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The New Bin Ladenj; Mississippi River Reopened; Snake Alert For Flood Victims; Inside "Area 51"; IMF Monetary Chief Held For Sexual Assault; Shriver Speaks About Separation From Schwarzenegger; What It Takes To Build a Successful School; Should Dropouts Lose their License?; No Traffic Lights, No Problem

Aired May 18, 2011 - 08:00   ET

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

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The new face of terror.

I'm Christine Romans.

This morning, we're learning more about the man who may have replaced Osama bin Laden. But the choice is not sitting well with all of al Qaeda.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking her silence today.

I'm Kiran Chetry.

Maria Shriver is calling for compassion, asking for privacy, and saying it's all about the kids after her husband Arnold Schwarzenegger's hurtful confession. New details on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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ROMANS: Good morning. It's Wednesday, May 18th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.

CHETRY: Good to see you this morning. Ali's off. We're following a lot of developing stories.

We first want to bring you the latest on perhaps a replacement for Osama bin Laden. A source is now saying that the terror group has picked bin Laden's temporary replacement -- the man you see on the right, Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian and former special forces officer, said to be in his 50s.

ROMANS: But there are already doubts that every terrorist will swear allegiance to him.

Dan Rivers is live for us in London this morning.

Dan, when someone joins al Qaeda, they swear a personal allegiance to bin Laden. So, the new leader will have to command that kind of importance with all the followers. And there are questions about this, aren't there?

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are. And it's important to point out that Saif al-Adel is only being touted at the moment from this source as a caretaker interim leader, a sort of temporary manager, if you like, of the organization, while they look for a new figure head to replace bin Laden.

And that has been complicated by the fact that they are worried about the intelligence that's been gathered at bin Laden's hideout. They are constantly harried by drone strikes by the U.S. and, basically, they're having to change their entire operating procedure as a result.

And so, all of the mechanisms that they had in place, of couriers and of sending messages back and forth is being abandoned, according to this source, and they're having to kind of almost start afresh in their consultations about whether Ayman Zawahiri will take over as the figurehead. He's the number two at the moment. It seems this Egyptian is the most likely to take over, but that may cause problems with some of the Saudi elements.

CHETRY: And where is he right now? I mean, I understand that he's on the FBI most wanted list, that there's a several million- dollar bounty on his head. Do we know anymore about his whereabouts?

RIVERS: Saif al-Adel is supposedly in Afghanistan, as is Zawahiri. We don't know where.

We're being told by this source, a former Libyan jihadist, that there is increased activity in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan, right on the border with Pakistan. This source even said to claim that he'd heard there were two al Qaeda training camps that have been reestablished there. We have no other way of confirming that.

But that's the kind of territory we're being told by this source is a likely location.

Saif al-Abdel sought sanctuary in Iran for sometime after 9/11 and was sort on the house arrest by the Iranians. He then moved back into Afghanistan, and that's where we understand he is now.

But I think it's important to stress he's not being seen as a replacement to bin Laden, simply a sort of a temporary caretaker while that search goes on and while they consult among themselves as to who will take over.

ROMANS: And focusing on operations, right, on the operations of the group to keep it running, I would suspect.

RIVERS: Yes. I mean, he's a former Egyptian military officer, special forces, was head of the chief of their military committee, and then, of their security committee. Someone who has been linked to the embassy attacks in 1998 in East Africa. He's indicted in the U.S. for his training and support of terrorists involved with that.

So, he's a guy with a long form. He's a veteran in Afghanistan in the '80s. He's been involved with this kind of extremist Islamist cause for a very long time and, you know, a key figure in al-Qaeda. But he's not being seen as a sort of religious sheik in the way that bin Laden was, takeover as the key kind of leader of al Qaeda, simply as someone that knows the structure, knows the key people involved, and that keep the operation running while they consult and try and find a new figurehead.

ROMANS: Dan Rivers in London -- thank you, Dan.

CHETRY: Meantime, we're also learning some new secret details about the mission to get bin Laden. "The Washington Post" is reporting that the U.S. flew unmanned and undetectable spy drones deep into Pakistani territory for months before the Navy SEALs went in for that operation. This allowed the CIA to get high resolution photos of his compound in Abbottabad without tipping off the Pakistanis.

ROMANS: Many leaders in Washington are still asking: what did Pakistan know about bin Laden's whereabouts? That's a live look at Capitol Hill right now where Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, says support is growing to cut the amount of financial aid the U.S. hands over to Pakistan. He says many lawmakers believe some Pakistani leaders are still turning a blind eye to terrorists who are hiding out in their country.

And, of course, others say, no, we're spending a lot of money to keep stability in that county, a nuclear power, and keeping American influence there against radical elements.

CHETRY: Very, very difficult situation, of course, as we talked about many times. And as Jamie Rubin said yesterday, we're sort of hoping to get back to the status quo, but people are questioning, status quo was what allowed bin Laden to be in Abbottabad undetected.

ROMANS: That's right.

CHETRY: All right. Well, he just kicked off his presidential campaign. And already, Newt Gingrich is in damage control mode. "Politico" reporting that Gingrich had a revolving credit account with Tiffany's between $250,000 and $500,000, when his wife worked as a congressional staffer back in 2005, 2006. A spokesman for the GOP candidate wouldn't say whether the credit account was now paid off.

ROMANS: And Gingrich got glitter bombed yesterday.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop the hate! Stop antigay politics! Dividing our country and it's not fixing our economy!

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ROMANS: That's a gay rights activist, a protestor hitting Gingrich and his wife with glittery confetti at a book signing. That's in Minneapolis. A liberal blog then posted a video yesterday. The guy was rushed out of the room. Gingrich literally brushed it off and said, "Nice to live in a free country."

CHETRY: Yes. And then, on top of that, he had to issue an apology, sort of to walk back some of the statements that he made, seemingly criticized Congressman Paul Ryan and his budget plan, and his budget proposal. So, yes, it's been a tough week. The first week out of the bag saying you're running.

Well, pressure's mounting on the embattled head of the International Monetary Fund to resign amid this sex assault scandal. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is now among those who think that Dominique Strauss-Kahn should quit. He's under suicide watch at New York's Rikers Island after a hotel maid says he tried to rape her Saturday. A grand jury has until the end of the week to bring formal charges against him.

ROMANS: Maria Shriver is breaking her silence this morning. She's out with a statement after husband Arnold Schwarzenegger's confession that he fathered a child with a family staff member more than a decade ago. Quote, "This is a painful and heartbreaking time. As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy, as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal." She went on to say, "I will have no further comment."

CHETRY: The couple's 17-year-old son Patrick, though, opening up with this tweet, "Some days you feel like the S-word, some days you want to quit and just be normal for a bit. Yet, I love my family, until death do us part." And that tweet was signed Patrick Shriver.

Also, his 21-year-old sister Katherine tweeting, "This is definitely not easy, but I appreciate your love and support. As I begin to heal and move forward in life, I will always love my family."

ROMANS: You can only imagine the siblings, you know, coming together around this, as they try to, you know, help their mother and decide how to move forward as a family. What do you think of the way Arnold and Maria have publicly handled the situation? We want to know what you think. You can e-mail us at CNN.com/AM. You can give us a tweet @CNNAM. You can tell us on Facebook, Facebook.com/AmericanMorning.

Lot of you are using the word class to describe how the family is handling it. We're going to read through some of these comments later in the show.

CHETRY: The former first lady of California, though, appears to be getting on with her life. There are new pictures this morning of Maria Shriver hanging out with Oprah Winfrey last night. Shriver was among many A-list celebrities who turned out for yesterday's taping of two of Oprah's final three shows in Chicago.

Also on hand, NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, Hollywood superstars Will Smith, there was Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, just to name a few. Twenty thousand fans packing into the United Center to witness the --

ROMANS: You talked about Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan had a huge retirement party at United Center, just like this, star-studded and (INAUDIBLE).

CHETRY: The final farewell. We had a big to do for Oprah's 50th birthday, too. Remember that one?

ROMANS: That's right. We did.

OK. Nate Berkus also on hand for the Oprah extravaganza. He owes a lot to the queen of daytime talk. She helped this former fashion designer launch his own TV career, and he now hosts his own talk show. But Berkus says it's Winfrey's enormous compassion that makes her so special to him.

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NATE BERKUS, HOST, "THE NATE BERKUS SHOW": I think the one moment I won't forget was when I came back from Asia after the tsunami and lost my partner. And I sat on the show on a stage so comfortable to me. It was like anyone's watching -- it would be like them sitting on their own sofa in their home. That's how comfortable it was to me.

To be back on the stage of the Oprah Winfrey show and I looked at Oprah in the middle of the interview, and she had a blank stare at me, because she completely understood how I was feeling at that moment. And if anyone, anywhere, ever asks what the magic of Oprah really is about, it's about that level of empathy. I'll never forget that moment.

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CHETRY: Also for actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth, just being invited to, you know, for taping, was a career highlight. But after her performance brought Winfrey to tears during the show, it was all too much for Chenoweth to take.

Here's a look.

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KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Tonight is all about Oprah. But some people are saying you had the performance of the night. You were fantastic out there.

KRISTIN CHENOWETH, PERFORMANCE BROUGHT OPRAH TO TEARS: Thank you so much.

WYNTER: And Oprah loved it, most importantly.

CHENOWETH: I think getting -- seeing her react to the emotion -- as a performer, all you ever want to do is be a vessel, you know? You just want to be a vessel. And I'm just so glad she -- she was. She accepted it and she really was moved and I got all --

WYNTER: Why does she have this effect on us, on America?

CHENOWETH: Because she has been a great example. She's shared with us her losses, and her wins, and her disappointments, and her humanness. So, we all recognize that. That's why we love her.

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CHETRY: There you go. She had the shakes.

ROMANS: She was clearly moved.

CHETRY: Well, still ahead, you know, we've been talking about all of the horrible aftermath of the flooding for people. Well, add on top of that, alligators and now, concerns, actually warnings going out to be on the lookout for venomous snakes as the Mississippi River rises.

ROMANS: Yes, looking for dry grounds.

Also, area 51.

CHETRY: That's a dry ground.

ROMANS: It sure is. It's secret ground as well.

What really goes on at this top secret military base -- we're going to bring you the special investigation of the secrets revealed.

Eleven minutes after the hour.

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ROMANS: A developing story right now in New York. As many as 14 people reportedly injured this morning when an elevator plunged three floors in a high-rise building.

CHETRY: This is a big fear of mine. I'm surprised this hasn't happened more actually. But it happened in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. We're getting some information right now. Not a lot of it, though, in terms of how people are doing. We do know that fire officials are there. That there are victims hurt after that and that an ambulance or actually few ambulances are being sent to the scene, so we'll continue to monitor these. What do you say? Fifteen people --

ROMANS: Yes, 14 people in there, apparently, still in the elevator, so after plunging three floors. So, we'll keep you up-to- date on that as it develops.

Meanwhile, fear and desperation gripping thousands in the south this morning as the Mississippi River keeps rising and the flood waters keep raging. The coast guard now reopening a 15-mile stretch of the Mississippi near the town in Natchez. Water levels, they're so high officials had to close that part of the river on Sunday because they feared the weight from boat traffic would damage nearby levees.

CHETRY: Well, if the floods did not get to Louisiana homeowners now, there's a new fear. It's the snakes. The state is now warning everybody to be on the look out for snakes. They say that the snakes have been displaced by the flood and that they could wind up in people's homes. They say there are about 20 some species and that three of them could be poisonous. They're also worried about the copperheads, the cotton mouths, and rattlesnakes.

ROMANS: Ooh. Flooding along the Mississippi has caused a lot of pets to be separated from their owners. In Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Broward County Animal Care officials are taking in stranded cats from Mississippi and Alabama and offering them for adoption. They're actually running a special for anyone who adopts two cats, they're waving the second adoption fee.

CHETRY: Pop sensation, Justin Bieber, meeting about a dozen kids whose families were hit hard by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The event took place earlier today. It was at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo.

ROMANS: The pop star originally wanted to perform in the tsunami area, but that was not possible so his record label arranged for today's meeting.

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JUSTIN BIEBER, SINGER: Things can get better and things will get better. There's only, you know, good times to come. So, again, my prayers go out to all the families and everybody.

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ROMANS: Justin also invited the kids to his concert tomorrow night. Good for them. Doing a good thing.

CHETRY: That's right

Area 51, of course, it's been the subject of intrigue, conspiracy theories, Roswell, the soviets hidden aliens, the moon landing state there. All right. Well, author, Annie Jacobsen, takes a closer look in her fascinating book, "Area 51." She joins us coming up next. It's 17 minutes past the hour.

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ROMANS: It's 20 minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner warning Congress that failing to raise the debt ceiling is, quote, "simply not an option." Speaking last night, Geithner also said he's optimistic lawmakers will reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling and to reign in deficits.

LinkedIn is about to become the first U.S. social network to go public. It's expected to begin trading this week with a value of more than $4.3 billion.

Dow futures up slightly this morning after the Dow's third straight day of declines. It was down another 69 points yesterday after disappointing figures from Wal-Mart and Hewlett-Packard. The NASDAQ closed, though, about a point. The S&P was down less than a point.

Today, the U.S. Marshal Service begins an online auction to sell personal items from the Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber. Proceeds will go to compensate some of his victims who are still owed $15 million in court order restitution.

And here's your chance to get a bottle of alcohol from Bernie Madoff's expensive collection. Online bidding begins today on nearly 300 bottles of wine and liquor from his former mansion in Palm Beach, Florida. Although, the proceeds are going to the funds for victims of his Ponzi scheme.

And it's beer that's literally out of this world. Two Australians have developed a beer with specifically designed for space tourists to drink and circle the earth. They described the flavor as being strong enough to counter the loss of taste that takes place when the tongue swells in space. No word about the hangover spike. AMERICAN MORNING back after the break.

CHETRY: Twenty-six minutes past the hour. You know, when it comes to America's military secrets, there may be nothing that topped Area 51 and the intrigues surrounding how secret it is. So secret the government doesn't even acknowledge that the site exists.

ROMANS: That secrecy, of course, has made it fertile ground for conspiracy theories. Our next guest, an investigative journalist, has written the book, "Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base." Her name is Annie Jacobsen, and she joins us.

In part, the government being so secret about what Area 51 is was fertile ground for a lot of the conspiracy theories to try to talk about the things that were happening there. What is Area 51 and what did you find?

ANNIE JACOBSEN, AUTHOR: Well, Area 51 is a secret military facility out in the dessert in Southern Nevada, just north of Las Vegas. It's been opened since 1951, hence the name, Area 51. It's set in America's only atomic bombing range, and during the 1950s, we actually set off nuclear bombs there above the ground. And then, on the other side of the fence over at Area 51, the CIA began testing their earliest spy planes there.

So, the very famous U2 spy plane was tested there, so was the oxcart. And I interviewed a lot of the pilots and the engineers and the mechanics who worked there. My book is really the secret, inside story of this legendary group of cold warriors.

ROMANS: Right.

JACOBSEN: All of whom never spoke before.

CHETRY: So, all of this, I mean, Area 51 was basically created to be able to do this, to be able to test the untestable and have it not be known. What was the importance of the location and the secrecy surrounding it? JACOBSEN: Well, because the atomic bombing range was there, they knew that this place was federally restricted and no one would go there. So, when the CIA wanted a place to build its U2, its spy plane, it's said that's the perfect place. No one will look there inside an already restricted facility. So, the base has different areas of classification and all these different secret areas which I touch upon throughout the book.

ROMANS: Twenty-five different areas. The area 1 through 25 are all of these different things -- different people working at all them. You met some of the now old men. Why did they want to tell you the story about the secret things that were happening there?

JACOBSEN: Well, in 2007, the CIA declassified a big load of document on of their spy planes. So, they have been secret for 50 years. That plane was developed in 1957 and the beginning. So, the men were able to talk about it for the first time ever and sort of in the final chapter of their lives, able to say, this is what I did. This is how I kept America safe and secure.

CHETRY: Yes, this is amazing, because you say that this oxcart that you're talking about that was declassified was really the beginning, the first prototype for what then went on to be the air force blackbird. And so -- this is amazing because they were saying that when people said, oh, I think what I'm seeing is lights that we've never seen before. These must be UFOs because they don't match any aircraft that we have. This was part of these experimental planes that the CIA was working on?

JACOBSEN: That's right. I mean, imagine being a commercial airline pilot flying at 25,000 feet or a passenger in that plane and you look up and you see this plane go by at Mach 3. The CIA's plane went Mach 3 in the 1960s, at 90,000 feet. And people would say, my God, it must be a UFO.

ROMANS: What about the moon landing? We've seen the pictures of the craters that Area 51 from the testing, the nuclear testing went there. The secrecy from the government allowed some of the conspiracy theorists to say, look, look, that's where they actually did the moon landing.

CHETRY: That it wasn't real. It was taped here in Area 51.

JACOBSEN: That's right. And like so many parts of Area 51 that the conspiracy theorists have glommed (ph) on to, there's a threat of truth. The moon landing is one of them.

ROMANS: They did train there, right? The astronauts did train there, is that true?

JACOBSEN: They did, because the craters that are made by atomic bomb have the same geography as the craters on the moon. One of the guys in my book, Ernie Williams, was the tour guide for the astronauts. And they practiced going up and down these craters.

ROMANS: The government, they deny this, right? Or they don't talk about it?

JACOBSEN: Well, the government will still not say that Area 51 exists, so in any of the documents that have been declassified, the word Area 51 is redacted. It's blacked out, and they just refer to it as the test facility.

CHETRY: I want to ask you about Roswell, the most famous UFO incident, the crash landing in 1947. What happened?

JACOBSON: Well, I write about that in the very end of my book and I encourage you guys to start on page one. You've got to get the landscape of what's going on because it's almost impossible to believe some of the things that really happened out there.

One of my sources of these 74 sources that I interviewed, all of whom used their real names except for one source, he tells me what he worked on at Area 51 starting in 1951 and that involved the Roswell crash remains. What tells me is that it was a Russian craft, not from outer space.

CHETRY: It's amazing what they say about what the Russians were doing and why people felt this was, this other world, it's very interesting. We will encourage people to read it. I couldn't put it down.

ROMANS: It's riveting.

CHETRY: You have a lot of great information in there because again, you're not a conspiracy theorist, you're an investigator journalist. Thanks for being with us.

JACOBSON: Thank you for having me.

CHETRY: Your top stories coming up. The new bin Laden, sources saying Al Qaeda has picked its new leader. An Egyptian and special forces officer who's wanted already and on the FBI's most wanted list in connection with the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

New controversy for the newly minted Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. "Politico" reported that Gingrich had a revolving credit account with Tiffany's for between $250,000 and $500,000 in 2005 and 2006. A spokesman refused to say whether the account was now paid off.

Maria Shriver among the A-list celebrity turning out for the taping of one of Oprah's final shows. Shriver did not take questions about her separation from Arnold Schwarzenegger.

ROMANS: Maria Shriver responding husband Arnold Schwarzenegger's love-child confession, calling it a painful and heartbreaking time. Her statement continues quote - "I ask for compassion, respect, and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal."

CHETRY: That's interesting. Is she going to speak publicly or is this it? ROMANS: Pressures mounting on the head of the International Monetary Fund to step down after his arrest on charges of trying to rape a maid at a New York hotel. Dominique Strauss-Kahn was supposed to be giving a speech in Brussels today. He's not giving a speech.

CHETRY: Instead he is holed up at Riker's Island. They're taking extra security precautions. The guards with, we're learning. Deb Feyerick is here. A lot of being made of the fact he's under suicide watch.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a man supposed to be meeting with world financial leaders to discuss Europe's debt crisis and bailout, but after the humiliating walk there, which has outraged the French, they have put him on suicide watch. Guards do check on him about every 15 minutes, which prison officials say they do anyway because he's in an isolated ward and there are fewer cameras monitoring what's going on.

His accuser, she's set to testify before the grand jury today. That's according to lawyers. She told police Strauss-Kahn grabbed her after she entered the luxury street. His lawyers not talking about their client but have said forensic evidence will show that the encounter was not forced and if indicted, he will plead not guilty. We asked the lawyer of the woman if this could have been consensual. Here's the answer we got.

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JEFFREY SHAPIRO, ATTORNEY FOR ALLEGED VICTIM: There wasn't any aspect which could be construed other than physical and sexual assault of this young woman. She's frightened, totally frightened. This is a person who assaulted her and raped her and she's, any television program she turns on, he's pictured on it and she has to relive this. It's a nightmare that keeps recycling in her mind and she can't escape from it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: He also said that the grand jury, they have to present this by Friday, so she's likely going to testify. What else are we learning about the woman?

FEYERICK: What we can tell you is that she's from Guinea in West Africa. She's a single mother and has a 15-year-old daughter. She's been working at this hotel on the books for about two and a half books. Her lawyer, this private lawyer, describes her as dignified, intelligent, not a woman that has an agenda.

We ask if the housekeeper knew Strauss-Kahn prior to the incident Saturday. Her private lawyer says no. This is really turned her life upside down. Her lawyer tells us she's afraid for her future.

ROMANS: Paul Cowen, he said the private lawyer kind of made the mucking up of the whole thing because he's not representing her in this matter which is what we're talking about. What does the grand jury have to decide? What are the legal proceedings right now? FEYERICK: It's a good point, which is that prosecutors, they have this case. They have this case. This private attorney who says he's stepping in to represent her interests, he's sort of looking forward to what may come afterwards. Strauss-Kahn, very well positioned. The grand jury has until Friday on whether to vote to indict, the judge setting a later date.

CHETRY: So I understand like people saying if she's going to go after a civil judgment. You have to imagine if she's an immigrant and she's been thrust into this very, very difficult situation. Perhaps she does need someone to navigate around her. The prosecutors are not going to be hand holding the witness.

FEYERICK: SVU does. This is an immigrant. She doesn't have a big support network here. She's got a couple of friends. So they're very careful on how they deal with her. The private attorney who's come in, he's added a different element to this whole equation, which is once we see what happens in the criminal case, which is what happens in the case, then we'll think about what to do next and that's where the money component comes in.

ROMANS: Thanks so much.

Should high school dropouts lose their driver's license? Is this a way to solve the dropout problem? Steve Perry is next. It's 38 minutes past the hour.

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CHETRY: Sandra bullock believed this them and boy, did they deliver. A New Orleans high school graduated every high school senior. They've been offered almost $5 million in scholarship money. A rep says bullock donated hundreds of thousands of dollars for a new health clinic and scholarships. Those are the stories we love to hear, 100 percent graduation rate.

ROMANS: Kiran, it takes people getting involved in the public school system to solve the problem. Here's a way some are getting involved. For many teenagers, having a driver's license means freedom. What if you threatened to take it away? Right now, many states are working on bills to do that.

Let's ask CNN education contributor Steve Perry. He's here with Perry's principles this morning. I understand the importance of fixing the dropout problem, but taking away the driver's license, is that a way to keep a kid in school, Steve?

STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: It's absolutely not. There are no short answers for the long held questions. We need to focus on building more effective schools that build relationships with children, that offer them the opportunity to feel like they matter. Once we do that, there are very low dropout rates. The ones in which children feel impersonal, those have the large dropout rates.

ROMANS: We've got 1,634 dropout factories in the U.S. That means they graduate 60 percent or less of their students. They account for 50 percent of the dropouts. I don't know how many of those kids are driving, but I think driving their car to school is the least of the problem in some of these places. If we know where the school is, how do we get in that school and fix it?

PERRY: Well, I don't know that we can fix those schools. That's an important point. Those schools are broken. They need to be shut down and the children need to be given access to effective schools, many of which are in the same town or in a nearby town.

We know how to run successful schools. We simply need to run them like the successful private schools. At the successful public and private schools, teachers have to coach, teach, and advise. That's important because it gives a teacher three opportunities to build a relationship with a child and more importantly, the child has three different places in which they can build a relationship with a teacher.

What we see in the large failed schools is that these children don't feel a connection. When p a child has access to a program on campus which people often think comes with money, but you don't have to money for someone to stay after school for 30 minutes to volunteer time with a student.

The question really becomes if you had your own money to spend on education, would you buy the education that come from a large, failed school or send your child to a large, successful school. We know how to run successful schools. We've seen it.

ROMANS: We know how to -- studying if water is wet. Booker T. Washington school where the president went this week, these kids managed to improve their graduation rate.

We've just seen the Sandra Bullock School that she helps -- that she -- that she helps support in New Orleans, they graduated all these kids. What are the schools that are turning it around and doing it right? The Booker T. Washington School, where the President spoke, they separate out girls and boys in ninth grade. And almost into like academies so that they can get used to what -- be prepared for what the high school experience is going to be. And then they put them back together. They have AP classes. They do lots of other things to really engage the children.

Is that how you make it a compelling experience for the kids who want to go to school?

PERRY: That's exactly -- that's exactly what you do. When a child -- one of the reasons why every morning I'm standing outside, rain, sleet or snow, greeting the children, is because I want them to know, "good morning, son, good morning, young lady, it's a pleasure to see you. Welcome back. I'm glad you decided to come back."

When the child understands that there's somebody here to greet them and love them and have the highest of expectations of them, that's what all kids want. That's why kids join gangs; that's why girls get into bad relationships with all of the boys, it's the same thing. Children at the teenage years in particular are looking for a group to belong to.

So if it's the football team, it's the football team. It's got to be a group. So we -- they're going to join a group, one way or another. We just need to make sure that the group that they join is a good group and that can be around educators who love them and support them and use the word "love" because kids actually like being loved.

ROMANS: Back to the driver's license part of the story. I want to circle back. You can see though how that is -- those laws resonate with parents who want to make sure the kids stay in school.

PERRY: I can see it, but again, it's one of these gimmicks. If you live in New York City, that doesn't matter. If you live in Chicago, if you live in Detroit, if you live in many of the cities with the highest dropout rates, you're not -- it doesn't matter if you have a driver's license. There's public transportation.

This is not the way folks. You have to -- we solved all the easy problems. What's left are the hard problems, the ones in which somebody's going to have to lose a job, schools are going to be to be closed. Children have to be given new options.

When we want to make the fundamental changes, when we really commit to our children's life as opposed to our adult comfort, that's when we begin to see the fundamental changes necessary.

ROMANS: All right, I've got to leave it there. Steve Perry and, you know, you're right, there are a lot of hard problems that remain.

Thanks so much, Steve Perry.

PERRY: Thank you.

ROMANS: Its 46 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: It's almost ten minutes until the top of the hour. We have a lot going on this morning. Here are your headlines.

Breaking news right now out of Manhattan where 24 people were injured this morning when an elevator in a high-rise in Chelsea plunged three floors to the basement. All of the injuries are said to be minor and nonlife-threatening according to fire department officials. But 22 of those patients were taken to area hospitals for observation. They're still trying to figure out what caused that accident.

Al Qaeda choosing Osama bin Laden's temporary replacement, he is Saif al-Adel. A source tells us that he's an Egyptian with Special Forces training who's been involved in militant activities since the late 1980s.

Markets open in just 45 minutes and right now, the DOW, NASDAQ and S&P 500 are slightly up futures are as investors wait for the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting. And the space shuttle "Endeavour" dock with the International Space Station this morning for the very last time. The shuttle fleet will be retired as you know later this year.

Now you're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING will be back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: I can't find the red mug full of my coffee. You're "A.M. House Call" this morning. More cups of coffee a day may keep a deadly cancer away. A new study says men who drank six or more cups of coffee everyday over nearly two -- well that's a lot of coffee -- over nearly two decades --

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: But a lot of people were saying that it's like -- ok, a cup meaning eight ounces.

ROMANS: Right.

CHETRY: So if you drink two Starbucks, you know, tall -- grande, you've got it covered.

ROMANS: Anyway so this much over a couple of decades, these men were 60 percent less likely to develop more aggressive forms of prostate cancer. The research suggests having just one to three cups can lower their risk by about 13 percent.

CHETRY: There we go so today is the coffee is good for you day. A couple of days from now coffee will be bad again.

ROMANS: Our country is --

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Right but people will still drink it.

Hey, if you're a parent, you want to hear this next story. There's a new study finding toxic flame retardant chemicals in many of the products that we use every day with the baby, such as car seat, diaper, changing pads.

Researchers say that a third of those products also contained a chemical that was removed in the '70s from kid's pajamas because of cancer concerns.

ROMANS: And for all the men out there who find it hard to relax, try kicking back while your wife is doing household chores if you dare. Researchers at UCLA measured cortisol levels in the saliva of 30 couples over a four-day period. Those levels rise when you're stressed and they fall when you're relaxed.

Cortisol levels in men fell dramatically when their wives were busy doing chores and they weren't helping. Oh man, for women, stress levels dropped significantly when their husbands pitched in with the chores.

CHETRY: That's it, that's another classic example of differences between males and females. But you know, if you're a woman and your husband's helping you out and doing stuff along with you, you feel happy. But a guy likes to know that he's with his remote and she's in the kitchen cooking up something good.

ROMANS: It's not that -- these are not gender stereotypes but the study says so.

CHETRY: Yes this is -- this is in your saliva. You can't hide it.

ROMANS: And McDonald's is under pressure again to fire Ronald. More than 550 health professionals and organizations have signed a letter that will run in several major newspapers asking the fastfood chain to stop marketing junk food to kids and to retire Ronald McDonald.

In a statement, a McDonald's spokesman says, Ronald is not retiring and that he is still the heart and soul of Ronald McDonald's Health Charities.

CHETRY: But if they happen to be looking for a new mascot, maybe one with Mutton Shots you can meet Don Gorske, a 57 years old Wisconsin native. He just ate his 25,000th Big Mac. He also says he's had one at least one every single day for the past 39 years. But he says, usually two. And he also knows exactly how many bites it takes, 16 every time to eat it.

He isn't overweight. He says, he always gets good cholesterol numbers. Each Big Mac by the way has 540 calories, 29 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat and 1040 milligrams of sodium.

By the way, that's half your daily allowance of the fat if you're a guy.

ROMANS: Well, if you're counting at home that's something like 13,500,000 calories in Big Mac.

CHETRY: Right. Although I have a trick, you know what you can do, you take the middle piece of bread out, you scrape off the special sauce of that one. You take the other piece of bread and put it on top and you've knocked out at least 200 calories.

ROMANS: It's special sauce that makes it --

CHETRY: No but the special sauce is still on the other patty. It's just that you knock half of it out, boom. It's a low calorie Big Mac.

ROMANS: Or you have apple. I'm sorry. Oh, that's such a buzz kill.

CHETRY: That sounds wonderful. ROMANS: All right. The solution for traffic jams. How about get rid of the traffic lights? We're going to have that story for you right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Two minutes until the top of the hour. A live look this morning at Indianapolis, Indiana. It's cloudy right now, 51 degrees, showers in the forecast as well going up to a high of 64.

ROMANS: A simple idea to save the commuters both time and money right there in Indianapolis. Tom Foreman shows us how they're doing it in this morning's "Building up America".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): North of Indianapolis in the suburb of Carmel, Mayor James Brainard has been going around in circles for years over traffic jams.

MAYOR JAMES BRAINARD, CARMEL, INDIANA: Roundabouts work everywhere.

FOREMAN: He has done away with traffic lights at 80 percent of his town's major intersections, replacing them with roundabouts, whirlpools of traffic that keep people moving.

BRAINARD: It's made a huge difference in the way our city looks and feels and the way people get around.

FOREMAN: Roundabouts -- not to be confused with bigger more intimidating rotaries on the East Coast -- are designed to smoothly sweep drivers in from any direction, slowly guide them around, and just as easily let them out and on their way.

Since cars don't stop, commuters save time and officials say use 30 percent less gas at intersections.

BRAINARD: A roundabout can handle about four to five times the amount of traffic in the same amount of time that a stop light intersection can have.

FOREMAN: The mayor says intersection accidents are also way down, improving insurance rates and the city saves money, too.

BRAINARD: We don't have to buy a $150,000 signal. We don't have to buy electricity every year. We don't have to replace it after 15 years when all that mechanical equipment wears out.

FOREMAN: Some drivers and pedestrians don't like roundabouts, but local officials insist this simple idea is building up the quality of life here, and that's building up the business climate all around.

Tom Foreman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ROMANS: There you go. There's a difference between a rotary and a roundabout. I just learned something.

CHETRY: I'm still learning when you're supposed to slow down and stop and when you're not. That's why I don't like those circles.

All right. Well, we're going to take a long break. In fact, we'll see you back here at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.

ROMANS: And I think Ali's back tomorrow too.

CHETRY: Ali's back and we're going to be reunited.

ROMANS: Yes. There we go.

"CNN NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello starts right now. Good morning Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning.