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American Morning
Return to Normalcy in Egypt; WikiLeaks Founder Back in Court; U.S. Hikers On Trial In Iran; The 30-Second Super Sale
Aired February 07, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour and welcome to this AMERICAN MORNING on this February the 7th, the day after the big game. I'm T.J. Holmes.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
Yes, it's a big game. It was an exciting game actually. The championship Vince Lombardi Trophy is going back home, as they like to say, to title town, Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers held on to beat the Steelers, 31-25, in Super Bowl XLV. They scored 21 points off of three Steeler turnovers.
HOLMES: And Brett Favre, ah, Aaron Rodgers is the new man in Green Bay, leading his team, three touchdown pass. He's named Super Bowl MVP. That is something Brett Favre never was named Super Bowl MVP. The head coach says the Lombardi trophy is going back exactly where it belongs, Green Bay.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE MCCARTHY, PACKERS HEAD COACH: We fully expected to win this game. This is our time. We talked about it since the first day we watched film. We could see the confidence building as preparation week went on and on and on.
And it's the last thing for the team, when we broke the meeting today. This is our time. Super Bowl XLV, it's time to take the Coach Lombardi trophy back home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: This is their fourth Super Bowl victory in Packers franchise history. The first they've won since 1997.
CHETRY: There was absolutely nothing super about the big game for 400 fans who were literally left out in the cold. It was a major goof, finger-pointing. No one is owning up to what happened. But all we know is that construction wasn't complete on six sections of seats which meant that they were deemed unsafe.
So, they handed out form letters to 1,200 fans displaced, 850 of them were relocated to what they are calling equal or better seats. The fans are quibbling with that this description. But 400 others were just told, "Sorry, there's no place for you."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very disappointing. It's not the money. It's not an issue. We came here for memories and it's not happening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't have any row let alone the section we are suppose to be in, 43A, row 31, the section is closed. We don't have a seat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we flew in all the way from Green Bay here to be at the game. And this is really ridiculous. Absolutely poor customer service. The worst thing you can ever see.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was terribly mismanaged and we are just beside ourselves. I don't know how this is going to come out. We can't see the game. They've shuttled us into this area. I can't see a positive outcome.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
CHETRY: You got to feel bad for her.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: Crying, Steelers fan, all the way to Dallas, who knows how much money they spent, time off from work, no seats.
All right. Well, fans complained about the long lines of security before the game. Many of them said that it actually took hours to get into the stadium. It sounds like fun.
HOLMES: You know, it's too bad. The guy summed up it well. It's not just about the money. It's about the memories we came here for.
A lot of stars last night, we talked about Aaron Rodgers, the MVP. There's another little star you're going to be hearing more and more about that was in one of the Super Bowl commercials last night. He is the little guy. He's a little Darth Vader. There he is.
He's trying to use the force in this commercial. You may have seen it last night. We're learning more about the guy who you don't see in the commercial. You don't see his face is 6-year-old Max Page. A little fellow was born with a congenital heart defect. And he's talked to reporters about this whole experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX PAGE, "DARTH VADER" IN VOLKSWAGEN AD: Starred on the commercial. I was just thrilled to have a commercial. I've never -- like a movie I've never even seen. So I just tried my best. And when I found the director, he said he has his own little move.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, the little guy, if you don't know the commercial, what happened at the end there, he's trying to use the force and his dad is in the kitchen and hits a button to start the car and the little guy thinks he did it with the force. And you see his reaction there.
And watch him here at the end. Wait for him. Watch him turn around.
So, that was the commercial. But everybody was talking about that. Now, as far as the congenital heart defect he has, doctors say his prognosis is really good. With care, he should be able to live a full life.
CHETRY: That's awesome. He's adorable. And it's hard to have a reaction with a mask on and he pulled it off, you know? So cute.
Well, here's another guy that a lot of people love to watch in commercials -- the Old Spice guy, ready to ride again, suave, always shirtless. Isaiah Mustafa will be appearing in three news spots for Procter & Gamble's deodorant. The first debuts today.
But, first, he's appearing live with us. He's going to be joining us in 15 minutes.
HOLMES: But, right now, let's turn to give you the updates about what we're seeing in Egypt. The talks are happening between the Mubarak government and at least six opposition groups. And there are also some signs that life slowly may be returning to normal in Cairo and other parts of Egypt.
Anti-government protesters stayed in Tahrir Square over the weekend. Things for the most part peaceful there this morning. Some anxious moments, though, we saw yesterday. The military at some point were firing guns overhead of the demonstrators. Not a lot of injuries or deaths to report, though, from the past couple of days.
Back to that normalcy I just mentioned. Banks are starting to reopen. Egyptians are being allowed to withdraw cash.
The stock market is still closed. But they anticipate opening it in the next couple of days. Some malls and shops still shut down. Others though are starting to reopen. Still some fears of looting out there.
Now, the talk between the opposition groups and the government continue. One opposition leader, Mohamed ElBaradei, says the change needs to be real.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMED ELBARADEI, OPPOSITION LEADER: You need to engage. You need to engage the civilians. You need to -- it should not just be the military, the outgoing regime, running the process of change. People are not -- are not believing that. Any feeling people will get, Fareed, that it is an effort to abort the revolution, the peaceful revolution, it would turn violent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Meantime, Ivan Watson is live in Cairo this morning with more on the situation.
So, we've been talking about this relative calm. Is it staying that way Monday?
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, you may be able to hear in the background the sounds of car horns beeping. You got gridlock traffic on some of the bridges over the Nile River, which have been shut amid the disturbances over the last two weeks. A lot of stores back open, some banks, though they've been closing early, we've heard. And there are some long bank lines as well.
But schools are still closed, at least for another week. And as T.J. mentioned, the stock market still closed -- if you want a barometer of how much life is getting back to normal.
In the meantime, the demonstrators are still in Tahrir Square over my shoulder, thousands of them there. The tent city there has grown.
And the tensions between the demonstrators and the military, which have encircled the barricades there, have escalated some. Take a listen to this moment, this tense moment that we witnessed last night when soldiers opened fire warning shots after an altercation broke out with some of the demonstrators.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
WATSON: Nobody was hurt there, fortunately. They were warning shots. The soldiers were quite nervous. Thousands of demonstrators surrounded them after a dispute over short-term detention of one demonstrator.
We are showing you a bit of the square right now. The demonstrators say despite some of the talks with the opposition, they are going to hold their ground. They still want the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down.
They refuse request from the military to open the way for normal traffic. And there's a monster building over there that they have encircled, a government building. And they have not been allowing government workers to show up for work there -- Kiran.
CHETRY: So, a little more chaos than what we heard earlier. Things are still pretty tense there. Ivan Watson for us this morning in Cairo -- thanks so much.
HOLMES: Well, our Rob Marciano, keeping an eye on the weather for us. Say good morning to him once again.
Hey there, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
I got a couple of storms that are making their way across the United States -- surprise, surprise. Not a blockbuster blizzard of any sort, but some nuisance weather for sure.
First, across the Southeast, two systems that are trying to kind of phase together, heavy rain across the Florida panhandle that's moving up to the Northeast and some snows or rain turning to snow in places like Memphis, Tennessee. Right now, it's about 40 degrees, a little light dusting across parts of Arkansas. And that's heading up towards the Paducah as well, and maybe up towards Louisville.
And towards the Northeast, where temperatures are right around the freezing mark. So, that means that things are going to be interesting, I think, tonight.
Here's how the computer models say the phasing is going to happen as the system makes its way up towards the north and east. The want to the left takes over, of the west, and that will go rain to snow. But we don't expect a ton of accumulation. So, that's the good news.
I think you guys had enough in New York for a few last weeks?
CHETRY: Yes. We're good -- we're good for the year. We're good for the next five years actually.
MARCIANO: We're trying to turn off the spigot for just a little bit.
HOLMES: We appreciate that, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: Thanks.
HOLMES: Thanks. We'll talk to you here soon.
CHETRY: Well, armed robbers usually don't get style points. But this guy who held up a convenience story in Kings County, Washington, Saturday night might be the exception. The owner, John Henry, says that he's been robbed four times since he's owned the store, but never by someone as polite. In fact, surveillance cameras captured their exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you do me a favor?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you empty that till, please, put it right here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you mean?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Empty the till. (INAUDIBLE) I'm robbing you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you sure?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm sure. I really am sorry to have to do this, but I got kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about I give you $40?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I can't do that, sir, I got rent to pay, bills and the kids need to eat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That was quite an unusual exchange. Henry described the robber as a man in his late 50s and 60s, about six feet tall, and he apparently said, "When I get back on my feet, I'll pay you back. I'll come and give you the money back."
HOLMES: You know, that's so telling. I mean, you can't ever excuse someone robbing someone. But when you hear something like that, the guy sounded certainly genuine. It sounded like he just hated to be doing what he was doing. But we'll see how this works if he ends up being caught.
CHETRY: Up next on AMERICAN MORNING: the ultimate inside job, airline workers allegedly conspiring to bring illegal drugs into the U.S. on airplanes. Our Deb Feyerick has an exclusive report. Still ahead.
HOLMES: Also, I'm sure you probably noticed, things a little different at the gas station. The price of crude oil is going up, so that means the price you're paying at the pump is going up. Just how high?
CHETRY: Also, commercials for the Super Bowl, some are creative, others daring, many expensive, a couple of controversial. We're going to break down the hits and the misses.
Eleven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Thirteen minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Two former airline workers arrested at JFK Airport are going on trial. They were charged with drug trafficking and running a sophisticated operation out of one of this country's busiest airports.
CHETRY: And it's not just JFK. The problem is affecting many of the nation's airports.
CNN's Deb Feyerick joins us now with this exclusive enough close look you won't see anywhere else.
As we know, drug traffickers are always looking for, you know, new ways to sort of game the system and they found one.
DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And they are very, very clever.
The case that you mentioned, well, it involves a baggage handler accused of using corrupt airlines employees to collect these drugs brought in by commercial jetliners. It is a suspected internal conspiracy and it has to be timed just right in order to retrieve the drugs during a very small window of time.
It's not just an inside job. Officials say it is also a threat to national security.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): It's in crew seats, food carts, control panels, toilets. Drug traffickers are using commercial planes to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars of narcotics into the United States, from places like South America and the Caribbean.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is all the flight controls, flight computers. We've discovered narcotics underneath the floor in here.
FEYERICK: These special agents are with homeland security investigations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this covering is easily removed.
FEYERICK: They work intelligence, intercepting drugs like cocaine and other contraband.
(on camera): If they can bring in drugs or guns, they can hide potentially bomb components anywhere in here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the most troubling thing to me.
FEYERICK: What makes an internal conspiracy so complicated is that the people involved work for the airlines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Primarily, baggage handlers. We also arrested mechanics, flight attendants, security guards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the first places we go to is generally the cockpit.
FEYERICK: That's a pretty gutsy thing to be putting narcotics in the cockpit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. I mean, you're sitting right next to the first officer and the captain. The organizations will actually construct bricks to fit in these locations.
FEYERICK: You could be a passenger sitting on drugs and you never know it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At New York street prices, you could be sitting on a $100,000 worth the products.
FEYERICK (voice-over): And timing is everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have an hour and a half to get the passengers off the plane, to get the bags of the plane, to get all the narcotics and then to get that plane prepared for its outbound trip.
FEYERICK: Some 200 corrupt airline workers have been arrested since 2003.
JAMES T. HAYES, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, ICE NY: With our investigations, the goal is to stop it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Now, in the last eight years, teams of JFK have seized 2,600 pounds of cocaine, 150 pounds of heroin and a lot of marijuana. Officials say they don't believe it compromises the actual physical integrity of the planes but one hiding place happens to be in life vest compartments, and all life vests are removed. The whole operation very risky. We're told, in some cases, drug traffickers will actually pay for mechanics to go get training and then they brought in as part of this whole operation.
CHETRY: That's astounding. And how much money can these traffickers make?
FEYERICK: We're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars brought in on these commercial planes. Sometimes, you'll hear a story that the plane has been sort of set aside a runway and everybody thinks, oh, it's a bomb. It's a bomb. What it maybe is somebody has breached security of the plane and gone to try to get drugs, and they were in the place that they weren't supposed to be. So, that's another possibility.
HOLMES: All right. Deb Feyerick. Interesting look there. Thanks so much this morning.
CHETRY: Thanks, Deb.
New this morning, WikiLeaks founds, Julian Assange back in a London courtroom today. He's appearing at a two-day hearing to decide whether or not he'll be extradited to Sweden to face rape allegations from two Swedisj women. Assange is out on bail and has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing saying the relations were consensual.
HOLMES: Also in Iran, the trial is going on for three American hikers who are accused of spying. Reports say that they have entered not guilty pleas. The trial is close to the press, however. Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, and Sarah Shourd were all detained back in 2009, accused of illegally crossing over into Iran. Shourd, you may remember, was released on bail back in September because of a medical condition.
Stay with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. The former president, George W. Bush, had to cancel a trip to Switzerland because of what some there were threatening to do once he landed.
CHETRY: And it's smelling quite fresh in here, all of a sudden, in AMERICAN MORNING's studio this morning, because the old spice guy is in the house. We're going to be speaking to Isaiah Mustafa about his new ads for Old Spice. It's coming in now. That is the man your man could smell like. It's 18 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. I'm on a horse. Those three words breathe new life into an aging brand. It also cracked us all up. 29 million YouTube hits later. Old Spice is back at it again with a new ad campaign. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISAIAH MUSTAFA, THE "OLD SPICE" GUY: Hello, ladies. Where can you go when your man smells like me? Close your eyes, and I'll show you. Do you feel it? The sand between your toe tips. Are you surprised? You're on a mountain peak with a (INAUDIBLE) the year. Firework colors turn our world upside down. I hope you like water because when neck beacon (ph), sweet waters friends (ph) you can trust. You see, when your man smells like the fresh scent of Old Spice, you can go anywhere. Unless, of course, you prefer to stay in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Here to tell us how they shot that and just talk about his newfound fame, the man your man can smell like, Isaiah Mustafa. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
MUSTAFA: Oh, thank you for having me.
CHETRY: I know you had a long flight.
MUSTAFA: Yes.
CHETRY: Did you get to even enjoy the Super Bowl?
MUSTAFA: I got a first quarter, and then, the rest was on the plane. I was trying to figure it out.
CHETRY: So, you landed not even knowing who won.
MUSTAFA: Oh, no. I had Wi-Fi, so I can check it every couple of minutes.
CHETRY: You found out. It was funny to think that it was just a year ago that all of this happened.
MUSTAFA: Yes.
CHETRY: I think you said you were sitting on your couch, and you're like, I want to get a gig.
MUSTAFA: Right. CHETRY: And so, what happened when your agent or whoever said, hey, Old Spice wants you to do sine commercials?
MUSTAFA: I was thinking great. Maybe, I'll buy myself something for my birthday. Maybe, I'll get paid.
CHETRY: Since then, it's been a huge hit. It was be said 29 million YouTube views.
MUSTAFA: Yes.
CHETRY: That's pretty amazing. What's the new one like? The new ad.
MUSTAFA: Oh, this one is great, because this time, we take you around the world instead of -- first time, it was on a beach and then on a horse. The second time, it was kind of in wilderness and then the hot tub, but this time, we had Fiji, komodo, all the fresh scents from around the world.
CHETRY: I love the fact that I didn't realize is what you guys gave us some behind-the-scenes footage. I mean, how this is done. This is all one take. I thought this was, for sure, computer generated.
MUSTAFA: No, that's the thing. People -- I've been reading in the long lines, people, go, oh, they got away from the original thing, but that's not true. We take everything in one shot, and Andy Resnick at the art department built these amazing sets that move around me and do all these crazy fun things.
CHETRY: We'll see. I thought for sure because you turn upside down. How did you turn upside down and then you appear that you're in water?
MUSTAFA: Well, that's --
CHETRY: I see now that there's aquarium in front of you, but --
MUSTAFA: That's the thing. I don't turn upside down. The camera does.
CHETRY: There's the catch.
MUSTAFA: Yes. The camera turns your world upside down. I move about four feet.
CHETRY: But I got to tell you, there's a lot of pressure, I'm sure, to get all the lines right and to master all the movements and to look comfortable.
MUSTAFA: Well, that's the thing. The reset was like 35 minutes. So, If I didn't get it right, I felt like I was letting everybody else down because they had to go back and the pulleys (ph) and do all the stuff, so the pressure was on this time.
CHETRY: Do you really -- you wear old spice?
MUSTAFA: Yes, I do.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: What's your favorite new flavor out of these four?
MUSTAFA: Fiji.
CHETRY: Fiji.
MUSTAFA: Yes.
CHETRY: That's where you want to live.
MUSTAFA: Exactly.
CHETRY: How do you stay in shape? I mean, you have like an incredibly fit body.
MUSTAFA: Well, thank you. I appreciate that. I just do a daily regimen of sit-ups and push-ups, you know? I'm like Herschel Walker. That's all I like to do.
CHETRY: All you need is one full of bar and you're done.
MUSTAFA: That's it.
CHETRY: No cardio? Nothing.
MUSTAFA: No cardio. Maybe jump rope.
CHETRY: Do you watch what your weight? I mean, do you watch what you eat?
MUSTAFA: Yes. You know, I'll tear a vine off of a tree and chew on that sometimes, but --
CHETRY: You have a lot of workout videos in your future if you want that as well, but I mean, this is so interesting that this commercial -- and you -- actually, I love that you watch our show because you knew what we were --
MUSTAFA: I do.
CHETRY: You're mad at me because I wasn't that enthused.
MUSTAFA: I wasn't angry. I was just hurt.
CHETRY: You were hurt that I wasn't that enthused about the promo to the commercials.
MUSTAFA: Right.
CHETRY: I got confused. I thought that was the new commercial.
MUSTAFA: I know. I know. I'm glad we talked it out. That was good. Now, we're good.
CHETRY: We had such a laugh at the way this commercial sort of came out of nowhere in the beginning. I mean, that's a lot to live up to. They had to figure out how to make this next one a year later just as good.
MUSTAFA: Eric and Craig are amazing, our copy writers. They did so amazing things. So, I'm really excited what they have coming up also because it's not over.
CHETRY: It is not. This is new.
MUSTAFA: We're going a little smarter than that. We're going to keep going to see how far we can take it.
CHETRY: Well, you, guys, are great. And congratulations for you because, as I understands, this is leading to other things. You're shooting an episode of "Chuck."
MUSTAFA: Right now, yes.
CHETRY: And, perhaps, we'll see you on the silver screen.
MUSTAFA: Yes. "Madea's Big Happy Family" just coming out.
CHETRY: Nice.
MUSTAFA: I have a role in that.
CHETRY: Good for you. And what about -- I mean, do people expect you to be, when they meet you, do they want you to be talking in that voice, and you know, pulling out chairs and roses --
MUSTAFA: A lot if times. If I meet kids, they go, like, your voice isn't the same as the commercial. I got carried throughout the day, sometimes. I have to talk to my daughter. I have to bring it down.
CHETRY: Everybody needs a break.
MUSTAFA: Yes.
CHETRY: Well, it was great to have you with us.
MUSTAFA: Thank you.
CHETRY: Congratulations on your success, and we love the new commercial. So, all is forgiven.
MUSTAFA: Thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
MUSTAFA: It's all good.
CHETRY: And by the way, the Old Spice has said not to air its new ads with Mustafa until the day after the Super Bowl. So, coming up in the next hour, we're going to check in on some of the ad that did air during the Super Bowl. Jason Carroll with the best and worst commercials from yesterday's big game -- T.J.
HOLMES: Jason will be smelling like when he shows up here a little bit. All right. Thanks, Kiran.
Well, coming up next on this AMERICAN MORNING, state revenue, usually, when we tell you that story is coming up, it's usually about, once again, the revenue is going down, but could it be going up? We'll have the details for you.
Also, kids just love that sugary cereal. Well, would you believe it's not loaded with as much sugar as you think? Twenty-six minutes past the hour. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Another live look this morning at Columbus Circle, Monday, February 7. Boy, we're going to see a little rain, but you know what, we can handle that. At least, we're starting to see some of the snow melt here in the northeast. Rob will be along with the full forecast in 15 minutes. Good morning to you. We're crossing the half hour right now. I'm Kiran Chetry.
HOLMES: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. Give you a look at some of the things we're keeping a close eye on.
As if you didn't know what happened last night, Green Bay won the Super Bowl, beating the Steelers 31-25. It's their fourth Super Bowl title for the tiny town of Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers maybe got the Brett Favre monkey off his back from his touchdown passes last night. No interceptions and did take home the MVP award.
CHETRY: Five-time Grammy winner, Christina Aguilera, says that she just got caught up in the moment. That's when she lost her place. She flubbed one of the lines in the national anthem before the start of last night's Super Bowl. She sang "what so proudly we watched at the twilight's last" -- what did she say, streaming? Instead of "o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming." Poor thing. A lot of pressure, of course, everyone's watching you. Aguilera said that she hopes everyone can still feel her love for her country despite the mistake. The funniest part was the football players behind her going --
HOLMES: Everybody was a little off, and then you question your own memory of the song.
CHETRY: It's not an easy one to memorize.
HOLMES: Poor thing. She'll bounce back.
Of course, parents out there, let the kids have the "Froot Loops." That is my advice, not Dr. Sanjay Gupta's, so you might not want to listen. But big cereal makers are rolling out less sugary versions of their popular brands. General Mills, Lucky Charms, Trix have 14 grams of sugar per serving. The new version has nine grams. They did test this on the kids, and they didn't notice and didn't seem to mind.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Isn't nine grams still a lot of sugar?
CHETRY: It is not good.
ROMANS: It is better than 14.
CHETRY: One full eight ounce orange juice is a ton of sugar. You have to watch it. Water it down.
We have been talking about states drowning in debt. For many states their revenues are slowly starting to rebound, but at a price. Christine Romans joins us now.
ROMANS: So at the end of last year the revenue started to increase a little bit for some of the states, probably because you're seeing small business hiring and wages up, but most likely because they have cut and chopped and whittled things down so now many of their expenses are down and they are actually managing to get out from under this thing.
I want to show you what the revenue stream looks like. This is the annual change in state and local government, and you can see it is down, down, down, and a little bit of pop. They are balancing their budgets but cutting agencies, consolidating, merging them, cutting employees, having furloughs, less education funding, bigger preschool classes, dropping pre-k, adding kindergarten classes, and trimming the medical plans of employees.
So tax revenue they be coming back with the economy, but all these people running these budgets are terrified of what's coming this summer when federal aid collapses at the end of two years of stimulus spending. So you have a very significant situation here. A little bit of comeback with these revenues, but much of it because all the chopping and the economy is coming back.
I want to give you a quick morning market check to give you a heads up, Dow up about 29 points on Friday, still holding above the 12,000 mark, NASDAQ 2,769, 1,311 for the S&P 500. It's been a very, very good year for stocks.
HOLMES: Where are oil prices?
ROMANS: Bubbling crude is at 90 bucks. So gas prices are up and food prices are up.
HOLMES: What people are feeling is $3.15 a gallon, the average price of gas $3.13, two cents higher than a week ago. The price of crude is up 20 percent up from the same time last year. Christine, some are saying it is going to come up and somebody says it is going down?
ROMANS: Look, $100 crude is what a lot of people say. Brazil, Russia, India, China, huge demand for oil, unrest in the Middle East. The path of least resistance is higher oil prices.
CHETRY: Also more problems for troubled starlet Lindsay Lohan. Prosecutors are reportedly gearing up to charge the actress for a grand theft felony. She is accused of swiping a $2,500 necklace. She was seen on a store surveillance tape wearing the gems and photographed by paparazzi wearing the necklace. Lohan's reps claim the necklace was loaned to her.
HOLMES: Former president George W. Bush had to cancel a trip to Switzerland. He was scheduled to speak there. But a group called the Center for Constitutional Rights said it will file papers against him trying to bring a lawsuit against him if he landed in country. They say he approved the torture of terrorism suspects, so just he canceled the trip altogether.
Coming up next on this "AMERICAN MORNING," science can be a sore point for American high school students because of this. Is it evolution or creationism we should be teaching in class? Our CNN education contributor Steve Perry along with some troubling new numbers.
CHETRY: Also, could the east coast see another snowstorm this week? Rob will have the extended forecast coming up in just ten minutes. It's 36 minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're 38 minutes past the hour on this "AMERICAN MORNING."
More high school students take biology more than other science class. But there is a study that some may find a little disturbing. It says many biology classes across the country steer clear of teaching human evolution. Exactly why, though?
Joining us from Hartford, Connecticut for this morning edition of "Perry Principles," CNN education contributor Steve Perry. We are back in the principal's office. Good to see you, as always.
Let me put up on the screen here the study done by Penn State University, and it says about 28 percent of the teachers they polled consistently teach evolution. Also about 13 percent explicitly advocate creationism. Another 60 percent roughly cautiously avoid the controversy altogether.
So Steve, "In the beginning, god created the heavens and earth." Does that need to be taught in Sunday school class not in the schoolhouse?
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: We need to teach the ideas that are going on in our culture. We have thousands, millions of people who believe that. And in order for our children to learn we need to teach people what people believe. It doesn't need to be taught as a science class, but in fact needs to be taught.
HOLMES: Where is it taught, then? PERRY: It can be taught in a history class or as a theory that some people have. Teaching someone about something doesn't teach people how to do something, meaning that we have to engage our children.
Throughout the day we at CNN have ideas flowing all day, but our children are not always aware of what is going on. They often ask us, why are they saying that? Why is this country fighting that country? This is one of the reasons why, because we create cleavages by saying this is the only thing we are going to teach, either evolution or creationism.
I'm saying put them out there as ideas. Let the children begin to think more deeply. What we want a child to do is be able to think. Unfortunately schools have become a place where we take children's minds and order them. You must do this. You must think this way. I believe children have a far greater capacity to discern that which is and isn't good for them.
HOLMES: OK, but when you give the kid that option, you present evolution, you present creationism both as theories and tell the kid to pick, some say evolution is the science. These are the facts that we should be teaching.
PERRY: Science is ever changing. I'm not suggesting that I believe one way or the other. What I'm saying as an educator it is my obligation to expose my children to information not a doctrine or dogma. I'm not trying to convince them. This is what happens at Sunday school or mosque or synagogue. What I do as an educator I need to expose them to information to live their lives.
What of the reason why so many countries and communities are warring is because they are separated by ignorance. When our children learn about one another and why those beliefs are so, then we can begin to bring our children closer.
HOLMES: What should a teacher do? If a teacher is being asked to teach against a principle she believes in, because about 13 percent are advocating creationism in their classrooms, should those teachers be asked to teach something they have a hardcore belief against?
PERRY: Either they should grow up and do their job, or they should go to a Catholic school. But really, if they don't want to teach the myriad of potential reasons why we are here today, then they shouldn't be in a public school.
I don't suggest they can't teach what they want to teach in their own way, but I don't believe in slavery. It doesn't mean it doesn't get taught in our schools. I don't think the holocaust was a good idea, but we have to teach it.
HOLMES: Steve, you are going off on the edge.
PERRY: No, I'm not. I'm saying you don't have to believe something to teach it. That's my point. All you need to do is provide children with information in such a way they can use it in a meaningful situation. A child will look at the information and be able to discern that which is for them and that which is not.
HOLMES: Should a community be able to decide what their children should be learning? If it is a smaller community with a smaller school board and say we are going to teach this, is that OK?
PERRY: What of the reasons tenure came about to have intellectual freedom. I think the instructor should determine what gets taught. We put a lot of faith in our teachers and as long as what they are doing is appropriate, meaning it doesn't cause harm to the child, physical, emotional, or otherwise. Then what we are providing the child with is access to information.
We have to realize that this is not 1950. Children have access to the Internet. They have friends. We need to teach them how to navigate life so they can more effectively communicate. They are going to work somewhere, and people are going to believe things. They don't have to believe what those people believe but they need to understand why or how.
HOLMES: We are going to get out of the principal's office because the principal seems to be worked up.
(LAUGHTER)
Enjoy the rest of the day. This debate has been going on, it has been in court, evolution versus creationism and it would probably continue. But some interesting and some would say alarming statistics of what is going on in the classroom.
CHETRY: Still ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING," oftentimes the only thing bigger than the Super Bowl, the commercials. We're going to take a look at the unforgettable and some of the controversial ads coming up.
Also, a stormy start to the week across the south. Rob Marciano will be along with the travel forecast right after the break. It's 44 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty-seven 47 minutes past the hour. Time for you to get a check of this morning's weather headlines. We hope these headlines do not include more snow in the forecast. But we've got to check in with Rob to see.
MARCIANO: Just a little bit. You know.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: It's great.
MARCIANO: I mean it is winter time. I mean what would you expect?
CHETRY: Not, look, -- not record breaking snow.
MARCIANO: Oh you would expect a break by this time.
CHETRY: Yes. I expect that either the Groundhog or Staten Island Chuck or you is right and we're going to see spring around the corner.
MARCIANO: Well see -- I mean the Groundhog says it's coming so we'll see -- you know I'll tell you this. There are some things happening in the atmosphere, the things in the Atlantic Ocean that have -- have led to this cold and wintry weather across the Eastern (INAUDIBLE). That's beginning to change gears.
So maybe the next couple of weeks we'll start to -- or we -- we should at least see temperatures that get a little closer to normal if not above normal. And that would be a nice little touch.
A couple of storms: one across the Mid South, one across the Deep South and then one out to the Inner Mountain West. (INAUDIBLE) to the east are going to kind of to try to gain strength and get together but they're still separated I don't know by a couple of 100 here.
So it doesn't look too likely that they'll phase quickly and bum out like a lot of these storms that have been doing. So that's good news. But Memphis you are about to go from rain to snow, maybe a little bit of accumulation. Heavier rains down across parts of the Florida panhandle. And this will move up towards Paducah and up to Louisville as well.
What it does after that for the northeast, again, these two storms not really exploding into much. But you'll go -- you'll see some rain and the backside will see some snow as well as we go through time. And then there is another system that's coming down the pike. And that one across the intermountain west, it will be interesting -- yes, for the northeast but also for the south. And we can very well see some snow across parts of Dallas, just north of the Red River come Wednesday.
Winter storm warning or watches are posted and this will traverse the Tennessee Valley into the Carolinas, so even the Deep South, winter not quite just done yet. Still waiting for that above normal temperature regime (ph) to build in. We might see that next week. Until then keep your winter clothes handy, guys.
HOLMES: It's a pretty safe tip Rob. Thanks buddy.
MARCIANO: All right.
CHETRY: So you have your long Johns, right?
HOLMES: I got them.
CHETRY: You're ready for the long haul.
All right. Well it's time to talk about last night's game. Like so many of us, President Obama had people over to the White House last night for a Super Bowl party. This menu was awesome, yes, probably not the best for your waistline, but awesome, bratwurst, kielbasa, cheeseburgers, deep dish pizza, Buffalo wings and also beer of course you know the President always has to be diplomatic about things.
So he had beer from Pennsylvania and from Wisconsin. Yuengling Lager, Hinterland Pale Ale and then if you were an independent or let's say you were undecided you didn't root for anybody White House has its own brew Honey Ale. You would like that.
HOLMES: Ok, I would like that?
CHETRY: Yes.
HOLMES: Oh ok.
CHETRY: Because you weren't rooting -- you said you didn't have a dog in the fight, so you didn't care, a horse in the race.
HOLMES: Oh I thought it was the Yuengling guy -- Yuengling is good stuff. That's a good beer there in Pennsylvania.
They are watching the big game, a lot of people thought the big game -- well, a lot of kids might have thought the big game was the Puppy Bowl, the seventh year they have done this thing.
CHETRY: Yes it was so popular. It draws attention of course for the need to rescue these animals, 47 rescued puppies of all different breeds and all adorable. I love them when they have the water cam -- the water bowl cam there.
CV, a sixteen week old Shih Tzu-Beagle mix was declared MVP or Most Valuable Puppy. And there they go.
They're so cute, I just, I mean, I'm sorry. That is much better than that -- other, what they use to do -- they used to have the Budweiser and Bud Light fight against each other.
HOLMES: The Bud Bowl. I appreciated that. I appreciated that.
CHETRY: That's cute. I have to watch what I say though. Mustafa knew I panned his promo for his Old Spice, see?
Then he came on set and you give him like a promo.
HOLMES: You have to watch what you say here.
Well, the Super Bowl ads, as well, a lot of people you had your favorites. There were some that knocked it out of the park. There were some that were a bit off, even controversial.
Ten minutes to the top of the hour. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're seven minutes to the top of the hour now.
For some the game was great. For others the commercials were the highlight last night. CHETRY: Plenty of people really looked forward to that. And this year the advertisers rolled out all sorts of goodies from rock stars to babies to countless car commercials. Our Jason Carroll joins us live. You were -- you were reporting on this. Which was your favorite, though?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I liked the Bridgestone Beaver ad. Do you remember that one?
CHETRY: No, I didn't see that one.
CARROLL: That was one where the beaver came and the guy like almost ran over the beaver and then the beaver -- and then later the beaver helped him out. I liked it. It was my favorite.
CHETRY: You're partial to a potential road kill, I guess.
CARROLL: Yes. Well, no one else particularly liked it. That's what you don't have it in this ad but I thought it was -- I thought it was very good.
Anyway, over 100 million people watched the Super Bowl. 15 percent tuned in strictly just to see the commercials; that is according to a marketing study. Overall, celebrities and humor dominated.
Snickers tried to repeat the success of last year's Betty White commercial this time with comedians Richard Lewis and Roseanne Barr as hungry loggers. Look what happens next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEANNE BARR, COMEDIAN: My back hurts. Now my front hurts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: That's kind of funny.
Another fan favorite, a pug getting back at a man for taunting him with Doritos. The pug gets the better end of that deal. A wife calling the shots over her husband's diet in a Pepsi ad. And Ozzie Osbourne teaming up with Justin Bieber in a futuristic Best Buy commercial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN BIEBER, SINGER: It's Bieber 6G Fever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is a 6G?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's a Bieber.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know, pal. It looks like a girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That's Justine, right.
CARROLL: That is Justin Bieber right there in the beard. A lot of people didn't catch that one.
An interesting trend this year. Some advertisers didn't wait for game day to actually premier their commercials instead releasing them online a few days early in order to generate buzz.
That is what Volkswagen did with one of the most popular spots of the night, a boy dressed as Darth Vader trying to conjure up the force. So far it has received as of this morning, over 14 million views on YouTube.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(VOLKSWAGEN ADVERTISEMENT)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: I think that was me as a kid, you know.
Another standout, worthy auto ads -- and there were a lot of them -- Chrysler with one of the longest commercials of the night, featuring Eminem and his salute to the Motor City.
Some of the low points -- we know there are high points, so there are always low points. Some of the low points last night according to ad experts, godaddy.com's commercial featuring Joan Rivers and also Groupon's spot also missing the mark with some critics. The online site aired an ad with actor Timothy Hutton mocking oppressed people in Tibet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people of Tibet are in trouble. Their very culture is in jeopardy, but they still whip up an amazing fish curry. And since 200 of us bought at groupon.com, we're each getting $30 worth of Tibetan food for just $15.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Haven't seen Timothy Hutton in a while and he comes back with this one?
CHETRY: Yes.
CARROLL: We also saw the return of fan favorites like the Budweiser Clydesdale horses and the e-trade baby just doesn't seem to grow old.
CHETRY: Bridgestone Bieber, there you go.
CARROLL: Yes, that was pretty good right? The Bieber ad -- that was pretty good.
HOLMES: Why don't you bring us the video of Joan Rivers? CARROLL: The Joan Rivers, you know look. Here's the deal. I like Joan, but I think a lot of people thought that is just a little much for the morning. So we decided it might be better just to leave it alone.
CHETRY: You might be eating your sugar --
Carroll: We don't want to shock the viewer too much. It is a G rated show. Sort of.
CHETRY: We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thanks so much for being with us this morning. We'll see you back here bright and early tomorrow.
HOLMES: Dark and early, usually.
CHETRY: Yes. Dark and early, that's true.
HOLMES: but yes, a lot of people still recovering from their Super Bowl night.
Hand it over to Kyra Phillips. Kyra -- how was your Super Bowl night?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hey, as soon as I saw the Packers make that second touchdown, I said game's over. I'm happy, I'm going to bed.
CHETRY: And it all could have changed, so you got lucky.
PHILLIPS: Hey.
CHETRY: That was a good prediction.
PHILLIPS: I know. I know my Packers. Have a great day, you guys.
HOLMES: See you.
