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American Morning

Steelers and Packers to Face Off at Super Bowl; A Bipartisan Step in the Right Direction; Giffords' Rehab Delayed

Aired January 24, 2011 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. She's accused of kidnapping a baby some 23 years ago. And today the fake mom is in custody and expected in court on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Hello to you all, top of the hour here now. Glad you could be with us. I'm T.J. Holmes.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We have a lot to talk about today.

The applause breaks will look different this round of the State of the Union this year. Tomorrow night the president is going to speak and lawmakers are blurring party lines in the audience. Many of them at least are agreeing to sit next to someone on the other side of the aisle. So is it just another empty gesture or are they serious about bringing more civility to walk?

HOLMES: And did you catch football's final four yesterday? We know who is going to the Super Bowl but a lot of the talk today is about one quarterback who was crying and another quarterback who quit. We'll explain that with veteran sports anchor man Len Berman. He'll be long with us.

But again, the story that had so many talking last week. A baby taken 19 days old finally reunited with her family. Now the woman who raised that child is under arrest. We're talking about Carlina White. Someone snatched her from a New York hospital in 1987. See the picture there on the left of the child. She was raised by another family, not her real family, in Connecticut.

CHETRY: Now that woman who raised Carlina White, Ann Pettway, is under arrest, picked up in Connecticut yesterday on different charges. Susan Candiotti joins us now. Are police saying she's the kidnapper of Carlina White?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They say she is, and she is facing federal kidnapping charges now. She will be appearing in court here in New York City today.

You know, CNN exclusively broke the news of Ann Pettway's surrender to the FBI on Sunday. She faces those federal kidnapping charges today. Whether she's cooperating is not clear. What is clear is that the search for her picked up steam Saturday when an employee at a pawn shop in Bridgeport, Connecticut, recognized her from media reports. She showed up there to try to pawn some jewelry. She didn't like the price and left after just a few minutes. And cops were called to the store and police told me they confirmed it was really her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DET. KEITH BRYANT, BRIDGEPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT: They were able to obtain some video of surveillance from the store and they -- based on what they observed and the photographs we had of her, they confirmed the fact that it was her in question.

CANDIOTTI: And she came in by herself?

BRYANT: She came in by herself, yes. And she turned around and she left, you know, on foot. The clerk advised the detectives that he didn't observe her get into a car. He immediately jumped on a telephone and called the police department, made them aware of his sightings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: And then the very next day, on Sunday, yesterday, she turned herself in to the FBI.

HOLMES: But getting hooked up with the police, Facebook was involved?

CANDIOTTI: Yes, exactly. We don't know all of the details, but a law enforcement source tells us that she contacted the Bridgeport police via Facebook. And then after that, she turned herself in to the FBI there in Bridgeport, Connecticut. That's right.

CHETRY: And as you said, facing federal kidnapping charges?

CANDIOTTI: That's right, exactly. We -- she will be appearing in court. We don't know yet whether she has a lawyer or whether one will be assigned to her. But she'll be there. Whether she says something in court, we don't know. We will be there to watch all of this.

And we're still waiting to hear from her family, any reaction. We know that in the past the birth mother of Carlina White has said in reports after their reunion that she would like to really face the person who snatched her baby to find out why did you do this? Maybe we'll get some answers now.

HOLMES: All right, Susan Candiotti on this story and has been from the beginning here. Appreciate you. Thank you.

CHETRY: Thanks, Susan.

She's only been there for a few days by Gabrielle Giffords is already surprising her new doctors in Houston with her amazing progress. She was transferred Friday to Memorial Herman Texas Medical Center, but she's been in the ICU since she got there because doctors are draining fluid from her brain and she can't start rehab until that is completed. She is expected to remain in the Houston facility for up to six months. HOLMES: And the man accused of shooting Gabrielle Giffords will be in court today for arraignment in Phoenix. That's supposed to happen this afternoon. Right now he's facing three charges, has been indicted on three charges of attempted murder. But again, he's accused of killing six people, so legal experts expect more charges to come, including those murder charges.

CHETRY: Also new this morning, Israel out with a report on a bloody flotilla raid that caused a crisis in May, a commission saying that the deadly raid on an aid boat for Gaza was, quote, "regrettable but legal." The report says Israeli troops were attacked and they acted professionally to enforce the blockade. Nine people were killed when Israeli forces boarded that boat. One survivor of the raid called the report a, quote, "whitewash" and a, quote, "sick joke."

HOLMES: A 50-year-old ambulance just went on the auction block and was sold for $132,000. But this is not just any ambulance. It was reportedly the one used to transport J.F. Kennedy after his assassination back in the '60s.

Now, I say supposedly. It went for $132,000, but many suspect it could have gone for a lot more, but there were doubts raised about the authenticity and whether or not the former president actually ever was carried in that ambulance.

CHETRY: The police in Detroit say that he just walked into their precinct and started shooting. Four officers were hit. All are expected to survive. The suspect was eventually shot and killed by police. A female cop was shot in the chest but she was wearing a bulletproof vest. The city's police chief is now calling for more security at all Detroit precinct houses.

HOLMES: Also, two people are dead after a wild shootout in front of a Wal-Mart. This happened yesterday afternoon in a Wal-Mart just outside of Seattle. Also two sheriff's deputies were wounded as well. They are recovering and expected to be just fine.

The cops tried to question a man acting suspiciously, at least according to a call that came in to police. They tried to question him. He turned around and opened fire. Cops rushed fire, killed him. And also another woman who was outside is believed to be an acquaintance of that suspect.

CHETRY: Amazing video to show you out of on Ontario, a car dash cam captured the whole thing. Look to the left of your screen. A tractor trailer came crashing through the guardrail. There you see it losing control and dumping about 30 tons of sand. It happened Friday morning. There were several other vehicles involved.

No one was injured in this. It's pretty amazing when you see the video, barely missing the other big rig on the other side of the road. The truck driver blamed the accident on poor driving conditions, but he has been charged with careless driving.

HOLMES: It's seven minutes past the hour.

(WEATHER BREAK)

CHETRY: Jets fans for the next year have to wait while Steelers fans are making their Super Bowl plans. The Steelers beat the Jets. It was the AFC championship game. The Led 24-0 in the first half before the Jets staged a second half comeback. They scored 19 unanswered points, but unfortunately fell short. Pittsburgh will be playing in the third Super Bowl in the last six years.

HOLMES: Meanwhile, the Packers will meet them in the big game. They beat the Chicago Bears 21-14. Packers looked in control of this game until the Bears made a bit of a run. Then it got competitive. Then it kind of put it out of way with that touchdown you just saw there.

So much being talked about in this game is the Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler, went out in the third quarter with a knee injury. Some are calling it a mysterious knee injury. And he is just getting dogged by so many other players around the NFL, saying, hey, you've got the Super Bowl on the line, you do everything you can do to get in that game. They even pointed out they didn't see a lot of trainers tending to him on the sideline.

But that's just a side thing. Packers, congratulations. They are making it to the Super Bowl. We will be talking about the football season and the final four with Len Berman in just a few minutes.

CHETRY: President Obama is preparing for his second State of the Union address. The big speech is planned for tomorrow night, and it's not expected to cover a lot of ground. Instead it's going to be single focus on one critical issue that could make or break his presidency. We'll have a preview.

HOLMES: Also, one big issue will be on spending and how much of it to cut. Republicans are making it clear where they stand on the issue. It's 10 minutes past the hour.

CHETRY: And the surf was dangerous in northern California. A famous spot, this is Half-Moon Bay. It nearly claims the life of one big wave surfer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: It's 13 minutes past the hour.

When president Obama stands before joint sessions of Congress and delivers his second State of the Union address to the American people, a lot of people may have intel about what's in the speech. There may not be surprises.

HOLMES: Maybe not. Not going to be surprised to hear this president who, as he put it, took a shellacking in the midterm elections is going to be focusing on what Americans want him to focus on, jobs and the economy.

Let's turn to our Jim Acosta who is keeping an eye on things for news Washington. Jim, good morning. And again, not a lot of surprise that this is the thing the president is going to focus on. JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. From all indications, President Obama will be striking a centrist tone at this State of the Union. In the wake of the Tucson tragedy, national unity will be the dominant theme.

One idea that has caught on is a bipartisan seating arrangement. Check this out. Members of Congress in both the house and the Senate won't be sitting in their usual spots, at least not all of them, with the parties on separate sides of the aisle. Instead, roughly 60 Democrats and Republicans will be sitting side by side, and folks in Washington have dubbed these pairings "state dates."

Check out the political odd couples we're talking about here. New York Democrat Chuck Schumer and Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn, Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin says he's looking forward to sitting with his new Republican colleague Mark Kirk. And there are many more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: More important than the appearance of sitting together is what we do together. And the American people are more interested in actual accomplishments on a bipartisan basis here in the next six to nine months than they are the seating arrangement at the State of the Union.

SEN. DICK DURBIN, (D) ILLINOIS: My new Senate Republican colleague from Illinois Mark Kirk and I are going to sit together. I'm bringing the popcorn. He's bringing a coke with two straws. I'm just kidding, of course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: It's getting a little icky, guys. The president is expected to call for investments to create jobs, but Republicans hear investments and think new government spending. Their motto for tomorrow night is cut and grow. Kiran and T.J.

CHETRY: All right. We'll have to see how it goes down with the seating. It'll certainly make for some, you know, interesting viewing.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

CHETRY: -- of the State of the Union, but yes, whether that boils down into any long-term bipartisan progress, a different story. Thanks --

ACOSTA: It's a good start.

CHETRY: Yes. A good start, exactly. Thanks, Jim.

HOLMES: Can you accept that, Christine? It's a good start. It's symbolic, we know. Not much is going to come out of that.

CHETRY: Is it a good start or a false start?

HOLMES: It's a start. CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's a start. You're right. It is symbolic. They have to go way beyond symbolism for some of the big issues that are going to be happening over the next year. The president likely to be talking about something in his State of the Union that his critics are going to call new stimulus, new spending, and you're going to see a big fight along there. The White House is sort of pivoted, switched its focus to U.S. competiveness, and Republicans see that as a thin veil for more spending.

Here's what we're expecting the president likely to say he'd like to see more investments or spending in, infrastructure, education, research and development. Now, what you're going to hear from Republicans is that that's just all a new way of saying more spending, more spending, more spending. The president will say, no, no, no, targeted budget cuts and targeted spending to grow the economy and grow jobs. This is how Dick Durbin, a liberal senator, and Mitch McConnell, of course, the Republican leader in Congress, this is what they said. Listen.

SEN. DICK DURBUN, (D) ILLINOIS: It is part of the stimulus, but we're sensitive to the deficit. You know, I was part of the president's deficit commission. They said be careful. Don't start the serious spending cuts. The deficit reduction until we're clearly out of the recession in 2013. Maybe it will be sooner. But that warning is something we shouldn't forget.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: Any time they want to spend they call it investment. So, I think you will hear the president talk about investing a lot Tuesday night. This is not a time to be looking at pumping up government spending in very many areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So, they can sit next to each other, but they still have very different views on what -- where we should be going from here. There are some who think we need to be making really important spending decisions. Right now to make sure the economy gets back on its feet and so that the U.S. can compete on a global playing field, there are others who say, no, no, no, we have got to cut our way out, got to undo some of the things we've done over the past couple of years.

So, huge ideological differences. The president likely to layout this case for more spending or targeted spending for competition to make the U.S. more competitive, and thus, grow jobs. So, we'll see how it comes down.

CHETRY: All right. Christine Romans for us. Thanks.

HOLMES: Thanks, Christine.

CHETRY: Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING the Steelers and the Packers. That's going to be a good game. Going to the Super Bowl. Len Berman is going to join us with a look at how they got there and what we can expect in the big game.

HOLMES: Also this morning, when dogs fly. Does this look like doggy abuse to you? It's 18 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twenty-one minutes past this hour. Live picture we're showing you out of the D.C. area, and this is going to be a problem for morning commute. The inner loop of the beltway shut down right now in parts of Maryland, I believe, is where we're getting this particular picture from, but this is a water main break. You see a couple of cars in the middle of that, but apparently, there was a car accident that caused this water main break.

And this is a closer shot. You don't get the full gravity of what's happening there in the surrounding area, but, trust us when we say this is causing a problem and will cause a traffic problem for you folks in D.C. not sure about injuries in this accident, but still, water main break. Two vehicles involved there, but a lot of vehicles going to be having a problem this morning trying to get where they're going.

CHETRY: Yes. They also have schools in the area on a two-hour delay because of that. So, yes, check ahead if you're traveling in the D.C. area.

Well, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers are now set to play for all the roman numerals. The Steelers punch their ticket to Super Bowl XLV by beating the Jets, 24-19, winning the AFC championship. On the NFC side, the Packers beat their arch rival, the Chicago Bears 21-14 to win their conference title.

HOLMES: We have a favorite already. The Packers, I believe or we've been told, are the favorite. Are those Vegas odds or something?

LEN BERMAN, SPORTSCASTER: Yes.

HOLMES: And we're talking with legendary New York sportscaster, Len Berman here to talk about it. Is this the match-up the NFL wants? Maybe help people who don't know it that well.

BERMAN: These two-storied franchise is going head-to-head.

HOLMES: Absolutely.

BERMAN: You have the team who won the most Super Bowls in Pittsburgh. You have Green Bay which started it all with Vince Lombardi. I mean, there's even a play about him on Broadway right now, and they won the first two Super Bowls. Either we'll have the two biggest names. Obviously from the New York area, the disappointed the Jets have failed once again for the 40 something consecutive year, but I think the two best teams made the game. And I think it's fitting it's in big "D" because it's "D", the defense pick up these two teams there.

CHETRY: Right. And that's the other interesting part about this. So, they say the best part, can I just show this? I want you to get here. I love when linemen get, you know, the ball accidentally.

HOLMES: Yes. 338-pound lineman? BERMAN: Right.

CHETRY: This is B.J. Raji. He was at the goal line. Let's just show this. This is what happened in the fourth quarter, the Steelers. Let's show the video real quick. Why doesn't it work when I say it? Let's go to the videotape.

BERMAN: That will work.

CHETRY: Let's go to the videotape.

BERMAN: Anyway, 338 pounds. He makes this interception.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN (voice-over): He runs towards the end zone. You know, Refrigerator Perry played for the Bears. They call this guy freezer. This guy nearly defrosted here because he held the ball out and he nearly fumbled it. When will these guys learn? But I guess big fat guys never get to carry the ball.

CHETRY (voice-over): I wondered if he just hold it out to say, someone take this from me, please. I am not supposed to be carrying this ball right now.

HOLMES (voice-over): Just because they gave him oxygen on the sidelines.

CHETRY: Some of these players just don't have to work out, huh?

BERMAN: That's not the way it works.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN (voice-over): It's defense. Clearly, Green Bay, Aaron Rogers had an off day for quarterback for the Packers, and the defense carried the day, and Raji's the man. He's the new national hero.

HOLMES (on-camera): OK. If he had an off day, Bears quarterback didn't have a full day.

BERMAN: Right.

HOLMES: Is it fair, the criticism he's getting now?

BERMAN: I know.

HOLMES: It's hard to know a guy's body, but he didn't play pretty much the third and fourth quarter with the knee injury. A lot of people just giving it to him right now saying, hey, the Super Bowl is on the line. You get out there on crutches if you had to.

BERMAN: You know, I heard about the tweets from some anonymous, well, not so anonymous athletes. It's hard. I think it's unfair to challenge a guy's heart long distance. I mean, that's what social media has come to. Other players become like fans calling talk radio. But the Bears were down to their third string quarterback. And that's a big problem, you know, in that situation like that. So, clearly, the better team won there.

CHETRY (on-camera): So, poor Jay Cutler, right? He had, you know, some of his guys defending him like Urlacher saying that, you know, I would never question his toughness.

BERMAN: I think that's tough. That's a tough thing to do long distance, but you know, the Bears, what surprised me a little bit was how quickly their fans turned on them. I mean, watching at home, they were booing very early in that game. I mean, I always thought that, you know, the great teams, their fans would be behind them, but Bears fans turned very quickly on their franchise. That's surprised me just a little bit.

HOLMES: They are serious fan there's. They didn't look good at the beginning of that game. Green Bay back it down.

BERMAN: Well, Green Bay is favored slightly. It's a good thing I don't bet and set the odds because I would have thought Pittsburgh was little stronger, but Green Bay has won three straight on the road. They're on a roll. They're doing what the Giants did a couple of years ago when the Giants won those three straight on the road, and they went on to win the Super Bowl. So, I guess Green Bay is the slight favorite, but I wouldn't discount Pittsburgh. I like what they're doing.

CHETRY: And could this be the last Super Bowl we see in a while or is --

BERMAN: Is that amazing?

CHETRY: A bluff that the possibility of some sort of lockout because of negotiations breaking down?

BERMAN: Yes. The contract's up. We'll know in a few months. To me, the NFL is having its most successful season. I mean, the ratings are through the roof. All other sports, ratings decline. The NFL is doing gang busters this year. There's billions of dollars on the table. If these guys can't decide how to carve it up in a pockets on both their houses.

HOLMES: You know, there too much money. Everybody is saying it will get done because so much money is out there. There's no way they would give it up. Still, you listen to both sides. It sounds like it's a done deal.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: But I think they'll get it down.

HOLMES: All right. They're t not going to have them take off just yet here.

CHETRY: No, because -- yes, we're going to be talking about some other things. Len is famous, of course, for spanning the world segment that many in New York remember that we've seen through years. So, the next stories are in honor of you. We're going to start off being in Northern California. The players there -- players, see, I'm still on sports.

Surfers, they're playing in the water, hospitalized. One of them in serious condition this morning. He was injured catching a massive 25- foot wave. This is in Half Moon Bay. This is the weekend. Authorities say he was surfing where the Maverick Surf Contest is held. It's a popular winter destination for the world's top big wave surfers. So, 24 hours' notice. Dozens of them got ready to tackle in what they consider the most dangerous waves Mother Nature has ever concocted.

BERMAN: Wow. They were wearing helmets?

CHETRY: No, but they should?

BERMAN: Wearing kneepads? I mean, come on. You know, these skateboarders do it, why not these guys.

CHETRY: I know.

HOLMES: These guys out there in wave (ph) suite. These waves weren't even the biggest. You think it, sometimes, about 50-foot waves. These are only 20, I say.

BERMAN: I never did this growing up in Queens. So, I can't relate.

CHETRY: Yes, yes, I hear you.

HOLMES: Do you have -- looking out for family pet.

BERMAN: No.

HOLMES: OK. A lot of people are crazy about their pets. Is this pet abuse? I don't know if you've seen this video yet, but iReporter sent this to us. They're paragliding with their dog just dangling there. Again, this is an iReport. You take a closer look there and the dog is just dangling on the bottom. Now, a lot of people thought this was cute and, oh, they take the dog everywhere. It's part of the family, but some look at this and say, wait a minute. You're not supposed to treat your animal like this.

BERMAN: I will tell you, whenever I showed an animal clip on spanning the world, first call or e-mail would be from PETA. I mean, these people be all over your -- just keep showing it because it's always nice to get mail to hear from people.

CHETRY: You know what, I think the dog would like a tennis ball, perhaps, more than paragliding.

BERMAN: Oh, well, on the ground.

CHETRY: Len, you have a website as well, thatsports.com?

BERMAN: Yes. I send out a free daily e-mail. So, join the party. And you know what I think is really cool that you guys are going to sit with the Fox people and watch the State of the Union address tonight. So, I think that's very nice that you guys are all getting together.

CHETRY: Absolutely. Everyone is invited.

HOLMES: Me and Bill Hemmer, we already worked it out.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: Me and Billio (ph) where is going to much of the game.

HOLMES: Very cool. Together.

CHETRY: Thanks, Len.

HOLMES: Good to have you here.

CHETRY: Nice to see you.

BERMAN: Nice seeing you guys. Thanks.

HOLMES: Coming up here, we'll give you an update on the remarkable recovery of Gabrielle Giffords even though her rehab can't get started just yet. We'll explain why.

CHETRY: And this is what Len was referring to, who is going to be sitting next to whom at tomorrow's State of the Union address. It's date night in the Congress. John Avalon is going to be joining us to talk more about whether this is true bipartisanship or is this just phony (ph) show?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

HOLMES: Hello there. Bottom of the hour here on this "American Morning." Appreciate you all spending some time with us. T.J. Holmes here alongside Kiran Chetry. It is going to be cold in a lot of places, not just your normal cold. This is below zero type of cold.

Another storm system going to be really hitting the northeast and dropping temperatures in a major way. Also expecting another storm system in the south this week that could be bringing more snow.

CHETRY: Caught on tape is a car chase. A Utah state trooper punching the driver in the head, a 58-year-old woman, the officer is now under investigation. Broke through the driver's side window and punched her five times. Police say the woman was speeding and that he had to ram the car to stop her and that she refused to open the window.

HOLMES: And the fake mom is in custody. We're talking about Ann Pettway. There she is. She is the woman accused of taking 19-day old Carlina White from a hospital back in 1987. White and her real mom were just reunited last week. You saw that story. But the fake mom now in custody. Taken into custody in Connecticut, expected to make a court appearance today.

CHETRY: Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner will be in federal court in Phoenix this afternoon for an arraignment hearing. He could be hit with more charges including murder. Right now, he's only formally charged with three counts of attempted murder.

HOLMES: Now I want to give you another update on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' condition. As you know, she moved from Tucson over to Houston to go to rehab but she's not being allowed to start that rehab just yet.

CHETRY: She's made enormous strides but one thing that they're dealing with right now is fluid on the brain. The congresswoman is in the ICU this morning because of that. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen was there for Giffords' arrival. She joins us from Atlanta. So when we talked about the fluid on the brain, how soon will they know if this is something that's going to resolve itself.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, we were told, Kiran, on Friday, that at the beginning of this week, if they're going to start checking and seeing how that fluid is doing and if they can take the drain out of her head. She's got a drain that drains the fluid from inside her head to it outside.

Take a look at what I mean by this fluid. Over here would be a normal brain where there's some fluid. Over here you can see there's an overabundance of fluid. That pink is swelling. It's putting a lot of pressure on the brain. You have to drain that fluid. And as long as that drain is in her head, she has to stay in the intensive care unit. She can get a little bit of physical therapy but can't truly begin her full rehab until that drain comes out. Kiran.

HOLMES: And forgive my ignorance here. But you speak of it as a drain. How exactly is this taking place? How do you exactly drain the brain?

COHEN: You know, it's actually a lot simpler than it sounds. It's literally a drain. It is a tube that's placed in her head. It goes into - let me bring that up again. It goes into this fluid and brings it to outside her body. And so this is - what you've got is you've got a tube going from outside to inside the brain.

Now, as you can guess, this is not a great situation. You don't want to have this in there for too long. It's not unusual for someone to need it after her injury, but you can introduce infection relatively easily. So they really want to get that drain out of there. That's what they're aiming for.

Now, if there's still too much fluid they do something that's quite interesting. What they do is they take what's called the shunt. So they take kind of a drain and they drain it internally in her body and the fluid instead of going outside would stay inside her body and go to her abdomen.

So again, if there's too much fluid to take that drain out entirely, instead of draining it outside her body, they'll set it up so it drains inside her body. And some people walk around with those shunts for the rest of their lives.

CHETRY: And it sounds gruesome, of course. I mean, this is not something easy to recover from at all. But they're still noting her remarkable progress and noting some new things that she's able to do, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Right. They say she is way stronger, Kiran, than they thought she was. For example, and way more aware, too. She noticed, for example, that one of her nurses in Arizona, as she was coming back from Arizona to Texas, they noticed that she was looking at a ring that one of her nurses was wearing. So the nurse took off the ring and she held her nurse's ring and she twisted it around and she looked at it.

And then when the nurse went to take back the ring she held it. She didn't want to give it back. They said that showed a certain amount of coordination in her arm and that also showed that she had a sense of humor about keeping this ring. They've really been impressed with the strength on the left side of her body. Her right side not as much. But they've been impressed with the strength on her left side and one of the doctors told a little story about that when I was there a couple of days ago. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GERARD FRANCISCO, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR TIRR MEMORIAL HERMANN: At one point her leg was dangling off the bed. We asked her to bring her leg up. After a couple of seconds she brought her leg up without any further delay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So that doctor told me he didn't think that she would be able to take a leg that was dangling on the bedside and lift it up on top of the bed. He said he was actually pretty impressed with that. Kiran, T.J.?

HOLMES: So much of what she's done over the past two weeks has been impressive. But certainly wishing her the best as she continues her rehab. Thank you so much. Elizabeth Cohen.

And Mark Kelly, her husband, Gabrielle Giffords' husband, wants to stay by her side, even if that means giving up being by the side of the first lady at the " "State of the Union." Yes, an invitation has been extended to Mark Kelly to be at the "State of the Union," a special invitation to be in the first lady's box but in all likelihood, he will not make it, going to have to turn down that invitation because he wants to stay next to his wife in Texas.

Meanwhile, the intern, Daniel Hernandez, you saw a lot about him, it sounds like he's going to be going to the "State of the Union," telling the Arizona newspaper he's sitting in the first lady's box. We're trying to confirm this with the White House. But he's reporting he is doing so. He's the one in the picture there. You have seen so much about since that shooting, he was there, applying pressure to her wound. A lot of people crediting him with keeping her alive until the paramedics got there.

CHETRY: He also got the standing ovation when the president spoke at that memorial service as well. Well, it is capitol hill craze right now. Pairing off for the "State of the Union" address. Sitting by your member from the other side of the aisle.

Our John Avlon is going to be sitting next to me live in just a moment to talk about it. Is it just some political posturing or is it a true fresh start in terms of working together in Congress. We'll talk about it coming up.

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CHETRY: 40 minutes past the hour. They're calling it date night in Washington. Members of Congress pairing off with a colleague from the opposite party to sit next to you at the "State of the Union." So far 59 lawmakers have agreed to cross the aisle and sit together. And that includes New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. She is going to be sitting with South Dakota Senator John Thune. People joke it's the good hair pairing.

Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk and also southwestern senators Tom Udall and John McCain. So the big question is whether or not these seating arrangements will actually turn into any long- lasting bipartisanship or whether this is just a show. And joining me now to talk about it is CNN contributor John Avlon who has written a lot about the need for more civility in politics. So is this real bipartisanship or do you think this is just (INAUDIBLE).

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You can call this photo-op bipartisanship. It's a symbolic step in the right direction. And that's an improvement over what we've seen in Washington in recent years. They should be applauded for taking even this symbolic step.

CHETRY: It's interesting, not everyone is on board. Because the leader in the senate, Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the senate said he's not going to do. He went on to say, you know, people are more interested in actual bipartisan accomplishments than sitting arrangements. Does he have a point?

AVLON: Well, yes, sure. I mean, it's not, you know, the style and the issue at the end of the day, it's the substance. But if McConnell and other folks are going to say "I'm not even going to indulge in this. What is to make them think they're going to have good faith on actually building this one when it comes to real legislation.

The real question facing Republicans, in particular, is if President Obama as expected tries to reach out on some policy issues, are they going to meet him halfway or is there still going to be a wing in the Republican Party that's addicted to the no Obama strategy that they've used very effectively the first two years. I think there will be a misreading of where the American public is. A new Gallup poll showed over 80 percent of Americans want the president and Republicans to find a way to work together.

That's a pretty clear message. So I think it's incumbent on both of them to realize that and follow through on it.

CHETRY: Well it's interesting that you say that because there are some Republicans who say "look, I mean, we are not going to say yes to new spending in any way, shape, or form, regardless of how we want to put it, if we want to say, you know, it's for reinvesting in our nation, if it's for investing in innovation. And in fact, Georgia's Paul Brown called the sitting arrangement, he's a GOP congressman there. He said that it's a democratic trap and a ruse because it would stop Republicans from being able to express some reservations about the substance of the president's speech.

AVLON: Yes, let's consider the source here. This congressman was the first congressman with less than a week after President Obama's election in 2008 to compare the president to Hitler and a Marxist dictator.

CHETRY: Why do we love the Hitler references?

AVLON: Well, we don't. We have seen that and it is a symbol of Bush derangement syndrome on the left and Obama derangement syndrome on the right. But when a congressman with that kind of track record, criticizes an effort to reach across the aisle as some kind of a trap, I discount the source. He's clearly out of touch with the change the American people want to make. So we got to follow through on the real substance of this and it's going to be a real question.

There are things the president can't propose, like an infrastructure bank, like deficit reduction, like dealing with entitlement reform. The Republicans should be able to get behind but it will take some political courage to reach across that aisle. But it's out of what they've been conditioned to do in recent years.

CHETRY: Americans also like the idea too. 72 percent agreeing that they like the display of bipartisanship according to a new CNN opinion research poll. But they also - they also say, OK, fine, this could be a good first step. But we want to see further action.

AVLON: Absolutely. Look, that's what this is about. At the end of the day, this - the "State of the Union" address is the Super Bowl for policy walks. This is an opportunity to put policy ideas ahead and really set national agenda. But it's all about the substance, it's all about the follow through.

The photo-op bipartisanship is not enough. They really need to find the common ground they can find on policy legislation and then build on it. That's the opportunity. That's the obligation.

CHETRY: I just want to ask you one other quick question.

AVLON: Sure.

CHETRY: Rudy Giuliani, you were his speech writer for many, many years. He was asked whether or not he was going to throw his hat in the ring for president by Piers Morgan. It's airing tonight. It was interesting that He said it depends on what Sarah Palin does in a way. Meaning that he wants to sort of differentiate himself as a more moderate Republican voice. Is he going to do it again?

Well, look, he said he's going to keep the door open. I take Rudy at his word. I do think it's interesting though that there is an opening in the field. That centrist Republican tradition that used to be so strong right now is not represented by anybody obvious in the political field that's considering a run for 2012. So I think that's what Rudy was responding to. He's right, there is an opening in the field and not location.

CHETRY: Latest straw poll, New Hampshire, Romney topped the pack.

AVLON: 35 percent. He got out of the straw poll, Sarah Palin came in at seven.

CHETRY: All right. Well, it was great to talk to you.

AVLON: Always.

CHETRY: I know you'll be watching the State of the Union tonight (sic) to see if the seating arrangements will then perhaps bud into a new found bipartisanship.

AVLON: Let's hope so.

CHETRY: We'll see. Don't hold your breath, though.

Thanks so much. Well, you can watch the president's State of the Union address tomorrow night, live, CNN 9:00 Eastern. And our special coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

HOLMES: Meanwhile, we got some weather you need to be paying attention to. One part of the country getting bitter cold. Another part of the country going to see some rain, possibly snow. Rob Marciano up next. It's a quarter until the top of the hour.

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HOLMES: Good morning. Atlanta, Georgia. Beautiful shot. Thank you for panning over to us, for us there in downtown Atlanta. Looking at the skyline. Sun's starting to come up. It is going to be a beautiful 53 degrees there today. Right now it's about 34. But some more rough weather could be on the way for the south.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHETRY: We have our top stories coming up, including teachers grading parents, holding parents more accountable for how involved they are in their kid's education. We're going to talk about whether this idea would work or whether it would just lead to more finger pointing and blame.

HOLMES: And what now from the airline? A new fee possibly, for a carry on. Does your child qualify as one?

CHETRY: Well, you can't check the baggage if it is your kid.

HOLMES: There's that. It's 10 minutes until the top of the hour.

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CHETRY: Fifty-four minutes past the hour right now. You know, when it comes to marriage, money matters. It is often the number one cause of fighting among couples.

HOLMES: I did not realize that. Christine Romans here with us. And we talk about fighting about money, we're talking about you lying about debt, lying about a purchase.

ROMANS: All of these things. Lying about debt brought in to the couple, lying about how someone makes their purchases.

But it's fascinating to me because new research of married couples in the recession shows that couples who are paying down their debt and managing the crisis together are strengthening their marriages.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS (voice-over): This couple dugout of $80,000 of debt together. This financial adviser schedules financial date nights with her husband. And this student never hides her spending.

BRIANNA STRONG, STUDENT: I'm the spender. He's the money maker. But we are very conscious in saving, especially in this economy.

ROMANS: Not all couples are so in sync financially. Some bring huge debts into the relationship and hide them. Sometimes savers resent their spouse's spending, sometimes a spouse secretly spends for revenge, or independence.

(on camera): If you're doing little white lies about your money, does that show that either you don't trust your spouse or you're worried your spouse won't trust you?

JACQUETTE TIMMONS, AUTHOR, FINANCIAL INTIMACY: What else then are you not discussing in your relationship?

ROMANS: So, it's trust?

TIMMONS: It's trust because it's never just about the money. It's all about what is revealed as a result of that.

ROMANS (voice-over): Revealed in a recent survey, 31 percent of Americans who've combined their finances say they've lied to their spouse about money. Sixty-seven percent of those say it caused an argument. Sixteen percent broke up as a result.

Many of those lies are about debt, a potential marriage destroyer. Research from Utah State University show thrifty couples are happiest and too much debt can ruin a marriage.

JEFFREY DEW, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY: Couples with consumer debt tend to fight more, they're more stressed about their money. And some recent research that I've done even shows that consumer debt is associated with divorce.

ROMANS: He says a couple with $10,000 in debt and no savings is about twice as likely to divorce as a couple to divorce as $10,000 in savings and no credit card debt.

DEW: When your savings can take the financial pressure off, then couples are able to focus on each other rather than the financial problems that they have.

ROMANS: If the debt is unavoidable, then bring plenty of patience and a plan.

TIMMONS: How well do you communicate? Do you have the same shared values? Do you have the same goals.

ROMANS: Communication, after all, is free.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Bottom line, money can't buy you happiness exactly. But being careful about how you manage it together can make you happier. And that researcher Jeffrey Dew, he told me that even couples who have low income but have even $600 stashed away, are happier than couples with middle income or even high income but they have lots of debts.

So just having that cushion and no big debt, or working through that debt together is something that can strengthen the marriage. And that's what his research has showed again and again and during the recession.

CHETRY: The compatibility issue is key, too. I mean, people have -- people worry about all these ways that they're compatible when they're deciding whether or not to get married. Financial compatibility is key.

ROMANS: Absolutely.

CHETRY: You guys have to be going in the same direction.

ROMANS: Even if you are different -- a saver and a spender -- as long as you understand it. Also his research shows that couples who've been married together for a very, very long time have the fewest money problems of everyone because they have managed to work it out. Give a take all those years. So even a big money shock doesn't hurt a longer married couple like it does a younger couple.

HOLMES: These are fascinating. This is the second time you've given us one of these concepts (ph).

ROMANS: I love these kinds of stories.

HOLMES: These are great. These are great. Christine Romans, appreciate you, as always.

Quick break here. Your top stories coming up.

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