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Pirates Take Over Another Ship Off the Coast of Africa; More Pleas From the Big Three's CEO's; Record Decline in Gas Prices

Aired November 19, 2008 - 10:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EILEEN WILBUR, HOMEOWNER: ... today, she used the word lien on your property, that made my stomach boil. I think if they said you owe $100, I'd pay $100. But don't touch my property.

ANTONIO VIVEIROS, FORMER CITY COUNSELOR: I went to city hall as soon as it opened and I wrote out a check for a cent to make a point to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: City collectors say the letter was computer generated and sent out with around 2,000 other bills for outstanding balances.

The numbers game. Serious stuff for investors. New signs of economic slowdown, updates from Wall Street.

And we're helping with your holiday trips. This hour, it's all in the timing for air travel deals. You're going to want to know about it, Wednesday, November 19th, I'm Heidi Collins.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Your money, their decisions. Three hearings on Capitol Hill could decide where some of your paycheck goes. Right now a Senate committee is considering Neil Borofsky as the Treasury's point man to oversee how the taxpayer money is actually dolled out.

Meanwhile the nation's big three automakers looking for their own bailout, trying to convince lawmakers that a $25 billion loan is essential for their industry and the nation's economy.

And what about the little guy? Right now the Senate judiciary committee looks at bankruptcy laws and how struggling families can avoid losing their homes.

All right. Now we also want to take a look at the Dow. The Dow Jones industrial average is down about 37 points there. We continue to follow those numbers alongside all of these other news events and hearings that are taking place. Also this morning, grim new measures of the economy. In fact, for many of us, numbers like these haven't been seen in our entire lifetimes.

CNN's Christine Romans is part of the CNN Money team. She is joining us now from New York. OK, Christine, if you could, walk us through some of these numbers that we're getting.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's talk about retail inflation. This is the consumer price index, this is what you pay at the grocery store, at the gas tank, and all the places where you are dealing with the retailer and paying for goods. It fell one percent. Heidi this is a number that we measure in .10 percent increments. And almost always goes up, the overall rate and the core rate which is the rate that pulls out the food and energy prices, it's a smoother number. It almost always moves in these tiny increments. To have one percent move is really unheard of. It's the biggest one- month decline on record and record keeping began all the way back in February 1947.

What it tells you is that the economy is weak. So weak that prices are falling because demand is drying up for a lot of these things. It's mostly driven by gas prices. Gas prices have had this record decline for two months now. 21 states now have gas that's like $2.00 a gallon or below $2.00 a gallon. So I mean it's really been a stunning move in energy. But when you look beyond energy, fruits and vegetables, those prices were lower. Apparel prices are lower, new and used cars, hotel rooms, air fares, all of these things, these prices last month went down. And that's because demand was drying up because the economy is weak. Economists call it the silver lining of a recession, that prices go down and that - the hope is that generates some demand at some point.

COLLINS: Yes, sure. There's also dangers of falling inflation as well.

ROMANS: Right. And this is - a lot of economists talk about dis-inflation, that's where you go from worrying about prices going up to worrying about slowing prices or price declines. And the worst case scenario is of course deflation. That's when prices go down so much that the economy kind of freezes up. Because people don't buy anything because they're waiting for prices to keep falling.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: That's the situation that happened in the Great Depression. It was a terrible painful situation. A self-fulfilling prophesy at some point then because people are laying people off and they don't have any money and they are still not going out and buying things. But for the most part, economists are saying just a few weeks ago we were worried about inflation. We were worried about skyrocketing prices. Now quickly that calculus has sort of changed. And we're talking about disinflation. We're talking about falling inflation. But deflation is something that most people say is not likely right here.

COLLINS: Yes. We need to get very familiar with these terms, too -

ROMANS: Right.

COLLINS: As we move forward. Absolutely. Appreciate that, Christine Romans. Thanks. ROMANS: Sure.

COLLINS: As you know, the big three automakers are making another lap on Capitol Hill today, for the second straight day now they are pleading for a $25 billion loan. Our congressional correspondent Dana Bash is on the story for us this morning and is setting the stage now. Hi there, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi. Well, the hearing on the House side is under way. We are already hearing the opening statements from the lawmakers about what their thoughts are on this idea of a bailout for the auto companies. You see there Alabama congressman republican Spencer Bachus. He is just beginning to make the case that he opposes any kind of bailout at all for Detroit. He says it's simply the wrong thing to do. Now he is from a state, I think it's important to note, that actually benefits from having car companies from abroad, Japanese car companies, German car companies that might actually benefit from a failure in Detroit. So you have an example there of a lot of different angles, a lot of different points of view for various reasons on what to do about Detroit.

But we had an interesting op-ed in "The New York Times" this morning from former presidential candidate Mitt Romney, whose father was one of those auto executives several years ago. He makes the point from the republican point of view that it's actually maybe best to just let these companies go bankrupt. Listen to what he said on AMERICAN MORNING.

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MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Behind the warranties, for instance, saying we're going to be there, make sure the warranty will always be fulfilled. And the companies are going to be there. We're going to support them, we're going to help propel them. We're going to get them strong. But we're not going to keep putting money into them while they're frankly uncompetitive long term.

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BASH: Now, what we are likely to hear from these auto executives is that they believe that it is absolutely the worst thing that can happen. In fact, they said that yesterday when they were over on the Senate side. They said, look, if we go bankrupt, basically nobody is going to buy a car from a company that is bankrupt. It just isn't going to happen. So you're going to have a lot more of that today, I think, Heidi. And meanwhile, while there is going to be public pleas going on from these CEOs on the House side, there's a lot of discussion behind the scenes about just whether or not they can actually get this done this week. There is some talk of potential compromise, potential compromise that the delegation from Michigan and even Ohio are pushing to potentially find a way to use money that has already been appropriated for the auto industry last year.

But democrats have for the most part, the leadership at least has been resistant to that. But they're trying to find a way to see if there's any possible way to get out of it. The hopes are pretty grim at least to do this by the end of the week.

COLLINS: All right. Well, Dana, I know you're on top of this for us. Let us know what you learn. Appreciate it.

BASH: Thank you.

COLLINS: Also this morning, a blistering attack on Barack Obama from purportedly Al Qaeda's second in command, the voice on the audio message is unverified. But the person talking claims to be Osama Bin Laden's top lieutenant. Joining us now with more details on this is CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, good morning to you. What have we learned here now?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, the U.S. intelligence committee of course listening to that audio recording from Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri, the Egyptian born doctor who is number two to Osama Bin Laden, to verify his voice but at this point there's every reason to think it's accurate. Most of the recordings in the past have been. Very interesting, it is an audio recording. That keeps Zawahiri safe, no visual clues about where he may be hiding in Pakistan which is where he is thought to be, some very insulting remarks to President-elect Barack Obama on that tape.

But fundamentally what's important all of this, the U.S. intelligence community and the military believe Zawahiri while he is number two is absolutely vital to get. In some respects perhaps even more important than Bin Laden. Bin Laden is in deep hiding by all accounts. Zawahiri by all accounts still exercises operational involvement, if not operational control over Al Qaeda, operations over the Al Qaeda network. And the concern of course is all of the rising violence in that border region in Pakistan which is flowing over into Afghanistan and attacks against U.S. troops. Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Barbara, I know you're monitoring those tapes as well. WE sure do appreciate it. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, thank you.

We are hearing more names tossed around for Barack Obama's cabinet. The latest now, one of his closest advisers, plus a trusted policy chief. CNN's Ed Henry is keeping up with all of the transition talk from Chicago this morning. So what's the word now, Ed?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning, Heidi. That policy chief you mentioned, Peter Orzig is expected to become the White House budget director essentially. One significant part of that is he's a former Clinton administration official as is Eric Holder who we're hearing from two officials close to the transition is Barack Obama's choice to be attorney general. Historic because he will be the first African-American attorney general if he's confirmed by the Senate. Also we're told that Barack Obama became very much impressed with Eric Holder as a trusted adviser when he was co-chair, co-chief of the vice presidential vetting process for then candidate Obama, someone who had to sit down with a lot of discretion, reach out to potential VP nominees and find out all their deep, dark secrets, get them to put it on the table, analyze it and sit down then with the candidate and lay it all out, the pros and cons. Now one of the potential controversies certainly that will come up in the Senate confirmation hearings is the fact that Eric Holder was a senior Clinton justice department official, when Mark Rich was pardoned. You remember the fugitive financier, very controversial in the waning days of the Clinton administration. Eric Holder has previously said that he regrets what happened there. That he could have done a better job. But I can tell you a lot of people close to the Obama transition obviously believed that that will not be a mortal wound. That it's something that he could certainly survive on the hill. And in talking to democrats and republicans, they believe he'll be a strong nominee, in fact.

COLLINS: Sorry, Ed. He said he felt like he was rushed in that decision.

HENRY: Certainly. You remember it certainly was a rush situation in the final days, literally the final day of the Clinton administration, well not just Mark Rich but dozens of other people were pardoned. Certainly that will come up. Republicans already believe that's a little bit of ammunition they can bring up in the confirmation hearings. But again, in the long run, democrats and republicans on the hill acknowledge privately they think he'll be in pretty good shape. It's early, obviously there's going to be more vetting that will be done. But as I noted at the top, he's a very senior former Clinton official as is the incoming White House budget chief. We've already heard about Rahm Emanuel, the former Clinton official being the Obama chief of staff and Greg Craig, former Clinton lawyer, becoming the Obama chief council.

COLLINS: Yes. True.

HENRY: So you know, some of that is to be expected because let's face it you know the last democratic administration, you're going to stock your team with some people who have experience.

COLLINS: Very, very quickly. All these Clintonites, any of them going to lead to an actual Clinton like maybe for secretary of state?

HENRY: That is the question of the hour. Secretary of state will be Hillary Clinton, certainly conflicting signals. There were some reports last night suggesting well maybe Hillary Clinton will not even take the job if she's officially offered it. On the other hand, this morning the "Wall Street Journal" reporting that Bill Clinton is doing all he can to smooth this in terms of trying to avoid conflicts of interest and whatnot so that she can get the job, certainly all eyes on that post.

COLLINS: That's for sure. All right. You tell us when you learn it. Thanks so much. CNN's Ed Henry from Chicago this morning.

Back to this story now that we were telling you about here in the CNN NEWSROOM. An FBI agent gunned down in a neighborhood near Pittsburgh. He was on the job serving a warrant. These are some of the pictures coming in to us now from our affiliate there, WTAE. Several reports now saying one person is in custody. But it's unknown if that person is actually a suspect in the shooting. There was a coordinated crackdown on drug-related crimes in the area this morning. Police are not saying if this shooting is connected. We're going to keep you updated of course on the story as we get new details.

Firefighters in southern California say they're getting an edge on three devastating wildfires. Authorities blaming a group of ten young adults for starting the so-called tea fire. The group had built a bonfire and then left the area when they thought it was extinguished. The biggest of the three fires, freeway complex fire now 3/4 contained. Residents are being allowed to return. The Sayer fire blamed for destroying a mobile home park also mostly contained. In all, the fires have burned more than 42,000 acres and destroyed about a thousand homes.

A possible break through surgery done in Europe. A team of doctors successfully transplanting an organ largely made up of the patient's own stem cells. The 30-year-old woman is doing fine now five months after her trachea transplant. She also doesn't need any anti-rejection drugs. Doctors began with a donor trachea then using the woman's stem cells, they grew new cells on the organ. All the old cells had to be removed so the organ wouldn't be rejected after the transplant. The lead surgeon says he's excited about the success.

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DR. PAOLO MACCHIARINI, PERFORMED OPERATION: The jump between the animal investigation and the human investigation was a big sort of mystery to me as well. But we succeeded. And the fact that she's playing with her children is the most beautiful gift that I could have in my career. So I'm feeling very well.

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COLLINS: The doctor says he hopes to replicate the success, but knows it will take a lot more research and tests before the procedure becomes common place.

Not so crowded skies. A possible hitch in your holiday travel plans. Now fewer planes going where you actually want to go.

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COLLINS: Well you just can't go wrong with that guy, can you?

One of the problems though facing flyers is capacity. Many airlines are cutting the number of seats available for major hubs. Here is a look now at three cities with the biggest deficit from last year. Travelers leaving out of Chicago have 20,000 fewer seats now to choose from. By far, the biggest drop.

In Las Vegas, there's a drop of 13,000 seats, and there are about 11,000 fewer seats for Los Angeles. So nationwide there are more than 200,000 fewer seats available. And that could make your holiday travel a little bit tougher. But we have some tips today to lessen the pain. Rick Seaney is with farecompare.com. He is joining us now live from Los Angeles this morning. Rick, thanks for being with us.

Obviously as we have mentioned, a busy time of year. In fact, I want to go ahead and show our viewers one of these graphics that we have prepared from AAA's travel forecast. Look at this then nearly 4.54 million, that's 11 percent of holiday travelers plan to travel by airplane. That's a 7.2 percent decrease from the 4.89 million who flew last year. So does that 7.2 figure surprise you? I kind of thought it would be more than that.

RICK SEANEY, FARECOMPARE.COM: Yes, it's a little bit surprising. I guess you know what we've seen is really kind of a crazy year with you know oil hitting almost 150 around July 4th, ticket prices going up. 21 attempted air fare hikes in the first half of the year. And then I didn't expect to see the sales that we're seeing right now. So you know the bottom line is that it's just a lot fewer seats out there. And I think people are sitting on the fence about traveling on airplanes for at least the next few months.

COLLINS: Yes but you mentioned those sales. Pretty unbelievable deals out there. Does this sort of say to the consumer, maybe procrastinating isn't such a bad thing when I go to buy my airline ticket?

SEANEY: Typically I don't tell people to procrastinate because really you should start shopping for air travel in a typical situation about four months before travel. That's shopping, not buying. And you can actually get your tickets within a month. But this year procrastinators are going to be rewarded. I actually bought my tickets for Thanksgiving in June. I thought tickets would be the highest they would be in history. You know this year is a special year. And we've got every major airline with a holiday sale right now. And some of these even go out through the end of February.

COLLINS: Wow. That's a pretty good deal. But you mentioned, you got your tickets in June. A lot of other people have done the same thing, particularly when you're talking about the holidays. I mean, we know what time they come every year. Can you get any of that money back?

SEANEY: Actually you can. Most people don't know this but if the price drops for the same flight that you bought earlier, airlines like United, Alaska, Jetblue and Southwest will change your ticket. Some will give it to you, just change it for nothing and others will give you a credit voucher for the difference. So if it has dropped, and it probably has actually, if you've already bought your ticket, definitely call your airline. You can get some of that money back.

COLLINS: Well, that's fantastic to know. So hopefully everybody will check that out. Before we let you go Rick, go ahead and give us, if you would, some tips for people who may be traveling over the holiday.

SEANEY: Well, certainly if you haven't bought your ticket, you've got a few days with some of these sales for Thanksgiving and for Christmas. So you know the absolute day you don't want to travel is Sunday. You're going to pay $300 more for the privilege of returning on Sunday after Thanksgiving.

COLLINS: Yes, take an extra day, huh?

SEANEY: Yes, leave on a Tuesday or a Saturday. And if the you can, especially if you're bringing in your parents or something, bring them back on the day of the holiday. There's no people in the airports and the ticket prices are so much cheaper.

COLLINS: Excellent, great, great information. We sure do appreciate it. Rick Seaney from farecompare.com. Thank you, Rick.

SEANEY: Sure.

COLLINS: Coming up later in the NEWSROOM. We'll be talking with one travel expert who has some tips on protecting your vacation investment. So that will be coming your way at noon today on CNN.

And staying healthy during the holidays. Certainly something that you want to do. The toughest part though could be just getting through the flight home. It doesn't have to be a recipe for disaster.

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COLLINS: Frozen dinners posing a possible health risk. Lean Cuisine now issuing a nationwide recall of more than 875,000 pounds of frozen chicken meals. Here are the problem products, packages of lean cuisine pesto chicken with bow tie pasta with the best before date of May 2010. Lean Cuisine Mediterranean chicken best before September, October and November 2010, and Lean Cuisine Chicken Tuscan best before September, October and November 2009. There have been complaints about hard pieces of plastic found in the food. One person was actually injured. You can find more information on the recall at the U.S.D.A.'s web site. Make sure you check that out.

Well, we've all been there. Stuck on a plane and everyone around you invariably coughing and sneezing. Not the kind of thing you want to see on your holiday trip. But how real is the danger of exposure. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here now to help us figure all this out. Good morning to you, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Heidi, did you know there are scientists who do nothing but study how sick you can get while you travel?

COLLINS: Actually I do. Because I did that whole germ thing a while back, two parter -

COHEN: OK. I thought that was fascinating. What an incredible job. Exactly.

So what I was told by Dr. Mark Jendro with the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts, he said let's say you get on a 737 plane. This time of year two people, these two people right here and right here are going to be contagious enough with a cold or a flu to get other people sick, just two people. COLLINS: OK.

COHEN: You might not think that's that many. But here is the thing. When they sneeze those droplets can really go far. They can infect people in the two rows behind them and the two rows in front of them. So all of these people and all of these people could get sick. It wouldn't even necessarily take a sneeze, just sort of lots of heavy breathing can do it.

COLLINS: Yes, we always hear about, or at least we used to hear about air circulation and you're not getting fresh air when you're in an aircraft. That doesn't sound like it's a problem.

COHEN: Right. That's a bit of a red herring. What we're told is on most planes now it's 50 percent fresh air and 50 percent recirculated air. Yes, there is a lot of recirculated air. But you are getting some fresh air. What really is the problem is that people are smushed in together. That's really what the issue.

COLLINS: That's definitely the issue for all of us. The germing is part of the whole experience and ends up being when you're in that plane, right?

COHEN: You know, not necessarily. There are a couple other things that can happen to you in your journey. For example, you know where there's a lot of germs? Escalator handrails.

COLLINS: Yuck.

COHEN: You wouldn't really think about it but you know how many hands have been stuck on those escalators. That's a lot of germs. And another, so you can see it right there. Look how many hands, one after another. Another one, ATMs, fingers pushing buttons. You're not the first one using it. And people aren't sanitizing them afterwards. So those are two critical points.

COLLINS: Yes also elevator buttons.

COHEN: Yes. That, too.

COLLINS: So what do you do? Do you walk around with like a little spray can of you know anti-bacterial or something?

COHEN: No, here is what you do. When you pass one of those critical points, like an escalator or an ATM or certainly of course when you use the bathroom, wash your hands as soon as you can. So if you really, you might think it's paranoid but really it's now. When you go on an escalator, as soon as you can, wash your hands, or you know carry around these hand sanitizers. Use them as soon as you can and you get rid of the germ.

COLLINS: You know the more I hear about the travel, I might just call the whole thing off. Forget it. It's happening in a few days.

COHEN: Exactly.

COLLINS: All right. Thank you. Elizabeth Cohen, appreciate that.

Planes, trains or automobiles. When it comes to holiday travel, how do you decide which one would be the most cost effective. In today's "Energy Fix" now, a look at your options and which ones could help you save time and money.

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COLLINS: New measures this morning of the economy. And the first one surprised even the experts. Housing starts has hit their lowest levels in 49 years. An even greater milestone this morning on a key measure of consumer inflation. The Consumer Price Index samples the goods and services we buy. It shows prices have dropped by the largest amount in 61 years. Much of the reason, the record plunge in energy prices.

And on Capitol Hill this hour, the nation's Big Three automakers pleading for help. They're asking for $25 billion in loans. They say the bailout is vital to their industry and our economy.

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COLLINS: A recount, a run-off and what could be another Republican loss. Can the Democrats achieve their filibuster proof majority.? The magic number's 60, as you know. Let's get to our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser now.

So, Paul, let's start with Senator Ted Stevens losing his seat in Alaska.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes. It looks that way. 15 days after Election Day, Heidi, we're still counting votes. But, in Alaska, here's where the vote count is right now for Ted Stevens.

He's down by over 3,700 votes to Mark Begich, who is the Anchorage, Alaska Mayor and the Democratic challenger. There's only 2,500 votes left. So, if you do the math, even if Ted Stevens won all of those votes, he can't win.

What could happen though and this is probably the last chance for him, is if he does win, the vast, vast majority of those remaining votes, there could be a recount. But Begich has already claimed victory. We're waiting to hear what Ted Stevens has to say. Remember, 40 years in the Senate for Ted Stevens. But he was just convicted last month on federal corruption charges. So, it looks like the end for Ted Stevens in Alaska.

COLLINS: OK. So, we move on to Minnesota. And I think we have a live picture here to show that the recount has actually started there in this race.

STEINHAUSER: Yes. And this is fascinating. 2.9 million votes cast in Minnesota. And guess what? The Republican incumbent, freshman Senator Norm Coleman, is only ahead by 215 votes, out of almost three million. Live pictures right there, you just saw of the recount. It is beginning today. And of course, the challenger is somebody we all know, Al Franken, formerly of "Saturday Night Live" and Air America, the progressive liberal radio network.

So, they're arguing over which votes to recount. It was an ugly campaign. It's going to be an ugly recount. Heidi, this one could go all the way into -- maybe even Christmas, maybe even next year. And Al Franken today, he's right here in D.C. He's meeting with Democratic senators. And that's kind of upsetting the Republicans.

COLLINS: Meanwhile Bill Clinton is right here, where we are in Georgia. He's in town to help out Democrat Jim Martin, in the Senate race here.

STEINHAUSER: Exactly. And that's going to be a whole new election. There's going to be a run-off election on Tuesday, December 2nd. Only 13 days. And Bill Clinton is going to be there today. He is the first named Democrat to help out Jim Martin.

Jim Martin's a former state lawmaker down your way in Georgia. He's running against another freshman senator, Republican Saxby Chambliss. What happened here was Chambliss won the election. But, he didn't get 50 percent. You need 50 percent plus one in Georgia. That's the law. There was a third party candidate, he didn't get it.

We got a run-off. You've got a lot of big names helping Saxby Chambliss out. Today you have Bill Clinton helping out Jim Martin. We're going to keep an eye on that one, as well.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser.

Thanks, Paul.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

COLLINS: It's been 15 years since the U.S. Military adopted the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. It allows gay people to serve in the Military as long as they aren't open about their sexuality. The Barack Obama administration is expected the lift that ban.

CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre explains.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you think it's time to get rid of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy in the U.S. military, raise your hand.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On CNN last year, President-elect Barack Obama raised his hand to show allowing gays to serve openly in the Military, is change he believes in. A bill to replace Don't Ask, Don't Tell, with a policy of nondiscrimination has 149 co-sponsors in the House. Including California's Ellen Tauscher. REP. ELLEN TAUSCHER (D), CALIFORNIA: The key here is, is to get bills that pass the House and Senate that we can get to President- elect Obama to sign. And I think that we can do that in certainly the first year of the administration.

MCINTYRE: Two months ago, Obama signaled he would move cautiously, telling a gay newspaper, he would first get the Military on board.

VOICE OF SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: Although I consistently said I would repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, I believe that the way to do it is to make sure that we are working through processes, getting the joint chiefs of staff clear in terms of what our priorities are going to be.

MCINTYRE: Gay rights advocates say it's important for the new president to avoid the hand-fisted effort president Clinton tried in 1993, when he naively promised to life the ban by executive order. That royaled the Pentagon brass including then Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell. And provoked a fierce backlash in conservatives in Congress.

As a result, Congress stripped President Clinton of his power to change the policy and forced him to accept the Don't Ask, Don't Tell compromise. A law that can only be repealed by Congress.

But after 15 years and four wars, attitudes in the Pentagon and among the public have changed dramatically. A Washington Post/ABC News poll this summer found 75 percent of Americans support allowing gays to serve openly, compared to only 45 percent, back in 1993.

(on camera): When President Obama takes office in January, he'll first deal with more pressing issues such as the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But more and more around the Pentagon, you hear military leaders say they are unconcerned about gays in uniform and that following the examples of allies like Great Britain and Israel, just a matter of time.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: And if you think you don't like the cold, one Utah woman's aversion is so strong, she gets an allergic reaction. And we're not just talking about sneezing. It can be pretty serious.

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DR. GERALD GLEICH, RESEARCHER: They have a massive reaction, such that they get hives all over them. Their blood pressure drops. And if they are not treated quickly and adequately, they can die from this.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Even after dressing in many layers including socks, gloves and scarfs, Janet Rogers spends very little time outside during the winter. She's working with doctors and researchers now to help find a cure for the condition.

High seas piracy spiking off the African coast. We've talked with a high commander from the Fifth Fleet about what the U.S. Navy can do and can't do.

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COLLINS: Today is the last day you can vote for your favorite CNN Heroes. Just go to CNN.com/heroes to see their stories. Vote and then join Anderson Cooper Thanksgiving night to find out who will be CNN's Hero of the Year. Vote now at CNN.com/heroes. Vote today.

Modern day pirates hijacking ships off the horn of Africa. A little earlier we learned an India warship traded fire with a pirate vessel and sunk it. The pirates are still holding at least a dozen other ships and demanding millions of dollars in ransom. The U.S. Navy is patrolling the treacherous waters. And joining us now by phone, Commander Jane Campbell. She is a spokeswoman for the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.

Commander, we appreciate you being with us by telephone, here. I wonder if you could begin by telling us a little but more about the context, the scope of the problem. Because we have been getting continuing reports of piracy off the coast of Somalia.

VOICE OF CMDR. JANE CAMPBELL, U.S. NAVY: Hi, Heidi. And thanks for having us join you today. And thank you for putting in that perspective of being able to talk about the context of the situation.

The context is that this is an incredibly vast area of open ocean and seaways. The pirate attacks have been taking place in the Gulf of Aden. And then now with the piracy of the tanker, the Sirius Star, it's really broadened the reach of the pirates.

This incident that took place on Saturday, the 15th, took place more than 450 nautical miles off the coast, the eastern coast of Africa. So the context is that area in geographic scope, is more than 1.1 million square miles. And I think your viewers will be able to get the picture when I tell you that that's more than four times the size of the state of Texas.

COLLINS: Yes. I don't think most people know that. So, appreciate you doing that. Quickly, though, if you can explain to us, because we do keep hearing about these reports of the piracy.

What exactly can the United States Navy do? I mean, I assume we're talking about international waters here, and there are rules.

CAMPBELL: There are rules. And for that very reason one of the things that we have done is to reach out proactively and give the mariners best practices. Make recommendations for how they can proactively protect their own ships. Because the reality with that expansive size of ocean space, we can't be everywhere at once, not with U.S. Navy ships, not with our coalition ships, not with the other nations that have joined in the area. We simply can't have Navy ships be everywhere at once.

So we've told them some great practices that range from, one, just have lookouts. Be on the lookout for you know, small boats that are approaching your vessel that shouldn't be. Be able to maneuver your vessel. Be able to speed up if you need to, to outrun some of these vessels, you know, literally 15-foot boats that are operating with basically an outboard engine.

COLLINS: Commander Campbell, who should be the first responders, if you will, in all of this? Whose responsibility is this exactly?

CAMPBELL: Well, and that's the part about being on the open ocean. It's the same way that when we teach our sailors, every sailor becomes a firefighter on a Navy ship. Because when you're out in the middle of the open ocean, you can't call the fire department and you can't respond that quickly. And in many cases, even with the numbers of ships and aircraft we have in the area, we're not going to be able to be there.

So the merchant mariner, the crews on board of those ships are the first responders. They are the best defenders of their own ships. But when they can't do it, we've also suggested that those shipping companies very seriously consider employing professional embarked security detachments so that they would have an armed response if they come under attack.

COLLINS: Right there on their vessels. All right --

CAMPBELL: Absolutely.

COLLINS: Interesting. And we sure do appreciate your time today. Commander Jane Campbell, with the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet in that area. We've been talking about the Gulf of Aden.

CAMPBELL: My pleasure, Heidi.

COLLINS: Thank you.

And quickly want to let you know, all morning long we've been telling you about the Big Three automakers on Capitol Hill, this morning. Lobbying for a $25 billion bailout. We are watching Chairman Barney Frank, of the House Financial Services Committee. I'm going to take you to that hearing coming up shortly here on CNN.

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COLLINS: Planes, trains, automobiles and even buses. So many options for holiday travel. Let's figure out which ones are best with those gas prices dropping. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our Energy Fix from New York.

Hi there, Poppy. That is the good news, right? Gas prices down 63 days in the a row, right?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: That is about the only good news when it comes to the economy these days. We're talking about your travel plans for the holiday. And to help us figure this one out, we're using a real life example. My producer Ross and his fiancee Tracy, they are heading from here in New York to Baltimore. Oh, they are so cute, look at that picture.

They had plenty of options. The first option for them was a new type of bus line. You buy the tickets online, you pick the bus up on the curb. There are several of these companies, the one from New York to Baltimore, that is called MegaBus. Prices start at just $1.00 a ticket. For their tickets it was priced at $72 round trip for both of them. That was the cheapest option by far. Best of all, he doesn't need to pay for gas or tolls.

The next option was flying. Of course, it's fast. It's just an hour on Continental out of Newark. But it's expensive, $660 for two round trip tickets. That is not even including transfers to and from the airport. Then there's the hassle of security checks and, of course, delays.

No security checks on a train, though. And while it's not as fast as air travel, it's still quick. It's a comfortable trip. The price though is high, $368 for two round trip tickets on Amtrak.

And Heidi, that's for 5:00 a.m. departure. If they leave midday, it's more than $500.

And finally there is the rental car option. He checked Avis first. It was sold out for Thanksgiving out of New York. He found a Web site, this was kind of cool. Write this one down folks -- easycar.com. He was able to find a four-day rental for $171. He'll need to pay for gas, though. But it's a good price.

I want to bring in Ross. Let's bring him in here. He works on Energy Fix every day. Let's talk to him.

Ross, what did you choose?

ROSS, ENERGY FIX PRODUCER: Well I decided to go with the rental car option. Normally I'm like a real cheap skate and I would go with that Megabus option. But with gas down at $2.00 and the flexibility of being able to make a few stops along the way, plus it takes me door-to-door. So that was really the best option.

HARLOW: And you don't have to pay for parking at the in-laws.

ROSS: Exactly.

HARLOW: So that's what Ross chose.

When money is tight, Heidi, you want to do some research. You can save a lot. Ross's option, maybe not be the best for everyone, but it really tells us if you do the research you can save some money. I'm so happy we could bring in Ross here because he's behind these tips every single day doing a lot of the legwork -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, and we sure do appreciate it, Ross. And now he gets to ride in the car with his fiancee and get to know her even better.

HARLOW: Yes.

ROSS: Exactly.

COLLINS: That was part of your plan, right Rob?

Thank you, guys. Sure do appreciate it -- Energy Fix today.

Hitting the road for the holidays. In our next hour, on-line deals geared specifically for drivers. You don't want to miss that.

Meanwhile, Big Three back on the Hill. Automaker chiefs return to plead their case for financial aid. We'll bring it to you in just a moment.

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