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American Morning
State of the Union: Bipartisan Dating Game; Giffords Still in Intensive Care; Teacher Locks Kid in Cage; McDonald's Price Hike; Oprah's Sister Shocker; Study: Heart Disease Costs To Triple By 2030; Can't Smoke In Your Own Car?; Moscow Airport Terror
Aired January 25, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, winning the future. It's the president's theme for tonight's State of the Union address. A blueprint for restoring America's greatness, but it's taking a backseat to the State of the Union's seating chart. It seems everyone is talking about who's sitting next to who at the big event tonight.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Also, Oprah Winfrey is revealing a family secret that her audience had no idea about. But the thing is, she had no idea about it either.
CHETRY: And someone's got a beef against Taco Bell. This morning, a lawsuit filed over the fast-food chain's definition of beef.
HOLMES: Also, parents are going to love this one. Your kids are going to hate it. A new bit of software that will allow you to spy on your child like never before.
CHETRY: That sounds fun.
Plus, the coldest city in America right now? We'll tell you which one it is coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Hope you'll join us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Good morning. We've got new and shocking video to show you of the moment of a terror attack inside a Moscow airport.
CHETRY: Also, hopeful new details this morning about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' recovery. Her husband, meantime, is considering whether he will go ahead with his mission to space. This is AMERICAN MORNING.
HOLMES: Hey there, everybody. And happy State of the Union day on this Tuesday, January 25th. I'm T.J. Holmes alongside Kiran Chetry.
The president probably still putting the finishing touches on that speech right now.
CHETRY: That's right. And a lot of people looking ahead to what he's going to say, some of the proposals out there and also, of course, the seating chart. HOLMES: How is that?
CHETRY: Bipartisan seating chart.
First, though, winning the future. That will be one of the main talking points of tonight's State of the Union address. President Obama is ready to lay out his plan for out-innovating, out-building and out-educating the rest of the world. He'll talk about reducing the deficit, investing in what makes America stronger and cutting what doesn't. And he'll once again tell Republicans and Democrats it's time to tone it down and work like a team.
HOLMES: Now what kind of mood are Americans into these days? So how are they feeling about the president, his job and also how things are going in the country?
We have a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll. The question was asked how well are things going right now. Well, the answer, 43 percent say well. That is actually up some 14 percentage points since December. Still, 56 percent out there are saying things are still going badly.
But look at the breakdown when you check into where people are living. The urban areas, suburban areas and rural areas. In urban America, 50 percent say things are going well. In the suburbs, 44 percent say things are going well. But then you go to rural America where 38 percent say things are going well. All of those numbers, though, are up from December.
CHETRY: Well, following the president's address comes the Republican response, but tonight it will be interesting. They'll be actually two Republican responses, one official and one from the Tea Party. Paul Ryan is the official GOP choice. The Wisconsin Republican has been handpicked to respond to the president's address by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
HOLMES: And then there's Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota congresswoman who will be giving a response as well. Now, the GOP is saying hey, she can do what she wants to do but our official response is coming from Ryan. She says she's actually been asked by the Tea Party to do this and she's taking advantage of it, and it will be covered on the Tea Party Web site but also CNN will broadcast her response as well.
CHETRY: Well, Chris Christie, apparently turning down the chance to deliver the Republican response. A source close to the New Jersey governor blames scheduling conflicts. But we're also told he could have made it work if he wanted to. Some have also speculated that he didn't want to talk about, you know, the need for balanced budget when New Jersey is suffering right now as well with major deficits.
HOLMES: And they have done something there in New Jersey. He has been able to balance the budget there. We have $11 billion, they were able to do. Had to cut a lot in that state as well, but he is seen kind of as a darling and kind of an example of how things can get done. Now the sideshow to so much of what's happening tonight. Yes, we're going to be listening to the president. A lot of people are going to be watching the audience to see how things shake out because it's date night in Washington, D.C., this idea of the two sides sitting together. Republicans and Democrats still separating, one on one side, one on the another.
You see the middle section there. That's kind of an area designated for a lot of bipartisan seating. Republicans and Democrats have kind of paired off. At least five dozen lawmakers have said they're on board with this idea, trying to at least a symbolic show of civility in Washington, D.C. And guess who else has a bipartisan date for tonight? Joe Wilson. Remember him?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.
REP. JOE WILSON (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: You lie!
OBAMA: That's not true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Himself back in 2009 when he heckled the president during the State of the Union and yelled out, "you lie." Well, Joe Wilson actually going to be making another splash tonight, if you will, in a way, because he actually has two dates. He's taking two women, Democrat Susan Davis of California and Madeleine Bordallo of Guam.
CHETRY: Cool.
HOLMES: You can see this at 9:00 Eastern tonight and see how this all plays out on this big night in D.C. Our coverage begins here at 7:00 Eastern Time. And, of course, you'll see the Republican response and then the Tea Party response from Michele Bachmann.
CHETRY: Plus, the first formal response from Tucson shooting suspect, Jared Loughner. He appeared in a federal court yesterday for his arraignment and entered not guilty pleas on his behalf, the judge did, the attempted murder charges of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her two aides. Prosecutors are also preparing to charge Loughner with the murder of six people during that rampage.
Now, he didn't speak during the hearing but he smiled a couple of times. People inside of the courtroom say his expression was similar to the one that you're seeing right there in his police mug shot.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, Gabrielle Giffords continues her recovery right now. She still has not been moved from the hospital in Houston to that rehab center, even though she does go through some physical therapy every day. The reason they hadn't move her yet, they're still monitoring this excess fluid on her brain. They continue to drain that. Her husband, Mark Kelly, the astronaut, he says he hopes the rehab could start possibly tomorrow or maybe the next day or the next. But as early as tomorrow he says. Also, he's having to decide whether or not he is going to continue with his work as the commander of the space shuttle mission that's going to take place, I believe, in April when Endeavour is scheduled to take off. But the training for it is going to start February 7th. He said he does not know if he'll be able to make that, but he is deciding.
CHETRY: Well, at 7:50 Eastern Time live from the International Space Station, we're going to be speaking with Scott Kelly. He is the twin brother of Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly.
Meantime, new developments this morning in a story that we first broke yesterday here on AMERICAN MORNING. A sad ending to this police situation. Two St. Petersburg, Florida, police were killed in a gun battle with a fugitive holed up in his attic of the house. Investigators say more than 100 shots were exchanged during this ordeal. The suspect was found dead in the house six hours after the shooting began. Police say they believed he opened fire on the officers when they showed up. They were trying to serve a warrant on an aggravated battery charge.
HOLMES: And listen to these numbers now. Kind of disturbing here. Fourteen officers killed in the line of duty so far this year. We're getting these numbers from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund which tracks these things. Now they say last year, 160 officers were killed in the line of duty. And that was a pretty stark jump from the year before where 117 officers were killed in the line of duty. But back to this year, in a 24-hour period between Sunday and Monday, 11 officers were shot in five states.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, Moscow on high alert after a suicide bomb blast killed at least 35 people in the city's busiest airport yesterday. There are new pictures this morning of the explosion. This is closed-circuit video showing the moment that a fireball tore through the international arrival section. There you see the blast. People running.
Russia says that dozens of people were injured, many critical. Some people were deafened by the explosion. Scary moments there. A Russian lawmaker says the attack has all of the hallmarks of Chechen rebels, but there's no claim of responsibility yet. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was quoted as saying that the airport should take some of the blame for a lack of security.
HOLMES: Let's turn to weather. And it has been dangerously cold in a lot of places, even deadly in some places as well. We take you to Saranac Lake, New York. That's a town where they had the coldest temperature, I believe, in the country. One at least of the coldest. This is the town in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. I believe they got to 30 or something below yesterday. But still, people bundled up and just went on out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brutal, brutal, brutal. Really cold. Really cold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five years ago, I used to live in Key West. Why the hell I did this, I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just have to expect it, although the minus 35 was more than I thought.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And check this out. This is an amazing picture. This car encased completely in ice. This happened sometime Sunday when a water pipe -- there's a better picture of it. There it is. A water pipe in New York ruptured. The car's owner says he tried to use a hammer and a screwdriver to try to break up the ice. That was no match. He eventually had to call city crews and they actually used steam to thaw it out. I heard later, though, the poor guy was watching the Jets game, a Jets fan. So to add insult to injury, he's watching his team lose, his car gets covered. And then as he was trying to chip it off, apparently he broke out the back window.
HOLMES: He had a bad day.
CHETRY: I mean, that really takes the cake.
HOLMES: And it's all the Jets' fault. It all goes back to that quite frankly.
CHETRY: Well, to give you an idea just how cold it was yesterday. This is an I-report from a man in Quebec. He was throwing a cup of hot water into the air. They love to do this because the steam then freezes.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened when it's minus 30 and you throw a cup of hot water into the air? That.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You see that. The little ice crystals falling right down?
HOLMES: Guess you had to be there.
CHETRY: I saw it. It was quick. OK. We should have slow-mo'd it.
Jacqui Jeras, maybe you can re-enact it for T.J. later.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. I have to come up there though. But the temperatures are so much better, by the way, and it only works in boiling hot water.
CHETRY: Right.
JERAS: Too cold water and did it, it wouldn't work.
HOLMES: Yes.
JERAS: So if you want to try that trick at home --
CHETRY: And don't stick your tongue on a metal pole either, OK, kids, if you're watching.
JERAS: Don't ever do that.
All right. Let's take a look at those temperatures in the northeast, so much better this morning. At least it was a quick hit, right?
Looking glass half full. We're looking at 20-degree temperatures. Almost nobody is below the zero mark this morning. So that's a little bit of good news for you.
Let's go ahead and take a look at our snow that's coming in across parts of the northeast. This is a really weak system, guys. It's just enough to cause a little bit of slickness on the roadways for your morning commute, but very little accumulation can be expected. And this is the big storm that we're talking about across parts of the south today, bringing in heavy rain, lots of travel delays expected. And cold air on the backside of this thing is going to start to bring some snow in some of the northern parts of the Deep South state. That thing is going to be riding up the coast. And we'll talk more about what kind of impact you guys can expect coming up in the next half hour.
CHETRY: Yes. We feel like it's downright balmy in the 20s.
JERAS: You'll love that.
CHETRY: You know, yesterday it was five degrees.
JERAS: Who needs a hat?
CHETRY: Exactly.
HOLMES: Jacqui, thank you.
Well, coming up, you remember there used to be a time when a teacher wants to punish a kid, maybe just put him in a corner. Well, nowadays they put them in cages and locking them up. We'll tell you what happened here and why the teacher is now in trouble.
CHETRY: Well, the price of your next McDonald's happy meal may be going up. We're going to tell you why the fast food giant says it may be forced to raise its prices.
HOLMES: Also, Oprah Winfrey has a secret about her family that nobody knew. She didn't know either. But she's letting everybody know about it now.
It's 11 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Well, a teacher in one high school is in a little bit of hot water this morning for an unusual time-out. She is on paid administrative leave after she dragged a freshman outside and locked him in a cage. Another classmate taped the whole thing. Hey, you know, it's the year of the cell phone video. One of the teacher's colleagues who wanted her identity to remain secret says that people have the wrong idea about this teacher.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are many, many, many teachers who would be extremely supportive and adore her. It sounded like she purposely locked someone up to be mean or mean-spirited. And she is completely the opposite.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, police say the cage is used for storage and potentially harmful things like chemicals and motor oil and I guess, disruptive kids. The teacher could face child abuse charges.
HOLMES: Let's get Steve Perry on the phone. This one ought to be good.
Also, you might have a tougher time finding a post office over the next coming years. The postal service announcing more cuts. The goal now is to close some 2,000 stations and branches in 2011. They already have about 500 closings under way. Postal service has been hit year after year with billions of dollars in deficits because more and more people are using the Internet to do things like pay bills. Also, less junk mail is going out in this down economy as well.
CHETRY: Well, Taco Bell facing some questions about what's really in its meat. There's been a class-action lawsuit filed from an Alabama firm accusing the chain of false advertising when it refers to using seasoned ground beef or seasoned beef in its food. Lawyers say that the meat in Taco Bell tacos does not even meet the minimum federal requirements to be called beef.
So I looked at some of the ingredients. There's water, there's wheat, oats, there's soy lecithin, there's maltodextrin, there's anti-dusting agents, and there's modified corn starch.
HOLMES: That's beef.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly. It tastes good. I know there's a little bit of salt in there, too.
The lawsuit is not seeking any money. They just want Taco Bell to be honest in its commercial. So, what should they call it? I know. The big, modified oat, wheat, corn starch Meximelt? It's hard.
Taco Bell says its advertisers - their advertising is not misleading.
HOLMES: OK, (INAUDIBLE), if you go to Taco Bell, you know you're not getting prime fillet, OK? You should know better. Christine, with McDonald's as well, would they have the same problem?
CHETRY: Right. You're not getting hand-ground sirloin. I mean, it's just not happening.
HOLMES: Come on.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: McDonald's actually could be raising its prices. I mean, that's something that we should all be looking for 2011. The company yesterday had a conference call with its earnings and said price rises could be coming.
We told you about this last quarter, because so many of the - the raw materials, the big things that McDonald's uses, are up very sharply. I mean, beef and chicken, those prices have skyrocketed over the past year. Wheat, makes their bread. Bread prices are up. Cheese, milk - those prices are up. So the average prices could increase about two to 2.5 percent.
McDonald's says it's going to raise prices and will raise them where it makes the most sense.
Keep in mind, McDonald's is a behemoth in this country, so it has a lot of power to hold prices down from its own supply - suppliers. The prices will increase on selected items, according to the company.
Other restaurant chains, some of the big, sort of casual dining restaurant chains, they found that they really can't pass on a lot of price increases to consumers because we're all very price sensitive, folks, and we just came through a big recession. We don't have all the spending money that we used to. So they're carefully trying to absorb as much of this as they can.
HOLMES: But wait, the prices we're talking about, how high up? They're only talking about a couple of percentage points. Now, that could turn out to be significant if you eat it long term, but, I mean, how much is that adding to the price of a burger?
ROMANS: Do you know it costs me like $30 to take my kids to McDonald's.
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) the same thing.
ROMANS: It's shocking. It's $30 that you (INAUDIBLE) to McDonald's.
CHETRY: I know. And we only have two.
HOLMES: But you're rolling up in a van and -
CHETRY: Yes. We roll up in a van. That's right.
ROMANS: I know.
CHETRY: And we order some food.
HOLMES: Yes. ROMANS: They have to get the Apple Dippers with the French fries -
CHETRY: Yes.
ROMANS: -- and the mill and -
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) You're feeding the dog too, the nuggets, the whole thing?
CHETRY: He eats a couple of the nuggets.
ROMANS: But look, I wanted to also tell you that chocolate prices are likely to rise, just in time for Valentine's Day. Ivory Coast - there's political unrest in the Ivory Coast. They banned exports of cocoa. Cocoa prices are through the roof. This is this whole big commodity surge I've been telling you about for months now. Chocolate prices are likely to rise as well.
And, you know, not - on a very serious note, you know, this is something they're going to be talking about in G-20 meetings. The - the president of France is concerned about commodity prices, concerned about price shocks in poor countries. So we can kind of joke about two, 2.5 percent at McDonald's, but this is a global issue that - that a lot of countries are concerned about, feeding the poor when prices are going so high. So watch this space.
HOLMES: All right. Christine Romans, we appreciate you. See you plenty throughout the morning.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
HOLMES: Thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, how about this one, new marijuana soda.
HOLMES: This - this sounds ridiculous.
CHETRY: Well, you don't know yet. You haven't tried it - right? Or have you?
HOLMES: Well, marijuana soda, no. Marijuana anything, no. Never even seen the stuff.
CHETRY: All right. Well, let me tell you about this. A California man's developing this line of marijuana soda. It's called Cana Cola. Get it? Cana Cola?
He compared it - like cannabis.
HOLMES: Oh, yes. Brilliant, really.
CHETRY: Apparently, it has the THC in it, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. He says it's like light beer because of the mildness of it. He tells the "Sta. Cruz Sentinel" that there are a variety of flavors, as we just saw there, Doc Weed, like Dr. Pepper, Lemon Lime, Sour Diesel, Grape flavored - HOLMES: Sour Diesel?
CHETRY: Yes.
And if he gets approval they would be sold only in the medical marijuana dispensaries.
HOLMES: Oh, OK. So everybody -
CHETRY: See?
HOLMES: You can't just pop in like little changes into a machine and get your marijuana.
CHETRY: Exactly.
HOLMES: Oh, OK.
CHETRY: I mean, you can, but you have to get a prescription for it.
HOLMES: Work for it (ph). OK. That's a little bit (INAUDIBLE).
All right. So, coming up, you may have heard Oprah Winfrey has a new family member she's introducing her audience to. This is a family member she didn't even know about.
CHETRY: And he didn't look hurt. That's what a lot of people were saying about Bears quarterback Jay Cutler when he had to leave Sunday's NFC title game with an injury. Well, now we know exactly what the doctors say is wrong with him.
Ten - 20 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, Oprah Winfrey has been saying for days that she has this big announcement, something that she herself didn't even know about. She shocked her audience by telling the world that she has a half-sister and that she just found out about her last fall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: My sister, Patricia, is here. Come on out, Patricia.
PATRICIA LLOYD, OPRAH'S HALF SISTER: One reason why I didn't give up is because I know that I needed to get it out, or get in touch with you so that no one else would put it out there. And then another reason is for my children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Patricia's nine years younger and she shares the same mother as Oprah. Oprah told her audience that her mother never revealed to anyone that she'd even been pregnant or given up the baby for adoption back in 1963. HOLMES: A nice moment there. We think we know everything about Oprah Winfrey sometimes, and she didn't even know some things about herself.
CHETRY: That's true.
HOLMES: Well, Conan O'Brien. What do you think? Do you think he got teared up about it? No. Listen to him on Oprah's big announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, LATE SHOW HOST: Today, Oprah Winfrey - did you hear this? She announced that she has found her half-sister who was given up for adoption as a child. Isn't that crazy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And then, so that no one felt left out, Oprah gave everyone in the audience their own half-sister.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Come on. That's good stuff.
HOLMES: That is good stuff.
CHETRY: NFL championship Sunday was a huge ratings grabber, by the way. Fifty-five million people watching the Steelers/Jets title game on CBS. That's the most ever for an AFC championship game.
And the NFC championship on FOX between the Packers and the Bear drew nearly 55 million viewers. All in all, it was the most watched conference championship Sunday in 29 years.
Len Berman on our show yesterday said this is - I mean, gangbuster ratings and it will be a shame if they can't work out their labor dispute -
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: -- and have an NFL season next year.
HOLMES: And storied - storied franchises were playing in those games. They're going to be in the Super Bowl as well.
But one story that kind of trumped the coverage after the games on Sunday, Jay Cutler, the quarterback of the Bears, he did not play the second half, pretty much the whole second half, because he was injured in some way, form or fashion. But as you watched him on TV, he didn't look like he was in that much pain, a lot of people would say. Didn't look like he was really being tended to by a lot of the trainers.
Well, it is official now, he does have an MCL sprain. He sprained that ligament in his knee when he got hit during that game.
Now, even after finding that out, a lot of people are still out there bashing him because he just didn't appear to be a leader. Some people saying you should have been kicking and screaming, and they would have had to - carted you off that field. It didn't seem like he cared that much is what they're saying. Current and former players are just blasting him.
But, hey, he knows his body better than anybody. Trainers know it as well. But this has been a story that just will not go away.
CHETRY: So he ended up tearing his MCL, that - that - one of the ligaments in the knee. So, if he wants to play again, he might have to get surgery.
HOLMES: He might. Yes.
CHETRY: All right. Well, he is happy that his Packers will be playing in Super Bowl XLV, but Bob Cook would have been in Dallas anyway. The 79-year-old belongs to the "Never Miss A Super Bowl Club." Bob and three other members of the club have been to all 44 Super Bowls. How cool is that?
They look familiar. That's because you've seen them in the Visa commercials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Visa commercial, that you'd like to see 50?
BOB COOK, NEVER MISS A SUPER BOWL CLUB: Oh, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the goal?
COOK: Well, I want to see 50, I want to see 100.
Super Bowls have become, you know, the end of my season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, for several years now the NFL has set tickets aside for the club. Bob Cook says that the league actually tested him to make sure that he attended each and every Super Bowl. You have to have photo proof or something?
HOLMES: I don't know how they do that. He might have - he probably has most of those ticket stubs. But no, that's a great feat. That's a great feat.
Well, coming up, she is the woman accused of keeping a family apart for 23 years. Well, is it only right that she gets 23 years in return?
CHETRY: And off the street, out of rehab, the latest in the saga of Ted Williams, the homeless man with the "golden voice".
Twenty-seven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: A shot of New York City skyline this morning. Where, boy, we're celebrating because it's 25. Hot, hot, hot out there. Yesterday was five degrees, so a 20 degree difference today.
Thirty-eight degrees for a high today, more in line with what it's like this time of year. Last past couple of days, record cold.
HOLMES: Well, glad you could be here for it.
CHETRY: Yes.
HOLMES: Glad you could be here with us this morning. Bottom of the hour, T.J. Holmes here, alongside Kiran Chetry. Glad you're here.
The State of the Union. It is that day. This is coming up tonight. The president will deliver a message that will focus, of course, on the economy and on jobs.
But, as a side show, a lot of people wondering how the dynamics and how the logistics of all this is going to go down with the seating arrangement. There's a new call for civility in Washington and some Democrats and Republicans are vowing to sit next to each other versus sitting on opposite sides as they traditionally do.
CHETRY: Recovery is still progressing for Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She is still, though, in the intensive care at the Houston hospital because of the fluid on her brain. Doctors say she can't start officially going into rehabilitation until the fluid is drained.
But she is still getting three hours of physical therapy each and every day in the ICU, according to sources. And her husband, Mark Kelly is hopeful that she can't be transferred to the rehab facility perhaps as early as tomorrow.
HOLMES: Well, at least two deaths now have been linked to the brutal cold some parts of the country have been experiencing. More snow is expected in the Northeast tomorrow, already dealing with that cold snap I just mentioned. Also, we got heavy rains and also the threat of tornados to talk about in the south. We'll have our meteorologist along here in just a moment with an update.
CHETRY: Well, she wanted a baby so badly she allegedly is now admitting that she took one that was not her own. That was the story laid out in court documents yesterday against accused kidnaper Ann Pettway. The FBI is now admitting that -- now saying that she admitted to them that she stole Carlina White from a New York hospital 23 years ago. Pettway was charged with one count of kidnapping.
White was reunited with her biological family last week. A reunion we showed you.
Her aunt is saying that the punishment should fit the crime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REGINA TYSON, CARLINA'S AUNT: She should get 23 years, the same amount of time that she took away from our family. She should serve that much time behind prison.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Pettway is being held without bail. Carlina White is now back in Atlanta with her own child, but is staying in touch with her family.
HOLMES: Well, he gave up one of the most powerful jobs in Washington to go back for his dream job of being mayor of Chicago. Now, it looks like that might not be possible for Rahm Emanuel. An appeals court has now said he does not meet the residency requirement there in Chicago, which means he would have to live there for at least a year before the election. And they have decided to kick him off the ballot.
Still, he has hope of appealing to the Illinois Supreme Court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAHM EMANUEL, FMR. WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: When the president asked you to serve the country as his chief of staff, that counts as part of serving your country. And I have no doubt that we will, in the end, prevail at this effort. As my father always used to say, nothing is ever easy in life. So, nothing is ever easy. So, this is just one turn in the road.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, a recent poll showed Rahm Emanuel running way ahead, close to 45 percent. Second place, Carol Moseley Braun.
Last night, our John King asked the former senator what she thought of this ruling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL MOSLEY BRAUN (D), CHICAGO MAYORAL CANDIDATE: You know, the law is the law. And I'm a great believer in the rule of law. And I support what the court did.
Remember, we have requirements, residency requirements for police and fire and teachers. And so, the court's interpretation is one that, frankly, doesn't surprise me. And today -- as of today, of course, you know, Mr. Emanuel will not appear on the ballot. I don't know if that could change. But politics in Chicago is a rollercoaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Yes. Early balloting goes, I think people can start submitting early ballots in a week and then the election is less than a month away. So, if it goes all the way up to the state Supreme Court, they'll have to decide pretty quickly.
HOLMES: They're going to try to do this quickly.
CHETRY: Well, even Vice President Joe Biden can't get out of jury duty. That should make you feel better if you're having to do, your civic duty. The vice president showed up at a courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, yesterday. He was dismissed, though, after a couple hours.
Biden told a local paper that he was happy to be fulfilling his civic duty.
HOLMES: Dismissed in a couple of hours.
CHETRY: Yes.
HOLMES: How many people sitting up in jury duty but you got Secret Service sitting all around. It's a crowd at courtroom.
But that is cool. Elena Kagan, I believe, Supreme Court justice, she had it not too long ago. Eric Holder, he had been called for jury duty. So --
CHETRY: A lot of cases, busy, busy, busy.
HOLMES: In Washington, D.C. apparently.
Well, this is the story that really captured everybody for a while there -- the homeless man, the golden voice, you remember the guy, Ted Williams, just found on the street, had a golden voice that really made him a YouTube sensation. And then he was a sensation nationally.
But then he ended up in rehab, admitting that he had been drinking again. He was in there voluntarily for 12 days, but now he has checked himself out of rehab, against medical advice, not sure exactly where he is right now. What he is doing. But we hope -- certainly hope he is OK.
A lot of people had concerns that maybe this instant stardom and jobs and all these accolades and things that were being thrown at him was too much for him to handle after what he had been through the past several years of his life.
CHETRY: Right. I mean, it was tough. I mean, Dr. Phil was apparently paying for his rehab, and saying he'd pay for it as long as he wanted to stay. And then as you said, he's fielding all these offers, managers calling him. It's very overwhelming.
So, we'll continue to follow it, of course, wish him the best.
Panhandling is protected, by the way, by the First Amendment. A court in New York upholding a ruling in favor of a man who was arrested in 2006 for asking a police officer for some money. Well, his attorney said it's all about free speech. The state repealed a law against panhandling after his arrest.
HOLMES: Well, coming up, the hunt is on for the person or people responsible for a bombing at the Moscow airport that killed 35 people. The update is coming up.
CHETRY: And does Pope Benedict like Facebook? He's blessing facial networking but it also comes with a warning. We'll tell you what the pontiff said.
It's 35 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Just a devastating suicide bomb blast yesterday in Russia, at the airport in Moscow, the busiest airport. Thirty-five people killed. And right now, they're trying to figure out who may have been behind it. President Dmitry Medvedev said that airport management is partly to blame because of the lack of security.
HOLMES: Our Zain Verjee is following this and other big international stories for us in our London bureau.
Zain, good morning to you.
And he didn't really mince words here. He was blaming that airport and some security lapses.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he said the security just was not good enough. Today there are so many people in Moscow just scared. The city is on high alert. You've got 35 people dead, at least 100 people wounded.
I want you guys to take a look at the video because it captures the exact moment the explosion happened. You can see passengers in the video like pulling suitcases, just like you always do in an arrivals' baggage claim area. And then, all of a sudden, boom, there's a huge ball of fire that's total chaos, people are running, screaming, being taken away on stretchers as well.
There was one eyewitness, guys, that saw a man go in with a briefcase shortly before the explosion. But the investigation is still looking at all angles.
CHETRY: And we know there's no claim of responsibility. Any -- I mean, usually in these types of situations, of course, they first look to perhaps Chechen rebels?
VERJEE: Yes. I mean, it's not clear who did this -- but yes, you're quite right, Kiran. Suspicion has fallen on militants in an area that they call the North Caucasus.
And these are militants that have in past wanted a separate break-away Chechen state. They also want their own Islamic state like a caliphate, that they -- that they all give for.
But the main thing they did here, guys, was to grab the headlines. And that was the point they were making.
HOLMES: All right. One other, let's turn the corner here to another story. A Korean ship attacked by pirates but a rescue was put together?
VERJEE: Yes. This was a very difficult, very dramatic and dangerous thing that happened on the high seas. I want you to take a look at this video. It's a play-by-play of a South Korean commando operation to rescue their ship.
There were 21 hostages on it. These guys went in there. They alerted the South Koreans in their own language, that, guys, we're coming in. They killed eight Somalis and then miraculously managed to get 21 of the crew out of there safely.
The reason that this story is important to us, the United States, even though it's happening out on the high seas is because when you have these pirates out there, what they do is, is that they block the economic supply chain of goods. So, stuff that you buy on the shelves, gas that you use to fill your car up with is affected because it could drive the prices up and also the money these guys get, something like $3 million to $4 million in ransom on average. There are a lot of fears that a chunk of it goes to militants called Al Shabaab that want to kill Americans.
CHETRY: It's certainly a tough situation. And then also, to see how this ended, it's pretty rare for a commando raid, isn't it?
VERJEE: And it is. And the number one reason for that is because it's really just risky. The only instance that it usually happens is when there's an area known as the citadel. This is like a strong room with a tough door that you can't shoot into. And crews will keep things like food, communications, and water. They'll have a bathroom and they'll just stay there when pirates board the ship.
And so, it's easier to conduct a rescue operation like this. So, this was dangerous because there were 21 crews out there. There was no citadel for them to safely go into. And as you saw from those pictures, there are a lot of bullets on that ship.
What this does, though, it puts a lot of pressure on other navies to take action like this.
CHETRY: That's right. It puts the pressure on the pirates, too, perhaps.
Zain Verjee, thanks so much. And you can catch Zain every morning on "WORLD ONE," right here on CNN, 5:00 a.m.
HOLMES: Well, the pope, he doesn't have a Facebook account of his own. But he is giving his blessing to social networking. There's a good opportunity but an opportunity for you to spread the gospel.
But listen to this, folks, and whether you're Catholic or not, you might want to listen to the pontiff on these words. He says this is no substitute for human contact, and it's wrong to always be available online but not present with friends in your daily life.
So, some people get caught up in these things. No matter what, those are some good words to live by. CHETRY: So, technology a good thing. In some cases, maybe not so good, especially if you're a teen trying to get away with some stuff.
If you want to protect your kids when they leave the house, there is a new software out there that allows parents to use the same technology that private investigators do to basically tap into their kids' cell phones undetected, spy on your kids. You can actually see who they're texting, see who they're calling. You can control their text messages, e-mails and even track their location with GPS. It's called Big Daddy Sy.
And your kids, again, don't even know it's happening. It works on all major mobile networks. They say the standard package starts at $100 with a $10 monthly fee.
HOLMES: OK. We talk about teenagers there. But there's got to be a spouse or two out there that's looking to get Big Daddy Spy on a phone right now.
CHETRY: Cool.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: You know, I love the new advances in technology. They make life so much easier.
HOLMES: OK, folks, still to come this morning, we're telling you about this cold weather, yes. It's been dangerous as well. We'll give you the update on the next bout of crazy weather you need to deal with.
CHETRY: And cracking the window may not be enough anymore. Soon, you may not be able to smoke and drive in some places. Supporters say it's not about you. It's about your kids.
Forty-four minutes past the hour.
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HOLMES: Quarter to the top of the hour. You're taking a live look at Washington, D.C. this morning where it will be cold, but we'll see if things warm up a bit tonight for the State of the Union Address. A lot of people going to be hanging on to the president's every word, but a lot of people curious about just some of the theatrics in the room.
A lot of Republicans and Democrats saying they're going to sit together as a symbolic gesture of civility this evening, breaking with the tradition of the two sides sitting on opposite sides of the chamber there. We'll see how they goes, but 46 degrees for you, folks, a little later today in Washington, D.C.
CHETRY: "A.M. House Call" for you now, and it is already the number one killer in America. A new report says that the medical bills for heart disease expected to triple in the next two decades to almost a trillion dollars in 2030. The American Heart Association says heart disease now costs $273 billion a year to treat in the U.S. alone. That's almost one-fifth of the nation's medical spending.
HOLMES: You can't smoke inside in a lot of places, you can't smoke outside in a lot of places, now, you can't smoke in your car. This is not happening in the U.S. However, we are talking about a push to ban smoking in vehicles in Alberta, Canada. Now, this proposal would make it illegal to smoke in the vehicle with someone with under the age of 16. Again, this is happening in Alberta, but there are several other provinces and territories in Canada that have already put into place bans like this. So, they are just following along in a recent trend.
CHETRY: Some places in America, you can't smoke outside anymore, some villages they have that.
HOLMES: Sidewalks and things like that. Yes.
CHETRY: Off limits. It's 48 minutes past the hour right now. Let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Jacqui Jeras in the Extreme Weather Center for us. You guys are still tracking the storm, right? Trying to figure out where that's going to go up to northeast.
JERAS: Yes. It's a real tricky forecast, and you know, just a couple of miles either side is going to have a huge difference on the P-type as we call it or the type of precipitation that you're going to be getting. Definitely snow, though, this morning, just a weak little system moving on through here, enough to be a nuisance more than anything else. You'll get 2 inches or less definitely out of this thing, but it's enough to, you know, make things little dicey for you driving in this morning.
Now, this is the big storm that we're talking about, and this is the system that we're going to be watching throughout the entire week ahead. We've got an area of low pressure that's developed down here in the Gulf Coast. It's bringing heavy rain across the Deep South at this hour. Likely to bring severe thunderstorms across parts of Florida by, say, the afternoon hours. And we could even see a couple of twisters out there associated with this in Florida.
And then, we think it's going to be riding up the coast. So, the big question is in terms of what kind of rain are we going to get and what kind of an impact is that going to be having on your travel? Today, we're expecting some delays just in the morning for Boston. I don't think it's going to be too bad, maybe 15 to 30 minutes. Atlanta and Memphis, looking at 30 to 60, closer to 60, probably, for Atlanta because of the rain and the clouds, and then those thunderstorms expected to cause problems in parts of Florida.
And Chicago, you got some clouds. So, that could cause some minor delays. All right. Here's the storm as it tracks off to the east. So, it's going to be pulling up a lot of warm air. So, primarily, a rain event for the Deep South, but places like Huntsville, Alabama, Memphis, and then Nashville should pick up a little bit of snowfall with this. It's intense into the northeast. Best estimate is this is going to be primarily a snow event. Heaviest accumulations in parts of Connecticut and probably up towards the Boston area. New York is kind on the fence. So, we could see a little bit of a mix here. We'll have to wait and see as that next model run comes in, but I'm thinking more snow than anything for New York City. Let's take a look at an iReport. You, guys, are talking about things being banned in Canada.
Here's something that should be banned in Canada. Our iReporter, Corrine Carlson, sent us this from Edmonton, Canada. It's a shot of her husband, yes, snow blowing on the roof. Hello, kind of dangerous, don't you think? But you worry about the weight of the snow. You know, you got to get that off because they have problems when they get so much accumulation and it starts to warm up a little bit, the weight of the snow becomes too heavy and they worry about it collapse. I would not suggest doing this at home.
CHETRY: Yes. There's going to be a safer way. Oh, man. All right. Thanks --
JERAS: They make snow rakes, you know? You can pull it down with the snow rake.
CHETRY: I know. Man. All right. I guess, he wanted to just try something new. Get it done quicker. Thanks, Jacqui.
HOLMES: Jacqui, thank you.
Coming up here in just a few minutes, your top stories for the day. Also a story a lot of people are talking about, Oprah Winfrey introducing the country to her newest family member.
CHETRY: Also up next, a new Nintendo Wii bowling record, perfect, close to 3,000 times. Had to be an 8-year-old? Think again.
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HOLMES: We're about six minutes until the top of the hour. There is nothing better in all of bowling, right, than a perfect game, to bowl a 300. Take a look at the tournament of champions happening in the PBA. This was over the weekend, and this particular bowler, he had to throw one ball, one strike, and it would be a perfect game. Check it out.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For perfection. Come on, messenger, come on!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No! No!
CHETRY (voice-over): That's got to hurt.
HOLMES (voice-over): Yes.
CHETRY: Look at that. Even the one slides over.
HOLMES: Like it was supposed to happen, the 10-pin dangles. He misses the perfect game by one pin. He bowled a 299. He ends up going on and winning the tournament. This was actually just in the semifinals. So, he got 250 grand. It made him feel a little better, but one of the most interesting parts of this story is that the guy he was playing against in this bowling tournament, in this match, he's trying to get 300. The other guy barely even broke 100.
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HOLMES (on-camera): A professional bowler.
CHETRY (on-camera): You know, if you're off your game, you're off your game.
HOLMES: He was way off that day.
CHETRY: They also shouldn't have used that double stick tape on the 10-pin. That was not fair. That's cheap.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: Hey, a Wisconsin man earning his spot in the Guinness World Record. This wasn't for bowling, for real bowling. This is Wii bowling. An 85-year-old John Bates, he recorded 2,850 perfect games. The other guy was just trying for one. He had 2,850 perfect games in April 2009 to October of 2010. He's a retired school principal. He started playing Wii bowling at a friend's house in 2008, and he hasn't stopped since. He said his next goal is moving on now to Wii golf.
HOLMES: How many games?
CHETRY: 2,850 perfect games.
HOLMES: How can you get that many games in?
CHETRY: He's been doing it since April 2009.
HOLMES: And he's retired, right?
CHETRY: Right.
HOLMES: At a friend's house. I --that friend wants to leave the --
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Start about now. Great here, folks. Your top stories coming up next.
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ANDREW ZIMMERN, BIZARRE FOODS HOST: Hey, everyone. Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel, and I'm on the road about 32 weeks a year. I think when you're traveling, you're challenge and learned things about yourself that you can't learn any other way. I learn more in a country market or a city market, for that matter, about a country and a culture than I do in a museum. And from there, I can access everything. I'll eat tarantulas in Skuon, Cambodia because everywhere you go, there's women walking around with trays and trays and trays, and I can tolerate that stuff. I guess, that was the right stomach for this job. I also am smart enough to avoid things that I know were trip to the hospital. My wife got me into rolling. I also do pants laying on the bottom and stick the ends out and wrap them around, so they don't wrinkle.
I also have like two indestructible bags that I've had forever. It could, you know, fire an RPG and nothing would happen. I would be doing what I do. Few (ph) weeks a year, if wasn't work for the Travel Channel. I'd still be living and traveling this way. It's what I love most in the world.
See you later.
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