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American Morning
Madison Schools Shut Down Due to Teacher Walk Outs and Protests; Democratic State Senators Leave State of Wisconsin to Prevent State Senate from Convening and Voting for Anti-Union Bill; Ex-Chrysler Dealers Want $130 Million; Inside Giffords' Rehab
Aired February 18, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you all on this Friday, February the 18th. And welcome to this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Yes. A lot going on in Wisconsin again today. First, this labor protest. Thousands of demonstrators expected to jam the state capitol once again this morning. Teachers are walking out of classrooms, and Democratic Senators are actually running or have already made the run to the border. All to protest a new budget plan that cuts worker benefits and strips them of their right to collectively bargain. It was up (ph) for wages. Wisconsin's governor says he's making some tough choices to balance a budget.
So, here's the latest, Madison Schools closed again today. That would be three straight days without classes, 14 state Senate Democrats skipped town. They crossed the border into Illinois and are hold up in a Best Western Hotel. They're avoiding the law and stalling a budget vote. More protests are also expected today, and many teachers say they will not return to the classrooms until the governor agrees to go back to the bargaining table.
An estimated 25,000 demonstrators jammed the capitol yesterday. Thousands of students joining the teachers in a show of sympathy. Casey Wian was right in the middle of all of it. He's live in Madison this morning where we're expecting all of this to play out again. Good morning, Casey.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Kiran. We sure are expecting thousands of protesters here again at Madison, the state capital of Wisconsin because, as you mentioned, those teachers very angry about a proposed bill that would severely limit their collective bargaining rights and also require them to pay a lot more money for health care and for their pension benefits.
Now, we encountered one couple that's going to be hit doubly hard by these proposed budget cuts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Kill the bill!
WIAN: John Rademacher and Michelle Ritt have been teachers in the Madison school district for the past 20 years. John, a high school biology teacher, and Michelle, a special education teacher, are fighting for their collective bargaining rights at the Wisconsin state capitol.
MICHELLE RITT, MADISON COUNTY TEACHER: We're a two-teacher family, and so the cuts are double for us, which is twice as scary.
WIAN: The Radamechers and their two children have been standing out in the cold every morning nine hours a day without dinner breaks living off of granola bars out of their backpack.
RITT: We think it's absolutely worth it. Without doing this, our voices wouldn't be heard at all, and I think we are making a difference.
WIAN: The Radamachers say the proposed Bill would reduce their total income by 13 percent.
RADEMACHERS: Like other families, we have a mortgage to pay every month. We've got electric bills. And what I've heard is that it's about a 13 percent net drop in income with the benefits and the wages. That's what we'd be losing every month. And so then we have to start picking and choosing how we're going to make our house payments and still do other things.
WIAN: They say they're going to be OK. It's just not going to be easy.
RITT: I am worried about having to cut things out of our children's lives. We live a pretty simple existence anyway, and having to say, you know, no, you can't take swim lessons this term because we just don't have the money to do it, that's heartbreaking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: Now that the allies of those state employees, teachers, and others in the state legislature, the Democratic allies, have left the state legislatively things are at a standstill. So we're expected to see a lot of noise over the next couple of days but for now not much legislative action. Kiran?
CHETRY: It's hard to do that when the legislators are not in the state. Thanks so much, Casey.
HOLMES: Yes, there are "Wanted" posters going up around Wisconsin right now for the 14 Democrats who are AWOl at this point. They decided instead of going to the capitol, instead of having to go up against this vote, they just decided to head for the border. They fled the state.
They have been found in various places. And one of those places across the border in Rockford, Illinois. They were holed up at Best Western clock tower hotel. The reason they left, they have the minority in the Senate. It's 14 of them, 19 Republicans. So they would need to have at least one more senator there, they have to have 20 there, to actually go for a vote. So since there were only 19 Republicans, Democrats thought this was the best strategy to go with.
If they stayed in Wisconsin, the sergeant in arms had the right to compel them to return to work. One of our affiliates, WCMJ, actually tracked down one Democratic senator at the hotel. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON ERPENBACH, (D) WISCONSIN STATE SENATE: We're trying to slow things down. The governor introduced this last Friday. It has tremendous changes in it that the people of the state of Wisconsin are just finding out about and obviously reacting to. We've got thousands of people up in Madison who are upset about what's going on and thousands more around the state doing the same thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So where exactly are they this morning? When will they possibly return? We'll ask one of them from his underground bunker this morning. He's not really at a bunker, but we'll see if he'll disclose his location this morning.
CHETRY: Also happening right now, anger spreading in the Arab world, protesters filling the streets in countries across North Africa. There's a look at the map. In red some hot spots around that region in the Persian Gulf, some under the hand of a brutal dictator or oppressive minority, all looking for at least a chance at a better life.
The main hot spot will be Bahrain again today where they're holding funerals for the dead, people that were killed in these protests. People mobbing the streets again, and the numbers are growing despite a government ban on gatherings and also tanks rolling into the streets.
In Libya, the latest country in the region hit by demands for change, people saying that Muammar Gadhafi, the dictator of more than 40 years, has to go. Libyans staged a day of rage organized on social media sites. Days of bloody clashes have left at least 21 dead according to a human rights group there.
HOLMES: Also, traffic once again moving on Interstate 20 just outside of Atlanta. There was a brush fire there yesterday that caused a 13- mile stretch to be shut down. This happened during the evening commute, one of the worst possible times. Interstate 20 is a main artery that runs east and west through downtown Atlanta. Officials believe this fire was intentionally set.
CHETRY: A court hearing this morning for the man accused of carrying out the shooting massacre in Tucson, Arizona. A judge will decide whether to release search warrants related to the case and a second updated mug shot of the suspect Jared Loughner. Loughner is not expected to be at today's hearing.
HOLMES: Also a decision today about whether or not to restart the USC University hospital's kidney transplant program. This is out in Los Angeles. A shutdown last month came after a patient reportedly got the wrong kidney. But the hospital says that patient is OK because the kidney luckily happened to be a close enough match. The hospital said this happened because of a, quote, "process error."
CHETRY: A bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland clears a major hurdle. The legislation was approved by a key state Senate committee yesterday and now appears to have enough votes to pass the full Senate. If it passes there and in the House of Delegates, Governor Martin O'Malley says he will sign it.
(WEATHER BREAK)
CHETRY: Coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING," they were shut down by the Obama administration, and now these former Chrysler dealers want their bailout. We'll explain.
HOLMES: Also this morning, Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford's road to recovery. Dr. Sanjay Gupta gives us a close look at that road and the rehab she's going through. It's seven minutes past the hour on this "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's ten minutes past the hour. There's no school today for thousands of kids in Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. Classes had to be canceled again because there are so many teachers calling out sick to demonstrate at the state capitol.
They're protesting the governor's attempts to balance the state budget by cutting public employee benefits and stripping workers of their right to collective bargaining except for wages. It's a deal breaker, according to Bryan Kennedy, the president of Wisconsin's teachers union. He appeared on our show a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRYAN KENNEDY, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS-WISCONSIN: Taking away bargaining rights is a non-starter. We have reached out time and time and time again, since November 3rd, since the day after the election. His people have refused to return a single call. They have never even acknowledged the unions except to give us notices of termination of contract extensions. They don't want to come to the table and bargain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, joining us live from Madison this morning is Republican Glenn Grothman, assistant majority leader of the Wisconsin Senate, and also Democratic state senator Jon Erpenbach. He's live from Chicago. Welcome to both of you.
I know there's a lot of tough choices, a lot of strong feelings on both sides. And a lot of people have a point. But Glenn, I want to ask you first out of the bag, why not -- why are they saying that the governor has not really been fair when it comes to negotiating with them? They claim he's trying to sort of collective bargain through the press but won't return phone calls. Is that the best way to operate in this situation?
GLENN GROTHMAN, (R) WISCONSIN STATE SENATOR: Well, I can't speak for Governor Walker. The state of Wisconsin is in a huge budget crisis, and ever since I've been in this building, I can't remember the AFT willing to give up anything. But what Governor Walker is recommending is really necessary for the state of Wisconsin right now. We have one of the biggest budget deficits in the country. We have, I think, the most generous public employee pensions in the country, and I'm a part of that plan, by the way.
But given the huge deficit we have, the idea of asking teachers to pay more of their health insurance and all public employees, and pay more of their pensions seems entirely reasonable.
CHETRY: Hold on, I want to stop you for one second. You said in your entire history of being there, you haven't seen the AFT be willing to give up anything. Bryan Kennedy said they gave up more than $100 million in concessions under the previous governor and many other things, including furloughs and wage freezes. Do you not agree with him? Is he not telling the truth?
GROTHMAN: Well, as far as negotiating with the legislature, I have not seen them be willing to do anything like this. The governor was able to order furloughs. Maybe at the end of the day AFT agreed with that. But I think that was another thing that was an absolute necessity. And I will tell you that the employees I know were not happy with it.
CHETRY: I want to get Jon Erpenbach to come in on this conversation. Clearly this is a mess. You've got people picketing for the third straight day, classes canceled, and now you as well as 13 of your colleagues had to leave the state in a protest on the vote that was taking place. Why are you in Chicago this morning, John?
JON ERPENBACH, (D) WISCONSIN STATE SENATOR: Well, obviously, we want to slow things down. But I need to correct something that Glenn just said. The unions don't negotiate with the legislature. The unions negotiate with the governor. Whoever the governor is, it's his job, his administration to sit down with the unions and negotiate.
And what Governor Walker is doing is absolutely nothing as far as that is concerned. He's got a responsibility to bring everybody to the table. He's going to get his money, we know that. This is all about the governor's attempt to strip collective bargaining rights away from the unions and essentially bust them.
CHETRY: All right, but, at the same time, you are talking about major budget problems in this state. Money's just not going to materialize. So should it be on the backs of the taxpayer then?
ERPENBACH: Well, basically there's two budgets. The budget we're dealing with here, the budget the governor has introduced that we're all fighting about right is called the Budget Repair Bill. It's to fix a $130 million hole.
What the governor's doing right now is going to grab about $30 million from public employees. And again, they're more than willing to pay their fair share. But at the same time in this bill, which is supposed to be a technical minor bill, he throws in the union busting provisions.
So again, that's why we're having the problems we're having in Wisconsin right now, and that's why we had to leave the state to slow the process down, to bring the governor back to the table, hopefully, and for people's voices to be heard.
CHETRY: Glenn, the American Federation of Teachers president called it a non-starter if they try to take collective bargaining off the table. So what happens? The protests are just going to continue on the streets. Parents are going to try to find something to do for their kids because they can't go to school. I mean, this seems like it's come to quite a head here. How does this get resolved?
GROTHMAN: Well, first of all, I don't think what we do, Bryan Kennedy has to sign off with. I mean, we had elections last November, and the idea that union has to sign off or has to agree in order to pay for part of their pension seems to me a little bit ridiculous.
Many people in the state of Wisconsin got laid off and have no job at all. Many others are not having a 401(k) contribution or contributing more to their health insurance. The idea that Governor Walker or the state legislature can't have public employees contribute towards their pension without Bryan Kennedy signing off is absurd.
CHETRY: Well, again, I know that you guys have huge challenges ahead. It's not going to get resolved today. But, you know, this has gotten a lot of attention because Wisconsin may be the first state dealing with this at this level. But this is a problem that's going to be resonating throughout the country in all 50 states.
Glenn Grothman and Jon Erpenbach, I thank both of you. Grothman and Jon Erpenbach, thanks so much for being with us this morning. We wish you guys a lot of luck in this.
ERPENBACH: Thanks, Kiran.
GROTHMAN: Thank you very much.
CHETRY: T.J.?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Kiran. Well, ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING, yes, it's called the U.S. House. But some congressmen are taking that a little too literally. They think they should actually live there in their Capitol Hill offices. Well, the watchdog group claims they're doing it at taxpayer expense.
Also, it was built as the man versus machine battle. You know this IBM computer taking on these "Jeopardy" champs. Well, yes, you can whip off on a "Jeopardy" champ. Does that mean you now trust this computer enough to maybe operate on you? Slow down.
Sixteen minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 20 minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. And some former Chrysler dealers are now suing the U.S. government. Christine Romans, I guess we could probably kind of assume why.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're suing the government because they say it was unconstitutional that the Obama administration took their business, took their property, and didn't fairly compensate them during the whole bailout of Chrysler a couple of years ago. What they say, what their attorneys say is that on condition for Chrysler to be pushed into bankruptcy, managed by the government and through the process to come out the other end as a viable company, some 789 dealers had to get the hi ho, and they say it was done unfairly and unconstitutional. So they're suing the government in federal court. They filed that lawsuit yesterday at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington. That is according to the "Detroit Free Press" the place that's designated for these kind of cases that are brought under what's called the takings clause of the constitution. Sixty-four former dealers suing for $134-plus million, which works out to about $2 million apiece.
Now, these --
CHETRY: Take us back to this, because, I mean, I still remember when you were getting the papers --
ROMANS: That's right.
CHETRY: -- we're getting the stack of papers listing which dealers were going to be shut down and which weren't. The dealers themselves didn't know.
ROMANS: That's right. I can remember being on the phone with a dealer in Maryland. And I said, you know, I want to go on the air and talk about sort of what's happening for you and your family as your dealership is being closed. And he said you can't use our name, we haven't told mom yet. Dad is the one who started this dealership and now the family business is dead forever.
And so those are the kinds of people who are very upset about this. And now, many, many, months on are now suing the federal government. There were 789 dealers that were ended. Their franchise agreements were ended by the company, and these plaintiffs represent about eight percent of those.
There's some others who have done some arbitration with the government over this. And, in fact, Chrysler won in some cases, but the dealers have won in some other cases, as well. So this -- watch how this plays out, but this is about -- this is an allegation that bailout was unconstitutional, taking the property, taking the business from these people.
A quick check of the markets. Two and a half year highs for stocks, folks. Wow, a lot has happened in the last couple of years, hasn't it? The Dow, 12,318. The Nasdaq at 2,832. S&P 500 at 1,340. We'll see if it can hold in through the weekend. HOLMES: All right, Christine.
ROMANS: Sure.
HOLMES: Thank you so much.
ROMANS: Thanks.
HOLMES: Also coming up on this American morning. Budweiser has been synonymous with his hometown of St. Louis for generations but now, there's something new on tap. Some competition.
Twenty-two minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's now 25 minutes past the hour now. We have been hearing a lot about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the remarkable progress she's made after being shot in the head.
CHETRY: This morning we're getting a rare look at just what her days are like in rehab. Dr. Sanjay Gupta was granted extraordinary access to actually go to the facility in Houston where Giffords is getting this treatment. Sanjay was able to play patient and see what it's like to have to go through it. He joins us from Atlanta.
You know, it's been described as a very grueling day to try to get this rehabilitation. Is that accurate?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. Very aggressive therapy, very intensive therapy. Remember, she was shot. This injury was on the left side of her brain. Concerns about the impact on speech, and also concerns from the left side injury on the right side of her body's strength. It was really fascinating to see exactly how they go about trying to rehabilitate these sort of things and see it firsthand. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): For about an hour most days, Congresswoman Giffords does this.
MAEGAN MORROW, MUSIC THERAPIST: How I wonder what you are.
GUPTA (on camera): Are.
MORROW: Sometimes I come in and that's all they can do.
GUPTA: And that's significant?
MORROW: That's significant because it gives me a clue, hey, they know this song and they want to fill it in.
GUPTA (voice-over): It's called music therapy. Most people never see how it or much of the technology, big or small in this building, actually works. So I will show you as if I, like Congresswoman Giffords, were a patient of Dr. Francisco and his team.
(on camera): This seems like a pretty long day.
Dr. GERARD FRANCISCO, TIRR: It is a long day.
FRANCISCO: After a brain injury or a stroke, there is a tendency for the patient to forget one side of the body.
GUPTA: Just neglect it?
FRANCISCO: Just neglect it.
GUPTA (voice-over): But this bike doesn't let you forget.
(on camera): These little cords here are actually attached to my muscles in my leg. And as my leg is moving it's sort of predicting which muscle should be using and it's giving that muscle a stimulation.
(voice-over): They call this the superman device. Learning to walk without the burden of my body weight. Surprisingly, the shopping cart is also used as part of therapy.
(on camera): Take a look here, obviously, Julie helping, for example, if I had right leg weakness really sort of moving my leg along, preventing me from falling.
(voice-over): But here's the thing, all these therapies work together. The music isn't just rehabilitating the mind. It's also teaching patients to walk. And sometimes --
MORROW: And I'll give them a song to kind of get their mind off of the pain.
Oh, when the saints come marching in. Kind of thing like that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: I think that was the most fascinating part. The fact that you think about these therapies, music therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy as different therapies, but they really focus on building one on the other. You know, the neurosurgeon, I send patients to rehab all the time. That's the first time I actually spent a day going through it myself and really learning how that whole process works. So it's fascinating.
HOLMES: And you know how the brain works better than anybody. But for the rest of us it seems like you really are having to rewire the brain?
GUPTA: You know, what's interesting, T.J., is you think about the brain typically sending signals down to muscles. That's what happens. That's what happens when you do any kind of activity. But say your muscle is weak for various reasons. In this case, say, because of a brain injury. What if you were to stimulate the muscles as it was supposed to make a certain movement? So as you're peddling a bicycle, for example, as you're walking on that treadmill, give little stimulations to the muscle and now you're sending a signal back to the brain, as well. So it sort of becomes a two-way thing. And that really facilitates the process of rewiring, really expedites it.
CHETRY: You know, it's also just -- it's still so shocking that it takes like a second to pull the trigger, you know, of a gun and all that damage that's done in that split second and then how long it takes to claw your way back. And she's one of the lucky ones, you know, to survive that type of injury.
GUPTA: I mean, the percentages are small. So people have been using the term remarkable, as you know, Kiran, for some time to describe her. And I think it's true. If you look overall at the number of people who simply survive a gunshot wound to the head, and then even the smaller percentage of people who make a functional recovery, for her, you know, now it's a lot about what we call occupational therapy. The idea that there are activities of daily living, you know, brushing your teeth, using a utensil to feed yourself, being able to dress yourself, those are things they're working on here as well.
And they're using futuristic technologies. Even while we were there in Houston, they brought in this robot, for example, which you can put a weak limb in right or left arm and you can control various instruments. Play video games, for example. It teaches you how to improve your cognition as well as your muscle strength.
You're looking at it there. Again, this is sort of the future of physical rehab, just being implemented in places TIRR.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's amazing. It is amazing. Thanks so much for giving us that look.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thanks, guys.
CHETRY: Well, don't forget to catch "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D.," Saturday and Sunday morning, 7:30 Eastern, right here on CNN.
HOLMES: We continue to keep a close eye on what's happening in the Middle East and Arab countries. It is heating up once again this morning. People talked about a domino effect after Tunisia and Egypt. Well, it appears we may be seeing just that -- many nations across North Africa, the Middle East, as well as the Persian Gulf now seeing protests. Some of the main spots we're keeping an eye on: Libya and Bahrain.
CHETRY: And in Bahrain, crowds are gathering this morning and the numbers are growing. The top Shiite cleric, a spokesman for the opposition, called yesterday's crackdown on protesters a massacre. At least four people were killed when police stormed a camp of sleeping protesters in the capital's main square.
HOLMES: And, of course, a lot of people are taking their cue from what they saw in Egypt. And you'll remember, Egypt had a day of rage, a day of liberation. Well, how about this now? A day of victory. Thousands of people gathering in Cairo's Tahrir Square today after 18 days of protests there that forced President Hosni Mubarak out.
CHETRY: Here at home, it is not exactly a frat house, but nearly three dozen congressmen use their capitol offices to sleep during the week.
HOLMES: A watchdog group now claiming that they're doing it at taxpayer expense.
Jim Acosta live for us on Capitol Hill.
Jim, good morning to you.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, T.J. and Kiran.
You know, they were here until almost 4:00 in the morning the other night voting on budget matters. They had a long night last night. So, they are putting some long hours these days on some pretty important issues. But with so many members of Congress sleeping in their offices, the House is becoming a bit like a hotel where the lodging is on the House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): After a long day on Capitol Hill, Republican Congressman Joe Walsh checks into what's become the cheapest hotel room in Washington -- his own office.
(on camera): And how good a night's sleep is that? That doesn't look too comfortable, Congressman.
REP. JOE WALSH (R), ILLINOIS: I'm going to be honest, it's horrible. The couch is uncomfortable.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Walsh sleeps on the couch, saving his family the expense of finding a second home in the nation's capital, giving him more time to take care of business.
WALSH: A couple of time, I've rolled off.
ACOSTA (on camera): You've rolled off the couch
WALSH: I've rolled off the couch to a thud.
ACOSTA (voice-over): But a liberal watchdog group isn't comfortable either and is calling for an investigation, accusing more than 30 lawmakers of bilking a fringe benefit on which members of Congress must pay taxes. But this is nothing new.
Republican Jason Chaffetz was showing off his cot to CNN two years ago.
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: That's a well-made bed right there.
REP. HANSEN CLARKE (D), MICHIGAN: A good mattress right here.
ACOSTA: Democrats are doing it, too -- even though freshman Hansen Clarke isn't sure how long he can take it.
CLARKE: I haven't had a good night's sleep since I've been here in congress.
ACOSTA: Walsh, a Tea Party conservative who turned down his own congressional health care plan welcomes any investigation.
(on camera): So, let me ask you this: you don't want the federal health benefits, but you'll take the free housing?
WALSH: No.
ACOSTA: Is there a contradiction?
WALSH: No, that will be determined. If this is free housing that I have to pay some tax for, I'll pay it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: So far, there are only congressmen, not congresswomen who appeared to be sleeping in their offices. And that might have something to do with the fact that there are no shower in their offices in those bathrooms, leaving the congressional gym as the only place to wash up, T.J. and Kiran.
CHETRY: There you go. It's incentive to work out.
ACOSTA: Exactly. They're staying healthy, at least.
CHETRY: They're already in the gym anyways. Yes.
ACOSTA: That's right.
CHETRY: We'll see what happens with that. Thanks so much.
HOLMES: Jim, thanks.
ACOSTA: OK.
CHETRY: Fresh off of its "Jeopardy" win, IBM supercomputer Watson could have a new gig down the road. As your doctor? We're going to talk more about how artificial intelligence be used more and more in the health care field.
Thirty-four minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Thirty-seven minutes past the hour now.
He is one of the biggest celebrities in the world right now, and he has no ego, unless they actually put an ego into him as part of a computer program. We're talking about Watson, IBM supercomputer who soundly defeated his opponents on "Jeopardy" Wednesday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TV HOST: Now we come to Watson. We're looking for Bram Stoker and we find, who is Bram Stoker? And the wager. Hello, $17,973, $41,413 and a two-day total of $77,147.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Certainly a unique experience to watch Watson whip Ken Jennings. But would you let him, let's say, perform surgery on you or diagnose a condition?
Work's already underway to see how supercomputers and artificial intelligence can help improve our lives, particularly in the health care field. IBM says it's partnering with Nuance Communications in the hopes of turning Watson into a physician assistant.
Joining me now is Joe Brown, features editor at Gizmodo.com, all things tech.
And you're pretty pumped about this. This is pretty interesting. So, he would be used as a diagnostic in hospitals. How would this work?
JOE BROWN, GIZMODO.COM: Well, that's the idea, that you would maybe a patient comes in, and the patient's a little incoherent or the patient is blabbering on, got into a car accident or something really traumatic and they're spouting off all sorts of -- you know, where's my wife, where's my wallet? Bu they're also saying some key words that somebody would have to hone in on in order to diagnose what's wrong.
And this would be a way that Watson, who is basically like a guy who can read a million books a second, 750 servers, you preload it with a lot of information and it cross references all this information to come up with an answer just like it did on "Jeopardy." And so, he can say, all right, well, he said, my leg hurts, it's warm, and my head itches. Why don't we get saline and, blah, blah, blah, into the operating and get a doctor in order to make a final diagnosis? Just basically streamlining and making the diagnosis process more efficient.
CHETRY: So, obviously, this would not be a replacement for a human. But how old would they help? I mean, somewhere down the road -- I mean, you know, we have kiosks now at airports instead of having to see a person. I mean, there are ways that we've certainly replaced humans.
Would this down the road perhaps be a way, let's say, in rural hospitals or things like, in rural places that don't have a lot of health care to actually replace humans?
BROWN: I can see it as going into a place where there may not be a human right now, maybe assisting humans in places where it's not possible to have a person at that time. You know, you can definitely see the use of this in an extreme environment, as well, like where there's a place where you can't have a doctor standing around 24 hours a day, but it would be great to have --
CHETRY: In a war zone or something --
BROWN: A war zone or maybe a mine, something like that, you can use a tool like this actually really help get medical professionals there if you need to.
CHETRY: Now, practically speaking, one of the things we did see, which was interesting in "Jeopardy" is that, OK, he could know everything. He could have all that information, as you said, all loaded up with all of this information, but he got wrong a question where they said what U.S. city? And he said Toronto.
BROWN: Yes.
CHETRY: And so, sometimes it's -- he could know everything in the world but miss the obvious, and particularly in the health care field. That's why it's so important for doctors to not only train medically, but also in human interaction.
BROWN: Yes, and, you know, I'm -- I was kind of happy to see him get that wrong. I'm not going to lie. It's nice to know there are some things you can't replace with 750 servers and a really fast processor.
CHETRY: And that's interesting because Ken Jennings jokingly wrote in his final "Jeopardy," I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords. I mean, do people have any reason to fear this? We're marveling at it right now -- but this whole notion of artificial intelligence down the road.
BROWN: Well, I think we can see it as welcoming some help, because we're not perfect either. And it's nice to see that the things that we make can actually come and assist us in the future. And that's what we need to welcome the artificial intelligence as.
CHETRY: I want to ask you another question about a tech story that's percolating out there. There was -- the president yesterday going to Silicon Valley and he was supposed to be meeting about innovation with some of the top tech giants. And one of them was Apple's Steve Jobs. There was not a picture released, an official picture released of this meeting, of the dinner that they had. And there's speculation about the health of Steve Jobs and a lot of concerns about that.
What do you make of the concerns over his health right now and whether or not we're going to hear more about how he's doing?
BROWN: Well, Steve Jobs and Apple are notoriously tight lipped about his health considerations. And that's understandable. It's a publicly traded company. People have money invested in it.
But he's a tough guy, you know? He's had a liver transplant. He survived pancreatic cancer. And that's a killer. And I'm really -- we're all hoping that he just licks this, too. He definitely has health problems, though.
CHETRY: I think -- that's why he announced that he's taking a prolonged leave of absence with no end date when he's going to return.
BROWN: Yes, he took a leave of absence. And the last time he took a leave of absence, he actually said he was going to be back in six months and he was. This time, he didn't say anything like that and that was a little bit of a concern for a lot of people. But, you know, this is one of the toughest, smartest, most determined people you've ever encountered in your life.
CHETRY: We certainly all wish him the best.
Joe Brown, features editor at Gizmodo.com, thanks for joining us this morning.
BROWN: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: T.J.?
HOLMES: All right, Kiran.
Coming up: a lot of people enjoying some of this nice weather over the past few days, a warm-up, you can call it. Well, read my lips: ice and snow on the way. Rob Marciano is coming up next.
It's 42 minutes past the hour.
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HOLMES: Good morning, New York City, a quarter to the top of the hour here on this AMERICAN MORNING. This is nice. Partly cloudy, 63 degrees later in the day, but a change is coming.
CHETRY: Yes, that's a great shot.
Let's check in with Rob Marciano this morning for more.
So, it's snowing out west, we love.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
CHETRY: And people could take a run in Central Park this morning, 63 degrees.
MARCIANO: Yes, couldn't be a gorgeous Friday? Tomorrow won't be too bad, but it's going to be cold. So, you know, you might have to wear an extra layer.
We have a cool front that's going to be pressing off to the east. But before it does, definitely some warm air, and, of course, as you mentioned, what's going on out west is pretty impressive.
Check out these impressive high temperatures today: 68 degrees expected in Memphis, expecting 73 in D.C. and Atlanta, and 63 degrees in New York City. So, that is definitely a run in the park kind of weather, at least today -- tomorrow, not so much.
Eighty-two in Bartlesville, Oklahoma; 80 degrees in Oklahoma City -- these are areas that last week, one week ago today or yesterday, I should say, temperatures were 20, 30 degrees below zero. How about that for a turn around? It'll be a little cooler today, but nonetheless, these are impressive numbers, in Kansas, as well, with temperatures getting into upper 70s and lower 80s yesterday.
Also, impressive, equally impressive on this holiday weekend, 47 inches of snow in Alpine Meadows, California. And these are all near and around the Tahoe area. So, they continue to get dumped on. Winter storm warnings remain posted for tonight.
And some of this action sliding down to the South. And there are winter storm warnings that are posted from some of the mountains around the L.A. area, and rainfall will be increasing in time today.
Newark, you might see delays if you're traveling out of the New York area this holiday weekend, 30 to 60-minute delays expected in Philly, rain and wind in Los Angeles, and San Francisco, some rain and wind, as well. San Diego, as well.
Temperatures tomorrow, though, are going to be a little bit cooler: 42 degrees expected in New York City, 49 degrees in D.C. So, almost 20 degrees cooler tomorrow, as you compared to yesterday -- although, the good news is, guys, there won't be much in the way of rain or snow as this front comes through.
Back to you guys in New York -- T.J., Kiran.
HOLMES: All right. Rob, we appreciate you as always. Some good news in there. Thanks so much.
CHETRY: Well, it's been a week of celebrity watching, of champagne popping in New York. Fashion week coming to a close now in the Big Apple.
HOLMES: Yes. Some people lucky enough to have backstage passes if you're into that kind of thing. Alina Cho who had a backstage pass, no matter how much I talk thrash about fashion week, I would have loved to have a backstage pass.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Next time, there's always next time. There's another one that's rolling around in September, T.J.
HOLMES: OK.
CHO: You know, it's a hard job. Somebody's got to do it.
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: You know, I do have a very special half hour debuting tomorrow right here on CNN. We're going to show you all the beautiful shows on the runway, of course. You're going to hear from the top editors and stylists about trends, a look of what you might be buying in the stores months before they hit the shelves.
We also sat down with Michael Kors. He's celebrating 30 years in fashion, if you can believe it. He talked to us about his most memorable moment from his first year back in 1981. He actually climbed inside the display windows at the top department store to help dress the mannequins. It's a funny story, we'll tell you about it.
Another interview you won't want to miss is my one-on-one with Victoria Beckham. You may know her as Posh Spice or perhaps as David Beckham's wife. Well, guess what? She's also a fashion designer.
And before you write her off, you know what? Her clothes and handbags are selling out. She also talked to me about her personal life. The biggest thing right now, she's 4 1/2 months pregnant with her fourth child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Obviously, every mother you speak to says, I just want a healthy baby. But, you know, three boys.
VICTORIA BECKHAM, SINGER/FASHION DESIGNER: A girl would be nice. I mean, it would be great. But if I don't have a girl this time, then maybe I'll be lucky enough to have a girl next time, you know?
CHO: The next time? This is your fourth, really? How many children do you want to have?
BECKHAM: We'd like to have a big family.
CHO: There could be a fifth?
BECKHAM: There could be, who knows.
CHO: Or a sixth?
BECKHAM: Well, I'm not Angelina. I mean, I don't know. I mean, come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: She's really cute.
CHO: She is really cute. You know, s also talked about her days as a Spice Girl. Does she miss singing? And she said, oh, God, no, I'm not a very good singer at all, you know?
And we spent a lot of time, of course, talking about her clothing line, which does quite well, and has gotten a stamp of approval by the fashion industry.
HOLMES: How old is she now?
CHO: She is 36 or 37 years old, I'll double check that.
HOLMES: She's been around for a while.
CHETRY: A young gal.
CHO: She's a young gal and she's doing very, very well. And she's found a really great second career, which she calls her passion.
HOLMES: All right.
CHETRY: The funny thing is you always ask, why doesn't she smile? And she says it's because she doesn't like her smile.
CHO: She's very uncomfortable. She feels uncomfortable about it. And says she's shying away from the celebrity life because she's really passionate about fashion.
HOLMES: OK.
CHO: You'll hear that interview.
HOLMES: All right. You stay with you, you help me tease this thing. All right. This weekend, so tomorrow, right, "Fashion Week Backstage Pass" with our Alina Cho tomorrow, February the 19th, 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
And I'm sure we'll find another -- wait, that's an encore presentation, no, that's Pacific Time. But I'm sure there will be an encore presentation at some point.
CHO: We hope so.
HOLMES: All right. Alina, thank you so much this morning.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: Well, your top stories just minutes away, including women in the workforce still hitting their heads on the glass ceiling, earning 80 cents on the dollar compared to men. Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" with the one job where women can actually achieve pay equality.
HOLMES: Also, this morning, a high school wrestler from Iowa who had a chance to win the state championship. He was a favorite. But in his first round, he bowed out intentionally defaulted. Why? Because he didn't want to wrestle a girl. An amazing story you'll want to hear.
CHETRY: And the extraordinary photos of Earnest Withers, not just documenting history but making it. Soledad O'Brien with the story of the civil rights photographer who became an FBI informant in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: That reminds me of breakfast.
HOLMES: Yes. Well, a different schedule here, folks.
CHETRY: Fifty-three minutes past the hour.
The king of beers, and St. Louis is the hometown of Anheuser-Busch. Bud has been royalty in that town for generations. HOLMES: But as many of you may recall, it was sold to a Belgian brewing giant. So, now, local beer makers starting to challenge Budweiser on its home turf.
Stephanie Elam has quench that palate of a story.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I have to tell you -- it was a fun story to do.
HOLMES: I bet it was.
ELAM: Yes. And the folks in St. Louis are very hospitable.
HOLMES: Yes.
ELAM: Yes.
HOLMES: It's an American company that's no longer American, so some people trying to get in on that American part of it.
ELAM: Very much so. You know, this is a heartland story, right? You know, when you look at St. Louis, what are they known for? They're known for their beer and may be known for the Cardinals, they maybe known for a lot of things. But a lot of people associate it because of the beer.
You know, you remember back to these commercials Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Missouri. I remember it on the radio as a kid all the time, it was on. Well, it's little bit different now, so that's giving some people some hope to get in there and maybe do some things on the craft brewing scene. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New Orleans is known for jazz. Memphis is known for its barbecue. St. Louis was world renowned for beer.
ELAM (voice-over): When Tom Schlafly opened his brewery in 1991, people thought he'd get crushed by hometown heavyweight Anheuser- Busch.
TOM SCHLAFLY, SCHLAFLY BEER: The universal reaction was I was out of my mind.
ELAM: These days, however, Budweiser isn't American owned and Schlafly Beer is still thriving in St. Louis.
JOHN OTIS, SCHLAFLY CUSTOMER: I always had been a Budweiser beer drinker. And after I started coming here and started enjoying these micro brews, I never wanted to go anywhere else.
ELAM: Fifteen breweries are opening or operating in St. Louis according to "The Post Dispatch," the most since prohibition. Phil Wymore moved here to launch Perennial Artisan Ales this spring. He says the 2008 sale of Anheuser-Busch to Belgium's InBev left a bitter taste in the mouths of many St. Louisianans. PHIL WYMORE, BREWMASTER, PERENNIAL ARTISAN ALES: It presents a really good opportunity for other brewers to come in and fill the pipeline a little bit.
ELAM: For the former A-B employees behind Urban Chestnut, the idea of opening their own shop came even before the merger.
FLORIAN KUPLENT, CO-FOUNDER, URBAN CHESTNUT BREWERY: We kind of want to bring back that feeling of old world tradition back to St. Louis, all of the different styles of beer that maybe a larger brewery won't be able to explore.
ELAM: And that's got the big bottlers hopping.
EVAN BENN, BEER COLUMNIST, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH: Look at the big breweries like Anheuser-Busch and Miller Coors, they're trying to create craft line, you know, craft beers, too, to try to keep up with these little guys because they see this is where the popularity is.
ELAM: Schlafly says their concept only gets better with every craft of strong breweries.
SCHLAFLY: I'm not worried about a good craft brewery opening in St. Louis. I'm worried about a bad one.
ELAM: Not to worry, Mr. Schlafly, St. Louisianans know their beer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELAM: So, are you thirsty yet, thinking about this long weekend, what you're going to do? How you can bring some beer? Maybe going to hitch a ride to St. Louis and see what's going on?
But what's really interesting about what you'll see in the craft brewery scene in St. Louis, you'd think they would be all super- competitive, not at all. They're all friends. They get together. They tell stories, talk about brewing beer. And they really try to help each other, because I figure people who really like craft beers, they're not the kind of people who just stick with one kind of beer. They're samplers by definition. And they really like that, and they all get along, right now, having the most breweries since prohibition in St. Louis, according to the folks we talked to at "The St. Louis Post-dispatch."
That's a lot. But it's really, really interesting to see what they're doing and see how they're doing. And there's other ones there, too, that we didn't talk to. But really a budding brew scenes.
HOLMES: Still growing? Are they happy --
ELAM: Still growing. There's still more. There's still just going to open up that have not opened up. Others like O'Fallons have been there. They're like, you know, heavyweights. People know them. But there's more people coming.
And there's a lot of other craft brewery cities. CHETRY: Right.
ELAM: You can think of like Seattle, which has a lot of them. St. Louis is just slower getting to it, but there's a lot of it. You couldn't go like to Busch Stadium and not get anything other than a Budweiser before, and now, that's changed. So, it's really interesting.
CHETRY: Do they still have room for Budweiser, too?
ELAM: Of course. And, you know, it's still a big company in the city, you know? So, it's still -- they're still doing things there.
CHETRY: It's good, though, to see local people employing local people, and, you know, I think some form of pride as well.
ELAM: A lot of pride. You know, they are hardy Americans in St. Louis.
HOLMES: I want to you know, we're behind your back and try to steal this story, they wouldn't let me.
(LAUGHTER)
ELAM: Maybe I'll give you some of the beer.
HOLMES: I bet you will. Stephanie, good to see you as always.
ELAM: Good to see you, too.
HOLMES: Thank you.
Quick break coming at the top of the hour and your top stories. Stay with us.
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