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WikiLeaks Founder Goes to Court; Tax Agreement and Your Dollars; Fallout from Tax Deal; Elizabeth Edwards' Cancer Worsens; Cold Weather Causing Problems for Florida Citrus Growers; Principal Takes Unique Approach to Sagging Pants Problem; Remembering Don Meredith
Aired December 07, 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: Hi, guys. It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. Here's some of the stories that have us talking this morning.
Breaking news. Julian Assange, the controversial WikiLeaks founder, expected to head into a courtroom any minute now to face sex crime charges. He's locked up in London after surrendering to police just hours ago.
CNN is tapping into the global resources to bring you the latest.
President Obama strikes a deal with Republican leaders and those Bush era tax cuts, looks like they're staying in place for everyone no matter how much you earn. We're crunching the numbers.
Sad word this morning that Elizabeth Edwards has stopped cancer treatment at the advice of her doctors. She is resting at home with her family. We'll talk about what she is facing next.
All right. Let's begin with Julian Assange of WikiLeaks but what's happening in a British court right now has nothing to do with leaking classified information but rather rape. Assange faces charges in Sweden of unlawful coercion. Two counts of sexual molestation and one count of rape.
Assange denies all these charges. However, the two women do admit to having consensual sex with Assange.
Let's bring in Mark Ellis. He's the executive director of the International Bar Association.
So, Mark, what do we know about the two women who actually admitted to having sex with Assange but are now making rape allegations?
MARK ELLIS, EXEC. DIR., INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION: Well, this is a --this is a process that happens in most any criminal jurisdiction. If there are serious allegations of criminal acts, the authorities will look at that, they'll investigate that.
If they see or feel that there's prima fascia evidence to pursue an indictment or an arrest, then they will pursue an arrest. And that's exactly what has happened now. They feel that there's sufficient evidence to at least have an opportunity to talk to Mr. Assange and they want him to back in Sweden.
So they go forward with a European arrest warrant process which was given to the UK. The UK then has an obligation to arrest Mr. Assange. But he also has an opportunity to appear in court which he is about to do today.
PHILLIPS: So Mark --
ELLIS: Once he's in court, he'll be -- mm-hmm?
PHILLIPS: But here's my question. They admit to having consensual sex with him. So now why all of a sudden are they coming forward saying, he raped us?
ELLIS: Well, my understanding -- and again, we really don't know all of the allegations or the details of the allegations. That's what you're going to find out once this process starts in Sweden. Assuming that the UK authorities extradites him back to Sweden on their request because simply because there is consensual sex doesn't mean that at one time there was not forceable sex that could be -- could be viewed as rape.
That will depend on Swedish law. But there's no question that the Swedish authorities believe that there's a prima fascia evidence to pursue this further or they would not have been able to obtain this arrest warrant and that's where we are right now.
PHILLIPS: OK. Here's my next question then. You know Eric Holder came out last night saying that they are looking at charging Assange for leaking this information under the Espionage Act of 1917.
So, how does that play in here and do you think the U.S. may be working with Sweden because it got Assange to turn himself in? He's now facing these charges of alleged rape? So if he's found guilty, can the U.S. still extradite him and try and charge him under these espionage charges for WikiLeaks?
Or -- and if he's not found guilty, can they immediately extradite him? How does this play with what the U.S. wants to do now with regard to espionage charges?
ELLIS: Well, this is a much more complicated and challenging process. What you're witnessing now in the UK is a fairly straightforward process within European law on extradition. And my sense is he'll -- he will fight that extradition but in the end he'll probably be extradited.
Now the U.S. comes into play and says well, we want to extradite him for violating the Espionage Act. That then comes into play in a political element is automatically brought into play because the Swedish government will take an active role in deciding whether or not Mr. Assange is, in fact, permitted to be extradited to the United States but there are a lot of challenges here.
The extradition treaty between Sweden and the United States is complicated. There are another -- a number of factors that the U.S. would have to show before Sweden would, in fact, agree to extraditing him back to the United States. This will be a very long process and it won't be done overnight.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Mark Ellis, appreciate it.
Another story that we're talking about this morning, the president and the GOP striking a deal on your taxes. It's not final yet but after weeks of haggling on the Hill, the White House did lay out a blueprint for what's to come if congressional Democrats sign off on it.
And the price tag is pretty big. It will costs between $600 and $800 billion over the next two years, all of it deficit spending.
So here's the tradeoff. All of us will keep our tax breaks for the next two years. Even the richest among us. Unemployment benefits will be extended for 13 months and we'd see a one-year payroll tax holiday.
Social Security payroll tax could be knocked down two percentage points, meaning more money in your paychecks through the end of the 2011.
Well, a lot of Democrats are not happy about this compromise.
Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry standing by to talk about how the president is working to get his own party back on board, but let's get down to the question that all of us really want answered, Ed.
And what does this mean -- sorry. Let's go to Christine Romans and talk about, first, what this means for your bottom line, Christine?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what it means is that the tax rate, the taxes that you paid last year, it will stay the same for this year, you know, depending on what your income is and your life changes, but you're not going to see a tax increase for almost everyone here.
It's going to stay the same, but you are going to get a little bit of a bonus here. A holiday on your payroll tax. What does that mean? Well, as it stands right now, for every $106,000, 800 that you earn, you pay 6.2 percent in payroll tax. They're going to change that to 4.2 percent.
That means a worker making $40,000 would pocket $800 next year in that payroll tax holiday. A working making, say, $70,000 would pocket $1,400. So for one year this is seen as a stimulative boost to the economy and so not only are your taxes going to stay the same but you're going to get this benefit here, too -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So this is going to cost the federal government a lot of money. I mean we're talking about $800 billion.
ROMANS: Yes. This is -- doesn't come for free. We have to pay for this eventually and no indication how we're going to pay for it. As you pointed out, quite rightly, it's deficit spending and the size of it is pretty big. $600 billion to $800 billion is what this will cost overall.
Think of that, Kyra. That $862 billion stimulus that was so reviled and all of that spending that helped push the Republicans to take over the House, on the campaign trail, so many people did not like the stimulus, this is the same size as that. This is spending that hasn't been paid for yet, emergency spending.
And there's also an extension of jobless benefits. That would allow people to continue -- in some states to continue to get jobless benefits for up to 99 weeks. Again, all of this still has to be paid for -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Christine Romans, appreciate it.
Vice President Biden has some selling to do so he's planned a bit of a power lunch with Senate Democrats, shall we say? It's going to be tough to defend that tax deal. Many Dems are still stuck on the promises of then candidate Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. And it means letting the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire. And rolling back the Bush tax cuts to the top 1 percent. We have to roll back. I want to roll back.
We're going to roll back -- I'm going to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthiest Americans. For the wealthiest Americans. For the wealthiest Americans. For the wealthiest Americans.
It is true that I want to roll back the Bush tax cuts on the very wealthiest Americans and go back to the rate that they paid under Bill Clinton.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. The key words there, wealthiest Americans. A lot of Democrats don't like extending the tax breaks to the richest people among us, and plenty of Americans agree with them. Almost half say tax cuts should only continue for families making under $250,000 a year.
All right. Now let's bring in senior White House correspondent Ed Henry.
So, Ed, what's the political cost of this tax deal?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it could be huge, Kyra. Because you're right. Democrats are -- some of them anyway -- furious about this. It's exactly as you laid it out. I talked to a senior Democrat last night who said there was a pretty tense meeting here last night at the White House when the president met with Democratic congressional leaders, in part because this was a bedrock principle the president had going back to the campaign. Not allowing the Bush tax cuts for the rich to continue. Use that for health care and other priorities, use that money. Reuse it if you will. Number one. Number two, they don't understand -- some of these Democrats on the Hill -- why this president with such rhetorical gifts has not been able to engage the public and convince them.
As you noted, there are polls backing this up that the rich should pay more and you have people like Warren Buffett, a billionaire, coming forward saying they believe it's patriotic to pay more. Why hasn't this president been able to convince the public to let the tax cuts for the rich expire and only extend the middle class tax cuts?
The president's response last night was basically look, I tried. I don't have the votes in the Senate and this is the best deal I could get. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I have no doubt that everyone will find something in this compromise that they don't like. In fact, there are things in here that I don't like. Namely, the extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and the wealthiest estates, but these tax cuts will expire in two years.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: But some Democrats are frustrated because when they expire at the end of the 2012 that means it's going to be a big issue once again -- just as it was in the midterms -- in the presidential and congressional elections of 2012. And that's why when Vice President Biden goes up there for lunch with Democrats, one senior Democrats told me it's going to be a very lively caucus -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Isn't it always a lively caucus, Ed, when it comes down to --
HENRY: Yes, maybe a little more. Maybe a little more heartburn.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Well, yes, there you go. Bring the Tums. All right, thanks a lot, Ed.
Well, doctors can't do any more for Elizabeth Edwards. We've actually learned that she's stopped getting -- or stopped getting her cancer treatments. And that she might only have weeks to live now.
She is home in North Carolina with her family and at her side is John Edwards. He's included, as well.
She was first diagnosed with breast cancer, as you know, about six years ago. The cancer returned in 2007. And she's thanking people on her Facebook page now for all the prayers.
Here's what Elizabeth writes. "The days of our lives for all of us are numbered. We know that. And yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human. But I have found that in the simple act of living in hope and in the daily effort to have a positive impact in this world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful and precious. And for that, I'm grateful."
Let's bring in our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta to talk more about this.
I tell you, she -- when this news broke last night, not only did it get people talking about the cancer, but just how strong of a woman that she's been, or that she has been, not only through this but her personal life, as well.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: She opened up about this. She talked about it very forthrightly. And we've been -- you know, talking about this for seven years now. Hard for people to believe but it was 2004 when she was first diagnosed and she really went on a mission to some extend as well to educate people about what was happening to her and use that as an example for other women.
In 2007, as you know, you know, it had spread to her bone and now to her liver and that's what's really prompted this most recent discussion about what to do at this point.
PHILLIPS: Is it all about making her comfortable right now?
GUPTA: I think that's a fair way to put it. I mean, you know, they -- doctors and health care professionals are saying, look, we're not stopping treatment but we're no longer treating for a cancer. We're treating Elizabeth Edwards in terms of her symptoms, her pain control. Trying to prevent nausea and vomiting.
Fluid that might build up in the lungs or the abdomen. Those are things that are unfortunately all associated sometimes with the disease at this point. But she's in her home and there's been a lot of studies showing people in their home during this stage, lower anxiety for them, for their families. The quality of life can be better.
So, you know, these are the tough decisions I'm sure they've been thinking about that.
PHILLIPS: You know, and you and I have talked about this in the past. And I'm getting sidetracked, I will -- I promise to get to the follow- up question, but it's really important for the family as the family sits around her to say, it's OK.
GUPTA: Yes.
PHILLIPS: It's OK to go. Because a lot of us, you know, want to hang on no matter how much pain we're in for family members because we know how much it's hurting them. So that's an important aspect, too, right? As that family gathers around to say, mom, sweetheart, whatever it is, you know, it's OK. We're going to be all right.
GUPTA: Those conversations, the nurturing and fostering of those conversations probably couldn't happen at any other time or any other place. And she has young children. I mean this is a very difficult time. It's the holiday season. It's a very difficult time, I think, no question.
But I think that, you know, from a -- from a medical standpoint, this is something that's been researched. You know this idea of people being able to be with their family being in their own home really seems to make a difference, a positive one at that.
PHILLIPS: There's a lot to be learned from Elizabeth Edwards, isn't there?
GUPTA: You know I -- you were just reading that quote. And I mean I think anybody can relate to that quote, this idea of, I'm just human. I've done things that -- you know, that any human being would do. She also again being so forthright.
I mean, Kyra, you know this is something probably every woman thinks about in terms of their own risk of breast cancer. She didn't have much of a family history. She admitted that for some time after the birth of one of her children she skipped the mammograms for a period of time.
She wishes she hadn't done that. Would it have made a difference? Who knows? But I think for a lot of women out there who've done this, and this is to indict or malign anybody, but I think Elizabeth Edwards always said, it's a good reminder to go get that mammogram. It's not a perfect screening test but it's something that can certainly help.
PHILLIPS: When you're talking about that one line saying this is -- you know, we would try to get as much patience and strength as we like. It's called being human.
GUPTA: Yes.
PHILLIPS: That's -- that's some real mental and physical strength right there.
GUPTA: No question. And that's another lesson.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
GUPTA: I think for all of us.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, cover your pets, your pipes, your plants. It's pretty cold outside. From the Midwest to Virginia and deep into Florida, details from the severe weather center coming your way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
PHILLIPS: We're two weeks out from winter, but Mother Nature appears to be ignoring the calendar. Just check out Cleveland, Akron, and that area there in Ohio. A lake-effect snow warning out there for parts of Ohio. High temps running as much as 20 degrees below average in the mid-Atlantic states.
Now, father east, Bangor, Maine, where the kids are having a blast in all that snow, record lows are reported from Virginia to Florida. Now, while kids in Maine are enjoying the snow, the cold weather has plant nursery owners and citrus and vegetable growers Florida pretty worried. Workers have been draping cloths on plants and watering strawberry fields to try and protect them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB ROTH, CITRUS GROWER: If it drops down to freezing, to 27 degrees, four to five hours with no cloud cover, then we're in big trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you sleep on nights like this?
PHILLIP ANDESCAVAGE, FLORIDA NURSERY MART: Not very well. No. In fact, we're up watching the temperature drop, also.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right, let's get more details on those chilling temperatures from Rob Marciano. He's watching it all for us.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We started --
PHILLIPS: Singing the same tune.
MARCIANO: Yes, we sang this tune last year, as well. You got off to a really good quick start as far as winter goes, and we're doing it again this time of year, aren't we?
All right, let's talk about first off, the snowfall totals. This is just 24 hours' worth. So this doesn't include what happened over the weekend, but Randolph, New York, yesterday saw about 24 inches in 24 hours. That's a pretty good rate of snow coming down. Syracuse, a record for the day, 12 inches. In Fulton, New York, seeing 10 inches. Binghamton, seeing 9 inches.
So, decent amount of snow there, and we're still seeing this snow, this cold air coming over these warm Great Lakes, over the water, this is the time of year where you get that added boost as far as instability and evaporation goes, and that's where you get the lake- effect snow.
So, we're going to see this again today. In a lot of spots, we'll see another one to potentially two feet of snow on top of what they've already seen. Upstate New York, parts of western Pennsylvania, northeastern Ohio, and parts of western Michigan under the gun for seeing this sort of snow pile up today. And then, we'll see this same pattern reset itself as we get towards next week.
And then the cold temperatures, freeze warnings out for not only today, but for tonight again. So, there were a couple of spots in Orlando that got below freezing. Citrus growers down across parts of southwest Florida are nervous, of course. And they got to about freezing. I'm not sure, maybe in pockets they got into the 20s for several hours, but they're going to have to sweat it out again tomorrow, so they'll be busy tonight again.
PHILLIPS: That's not good. We don't need our farmers suffering anymore right now.
MARCIANO: No. And we like our orange juice, so --.
PHILLIPS: Yes, we do.
MARCIANO: Protect our crops.
PHILLIPS: We like to keep our prices of our oranges down. I see you've got your pants pulled up?
MARCIANO: Yes. For now.
PHILLIPS: You don't ever have them baggy, right? You don't ever have them hanging down below your -- ?
MARCIANO: I like to have them -- no. They wrote a song about that in "American Idol," so ever since then --
PHILLIPS: Oh, there is. Oh, that's right.
MARCIANO: The "Pants on the Ground" song.
PHILLIPS: Oh, that's right, we talked about that, yes.
MARCIANO: I think you are going in another direction with this.
PHILLIPS: No, actually. It kind of all pulls together. To be quite honest with you, it drives me nuts when I see these kids with their pants bagging down to their ankles. It's a bit of an epidemic in many schools, but --
MARCIANO: You weren't kidding.
PHILLIPS: Check this out. You're going to like what this school principal is doing. If your pants are dragging, guess what? You're going to get "Urkel'd" in front of everyone. We'll explain in today's Talker.
And a hawk finds itself way to a Boston subway station, but has a pretty tough time getting out. That story just ahead as we go Cross Country.
(MUSIC - "Free Bird")
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Time now to go Cross Country. We begin in Boston, where a red-tailed hawk that recently took up roost in the South Boston subway station flew into a couple of windows. The bird was a bit stunned, but subway workers got him to the veterinarian. We'll keep you posted on its recovery.
And we've got a crazy story out of CNN affiliate KCTV. Police traffic stop there Friday yielded an unexpected passenger. Oh, yes. Live alligator. Apparently the driver says he bought it off Craigslist six months ago, not knowing it's illegal to possess gators in Missouri. Well, police didn't arrest the owner, but they did take his little green buddy in. Now, the fight over the gator's future custody is about to begin.
We've been telling you about the generosity of anonymous benefactors dropping a little something-something extra into those Salvation Army red kettles. Well, here's another one from eastern Pennsylvania. This time, where someone actually dropped a diamond engagement ring. Wonder what the story is behind that. It was wrapped in a dollar bill, and no word, though, on the value. Sure looks pretty shiny, though.
All right. Today's Talker is about getting young people to pull up their dang pants. One school principal wants students to be a little bit more like Urkel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Family Matters")
STEVE URKEL: Hike up the music! It's time to do the Urkel.
(rapping): You're gonna see Urkel dance, all you have to do is hitch up your pants. Bend your knees and stick out your pelvis, I'm telling you, baby, it's better than Elvis.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, here's the motto. No baggy, no saggy, no underwear showing. Urkel from the old TV show "Family Matters" was all about pulling up the pants, and a principal in Memphis is holding up Urkel as an example. In fact, he's turned "Urkel" into a verb, as in, if your pants are sagging, you're getting Urkel'd. I love this story. You take a look. Here's the low down from Kontji Anthony of WMC-TV.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOBBY WHITE, SCHOOL PRINCIPAL: Some twisty ties in his hand right now.
KONTJI ANTHONY, WMC-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Westside Middle School principal Bobby White had a problem to solve.
WHITE: How do we stop the sagging of the pants?
ANTHONY (voice-over): So he put a twist on his No Saggy Pants policy.
WHITE: Everyone who possibly needed to be Urkel'd, well, they were Urkel'd.
ANTHONY (voice-over): A staff member suggested fighting pop culture with pop culture.
JADARIUS WALTON, 7TH GRADE STUDENT: I thought it was a joke but -- until I got Urkel'd.
ANTHONY (voice-over): Students wore saggy pants like they see in rap videos, so the school staff turned to "Family Matters" TV character Steve Urkel.
URKEL: Very inspiring.
ANTHONY (voice-over): His style of dress is now a verb at Westside Middle.
ANTHONY (on camera): What is it like to get Urkel'd?
KELDRION VANN, STUDENT: It's pretty embarrassing.
ANTHONY (voice-over): Staff members walk the halls with zip ties, and if they see saggy pants, students get Urkel'd.
SHAKA GREENE, COMPUTER LAB TEACHER: Slide it over. Take out the remaining slack, and it's almost impossible to get it off.
VANN: They can put your pants as high as your chest, and they can put as many as three or four on you.
WHITE: Mr. Greene.
ANTHONY (voice-over): They have an Urkel photo board for all to see.
WALTON: All the girls will laugh, and they'll tell you how ridiculous you look.
GREENE: Everyone likes a competition, so --
ANTHONY (voice-over): Teacher Shaka Greene is the reigning Urkel Award champ. He started Urkeling up to 80 students a week. In five weeks, it dropped to 18.
GREENE: You're talking about an 80 -- over an 80 percent drop in the number of students that we actually have to put a zip tie on.
WHITE: There's something about looking right, acting right, beginning to think right.
WALTON: If you keep your pants up, it'll have you looking like a proper young man.
VANN: The students know to strap up or get strapped up around here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, today is "tie day" at Westside Middle School. Every Tuesday, kids have to wear one. We'll let you know how that's going, as well. You think the principal's doing a good thing? Tell me on my Twitter page, twitter.com/kyraCNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Actor Al Pacino has brought a multitude of memorable characters to life, but in a rare one-on-one interview with our own Larry King, Pacino details his affections for ruthless mafia boss and eventual godfather, Don Michael Corleone, considered by many people as Pacino's breakthrough performance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": "Godfather" 1 and 2 may be the best movies ever made. Many consider that now, rank with "Citizen Kane."
AL PACINO, ACTOR. Wow. I know. I know. I know.
KING: Did you like Michael Corleone?
PACINO: I loved him.
KING: He killed people.
PACINO: I love the people I play. I love what -- you know, that's like saying to a painter when he paints a painting, that -- how could you -- how could you paint this painting of whoever? Do you -- you don't feel as though -- you don't do that. You see always are looking at the metaphor. You're always looking at what the character is, what is the deeper -- what is being said about our life and our world through this character. You know?
And one can make the argument that Michael Corleone, why did the audience like him? Because it was couched in a drama, so it had a different -- it comes at you differently. It comes out of the drama.
KING: Do you agree "Godfather" is about a family, basically, it's a family?
PACINO: Well, that's what I mean about this. It's -- that was the thing that turned people on so much in the first one I remember I was there and, you know, the reaction was so universal across the board. Had a lot to do with family, the family structure and people related to it. You didn't have to be an Italian-American or -- you just related to the whole family dynamic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Wesley Snipes joins Larry for his only interview just days before he reports to prison. Plus, singing sensation Susan Boyle performs, as well. Watch "LARRY KING LIVE," CNN tonight 9:00 Eastern.
President Obama announced last night that he struck a deal with the GOP on tax cuts an it's not final yet, but Wall Street is already reacting as though it is a done deal.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT) PHILLIPS: A former D.C. schools chief made a name for herself by rewriting the rule book. Now, Michelle Rhee is charging into the national spotlight. Hear what she wants to -- or how she wants to revolutionize our public schools and how she's answering to her critics.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: 9:30 on the East Coast; 6:30 out west. And this just in, new video from outside a London courthouse where the founder of the WikiLeaks web site Julian Assange is in court. He was arrested five hours ago on a Swedish warrant alleged sex crimes but has not been charged. His attorney say he will fight extradition to Sweden.
Elizabeth Edwards' health takes a turn for the worse. The wife of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has stopped treatment for cancer and may have only weeks to live.
The sun is shining across Florida, but the temperature is reading 15 degrees below normal for this time of year. Florida's dealing with some of the coldest temps in 10 years. Citrus and vegetable growers are trying to protect the crop by covering them or spraying water on them to freeze. Temperatures across the mid-Atlantic and southeast states are running 15 to 20 degrees below normal.
Well, Michelle Rhee; she's one of the most controversial figures in public education today. She made a name for herself as a revolutionary overhauling the Washington, D.C. school system. She closed schools, fired teachers, cleaned house. Then she resigned. Love her or hate her, Rhee attracts education. Oprah even dedicated an entire hour to her.
She graces the covers of magazines like "Newsweek" and "Time" and now she's catapulted herself into the center of the national education debate launching an education advocacy group called Students First. She talked about her goals this morning to our John Roberts.
That brings us to our AM Extra.
So, John, this woman is a lightning rod and she's been labeled a revolutionary. But how is she actually changing the game?
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": Well, yes. She is a lightning rod and some people have called her, as you pointed out, a revolutionary. But sometimes it takes a revolution to get something done. With this new Students First, she's got a goal on her first year of attracting a million members and a billion dollars of funding for three major reforms.
First is, to put a quality teacher in every classroom. And Kyra, you're your parents are teachers, university professors, you know how important a quality teacher is. The second thing is to spend money where it counts, trim down the bureaucracy and put the dollars on the road where they can actually do something. And then the third goal is to invest parents in their children's education because so many parents kind of send their kids off to school and when they get back in the afternoon don't even ask them how their day was.
She believes, like the Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, that education reform is the civil rights issue of our generation. And like the civil rights issue, which didn't negotiate everything, she believes that there is room for confrontation here in education reform and some of that confrontation, as she told me this morning, will be aimed at the teacher's unions.
Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE RHEE, FOUNDER & CEO, STUDENTS FIRST: I'm prepared to take on a high level of confrontation and conflict in favor of our kids. Because, look, I'm sure the teachers' union doesn't want a lot of confrontation because they don't want to be confronted with the facts, which are that often times the policies that they are pushing, while they are fine for the adults, are actually not good for kids.
ROBERTS: So it raises the question, are you preparing to go to war with the teachers' union?
RHEE: You know what? This is not about a war against the teachers' union. For me, it's about fighting for kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And Josh, you also talked about how our universities rank among the rest of the world and we've got big problems in our public school system among developed countries. I mean, we rank mid-20s when it comes to science, math, literature.
How'd she answer to that?
ROBERTS: Yes, it's such a dichotomy. You know, the best universities in the world and the public school system in many areas not so good.
She said that we're really headed for a fall if we don't do something and do it quickly. And one of the things she points to and many other education experts do, that in the next there will be 123 million skilled jobs available in this country and only 50 million people who come out of our education system who are qualified to fill them. So that means we'll going to need to bring in people either from the outside or those jobs are going to go wanting, which would not be good for the future of America.
PHILLIPS: Well, something's got to happen.
John, thanks.
A man who could run for the White House in 2012 is talking about smoking pot. Ex-New Mexico governor Gary Johnson explains.
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PHILLIPS: Well, a key player in George H.W. Bush's administration makes an announcement today. Senior political editor Mark Preston joining us with a CNNPolitics.com desk with that story.
Hey, mark.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Kyra. Look, first of all, I have to start off by saying it's unfair to follow Jon Stewart.
PHILLIPS: OK, no that's what Paul Steinhauser says every day. Don't steal his line.
PRESTON: Does he?
PHILLIPS: Yes.
PRESTON: Oh, my God.
PHILLIPS: What is it with you guys? You both have good senses of humor.
PRESTON: Totally unfair. Just as long as it isn't Colbert. How's that?
PHILLIPS: There you go.
PRESTON: As you said, a big announcement up in New Hampshire. A big loss for House Republicans. John Sununu, who is the chairman of the Republican Party of New Hampshire is stepping down after two years. This is a huge loss for the party because John Sununu was a former governor, the former chief of staff in 41's administration, has decided that he needs to step down. However, he was such a driving force for Republicans up there. He helped them hold on to a senate seat, to win back two Congressional seats and to establish huge majorities both in the State House and in the State Senate.
So House Republicans will be looking for a new chairman. That election will occur on January 22nd but the loss of John Sununu, Kyra for -- for the party of New Hampshire could potentially be a pickup for a presidential candidate. He will now be on the market and I'm sure he's already getting phone calls from potential contenders.
I want to update you on -- on a story we talked about a little bit yesterday and of course Michael Steele, I think every day we'll talk about the fate of Michele Steele who is the Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Well, Reince Priebus who is the Chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party was once a very close ally of Michael Steele is indeed, now, going to run for the chairman. Priebus is going to be considered a front-runner, Kyra, to take this job. There are several other people who are interested but Priebus said that right now it's very important right now to need -- the GOP right now to unify the party.
So Reince Priebus is in the RNC race -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, this former governor and potential presidential candidate is talking about smoking weed? What's up with that? PRESTON: Smoking pot. You know, look. Medical marijuana is -- is legalized out in California but if you want to run for the Republican nomination, I'm not so sure that acknowledging that you smoked pot as late as 2008 is the way to get it.
But Gary Johnson, who is the former governor of New Mexico, in fact, acknowledged that in an interview with "The Weekly Standard". He said that he had some serious back pain and instead of taking painkillers, he decided to smoke pot. So you can read more about that on CNNPolitics.com. And get the link to the original story.
But Gary Johnson already heading to some of the really important states including New Hampshire as he tries to, you know, get some support for a presidential bid -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So did he inhale? Did he admit to that?
PRESTON: Oh, I think he inhaled, absolutely.
PHILLIPS: Ok. Thanks, Mark.
Well, we're going to get the next political update in an hour. And a reminder: for all the latest political news, just go to our Web site CNNPolitics.com.
Well, many Congressional Democrats are unhappy with how the tax cut negotiations have gone down. They think that the President has caved in to Republicans rather than putting up a fight to reach a better compromise. Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner made his argument on CNN's "PARKER/SPITZER" last night.
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REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: Look at the lessons. They did it in the stimulus bill. They -- they shaved it down to smaller because they thought that the Republican votes, got none. We accepted 40 Republican amendments on the health care bill. We wound up getting zero votes back in -- in favor of it. Just about every single one of them complains about the auto bailout and now they're all going in --
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ELIOT SPRITZER, CNN CO-HOST, "PARKER/SPITZER": Yes.
WEINER: -- bragging about how it worked.
The fact is, I don't think thy quite -- the White House quite understands that it's not good intentions. You need to show them that you're willing to give and take a punch in order to be able to make the next fight and the next fight.
KATHLEEN PARKER, CNN CO-HOST, "PARKER/SPITZER": Are you the guy who elbowed him, the President?
WEINER: No, no, no. I --
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PHILLIPS: You can always catch "PARKER/SPITZER" every night 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time right here on CNN.
All right, today's "Flashback", a date that lives in infamy. Sixty- nine years after the fact, December 7th, 1941, Japanese fighters bombed Hawaii's Pearl Harbor killing 2,300 people and effectively drawing the United States into World War II.
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PHILLIPS: Let's take you now to Medellin, Colombia where rescue crews are trying to pull more than 100 people who are buried alive in a massive mudslide just north of the area. Twenty-three confirmed deaths so far. Rescuers say as time passes, survival is less likely for those who are trapped. That slide was spawned by days of intense rain.
Rain would be so welcome in much of Europe now compared to what they're getting right now. Unseasonably frigid temps leading to a collective deep freeze, hundreds of schools are now closed. Airports and transportation hubs are warning travellers to expect weather- related delays and possible stoppages as well.
On to Sydney, Australia where Americas talk show maven Oprah Winfrey and 300 of her closest friends have touched down in Australia. The group is considered to be Oprah's most loyal viewers, and she's treating them to an eight-day vacation.
Australia is helping to bank roll the trip too believing that Winfrey star power will translate to more potential tourists.
Well, we're following a lot of developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's start with Brianna Keilar -- Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, Democrats here on the Hill are very unhappy with that deal President Obama struck with Republicans to make sure that no one's income taxes increase in the New Year. We're going to talk about the chances of this deal actually clearing Congress. Coming up.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano on the CNN Severe Weather Center. The cold all the way down to Florida, the snow continues to pile up in the Great Lakes and the pattern just doesn't want to change. We'll talk about the forecast in the next hour.
CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Carter Evans at the New York Stock Exchange. Two years ago, many of you were furious about Citigroup's $45 billion bailout. Well, I've got good news. The investment is paying off, and we're turning a nice profit. We'll talk about how much and why next hour -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, guys.
We're also going to push forward with that story on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, in court right now facing rape charges. We want to know if and how that case will impact the other matter at hand, of putting thousands of government documents on the Internet.
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PHILLIPS: Jamal's picking his own music.
JAMAL ANDERSON, CNN SPORTSCASTER: Not necessarily, Kyra, but --
PHILLIPS: You didn't like our music yesterday?
ANDERSON: Hello, good morning.
PHILLIPS: This gets you all in the mood now.
ANDERSON: I thought it was good. I brought you something today.
PHILLIPS: Oh, boy. I gave him a hard time about the ring. We were talking about Don Corleone. Do I have to kiss the ring?
ANDERSON: No, no, no. Listen, if it brings another championship to the Falcons, I don't play for them -- well, I work for them. It wouldn't be a bad thing since I live in the city you know.
PHILLIPS: That's a lot of bling. A lot of diamonds there.
ANDERSON: It's the losers ring, but we are very proud that we got to the Super Bowl Champion.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk Monday night showdown, shall we?
ANDERSON: I'll tell you what that game was.
PHILLIPS: Oh, my goodness. Tom Brady.
ANDERSON: You know -- Tom Brady, the New York Jets, probably the most anticipated game on Monday night football. Falcons and Saints are playing pretty soon.
Huge game last night in Fox, the New England Patriots winners of 25 of the last 30 regular season home games and look how this thing starts. Tom Brady is on fire from the beginning. Mark Sanchez and the Jets having a difficulty earlier on in the game, then they had turnovers. The Jets consistently failed to make plays when they needed to and this thing just got away from them. It really did.
PHILLIPS: So, who is the better quarterback, Tom Brady or Mark Sanchez?
ANDERSON: My goodness. Listen, I said this last night on Kyra, you know, it doesn't matter. You could change some of the cast members, you can change some of the other people and part of the play, but as long as you have Bill Belichick and as long as you have Tom Brady on the team, you have a fantastic chance of success.
Tom Brady last night, 21-29, four TDS to four different wide receivers and by the way, his second straight four-touchdown game. He is on fire right now, and the New England patriots came out and absolutely dominated.
PHILLIPS: They tied your Falcons for best record, right?
ANDERSON: Yes. Yes, different conference.
You never know. I like 10-2. 10-2 versus 10-2. You never know where things are going to go.
PHILLIPS: Let's talk NBA.
ANDERSON: Yes.
PHILLIPS: It's always about the Miami Heat nowadays.
ANDERSON: Well, the much maligned Miami Heat. Everybody was you know -- obviously LeBron James, D. Wade, Chris Bosh get together, everybody thinks right away that they're going to be a fantastic basketball team. Having some difficulty.
Started the season off 9-8, but since going 9-8 the Heat have won five straight games. Defense is leading it. I mean LeBron had 17 last night. Bosh, with double/double, 16 points, 12 rebounds. D. Wade, a career-high 14 rebounds for Dwyayne Wade also through in another 20- plus points.
But the big thing about the Heat right now, playing defense -- playing defense very well, holding opponents to under 81 points. Big thing for them.
Again, the next 14 of 20 games for the Miami Heat are on the road. But they had a huge meeting, private team-only meeting, and it seems like since that game, and in fact, when the Miami Heat went down to play Cleveland, this has been a different basketball team.
PHILLIPS: Yes. There were no boos at this team.
ANDERSON: Well, you know -- Milwaukee doesn't have the best record but they had not lost to an opponent from the conference. So last night, the Heat came in to do what they were supposed to do. And things -- you know, it's early in the season. This is what I was telling people the whole time.
With the Miami Heat, it's early. Give them time to gel. These are three of the best players in basketball. Eventually you hope they're going to get together and it seems like they are.
PHILLIPS: All right.
Don Meredith, this was a guy that I grew up with, and of course Howard Cosell and Frank Gifford. These were the boys that made Monday Night Football. Are you going to sing the song?
ANDERSON: Turn out the lights, the party's over
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PHILLIPS: Wow, Jamal.
ANDERSON: Here's my thing with dandy Don Meredith. Ok, he was a fantastic football player, the first cowboy, led the cowboys to their first winning season, two championship games which they lost. Most famous again, like you said for Monday night football, joining Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell.
And I like to think, you know, with Gifford, Don Meredith, these are the guys led the way for guys like me to be on TV and do what we do. To be respected not only as athletes that we can go on TV and have a personality to deliver the news or whatever the case.
These are pioneers, and Monday night football because of this three- man booth became a phenomenon and it really took the NFL to greater heights and national press in America. So it's a tragedy to lose him and you watch Frank Gifford last night. That was such a touching moment when he was talking about Don Meredith and he broke down on camera.
PHILLIPS: It was pretty emotional.
ANDERSON: It was. It was.
PHILLIPS: They had a lot of fun, and we all remember it. We enjoyed game because they were so entertaining.
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ANDERSON: Yes, yes, absolutely.
Yes, they were very, very entertained.
PHILLIPS: Jamal, great to see you.
ANDERSON: And you know, great to see you and that's why we come out dancing and singing. We're ready for you.
PHILLIPS: You are ready for us.
ANDERSON: We're ready. We're ready.
