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American Morning
Tucson Shooting on Tape; Mark Kelly Speaks Out on Wife's Shooting; The Next Financial Crisis; Health Care Repeal Vote Today; Getting Drunk at the Game
Aired January 19, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING, the Chinese president is in town. He's in Washington, D.C. meeting with President Obama. These two leaders of two superpowers sitting down and talking and they are going to be talking about you today.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. Well, two American cities in crisis, among many, but we're focusing on two. They're broke. Police officers and firefighters turning in their helmets and badges. Schools with no electricity are gassed because the bills haven't been paid and there are many who say this is just the beginning.
HOLMES: Also, sorry to bring this news to you but you already know probably, it's tax time. You're getting ready to file those taxes but a lot of you out there are eligible to file for free or for less than you think. But of course, there is a catch.
CHETRY: Christine Romans is going to tell us what we need to know about that. And also, you've heard for years. If you eat a good breakfast, it's the most important meal of the day, it will keep you from eating too much. Well, a new study begs to differ. All that and much more coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: First this morning, surveillance cameras reveal new details about the deadly shooting in Tucson.
HOLMES: Also, like we need another one, but this could be the next financial crisis to hit the U.S. Your cash-strapped city slashing budgets and laying off workers.
CHETRY: Also, you're eating right and still struggling with your diet, though. We'll tell you why breakfast may now be the new problem.
HOLMES: Well, not that you need another problem, but breakfast might be it now. Is that right?
CHETRY: Not yours. You had bacon, egg and cheese, and a sausage, egg and cheese. When you can't decide between the two, just have both.
HOLMES: I was hungry this morning. Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes alongside Kiran Chetry this morning. Glad you could be with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We'll be talking about breakfast just among many things this morning.
CHETRY: Yes, we have some incredible video of it. It just came in overnight. A gas line explosion. This is in Philadelphia. The crews were on scene. They were trying to repair a gas main break, when out of nowhere, this.
HOLMES: Wow. This is from an affiliate there, WCAU in Philly. One worker was actually killed in this explosion. Another five were injured. Some of those injuries are serious. We're going to giving updates on this throughout the morning. But as you see there, an incredible piece of footage.
CHETRY: And it's all on tape.
The shooting rampage in Tucson, every deadly second, "The Washington Post" just reporting that it was all captured on the surveillance cameras outside of that Safeway store in Tucson. CNN is working to confirm more details that the video reportedly shows suspect Jared Loughner with a nine millimeter Glock walking out of the Tucson Safeway right up to Congresswoman Giffords. She was the first one shot in the face from about two to three feet away.
HOLMES: Again, this description of the video, coming to us from "The Washington Post" after talking to someone who has seen the video reportedly. But again, also the part of this video, it reportedly shows the U.S. district judge was also killed. John Roll shows him in the video being shot in the back. He was shot according to this source who's seen the video, trying to shield Giffords' staffer, Ron Barber, who was shot twice.
Now, Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, has been giving some interviews, been talking publicly in the past couple of days, talked to reporters. Also talked to ABC's Diane Sawyer. In that interview, he talks about the struggle with -- at some point he's going to have to explain to his wife exactly what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK KELLY, REP. GIFFORDS' HUSBAND: Gabby was talking to one of her other constituents and she leaned down next to her and said -- said, you know, someday, you know, you could grow up and be like Gabrielle Giffords, and those were the last words she heard.
So -- you know, it's just -- you just can't explain it. It's going to be one of the hardest things. How do we explain to Gabby that Gabe Zimmerman has died? I mean, that's going to be a hard, hard thing to do. You know, that Ron Barber almost lost his life. That Pam Simon -- I mean, it's a miracle that she survived. She really, truly loves these people. How do I explain to her that there was a 9-year-old girl that was standing in front of you, you know, looking up to you? You know, now she's gone too. And all the others. When do you do that? I mean, I could do it now. I don't know if that's the right thing to do. I decided it isn't. I mean, I have -- I have to wait for the appropriate time.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: It's something we might not think that much about. Even though she's definitely a central figure, the target really in this whole story, all whole coverage. Well, she's not aware of it.
CHETRY: Yes.
HOLMES: She hasn't been watching news. She's been recovering. It's not even clear what happened to her. She certainly doesn't know what happened to her staffers. She just doesn't know about -- he has to break that news to her at some point and he talked about it there. He actually also mentioned she talked about hearing that she would be shot.
CHETRY: Right. He said that she mentioned -- he said she's gotten death threats before, and that many other members of Congress receive death threats, but she said to him -- he said on a few occasions --
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: -- more than one occasion, I'm afraid that I'll just be standing somewhere, maybe speaking out in public and I'll get shot.
HOLMES: So she even talked about this just a few weeks ago with him. Another part of the story that he's talking about out there, of course, this report has been coming in to them since the shooting. What? Ten, 11 days ago now. And he was struck he said by one card in particular from a little boy. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK KELLY, REP. GIFFORDS' HUSBAND: I've been looking at a lot of those letters. There's Craig Croft Elementary School, a whole giant bag of them today or yesterday. And one kid had a card and on the back of his card was an envelope taped onto the back of the card and in the envelope was his lunch money. It's like $2.85. So we're going to seal the back up. We're going to get his lunch money back to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: It's not easy for him obviously. I mean, he is the one that is, you know, aware of everything. Obviously, still scared to death about, you know, what the future holds for his wife and at the same time, you know, he's being bolstered by really a nation of people who all really care about this.
HOLMES: Yes, and everybody is looking to him. He's been handling this thing admirably, no doubt about it.
CHETRY: Well, in other news, New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy is saying that she can certainly identify with Mark Kelly because her husband was killed and her son badly wounded by a gunman who opened fire on a Long Island railroad back in 1993. You may remember that high-profile shooting. McCarthy has just introduced a bill in the House that would ban high capacity ammo magazines, like the one used in Tucson, the one, the clips. They can carry 30 rounds, 15 rounds. Her measure will be taken up by the Senate later this month. HOLMES: Another big story today. This is happening today. America's bankers making a House call, in particular the White House.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, he's in Washington now. Arrived yesterday for an official state visit. This is him getting off of his airplane. He was greeted at Andrews Air Force Base by the vice president. Then he went on meet with President Obama at the White House last night. They had kind of a quiet evening if you will. This is just part of the motorcade I do believe here that's carrying President Hu. But they had a small dinner at the White House.
Here's the official photo released by the White House. They have some talking to do. They have some conversations to look forward to. Certainly your money is going to be on the table. They are going to have a joint press conference a little later this afternoon that will be followed a little later this evening by an official state dinner.
CHETRY: Also today, the House is set to vote on repealing President Obama's health care law. And we've talked about this measure that was promised in the campaign. The GOP said in 2010 we promised we'd do this and that's why we got elected.
Well, it may be hard though. Democrats still control the Senate. But there is a new CNN/Opinion Research poll suggesting that Americans are not very happy with health care reform. Fifty percent say they do want to get rid of the whole law. Forty-two percent want to keep it. The interesting thing, though, is when you break it down by age, a very different story. And yesterday we heard both sides of the argument.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), WISCONSIN: We're already hearing from thousands of employers across the country who are talking about dropping their employer-sponsored health insurance and we're already hearing from the lack of choices that consumers will get as this new law is put into place. This new law is a fiscal house of cards and it is a health care house of cards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This bill isn't repeal and replace. It's repeal and forget. Forget the health care needs of millions of Americans. Forget the hundreds of billions of dollars that they, with this repeal add to our federal debt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So the president also saying yesterday that the health care law can, yes, be improved, but he is, of course, against any repeal.
Also new this morning, dramatic moments in Haiti. We told you that former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier came back to the country.
Well, he was escorted by police into court and then questioned for hours yesterday. He's accused of embezzling from Haiti's treasury among other charges. "Baby Doc" as he's called was overthrown in '86 amid accusations of corruption and brutality. He returned to Port-au- Prince Sunday. A judge must now decide whether or not he will stand trial.
HOLMES: And take a look at one lucky guy. We've been telling you about this flooding happening in Brazil for the past several days and weeks even. But here is a success story. You're seeing the rescue of a man who's been trapped in mud for about a day. He did make it out.
Now, so many others have not survived this historic flooding. They've had mudslides, as well. Killed about 700 people in the state of Rio de Janeiro, and that rain that has been coming down is expected to continue for the next several days.
CHETRY: And they say he's going to be OK.
HOLMES: Be all right.
CHETRY: Oh, man, unbelievable.
Well, closer to home in the Pacific Northwest, crews are working to clear landslides left by heavy rains last weekend. Whole hillsides just came crashing down in Oregon and Washington State. One still blocks a major highway near Portland.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just whole mud all the way up there, clear down to here to where the trees are now. There's just trees, mud and everything, stumps.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another good rain like we had before, maybe not quite as much, it could come down some more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Wow.
CHETRY: Well, crews are hoping that they're going to have that highway back open soon. Some dry weather would certainly hope.
HOLMES: Ten minutes past the hour. Let's turn to some weather now. And our Rob Marciano, not at our severe weather center, but in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Look at that.
CHETRY: Got that hill behind you.
HOLMES: Set that scene for us there. We appreciate the picture. What are you doing out there, buddy?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, we turned the snow machine on for you guys to get a feel of what it's like to be in the high country here of beautiful Colorado. I'm here for the 22nd annual Steamboat Weather Summit where a handful of on-air meteorologists from around the country get together. We meet up with some top-notch scientists and get some really good one-on-one time with some of the most brilliant minds in our field and we get up to speed on the latest on climate, the latest on the computer models, and all in all, just sharpen the skills a little bit so we can better serve you throughout the year.
Let's do that right now with a little bit of radar action across the northeast. A couple of weak systems that are streaming across the country. This one, everybody is right around freezing. There is a freezing rain advisory just north of D.C. So a bit of a slick go for the next few hours and then it should warm up just a little bit. A little bit of rain maybe mixing in with snow across New York City and Boston, but this is not big of a deal.
Back to the west, some snow moving through Chicago. We don't expect that to pile up too much. And the energy and the snow that you're seeing behind me right now, that's going to be driving down into the plains and develop into a decent storm. And there are a number of winter weather advisories and winter storm warning up for parts of central Kansas.
And this storm, this snow, T.J. and Kiran, that you're seeing right behind me, they cranked up into a little something over the weekend for the northeast. Whether it stays close enough onshore to where you see this or it goes offshore, we'll just have to wait and see. But this is feeling pretty (INAUDIBLE) right now. Five to 10 inches probably, I think, we'll see throughout the day today. We say 10.
Coming up in about 30 minutes, the incomparable cowboy downhill, which I did just yesterday here. Cowboys who don't know how to ski racing. That's a sight you have to see. And then, me and Reynolds Wolf get on snow bikes. That's an --
CHETRY: Yes. And Reynolds likes to call himself bronco. So, you know, it all fits together.
MARCIANO: Exactly.
CHETRY: You guys are having way too much fun out there. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: Apple is bouncing back after the news that Steve Jobs stepping aside temporarily for health reasons. The company still raking in record profits in this quarter. We're going to tell you how many of the gadgets -- I mean, you probably have them at home -- how many other people -- they're flying off the shelves.
HOLMES: Also, it could be the next financial crisis in this country. Your city going broke. Our Christine Romans is going to be breaking this down for us this morning.
CHETRY: And after the controversy over her remarks following the Tucson shooting, how Americans are feeling about Sarah Palin. Some new poll numbers out this morning.
Twelve and a half minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Fifteen minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
It's OK. You can put your hands in there, Christine. It's quite all right. Christine Romans is going to be joining us here in just a moment, telling us about a story that's going to concern a lot of folks, a new possible financial crisis in this country, which is probably coming to your town.
CHETRY: Oh, great.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: A new financial crisis to learn about this morning.
HOLMES: Not that we need another one.
But good morning to you.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
HOLMES: We're going to check in with her in just a second. But let me give you a look at some of the stories we're keeping a close eye on this morning. One of them had had a lot of people just terrified yesterday. We've seen these scenes play out over the past several years and decades, really in this country.
But a school shooting - you're seeing video of a young man who was shot, a kid who was shot at a high school, being wheeled out there on that gurney, as you saw. But this was in Los Angeles, California. Now, one of the students, a senior, has been arrested after two students were shot. Now, it was one bullet that shot out of that gun, but two students were hit.
Police came out later and said they believe this was an accidental shooting. The gun was in a backpack. The backpack was then slammed down on top of a desk and in some kind of a way discharged, hit a 15- year-old girl in the head, also hit another 15-year-old boy who was hit in the neck. He's listed in fair condition but the young lady listed as critical after having surgery.
CHETRY: An American Airlines pilot murdered in his Florida home, police now hunting for the killer. They say Russell Walker was missing for about 10 days when deputies were then asked to check on him.
Walker was based at a Miami International - at Miami International Airport. He'd been with the airline for 18 years and was a first officer.
HOLMES: Well, after this man was rescued, the first thing he wanted to do was not go to the doctor. He wanted to go to the shower. He was rescued yesterday - listen to this. He fell into a wastewater tank. It took them quite some time - about an hour - to get him out. This in Coral Springs, Florida, but he just happened to fall into this thing, had to be hoisted out of it.
Am I looking at the right - where's the actual - CHETRY: He's on the gurney.
HOLMES: Oh, OK. I was looking for the actual tank that he fell into it. But there he is, he had to be hoisted out. But he is said to be doing OK and going to be just fine, but he fell into a tank, man needs a shower. But, again, he's going to be just fine.
Well, Apple - we knew this was coming, told you about it yesterday. We knew that the iPad and new iPhone 4, all of that, was going to send some of their earnings into the stratosphere. Well, they shattered some of the expectations out there. They are reporting record profits.
The company raked in some $6 billion last quarter. Of course, the iPad, they sold 7.3 million of those things. Now, if you're keeping count, by the time I finish reading this story, they would have sold another iPad. They sold one about every - about - that's about 56 a minute. Excuse me. That's 56 they sold - excuse me - in the time I've been telling you this story this morning.
Also sold 16.2 million iPhones. That's about 124 a minute. So the more I talk, the more money they are making this morning.
CHETRY: I know. Seriously, right? Every second, another one sold.
Well, speaking of Apple, two men, one in San Francisco, one in Arkansas, now charged with allegedly hacking into AT&T's servers last year and then stealing the e-mail addresses and other information of about 120 iPad users. Some those people affected include Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Obama's former Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel.
There's no evidence that the men were using the information, though, for criminal purposes. But, again, they're charged with illegal hacking.
HOLMES: Also, we've been telling you, it could be the next financial crisis in this country and it could be coming to your town. We're talking about cash-strapped cities and one example is in Camden, New Jersey. This is the place that has one of the worst crime rates in the country, but they've had to lay off about half the police force. We're talking about 168 officers out of a job. The mayor also had to lay off about 67 firefighters.
What you're seeing here are some of the firefighters handing in their equipment. A sad scene that played out there. But again, the city's cash-strapped so they had to do what they had to do.
But the city also saying they put the blame on the police and firefighter unions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR DANA REDD, CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY: Instead of protecting and serving the public, the residents of Camden, they chose to protect their high salaries. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the city is facing a $26.5 million budget deficit.
CHETRY: It's a tough situation. They wanted them to take - to get less health benefits, they wanted them, in some cases, get a salary reduction. I mean, it's a hard thing. It's a hard thing to - to deal with.
Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Overstretched state budgets. Texas, another example.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: They're in - I think they had to cut - they had to cut several billion out of their budget, $5 billion going out of their schools. I mean, it is really tough for many, many, many municipalities.
ROMANS: It's the financial crisis coming to a city near you - the city hall near you. And, I mean, imagine if you had spent your last dollar by February, imagine if you were praying that there's not going to be another snowstorm because you don't know how to pay for the salt to put in the trucks to pay the overtime to clear the streets. That's what's happening across the country in cities like Camden but a lot of other ones as well.
Meredith Whitney, who is sort of a superstar banking analyst, she issued a report recently that was pretty - pretty damning on this subject. She said the states represent the new systemic risk to financial markets. Lack of transparency and an abundance of complacency on the part of investors and politicians, just as we saw before the banks imploded. Now, this was planned for very well. All of a sudden, here you go with a variety of things coming together at the same time that's bankrupting - bankrupting cities.
Among those things, a third of the revenue comes from the state. Well, the states are cutting their budgets dramatically. By law, they have to balance their budgets every year. That means suddenly cities and - and municipalities are finding huge amounts of money are pulled away from them.
Unemployment means tax receipts are down at the same time that demand for city services and county services is up, and the stimulus funds have simply run down.
How is this going to be apparent in your town? It could be the pool that's closed. It could be you're going to pay for parking at the county park and pay - more for parking at the country park. You're going to see advertisements on school lockers. We've already seen that in Minnesota. We're seeing it elsewhere as well. You're going to see advertisements on the school buses for school districts that are trying to come up with more money. You're going to see -
CHETRY: If you're lucky enough to continue bus service. And, I mean, in some places, even in our town they're talking about cutting kindergarten to half day.
ROMANS: Oh, yes. And start -
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: I mean, these are - and look, when we talk about spending more money than we have, something we've been warning about and the budget people have been warning about for years, these are the kinds of micro examples you see again and again and again. This is the story of the next decade as cities, states and citizens try to come to grips with living with lower means.
HOLMES: It's so important to note, though, they cannot just raise their debt ceiling in a city or a town.
ROMANS: They can't. You're right.
HOLMES: All they do - they have to get rid of something, and you've got to get rid of jobs, and it is going to - just like we see in Camden, unfortunately.
CHETRY: Or raise taxes.
ROMANS: Or raise taxes, and that is very unpopular.
HOLMES: All right. Christine, want to be talking to you (INAUDIBLE) morning.
ROMANS: Sure.
HOLMES: Good to see you, as always. Well, it's something -
CHETRY: They've got some good news too, though.
ROMANS: I will. I will. I will, I will.
HOLMES: There you go. She keeps stuff in (INAUDIBLE).
ROMANS: I'll be back with good news, I promise.
HOLMES: All right. Christine, thank you.
Well, coming up, Piers Morgan and Howard Stern. Enough said. We'll tell you how that conversation went down last night.
CHETRY: Also, new details on a drug that help - may help reduce the severity of hot flashes in women and it is not hormone replacement. This could be very, very interesting stuff.
Twenty-three minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-five minutes past the hour.
The so-called king of all media - he named himself that. HOLMES: Piers Morgan did?
CHETRY: No. Howard Stern did.
HOLMES: Oh.
CHETRY: But, you know, there's always room for a new sheriff in town.
Piers Morgan last night sat down with Howard Stern.
HOLMES: And Howard Stern, hey, typically, I mean, you see him, you know him. What are the typical things you think would come up? Certainly the hair, but he also talked about almost quitting and also how his dad got him into radio.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PIERS MORGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And how often does he say to you, "Great show, Howard"?
HOWARD STERN, HOST, THE HOWARD STERN SHOW: Rarely. He - he said to me some years ago - and this really moved me - he said, you're a genius. And I - I was rocked, because I never thought I'd hear those words. I didn't think that I was ever going to earn that respect in my father's eyes.
MORGAN: What have you done to earn it, do you think? Is there a particular -
STERN: I think it was after my movie, it was after - you know, many accomplishments. And I think, in many ways, with my career, I was searching for that approval from my father. And it's - it's a very empty search, actually, because when you get it, it's almost too late. It's like, oh, you mean - you mean this is what this was all about? You know, this is what it was all for?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Yes. His dad - his dad's quite a colorful character in the way that he describes him in his book and in the movie. So just - for him to say you're a genius, Howard, probably a big deal for him.
HOLMES: OK. Anybody in Howard's life, I assume - his whole family's probably colorful.
CHETRY: Poor guy.
Well, don't miss "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT." Condoleezza Rice is his guest. So he asks her a bunch of questions about what it was like in the Bush White House, what it's been like since? And she'll be - she's pretty candid with him.
HOLMES: And you see how he rounds up the week there as well. Ricky Gervais. Of course, he was the one who started kind of a stir after the Golden Globes, he hosted on Sunday. And then George Clooney wrapping things up on Friday. "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT" every night, 9:00 Eastern Time.
Also coming up, we've got an exclusive interview with Nancy Pelosi. She's talking about this whole repeal of health care reform. She'll explain what she thinks is behind the movement.
CHETRY: And we're talking breakfast. You know, people have always said, eat a big breakfast, because if you don't that - that's how you start your day right diet-wise. Well, you know what? There is an - there's an amendment to that this morning we'll tell you about, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. Half past the hour right now.
And there's some incredible video we got from our affiliate in Philadelphia. WCAU, of a gas line explosion. It happened as crews were on the scene trying to figure out where this gas main break was happening and repair it. When out of nowhere, this happened.
(VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: One utility worker killed in this. Another five were injured. Some of those injuries are serious. We'll keep a close eye on this and continue to give you updates throughout the morning.
But we're here at the bottom of the hour now, giving you an update on some of the stories we're keeping a very close eye on.
It's reported now that there is surveillance of that Tucson shooting. Now, we don't have the video just yet. It hasn't been released officially. But "The Washington Post" is reporting that they spoke with sources who have seen the video and that video reported shows the gunman, Jared Loughner, leaving the subway -- excuse me, Safeway, walking up to the congresswoman and shooting her first at close range. This video also reportedly shows John Roll, the judge, being shot in the back. He, according to this video and the source, actually shows that he was killed while shielding a staffer who also was shot.
CHETRY: Well, high-stakes talks today in Washington. China's President Hu on the official state visit to Washington. They're going to be holding a joint press conference with President Obama this afternoon. There is a picture, official released picture from the White House yesterday of the two meeting.
The formal state dinner again is tonight. They'll be talking about human rights issues in China and, of course, China's vital role in our economy.
HOLMES: Also, it was a contentious debate that went off almost a full year to get health care reform passed. Well, today, they are voting to repeal the whole thing. That's going to happen in the House today, an effort by Republicans to repeal it.
It is expected to have a pretty good chance of passing the House. But no chance really, anybody is giving it, of passing in the Senate. Even if it got passed in the Senate, no one would think that the president would sign into law a repeal of his own health care reform bill.
But Republicans say this is a symbolic move and a promise they made to the voters.
CHETRY: Well, as Republicans are arguing for repeal on the House floor, Democrats made their case for trying to keep the law in place.
HOLMES: And they made their case at a hearing. They called on witnesses to explain, to tell them how the law has helped them. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VERNAL BRANCH, BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR: I lived in fear that if cancer returned, I would not have insurance to help pay for the treatment to enable me to beat the disease again and continue living as a healthy breast cancer survivor that I've been for the last 15 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Democratic strategy focusing on consequences for patients if health care is repealed.
HOLMES: Now, the House minority leader now, Nancy Pelosi, she is standing behind that health care reform law. She talked to our Wolf Blitzer, in an exclusive interview, and she explained why she thinks it should stand, how it's helping Americans, and why she believes this effort to try to repeal it is even going forward now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Who failed in explaining all these things to the American public? Why are they saying repeal?
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY: Well, I think some of this takes time because it is change. And there has been fear mongering associated with it. We all know that. Issues that have nothing to do with the bill but used effectively by the insurance industry to use some issues to pay -- to protect them, protect the health insurance industry.
BLITZER: But you and the Democrats and the president for that matter, have done a better job of explaining this to the American public?
PELOSI: I think in the House of Representatives, we saved health care reform. We had town meetings. We had media events across the country in that August of last year. I believe the House of Representative Democrats saved health care reform.
The long time it took in the Senate because of the obstruction of Republican senators gave an opportunity. But you know what? We have to look forward. And what we're looking forward to was to saying to people, in your own life, this is what this means to you. And we will stand firm against any attempts to prevent you from having access to quality health care.
It's no use looking back or assigning blame. It's about taking responsibility for the future.
BLITZER: All right. So --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And more fallout for Sarah Palin, by the way, in the wake of all of her comments about the Tucson shooting. There's a new CNN/Opinion Research Poll out just this hour showing that 56 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of Palin. That is compared to 49 percent back in October. Her favorability rating dipped to 38 percent. That was a 2-point drop.
Palin's political standing taking the biggest hit among women. The CNN poll showing 61 percent of women dislike the former Alaska governor. That's up 10 percent since October. Fifty percent of men have an unfavorable opinion of Palin. That was a 3 percent increase.
HOLMES: Well, two members of the Senate deciding they are not going to seek re-election in 2012. One of them, Joseph Lieberman, independent of Connecticut. He is expected to announce today that he won't seek a fifth term in 2012.
You may remember, he barely got this fourth term. He lost the Democratic Senate primary back in 2006, then ran as an independent, ended up getting the seat, caucuses with the Democrats, usually votes with them as well. And you, of course, remember, he was Al Gore's running mate back in 2000.
CHETRY: And -- so, he's not running for re-election. Again, I believe, Kent Conrad as well. So, another opportunity perhaps for Republicans to pick up more seats and potentially take the majority in the Senate.
Meantime, President Obama calls him -- actually, we'll have that story in a minute. But Bill Clinton, by the way, is hitting the campaign trail. He's a favorite. People love to have Bill Clinton stump for them. And Rahm Emanuel is no exception.
HOLMES: No matter what. If you can get Bill Clinton out for you, he just energizes people, no doubt. He appeared at a rally yesterday in Chicago. Of course, Rahm Emanuel, the former chief of staff at the White House who left the White House to go run his dream job, he said. He wants to be mayor of Chicago.
But you see these two at a rally. Right now, Rahm Emanuel has a pretty good lead over most of his challengers. But it's not so big of a lead that it would keep him from having to end up in a runoff, a primary runoff. So, we shall see.
But, again, Bill Clinton -- nobody campaigns like that man.
CHETRY: President Obama calls him one of the brightest lights of the greatest generation. We're talking about Sargent Shriver. He has died after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 95 years old. Shriver was the first leader of the Peace Corps, President Kennedy's brother-in-law and also Maria Shriver's father.
His family released a statement saying, quote, "He was a man of giant love, energy and enthusiasm and commitment. He lived to make the world a more joyful, faithful, and compassionate place."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty minutes past the hour. They may do a double take. But a new study says that calorie counts on menus actually don't really matter. So, you look at it and you go, oh, that --
HOLMES: It would be helpful, right?
CHETRY: What was it, 1,600 calorie mac and cheese, from the Cheesecake Factory? That's a lot of calories, I'll have that.
Well, anyway, we found out that most people still order the same thing anyway, whether or not they know how many calories they're chowing down. The study was conducted on one fast-food chain in Washington state, TacoTime.
HOLMES: Oh, that's a good place to do the study.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Coming up in our next hour, Elizabeth Cohen on whether these laws requiring calorie counts really make any difference. Just -- apparently not TacoTime.
HOLMES: OK.
CHETRY: See if it works anywhere else.
HOLMES: But -- and breakfast, we're told, this is the most important meal of the day.
CHETRY: Right.
HOLMES: But why? Do you know why? Why do they tell us that?
CHETRY: Revs up your metabolism, keeps you satisfied so you can have energy throughout the day and that you don't overeat later.
HOLMES: OK. That's the thing. You're supposed to have a big breakfast, some say a big hearty breakfast, maybe you won't be as hungry later, won't eat as much. Well, throw that conventional wisdom out the window. There is another study.
We're so fun of studies.
This is a German one. It says big breakfasts or not, people are still eating the same amount of food for lunch and for dinner. So, if you start your day with a big, hearty breakfast, that just means you're getting fatter faster. CHETRY: According to that study.
HOLMES: You're not cutting back on anything, but you might want to cut back on TacoTime. That might help you as well.
CHETRY: TacoTime. Love it. I'll have the extra sour cream. How many more calories? That's OK.
Anyway, I mean, we all know a calorie in, a calories out. You know, all about -- you know, you just have to burn more and take in less --
HOLMES: Simple as that.
CHETRY: -- harder than it seems sometimes, though.
Hot flash relief for hormone -- for women without hormone replacement therapy. And this is a pretty big deal because we've talked back and forth about the concerns, about some of the side effects of hormone replacement therapy. Well, now, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine found a widely used antidepressant may actually help reduce those menopausal symptoms. About 200 women having nearly 10 hot flashes a day were given the antidepressant Lexapro. After about eight weeks, those taking Lexapro had about half as many hot flashes and the participants say they were less intense compared to those taking placebo.
HOLMES: All right. Still coming up this morning, our Rob Marciano on location. We'll tell you where he is, what he's doing, and what you need to be watching out for in your weather.
CHETRY: Also, he has had more face time on TV than just about anyone. Regis Philbin says he's now calling it a career. And our Jeanne Moos is going to take a look back at some of the best moments of Reg.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back. Forty-four minutes past the hour.
You know, just hours after the New York Jets beat -- yes, beat -- the New England Patriots in a divisional playoffs on Sunday, the Jets had a chance to take a victory lap of sorts. But this was in the air.
HOLMES: Wow.
CHETRY: This is cool that they did this for them. It was on their approach to Newark, and there's the picture of the skyline. Beautiful, right?
Well, you may wonder, what's that green there? That's the -- of course, Empire State Building. And it's all lit up with Jets colors. So, the team's charter plane actually flew past the Empire State Building so they could check it out for themselves, green and white. Air traffic controllers helped guide the Jet full of jets. Here's some of the chatter from the cockpit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Question for you. Is the Empire State Building still lit up right now? Because I've had an unusual request. If it's green and white, these guys actually want us to get as close as we can to see it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Continental 1915, the Empire State should be about 11 o'clock, 4 miles if you look right up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we got 200 people looking at it. Really pretty night for it, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That was amazing to me. And when I first heard it, and we need to give people the right idea here. I thought they were like buzzing the tower, like Tom Cruise in "Top Gun."
CHETRY: Yes.
HOLMES: Not quite -- they didn't do one of those fly byes of the Empire State Building, but that's kind of cool, I guess. Cool for them to see that.
I want everybody to answer this question in your own mind at home. If you had to guess, what percentage of fans are drunk when they leave, maybe, a football game? How many would you say?
CHETRY: Like college or pro game?
HOLMES: A pro game. How many would you say?
CHETRY: I would say easily half.
HOLMES: Easily half.
CHETRY: Hopefully, the people that are going home with designated drivers. But yes, about 50 percent.
HOLMES: Look at this now, 8 percent. I was shocked that it was that low. A new study saying that only -- I shouldn't say only. That's a lot still. 8 percent of sports fans leave games legally drunk. They were tested at football and baseball games as they left. A 2/3, though, of the fans had the blood alcohol level of zero.
CHETRY: You know, I just don't buy that. I'm thinking, OK, so, in some cases, obviously, people are responsible because one of them has to drive, but the other thing is, in a lot of places, they stop serving beer after a certain amount of time, right? I mean, after the seventh inning or the fifth inning. So, and the whole point is that so if you did imbibe in the beginning and you enjoyed yourself, you will be fit to leave the stadium safely.
HOLMES: OK. Rob, are you buying that statistic? Only 8 percent of fans leaving football and baseball games are legally drunk. It just sounded kind of low given some of the games I've been to at least.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Are you speaking for yourself or --
HOLMES: Observing! Observing the environment, Rob. Just observing.
MARCIANO: Yes. That number does seem relatively low, especially, in winter environments. You know, you do all you can to warm up. Not to say that --
CHETRY: I guess, we're hanging out with the wrong crowd clearly.
MARCIANO: You know, I've hard (ph) taking it all right. We're live here at Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The snow is coming down, boy, about one to two inches an hour. A pretty good rate here with this disturbance that's rolling across the Rockies and will be driving into the plains. Let's roll through some maps and then we'll show you some fun. First off, the northeast has got a weak system that's going through there, and temperatures right around the freezing mark.
So, there will be patches of slick spots, especially, across parts of D.C., but New York to Boston, the most part of it will be on the wet side and then moving up. Back to the Western Great Lakes, we are looking at snow that's coming down across parts of Chicago, but that's not going to amount to a whole lot with that system as it progresses back toward parts of the lower Great Lakes.
Monica, if you could take control because iPad is not working. Some of the snow that's moving across parts of Colorado will be driving down to the plain. So, we have winter storm watches and advisories, and a couple of warnings that are posted for parts of the central plains, and this will be driving off towards the east.
There are going to be a few delays because of flights that may be affected by the weather across the New York area, the usual spots, and your national map highlights the series of systems. That's going to -- all going to come together kind of towards the northeast this weekend. We'll see how close it gets to the coastline. It could be interesting. All right. See, I almost get teased for coming out here for this professional weather conference.
Yes, in the afternoon, we do have a little bit of fun. And Reynolds and I yesterday got out on what are called snow bikes. And I expect this to explode in popularity here in the next couple of years. That's my interpretation of German bobsledding on snow speed on the snow bike. So, you got a bicycle that instead of tires has two skis and you got two miniature skis on your feet to kind of go Freddie Flintstone when it comes to trying to stop that bad boy. And it is just kind of fun. You, guys, got to give it a go. Nest time, you get --
CHETRY: So are you the one in the blue? Which one is you.
MARCIANO: Reynolds is in the blue, I'm in the gray.
CHETRY: Oh, man. You're totally whacking him. And this helps you, guys, predict the weather how? How does this help you, guys, get more accurate forecasting? MARCIANO: This is called product sampling and investigative reporting. We can't really go on the air and tell you about the snow conditions, unless, we actually try them out. This is very serious business as you can see, and it was kind of fun. You got to try it.
CHETRY: Looks fun. Looks awesome.
HOLMES: That's cool.
MARCIANO: All right. That's the latest from here, guys. I did win, by the way, just barely.
CHETRY: I know Reynolds isn't going to be showing that video later today.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Rob, enjoy. We will talk to you again here in just a bit.
Coming up later on, facing some new doping allegations. Are these really new allegations? Any new evidence necessarily?
CHETRY: Also, Congressman Ron Paul is going to be joining us live. He's supporting the health care repeal that they're going to be voting on today in Congress. He's also a doctor himself. But why is he doing it if most of them know it's headed for a dead end? Also, he's going to be talking about China literally owning us and what he thinks about the meeting today between Chinese president and President Obama. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Sixty-four minutes --
HOLMES: Sixty-four.
CHETRY: I'm bending the time space continuum this morning.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Good morning. Fifty-four minutes past the hour.
HOLMES: Here we go. There we go.
CHETRY: An end of an era in television. A very long year. Regis Philbin, he's loved more time in the front of the cameras than pretty much anyone, is now retiring.
HOLMES: He's retiring. Coming a surprise announcement on his show, "Live With Regis and Kelly." Our Jeanne Moos looking at the announcement and also looking back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Regis' watched co-hosts come and go. KATHIE LEE GIFFORD, FORMER CO-HOST: I'm going to be leaving our show. I was hoping you do that.
MOOS: But this time, it's his turn.
REGIS PHILBIN, HOST, "LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY": This will be my last year on this show. I know, it's been a long time. It's been 28 years.
MOOS: Twenty-eight years of food fights.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got ketchup.
MOOS: Of slow dancing with Borat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Borat, not too close.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?
MOOS: Of playing the older man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regis is elderly.
MOOS: To a younger co-host
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give me a kiss on the mouth.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: Famous enough to be parodied on "Saturday Night Live," even if he's not a household name to everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Regis Philbin, do you know who he is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's his name?
MOOS: But most of us know who he is. It's his co-hosts folks mix up.
JOY BEHAR, HOST: Kathy always said -- or was it Kelly? I never get -- I don't remember
PHILBIN: Kathie lee and then Kelly.
MOOS: And when Regis messed up, he usually turned it into a better joke like the time he gave Meryl Streep shocking news about her own daughter.
PHILBIN: And then the third daughter broke her leg. I mean, it never ends in your place.
MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS: What?
MOOS: Oops, misread a cue card.
PHILBIN: Daughter Grace just got her big break.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: Regis was the first guest to welcome back Letterman after Dave's heart surgery.
PHILBIN: It's good to have the big man back, isn't it?
MOOS: When Regis came back from his own bypass surgery, Letterman was his first guest. Soon, they were baring their legs to show off their bypass grafts. At 79, Regis doesn't look or act his age.
(SINGING) you make me feel so spring as sprung
MOOS (on-camera): Regis holds the Guinness World Record for most time spent in front of these, TV cameras.
MOOS (voice-over): He was Joey Bishop's sidekick back in the late 1960s.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any special significance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it's a thing, man. That's his thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm glad he's finally gotten one.
MOOS: Now, more than four decades later, Regis will stop doing his thing, his daily show.
PHILBIN: I'm not going to retire, I'll just be gone.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: One minute he was singing goodbye to Larry King.
(SINGING)
MOOS: Next thing you know, he's ready to say goodbye, and announcement that snuck up on us.
PHILBIN: Borat!
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: I just love him. Who are we going to listen to when Notre Dame loses?
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Rant.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: But no, they had a great funny today in one of the New York papers said he's being replaced now by a younger man, Larry King.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Hey, stranger things have happened. You never know.
HOLMES: You never know. Top stories coming up right after the break. Stick around with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
