in the month of January. It makes sense. New Year's resolutions.
CHETRY: Of course.
HOLMES: People are on top of things. You're also, though, more likely to get fired. You actually might be better off staying in bed, as well, this coming Monday. We'll explain why. We're giving you a warning here.
(CROSS TALK)
CHETRY: Yes.
HOLMES: You might want to listen to it.
CHETRY: And just read --
(CROSS TALK)
HOLMES: It's 10 minutes --
CHETRY: -- read your horoscope first.
HOLMES: Which one?
CHETRY: Just do -- Leo and Virgo to be safe.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-four minutes past the hour.
And you know for all the expectant mothers out there they all want to give breast feeding a shot. They're encouraged to do it, of course. But there's -- a new study out about breast feeding that you may want to hear today.
HOLMES: Ok.
CHETRY: It says that if you breast feed exclusively during the first six months, which is something that most you know pediatricians and other doctors will recommend that it actually may not be the best thing for the baby nutritionally speaking.
They say that weaning infants off later could do a few things, number one, perhaps increase food allergies and also lead to iron deficiency. Researchers say that introducing solid foods earlier can be good for their health.
(CROSS TALK)
HOLMES: And it --
CHETRY: I know it is a -- it is a very, very -- it's a jungle out there for new moms. You just never know what -- if you're doing the right thing and you just try your best.
HOLMES: Ok, well, usually a part of getting pregnant is they have to have sex. They're not having a whole lot of it in Japan. There's a study out now that Japanese men are losing interest in sex. Now, this is not just some study --
(CROSS TALK)
CHETRY: Young Japanese.
HOLMES: -- young. Very young -- 16 to 19 is the age we're talking about but the study was actually commissioned by the government. They're taking a look at this but around 36 percent of young men between ages of 16 and 19 said they had no interest in sex or even -- listen to this -- despised it.
Now, this is a -- this is a problem because this is a huge increase from the last survey they did of 16 to 19-year-olds I think almost double but they have a low birth rate in Japan.
CHETRY: That's right. They have been dealing with an increasingly, you know, lowering of the birth rate and you know questions about the aging population but I'm wondering if these kids thought they we're going to get in trouble with their parents if they said yes so they -- they thought it was a trick question.
HOLMES: So maybe.
CHETRY: I mean, I'm curious about the methodology. This 16 and 19-year-old boys saying they despised it. Ok, maybe they thought they we're going to get grounded.
HOLMES: Ok.
CHETRY: Well, get the tissues handy. I have one right here actually it's the saddest day of the year. It's fast approaching. We're talking about January 17th.
HOLMES: Ok.
CHETRY: This coming Monday.
So why is the third Monday of January the saddest day of the year? Well, researchers say it's a combination of the weather, of seeing those holiday --
(CROSS TALK)
HOLMES: The bills are coming in.
CHETRY: -- credit cards coming in, yes.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: The debt. Post holiday blues. They say a lack of motivation. Didn't we say something like you're more likely to be fired that day or laid off?
HOLMES: Yes. We did say that.
CHETRY: No.
HOLMES: In the month of January. Just in general. Possibly in this month. So hold on until the past Monday. If you get passed Monday you might be all right this year.
CHETRY: And of course it has to fall on a Monday.
HOLMES: Of course it does. It's four minutes to the top of the hour. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We have a new employee here at CNN. He's a fellow co-worker. Not just any employee.
CHETRY: He's a good guy. It was just funny that we showed a picture of his face and the song says "girl you're amazing." I'm sure he really appreciates that right off the bat.
HOLMES: He wasn't -- we're just saying we like him just the way he is. Don't change a thing Piers. All right.
Debuting on Monday, 9:00 Eastern time. He's got a big line-up for you. Monday kicking off with Oprah Winfrey -- can't get better than that. Howard Stern coming up on Tuesday. The former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday. Thursday, Ricky Gervais and also George Clooney on Friday. So a big week for our newest co- worker. Good to have him with us.
CHETRY: It's going to be a great show. I mean I'm just enjoying the banter between him and Anderson back and forth at 9:00 p.m. It's been funny. HOLMES: It has been funny.
CHETRY: All right. Well, thanks so much for joining us today. We hope you have a wonderful weekend. We'll be back here bright and early 6:00 a.m. Eastern on Monday.
HOLMES: All right. But right now let's hand it over to "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips. It starts right now.
