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American Morning

United Airlines Grounds Entire Fleet of Boeing 757s; Knox's Parents Speak Out About Charges; New York's Doomsday Manual; What Would Congress Cut?; War on "Bath Salts"; Tackling the Nation's Debt; The Dangers of Prostate Cancer Screening; Lance Armstrong Calling it Quits

Aired February 16, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Good morning. United Airlines temporarily grounding its entire fleet of 757s, and passengers left with a lot of questions and disruptions on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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HOLMES (on-camera): And good morning to you all on this Wednesday, February 16th. Welcome to this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.

If you're scheduled to fly United Airlines today, you might want to pack some patience, as well. There are delays and there are cancellations expected because United has temporarily grounded its fleet of Boeing 757s for emergency maintenance on computer systems of 96 planes. CNN's Allan Chernoff is following the story for us this morning. So, I mean, this is a big chunk we're talking about, their entire fleet of 757s. What's happened?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Right. That's about one quarter of all their main line planes, and these plains usually fly across the country. Very important computer system, the computer system that measures the altitude and the speed and then feeds that into the autopilot, you want that computer working. And we should note, they have been working.

The issue here, though, is that they need some additional maintenance. United put out a statement saying, "Further operational checks were necessary following a modification to the 757 air data computers. All systems have been fully functional." However, because of this maintenance that hasn't been done, United did have to cancel some flights, 15 yesterday, more today, inconveniencing passengers.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just found out that the FAA has sent a message to al 757s that they have to be inspected before they can fly. They haven't told us what the issue is. We don't know how long it's going to take. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They just said there was some mechanical difficulties and then I called the automated system and they said there were some computer difficulties. So you just wait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Why wait until now? This is an FAA directive that was put out in 2004 telling the airlines make this maintenance adjustment. United just discovered it hadn't been done. That's a bit of a problem. It indicates that maybe their tracking of maintenance is not what it should be.

CHETRY: And so the other airlines with 757s are not affected?

CHERNOFF: Not affected. And also Continentals are not affected. Remember, United and Continental are part of the same company, but they have different arrangements with the FAA. That's not merged just yet.

HOLMES: Allan Chernoff, thank you so much.

CHETRY: Thanks.

HOLMES: I want to turn now to that growing unrest we've been seeing in a number of countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Now telling you about Bahrain. Protesters there are packing the streets of the capital. At least two demonstrators killed in the clashes there with security forces, the U.S. State Department expressing concern about the violence and urging restraint.

Let's turn to our State Department correspondent Jill Dougherty joining us live from Washington. Jill, good morning to you.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Morning, T.J.

HOLMES: What does the State Department -- I guess the concern not just in Bahrain, but what some thought would be a domino effect seems to be happening across the region.

DOUGHERTY: Yes, and you know, T.J., this is a very different country from Egypt. Egypt is huge, 80 million people. Bahrain is tiny. But it's very strategically located on the Persian Gulf. And it's been simmering for quite a while. Really they have a recipe for unrest. They have a king. He is a Sunni Muslim. And then about 70 percent of the population is Shiite, and they say they have been discriminated against.

So along comes Egypt and the inspiration of that that was really the spark. So in Bahrain, they created a Twitter/Facebook revolution. They called it the "day of rage," and it has been out there for a couple of days.

Two people have been killed and the police really brutally cracking down using rubber bullets and tear gas. And this is very important to the United States because it's the base for the U.S. Navy's fifth fleet. So you did have that statement from the State Department saying they're very concerned and that they are welcoming investigation in taking care of anybody who might have used undue force by the security forces.

HOLMES: Our State Department correspondent Jill Dougherty, we appreciate you as always. Thanks so much.

CHETRY: Very new this morning, one of the women who partied with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is speaking exclusively to CNN. Nicole Minetti paints a different picture of the parties she attended with Prime Minister Berlusconi. She is a former TV show girl, dental hygienist, and now elected official in Italy, but she's under investigation for providing girls to Silvio Berlusconi, a charge he flat out denies.

Minetti sat down with our Dan Rivers on a day that a judge ordered Berlusconi to stand trial on charges that he paid for sex with an underage girl. Dan Rivers live for us in Milan this morning. And she's telling you that none of this happened, or at least she never witnessed any of it happening. How credible is her story, Dan?

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she's trying to brazen this out flat out denying she was effectively pimping for Silvio Berlusconi. That's essentially what she's being investigated for, as well as Berlusconi himself also coming out this morning here, again, denying it, saying he's going to continue on governing here.

But Nicole Minetti is certainly one of the key figures in all of this. She denied that she had any sort of improper relationship with Berlusconi, as well, basically insisting she was a friend and party loyalist.

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RIVERS: So you would deny ever having received any money from Silvio Berlusconi?

NICOLE MINETTI, ITALIAN REGIONAL LAWMAKER: Well, he helped me in some situations. He doesn't have any problems helping people, even in an economic way.

RIVERS: How much money did he give you?

MINETTI: That's a detail which I wouldn't go into.

RIVERS: Thousands of euros?

MINETTI: It doesn't matter. That's not the matter.

RIVERS: Well, some people say it does matter because it would suggest that he was either paying for your services or paying to keep you quiet.

MINETTI: Or he was helping me just because he cared for me. It could be one thing or the other.

RIVERS: How would you describe your relationship with the prime minister?

MINETTI: I had an affectionate relationship, meaning as someone that you care for and cares for you.

RIVERS: But not an improper relationship, a sexual relationship?

MINETTI: I wouldn't go in those details. Those are private details.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: This is playing pretty badly for Silvio Berlusconi, as you can imagine. Let me show you one headline in a far left paper here. It says "Sex-it Strategy." That sums up the coverage across many of the newspapers, pretty damning coverage of Berlusconi. People here are divided. He remains popular despite all of this, incredibly, and he is vowing to fight on.

CHETRY: What was the motivation for her to even talk to you? She wasn't answering a lot of the questions you wanted to know when it came to that situation. Did she end up doing more potential damage to Berlusconi?

RIVERS: I think she clearly feels that she's coming out to fight for her -- effectively her ultimate boss. She's a local politician in his party here. She's very loyal to him. I would expect that she, you know, has decided this is in her political interest.

She's had an incredible career. She's gone from a TV show dancer on a kind of light evening show here. Then she changed into a sort of dental hygienist. She met Berlusconi, he fast tracked her into politics and she's only 25 years old. She's clearly very ambitious and decided she wants to come out and back up Berlusconi, the prime minister.

CHETRY: Amazing stuff. Wow, Italy's politics so different than the United States, isn't it? Dan Rivers for this morning, thanks so much.

HOLMES: Yes, let's turn back to U.S. politics now if we can for a second, dealing with much different issues, the leaders of this country. The president, of course, he submitted his budgets this week, and already Republicans going after it. And he wants to deal with our budget issues on a bipartisan way. He's threatening to veto another spending Bill. Christine Romans, help us out here.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's talk more about the president's budget and what's coming out here. The president is giving a big press conference yesterday.

I want to show you something that shows you just the kind of spending in this country that we have. It's this fascinating box that breaks out all the different kinds of tax dollars, where your money is going.

Look there on the left - Medicare, Medicaid, and children's health insurance, Social Security, about more than a third of the budget is right there on the left in the green shade boxes. Look at the purple box. That is the net interest on our debt. So these are things that are sort of off the table. I mean, it's -- there you go, right there. And in the black box, all the other things we're talking about, including the military, transportation, schools.

So that box of purple is getting bigger and bigger and bigger, meaning we have less wiggle room. So, look, the president wants an adult conversation, he says, with Republicans. He wants an adult conversation about how to phase in and try to attack problems with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. But clearly that box shows you they're all in a box.

CHETRY: It's difficult. Then you had people using metaphors yesterday, taking a scalpel, not a machete. But at the same time, still, a lot of the economic experts were still talking around the edges when it comes to what we're dealing with here.

ROMANS: Absolutely. And you hear people saying we're balancing the budget on the backs of the poor. The president is saying that we're all impatient. That we need to come up with a plan and start moving down the road to some fiscal discipline.

Markets real quickly, yesterday, were lower. Futures are looking a little bit up this morning. We're watching that for you too, your morning market check.

HOLMES: Christine, thank you.

CHETRY: The parents of an American student convicted of murder in Italy are facing charges of their own. Amanda Knox's mom and dad now responding exclusively to CNN. We'll hear what they said ahead. It's nine minutes past the hour.

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CHETRY: There's some disturbing information this morning about a brutal attack against a CBS News correspondent that happened in Cairo. Lara Logan is recovering this morning in a U.S. hospital. The "60 Minutes" reporter was covering the celebration in Tahrir Square Friday, the day that President Mubarak resigned, when she became separated from her crew.

This was the picture shot shortly before this happened. She was then surrounded by a mob, beaten, and sexually assaulted, putting the spotlight on how difficult and dangerous it is for journalists to report in a conflict zone.

CBS says that a group of women and about 20 Egyptian soldiers stepped in and got Lara Logan out of that situation. She flew home Saturday and is being treated at an undisclosed location.

HOLMES: All right, I want to turn to a story that no airline passenger wants to hear, a TSA airport screener admitting to stealing from unsuspecting travelers. This was a screener supervisor and he has admitted this. This was happening at Newark International Airport in New Jersey. You're seeing him there, he's a supervisor, Michael Arado. He and another co-worker targeted non-English-speaking passengers. Arado is accused of getting some $30,000, stealing that much in more than a year and also getting kickbacks from the other employees who were also stealing. He is now facing 15 years in prison.

CHETRY: The parents of convicted killer Amanda Knox are talking after they were also charged with crimes in Italy. It's an interview you'll see only on CNN.

From the beginning were questions about whether the American student got a fair trial. Now the European tabloids were relentless about this story. And her mom and dad have been charged with libel.

Drew Griffin is live for us in Seattle. This is a bizarre story, a story with a lot of media attention internationally from the beginning. But then when you hear about her parents also facing charges, what's going on?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, it is a real kick in the teeth for this family, as you said, who believes their daughter, Amanda Knox, this 23-year-old college student was railroaded into this murder conviction, sentenced to 26 years in prison.

Now, so what's happened with the parents? In 2009, they gave an interview to the "Sunday Times of London" in which they were reporting what Amanda was telling them of her interrogation with police, that she wasn't given any food and water, that she didn't have an interpreter. That she was physically and emotionally abused. The police say that was libelous to them, and they are now suing the parents.

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EDDA MELLAS, AMANDA KNOX'S MOTHER: I don't know how seriously I take it, only because our focus is so much on Amanda and what's happening with her appeal that this is kind of an a side thing. One more hoop we have to go through, one more thing. It's like really? You know, what else do you want to try to get us with?

It feels very personal now. It feels like, OK, you're after our daughter. You're after, you know, us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: And Amanda Knox's mother says that she feels that the Italian system is just trying to wear her down emotionally and financially. This family's mortgaged just about everything as they continue to try to get on that focus, Kiran, which is to get Amanda Knox out of prison.

There is an appeal process going on there. They have a new judge, a new look at the forensic evidence. But while all that is going on, now the parents must fight this lawsuit in Italy.

CHETRY: So they have to go to Italy to fight this. Have they had recent contact with Amanda? GRIFFIN: Amanda calls. She has a 10-minute phone call every Saturday morning. And there's a group that gathers around the kitchen table and listens to this 10-minute phone call. So they do contact her at least once a week.

One representative of the family is usually in Italy and they have some access to her. They are desperately trying to get a new trial in this or at least get the forensic evidence tossed out. But again, this is another financial drain on the family. They have to fight this because if they don't fight it, then they become somewhat subject to arrest if they ever want to go and actually visit Amanda in prison. So they have to go through this.

CHETRY: I know they're also fighting a made for TV movie that was coming out along with the parents of the girl who was murdered. So this has been a nightmare for both of these families.

Drew Griffin, thanks so much.

HOLMES: Well, it is a doomsday scenario. A deadly outbreak or terrorist attack in New York City. And yes, New York now has a manual for it. A doomsday manual.

It's 16 minutes past the hour.

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HOLMES: Well, it's 20 minutes past the hour now. Imagine this epic disaster that strikes without warning. Chaos in the streets. What can the government do legally when they're facing a doomsday scenario?

CHETRY: You'd think, well, they must have a plan for it even though most of us probably don't think about that on a daily basis. But New York does have a manual for that. Jason Carroll joins us with more on this.

I mean, is this something that they want out publicly?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes. I mean, it's public information. And it's definitely out. And basically the bottom line is a lot of your constitutional rights can basically just go out the window.

You know, in a worst-case scenario, you know, a biological attack or widespread chemical contamination, the government could close businesses, search your home without a warrant or even seize your property. These are just a few of the scenarios addressed in a so- called "doomsday manual" recently released by the New York State court system and bar association. The purpose of the public health legal manual is to give New York judges and lawyers guidelines for the most dire circumstances.

The manual addresses some very grim scenarios, like life-saving medicine. If there isn't enough to go around, the legal system could decide to give medicine only to those with the best chance of surviving. The elderly or those already sick may be denied. Take a look at quarantines. The most famous New York quarantine case was Typhoid Mary back in the early 1900s. According to the manual, a person can be isolated by law if they've been exposed to infectious diseases even against their will. And you can also take a look at the destruction of domestic animals. If the family dog or cat poses a threat to public health by spreading disease, legally the animal can be euthanized. New Yorkers we spoke to obviously not short on opinions on this particular manual.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a good thing because God forbid something does happen and then you don't have anything to fall back on, then what, you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I don't think anybody's rights should be taken away in case of emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's a bit too drastic. I mean, like, if we were fine without it until now, so why change?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Well, the manual is not a list of new laws. Instead it describes existing laws and how they could be applied to various disasters. Officials who prepared the book say laws can be difficult to decipher and under emergency situations, time is of the essence. A representative for the New York State court told us the realities that may be faced need to be addressed. Often we think that it's only the first responders that need to plan. The reality is that some grim legal issues need to be addressed now rather than in a state of emergency.

HOLMES: Just a fascinating look at the reality of that doomsday scenario. Stuff you don't think about. Wow, that's interesting.

CARROLL: Really incredible stuff.

HOLMES: Appreciate you as always. Thanks so much.

CARROLL: All right.

HOLMES: Twenty-two minutes pas the hour. A quick break. We'll be right back.

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CHETRY: Welcome back. New this morning. Brace yourself if you think there are long lines at the airport now. Just wait until you're one of a billion. Yes, the FAA is predicting that U.S. airlines will be carrying one billion passengers by 2021. To put that in perspective, last year, 712 million passengers flew in the U.S. The agency says those predictions show just how vital it will be to upgrade our nation's traffic control systems.

HOLMES: Also this morning, Chevron been ordered to pay $8 billion by a judge in Ecuador. The judge says they are guilty of polluting the rainforest. The residents of the Amazon there filed the suit claiming years of crude oil pollution and saying the rates of cancer and other health problems went up. Chevron will appeal.

CHETRY: And if you're wondering just how green are new electric cars, we've got a possible answer. According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the Chevy Volt barely made the list. That's because the electric car can also run on gasoline. Fully electric Nissan Leaf ranked second. And at number one, the natural gas-powered Honda Civic GX.

HOLMES: Well, the conversation has started, as you know. The president submitting his budget this week. A lot of people saying it cuts too much. You have others out there, of course, who are saying it doesn't cut quite enough.

CHETRY: That's right. So this morning, we want to breakthrough all the noise. Find out exactly what members of Congress want to cut. Our Jim Acosta is live in Washington.

Good morning, Jim. What did you find out?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we had to put him on the spot, Kiran and T.J. The president's budget as you know is now in the hands of Congress. There are plenty of critics up on Capitol Hill. But we wanted to know, do members of Congress have specifics on how they would balance the nation's checkbook? So we walked right up to them and asked, what would you cut?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Can you name a program right on the spot here?

REP. TOM COLE (R), OKLAHOMA: Yes, let's just start with the current presidential taxpayer funding system.

ACOSTA (voice-over): That's the system that allows you to check a box on your federal tax return and divert $3 to the presidential campaign fund. That tax money could go to trimming the deficit.

COLE: It's $600 million. It's a no-brainer. Doesn't help the average American. Most Americans no longer participate in that.

ACOSTA (on camera): $600 million --

COLE: You said name one. So let's just start.

ACOSTA: We're essentially asking members of Congress here a very simple question. What would you cut?

REP. GWEN MOORE (D), WISCONSIN: Well, I could tell you. I would -- I would cut more of the Bush era tax cuts.

ACOSTA: You'd get rid of those?

MOORE: Yes, and I'd start over. ACOSTA: So cuts to budgets, so far we have the presidential election fund. And end Bush tax cuts.

Is there one in particular that you would point to and say, hey, that one, I'd like to cut that one out of the budget?

REP. MICK MULVANEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Yes, I think when we talked about as a group is NPR, the corporation for public broadcasting.

ACOSTA: And when you hear people say what about "Big Bird" and "Sesame Street." Where do you get the money to support those programs?

MULVANEY: Then they go out of business just like CNN would if we couldn't provide that service.

ACOSTA: Even if it's "Big Bird." There you go.

Where would you cut?

REP. MARCY KAPTUR (D), OHIO: Well, first of all, I stated in the meeting that I supported curbing the special privileges to the oil industry and the oil subsidies. This is an area where America hemorrhages every day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: So the Republicans said cut nondefense spending, the Democrats said raise taxes on the wealthy. So you can see there's a pattern there. Add it all up and they save taxpayers roughly $589 billion. But here's the problem. Most of that money comes from ending the Bush tax cuts right away, which is obviously not going to happen.

Remember, T.J. and Kiran, Congress just extended those tax cuts in December. So this is tough stuff. Everybody's going to have to give up something if anybody wants to get close to balancing this budget.

CHETRY: Yes, that's a good sort of look there of just how difficult it's going to be. Because even if everybody has a cut, it doesn't mean they're all going to agree on the same cuts.

ACOSTA: Exactly.

CHETRY: And there's the rub.

Jim Acosta for us this morning. Thanks so much.

HOLMES: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: You bet. Sure.

CHETRY: Well, coming up in less than 10 minutes, with the left and the right on opposite sides of the budget spectrum, we're going to be speaking with former Republican Senator Judd Gregg. He's former chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and he was part of the deficit commission about how the two sides will be able to come together. HOLMES: Coming up at the bottom of the here. Give you a look at some of the stories we're keeping a close eye on.

United Airlines temporarily grounding its fleet of Boeing 757s. They had to do this because of an emergency maintenance check on some computer systems. These were 96 planes. We're told there were a number of cancellations yesterday. Getting an update here from our Allan Chernoff telling us that United now saying after those cancellations they don't anticipate a lot of cancellations today. Minimal delays, as well. But that's the update from United. Even though they had cancellations yesterday. Right now, so far not expecting cancellations today. That would be a good thing.

CHETRY: Well, Colombia's military seizing a submarine capable of smuggling nearly eight tons of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico. It's a 100-foot-long narco sub. They say it's fully submersible. Authorities say this is the first time they've seized a drug-carrying vessel that operated completely under water.

HOLMES: And two U.S. Immigrations and Customs enforcement agents were shot in Mexico. One killed, one recovering from the wounds. This happened yesterday. These agents were driving between Mexico City and Monterey doing routine work, according to the federal government, when they were forced off the road, surrounded by 10 people, and shot. These are the first I.C.E. agents ever shot in Mexico, according to the agency.

CHETRY: Well, it is the latest in designer drugs and can be bought right on-line or at a local store. It's fake cocaine as it's been described. Disguised as bath salts or plant seeds.

HOLMES: Yes. And they have the same effects of cocaine and meth. People have been hospitalized across this country for using this stuff. Three states have banned it. But this is some easy stuff to get. And Deb Feyerick is here to explain. And also show us, clearly, right there in your hands just how easy it is to get this stuff.

DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is it. It really is. And what's so fascinating about it when you hear bath salts, you think you can walk into a Bed, Bath, and Beyond and pick up a 32-ounce thing, bath salts and you put them in your bath tub. But in fact, it comes in little containers either like this or for example, in a Kool-Aid packet containers. It looks exactly like cocaine. It is the latest designer drug and it comes under a variety of name. Blizzard, Ivory Snow, Star Dust, MDVP. It stands for Methylenedioxypyrovalerone or mephedrone for short.

It's a synthetic chemical marketed under the name bath salts. And several states have banned it. In Florida, it's even a felony to have it. This one's called Bliss. It's 500 milligrams. People have taken as little as 10 milligrams and had really bad reactions to it. Hallucinations, suicidal impulses, basically it took us less than two minutes to order this fake cocaine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FEYERICK (voice-over): But demand is so high, the seller calls to say it's sold out. Instead, we'll get something twice as potent called Serenity Now.

(on camera): On a scale of one to 10, how scary is this would you say?

GARY BOGGS, DEA SPECIAL AGENT: I'd say 15.

FEYERICK (voice-over): After it arrives, we opened one of the small vials in front of DEA special agent Gary Boggs.

(on camera): It looks like cocaine.

BOGGS: I don't know anyone who buys bath salts in a quarter gram or half gram and they spend $40 or $50 for that.

FEYERICK (voice-over): And its' done in total anonymity.

BOGGS: With drugs like these, there's no back street, you know, alley ways, where you're meeting your drug dealer or whatever. You just Google it. You Googled your drug dealer and got it delivered at your own home with a credit card.

FEYERICK: The package doesn't say what's in it or how much to take.

BOGGS: How it affects you may not be the same way it affects me or someone else. You could take it one day and be fine and take it another day and have completely different response.

FEYERICK: Triggering in some cases, severe psychotic episodes.

(on camera): How big is the threat? The danger?

BOGGS: You just don't know what you're buying. You don't know what you're putting in your body. The long-term effects of these drugs can be very dangerous.

FEYERICK: So technically, I'm holding a jar of poison. And somebody could very well ingest this.

BOGGS: That's exactly right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Now, parents need to worry about this because it doesn't show up in standard drug tests and it does act like meth. It basically kills the ability to feel any pleasure. All you want is more of this. We went to YouTube, we Googled mephedrone. We watched people reportedly on this stimulant. One man was moving uncontrollably almost as if he was possessed. And just the moving and just the raw energy, it was quite scary, actually, to watch this. Because you see somebody who is completely unable to control their own bodies.

HOLMES: How quickly are states, even the federal government, going to be able to move on this stuff?

FEYERICK: Well, if they wait for the FDA to step in, do the tests, it could take months. Congress could step in and basically say, this is bad. We just need to put this on the controlled stimulus list and then if you do that, then you got a whole new set of laws. But Florida, for example, they outlawed it just in time for spring break. They just didn't want this on the shelves in gas stations or tobacco shops or anywhere where young people might be able to get their hands on it.

CHETRY: And just to be clear, there's no other use for this? I mean, this is not sold as plant feed and it's not sold as bath salts?

FEYERICK: No. It's not. This has no effective purpose, no medicinal purpose certainly. They say it's a research chemical, but there's no use for it. People who want to get high, they can go use it, but again you are really playing Russian roulette. Those were the words that the special agent used. Russian roulette, give it a shot.

HOLMES: That's scary. Deb Feyerick, important story. Thank you for that this morning.

Well, coming up, it is not just an urban myth. People do, in fact, have sidewalk rage.

CHETRY: I've seen it. We live in New York, we've seen it. We're going to talk more about that.

Also, more leadership need when it comes to tackling the nation's debt. Up next, the recently retired former chairman of the Senate Budget Committee Judd Gregg joins us live to weigh in.

35 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: 38 minutes past the hour. Just getting word, not a surprise to a lot of people that Borders Bookstores is filing now for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Our Christine Romans has been telling us about this the past few days. They tried to do all they could to try to head off this move, trying to close some stores, try to cut back on jobs, but it looks like they weren't able to avoid this bankruptcy.

This is the number two bookstore chain in this country based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. But Borders has filed now for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Our Christine Romans will be along with much more on what this means moving forward now. Kiran.

CHETRY: T.J., thanks.

Well, this morning, we're also getting a closer look at the Republican proposal to slash government spending by $61 billion. But like the president's budget plan that was out this week, it doesn't touch the biggest ticket items. Including programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and social security. Those so-called entitlement programs. Judd Gregg is a former Republican senator from New Hampshire and also a former chairman of the Senate budget committee. He also served on President Obama's deficit commission, which issued a plan to deal with those big issues. He's one of the people who sounded the alarm about addressing those costly programs. And he's in Manchester, New Hampshire, this morning. Senator Gregg, great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.

JUDD GREGG, FMR. U.S. SENATOR: Thank you, Kiran. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

CHETRY: Well, we're glad to get your take on this. We had the president who laid out his blueprint, the GOP's plan vastly different. They're calling for about $61 billion in cuts to domestic programs this year alone. When you know from experience at having a front seat at this vastly different plans, how do they come together?

GREGG: Well, it doesn't really matter if they come together, because neither of them address the fundamental problem. It's sort of like how many discretionary cuts can dance on the head of a pin argument. There really is no way to get to the bottom line of moving our deficit and the debt down by doing it through cutting discretionary spending no matter how much you cut it. It only represents -

CHETRY: I do want to ask you about the entitlements.

GREGG: 15 percent of the budget.

CHETRY: I do want to ask you about the entitlements. That is going to be big, but $61 billion in domestic program cuts? That's the GOP - the House GOP proposal. I mean, isn't that in some ways, at least, much more significant in terms of cuts?

GREGG: It is. It's a very significant, discretionary reduction. And if you - and discretionary spending does compound in the sense that when it's spent, it becomes part of the baseline. And then the next year, that baseline is built on again. So it is a positive step. It's just not going to get us to where we need to go.

Now, the president has said he's going to veto that number. But of course, it would have to get through the Senate first anyway and the Senate is controlled by the Democratic Party. So there's clearly going to be some compromise on that number. But hopefully it will be a significant number, it will be closer to 61 billion than zero obviously. Much closer, hopefully.

CHETRY: Well, you know, so you're saying that in a way is a non- starter and that they're really not tackling the issue of entitlement reform. Remind again -

GREGG: Well, here's my - sorry.

CHETRY: Remind the viewers again watching, what the commission recommended in tackling this. And why this has to be on the table.

GREGG: Well, let's try to put it into context. The president set up a budget where he said he's going to reduce the deficits over the next 10 years by $1 trillion. Of course, the deficits over those 10 years are going to be about $7 trillion to $8 trillion. It has an impact but it's not going to significantly impact the explosion in debt, which is our biggest problem.

The commission on the other hand, proposed reducing the deficit by $4 trillion over that same period or four times what the president is proposing. And it did it by very aggressive action. Not only on the discretionary side, where they suggested more significant savings than what the president has proposed, but also on the entitlement side which is where most of the spending occurs. 60 percent of federal spending is entitlement spending, only 15 percent is non-defense discretionary.

So you can see, you know, (INAUDIBLE) I rob banks because that's where the money is. Well, if you're going to fix the deficit problems, you've got to go where the money is, and that's in the entitlement accounts.

CHETRY: So what are some of the viable options that this president, you know - it's being reported that there are going to be some meetings, you know, behind the scenes meetings with the GOP to sort of gauge the temperature for trying to do this politically unpopular thing. What would be some of the first steps they could do that would make a difference?

GREGG: Well, they could just - well, the first step they could do is they already have a memo or a template for accomplishing $4 trillion in savings, which was a bipartisan proposal that had the - well, there were three Republican senators, all of us conservatives who voted for it, including Tom Coburn and Mike Crapo who are still there. And on the democratic side, you have Dick Durbin who is a progressive liberal senator and you have Kent Conrad, one of the more responsible voices in the Congress on the issue of fiscal responsibility voting for it.

So you already have a package of proposals that if the president would embrace them and lead on them and say, "OK, Simpson-Bowles may not be perfect, but it's we should start." Then, I think you can get this thing going and rolling down the road. Obviously the one that's easiest to do is social security. There are only four or five moving parts to social security. If you wanted to fix social security, you could do it tomorrow, make it solvent for the next 75 years. And that could be done by the president, John Boehner, and Republican and Senate member sitting down in the room such as Dick Durbin and say John Kyl and working out what the specifics would be.

CHETRY: I mean raising the retirement age basically, right?

GREGG: Well, you got to remember the retirement age proposal was almost marginal to the action. Because what the retirement - you know, it gets a lot of flak. But what they proposed was that by 60 years from now, the retirement age would go to 69. Now, there's hardly anyone born today that'll be impacted by that as a percentage of the population. So it really wasn't a radical event.

Now the key savings that you have to do in social security deal with what's known as a means testing or bens (ph) points, which is where you get the benefits. And secondly, how you calculate the COLA to make it more reflective of what seniors spend versus the general population. And there's no reason you can't do it. There's absolutely no reason you can't do this. It just takes political will. It takes leadership, and honestly the leadership has to come from the president. I mean, that's why he's president. He's supposed to be leading.

CHETRY: Well, I know that you feel very passionate about this issue, as do a lot of other people. We'll see where it goes from here but they say this is just the beginning and maybe we will see other changes.

GREGG: That would be great.

CHETRY: Judd Gregg, former chairman of the senate budget committee and the president's own deficit commission. Thanks for joining us this morning.

GREGG: Thank you, Kiran.

CHETRY: T.J.

HOLMES: Well, Kiran, to our viewers. Are you enjoying that spring- like weather? Don't get used to it. Rob Marciano up next. It's quarter till the top of the hour here on this "American Morning."

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CHETRY: Just into CNN. Some surprising news from the cycling world. Lance Armstrong, calling it quits. The seven time winner of the Tour de France, officially retiring from the professional circuit, saying that he wants to spend more time with his family and also to dedicate himself even more to the fight against cancer with his Live Strong charity.

HOLMES: All right. Thirteen minutes until the top of the hour now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: We're coming up in just a few minutes. Some of the top stories we're keeping an eye on today, including some of those parties you've been hearing about with the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Well, one woman who allegedly partied with him is speaking to us exclusively.

Also Cliff Lee, the biggest prize of the baseball off season reporting to spring training for the Phillies. And that cost one reporter his pants. Do you remember he was on our show? He said he'd wear a speedo if this happened? We're going to have more coming up.

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HOLMES: Eight minutes to the top of the hour here. Time for an AM House Call. Road rage. You hear about that a lot. But another kind of rage that you don't need a car for. This is sidewalk rage. You can kind of put together what we're talking about here, but apparently people become enraged when someone is walking in front of them too slowly.

CHETRY: Yes, this is -- I feel like this is a very -- this is a city thing and perhaps even more so a New York City thing because, you know, in most towns in the world there's enough room on the sidewalk for everybody. But, yes, they say angry thoughts having cut off slow walkers, staring at them, glaring at them, bumping into them in extreme cases. And it's known as intermittent explosive disorder.

HOLMES: Hey, that sounds serious versus just walking or slow walking rage or sidewalk rage. But, yes, I have seen this. I've been the victim of this probably more so than anything. Really, it takes an adjustment up here, trying to get around and navigate the streets of New York. I'm just enjoying my day and I'm getting --

CHETRY: Yes. People do not like that. They're late -- and the other thing, too, I never understand is, I mean, if you're walking down the street, I don't understand why you wouldn't step out of the way, especially for a woman or an elderly person. But people just don't care. They'll mow you right down. It doesn't matter.

HOLMES: I'm learning.

CHETRY: Also, the strollers. Once they bring the strollers in, you're really in trouble.

Well, a new study suggests a link between early baldness and prostate cancer. French researchers found men losing their hair at age 20, were twice as likely to develop prostate cancer. But the study found no difference in prostate cancer risk for men going bald in their 30s or 40s. They do know that men who go bald have high levels of a form of testosterone in their body, which also could be linked to prostate cancer.

HOLMES: OK. Let's continue on this theme here. We hear so much about the importance of regular cancer screenings. A study suggesting, though, when it comes to prostate cancer, less may be more.

CHETRY: Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has details.

What did this study find?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, what they found, Kiran ,is that a lot of men may be operating sort of under some misconceptions. A lot of men think that you need to get prostate screening every single (AUDIO GAP) true for some men, for many men that is not true.

So what this one study found if you get a prostate screening test, called a PSA test, and it is under three, you may not need annual screening. In fact, you may be able to wait several years before your next screening.

But I can't emphasize enough how importance it is for patients to talk to their doctors because each man is different, each man is going to make a different decision -- Kiran, T.J.?

CHETRY: So is it a simple blood test? Why not check it every year if that's all it is?

COHEN: Right. A lot of people ask that, like, why not just do it? And the reason why is that the test isn't perfect. So the test may seem to indicate that you've got a problem when you really don't.

And then you may think, oh, boy, I've got to go get treated. And that treatment could leave a men impotent, could leave him incontinent, when really he was never going to get cancer in the first place. Or, if he was going to get cancer, it was going to be so slow-growing and such a minor problem that he would be better off not doing anything.

In prostate cancer the treatment is sometimes way worse than the cancer.

HOLMES: OK. And I just want to bring this back because we hear so much about when to get screened, when not. And now here's another study telling us something else.

So right now, men who are concerned, we hear you're supposed to get an annual screening once a year. With this new information have they changed how they are going to advise when men get these tests, the different screenings versus this PSA?

What should we do now?

COHEN: Well, you know what's strange about this, T.J., is that so many men think what you just said, which is that they are supposed to get annual screening. And really, they're actually not.

And the reason for this is prostate cancer grows really, really slowly. You might not want to know that you have it because, again, if you find out you have it, you may jump ahead and get treatment when you would have been better off doing nothing. I know it sounds crazy. Cancer, do nothing? But for prostate cancer, sometimes that is the best decision.

So here's what you want to do. Number one, talk to your doctor. Number two, go to CNN.com/empoweredpatient.

We asked male doctors, what do you do? Do you get screened every year, or every five years, do you not get screened at all? And we wanted to hear from the doctors what they do for their own prostates and I think it will give you some insight into how to have that discussion with your doctor.

HOLMES: All right. Important insights there.

Elizabeth Cohen, we appreciate you as always. Thanks so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

HOLMES: Getting close to the top of the hour. A quick break, we're right back with your top stories on this AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)