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American Morning
Busy Day on Capitol Hill Today; Obama Preparing for Arrival of China's President; Who Will Save Apple with Jobs?; Canadians Training for "Jihad"?; Health Care Repeal Debate Begins; Jean-Claude Duvalier Returns to Haiti; Facebook Changes Privacy Rules; Dick Cheney's Heart; Martha Stewart in Stitches
Aired January 18, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It is almost 8:00 here in New York, this morning, on this Tuesday, January 18th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could be here with us.
It is a busy day on Capitol Hill today. They're getting back to work today after taking time off last week in honor of the victims of that Tucson shooting. Well, they are taking up pretty contentious topic today -- health care reform, a repel of the law. A symbolic vote taking place today. We'll let you know what's happening on Capitol Hill.
CHETRY: Also, President Obama is preparing for the arrival of China's president Hu Jintao. He arrives in Washington this afternoon. And the leaders of the world's two economic super powers will share a quiet dinner tonight. And then after that, they're going to be having a more formal state dinner tomorrow. But the talks are going to be focusing on trade, on currency evaluations, and North Korea.
HOLMES: Also, he singlehandedly saved Apple. Well, who is going to save Apple now that Steve Jobs is going to be taking a medical leave of absence? A lot of people questioning what is this going to mean for that company long-term. We're going to be talking more this morning about exactly what's going to happen with this company.
CHETRY: First though, developing this morning. In reports of a new terror threat right next door. "The Asia Times" reporting that a dozen Canadians in Pakistan, according to well-placed Taliban sources, are being trained by al Qaeda to launch attacks in Canada. They are quoting well-placed Taliban sources as a source of this information, that they are learning to make powerful explosives and they reportedly connecting to networks in North America.
Joining me now this morning is CNN national security contributor Fran Townsend.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Good to be here. CHETRY: So, just a little bit more about the credibility. They say well-placed Taliban sources. And again, this is a report coming out of "Asia Times." What do you make that have?
TOWNSEND: Well, it would be odd if they were training 12 operatives to try and infiltrate them back into Canada, that they would actually announce that. So, you got to wonder about whether or not it's a credible report. But that said, Kiran, what they're saying, the report itself is consistent with what we know.
Remember, Ahmed Ressam, the individual who tried years ago to cross from the Canadian northwest into the U.S. with a carload of explosives. That was an al Qaeda plot. He was supported by al Qaeda operatives in Canada. He was financed by al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan.
And so -- and recently, we saw the four in Virginia who were going to travel to Pakistan for training. And so, this M.O., this modus operandi is not unusual. The question is: is this particular report credible?
HOLMES: Well, this sounds, at least to some people, Canada -- when Canada gets thrown into the mix there, it might have been thrown a few people off.
TOWNSEND: I think you're right. I mean, we don't think -- we worry when we talk about people crossing our borders, you talk about -- you worry about people flying in, you worry about people crossing our southwest border from Mexico because of all the violence there. But as I say, we've known and we've shared with our Canadian partners our concern about al Qaeda. They have had their own problems. And so, we do work with them pretty closely.
CHETRY: The other interesting thing about this is, apparently -- at least according to the names -- it looks like they are converts to Islam, right? They have -- they have names like James Richard and then changed to Abdul Rehman, and Otto Paul changed to Abu Usman, Thomas changed to Abdullah. And some of the questions about this jihad training and some of the, I guess, the push into more of a radical Islam.
What are the concerns from Canadian authorities viewpoint about their citizens going over there?
TOWNSEND: You know, it's very -- it's very similar to what we've experienced here in the United States. Often times, these people are attracted, recruited and radicalized over the Internet or by a local preacher, who then arranges for their travel and training overseas after they have been really radicalized. They have adopted the ideology.
Then they need some technical training because they have found that it's not very successful when you try to do that over the Internet or remotely. And so, they send them there for that last bit of technical training. CHETRY: All I could think of when I hear that they were teaching them perhaps to use everyday items like sugar and other common chemicals to make explosives -- you know, is this yet another new concern for airports and for countries all over the world?
TOWNSEND: Always. I mean, you're always worrying and trying to adapt ahead of them as opposed to behind them. But remember, there was a plot in the U.K. that used rice which comes from the pits of cherries. So, I mean, basic household food items and items can be used if you know how to -- if you're trained and how to do it right to be made into an explosive.
CHETRY: All right. Well, thanks for your perspective this morning, Fran Townsend. Always great to see you. Thanks.
TOWNSEND: Good to be with you. Thank you.
HOLMES: Good to see you, Fran.
Well, China's president, Hu Jintao, arriving in Washington this afternoon, going to be having kind of a low-key night with the president, at a dinner. But then the big dinner at tomorrow night, the big elaborate state dinner you'll see. In between, a lot of talks on trade, currency, and of course, North Korea, the White House, all decked out with the Chinese flags as well this morning.
CHETRY: The health care repeal debate today, symbolic? A little chance of it passing. And also, some questions about the tones since it is quite a decisive issue to undue the work of the president and Democratic leaders, especially in the wake of the Tucson shootings.
Brianna Keilar joins us live from Capitol Hill now with more.
The Republicans who are now in charge in the House said, look, this is why we were voted into the office and this is what we're going to do regardless of whether or not it goes anywhere after this.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they say they're going to deliver on a campaign promise and, of course, they also have a plan B here.
But this is how the week is going to play out. Today, debate in the House -- you'll be seeing this this afternoon. Tomorrow is going to be the actual vote on the repeal. Thursday, you'll see another vote, the idea here, repeal and replace. Thursday, the vote for replacing is instructing committees to start drafting legislation that would replace the health care reform law, so that there would be something else in place there.
But as you said, Kiran and T.J., you know this as well, the Senate is controlled by Democrats, Republicans in the House are well aware of this. Obviously, President Obama isn't going to sign off on a repeal.
And so, you know, they're going forward with this, but knowing that ultimately, what they're going to try to do is maybe incrementally dismantle health care reform through the appropriations committee, maybe looking for certain parts, that there are more support that maybe some Democrats don't like and they can kind of start of taking things apart by chunks and pieces.
HOLMES: Brianna, Representative King, I talked to him this morning, Steve King. He also said, a part of this long-term plan could possibly be taking President Obama out of the equation altogether. He has a long-term plan that would see a new Republican in the White House starting in 2013 and that could help repeal health care reform?
KEILAR: Yes, and I know that you told him that seems like a very ambitious plan. But, I mean, obviously, the goal of many Republicans here is sort of forward-looking and they know that they're not going to be able to repeal health reform with President Obama in the White House. So, it was interesting what Congressman King of Iowa said. Here's what he did say in the 6:00 a.m. hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: We first have to pass a repeal in the House with a new Republican majority and then shut off the funding to implement or enforce Obamacare in our appropriations bills throughout 2011 and 2012. Then, 2012, we elect a president who, hopefully, runs on the platform, among them being to sign the repeal of Obamacare. I expect and actually, my scenario is, the new president standing at the west portico of the Capitol, January 20th, 2013, taking the oath of office, and then signing the repeal right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Very long view. Obviously, best-case scenario for Republicans, but, guys, just taking it back to what we're going to see today, debate on the House floor and Republicans and Democrats talking a lot about civility. Today was supposed to be the war of the words when it comes to health care reform. Expect for it to be toned down a little bit, but we are going to see a very -- a substantive debate, Republicans and Democrats disagreeing for sure on the policy issue of health care reform.
HOLMES: All right. Brianna Keilar, we appreciate you as always on Capitol Hill. An interesting day. We'll talk to you again here soon.
Meanwhile, the president, some wondering if he is rebounding in some way -- at least in the polls. According to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll, 53 percent approve of the way the president is handling his job. That is up five percentage points since late December -- 45 percent in the poll still disapprove of his job.
CHETRY: And Sarah Palin is speaking out for the first time on TV since she released the video in the wake of the shootings in Tucson, Arizona. She was criticized for what she said in that video and also for her rhetoric and the 2010 ad depicting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords districts, with many others, with crosshairs over it. In an interview with Sean Hannity, Palin said, that she's, quote, "not going to shut up," and she also defended her use of the graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: For many, many years, maps in political races have been used to target certain districts that people would feel that they can get into those districts and find someone whom they believe would represent the constituents' will better than an incumbent. And that is what this map represented. That came up right away that -- oh, it must be a cause of this horrendous, evil act of this shooter that perhaps he saw that map and that incited him towards violence -- which, of course, is ridiculous. And, again, it's not an original use of an icon or a graphic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: She's also questioned by Sean Hannity about her use of the term "blood libel," which is loaded language, which has been used over the centuries to, you know, to persecute Jews and she said that she thinks that's a very appropriate phrase. She said it's a term used for somebody who has been accused of being -- falsely accused of being an accessory to murder in which she felt she was in that instance.
HOLMES: All right. Also, I want to turn to South Africa right now. Many towns there are declaring the state of emergency because of heavy storms. The storms have soaked the area.
At least 40 people are now dead. Some 6,000 out of their homes. It's also costing millions and millions of dollars worth of damage. The rivers there at high levels already. Forecasters warn more rain now is on the way.
CHETRY: Also, they're bracing for more flooding in parts of Australia. The latest wave has forced thousands of people from their homes in Victoria. Severe flooding has devastated Queensland to the north, and at least 20 people have been killed.
HOLMES: We want turn to our Jacqui Jeras now in weather here in this country.
And, Jacqui, we have another storm. It seems like we'll get a new one every week. How is this one a little different?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Every couple of days, actually, T.J.
Well, this one is different because, you know, it's been snowstorm after snowstorm after snowstorm in the Northeast. And this time around, you got snow in the interior, but we're dealing with freezing rain. And freezing rain is so much worse because you can drive in snow, but you sure can't drive on the ice and it also causes problems at the airport as well.
Let's show you some of the ice and the snow that we've been dealing with. We got some new pictures for you out of Connecticut, in the Hartford area. Yay, you got a good couple of inches on snow on the ground, still holding about 19 degrees, trying to clear those roadways for that commute this morning.
But we're going to start to transition over to some sleet and freezing rain and then eventually some rain into Hartford, one of the cities just dealing with this big mess across the Northeast for today. New York City is still getting a freezing rain, as well as Philadelphia and you're starting to cut off a little bit now into Baltimore and Washington, D.C. So, that's the good news.
But look at the extent of the watches and warnings in effect all across the Northeast for today. And our second system comes in back behind this.
So, while you get a little break later on this evening, overnight tonight and into tomorrow, yes, we'll get another little wave of mostly rain but a little bit of wintry mix as well.
Very cold brutal air comes in behind the system. The Upper Midwest looking at temperatures in the single digits for today -- yes, but that's nothing compared to what you're going to get once Thursday approaches. We're going to be talking double digits below zero for some of those folks.
We'll talk a little bit more specific about that and more on the timing of this northeastern storm coming up in about half an hour from now -- Kiran and T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Jacqui, we will see you then. Thanks so much.
JERAS: OK.
CHETRY: Well, another outcry from the tech blogs and now, Facebook doing backtracking, changing new privacy policy in the dead of night. Christine Romans is going to be here to explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fourteen minutes past the hour.
A little bit of backtracking on the part of Facebook this morning after a plan to allow you to choose to give away more of your sensitive information.
HOLMES: Choice, yes.
CHETRY: On Friday, the company announced that users addresses and phone numbers would be passed on to application developers if users clicked the "allow" button that prompted some outrage on the blogs, people and Facebook users noticing that. Facebook then put a stop in the new policy until they can better explain it, they say, to the Facebook users.
So, Christine Romans is going to have details on exactly what's going on there in about 15 minutes.
HOLMES: Also, the extortion case against the Louisville basketball coach appears to be wrapping up. Today is sentencing day to Karen Sypher. She's the woman convicted of trying to extort millions of dollars from the Louisville coach after having sex with him.
CHETRY: Also, a Florida woman is back home, but she spent 12 hours in the slammer for slapping a police horse. Stephanie Six says that mounted police were trying to disperse a crowd outside of -- I don't somehow believe that's her name. Maybe it's a nickname.
HOLMES: Stephanie Six?
CHETRY: Yes. St. Petersburg bar -- this was on Saturday morning when a police horse pinned her against a wall, she says. And she denied hitting the animal. But she faces charges for battery against a horse.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: St. Petersburg Bar, this was on Saturday morning, when a police horse pinned her against a wall, she says. And she denies hitting the animal, but she faces charges for battery against a horse.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Really, that treated like this whole thing in officer.
CHETRY: Well, I know that if you attack a canine -- and also, I remember being in New Orleans. You know, the horseback mounted police right around just to make sure every thing is cool outside of the bar. So, I mean, this was years and years ago, but, yes -- no. I mean, you couldn't even mess with horses, yet. Trouble.
HOLMES: Well, if you all saw last night, I hope you did, Piers Morgan, our newest co-worker around here has started off his new show, "Piers Morgan Tonight." First guest, Oprah Winfrey, and listen to her as she responded to a question about Martin Luther King, Jr.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, HOST: I hold him in reverence. I hold him in reverence. And I know that I would not be here. This life that I live, the dream that I live in, that he predicted for our people would not be possible had he not been who he was. He would have been so proud. He would have been very proud.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: She is such a great interview. Just to hear her talk. I love listening to her.
HOLMES: And she has done this a time or two. She's been around the block. So, she knows how to handle herself in an interview. Always hates to ever cry, she always says to him as well, but it gets her every now and then.
CHETRY: Piers got her at that time. Well, he's sitting down with Howard Stern. I don't think he cries, but he does --
HOLMES: Maybe.
CHETRY: You know that he's always been a huge critic of Leno and a big fan of Letterman. Well, he was asked about who he likes when it comes to the late night wars. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIERS MORGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Who do you most admire in your business?
HOWARD STERN, AMERICAN RADIO PERSONALITY: Well, Letterman being one of them, I like Jimmy Kimmel a lot.
MORGAN: Why Letterman? What makes him to you --
STERN: Because Letterman is an original. Letterman came on there. He was a breath of fresh air. He was able to do new types of bits. Even the format of his show. Even the way he'd do his monologue. Walk to his desk. You wouldn't see him walk to his desk. Everything has been intimidated now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, the big premiere week continues. You can check out Piers Morgan's entire interview with Howard Stern tonight, 9:00 eastern, right here on CNN.
HOLMES: All right. Well, finish this sentence. Brett Favre is?
CHETRY: He's retiring! He's calling it quits.
HOLMES: Or some might have filled in the blank with coming back. Some might have said that, but he is retiring as Kiran just said, we think or we're told, but this sounds official, right? He has filed retirement papers with the league. That means absolutely nothing. He has done it before.
These things can be withdrawn, no problem, but this pretty much starts the clock ticking on a player's pension, his fall of fame, eligibility, and again, he has done this before and hanged his mind. So, until the season kicks off, and he is not under center, Brett Favre is still out there.
CHETRY: Just a young buck. Look at Evander Holyfield is 48. He's going back into the ring on Saturday.
HOLMES: He's probably laughing at Brett Favre.
CHETRY: Yes. Why retire, young buck?
Well, this morning, we're getting our first look at Elton John's new baby from the cover of "Us Weekly." An exclusive interview, Elton John says the birth of Zachary Jackson Levon-Furnish John is a dream come true.
HOLMES: What was the name again? I'm sorry.
CHETRY: Come on! All right. Why, you want to get a baby blanket for them?
HOLMES: You just threw me on. Zachary Jackson --
CHETRY: Zachary Jackson Levon and then last name Furnish-John because his partner is David Furnish. John says that he -- oh, gosh I'm not going to go into those details.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Oh, my goodness!
CHETRY: About the birth, OK? Let's not! OK? People are eating! But, you know what? He says seeing his son for the first time was indescribable. That he was born on Christmas Day to a surrogate mother.
HOLMES: Who wrote that? That (INAUDIBLE) is going to go talking to whoever put that in. That teleprompter just now.
Also, more baby news, let's go to Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, they're parents once again, new daughter, Faith Margaret is that name, born three weeks ago.
CHETRY: You know, she didn't even look, oh --
HOLMES: Oh, yes.
CHETRY: She looks so great at the Golden Globes. You wouldn't might have known.
HOLMES: Let me get through the detail of it here. Through a surrogate, they already do have a 2-year-old by the name of Sunday. Congratulation.
CHETRY: Any details from the birthing unit? None.
HOLMES: Got nothing for you.
CHETRY: OK. Good. Well, it may be the raciest halftime show since the wardrobe malfunction of -- well, I felt sorry for them, you didn't.
HOLMES: I haven't seen this video yet.
CHETRY: This is probably not what the team wanted to have happen. It was the Boston Blazers. They are pro lacrosse team, but their halftime show was a contest to see which woman could give the best lap dance to their mascot. Yes. And obviously, people were not really happy with this, and the team's president has apologized now and says this won't happen again.
HOLMES: How do you find women willing to go out there in the middle of a crowd of strangers and just put on a show for a mascot? Maybe, they're professionals? Maybe, that's what it is. Twnety minutes past the hour now.
Apple, Steve Jobs, go hand in hand, right? Well, he's about to take another medical leave of absence. People asking now what does that mean for the future of the company?
CHETRY: Also this morning, we're going to talk more about what happens now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Twenty-three minutes past the hour. All right. Folks at home, when I say Steve Jobs, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Of course, Apple. You can't separate one from the other in a lot of people's minds, but now, he's going on medical leave, announced it yesterday, and we don't know when he might be coming back.
Joining me now is Leander Kahney. He's editor and publisher of CultofMac.com and also author of the book, "Inside Steve's Brain." Leander, we appreciate you being here. Why can't we separate one from the other, Steve Jobs and Apple?
LEANDER KAHNEY, EDITOR & PUBLISHER, CULTOFMAC.COM: Well, you know, Steve is not just a figure head for the company, I mean, he's the very embodiment of what that company does. You know, he's put his heart and soul into that company, and it's such a groundbreaking company and all that comes from Steve. You know, the constant drive to invent and reinvent consumer technology products.
HOLMES: OK. We know him as the face. We know his name as well. But behind the scenes, and you kind of just hit on it, we may not realize how important his mind, his vision has been to developing some of these products we all have
KAHNEY: It's been essential, but, you know, Steve, Apple is not just Steve Jobs, of course. You know, it's a big, big company these days. But, you know, I mean, a lot of what it does, its drive, its direction comes from Steve. You know, the question about him stepping down is that, you know, he's managed to -- the company is pretty well set up to execute his vision now even without him.
HOLMES: OK. You say that the way you make it sound, at least, is that this company is going to go on no matter what with or without Steve Jobs. We certainly hope that he has a full recovery, whether he comes back to work or not, but certainly, hope he's doing well and wish him the best, whatever his medical concern is, but at least talking to you, it sounds like this company will continue to innovate whether he's at the helm or not?
KAHNEY: Well, I think so. You know, it won't have the same magic, of course. I mean, it will not be the same without him. It's got such huge momentum now, and it's going to be fine in the short term. And I think, you know, the company is so ingrained in the way that he does things that I think is going to be fine without him. You just look at --
HOLMES: You know, I'm sorry there. The question there was how does this company plan for product launches? How many things would they possibly have already on the shelf and how many years ahead are they OK right now without Steve Jobs?
KAHNEY: Well, they have a bunch of new products this summer, the iPhone 5 and the iPod 2, and they probably got a -- they definitely got a protypes for the product that are going to be coming out after that. I'd say they probably go, you know, three to five years with them products in the pipeline already.
HOLMES: IPhone 5? I got to get another iPhone, Leander? Another one is coming out?
(LAUGHTER)
KAHNEY: Yes. And another one the year after that.
HOLMES: OK. One last thing here. Investors are worried about the uncertainty of this all. We don't know when he might come back. Have you all gotten any word out there? I know you keep a close eye on this company. Any word about when, how long this leave could be?
KAHNEY: No. Unfortunately, no. You know, when he took leave in 2009, he gave a timetable. He said he's going to be out for about six months. This time, it's much more open-ended, and I think a lot of people are very pessimistic about, you know, whether he's actually going to return to Apple or not.
HOLMES: All right. We certainly wish him the best in whatever he's dealing with, deal with his health, first and foremost. But Leander Kahney, we appreciate you taking the time with us this morning and being up early for us out there in San Francisco. Thanks so much.
KAHNEY: You're welcome. Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. iPhone 5. Got to get another one already.
Well, 26 minutes past the hour. Coming up next on this AMERICAN MORNING, Baby Doc is back in Haiti. Why? We're expecting to hear from him maybe here in the next hour and a half. Our John Zarrella is in Port-au-Prince.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Well, this is a crucial meeting that's going to be taking place, a big state dinner between the president of our country and the president of china. China's president, Hu Jintao, he will arrive in Washington this afternoon, and the leaders of the world's economic super powers are going to be discussing many things, trade, currency valuations, North Korea, energy resources. They're going to be sharing a quiet dinner tonight and then having a formal state dinner tomorrow.
HOLMES: And also in Washington D.C., after putting the work on hold last week for respect to the Tucson shooting victims, Congress getting back to work today. Their first order of business in this new era of stability, the contentious health care reform repeal. They will be talking about that today, expected to vote tomorrow, but little chance even if it gets past the House that it will ever become law.
CHETRY: Deadly blooding in Brazil. More devastation. A 660 people now killed, so far, in Rio de Janeiro. Hundreds of other people are missing. They're still dealing with the heavy rains and the mudslides, sweeping through towns, forcing people to evacuate with little time, leaving them homeless, and the rain isn't letting up any time soon. Forecasters expect these storms to continue, unfortunately, for several more days.
HOLMES: Well, he spent 25 years in exile, and now, he just decided to show up. But why? We're talking about Baby Doc in Haiti. A former dictator there supposed to have a news conference to explain why he's back. CNN's John Zarrella is live for us in Port-au-Prince. John, he canceled another press conference we were expecting, I believe, yesterday. We have pretty good information that this one will go forward and maybe we'll get some answers?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., I don't think the information is any better than the information we had yesterday. And, of course, that didn't go anywhere as everyone knows. Thought there would be a news conference where he would explain why he came, why he chose this timing to be down here.
Now, we did speak with one old family friend of his yesterday and a political ally who said, look, Baby Doc decided to come back because he had seen all of the images last week of the one-year anniversary of the quake and said to himself, in his heart, he had to be here with the people.
Now, I'm not sure it's as simple as that and I'm not sure very many people down here are buying it's as simple as that, but hopefully we will find out today in about an hour half when is there a news conference scheduled.
I think one of the things that we found very interesting yesterday down here, when you talk to the people, you know, the poorest of the poor in the western hemisphere, you know, the memory of what happened a quarter of a century ago is long gone. And a lot of the people we spoke to said he is Haitian and should be allowed to come back. Look, if he can help us, fine. Let him come back. So despite all that transpired a quarter of a century ago, the human rights allegations, the violations, plundering the country of hundreds of millions of dollars he is accused of, all crimes he has denied, the people seem to be opening their arms to some extent. And I think of that is because of the degree of misery and suffering that is unending down here. They are almost willing to grab on to anything if it will mean a better life for them, and that includes Duvalier.
HOLMES: That is an amazing perspective to hear. Maybe they have not necessarily forgot but willing to forgive something 25 years ago just lets us know how tough things are there. John Zarrella, thank you so much. We'll talk to you again.
CHETRY: You'll probably like this. Facebook is backtracking after a new policy revealed some of your most personal information could be up to third-parties to use. Christine Romans is following the latest on this coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 35 minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Steve Jobs is stepping aside for now from Apple. He is going to let another guy step in for now who has run the company before in the past when he has taken medical leave.
But Jobs, don't know how long he is going to be gone. But this is his third medical leave in the past ten years. No timetable for this return. But the news comes as Apple is prepared to report it has shattered past sales record. And you can think the iPad for that.
CHETRY: Nice. I've heard a lot of people saying I would love a buy an electric car, but there would be no place to plug it in. I want to do the right thing environmentally but it just doesn't make sense.
Now it looks like things are changing. These car charging stations for your electric cars are popping up across the country. Some retailers are looking to tap into the green market so they are offering eco-friendly shoppers a chance for power up. Some charge for the service like the Mall of America. Others offer it for free.
And some big chains are involved as well, including Best Buy and Whole Foods. But ironically, if you the good big place lie Costco how do you get your groceries out with a car that small? Just a 12-pack of bounty will not fit in that thing.
HOLMES: Are they all that small? They're not making them any larger than that, seriously?
CHETRY: I think the hybrids are obviously bigger. You can get an escalade hybrid. You can get a big one.
HOLMES: As soon as they get an electric SUV, I am all in.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You drive a big SUV? HOLMES: Yes.
ROMANS: Why?
HOLMES: Chevy Tahoe, I'm a southern boy.
CHETRY: Because he can.
ROMANS: Off-road and doing your four-wheel driving in the ditches?
HOLMES: In the mountains of Georgia, yes. I haul a lot.
ROMANS: All the way to Costco and about.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Yes, doing an addition to the home.
ROMANS: Your household of two, right? This is America. Bigger and better, right?
HOLMES: Why do you put that out?
ROMANS: I'm just teasing.
HOLMES: My problem is I have privacy of my Tahoe and what I drive. We are talking about Facebook.
ROMANS: I like the Chevy Tahoe. I really do. I went with a minivan.
HOLMES: What are we doing here, Christine?
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Sorry. We are doing a story about Facebook and your privacy, all of your information being allowed out there. There's a big about-face overnight from Facebook folks. It was a little known disclosed on one of the Facebook blogs last week that they were going to be allowing application developers access to your phone number, even your address, if you clicked on the little box that says allow so those application developers could do things like make it easier to send you packages, make it easier for you to the online shopping and the like.
Facebook privacy critics said this is a Facebook with privacy clarity and this should have been told to Facebook users exactly what this would mean for you. Overnight at 2:30 in the morning Facebook said they disallow this. The bottom line you should know --
HOLMES: This is an odd segment.
ROMANS: It is an odd segment, isn't it? It has been cursed from the very get-go. When you're using online applications and the like, hooking up with old friends you haven't seen forever and doing quizzes and games, you need to be aware that some of your information will be shared with application developers, and you may not know how that information is going to be passed along.
CHETRY: I know he is going to be getting a lot of heat from the Chevy ads for the new 2011 Tahoe.
ROMANS: He didn't have to go on Facebook to express that information.
HOLMES: Christine, it was a pleasure. We'll see you again shortly.
ROMANS: Thanks for sticking with us, everyone, I really appreciate it.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: President Obama's approval rating is going which direction, now? There's been a five-point swing. We'll let you know which direction it went. Actually, if you just look at the TV, it will tell you.
CHETRY: Sorry about letting that one out of the bag.
(LAUGHTER)
We will tell you by how much -- five points, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Good morning, Philly. It is 34 degrees right now. As you take a look, Philadelphia is one of the cities in the northeast that is dealing with some bad weather this morning. Ice, freezing rain, a little bit of snow. Morning commute tied up. If you're traveling, check ahead because Jacqui Jeras tells us cancellations and possibly delays and ground stops at some of the airports along the east coast.
It's time to check our top stories this morning.
There's a new report that Canadians are training with Al Qaeda to come back to Canada and attack. It's in a report out of the "Asia Times," reporting that dozens of Canadians in Pakistan are trained by Al Qaeda to launch attacks in Canada. These are according to well- placed Taliban sources. The men reportedly learn to connect in North America and make explosives from everyday household items and in some cases even sugar.
HOLMES: And President Obama's approval rating is on the move, a five-point swing, and it's going up. According to a new CNN Opinion Research Poll, 53 percent approve of the way the president is handling his job, 45 percent say they disapprove. Also today the president welcoming China's president Hu Jintao to Washington. CHETRY: And they're bracing for more major flooding in parts of Australia. They have been dealing with horribly devastating conditions, forcing thousands of people from their homes. Now Victoria also affected. We had told you about the severe flooding that was devastating Queensland in the north. At least 20 people have already been killed.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Still ahead, former Vice President Dick Cheney, he's opening up for the first time about the pump that's helping his heart beat. He actually shows how it's working.
We're also are going to talk about the former Vice President's condition with our Sanjay Gupta coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, Gabrielle Giffords is recovering so rapidly, her husband and her doctors are even talking about the possibility of her leaving the hospital.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: This is amazing in a matter of days or weeks. And when you hear that, knowing that it was just eight days ago that she was shot, it is amazing. Her family is already looking for the right rehab facility to send her to.
HOLMES: Also, the youngest victim that touched so many people from that shooting, there she is, 9-year-old Christina Green. Well listen to this now, her legacy is now going to live on. Her corneas were donated and according to her father, that help saved the eyesight of two children. Her father says his daughter would have been thrilled to know that she was able to help others.
CHETRY: Well, for the first time former Vice President Dick Cheney is speaking about his heart and his health and the device that's basically keeping him alive. In an interview with NBC News Cheney who as you have seen from some of those appearances lost quite a bit of weight showed off the artificial pump that's implanted in his chest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I wear it on a vest. And there's a control element here, and then two batteries were on each side. Good for about 12 hours each. And then there's a cord that runs inside my chest to the pump on the inside and that's -- that what's powers it and keeps it functioning.
Initially, obviously, it's kind of awkward to walk around with all this gear on but you quickly get to the point where you've adapted, where it's second nature to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: Also the former Vice President also revealing that he's not decided whether or not to put his name on a donor list for a heart transplant for what he called end-stage heart failure.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now. So heart -- I mean, we've -- we have seen his struggles, of course, several heart attacks for decades and now this artificial pump. Explain a little bit about what he's referring to when he talks about end-stage heart failure.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, end-stage heart failure is sort of a -- a generic term but basically it -- it means that your heart has failed to the point where medications really haven't worked in terms of actually trying to improve heart function overall.
Cardiologists don't love that term because people can just sort of go back and forth between having end-stage heart failure and then having some response to medications or to some other technologies so -- but that's basically what it means. Your heart is not pumping enough blood and medications aren't helping the heart pumping enough blood.
CHETRY: He turns 70 this -- at the end of this month.
(CROSSTALK)
GUPTA: Right.
CHETRY: I believe January 30th.
So with -- can he continue on indefinitely or have a --
(CROSSTALK)
GUPTA: Yes.
CHETRY: -- a decent life expectancy with this artificial pump that he has?
GUPTA: That's a good question. I will tell you, you know, the -- the device, which is called an L-VAD which stands for left- ventricular assist device was originally designed to basically help people who are waiting for a transplant but the wait was simply taking too long to sort of give him some help.
Let's just show you on a model really quick here Kiran if I can. There's a heart model here. You look at the -- you open it up, that's the big pumping chamber. This is the chamber that sort of pumps blood to the rest of the body, that's not working well so they basically put a little device in here and sort of put the blood directly in the aorta which as you know, sends blood to the rest of the body. And that sort of creates a little pump that helps this -- this part of the heart actually pump the blood.
To answer your question, though, yes. We -- you know, if you -- if you look overall at the likelihood of someone going on to a transplant after -- after having this pump placed, obviously, that was sort of the original intent but there are a lot of people who just sort of used this device more indefinitely. It has better results than simply taking medications.
Obviously, it would in the former vice president's case but that's sort of the -- the idea that you know, if he has this pump, he sounds like he's getting along with it ok, maybe he never wants to put himself on a -- a list to -- to possibly receive a transplant in the future.
CHETRY: There is, obviously, so many risks associated with that. But on balance, do you have a better life expectancy if you do actually undergo a transplant at his age?
GUPTA: Well, it -- it's tough. You know and when we talk about age, you know, people talk about physiological age meaning you know, not every 70-year-old which he'll be at the end of the month is going to be the same.
You know, talk to the various cardiologists who -- who look at patients like Dick Cheney and they'll say you know, it -- it's hard to say for sure that the transplant would actually provide a longer or better quality of life for him.
Over the next year, probably the -- this pump that we're talking about would be a better option because it is designed to work pretty well. The -- the survival for people on this pump on average is -- is well over a year and -- and much better than being on medications alone. So I think for the next year, probably, you know, cardiologists will say the pump may in fact be a better option.
CHETRY: Wow. All right, Dr. Gupta for us this morning, shedding some light on the former Vice President's condition. Thanks so much.
GUPTA: You got it, Kiran.
HOLMES: Well, we may need Sanjay to stick around to shed some light on another medical situation. Martha Stewart had to be stitched up. We'll show you the pictures and explain what happened as well.
It's 52 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: It's four minutes until the top of the hour right now, time for Jeanne Moos' take on something that was pretty bizarre, actually. Martha Stewart, you know she's very -- usually pretty private, pretty refined.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: She let it all hang out after she got head-butted by her dog.
HOLMES: Yes this was her -- well, what is this thing, a French bulldog. You'll see the pictures here but a lot of people saying this is a whole new look at Martha Stewart's living.
And of course, Jeanne Moos has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's weird. What some dogs will do in their sleep. But in this case, the sleeping dog belongs to Martha Stewart and this is what it did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ew. Oh.
MOOS: But it's what Martha did that's curious posting over 30 photos on her blog showing her emergency room experience in graphic detail.
MARTHA STEWART, TV HOST: And those little needles, oh, my God. They were fantastic.
MOOS: Not the kind of needles you use to, say, crochet snowflakes. She means the kind they stick in your face to put in nine stitches and with each photo was a Martha-esque caption. "More stitches, the tying is quite complicated. Not looking too happy". The culprit was Francesca.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But don't call me Frannie.
MOOS: One of Martha's two French bulldogs. They have their own Webisodes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now it's time for "Chew it Over with Francesca and Sharkey."
MOOS: Francesca didn't chew Martha she head butted her as Martha bent over to say good night to her sleeping pet.
STEWART: Bang. I startled her and I ended up in the hospital.
MOOS: The one who grooms Martha's horses documented every step from injecting the anesthetic to "Ew", as one fan posted. Others noted how marvelous, how flawless her skin looked in the close-ups.
STEWART: I looked pretty good for being in terrible agony, for God's sake.
MOOS (on camera): But there was one photo that had us in stitches and it had nothing to do with Martha's stitches.
(voice-over): Even in her misery as a plastic surgeon stitched her up, Martha couldn't help noticing Northern Westchester Hospital's decor. The photograph was captioned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ceiling border in the little patient room could use some updating, don't you think?
MOOS: That's got to go, agreed Martha's fans. Posted one, "It brings to mind Oscar wild's dying words, either this wallpaper goes or I do. Thank God you aren't dying."
(on camera): Some of Martha's fans offered her a little decorating advice of their own.
"A little bead work on the stitches would've been a nice touch, or maybe a little tassel on the end of the suture string." Martha Stewart Living becomes Martha Stewart stitching from gore to decor.
Jeanne Moos, CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elegant living from a dog' perspective.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Man. Dog's got a hard head.
HOLMES: I didn't -- yes, when I first saw the pictures, I didn't realize what had happened to her but I didn't know --
CHETRY: I thought she got bit first.
HOLMES: -- yes, I didn't know a dog's head-butt could do that much damage to her.
CHETRY: Yes. My friend's dog broke her nose.
HOLMES: Wow.
CHETRY: Same thing.
HOLMES: That's why I have cats.
CHETRY: Exactly. Soft landing, the cats. They won't hurt you.
We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
HOLMES: Oh, I think we are -- we don't take a break. Our break is not for like 24 hours.
CHETRY: Ok. We'll take a 24-hour break. And we'll be right back to our morning fix.
HOLMES: Yes, we're going to hand this thing over to Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM" in Atlanta.
