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President Obama in India; Women Tweet about Their Abortions
Aired November 08, 2010 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I'm on the Friday train with you, too. Oh lord. All right, we've got four more to go. We're going to make the best of it.
Good morning, everybody. It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out west. Here are some of the stories that have us talking this morning.
President Obama in India delivering a message of cooperation, hoping to return with something that Americans desperately need -- jobs. Dan Lothian will have the latest news from New Delhi.
Just north of New York City a fire shuts down part of the Indian Point nuclear power plant. Workers say that there was never the threat of a radiation leak from the transformer explosion. One of the two units is offline, however, as a precaution.
And countdown to Coco. More than nine months after NBC booted Conan O'Brien from "The Tonight Show," well, his new show debuts tonight on TBS, our sister station. Actors Tom Hanks and John Hamm are his first guests this week.
But we begin in India where President Obama has addressed that nation's parliament. Hit topics ranging from terrorism to nuclear arms. But for millions of Americans there may be no topic more important than jobs that could be created under trade agreements.
CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian joining us now from New Delhi. But before we get to the jobs, Dan, how about the news that was made today out of the U.N.?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. A little bit of news. This was something that was expected, certainly something that India really wanted.
The president making a very bold endorsement for India to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and making that announcement today the president saying that with that status comes full responsibility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me suggest that with increased power comes increased responsibility. The United Nations exists to fulfill its founding ideals of preserving peace and security, promoting global cooperation, and advancing human rights. These are the responsibilities of all nations, but especially those that seek to lead in the 21st century.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: Why does this matter? Well, first of all, the administration believes that this just shows that India is a rising power in this region. It's something that the United States is watching very closely because the president sees this region as the future for growth for U.S. companies and what that means for you back at home -- more jobs. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. So of course we want to talk about more American jobs. Tell us more about that. We talked a lot about this week and what exactly he's going to be able to get from India, and India of course wants things from us as well.
LOTHIAN: That's right. And you know, it was rolled out when the president was in Mumbai. We saw a number of different things that the administration put out there -- agreements, $10 billion worth of agreements including the 10 C-17 military planes, Boeing planes for India.
That is just one aspect of what the United States sees as this global market which will increase and boost jobs or support jobs back at home. The particular C-17 deal expected to support about 70,000 jobs.
PHILLIPS: And finally, you know, there was so much talk about the security over the past week. A lot of mixed reports how much it was going to cost and not cost. And we got that straightened out. I mean any trip to a country where there have been threats in the past, of course, is going to cost a lot.
But how is the security? How is it going? Does it seem that it has panned out OK so far?
LOTHIAN: Listen. I can tell you security is very tight. And we know about tight security because we travel with the president all the time. But when I went over to the venue where the president was holding the press conference today along with the prime minister I had to go through about six checkpoints. Sometimes just a few feet from the other one before I got inside.
At one point they took away my lip balm and told me I couldn't take it in there. But then two people started deliberating -- they started deliberating about this for about 30 seconds or so, and then gave it back to me, told me to apply it to my lips. I did. They said it was OK. At that point I dropped it so I had to throw it away anyway.
But even beyond that, the press pool was trying to get into one of these bilateral meetings that the president was having with the prime minister. There was a lot of pushing and shoving.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs had to put his foot in the door to keep it open. At one point, even threatened to pull the president from the bi-lat if U.S. journalists were not allowed to get inside.
Very tight security. In the end, they were able to get in there. But that's just sort of a little flavor of what it's been like here for the past couple of days.
PHILLIPS: Dan Lothian, must have been some pretty special lip balm. What do you use? I need to get some of that.
LOTHIAN: You know -- you know I didn't even buy it. It was the one that you get on the airline. You know? In that little bag? So it wasn't that special. But I needed it and I wanted to keep it. And then I lost it. I dropped it on the ground. All of that for nothing.
PHILLIPS: OK. We'll hook you up. Poor Dan. All right, appreciate it, Dan.
Well, President Obama may be half world away but his thoughts are very much on changing the political landscape in Washington. The president says that he shares much of the blame for the voter anger that ousted Democrats last week and will put the House under GOP control in January.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I think that over the course of two years we were so busy and so focused on getting a bunch of stuff done that we stopped paying attention to the fact that leadership isn't just legislation. That it's a matter of persuading people and giving them confidence and bringing them in together and setting a tone. We haven't always been successful.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, as the president vows a renewed sense of cooperation on Capitol Hill, some Republicans are publicly skeptical. The man expected to become the new House majority leader in January says that the White House will have to prove its willingness to compromise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), VIRGINIA: The president did say this week that he's willing to work with us, now listen. Are we willing to work with him? I mean, first and foremost we're not going to be willing to work with him on the expansive liberal agenda he's been about. But if he's serious working with us on things like earmarks, for instance, which he said he would work with me on that, I'm absolutely hopeful that we can do that.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Cantor is among the congressional leaders who will meet with President Obama next week at the White House dinner. OK. Haiti. We've been talking a lot about how it's coping with another disaster, the aftermath of Hurricane Tomas. That storm hit over the weekend. It killed at least six people, left a lot of people homeless and of course flooded the streets and stopped relief trucks right in their tracks.
All that extra water could make Haiti's cholera problem even worse as well. At least 500 people have died since the outbreak began last month. Another 7,000 people are in hospitals.
And the week's getting off to a pretty nasty start in the northeast. Snow, sleet, rain. Happy Monday, everyone. Rob Marciano picks that from here.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: So if you want warm weather, go to --
PHILLIPS: San Diego.
MARCIANO: San Diego --
PHILLIPS: Yes. Got to be with my parents.
MARCIANO: Yes. They got a little bit of showers out there but --
PHILLIPS: Yes, but --
MARCIANO: I'd go see your parents anyway. They're nice folks.
PHILLIPS: Yes. My parents like you, too. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: Let's do that.
PHILLIPS: You're welcome there anytime.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: We'll talk again.
MARCIANO: All right.
PHILLIPS: All right.
About 50 Qantas passengers are stranded in L.A. because the Airbus is -- ready for this -- in the shop. The airline says it will not put its fleet of giant A-380s back in the air until it's 100 percent sure that they're safe.
Remember last week when the engine cover came off a Singapore- Sidney flight? Since then mechanics have found oil leaks in the engines of three planes. Rolls-Royce made those engines.
People are trying to figure out what went wrong. Meanwhile Qantas says that those planes could be grounded for three days. And you talk about trapped in the middle of nowhere. A family of four was missing for nearly a week in the Pacific Ocean. A trip 230 miles from the nearest land. But take a look. Rescuers actually found them.
A New Zealand Air Force plane spotted them on Saturday and a U.S. Coast Guard team rushed right to them.
The man and woman in their 50s, two boy, ages 7 and 8, were dehydrated, cold and hungry but otherwise they are OK.
Social networking meets a social issue. Maybe the biggest social issue of our time. Women going on Twitter to talk about their abortions. Some people apparently feel more comfortable tweeting about it than talking about it.
That story is our big talker today, coming up in just about four minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. Here's today's talker. It's about an issue that many people feel passionately about. On both sides. We're talking about abortion. And no, we're not getting into the politics or ethics of it but we are asking this morning is abortion something to tweet about?
Let's talk about it with CNN's Carol Costello.
Carol, you actually found women using social media to talk about these procedures. Why tweet and why now?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good questions, Kyra, because it's not something most women want to shout out loud but they are bluntly tweeting it.
I had an abortion, that's what they're tweeting. A young woman named Steph Herold kick-started this Twitter campaign because she fears Republicans, now that they control the House and so many governor seats, will chip away at abortion rights.
Herold kick-started this thing a few days. So far more than 2,000 tweets have come in. And I'm going to read you some of the tweets now. This is what some of the women are tweeting.
"With perfect contraception I faced unwanted pregnancy as a 19- year-old newlywed. Tough choice but the right one. I had an abortion. I'm not sorry."
Another one. "I have never had an abortion but -- hash tag -- this I had an abortion hash tag is one thing that makes me happy to be alive. De-stigmatization is the key."
And this one. "Abortion is not a haircut." This came in of course from a pro life person. Many pro-lifers are also tweeting -- are also tweeting saying things like you're trivializing this. What are you doing? Come on. And there are better ways than having an abortion to deal with an unwanted pregnancy.
Now back to Steph Herold, the woman who kick started this campaign. She realizes that of course that she would get both sides of the issue and she wants this. She actually wants to de-stigmatize abortion and she figures this might be a good way to do it.
Not only that, she figures it might be a good way to start a conversation. According to abortion rights groups she says 35 percent of women will have had an abortion by the time they are 45.
So, Kyra, there's a lot of women out there having abortions so maybe we should talk about it. Maybe it should come out in the open.
PHILLIPS: We should point out, too, Steph Herold works for the New York Abortion Access Fund and has an agenda here, obviously.
COSTELLO: She does have an agenda. She collects donations to fund women's abortions, so she does have a stake that this fire, so to speak.
She also worries that Republican leaders will try to limit access to government-subsidized private health plans that include coverage of abortion which, of course, as you know, was one of the more contentious issues during the debate leading up to the passage of the health care bill.
Of course, people on the other side of the abortion issue think this trivializes things. How can you tweet something like this? And how can you have a conversation about something so important via tweet?
PHILLIPS: And even some feminist blogs are questioning the wisdom of this, right? Saying that it trivializes abortion. And then, I remember we did a segment about a woman who was actually, after taking the abortion pill, was going through an abortion, and she was tweeting about it, and people could follow her online. That got a lot of controversy.
COSTELLO: A lot of controversy. I understand that woman also got death threats. But if you go online, you see lots of YouTube videos with women describing what it's like to go through the procedure. It's crazy out there.
And you're right, some feminists say that this whole tweet thing is trivializing something, but on the other hand, if it starts a conversation, maybe we can destigmatize it -- destigmatize abortion since so many women have abortion. And maybe pro-choice women will become more active if they need to be. That's their argument, anyway.
PHILLIPS: Interesting. And why are more women having abortions? That's a whole other conversation. It's an interesting talker. Carol, appreciate it. We're going to talk more in the 10:00 hour. I'll see you then.
COSTELLO: Sure. PHILLIPS: We're going to head Cross Country now. A small but mighty town shows a church notorious for staging anti-gay protests at military funerals what it's made of. Saturday's showdown was in Weston, Missouri. Hundreds of townspeople came out to form a human shield at the funeral of First Sergeant CJ Sadell, who died in Afghanistan. They blocked the planned demonstration of the controversial Westboro Baptist Church. It was a big show of force and self-empowerment in a town of less than 2,000 people.
In Tampa, Florida, a life saving house call. An air conditioning repairman-slash-retired US Marine responds to screams from down the street. So, he finds and rescues a 56-year-old woman from her burning home. But she tells him, "Hey, there is a 60-year-old man who's still trapped inside."
So Joe Ynocencio actually wrapped a wet shirt around his face and went back into that burning house to pull the man to safety. Pretty amazing for someone who could barely see or breathe with all that smoke.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE YNOCENCIO, REPAIRMAN: We were all coughing, you know. I coughed up some of just black stuff from smoke and inhaling whatever it was that was burning. I got a little bit of a burn on my arm, got some hair singed off from the French doors. But other than that, everybody was OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: To East Rutherford, New Jersey, where they took the wraps off a couple of new balloons for Macy's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. The new floats? Kung Fu Panda and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Next time you see both, they're going to be towering over Manhattan.
There will soon be no more competition in the already crowded late night comedy scene. Conan O'Brien's new show debuts tonight. We've got a sneak peak.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: In today's Vets in Focus, an airman receive a long- overdue award. Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Richard Etchberger died on a mountaintop in the South Pacific. But for decades, his act of heroism was so secretive, even his own children didn't know the truth about their father. Richard's son, Cory, learned about his father when he was 29 years old, when the US Air Force finally declassified his father's heroic tale.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORY ETCHBERGER, SON OF MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT: In 1986, my brother Steve and I were visiting my mother, and she got a call from the Air Force saying they were declassifying the mission that he was on. I was stunned that, in fact, he wasn't killed in a helicopter accident. It's the first time I knew of anything of his heroic deeds. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Richard Etchberger lived the Airmen's Creed. To never leave an airman behind. To never falter, to never fail. Today, we present the Medal of Honor to an American who displayed such gallantry more than four decades ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The secret mission, Etchberger was manning a classified radar facility in Laos when it came under attack in the North -- by the North Vietnamese. Etchberger cared for his fellow wounded airmen and fought off the Vietnamese until a rescue helicopter arrived.
He then lifted them into safety in that hovering aircraft, only to be shot and killed by enemy fire from below. Etchberger received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions. It's the military's highest honor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAITLIN BURKE, CONTESTANT, "WHEEL OF FORTUNE": L.
PAT SAJAK, HOST, "WHEEL OF FORTUNE": One L.
BURKE: Can I Solve?
SAJAK: What's that?
BURKE: Can I solve?
SAJAK: OK.
BURKE: It's a prize puzzle.
SAJAK: Yes.
BURKE: "I've got a good feeling about this."
SAJAK: That's right.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Pretty amazing. Got to be a "Wheel of Fortune" record. The woman seen there, Caitlin, actually guessed a seven-word phrase from just one letter. She certainly had a good feeling about it. And Pat Sajak was certainly shocked.
Now, for all of you loco for Coco, the return of Conan O'Brien in late night television is just hours away. His new show debuts today on our sister network, TBS. And as CNN's Kareen Wynter reports, Conan wants redemption after that well-publicized programming fiasco, he says, at NBC. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": Hey. Is it November 8?
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Conan O'Brien makes his return to late night TV Monday with his new show on TBS, the sister network of CNN.
He warmed up by making a surprise appearance on "Lopez Tonight," which is moving to midnight to make room for Conan.
GEORGE LOPEZ, HOST, "LOPEZ TONIGHT": Welcome to TBS. And, really, welcome to basic cable.
O'BRIEN: It's thrilling. Basic cable.
(AUDIENCE CHEERS)
WYNTER (voice-over): "The Hollywood Reporter's" Matthew Belloni has written about Conan's return to late night.
MATTHEW BELLONI, "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER": For the cable universe, the expectations are high. He's a big star, he's coming over from network TV.
WYNTER (on camera): Coming over from NBC, to be specific, and his departure from "The Tonight Show" in an awkward game of musical chairs with Jay Leno is the stuff Hollywood nightmares are made of.
WYNTER (voice-over): The TBS show represent a chance to prove once again, he's one of comedy's best.
WYNTER (on camera): So, for Conan, what do you think here? Is this a shot at redemption?
BELLONI: It's absolutely a shot at redemption for Conan O'Brien. He -- the way that he was sort of cast out of NBC, he took it very personal. "Conan" is starting from scratch. If it succeeds, it's a huge personal redemption for him.
WYNTER (voice-over): O'Brien has given few hints about the look of the new show beyond saying it'll have a more intimate feel than his "Tonight Show" did. He will be joined by long-time sidekick Andy Richter. They posted a faux preview online, complete with mini-band.
(FLUTE PLAYER PLAYS)
WYNTER (voice-over): As he gets ready to return, Conan's feeling the love from Hollywood.
MILLA JOVOVICH, ACTRESS: We're always happy to see him, because he's rad.
WYNTER (voice-over): From Milla Jovovich to "Dancing With the Stars'" Jennifer Grey.
JENNIFER GREY, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": Conan's smart. Conan's tall. Conan's special.
WYNTER (voice-over): Conan's return sets off an unprecedented battle in late night between some giant talents.
BELLONI: Now you have three heavyweights overlapping. Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert are also players in this, in addition to Jay Leno and David Letterman.
WYNTER (voice-over): But in the crowded late night landscape, Conan's always had an edge.
O'BRIEN: I stand out. I'm 6 foot 9 with orange hair.
WYNTER (voice-over): Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: In honor of Conan's return to late night, Time.com has compiled a list of history's other famous fiery redheads. We'll start with Willie Nelson and his luscious long locks. You could even argue that those crimson waves helped propel his career. "Red-Headed Stranger" was the album that made him one of the biggest stars in country music.
And then, here's a fun fact you might not know. Records say that under that dusty, gray wig, the founding father and third president of our nation, Thomas Jefferson, yes, actually a red head.
And then, Harry Potter couldn't free the wizardly world from He Who Must Not Be Named without the ginger-haired sidekick and his family. So, Ron and the rest of the Weasley clan had to make the cut.
Now, representing the ladies on the list, you know, the ever-so- fiery Lucille Ball.
And finally, a list of famous red heads, Apostle Judas, who betrayed Jesus in the Bible. Now, we'll never know if Judas was actually a red head, but medieval art portrays him with flaming red hair and equally crimson beard. His fiery locks are even referenced in Shakespeare's "As You Like It."
A new page in late night television history turns tonight. Conan O'Brien's new show debuts at 11:00 PM Eastern on our sister network, TBS. You won't want to miss it.
With all of this talk about Conan, we want to know, do you think he will claim late night's top spot, knocking out Leno and Letterman? And do you think his new show will actually live up to all the hype? Hit me up on my blog, cnn.com/kyra. I'll read some of your responses during the next hour.
Investors have been riding quite a winning streak lately. All the major averages are at the highest levels in two years. Let's talk more about what's in store this week. Alison Kosik at the New York Exchange for that. Hey, Alison.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
PHILLIPS: A half century ago today, American voters elected John Kennedy as their next president. Now a glimpse into the campaign that changed history. For the first time the public sees some candid photos that were squirrelled away decades ago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It's half past the hour and time for some stories that got us talking this morning.
President Obama is talking jobs halfway around the world. He's in India calling for economic cooperation between the world's two largest democracies. The president is pushing for trade deals that could create thousands of jobs in the U.S.
Qantas Airways says its super jumbo jet won't fly again for at least another three days. The airline grounded its fleet of Airbus A- 380s after oil leaks were found in the engines of at least three planes. The inspections were prompted last week when an engine actually tore off the Qantas flight and forced its return to Singapore.
Edison Pena ran -- spent more -- actually he was running underground as you remember as that Chilean miner. And what you're seeing here is the fact that he actually completed the New York Marathon. You may remember that fellow miners called Pena "the runner" because he jogged and worked out during the underground ordeal.
November 8, 1960, 50 years ago today, John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States defeating Richard Nixon. It remains one of the closest races and most famous elections in U.S. history. Now, pictures from that campaign that have never been seen before, traces of an election season captured by the photographers of "Life" magazine, we're getting to see them. They've been stashed away in file cabinets, old drawers and storage units. Now you're going to see the pictures and you're going to hear the stories.
John Roberts here with our AM Extra. So, what struck you as the most interesting, John?
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": I'm just a student of that period in history, having sort of come from that generation, say that quietly. But to think, Kyra, that you send out dozens of photographers from the finest photography magazine probably in the world -- certainly the country -- and you're get thousands and thousands of photographs that come back and they're all going to have some extraordinary moments among the collections.
And to think that they just put these out there, you know, now in the 50th anniversary, it's great to look back. This photograph that you're looking at right there, that's one of the ones that really struck me. This one did as well. This is in Texas. But the one previous to that -- and I think we can put up a single of this -- look at this. It's John Kennedy during the campaign, standing on a kitchen chair with no security around him. And look at the kid down to the lower right. He's got a revolver, and he's pointing it at himself so he's probably not endangering the president. That's a toy gun --
PHILLIPS: Yes, but you'd never see that nowadays. Can you imagine? The Secret Service would be pouncing on that kid nowadays.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. Of course, in the early going of any presidential campaign there's very little security around. But when you become the nominee and you're out there, this was a month and a half before the actual election, he should have security all around him. It shows what a different time it was. And, of course the lack of security around Kennedy, was what eventually became his undoing.
Here's another interesting one that I wanted to show you. This is the Canyon of Heroes, New York City, a ticker tape parade for John Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy. I think we've got the photo. I was told we did have it. What's really interesting about that photograph when it comes up is its timing. I talked to Ben Cosgrove, who's the deputy editor of "Life" magazine about that photograph.
Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN COSGROVE, DEPUTY EDITOR, "LIFE" MAGAZINE: When all of us who were looking at these photos before we chose the photos that eventually ended up on life.com looked at this picture, we thought, oh a ticker tape parade for the victor in the Canyon of Heroes in Manhattan. But then it's actually in October before the actual election. I mean, yes, New York has always been a strongly Democratic state. But this is extraordinary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Can you imagine that, though? A parade in the Canyon of Heroes for a candidate, not for the president. Real different time on so many different levels. It's so great to see this coming out, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Too bad we can't interview JFK about the elections nowadays.
One of the pictures that popped up was the one of him in the phone booth. Maybe we can bring that one up again. This has an interesting story to it, as well.
ROBERTS: Yes. He was at a convention and one of his supporters said hey, do you want to talk to my wife? So he's talking with the woman in New Jersey -- she's a homemaker -- about the direction of the country, about his policies. It shows him on the phone engaging with people.
There's an interesting parallel. In the year 2000, in the Gore campaign, we were on a riverboat ride down the Mississippi, it was Tipper Gore's birthday. The two of them were having a little dinner upstairs. They invited the press to come up. The vice president had had a couple of beers, was feeling a little bit loose and started grabbing people's cell phones and calling home talking to either their spouses or their kids. So, some interesting parallels of elections that end in the number zero all throughout history.
PHILLIPS: Quite a different time. They're great photos.
John, thanks.
ROBERTS: You bet.
PHILLIPS: Well it's nearly a week after the election and three big races still haven't been decided. We're going to tell you about them in our political ticker.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We're looking ahead at 2012, but still not able to close the books on last week's elections. CNN's deputy political director -- who is it today? Don't have a name.
Hi, Paul. They left you out of the script. I see your happy face. I should have known it was going to be you.
Hi, Paul.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: How are you, Kyra.
You're right. It's been less than a week since the elections of 2010. But we're looking at 2012. That's what we do. That's why you pay us some money.
And Newt Gingrich has a book out called today. It's called, "Valley Forge." And the former House speaker co-authored it. And remember, the former House speaker may, may want to make a presidential bid in 2012 for the Republican White House nomination. That's why this book is raising eyebrows because this is right around the time where people who may want to run for the White House are trying to make a splash. You do that by writing a book. It's called "Valley Forge," it's about General George Washington and it seems a bit to be an ode to the Tea Party movement. And, on the book tour coming up next week, he's going to be in all places -- Iowa. Of course, Iowa, a very important state in the road to the White House.
A couple other people making news. I'm going to ask Dave Jenkins (ph) our cameraman to zoom right in here to the CNN political ticker. It's down there. Tim Pawlenty, the Minnesota governor was on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley yesterday. He said a decision would come early next year.
The same thing from Mike Pence, the Congressman from Indiana who may want to make a run for the White House. He said early next year is when he'll have his decision made. And Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey said once again, uh-uh, not interested in a run for '12, not even as a running mate. But, you know, Kyra, he did leave the door open for 2016.
PHILLIPS: All right. So it's been almost a week since Election Day. But it's still not over yet.
STEINHAUSER: Not over yet. And until it is you're stuck with me.
So let's talk about some races that are not over yet. Connecticut, kind of over, you know on Friday night CNN projected Dan Malloy, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee up there, the mayor of Stanford, we've projected him as the winner.
Now, the Republican nominee Tom Foley, a former ambassador he has a news conference at 1:00 today. We'll see what he says, does he concede? There were some irregularities on some of the vote counting so maybe it goes on.
Also not over yet, Minnesota Governor, and that one could go on for a while, Kyra. Because you've got a recount and very likely, that recount would start next week and could go well into December. In Minnesota as you remember last time around their Senate election went well into the next year.
And finally Alaska, you've got that three-way Senate race up there. The vote counting of the write-in votes, so this is important because Lisa Murkowski the senator up there ran as a write-in candidate. That vote counting will start later this week. So we've got -- we've got our hands full, Kyra. It's not done yet.
PHILLIPS: That's ok. And we love having you for the record, Paul Steinhauser. Next time roll up those sleeves. Then I know you really mean business.
STEINHAUSER: You got it.
PHILLIPS: Ok, we're going to have your next political update in an hour. And a reminder for all the latest political news, you can always go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com.
But first "Flashback", November 8, 1965.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like sands through the hour glass, so are the "Days of Our Lives".
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now, the days of the soap opera, "Days of Our Lives" made its debut on NBC, 45 years of the Horton family's drama. And the series is still going strong. Of all of the soaps on the air today, only "General Hospital" has run longer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, a house of worship that's still being built more than a century after the first mortar was laid. We're going to take you to Barcelona, Spain. Our first "Morning Passport" stop where Pope Benedict XVI blessed "La Sagrada Familia" The Holy Family. When it's finished it's expected to be the world's largest church. But the timeline isn't set in stone.
More than 100 years ago its architect envisioned an incredibly ornate cathedral with 18 towers. But it's less than half finished. The privately-funded project might be completed by 2026. But don't hold your breath. As the late architect once said, "My client, God, isn't in a hurry".
And hip, hip and cheerio, let's go to London, England where we're hearing there is at least one newbie to the social media Web site, Facebook, Queen Elizabeth II, but don't expect her to friend you or vice-versa. It's more of a corporate page from the Royal Family announcing all the official engagements and events.
And Baghdad, our last stop, where on the heels of last week's midterm elections in the U.S., CNN international's Arwa Damon found this in the cities bustling bazaar, flip-flops with President Obama's picture on the sole. Not exactly a shoe of support but fallen (ph) art just possibly.
As you may recall and as former President Bush found out in the Arab world, this is the ultimate insult but maybe they would like walking a mile in the president's shoes.
As the world recoils from that failed package bomb plot from just a few weeks back, it prompted us to collect experiments and see how vulnerable we might be to a similar attack and its viability. Helping us to conduct that experiment, Reza Sayah, live from Pakistan's capital of Islamabad. So Reza, tee this up, the plan, the inspiration, and what was found?
REZA SAYA, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, investigators of the Yemen mail bomb plot said this plot was probably designed to have these packages blow up on a plane maybe while it was in flight. So we wanted to do an experiment to see how precisely we can follow a package mailed from here, Islamabad, Pakistan to one of our favorite colleagues the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, Michael Holmes.
Remember, this wasn't about the item itself. It was about tracking it, so we bought a traditional Pakistani pashtun hat and put it in a FedEx box and mailed it out there. We used FedEx for no particular reason. All these major shipping companies use the same tracking system.
So, Kyra we paid $75 and mailed it out and sat behind the computer and started tracking.
PHILLIPS: Ok, so you track it. Now, so, tell me who came up with this idea and what was the most shocking part of tracking this package to you? Or were you really not shocked until the end result?
SAYAH: Well, we were surprised at how closely we could follow this package. Some of our CNN colleagues came up with this idea. We used online information open to the public, the FedEx Web site, a site called flightstats.com that gives you departure and arrival times.
We used the Web site called FlightAware.com. This site is amazing, Kyra. It gives you real time minute by minute progress of flights going in and out of the U.S. It also tells you how high the flight is and how fast it's going. And we found, for example, last Wednesday, the FedEx flight was probably on a passenger flight, Emirates, going from Dubai to Paris, and we deduced about 7:30 Paris time, it was somewhere over Paris. We were also able to deduce that the package was own one of two FedEx flights last Thursday coming from Paris to Memphis. and we're pretty confident shortly after midnight on Thursday, the package was on one of two FedEx flights somewhere over Memphis -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Right. So Reza, you're basically saying extremists can use the same publicly-used tool to track a package?
SAYAH: Look. This sounds scary and they certainly possibly could do that, but I think we should all take comfort in the fact that based on what we know, this has never happened and I think that's a pretty good indication of how extremely difficult this is. But, certainly, if someone has malicious intent, this is information that they could possibly use.
Another thing that we didn't explore, obviously, wasn't part of our experiment, is the challenge of detonating the bomb, which, obviously, the Yemen bomb plot, thankfully, it failed -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Wow. It's interesting what you guys did. It's definitely eye-opening. Reza Sayah, thanks so much.
We're following a lot of other developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's go ahead and start off with Rob Marciano. What have you got, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kyra, we have cold air again across the East Coast, and now we have a storm that's throwing moisture into that, across the northeast. New England getting a little bit of snow this morning -- weather at the top of the hour.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. When you take your child out for a fast food meal, there are literally thousands of choices. And how many make the nutrition grade in the new Yale University study? 12. That's right, just 12. We'll tell you the good ones and the not so good ones at the top of the hour.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Stephanie Elam in New York. Do you have a question you'd like to ask the Obama administration? Well, I'm telling you about a monster of a plan so you that you can get it answered. I'll have that for you coming up in the next hour -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right guys. Thanks so much.
Also, breaking traditional religious views. Why a congregation and community are singing praises for a Denver pastor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Ready for this? Ready for this trick?
TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look at this.
PHILLIPS: Middle school. Oh, watch this.
HARRIS: See you.
PHILLIPS: The quarterback just takes the ball sideways where he's --
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Oh, my goodness.
PHILLIPS: Walks across a line then, boom, touchdown.
HARRIS: Makes a move; a couple of play station moves there. Look at this.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Don't say those middle schoolers don't know what they're doing.
HARRIS: Exactly.
So, he took the snap on some kind of silent handoff, (INAUDIBLE) and then he just walks across the line --
PHILLIPS: Exactly.
HARRIS: And takes off.
PHILLIPS: And everybody's thinking what's up? What's he doing. Wait a minute. Hold on. There he goes. Adios, amigo.
HARRIS: what's with the defensive guys? Knock his block off. Come on. You're going to get me featured on Kyra's show. Come on.
PHILLIP: Ok. I'll tell you something we want to feature, our favorite Chilean miner, Edison Pena, probably listening to Elvis the whole way through that New York marathon. He made it. He did it.
HARRIS: He did it in like, five hours, 40 minutes.
PHILLIPS: Yes, that's right.
HARRIS: 26.2 miles.
PHILLIPS: 26.2
HARRIS: Look at him, There he is crossing. What an inspiration story, this guy. Is that the interpreter? Well, there you go. Don't you love the blitz in New York -- the entire blitz. Appearing on Letterman, right? Doing some Elvis, singing.
PHILLIPS: He's like a total celeb. And he's a total rock star. And look at him he's acting like it wasn't even a big deal.
HARRIS: Right. That's good stuff.
We have another piece of video for you.
PHILIPS: Lebron's, the Nike ad that came out right? We're getting pushback.
HARRIS: So yes, a couple of weeks ago, we featured Lebron's "Rise" commercial. "What should I do? Where he's answering all of his critics, right?.
PHILLIPS: you said, I'll tell you what to do, score some points and show us what you're made of.
HARRIS: you should play some ball. Some of the fans in Cleveland -- we think they're fans. They may be actor. There was a local filmmaker that shot some shots and (INAUDIBLE) with some folks there.
And take a look at this. I want to run a bit of it. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEBRON JAMES, MIAMI HEAT: What should I do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: what should you do?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it even a question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You would leave us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a quitter. You bagged out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened to family?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Here's the thing. You know, look, it's well done, and Lebron says he has seen it and that they should have done a better job. Ok, all right. So the back and forth continues with Lebron in Cleveland. But here's the thing, everybody's asking what should I do?
I mean I don't know about you Kyra, but I get up asking that question every day. What should I do? So, you go with the red tie; you go with the blue tie?
PHILLIPS: Oh, for us it's editorial. Come on.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Look, you're worried about the clothes, don't worry about it. Ok, why don't we air it?
