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American Morning
Packers, Cheese and Protests; Pizza Delivery Hero Speaks; Are You On Time For Work?; Space Shuttle Discovery To Attempt Another Launch; "TIME" Examines Causes and Myriad Prescriptions For Chronic Pain; Have a Snickers Instead?
Aired February 24, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the state of Wisconsin is now ground zero for America's labor movement. Officials there are bracing for the largest protest in state history on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you. It's Thursday, February 24th. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
There's a part of this story playing out in Wisconsin. We can throw in a prank phone call now. The governor has fallen for one. That prank caller actually got to the governor to reveal at least part of his strategy in this standoff with the union workers.
Now, that prank caller was actually liberal blogger Ian Murphy. He is with the buffalobeast.com. He called Walker pretending to be a donor, not just any donor. A billionaire conservative donor by the name of David Koch. Koch is one of the richest people in New York. He has ties to the Tea Party . His political action committee donated some $43,000 to Walker's campaign.
Listen now to a part of the phone conversation between the governor and who he thought was Koch.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
"DAVID KOCH": Well, I tell you what, Scott, once you crush these bastards, I'll fly you out to Cali and really show you a good time.
GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: All right. That would be outstanding. Thanks for all of the support and helping us move the cause forward and we appreciate it. This is about public sector unions. You essentially are having taxpayers' money be used to pay to lobby for spending more of taxpayers' money. It's absolutely ridiculous.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HOLMES: The governor also discussed those 14 Senate Democrats who left Wisconsin to try to stall a vote on that budget. And he talked about bringing them back, trying to get them back to Wisconsin by offering them a chance to, quote, "talk, not negotiate." Then he had 19 Republican senators declare a quorum and force a vote. Walker says this was not a trick necessarily. He's defending what was said in that phone call, doesn't consider any of it really a big deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: But the bottom line is the things I've said are things I've said publicly all along. Now, the fact of the matter is people have brought up all sorts of different options. As you saw, if you've listened to the tape, we put that down. I'm not going to allow one prank phone call to be a distraction from the realities that we have a job to do here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: During that prank, Walker also discussed the idea of trying to push those Wisconsin Democrats by trying to get them -- to require them to come back to get their paychecks which are due I believe next Tuesday, our reporter is reporting on the ground.
CHETRY: All right. Well, deputy general out of Indiana is out of a job this morning. Jeffrey Cox was fired for using his personal Twitter account last weekend to comment on the labor protests in Wisconsin. And in that tweet, he suggested using live ammunition on the demonstrators, referring to them as thugs. Cox insists it was meant as satire and says that he regrets using that kind of language now.
But, again, it's too late to save his job. The Indiana Attorney General Offices says, quote, "We respect individual's First Amendment right to express their personal views on private online forums, but as public servants, we're held by the public to a higher standard, and we should strive for civility."
HOLMES: They are expecting a record number of protesters on the streets in Wisconsin today, not just focused on Madison abut all over the state.
CHETRY: That's right. Like it or not, Wisconsin has become ground zero for America's labor movement. Casey Wian is live for us in Madison this morning. And, again, we've been saying, they are expecting the largest demonstrations yet today.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. Ground zero has been basically right here over a week now, where all of these protesters have gathered, and including some supporters of Governor Walker over the weekend. But, now, they're going to fan out throughout the state of Wisconsin. More than two dozen different cities and towns will be holding different pro-union rallies and other events today.
Wisconsin has become the place to be for people on both sides of the debate over union power.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN (voice-over): Wisconsin's protests over the union rights of state workers may have started here, but they have spread nationwide.
MAHLON MITCHELL, PRES., WISCONSIN FIREFIGHTERS ASSN.: Our message is on the collective bargaining here in -- a fall of collective bargaining here would be a fall of collecting bargaining all over.
TIM PHILLIPS, AMERICAN FOR PROSPERITY: Wisconsin is ground zero. I think it's going to determine largely whether or not the pampered nature of these public employee unions is finally reined in.
WIAN: From California to D.C., Tea Party groups and labor union are rallying their troops and bringing them to Madison.
JIM HOFFA, TEAMSTERS PRESIDENT: How are you doing? What's going on?
WIAN: National labor leaders also are flocking here.
HOFFA: This is the most blatant attack on workers' rights that's ever happened, and I want to be here. Organized labor wants to be here.
WALKER: I also want to make it, clear particularly to those union leaders coming in from outside the state of Wisconsin, that when given the choice to stand with them or to stand with the millions of hardworking taxpayers all across Wisconsin, I'm going to stand with the hardworking taxpayers of Wisconsin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks for coming.
WIAN: Unions also criticize outsiders, including the billionaire Koch brothers of Kansas, who are big contributors to Walker's campaign and recently expanded their lobbying presence here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me, our governor here, unfortunately, is just a puppet. He is just playing into their hands.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like we're getting to a point where it's outside money is dictating our state policies.
WIAN: One longtime labor activist calls it the single most important labor struggle in the 21st century -- to which the Tea Party responds:
DREW RYUN, AMERICAN MAJORITY: You look at the support the Tea Party movement has across the nation and you look at the governors who won this past November, I like those odds.
WIAN: Already, Governor Walker is being talked about here as a candidate for recall or for national office.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: You know, you mentioned earlier that effort to try to persuade those Democratic senators to come back to the state capital to collect their paychecks by refusing to allow them to be direct deposited as they are now -- that's something that the Tea Party is actually taking credit for, at least pushing that idea. And it's something that could have a chance of working. These senators make a little less than $50,000 a year. So, it's not like they can go without those paychecks for a long time -- T.J., Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. We'll see how this shakes out. But, again, as you said, it's going to be coming to a head today, at least with the large demonstrations. Thanks so much, Casey.
HOLMES: Thanks, Casey.
We'll turn to another state now that is starting to allow civil unions for same-sex couples, Hawaii now. The governor there has signed into law the bill that gives same-sex couples the same rights as married couples. Like Hawaii, New Jersey also allows civil unions. But Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire and the District of Columbia, they all allow same-sex marriages.
Meanwhile, a major reversal on gay marriage from the Obama administration. The president has now ordered the Justice Department to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court. This is the 1996 law that says marriage is between one man and one woman. The Justice Department has been defending it in court the past two years, but now says the law is indefensible and unconstitutional.
Important to note here, though, the law is still on the books. That means it will still be enforced even if the Obama administration is not defending. The president stopped short of personally endorsing gay marriage. His press secretary, though, says that the president is still, quote, "grappling" with his views on this issue.
CHETRY: Well, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin still running neck-in-neck for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. More than 1,300 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents participated in this newest Gallup Poll. Huckabee came out on top with 18 percent of the vote. Romney and Palin tied for second, two points back. But again, no one is officially declared out of these three.
It seems Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had a hard time saying good-bye to Brazil's foreign minister yesterday. Very quote exchange between the two. We'll listen to how the former first lady excused herself at a news conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: I would never run out on any man as good-looking as you except I have to go meet the president right now to talk about Libya and other matters. So, I'm going to leave you.
ANTONIO PATRIOTA, BRAZILIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Thank you so much. I'm going to say good-bye in Brazilian style.
CLINTON: Thank you very, very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Saying good-bye in Brazilian style, not one kiss but two.
HOLMES: Diplomatic flirting. You don't see that a whole lot.
Let's turn to our Reynolds Wolf, say good morning to him once again, at seven minutes past the hour, in Atlanta, keeping an eye on the weather.
And we have a problem spot today, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you guys talk about flirting in politics. We're talking about flirting with some severe weather.
In fact, we've got the possibility of having some rough storms at least over 12 different states. It's going to be probable in the areas you see shaded in red and several others including Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas and Alabama. Whew! That's right.
And the reason why we're going to be seeing it is actually quite simple. It's that area of low pressure you see dead in the center of the screen. That low is going to be feeding some moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. That's going to really conflict with some of the colder air coming in right behind it, where you have that contrast is where you have the best chance of having those strong storms.
The top half of this system is all snow. And out to the west, we may see some snowfall, a lot of inches, but perhaps even some feet in the high Cascades.
There's a quick snapshot of your forecast. We got a whole lot more coming up and more updates throughout the day.
Let's send it back to you guys.
CHETRY: Reynolds, thanks so much.
HOLMES: Thanks, Reynie.
WOLF: You bet.
CHETRY: Julian Assange, the controversial founder of WikiLeaks in court this morning. He lost his case. What it means going forward.
HOLMES: Also this morning, a photo of Beyonce is causing a stir. Her famous face appeared in the pages of a fashion magazine, that's happened before, but this time, it's covered in dark paint. We will show you the picture and tell you the outrage when we come back.
It's nine minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Eleven minutes past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
The prime minister of New Zealand said it could be his country's darkest day. Well, Christchurch now, after the earthquake there, is up to 98 people confirmed dead, but another 226 are missing.
We are getting a look now at just the power of this earthquake as it was happening. This is surveillance video from inside a store. You could see the shelves start to shake around violently, bottles start to fall on the ground. Half the city of Christchurch now, which is the second largest city in New Zealand, now without power.
CHETRY: Also, new developments this morning in the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. A British judge ruling that Assange can be extradited to Sweden where prosecutors want to question him about two separate incidents of alleged sexual misconduct. Assange has not been charged with a crime. The judge rejected every one of his objections to extradition, saying that Assange could get a fair trial in Sweden. He now has seven days to appeal that court ruling.
Fifteen suspected Somali pirates are in the custody of U.S. officials this morning. They're being held on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. They are accused of killing four Americans after hijacking their yacht in the Indian Ocean last week. The Pentagon says it is up to the Justice Department to decide on possible prosecution.
HOLMES: Well, we have new developments this morning to tell you about out of Libya and maybe some disturbing developments for the head of Libya right now. Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, he is expected to speak soon.
But it seems that the opposition now is getting closer and closer to him. There are reports this morning that the opposition is in control of the Libyan city of Misrata. Now, the orange we're going to show you here on this map is where opposition groups have taken power. Forgive me; we don't have that up for you.
Another city, though, Zlitan, has fallen there. But what we were trying to show you, wanted to show you, is that, in fact, that country, about two-thirds of it or a good chunk of the middle there, seems to be parts where the opposition says they are in control.
Meanwhile, in Benghazi where the uprising started, the masses are celebrating. They say they have taken that city and now celebrating. No more violence in the streets there. Our Ben Wedeman is there. He says the CNN crew is being welcomed like liberating heroes.
All these pictures we're seeing, that turmoil in North Africa and other parts of the Mideast that some people say said it could spread to causing gas and oil prices to spike. Oil crossed over the $100 mark yesterday. That's the highest we have seen it since 2008. Also this morning, once again, it's hovering just around $100 a barrel.
And as oil prices rise, stocks are falling. The second straight day, the Dow closed down, lost 95 points. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 were also down for the day. Right now, the Dow futures are in negative territory as well.
CHETRY: Well, Beyonce's latest photo shoot for a French fashion magazine has people talking this morning, and many don't like it. In it, the pop icon pays tribute to African culture and she's taking some heat for posing in one photograph in which her entire face is covered in dark black makeup and she is wearing tribal paint. The magazine admitted that her face was voluntarily darkened. Beyonce's representatives have not responded.
HOLMES: Also this morning, Catherine Zeta-Jones, she's getting some pretty royal treatment today. She was at Buckingham Palace today. You see her there.
She was made a, quote, "Commander of the British Empire" is what it's called. She was made by that Prince Charles for her work in movies and charity. Her husband, as you see there, Michael Douglas, also making another public appearance after his recent battle with throat cancer.
CHETRY: Well, does your back hurt? Do you have arthritis, splitting headaches? Coming up a little bit later this morning, understanding chronic pain and some alternative treatments out there besides pain medication that are making a difference for people.
HOLMES: Also this morning, we told you about this story yesterday, how ordering a large pepperoni pizza with thin crust everyday for three years can actually save your life. Well, the woman, the delivery woman from Domino's who had to check on her elderly customer. She had a hunch and maybe saved this woman's life. She is here with us to tell us her story.
It's 15 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Eighteen minutes past the hour.
We talked a lot about this story yesterday, but, I mean, it's a great one. An elderly woman is alive today because of her love with pizza and one Domino's delivery driver who really cares about her customer.
HOLMES: This is an 82-year-old woman. She's ordered a Domino's pepperoni pizza everyday for three years. One day, the calls stopped coming. So, Dominos came to the house, anyway, and the pizza delivery hero, if you will, is here with us right now. Good morning. Thank you for being here with us.
SUSAN GUY, HAS WORKED FOR DOMINO'S FOR SIX MONTHS: Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: OK. Was she right on time every day? You could depend on that call from her?
GUY: We made her pizza before she even got there.
HOLMES: Really?
GUY: We didn't cook it. We just prepped it, so that we could get it to her, you know, as quickly as possible, yes, sir.
CHETRY: And so, when did you realize something was wrong?
GUY: When my boss pointed out that she hadn't ordered that morning, and I realized that I had worked the previous two days. He wasn't there. And I said, she hasn't ordered in three days.
HOLMES: So, did everybody kind of in agreement that something had to be wrong?
GUY: Well, there are just three of us there, and so, it was just, you know, me and that manager on duty. You know, I said let's call her. He knows her number by heart.
CHETRY: And she wasn't able to answer the phone?
GUY: She couldn't answer the phone.
CHETRY: And you said, you know what, I'm just going to go by her house. Did anybody tell you that they didn't think that was a good idea?
GUY: Well, they didn't tell me that was a good idea. What they said was, you know, you don't have to because we were worried about her privacy. You know, we don't want to invade. We're just, you know, delivery people. We don't want to invade someone's privacy.
HOLMES: But you got there. She didn't answer the door and then you called 911? How did it go?
GUY: I know she didn't answer the door. I beat on the doors, the windows, and I listened at the windows to see if I could hear maybe calling, and I just didn't hear anything. It was shut up tight. Every shade, every curtain. I said, then, I started knocking in the neighbor's door and actually found a gentleman that knew she lived there, but he didn't know much more about her.
But thought, maybe, she had left for the day. That's when I asked him, you know, when have you ever seen her leave? And he's like, never. I'm like, OK. Now, I'm calling 911.
CHETRY: So, the police had to break the door down, and when they got inside, Jean is her name. She had fallen, and she was not able to answer the phone, and she didn't have anybody else in the house with her? GUY: No, nobody else. And I don't think she had -- because she asked. I don't think she had anybody because she was surprised and was like who could have called? And she asked them? Who called? They said Domino's Pizza delivery driver. She smiled. She was like, I guess, she thought to herself. God, you know --
CHETRY: Someone was looking out for me.
GUY: Yes, ma'am.
CHETRY: And there she is right there. I know that she was also a little embarrassed about. The only picture of her is her coming out on a stretcher, but a lot of people wanted to know is she OK? I mean, what had happened? She fell?
GUY: She'd fallen. She didn't strike herself or anything that I know of. I've spoken to her since, and, you know, she was very overwhelmed. She started crying and just kind of hung up the phone because, you know, she's real is a seclusive. She likes to, you know, -- this is just really overwhelming for her, all the phone calls.
HOLMES: Even though, you're delivering pizzas everyday, how much actual interaction would you have with her when you delivered? You all talk much or just say, here's your money, here's your pizza?
GUY: Well, it's Domino's policy, and they actually train us to notice something about you, to notice your dogs, your children, you know? And to get to know the customers. It's not like, you know, I worked at another pizza delivery place, and they were like, you know, hurry back, you know, get there in 30 minutes.
And even though Domino's does have a time limit, they want you to know your customers. So, that you interact and they order more, and you know, they get to know you, several customers, and I've checked on customers before.
CHETRY: And so, what did she say after you were able to talk to her a little bit more? Why was she unable to get to a phone? What happened to her?
GUY: You know, I didn't question her a lot. I could tell that she was uncomfortable, you know? And, I mean, I only know her from, you know, delivery and not like intimately. And I didn't feel that, you know, she was -- she was up to it.
CHETRY: Right.
GUY: So, I didn't ask her. I just asked her if she was OK, you know, and told her I was happy.
CHETRY: Did you ever ask her why she ordered a large pizza every single day for three years?
GUY: No, but I've seen some things on the internet, and most of the things have been good, but somebody said that, you know, because people are writing stuff like, you know, maybe she couldn't get up because she ate a pizza every day, you know, talking about maybe being overweight, but the thing that concerned me most was some of the negative comments.
And you know, I'd like to say to the people that are making negative comments about her, what one man said on the interpret. He said, you know, that might have been her only social interaction. Every day. And you know, if that's the truth, then, you know, God bless her for finding an outlet, you know, to get food to her house, to be on her own, to be independent and, you know, for the positive people, I just want to say, you know, thank you. And I'm sure that she thanks you, you know, for taking up for her.
HOLMES: Ma'am, it is a very good point to make. Thank you for what you did. I'm sure she appreciates it as well, and maybe, these people won't have such those negative comments as you say. But, certainly, you provided something for this woman that maybe she did need in her life day-to-day. Congratulations on what you've done, Susan Guy. Good to meet you.
CHETRY: You had your master's degree, you want to try to work with troubled youth?
GUY: Yes, that's correct.
CHETRY: Good for you, and congratulations and good luck to you in the future.
GUY: I appreciate that.
CHETRY: Glad you got to visit New York City as well.
GUY: I know, too!
CHETRY: Take care, Susan.
GUY: Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, it's the beginning of the end. "Discovery" is ready for its final countdown. What's the mood right now? We're getting a CNN exclusive from Kennedy Space Center next.
HOLMES: Also this morning, it is bonus time on Wall Street. So, just how much cash are they handing out down there? It's 24 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twenty-six minutes past the hour. I tell you that in case you're running a little behind and getting out the door, you better hurry up, because ever since people started losing their jobs, this economy, it seems that more and more people these days are showing up to work on time. This is according to a new career builder survey. 15 percent of people say they arrive late to work at least once a week.
That is down from 20 percent three years ago. Of course, you probably could guess the top excuses is the traffic was bad, there's an accident, blah, blah, blah, but in this economy, people not messing around. They're showing up to work on time.
CHETRY: It's a good thing.
Well, Wall Street is going to have to make do with a smaller bonus this year. According to the state's comptroller, Wall Street paid out $20.8 billion in cash bonuses last year. It sounds like a lot, right? Well, it's down 8 percent from the previous year and that means the average bonus was about $128,530.
HOLMES: GM is posting its first profit since 2004. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business." Big deal.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is what it was all about, right? This is what the big bailout was about. This is what our $50 billion is about forcing this company and navigating it through bankruptcy. The big president's auto task force saving the auto industry. GM now making money again for the first time since 2004, as T.J. said, making $4.7 billion. How did they do it?
Well, they did it by getting rid of some iconic brands. They did it with three different CEOs. They lost $88 billion before they went into bankruptcy and had to be rescued by the taxpayers, and it took $50 billion of your money to do it. In fact, the stock would have to rise another almost 50 percent from here before we all get our money back, and the government still owns a big chunk of this company.
Also, these profits are sheltered. According to Chris Isidore over at CNNMoney did great a piece about how these profits are actually sheltered from taxes, and while that might sound outrageous, it actually helps taxpayers to shelter from the taxes. So, there's a couple of things happening still with this company even as it goes forward here making $4.7 billion. An Interesting turn of events for this one.
Now, another thing. America saves -- how much money do you have in your pocket? How much money in your couch cushions? In your car?
HOLMES: On my pocket or in the car?
ROMANS: In the -- in the --
HOLMES: OK.
ROMANS: Put it altogether and you might have --
CHETRY: I keep an emergency five if I ever forget my wallet, and I really need coffee at the drive-thru.
ROMANS: Well, the way gas prices are going, we could be using our pennies that we find in our coach cushions, right, to pay for things. Guess what? The Treasury Department says Americans have collectively $15 billion in loose change, believe it or not. This is something called America saves week. I didn't know it existed. It does. HOLMES: What are we supposed to do?
ROMANS: I think you're supposed to be saved.
CHETRY: Check your couch cushions, I guess.
ROMANS: Think about how much money we're saving. Think about what saving money on and go from there, but remember, the savings rate has been rebounding since we all got so scared by the big recession. Savings rate (ph) is trying a feel a little better, but I think we're spending more money again. A reminder, everyone.
HOLMES: Government saving, too?
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: That's so funny! I didn't know this is comedy hour! No, no. We're still spending more than we earn.
HOLMES: OK. Maybe just for the week? No? OK. All right, Christine.
CHETRY: Do as they say, not as they do, OK? That's the lesson.
ROMANS: But you know, they're working on that.
HOLMES: Thank you so much, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
HOLMES: We turn now to what we have been watching for the past week or so now in Libya. We are expecting the dictator there, Moammar Gadhafi, to speak soon, and it appears that maybe the opposition closing in on him, literally. Reports this morning saying that the opposition now in control of the Libyan city of Misurata. And reports also say the city Zentan has fallen as well.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All across Wisconsin today a record number of protesters are expected to come out in support of state workers and against a budget bill that would curb bargaining rights of civil servants. No word from the Democrats who fled the state and delaying a vote on the bill.
HOLMES: Also NASA gearing up and gassing up for shuttle Discovery's final launch expected at 4:50 eastern time today. The shuttle and the crew will be heading to the international space station hauling supplies up with them. This is the first of the last flight for Discovery.
CHETRY: That's right. After that we have to rely on the Russians to get up there.
HOLMES: Our John Zarrella keeps on all things NASA related for us. He is live for us at the Kennedy Space Center. A big day down there. And you got to speak to the NASA administrator. We don't hear from him too often. JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right. A big day here at Kennedy Space Center. Look at this weather. It's spectacular. Not a cloud in the sky for this afternoon's 4:50 p.m. launch, long overdue. Discovery was, of course, supposed to launch back in November and a series of problems.
Now, finally, a February launch, it's 39th and final launch. A veteran crew only two flights left after this. Endeavour is flying in April commanded by astronaut Mark Kelly. And as many people know, his wife, Representative Gabrielle Giffords is recovering in a Houston hospital. At a news conference, Kelly had said that he really believed that she would be able to make it here for his launch in April.
And when I sat down with the NASA administrator yesterday for an exclusive interview right here, he told me that would be spectacular.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLIE BOLDEN, NASA CHIEF: I pray that he is absolutely correct, because I think for all of us in the NASA family who have been praying with them ever since that Saturday and all of us who love her and him, it would be just tremendous. It would be tremendous for the nation, because I think it would give everybody a big boost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: You know, Bolden told me that he thought that the space shuttle probably should have been retired a long time ago and that we, the United States, should have been already well on our way to Mars. He added that he is really disappointed that there isn't a vehicle ready now to replace the shuttle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDEN: What is not acceptable is the fact that the most powerful nation in the world, the United States of America, finds itself in a situation that we didn't do the proper planning to have a vehicle in place to replace shuttle when it lands its last landing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: That last landing is expected for shuttle Atlantis June, July timeframe.
You guys just mentioned General Motors, a partnership between general motors and NASA. You might remember we did a story for you guys on robo-naut several months ago. He is flying up to the space station. He only has half a body from the waist up, but he is supposed to be the most advanced robot ever made and one day he probably will be going along with astronauts to mars when we finally get there. T.J., Kiran?
CHETRY: That is awesome and great. Now they need a way to get there. They just need a car.
(LAUGHTER)
ZARRELLA: Yes. A big car!
CHETRY: Exactly. We will all be watching this. It's certainly a history-making day. John, thanks.
HOLMES: Thanks, John.
This just in to CNN, maybe a mess this morning for a little while. Traffic delays in the Lincoln Tunnel because of a crash involving a motorcycle and three buses. Port Authority saying this happened just about an hour ago. We're taking a look here. You can't make out much of the bus or the motorcycle, but a live shot we can show you of the scene.
We are told there will be massive delays in the area and already getting them at this hour. This is the center tube of the Lincoln Tunnel which flows all direction in the morning when it's coming into the city. Apparently the driver of that motorcycle is said now to be in critical condition but a heads-up for some folks, anybody having to deal with the Lincoln tunnel this morning.
CHETRY: They are saying avoid it and go other routes. When you see it that empty at this hour you know you have problems. I can't imagine what the backup looks like if you just had a helicopter shooting a little further west this morning. But, yes, big problems when the Lincoln Tunnel is shut down. We will continue to keep an eye on that.
By the way, your body as we know is -- does a lot of things. One reason we feel pain is because it's our body's way letting us know something is wrong. But what if you're in constant, chronic pain? That is the case for 76 million Americans. "TIME" did a huge cover story on understanding pain and understanding alternative treatments. We're going to have more on that coming up. It's 35 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 38 minutes past the hour. Welcome back.
Chronic pain is something nearly 80 million Americans deal with each and every day from back pain to arthritis, joint pain, headaches. Doctors are now starting to get a better understanding of chronic pain and how to best treat it. It's the cover story in "TIME" magazine this week, "Understanding Pain." Jeffrey Kluger is a science editor for "TIME" and he joins me this morning. Thanks so much.
JEFFREY KLUGER, SCIENCE EDITOR, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: When we talk about more than 70 million Americans dealing with chronic pain, what are we talking about in terms of what they are feeling?
KLUGER: One of the things that makes pain a confounding thing to try to treat there is so many variations of it. We all know the subjective experience of pain. There is cutting pain and sharp pain and dull pain, a throb. There is that chronic sort of pain that can wreck your day and the other kind of pain that can keep you never quite enjoying yourself.
And the sources of pain are as varied as the experience of pain. So there's so many different ways to try to crack this puzzle and, often, it will take a specific treatment for each kind of pain.
CHETRY: So what startled you the most out of all of this research and the varying different articles in "TIME" about this? What do we not know about it?
KLUGER: I think one of the things that a lot of people are struck by is how poor our ability to manage pain is. Pain is the -- chronic pain is the number one cause of people presenting in emergency rooms, and 80 percent of those people walk away with no pain, no effective pain relief at all.
And this is one of the reasons that the Institute of Medicine several years ago decided pain must now be assessed as sort of the fifth vital sign. There is blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and temperature, and now pain is considered that fifth vital sign.
CHETRY: And because it's so subjective, they can take your blood pressure and they can see what that is and take your temperature and get a number. How do you assess pain?
KLUGER: There are a number of ways to do it. You're absolutely right. Think of the people in chronic pain their whole lives and accused of malingering because there is no way of determining it subjectively but now there are other ways to do it. Functional magnetic resonance imaging, an MRI that shows the brain in the process of operating in real time. You can see when they are activated. Chemicals are related to the experience of pain and also exacerbate pain. There are objective measures for pain.
CHETRY: It's interesting that we talk about not really effectively treating people's pain, yet we hear so much about narcotic and opioid prescription and drug addiction in the one right now. Is that an effective long-term way to help people with pain?
KLUGER: It's not an effective long term way to do it. And you're right, these are wildly addictive. So even when you get your first 30 pill prescription for Vicodin after you have a tooth pulled -- there is another story I did in which folks were talking about Armageddon, what this country is going through, and they described those kinds of one time prescriptions as your little opioid starter kit. You're on the road to addiction.
CHETRY: You talk about alternative therapies, and sometimes people scoff at that acupuncture, biofeedback, or even an exercise regimen that eventually leads to being able to not be in pain. Which ones have proven to be most effective and for what?
KLUGER: All of these things are effective. One of the piece in the package written by a gentleman named John Cloud explored all of these. And what we're finding is massage, for example, massage can change those levels of chemicals in your blood of cortisol. A single massage can cut these levels dramatically.
And what we are also finding it sometimes doesn't even have to be that expert laying on of hands by people who know what they are doing. Simply Random touching on any points of the body can do that. Acupuncture does lower levels of stress chemicals and increases levels of natural endorphins and opiates, the thinking being that a needle stick is just enough of an injury for the body to say I'm under attack. This is an assault, I need to release opioid chemicals.
And funnily, enough it also in the case of acupuncture sometime random places of needles can be as effective as needles placed on the precise meridians.
CHETRY: That is amazing. I invite people to read more about it. Everybody knows somebody that's dealing with this and feels almost like a prisoner in their own body, and it's very difficult.
Anyway, it was great to talk to you. Jeffrey Kluger, thank you for joining us this morning.
KLUGER: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: T.J.?
HOLMES: Kiran, we are on alert for severe outbreak today, storms, winds, and even tornadoes possible. Our Reynolds Wolf is up next. It's 43 minutes past of the hour on this "AMERICAN MORNING."
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HOLMES: And good morning, Memphis, Tennessee. Thanks to our producer Michelle for making me feel right at home. Memphis, did some growing up right around that area. It's going to be nice there.
CHETRY: Some growing up -- some.
HOLMES: Some growing up there, grew up a little more once I left.
But about 70 degrees there in Memphis, but expecting some storms and they could be powerful. Memphis just one of the places that could see -- maybe an outbreak of a little something today.
CHETRY: Yes.
Reynolds Wolf was talking about the possibility perhaps of tornadoes in some areas because of the crazy weather we've been experiencing. Hey, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey guys.
You're absolutely right. And Memphis is really going to be dead in center of where we might be seeing some rough weather. Take a look at what we've got here for you. In fact, everything you happen to see in this orange area, the -- actually the reddish area is where we have the probability, a decent probability of having some strong thunderstorms, perhaps even some tornadoes into the evening hours.
Now, the reason why all of this is going to happen is due to this area of low pressure. This storm system is going to pull its way to the east interactive with that moisture from the Gulf of Mexico at 11:00 p.m. tonight we can expect those storms to be pushing right through parts of Memphis back into Louisville, Kentucky and maybe even into Paducah.
On the top half of the system, not rain but rather some snowfall up near Chicago.
Now, let's go into Friday morning. As we get to around 10:00 a.m., scattered showers all the way through New York and then as we make our way back up into parts of New England, even a touch of snow in the highest elevations.
We're going to fast forward from 10:00 a.m. all the way in to Friday evening. And here you go, most of the rain now restricted to the coast and the heavy snow now falling in parts of the green mountains, up in New England.
So certainly something to watch out for.
Well, that is our top weather story that we have in the U.S. and I know that it's certainly a frightening situation.
Let's shift gears a little bit and show you what's been happening over in parts of Japan. It's raining but it's raining monkeys.
Take a look at this video. Let's go right to it. In Nagano, Japan, they've had a major problem snow monkeys have been a tremendous nuisance. Take a look at these guys. They are creepy, they're weird. Kind of cute, too. It looks like me in a bathtub.
Monkeys have been breaking into homes and shops foraging foods, even sitting in some of the hot springs. So what the city decided to do is they built a park with the natural hot springs just for the monkeys. Now, it drew the monkeys away from the town. At the same time, it's become a major tourist attraction.
CHETRY: Oh he looks so -- oh he's so sleepy.
WOLF: It's a little odd, it's disturbing but --
(CROSS TALK)
CHETRY: It's not disturbing, it's adorable. Look at them. They are so cute.
WOLF: You'd hop in there with them, wouldn't you?
CHETRY: Oh in a hot second. I love monkeys. What? You look appalled. HOLMES: Yes. Well, I was appalled by the pictures and then you saying you want to hop into the hot springs with the monkeys. It's kind of a --
(CROSS TALK)
WOLF: It's all you, T.J. You get to handle this now. This is all yours now.
HOLMES: Ok.
CHETRY: I -- I don't understand how this could be creepy. This is adorable. Look at -- they're falling asleep, because it feels so nice in there. They're --
(CROSS TALK)
WOLF: They are cooking. It's hot water. It's like monkey -- it's like monkey soup is what it's like.
(CROSS TALK)
CHETRY: Oh man this is --
WOLF: This is not going to end well.
CHETRY: -- come on.
HOLMES: Perspective, Reynolds. That's why I appreciate you, buddy.
WOLF: Guys, I appreciate you.
HOLMES: Thanks as always, my man. We'll talk to you again here soon.
Well, oatmeal is supposed to be good for you, right? You can't mess up oatmeal, you can't make oatmeal bad for you. Think again. We're going to introduce you to one oatmeal that has as much sugar as a Snickers candy bar.
Ten minutes to the top of the hour.
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HOLMES: All right.
CHETRY: Talk bad about my McDonald's?
HOLMES: Oh nobody say -- everybody loves McDonald's. They have been doing well in this country for a long time. Think whatever you want to think about, the meal is in the option. Well here is another option they've got oatmeal for you, at least a healthy option on the breakfast menu.
However, Mark Bitman in "The New York Times" is writing that chain's bowl that's called "bowl of wholesome", it has a lot of sugar and other weird ingredients, as much sugar as a Snickers bar in your oatmeal in the morning.
Also about the same number of calories you'll get in a cheeseburger or an egg McMuffin -- sounds delicious.
CHETRY: Well, they have to do something to make oatmeal taste good.
HOLMES: You know what, we should be applauding them this morning. I'm just kidding, folks this is not what you want in the morning. But still, hey, to each his own.
CHETRY: That's right. All right, well, if you have some questions about the medical stories that we've had on AMERICAN MORNING, today is time for some answers.
HOLMES: Yes, our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Atlanta. Sanjay, I see you smiling. The first question I should probably ask about the oatmeal.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I -- I don't think it comes as a surprise to a lot of people. I mean, they put all that maple syrup in there, a lot of brown sugar. So you know, you can -- you can make oatmeal healthy I think but you know, you start adding all that other stuff, as Kiran said to make it tastier and you're -- you're really changing it.
HOLMES: That's what you get.
All right, let's move to some real questions now from the mailbag. A question coming to us from Churchville, Pennsylvania and is says, quote, "What impact does a concussion have on the brain over time", Sanjay?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting. I think in part they are -- they're writing in because of a -- a lot of recent news about this. You remember Dave Duerson, a Chicago Bear, a retired football player he committed suicide this past week. In part they think, his family thinks because he wants -- he -- he was having a lot of these symptoms that are associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
This is a big term but basically the concern is could this be as a result of concussions? Many of them over time. You know, he -- let me just show you something really quickly. You know, when someone gets a hard hit to the brain, several things are happening. Think of the brain almost as a fluid medium within the skull. It starts to shake, twist back and forth like that. And then you release all these chemicals into the brain it is a type of brain injury getting one of these concussions.
The big thing to remember here is that the brain has to heal before a second concussion. Otherwise, it's called second impact syndrome and the concern is that that is what potentially leads to just these terrible symptoms, T.J. and Kiran. I mean, early onset of dementia and people looking like they have Alzheimer's in their 40s and 50s.
I talked to people at this particular lab. They said people as young as 18-year-old who died maybe for other reasons having signs of -- of plaques and tangles on the brain --
(CROSS TALK)
HOLMES: Yes.
GUPTA: -- like the brain of someone with Alzheimer's. So that -- that's the real concern about concussions. That's why there is all of this discussion about sports safety lately.
HOLMES: Wow.
CHETRY: Yes and obviously, a necessary discussion to have.
I want to get to Richard's question. He is writing in from Rio Rancho, Mexico. He says he lost a bunch of weight by working out. He runs five days a week, walks seven days a week. He lost 50 pounds and he says he stretches and does exercise but that his lower half joints don't feel better. What can he do about that?
GUPTA: Well, a good question, Richard, and a couple of things I will point out. First of all, there's been a lot of big studies on runners over their lives, people who are lifelong runners.
And this may surprise people but there is not a big difference in terms of joint pain and joint problems among runners and non-runners. So that's the first thing to keep in mind.
That's not to say that people don't have problems like Richard is having. He -- it sounds like he has degenerative arthritis problems. It could have been as a result of the weight that he did have at one point. And arthritis, the type that he's describing doesn't necessarily reverse itself but it can be sort of plateaued.
One thing is to shift the types of exercises you're doing to -- to less weight-bearing -- cycling, swimming.
You know we're doing this triathlon we've been talking about on your program. I think cross-training is maybe a good option for someone like Richard.
There's also the idea that you know, you can take certain medications, anti-inflammatories can possibly help like medicine -- or like aspirin or you know, things like ibuprofen.
Glucosamine (ph) is also something that's gotten a lot of attention over the years. When we look at all the studies on Glucosamine, there -- there have been several of them and many of them show a small benefit in people who have legitimate degenerative arthritis. That might be another option for Richard.
In the worst case scenario, steroid itself is a potent anti- inflammatory. If someone is just having terrible pain, they could possibly get a shot of steroids into that area to decrease that pain. And then, you know, we also talk about joint replacement. If this is something that Richard may be headed toward or anybody else who has these sorts of problems. That is an option later on down the line.
There are several steps before you get there. I think again that key point that people listen to this and they say runners always have joint problems. Not always the case. If you run properly and you have good shoes and your technique is good, your likelihood of having joint problems is not necessarily any higher than people who are non- runners.
CHETRY: All right. You should try a bit from yoga, too. Why not? Some people swear by that for joint pain.
GUPTA: Yes. Yoga is great. It's a great part of triathlon training as well. I started it myself.
CHETRY: Oh, I'd pay for the pictures of that one.
All right. Sanjay Gupta, great to see you as always. Thanks.
Fifty-seven minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
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CHETRY: That's going to do it for AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks so much for being with us. We'll see you back here, bright and early tomorrow.
HOLMES: We're going to hand it over right now to Atlanta and Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM." Hey there, Kyra.
