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Why Did Rangel Walk Out?; Saving Children's Lives with Car Parts; Taking Control of Your Debt; Kiddie Fast Food Addicts; Building Collapses in India, At Least 30 Dead, Dozens Injured; Car Parts to Incubators; Poll Says Midterm Not Necessarily Mandate

Aired November 15, 2010 - 12:59   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Drew Griffin in for Ali today, with you for the next two hours. Here's what's on our rundown.

A 40-year career in Congress on the line. Democrat Charlie Rangel is facing more than a dozen different ethics allegations. So why did he walk out of today's corruption hearing?

Downcast Democrats and reenergized Republicans returning to Capitol Hill for a lame-duck session to deal with expiring Bush tax cuts and the threat of a government shutdown.

And saving children's lives with car parts. It's an innovative way to drive down infant death rates in developing nations. That is today's "Big Idea."

We're going to start by showing you, tough, a cell phone video that really has gone viral. It was made by a California man who was about to get an enhanced pat-down at the San Diego Airport. He has become an instant hero to the people who think airport screening, well, it's just going too far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TSA: Come on over here.

PASSENGER: All right.

TSA: Do you have anything in your pockets?

PASSENGER: I don't think so, they had me take it all out.

TSA: No belt, no nothing?

PASSENGER: Nope, no belt, no nothing.

TSA: Do you have any external or internal implants that I need to be aware of?

PASSENGER: No.

TSA: We are going to be doing a standard pat down on your today, using my hands and going like this on your body.

PASSENGER: All right.

TSA: Also, we are going to be doing a groin check. That means I am going to place my hand on your hip, my other hand on your inner thigh. Slowly go up and slide down.

PASSENGER: OK.

TSA: We are going to do that two times in the front and two times in the back.

PASSENGER: All right.

TSA: And if you would like a private screening, we can make that available for you also.

PASSENGER: We can do that out here, but if you touch my junk, I am going to have you arrested.

TSA: Actually, we are going to have a supervisor here because of your statement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Did you guys hear that? Touch my junk? The Air Transport Association predicts that 24 million Americans are going to be flying over the Thanksgiving holiday and for many of them it will be their first exposure to these newly-enhanced airport screenings.

More than 60 U.S. airports across the country, major airports and minor airports alike, now have these advanced imaging technology machines, AIT machines. The Transportation Security Administration says it has 385 of them in place and it expects to have more than 1,000 of them operating by the end of this year.

They are walking through x-ray machines that conduct full body scans through your clothes. Pilots and a growing number of passenger groups are raising objections based on modesty and radiation concerns. TSA says they are all unfounded. If you refuse a full body scan, guess what you get? An enhanced pat-down. Under new rules, TSA agents use the fronts, not the backs of their hands, and the search includes breast and genitalia areas.

Critics call that a virtual strip search. If you refuse to do that, well, you don't fly. Well, the man who made the video we saw, John Tiner (ph), ended up going home without getting on the plane. He says he was also threatened with a civil suit and a fine.

Joining us now, Clark Kent Ervin, he was the first Inspector General to the Department of Homeland Security. He's currently Director of Aspen Institute's Homeland Security program. Also a member of the Homeland Security, Secretary Janet Napolitano's advisory council. Clark, good to see you.

CLARK KENT ERVIN, HEAD OF HOMELAND SECURITY, ASPEN INSTITUTE: You, too, Drew. GRIFFIN: I mean, you were a guy who basically were overseeing this department when they started up and had the task of trying to make air traffic safe for all of us. I'm just going to ask you flat out, should we have been doing this all along, or is this completely unnecessary?

ERVIN: Well, no, I really do think we should have been doing it at least since 9/11, Drew. I mean, the fact of the matter is that the metal technology that we've used at the airport checkpoint since the 1970s don't detect non-metallic items. They can detect guns and knives.

But these bombs are non-metallic and we know that Al Qaeda continues to probe for weaknesses in our system, and this advanced imaging technology is the best available right now to detect explosives. And I do think the TSA has done everything reasonable to minimize the privacy impact and to minimize the radiation exposure. I don't think this particular incident was handled as sensitively as it should have been.

And had it been handled more sensitively, I don't think we would be talking about this particular incident today.

GRIFFIN: I've got to ask you, Clark, what about the selection process? I mean, these screeners are there just for everybody to go through. They are not in a separate room, and we should keep in mind that the pictures aren't being shown in these general public areas. But it's -- we're not talking about generally secondary screening.

I know I was called out and put through one of these machines simply because I asked a question about my belt having to come off. Are they just using these too much?

ERVIN: Well, certainly it appears as though in this instance, there was a punitive attitude taken towards this passenger because he was raising questions. And certainly this technology should not be used in a punitive way. But people do have - they either have to go through this technology where it exists to checkpoints or they have to submit to the pat-downs and that pat-downs, I would argue, are much more intrusive than this advanced imaging technology.

And the TSA agents have to be rather intrusive because if they're not, then the next thing is terrorists are going to hide these bombs in their genitalia area, in their underwear.

GRIFFIN: I've just got time for one more question and it's on P.E.T.N. OK, so this is supposed to find this explosive on my body. Do the x-ray machines that look at my carry-on bags find that?

ERVIN: Well, no. But what they can do is spot an anomaly and then it's up to the screeners to look at that anomaly, try to figure out what the anomaly is, and then call in the bomb squad to determine whether that anomaly is P.E.T.N. There are also, at certain checkpoint, are swab technology that can detect it. But, P.E.T.N. is the explosive of choice here and it's critical that technology like this be deployed in order to detect it. GRIFFIN: Clark, good to see you. Thanks for all that you do. Take care. As you may know, George W. Bush is making rounds to promote his memoir, it's called Decision Points. In numerous interviews he's touched on many of the major issues of his eight years in office, including his decisions to invade Iraq and Afghanistan. And the massive federal bailout of several major companies. Well, last night Bush and his brother, former Governor Jeb Bush sat down with our own Candy Crowley.

Bush again responded to questions about both his domestic and foreign policy, but he also shed some light on personal feelings for his father, former President George H.W. Bush, and it's today's "Sound Effect". He makes reference to Lee Atwater who ran his father's 1988 campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: What she's referring to is the time when Dad had us at Camp David and we questioned Lee's loyalty. Jeb had issued the great line that said if there's a grenade rolling next to Dad, Lee, we expect you to be diving on it first.

JEB BUSH: Beating us to it.

BUSH: Yeah, because we love our Dad. And, you know, it's hard for people to understand that -- how much we admire him and how much we love him and how much our admiration for him motivated us to go into public service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Bush dismissed the criticism that he took his eye off the ball in the early stages of the Afghan war. Critics charge that happened when the U.S. invaded Iraq, turning its focus away from Afghanistan and allowing the Taliban to regroup as a strong, determined fighting force. Bush, instead, blames some NATO members who had troops on the ground claiming they were not willing to fight.

Well, we have breaking news, and this is not good, our sister station in India, CNN IBN, reporting 24 dead, at least 40 people injured and transported to the hospital there. Fire department estimates about 20 people are still trapped after a building collapsed. This is, as you can see, is happening right now. We are gathering more information as we speak. And we'll bring it to you, but right now, from New Delhi, a building collapse, creating a massive rescue effort there going on right now.

Well, he survived the Korean war, 21 elections to Congress, but can New York Democrat Charlie Rangel (ph) survive a trial before his own house colleagues? We are live on Capitol Hill on the other side of this break.

A list of the top words for 2010 is out today from Global Language Monitor. We're going to run through them during this show today. Number ten, simplexity. It's the paradox of simplifying complex ideas, in order to make them easier to understand, which in turn makes them more complex. Number nine, shellacking, it was the President's description of what Democrats received in the midterm election.

And number eight, 3-D. It's not just about the movies; it's being used to describe the "robustness in products." The rest of the list...60 seconds away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Members of Congress are getting back to work today, a so called lame-duck session that includes a lot of members who lost their jobs two weeks ago, but one guy who kept his job is still fighting to hold on to it. 20-term representative Charlie Rangel, the Democrat of Harlem, Korean war hero, one-time Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rangel's on trial today before a House Ethics Panel weighing 13 charges against him.

They include failure to declare some $75.000.00 in rental income from a villa in the Dominican Republic, leasing four rent controlled apartments in Harlem - there's supposed to be one per family, and using official stationary to raise money for the Charles Rangel Center for Public Service at City College of New York. Rangel's doesn't have a lawyer because after two years and $2 million in legal fees, he says he can't afford one.

And he can't accept free legal help because that would be a gift and an ethics breach in itself. He could set up a legal defense fund, but says now the panel won't give him time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D) NEW YORK: I'm asking for time to get counsel. I have lawyers from Washington, D.C., and New York, who are willing to give me free counsel, to be able to come here because they don't think I've been treated fairly, and yet they say that if they do, that is a gift and violates all of the laws. I heard that perhaps they can do it at reduced -- well, reduced fees.

Or fair fees, if only we had time to develop the committee. You tell me that I don't have time to do that. And so while you tell me that, yes, I can hire anybody, get anybody, not have a lawyer, you're also saying, and that's the very part of your letter, that time does not permit this matter to be concluded before the end of this session.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: After he said that, he walked out. But the trial hasn't stopped. It started again I guess at 1:00, or was supposed to. Brianna Keilar is on Capitol Hill. Brianna, what's going on up there?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's about to get started again and this was really interesting because once he walked out, the committee, the subcommittee, Drew, they took some time behind closed doors to discuss his motion, they came back and they said, yeah, we're going to keep going. But they sort of smacked at the law firm, Zuckerman Spader, a law firm here in D.C., for essentially as Rangel put it, "leaving him in the lurch". He said that he'd spent $2 million so far over the last couple of years on these proceedings and then talking with lawyers it was apparent to him that it could cost as much as a million more. He said he couldn't guarantee that he could pay it, and they withdrew. And all of this went down somewhat recently after it became clear when he was going to have this hearing.

What you also have the committee saying though, was "OK, sure, but on multiple occasions we've also given Congressman Rangel advice on what he could do to pay for his legal fees, what's okay, what's not okay, and we've also given him a lot of time to look at the evidence." So this pretty secretive committee did seem to take this rare move of hitting back as well at some of his claims here that he needs more time and he's not being given a fair shot, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Yeah. I mean, certainly he would have known that he was running out of money and couldn't pay his lawyers long before they quit on him and he could've maybe gone to the legal defense route. I want to ask you though; they are using in the house his own words on the floor against him as evidence. Right?

KEILER: This really struck me, as the Chief Counsel for the Ethics Committee, which is essentially the prosecution in this, was laying out the case against Rangel, he would bring up certain charges that Rangel is facing here and then what they would do is they would play little snip-its of Rangel himself on the House floor.

This was from part of a speech that he gave back in August, a 37- minute speech, talking about really trying to make his case, but at the same time they use it as admission. There was one where he talks about how he did use Congressional letterhead to solicit donations and one of the things he's accused of is sort of soliciting donations, Drew, from organizations for this City College of New York center, the Rangel Center, named after him, and sort of doing it in an official capacity using Congressional letterhead and staff time.

And so, the point Rangel was trying to make in this speech on the floor was that maybe he was sloppy, maybe he made mistakes, but that he wasn't corrupt and on the flip side you had the committee lawyers using it completely against him as an admission of guilt, essentially.

GRIFFIN: You know I know, Brianna, this is not a real court like they have in his own district in Harlem. Because I can't imagine a judge in Harlem would buy the argument that I don't have any money to hire my own lawyer and one of the charges is, I've got $75,000 in rent income that I didn't tell you about on my villa in the Dominican Republic. But what happens if Charlie Rangel doesn't come back, they go on with this, are they just going to vote him in or out, or sanction him up or down?

KEILAR: I think the expectation at this point is that he wouldn't be expelled. That tends to be reserved for someone who has already been criminally charged. But there are different levels of rebukes here. I had said earlier that it seemed to me almost the worst punishment out of this whole thing would be kind of the public humiliation aspect of this and alas, Rangel is not there to really receive that in person. So there are different levels of rebukes.

You're going to see this committee once they look at all of the evidence, they are going to have a vote, and there are four Democrats and four Republicans here. They are going to vote on all 13 charges, and the majority will win out. That's going to be the curious thing, if you end up seeing a party-line split here, and then they would move on - it is kind of like a trial, Drew, because then they would move on if there are some areas where he's guilty, some charges they find him guilty on, to a sanctions hearing, so that would sort of be like a sentencing, if you will.

GRIFFIN: Yeah. Well, I don't know about public humiliation. Because his public, back in his district, just re-elected him. He's back up there.

KEILAR: Sure did.

GRIFFIN: Brianna, thanks all right.

KEILAR: (INAUDIBLE).

GRIFFIN: Appreciate that.

Well, are you feeling this overwhelmingness by debt. There's always hope, you know. Up next, a remarkable story of a couple who dug their way out of $88,000 worth of debt in just three years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: All right, millions of Americans under water, overwhelmed by their own debt on today's "Your Money." Christine Romans has the story of a couple who really bailed themselves out of deep debt a little at a time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are more than a dozen accounts here that you had to close off.

DON CARROLL, PAID OFF $88,000 DEBT: Oh, yes.

ROMANS (voice-over): Three years ago, Carole and Don Carroll were $88,000 in debt. Today, they're debt free.

D. CARROLL: It wasn't like we went, let's go buy a Maserati. All it takes is one little pickup to start this horrible, horrible snowball effect going downhill.

ROMANS: The Carroll's spent every penny and then some on credit cards, gas cards and medical bills, even though they had health insurance. Then, Don lost his job.

ROMANS (on camera): You were literally near a nervous breakdown over these bills.

D. CARROLL: Yes. CAROLE CARROLL, PAID OFF $88,000 DEBT: When you can't sleep, it's just -- it's just -- it gets to you.

D. CARROLL: Yes.

C. CARROLL: And that was -- that was the straw that broke the camel's back, I stopped sleeping.

ROMANS (voice-over): They did not want to file for bankruptcy.

C. CARROLL: Hey, we made the debt, we should pay for it.

D. CARROLL: Yes.

ROMANS: A non-profit credit counselor put the Carrolls on a five-year payment plan. They finished in just over three.

GAIL CUNNINGHAM, NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR CREDIT COUNSELING: I think if there is a silver lining to the recession, it is that it has refocused people's attention on their own personal finances. I think they are ready to move back over into the driver's seat.

ROMANS: So, how did the Carrolls do it?

D. CARROLL: You just have to get organized. I don't know if you really call it having less. It's just not having it immediately. You learn to live with what you need, not with what you want.

ROMANS (on camera): What is your message for people who might see your story and think, wow, I have $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 in credit card debt, I will never get out from under this?

D. CARROLL: Never say never.

C. CARROLL: It is totally fixable, but you have to -- you have to take the steps to say, I need help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Christine, she talked about taking that step. And I -- whether you're stopping smoking, whether you're trying to lose weight, it's always that first step. What did they specifically do facing that $88,000 over their head?

ROMANS: It was literally making them sick, first of all. So they knew they had to do something. So the first thing they did was they found out the number. How much do we owe? They couldn't really tell. You know, you had all these interest rates and different fees and it just kind of kept getting bigger and bigger and they put the bills in the drawer. They just figured it out.

Then they went to a non-profit credit counselor who put them on a five year plan, helped them get it sorted out and they paid every penny that came into their paychecks, every penny, went to paying off that debt. And there was nothing in their budget that wasn't about paying down debt, except for their rent and the food out of -- you know, every week. That was it. And they paid it off. They paid it off in just over three, three and a half years. $88,000, can you imagine?

GRIFFIN: I don't have another question for you, but I've got to ask, five years and they paid it off in three. It must have become addictive and kind of fun for them to do, huh?

ROMANS: They felt good. They feel really good now. And their credit score has shot up so much, people are trying to get them to borrow more money and they won't do it.

GRIFFIN: Oh, yes. Right, we don't need that.

Hey, Christine, thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

ROMANS: Sure.

GRIFFIN: And be sure to join Christine Romans and Ali Velshi for "Your Money," Saturdays, 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Sunday's at 3:00. Christine's also the author of this great book, "Smart Is The New Rich." You can find that on smart bookshelves now.

Checking some other top stories now.

A new week and a new headache for Australian airline Qantas. One of their planes had to make an emergency landing in Sydney today after smoke flooded the cockpit. The airline's blaming an electrical fault. This was a Boeing 747. Not one of the Airbus A-380s that they've had troubles with in the engines.

Cholera's rapid spread is alarming health workers in Haiti. They are seeing upwards of seven or eight times the cases they were seeing just days ago. The death toll now, 950 people.

And police in southern California are hunting for the driver of a car that caused a deadly crash. Five people killed Saturday. The wanted driver had moved into the oncoming lane to pass a group of motorcyclists. That put him on a collision course with a car coming from the opposite direction. That second car swerved to avoid a head- on crash and plowed right into those motorcycles.

OK. A quick quiz on fast food for you. And it's a toughie. You roll up to the drive through, right? You try to find something semi nutritious for that kid in the backseat who's screaming for french fries. Here's your choice, roast beef sandwich, no cheese, with apple slices, macaroni and cheese with apples or two chicken strips with a banana. I told you it wasn't going to be easy. Chew on that for a second. We're going to get some answers and advice straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: All right. Before the break we had the quiz for you, right. We wanted to know which you thought was the healthiest items off the kids menu -- roast beef sandwich, no cheese, apple slices, macaroni and cheese with apples or two chicken strips with a banana. Tricky, huh? Turns out they're exactly in that order, best to worst. So, go with the roast beef nutritionists say. Anyway, we all know fast food can just taste fantastic right. Our kids figure that out very young. And once they're hooked on Happy Meals, boy is it hard to break the habit. Still worth a try, right? Senior medical correspondent is here with that.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And, you know, Drew, habit is a good word. And you know why? Because Yale University asked parents, how often do you take your kids for fast food? Eight- four percent said at least once a week.

GRIFFIN: Wow!

COHEN: Yes. So that's a big -- you know, that's a major place where our kids are getting their meals. So at "The Empowered Patient" we decided, why don't we help people choose better meals? So I thought quiz was terrific. That's a good way to start.

GRIFFIN: You don't whip up -- is that on a menu somewhere, because I have not seen that --

COHEN: Vary -- yes, I've seen those on various menus.

GRIFFIN: OK. OK.

COHEN: My kids are younger than yours, so I make the rounds more than you do, I think.

GRIFFIN: You must.

COHEN: So, but anyhow, but we wanted to start -- because, you know, kids as young as three are getting many of their meals at fast food restaurants. So, we wanted to help people decide, how do you decide what to order. So first take a look at this.

A kid who's three should be getting about 1,200 calories a day. All right, 1,200 calories a day. Look at this classic kids meal, OK. So this is a classic cheeseburger, fries, and soda. All right, how many calories do you think is in that meal?

GRIFFIN: You want me to guess?

COHEN: Sure, I'll hide it from you.

GRIFFIN: Oh, I saw it. Go ahead.

COHEN: Oh, OK. Well, I'm sorry. I was too quick.

GRIFFIN: That's all right.

COHEN: All right, 650 calories. And the kids are supposed to have 1,200 all day. So you're getting more than half your calories in one meal. That is not a good thing. That's one of the reasons why we have so many fat children or overweight children in this country. So --

GRIFFIN: Wow!

COHEN: Yes, so that's what we're looking at. And when you see the hard numbers, I think it makes it easier for parents to realize they've got to make a change.

GRIFFIN: Well, how do you change it? What are the options that you can do?

COHEN: Well, there are options. Some of them were in the quiz. Here's another one. And the options make a big difference. This is 650 calories. Getting macaroni and cheese, apple, and milk, that is 285 calories. That's a huge difference. That's about what a kid should be getting, a three year old kid should be getting in a meal. That's a good amount of calories. See, big difference. And if you're doing this week after week after week, trading in that meal for that meal, eating this, not that makes a big difference.

GRIFFIN: But you pull up -- so you've already made the decision to go fast food. You pull up there. How do you convince your kid --

COHEN: Right.

GRIFFIN: How do you convince my guy that that is not punishment?

COHEN: OK. A couple of different ways you can do it. One, some people would say, you're the parent and you say, this is what you're getting buddy. This is it. It's either this or go hungry. This is what you're getting. You're getting that 285-calorie meal, which is the mac and cheese, the apples and the milk. That's one approach.

Another approach is, you could try bribery. You could do -- I'm not above that as a parent.

GRIFFIN: That always works.

COHEN: Right. And the city of San Francisco certainly thinks it worked. They've decided, you know what, you only get a toy -- you can only give out a toy if it's for one of the healthier meals. That's what they've done in San Francisco. And you can follow their lead -- well, that's what they're planning on doing. You can follow their lead and say to your kids, you know what, you want a toy, this is what you're going to get. And I know, for my kids, it's all about the toy. That's what they really want.

GRIFFIN: All right. Hey, you know, Elizabeth -- Elizabeth Cohen, I don't know if you know, is a great author. She's got "The Empowered Patient." How's the book doing?

COHEN: It's doing great. It's in its fourth printing.

GRIFFIN: Really?

COHEN: Yes. Doing terrific.

GRIFFIN: You doing the foreign language thing or anything like that yet?

COHEN: Oh, we're working on it, yes.

GRIFFIN: Oh, great. Well, good to have you here. Thanks for the tips. COHEN: Thanks.

GRIFFIN: I think I'm just going to have to steer away. I don't think I can make them do that choice, right?

COHEN: Right, not going to the -- right, not going is another option.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

COHEN: Yes.

GRIFFIN: OK, thanks.

Hey, what do six doctors, three car dealers and two funeral directors have in common? Here's a hint, they're all about to start new jobs. And I'm going to show you where when we come back.

But first, we're giving you the top words of the 2010 from Global Language Monitor. Number five, Guido and Guidette in honor of The Jersey Shore. Number four, refudiate. It's from Sarah Palin's combo of "refute" and "repudiate." And number three, the narrative in political forum.

Seventy seconds, I'm going to bring you the top two words of 2010. It's exciting. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: We're back now with the two words of 2010 -- the top two words. Number two, of the annoying one, vuvuzela, the fantastically annoying plastic horns you heard all through those World Cup soccer matches in South Africa. The top word, though, is spillcam, from of course the BP oil spill in the Gulf. Those are the top phrases of 2010.

Coming up in the next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: I mentioned earlier that members of Congress are starting a lame-duck session aimed at wrapping up unfinished business. And there's a lot of unfinished business. But the dozens of lawmakers who were voted out in this month's elections, it's kind of a farewell tour. For the dozens of newcomers voted in, it's a chance to get the feel of the place weeks before the new Congress gets down to work. Today, they all arrived by busload to learn about everything from hiring staff to finding the restrooms, to following the rules.

It's the biggest congressional turn over in decades. The incoming class includes doctors, car dealers, funeral directors, even an airline pilot. Many have never held office before. I want you to look at the shift in the party. Right now, the House has 255 Democrats and 178 Republicans. Come January, there'll be at least 61 more Republicans. The Senate has 57 Democrats and 41 Republicans now. In January, 51 Democrats and at least 47 Republicans, 2 independents. Now, about that unfinished business I wanted to talk to you about. Between now and the holidays, the outgoing Congress is going to try to do something about the Bush-era tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year. They'll also take up another federal extension of unemployment benefits. One-time payments of $250 to Social Security recipients since they're not getting a cost of living raise. Medicare payments to doctors which are set to drop by more than 20 percent in December. And, oh yes, by the way, we still don't have a budget for Fiscal 2011, which started October 1st. We wish them all luck.

Extending an olive branch to the man who detained her for 15 years. Find out what Aung San Suu Kyi is saying about Myanmar's military leaders. We're going to do that next when we go Globe Trekking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Time for Globe Trekking, and it begins with breaking news. First stop, New Delhi, India. Officials report at least 23 people killed when a building collapsed today. CNN's Sara Sidner joins us on the phone from New Delhi -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Drew, New Delhi's fire service just told us that at least 30 people now are feared dead in this building collapse in India's capital. Emergency crews right at this moment suspect that about 20 people could still be trapped underneath the debris from the several-story collapsed building and it's now been four hours since the initial collapse happened. This was around 8:15 this evening, India time. There were about 40 people who have been hurt and been taken to the hospital.

Right now what is happening is the rescue mission continues. They're trying to see if there are more people trapped under the rubble of this building. But they're already looking toward what may have causes this. Delhi went though -- and India went through a very heavy monsoon season, which means lots and lots of rain and the concern is that anyone that, you know, was this an authorized building, what was the condition of this building over time and how did this collapse happen?

We heard from Sheila Dikshit, who is the chief minister of Delhi and she said, and I'm quoting here, "I believe it's an unauthorized building and I believe there was water at the bottom of the basement for many days." Now is not the time to blame people but they are looking into who exactly might be at fault. Warning of these kinds of buildings, if it is in fact unauthorized.

With these rain here, I can tell you, even buildings that are put together well here in the city, whether rich or poor, there's a lot of water damage that seems to happen in this city. So a lot of concern right now about whether this building was authorized and, of course, more concern for those who may still be trapped underneath five stories of rubble -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: Sara, thanks for that.

Let's go to Myanmar. She was held in detention for 15 of the past 21 years. Now, Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is offering a hand of reconciliation to the country's military leaders. It comes from her third day of her freedom from house arrest. Yesterday she spoke to thousands of jubilant supporters, as you can imagine. In an interview with CNN, Suu Kyi said the key to bringing democracy to the country is working with the military government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUNG SAN SUU KYI, ACTIVIST: We have to work together. That is the main message. Those inside the country have to work together, and also those of us supporters outside.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do you plan to do next? Will you revive your party, the NLD?

SUU KYI: We would like to form a network of people working for democracy. Not just the NLD, but others who are interested in bringing about necessary change.

CHO: Do you plan to challenge the legitimate see of the elections recently held in Myanmar?

SUU KYI: We didn't contest the elections, so we have nothing to do with the elections. But, the NLD has formed a committee to look into allegations of fraud and all kinds of votes, which you've probably heard of. And we're doing it in the name of the rule of law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Suu Kyi is not thinking about the possibility of being detained again in the future. She says, quoting, "I just do what I can do at the moment."

Turning now to the war in Afghanistan. More signs of trouble in the U.S.-Afghan alliance. The commander of U.S. forces there, General David Petraeus, warns that the relationship could be untenable -- his word -- if Afghan president Hamid Karzai insists American Military operations be reduced. Petraeus was responding to Karzai's comments published in the "Washington Post" yesterday. Karzai said, quote, "The time has come to reduce military operations, to reduce the intrusiveness into the daily Afghan live." Officials told the "Post" that Petraeus expressed astonishment and disappointment with that call from Karzai.

Well, how can $20,000 and some spare car parts save a baby? We will tell you about that coming up.

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GRIFFIN: Hey, it's today's Big I, a company that creates affordable incubators for poor companies.

Let's just talk about why this is important. Twenty million low-birth weight and premature babies are born each year, 4 million of them die. Those that do survive often develop long-life health problems such as an early onset diabetes, heart disease and low IQ. Incubators could save many of these children but can cost around $20,000, require upkeep training, plus continuous electricity resources unavailable in many poor countries.

Well, a company that's created a possible solution is Design That Matters. They designed a neonurture incubator that costs about $2,000 and can be built in a matter of days.

What is most interesting is that they are built from car parts. Headlights, door chimes and cigarette lighters are just some of the parts used to keep these machines running. It seems like everything the flux capacitor.

To tell us how this works is Tim Prestero, CEO of Design That Matters.

You know, I got -- thanks for joining us, Tim. Obviously a great idea. How does this work, though? I don't get it.

TIM PRESTERO, CEO, DESIGN THAT MATTERS: Well, there are really three ideas. The first idea was looking at -- there was a doctor at MGA. He was working internationally on newborn health, and he found that really frustrated every hospital that you go through in the developing world has a big stack of broken, donated medical equipment behind them and he didn't understand, why is it that my car seems to run forever, the company car in this developing world context seems to run forever whereas the medical devices are all breaking. So, he said, well, we can use car parts.

And actually, one of the first things that we realize is that cars do get fixed, which means that there are car mechanics. And so the idea was, what if we can make an incubator that if you knew how to fix a car when you open it up, it's like, oh, that's obvious, now I understand how it works because it looks kind of like a car on the inside. And, in fact, we were thinking, what if it was like a photocopier. If you think with photocopiers in the beginning when they break, you'd have to get a technician come and to come and undo the paper jam and now, the user, the average person can do most of the repairs. So, that was one idea.

And, second, there's this joke that Michael Angelo, they asked him, so, how did you make David this wonderful sculpture? And he said, well, you start a big block of stone and take away all the parts that aren't David. There are thousands of parts in a typical Toyota truck, for example. What if we take away all of the parts that aren't an incubator, you have something left.

And then there was other idea which was -- there are four Cs. (INAUDIBLE) you can find anywhere in the world: Coke, condoms, cigarettes, well, and car parts. So we thought about the car parts supply chain, the fact that Toyota can get a car part anywhere in the world, well, maybe we can also get spares for this medical device.

GRIFFIN: Well, let me ask you, has it caught on? Is it as easy as you say it is to do? And, if so, how many -- I mean, literally, how many babies are you saving?

PRESTERO: Yes. So, the devil is in the details when it comes to implementation. One of the challenges with the idea of using car parts is that you certainly want to make it easy to repair the device, but you don't want to make it easy to put the wrong kind of car part or a dirty car part. So, we're -- our partner Mass general Hospital CIMIT Global Health Initiative is working with a manufacturing company in Brazil to solve some of these implementation challenges. The opportunity, though, is enormous.

Of thousand 4 million deaths thaw mentioned, about 1.8 million, or half of those kids would make it if you just kept them warm from the first, say, day to the first week. This isn't rocket science. You know, keeping a box warm so that a baby can make is not terribly hard. I think the challenge is, how do you do it in a way that if it breaks, it's going to get fixed?

GRIFFIN: Yes.

PRESTERO: I was in Indonesia a couple of years ago just after the tsunami. And of all of the incubators that have donated in Malabo (ph), this is the town closest to the epicenter of the earthquake, all eight incubators four years later, all of them were broken. And it's not because people don't want to use them, they can't get spare parts. They don't have trained technicians.

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: And imagine there are a lot of fragile than a car?

PRESTERO: For sure. For sure.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

PRESTERO: In fact, there's all kinds of things, these are very sensitive devices. There are all kinds of assumptions. For example, if you look at an incubator, it's designed to roll on smooth floors and go up and down in elevators. Those aren't really good assumptions in a hospital in the developing world.

GRIFFIN: All right, Tim. Tim Prestero, CEO of Design That Matters -- and making a difference, my friend. Thanks a lot. We appreciate you being on the show today and explaining this to us. Take care.

PRESTERO: Thanks for having me.

GRIFFIN: For more information, you can go on our blog at CNN.com/Ali and read all about it. And, hopefully, we have pictures up there, too. It would be very interesting to see. Yes, we do. I'm just told we do.

President Obama called it a "shellacking." (INAUDIBLE). But was that Republican win a mandate for the party? A new CNN poll says maybe not. Our political update is next.

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GRIFFIN: Let's go to Washington for a political update.

Deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is joining me from Washington.

A new poll out by us, Paul, is making some news.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You got it. I guess the big question here was this election a mandate for the Republicans?

Of course, Drew, as we know, the Republicans stormed back. They won at least, as of right now, 60 seats in the House. They reclaimed the chamber and they also made gains in the Senate as well, though the Democrats keep the majority.

Check this out -- this is what we asked right off the bat, CNN/Opinion Research Corporation: the Republican control of the U.S. House, will that be a good thing or bad thing for the country? And, Drew, look at those numbers right there, majority, 52 percent, is saying it will be a good thing for the country, 39 percent say not so good a thing.

Look at the next board, though. This asks specifically about the mandate. And 17 percent -- just 17 percent say that the -- this is a mandate. These election results are a mandate for Republican policy. Seven in 10 say it is not a mandate, it's a rejection of Democrat policy instead.

And, Drew, keep that up for a second.

GRIFFIN: OK.

STEINHAUSER: That's interesting. These are similar to what we saw in 2006 when the Democrats won back Congress and similar to 1994 when the Republicans won back Congress. Basically, I guess, this poll suggests it's a throw the bums out attitude. It's less that we like the Republicans and more that we don't like the Democrats.

One more number I want to show it to you as well with specifically with Congress. Will more or less get done in the new Congress? And only 32 percent say that, you know what, more will now get done. In fact, 26 percent say less will get done, and four in 10, Drew, say it doesn't matter.

And finally, last thing, I promise, the last numbers, Drew. What about the president himself -- how is he doing? Check out these numbers: 48 percent approval rating, 50 percent say they disapprove of how Barack Obama is handling his duties in the White House. That 48 percent by the way is up from 42 percent. That was an all-time low for the president. That was back in mid-September.

So, his numbers are coming up slightly, but they're still nothing really to brag about. Yet, they're below the 50 percent mark.

Drew, back to you.

GRIFFIN: Paul, real quickly -- anything new happening up in Alaska? We've still got a senator to decide up there.

STEINHAUSER: Yes, we still do. This is the last remaining Senate contest that hasn't been resolved. Well, as you know, they've been counting those write-in ballots, those absentee ballots. Lisa Murkowski, the incumbent senator up there, the Republican, has been doing very well in this count of the write-in ballots. Remember, she's running as a write-in.

There are about 10,000 ballots still to be counted, Drew. We may have some finality by maybe Wednesday or Thursday of this week. But remember, Joe Miller, who is Republican nominee up there, and you know this quite well, you've talked to him a lot, he may -- he may continue legal action if the results are very close. So, it may not be over this week, Drew.

GRIFFIN: All right, Paul, good poll. Thanks a lot. See you in a little while.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

GRIFFIN: Some aviation theme "Odds & Ends" arriving shortly. Find out how a tattoo and a tweet got two travelers in trouble.

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GRIFFIN: Time for some "Odds & Ends."

And one traveler's treatment certainly was odd. It happened over the weekend on a Delta flight out of Los Angeles. This guy, Adam Pearson, just found his seat when a flight attendant tapped him on his shoulder.

Well, you know his first thought was, hey, I'm getting upgraded, right? Instead he was asked to step off and was interrogated by the captain and a crew member. They said another passenger reported him for suspicious behavior, specifically the tattoo across eight of his fingers that spelled "Atom Bomb."

Well, Adam patiently explained it refers to a childhood nickname, not an obsession with explosives. Eventually, they did let him return to his seat.

A guy in England, well, he's getting much harsher treatment over a tweet. Paul Chambers is trying to catch a flight, but a huge snowstorm shut him and his airport down. So, he thought jokingly tweeting, "Robin Hood airport closed. You've got a week to get your bleep together, otherwise, I'm blowing the airport sky high." That was dumb.

An airport official happened to see it and sounded the alarm. Paul was arrested and convicted of causing a menace and just lost a big appeal. Well, folks on Twitter have since jumped to his defense, retweeting his original message or going one step further, sending out their own mock threats to blow stuff up.