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Finding Single Cancer Cell Among Billions; GOP Pushes Health Reform Repeal; Pelosi's Last Day as Speaker; Update on Flooding in Australia; New Developments in Michael Jackson Case; Mystery Bird Kills

Aired January 04, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Kyra.

Live from Studio 7, I'm Joe Johns.

The big stories for Tuesday, January 4th.

Nancy Pelosi is giving a farewell news conference this hour. This is the last day on the job for the first women to serve as Speaker of the House. When Republicans take over tomorrow, Pelosi will be Democratic minority leader.

Delaware police are trying to pinpoint the primary crime scene where former Pentagon official John Wheeler was killed. His body was found dumped at a landfill New Year's Eve. Wheeler was a key fund- raiser for the Vietnam War Memorial.

A senior defense official tells CNN the Navy has relieved the commander of the USS Enterprise of his duties. Captain Owen Honors appears with other sailors in homemade videos described as lewd and raunchy. The clip contained gay slurs and simulated sex acts.

Lottery tickets are selling at a dizzying clip today. Tonight's Mega Millions jackpot is worth $330 million. If there is no winner tonight, the jackpot could top $400 million for Friday. That would be a record.

Cancer researchers may have hit the jackpot. A new blood test is being developed that is so precise, it can find a single cancer cell among billions of healthy ones.

Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to explain what this means for you.

Just how does this thing work, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's so different from the way that we detect cancer right now. Let's take breast cancer as an example. So, a woman has a mammogram. That tumor has to be pretty sizeable for the radiologist to see it. It has to be visible to the human eye.

So, what this does, instead, is it looks in your blood for microscopic -- for, like, one cell of cancer. So that's a completely different way of doing things.

JOHNS: So when would I get this test?

COHEN: Oh, you're not going to get it for five to 10 years, if ever. And I feel like I don't want to be an Eeyore here, but I feel like I should add, there is a chance that this test is just never going to materialize. I mean, that could happen.

JOHNS: All right. We've been getting questions from viewers about this on the Web site. Let me ask you -- this one is from Merv321. I guess that's a guy, who asked, "Even if the cancer was real in the bloodstream, are they going to give additional chemo for one cancer cell?"

COHEN: Right. It's a great question, because let's say you show up for your annual physical and you get this cancer screening test and they say, hey, I'm sorry, we found a cancer cell. Are they going to start giving you chemo? That seems kind of extreme, and the answer is probably not.

What they're going to do is they're going to give you more tests, because this cancer cell doesn't tell you what kind of cancer it is, where it is in your body, how bad it is, and all of that. So, no, you're not going to go right from the test to chemo. There will be intermediate steps probably.

JOHNS: But what it tells you is if, say, you already had cancer, that there is a possibility that it's back, for example?

COHEN: Well, actually, that's a great question, because, one, it could tell you there is a possibility that it's back. And two, it can tell you whether or not the treatment you are getting is working.

Let's say you have cancer, they give you chemo. They don't know if they have given you the right chemo. They hope they have. Then they could give you this test. And if you still have got cancer running around in your bloodstream, that kind of tells you that chemo is not working and they need to choose something else.

JOHNS: Well, this is just an amazing idea, but we have to warn people, it's still a few years off.

COHEN: It's still a few years off. And I will say again, there's a possibility it might not work out at all. If it does, it's revolutionary.

JOHNS: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much for that.

COHEN: Thanks.

JOHNS: Republican leaders aren't wasting any time trying to repeal the health care reform bill passed last year. We're monitoring the developments on Capitol Hill.

We know you're online, and so are we. One of the topics trending right now, the Mega Millions lottery drawing tonight. The winning ticket, $330 million. But what's the biggest lottery prize ever won in the U.S.? The answer, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Trending on the Web this morning, the $330 million Mega Millions lottery drawing tonight. A lot of money, but not the most ever. We asked you what the largest lottery prize ever was in the U.S. The answer, $390 million on March 6, 2007. One winning ticket sold in New Jersey, the other in Georgia.

We now have some pictures of the president coming in on Air Force One right now, returning from that vacation in Hawaii.

A lot on his plate. The new Congress being sworn in tomorrow, and a new reality, quite frankly, for this president, change symbolized by a vote that's going to come up we think real soon in the House of Representatives to repeal the president's signature piece of legislation that he signed into law, the health care reform bill. Pretty clear there would be just significant resistance to that in the United States Senate.

That is the president arriving back at Andrew Air Force Base on Air Force One.

House Republicans are wasting no time in their push to repeal health care reform, even though their measure stands little chance of passage in the Senate, as I just said.

Congressional Correspondent Brianna Keilar is following developments on Capitol Hill.

Brianna, give us an idea. Do we know how soon it will be that the House of Representatives will actually take a vote on repealing the president's health care legislation?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We do. We're looking Friday at a procedural vote that lays the groundwork for a vote next week, Wednesday, which would be the vote on the actual repeal.

And as you said, Joe, Republicans have the votes now in the House of Representatives, but Democrats still hold the majority in the Senate. President Obama, of course, a Democrat, is still in the White House. And so you have House Republicans having --

JOHNS: Brianna --

KEILAR: Yes?

JOHNS: Let me jump in right now real fast. Apparently, Speaker Pelosi is now coming out for her last press conference as Speaker.

Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS) REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: -- as to whether it creates jobs, whether it strengthens the middle class, and whether it reduces the deficit, instead of heaping mountains of debt on to our children and our grandchildren. We pledged to work together with our Republican colleagues to address the challenges facing America's working families. We must solve their problems. And when the suggestions put forth are problem solvers to the American people, the Republicans will find in the Democrats willing partners.

Some focus has been made, as we know -- as we keep job creation front and center, House Democrats will continue to protect the gains we had made on behalf of health and economic security for the American people both in terms of the health care reform bill and the Wall Street reform bill, both of which give leverage to America's working families. Our health reform law created for the first time a Patients' Bill of Rights, placing health care decisions in the hands of patients and their doctors, not insurance companies.

We will work to ensure that children with pre-existing conditions can continue to get coverage, young people can stay on their parent's plan until age 26, and pregnant women and breast and prostate cancer patients can no longer be thrown off the insurance roles as some examples of what can happen. In order to have a Patients' Bill of Rights, though, it's important to have comprehensive health care reform.

Leading our efforts within our caucus, I am very pleased today to be here with our majority Democratic Leader of the House, Steny Hoyer, with -- some of the members who are here, members of the leadership, Chris Van Hollen, the ranking member now on the Budget Committee; chair of the Steering Committee, Rosa DeLauro; who works with Congressman George Miller as co-chair of that committee; Rob Andrews, who has been the -- given us the master class on many issues facing the Congress, including health care; and I'm pleased to be announcing today expanded roles for two our members.

As you may recall, before we left for the break, I announced that Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Congressman Henry Cuellar would be vice chairs of the Steering and Policy Committee. They are -- Debbie Wasserman Schultz, as you know, has been a leader in the Congress in many fronts, a cardinal from day one, when she went on to the Appropriations Committee. For those -- many of you know that means a leader on the committee, and she has been --

JOHNS: Nancy Pelosi, 53rd Speaker of the House of Representatives, on her last day as the Speaker of the House. She will be minority leader tomorrow, when Republicans are sworn in and take over. Of course, she will be succeeded by John Boehner of Ohio. Credited, of course, among other things, with shepherding through -- she talked about the president's health care reform bill, and she has done a lot there in her several years as the Speaker of the House.

We're going to continue to monitor that, and maybe even come back when she takes questions.

Now taking a look at Air Force One as President Obama returns to Washington at Andrews Air Force Base right now, rested. And he ought to be, because he has got a big job ahead of him in these coming days as the new Congress is sworn in.

They're going to come right off the bat, apparently trying to repeal the health care reform bill that was passed just last year. The Senate, we're told, is going to be a very steep hill to climb on that issues.

What's much more likely for this president is that over the coming weeks and months, Republicans in the House will attempt to piecemeal his health care reform bill by repealing just small parts of it, or perhaps defunding. In other words, not allowing money since the House of Representatives has the power of the purse. Not allowing money to be spent from the government coffers in order to fund the programs that the president is supporting.

So we also expect this president is going to have to deal with another number of investigations coming from Congressman Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House Government Reform Committee.

There you go. President Obama and the family coming off of Air Force One. A big wave, and back into a Washington, D.C., that has changed dramatically since the last election in November.

Going to continue to monitor all the developments in Washington.

Meanwhile, moving on to some other stories now, prices at the pump are on the rise again, now averaging more than $3 a gallon, and is having a direct impact on your wallet and the national economy. But don't worry about gas prices if you win tonight's $330 million Mega Millions lottery.

It's trending on the Web today. So what are your odds of winning? You'll find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Trending on the Internet today, the $330 million Mega Millions jackpot. You know the chances of winning are slim. Just how slim? About one in 176 million.

To put that in perspective, the odds of getting attacked by a shark are more than one in 11 million. And the odds of getting struck by lightning, one in 750,000. So don't count that money just yet.

(NEWSBREAK)

JOHNS: So just how lucky do you feel?

Allan Chernoff joining us live from New York.

What are your numbers, Allan, tonight, for Mega Millions lottery? I got my ticket. I can admit that.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: I've got a pile here, too, Joe. I'm feeling pretty lucky. But you know what? Just about everybody I have been speaking with all morning long, they are feeling lucky, too. They have been spending big-time over here.

We're at the Port Authority bus terminal here in New York, and I can tell you, since 6:00 in the morning, they have been steadily selling tickets here. The dream, $330 million is the jackpot right now.

Now, the lottery people here in New York State tell me they are selling so many tickets, they expect to sell about a million tickets an hour this afternoon. There is a possibility the jackpot will go even higher, considering this is a game that is played in 41 states, plus the District of Columbia.

Let's talk to one of those people who was venturing his money.

Stan, what do you think? Are you going to win?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, probably not, but you can't -- I won't if I don't try.

CHERNOFF: You've got to be in it to win it, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.

CHERNOFF: OK. So, those winnings, where do you think they'll go? Let's say you do win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, let's just say, I lost my job two weeks ago. I worked off-track (ph) betting, and that's another whole story. And I could use the money.

CHERNOFF: OK. So you are used to the wagering business?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I know the odds are long, but you can win.

(CROSSTALK)

CHERNOFF: For the jackpot, I think those odds are one in 176 million. But you can win some smaller amounts. And maybe that's what Stan will win.

I'm going for the big one -- Joe.

JOHNS: Yes, that's right. The problem is, whenever a whole bunch of people all over the country get the same number, it's certainly watered down by a lot. But you know what? It's more than you started out with if you only wagered a dollar bet.

Great. Thanks so much for that, Allan Chernoff.

CHERNOFF: You know, if I win two bucks, I'll be happy.

(LAUGHTER) JOHNS: You got it. All right. Well, we're not going to count that money anyway.

Now that 2010 is over, we're tallying up the numbers to see how the economy fared. Today we are looking at bankruptcy filings, and the news is not good.

Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison, just how bad was it?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you said, Joe, you know, it just isn't good. You know, listen to this.

One and a half million Americans filing for bankruptcy in just the past year. And for many people, this is really just a last resort to get themselves out from underneath all this debt.

Take a look at this, about how much of a trend this is, how this has been growing over the past few years. You know, filings were as low as 500,000 in 2006, and then the filings increase every year since then, especially during the height of the financial crisis.

And you know there has really been a change in the psyche about filing for bankruptcy during the recession. You know, bankruptcy doesn't carry this scarlet letter as it used to. It has really become a fresh start for many people to really get a leg up on the debt that they're under right now -- Joe.

JOHNS: All right. So, if the recession is supposed to be over, and we keep hearing last year was supposed to be the beginning of the recovery, why are we talking about bankruptcy numbers like this?

KOSIK: Oh, yes. And there is a disconnect.

We see stocks at two-year highs. We see that the economy is recovering. But the reality is, Joe, it's really going to take years for a full bounce-back for many people, because the problem is we all just have too much debt.

In fact, the Federal Reserve says that debt levels are at record highs relative to the disposable income that people have, which means a big chunk of your play money, Joe, is going to paying off those bills. And it's not even making a dent in the debt that we owe -- Joe.

JOHNS: All right. Alison Kosik, give us a quick market check, will you?

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

JOHNS: Brett Favre accused of a couple off errant passes. That's the story topping "The big Play" today.

Favre is being sued by two massage therapists who worked for the New York Jets when he was their quarterback in 2008. They say they were fired after complaining about what they called sexually suggestive text messages from Favre. They also named the Jets and a team massage coordinator in the harassment suit.

It's personal for the Jets. New York Jets coach Rex Ryan wants a piece of Peyton Manning and the Colts. On Saturday, he will get his chance. In six games against Ryan, coach team's (ph) Manning is 5-1 with more than 1,500 yards, 12 touchdown passes, only two interceptions.

And Luck led Stanford to their first bowl victory in 14 years. We're talking about Andrew Luck here. He's their quarterback, a Heisman Trophy runner-up, dominated Virginia Tech at the Orange Bowl. Luck threw 287 yards, four touchdowns, and a 40-12 win.

A year and a half after the death of Michael Jackson, a hearing that starts shortly will determine whether Jackson's doctor stands trial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: While Republicans focus on trying to repeal health care reform, new benefits from the law kick in this year.

Preventive care like annual physicals and cancer screenings will now be covered for seniors on Medicare. Insurance companies will be required to spend 80 to 85 percent of your health care premiums on medical care, not administrative costs. And one change you may not like, money from flexible spending accounts can no longer be used for over-the-counter medication unless you have a prescription from your doctor.

Another provision of the health care law will benefit seniors by shrinking the so-called doughnut hole. Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta explains what this means for Medicare prescription drug costs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The impact of this shrinking of the doughnut hole could be pretty significant for seniors.

Think of it like this -- we talk about the doughnut hole a lot. Imagine a doughnut. As seniors are starting to first start paying for prescription drugs, as they go to the first part of the doughnut, they pay about a quarter, 25 percent of the cost of those prescription drugs. As things stood, when they got to the hole, the middle part, they had to pay for all of the costs of prescription drugs, until they got to the other side of the hole, about $4,550, and that's when they started to get relief again.

The impact of what's happening now is that the hole, the middle part, where they were paying for the entire cost of prescription drugs, now they will only have to pay for about 50 percent of the cost. So, there you see how the impact of the doughnut hole is shrinking, and the size is shrinking as well. The trajectory of this incident is that, ultimately, there should be no hole at all. They're saying that there may be a cost for seniors all along, 25 percent of all costs of prescription drugs, but it doesn't change once you get to certain thresholds, and kick back in when you get to other thresholds. That's the significance of what's happening today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta there.

The man charged in the death of pop singer Michael Jackson goes to court next hour.

CNN's Casey Wian looks at the case against Dr. Conrad Murray as a two-week long preliminary hearing begins.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JERMAINE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S BROTHER: My brother, the legendary king of pop, Michael Jackson, passed away on Thursday, June 25, 2009.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than a year and a half later, the cause of Michael Jackson's death is clear -- acute intoxication of Propofol, a powerful surgical sedative. But who caused the death remains the subject of a Los Angeles criminal court case focusing on Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician.

Murray was treating Jackson with the drug and several others to help Jackson sleep as he prepared for a grueling series of performances.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold for applause.

WIAN: Hours after Jackson died, investigators had Murray's car towed from the estate where the singer drew his last breath. They searched his offices in Las Vegas and Houston, as well as his home. An autopsy reported concluded that proper procedures were not followed in administering Propofol to the 50-year-old singer.

SANDI GIBBONS, LOS ANGELES D.A.'S OFFICE: Today, the District Attorney's Office filed one felony count of involuntary manslaughter against Dr. Conrad Murray.

ED CHERNOFF, MURRAY'S ATTORNEY: Dr. Murray did not cause the death of Michael Jackson. .

WIAN: A judge released Murray on $75,000 bail and ordered him to discontinue administering heavy sedatives. He was, however, allowed to continue seeing patients. If ordered to stand trial and convicted, Murray faces a maximum four-year prison sentence. (END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Casey Wian joins me live now from Los Angeles.

So, Casey, how is it that the lawyers defending Murray are going defend him against this manslaughter charge?

WIAN: I was having a little trouble understanding you, Joe. I think how are Murray's lawyers going to defend him against this manslaughter charge? Is that what you're asking?

JOHNS: Yes. Right. What's their case?

WIAN: Well, what they are trying to show is that someone else -- Joe, they're trying to show that perhaps someone else injected Michael Jackson with that fatal dose of Propofol.

There was a syringe found near Michael Jackson after his death, and they've succeeded in getting the judge to allow them to send that syringe out for further testing. They are trying to show that in that window of time where Dr. Conrad Murray says it was 10 minutes, left Michael Jackson, apparently, to sleep, that during that time, either Michael himself or someone else administered the fatal dose.

Now, what I should point out is that the autopsy report said it would have been very, very difficult for Michael Jackson to do it himself, so it seems like their best line of defense is to try to suggest that someone else did it -- Joe.

JOHNS: So, the next obvious question is, are we going to get some sense of what the defense lawyers want to portray as the relationship between the doctor and the patient here? How are they going to want the court to see Dr. Murray?

WIAN: Well, I think what we're going to see is actually the prosecution putting on most of the witnesses and most of the evidence in this preliminary hearing. A lot of legal observers perhaps expect the defense to just sort of sit back and see what the prosecution has.

The prosecution has the burden of proof of showing that there is enough evidence to hold Dr. Murray over for trial. And they're going to call many witnesses over a two-week period, and that's who we're expecting to hear the most from over the next two weeks.

JOHNS: All right. Good enough.

And do you have any sense, or is there any betting out there right now whether the judge is likely to find probable case -- probable cause, excuse me, so this case can move forward?

WIAN: People would be shocked if the judge did not allow this case to move forward. Because of the circumstances of Michael Jackson's death, because dr. Murray left the room, because the autopsy report has shown that he did not live up to the standard of accepted medical care. There are so many unanswered questions about the way Michael Jackson was being treated with Propofol and many other drugs. Legal observers would be absolutely shocked if a trial does not follow this preliminary hearing, Joe.

JOHNS: Yes, that's for sure. Pretty low standard there.

OK, thank you so much, Casey Wian. And back in touch with you. Tens of thousands of people in east Australia are fleeing their homes. Floodwaters rush in, but not everyone's keen to leave. Keep it here to find out who's staying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: As we just told you a few minutes ago, President Obama is now back in the Washington D.C. area after his trip to Hawaii. And before the plane landed at Andrews Air Force Base, the president, we're told, strolled back to the press area and talked to reporters. We have tape of what he had to say, talking a little bit about his relationship with House Republicans as they begin their journey of control of the House for the next two years.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE).

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, you know, I think that there are going to be politics. That's what happens in Washington (ph). They are going to (INAUDIBLE) for a short period of time. But, I'm pretty confident that they're going to recognize that our job is to govern and make sure that we are delivering jobs for the American people and that we're creating a competitive economy for the 21st century, not just for this generation, but for the next one.

And so my expectation, my hope is for John Boehner, Mitch McConnell will realize there will be plenty of time to campaign for 2012 in 2012, and that our job is this year is to make sure that we build up recovery. We started making good progress on that during the lame duck and I expect to build on that progress when I get back.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE).

OBAMA: Thank you guys. Happy New Year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: A little bit hard to hear there, but the President of the United States essentially telling reporters he hopes that Republicans campaign in 2012, rather than right now, as they begin control of the House of Representatives, talking about wanting to work in a bipartisan fashion with John Boehner, the incoming Speaker of the House, and Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, saying he'd like to build on the successes of the lame duck session that just ended in December, where so much was accomplished in the legislature.

Moving on now. The floodwaters keep rising in Queensland, Australia, and more people are evacuating Rock Hampton, a city for the most part, underwater. But as Michael Best tell us, some folks are not about to let the water win.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MICHAEL BEST, 7 NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): Rockhampton, the disaster that's becoming even worse. The Fitzroy River is inundating more straits, more homes, and making more people move out. The worst hit areas are now mostly deserted. SES (ph) volunteers are fearing (ph) the stranded through the floods.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It really just helps people get back to their families and that's what you need in a time like this.

BEST: Emergency services are planning for the city to stay underwater for at least 10 days. But --

MAYOR BRAD CARTER, ROCKHAMPTON, AUSTRALIA: It is a relief that it appears now much more likely that the peak will be 9.4 and unlikely to be any higher.

BEST: It means the Bruce Highway North will stay open, giving this city a vital link to fresh supplies while the airport's underwater.

(on camera): This flood's been predicted so accurately that Rockhampton residents have had time to prepare. Already they're keeping areas that should be inundated, dry.

(voice-over): At the North Rockhampton Balls (ph) Club, pumps put in by volunteers are holding back the might of the flooded Fitzroy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll get there. We beat it in '91 and we're going to beat it this year.

BEST: (on camera): So you're beating nature for the moment?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. That's all. Beat nature, eh?

BEST (voice-over): If the river wins, the club will be forced to close. Craig Arnold's business is in the same boat.

CRAIG ARNOLD, BUSINESS OWNER: Fresh chips, fresh salad (INAUDIBLE).

BEST: He and his mates have been working 18 hours a day for a week. The barricades, pumps, drains, and brooms are keeping the water at bay.

ARNOLD: The last time it came through here, it was about $50,000 and we just can't afford it again. So we're just doing everything we can to keep the water out.

BEST: A battle being won by mateship, hard work and humor.

ARNOLD: We've had a lot of people rowing past and singing, another day in paradise.

BEST: It's covered in stinking mud and infested with deadly snakes. In Rockhampton, Michael Best, 7 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Those snakes. I hate snakes.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I don't think you are alone there, Joe.

JOHNS: Yes. And they also have crocodiles, too. You know, that's the other thing I would really not like about floods in Australia.

MARCIANO: Again, Australians are tough, but nobody wants a crock or a snake on their back porch, that's for sure.

(WEATHER REPORT)

JOHNS: Got some videos now that had us talking in the NEWSROOM this morning. A pug playing poolside with a volleyball. But, there's a surprise waiting for this little guy. He falls -- come on -- there he goes, face first, right into the pool skimmer. That's not good.

And you've heard of the tortoise and the hare, but what about the tortoise and the meerkat? These pictures were taken by CNN iReporter Catherine Davies at a Cheetah Rehabilitation Center in South Africa. We're told at one point the meerkat bit the tortoise on the head, but that didn't seem to bother the turtle.

Now, I've got to tell you, though, cheetah rehabilitation center? What? Just say no to impala? What is that? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Checking top stories right now.

President Obama will have to defend health care reform all over again. Republicans in the House are planning a vote on repealing it by the end of the week.

Fresh from vacation the president plans to sign a bill today to make your food safer. It's described as the most-sweeping overhaul to food safety in almost a hundred years. It gives the FDA more power to issue recalls. Critics are concerned about how much it is going to cost.

And wildlife officials say thousands of birds that dropped out of the skies over Arkansas on New Year's Eve likely died from massive trauma. They say it is was possibly from lightning or high altitude hail.

If it's trending online, we're tracking it. CNN's Sandra Endo is here with the web's top stories. One of today's trending stories is something even we couldn't see right here in the U.S. -- Sandra.

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Joe. Yes, it's trending today. You were talking about it earlier with Rob. But it's the first partial solar eclipse of the year. And these beautiful pictures are trending n CNN.com's iReports. People have been sending in these pictures. And the partial solar eclipse could be seen in Europe, North Africa and Central Asia.

And if we could take a look at some of these beautiful pictures sent in from people in Spain and Belgium where they got to see it, yes, pretty remarkable. So good way to start off the year.

JOHNS: Pretty fantastic.

ENDO: Yes. Another trending story here on CNN.com and all across the blogs online is not so good for the new year. This relationship actually, Joe, lasted longer than most Hollywood marriages but now it is over for "Home Alone" star Macaulay Culkin and his long time girlfriend, Mila Kunis. They dated for seven years while she was in "That '70s Show." And she was in L.A., he lives in New York so that could be the tension, insiders say. And now she is starring in that movie "Black Swan.'"

JOHNS: It doesn't feel right to see Macaulay Culkin having a girlfriend, you know? There is something really wrong about that, I guess because I am always going to see him in the "Home Alone" movies.

ENDO: Yes, well, he'll be home alone as a lot of the blogs have been saying.

And one more, Joe -- I knew you'd like that one.

OK, so are you feeling alone and secluded from life? Well, media addicts suffer the same withdrawal symptoms as other junkies. This is a really crazy new study from the International Center for Media and Public Agenda. It really studied students from 12 universities around the world saying they could not be plugged in, no technology for 24 hours. Doesn't seem like a long time, right.

Well, they said TV was easy to stay away from, but text messaging and instant messaging was the most difficult, they really needed to get their fix. And otherwise, they said, just from 24 hours of not having it they felt isolated and alone.

Can you imagine that?

JOHNS: I really can't. You know, there is just -- I can put this iPad down at almost any moment I want to, almost.

ENDO: I was going to say you probably want that 24 hour break right?

JOHNS: Yes, it sleeps right next to my bed.

Thank you so much, Sandra Endo, for that. We will be checking back with you.

A mystery in the south, a lot of dead or dying birds. First in Arkansas, now in Louisiana. The search for answers goes nationwide. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: President Obama says it's time to govern, not campaign. Mark Preston, part of "The Best Political Team on Television," live from the Political Desk in Washington.

So, Mark, what's crossing right now?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Joe. How are you?

Well, President Obama just arrived back in Washington after his vacation, his Christmas vacation out in Hawaii. Well, over night on the trip back, he came back, he talked to the reporters on the airplane and this is what he had to say regarding the partisan nature here in Washington. My hope is that John Boehner and Mitch McConnell will realize there will be plenty of time to campaign for 2012 in 2012.

Now it appears that the president is taking the high road when it comes to trying to getting things done here in Washington, but the reality of it here is that President Obama would benefit if they, Republicans, do act partisan and act as obstructionists. Cause the fact of the matter is, these Republicans who won, who took back control of the House of Representatives, won on the fact that they were going to come to Washington and legislate. So we'll see what happens over the next couple of months, see if, in fact, Republicans and Democrats can get along.

The new governor of New York, Joe, he's going to take a pay cut. One of the first acts is to cut his own salary by 5 percent. Everybody's hurting, the unemployment rate is sky high all across the country. He currently makes $179,000. Now, Andrew Cuomo is not only going to be cutting his own pay, he's going to be cutting the pay of his lieutenant governor as well as some of his top advisers. Right now, the state of New York has a $9 billion budget gap -- Joe.

JOHNS: There's also a Sarah Palin re-tweet, that is sort of the re-tweet heard around the world. Will you talk a little bit about that getting so much buzz right now?

PRESTON: Sure, getting a lot of buzz here in the political circles.

Sarah Palin, last night, re-tweeted -- and for our viewers who are not on Twitter, what she did was basically moved a message forward on the micro-blog Twitter which appeared to show some support for the idea of repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The message was from the gay conservative pundit Tammy Bruce. And Tammy Bruce wrote, this hypocrisy is truly just too much. Enough already. The more someone complains about the homos, the more we should look under their bed.

Now Tammy Bruce herself is a gay conservative. Sarah Palin took that message and forwarded to all of her supporters. So the big question is right now, is Sarah Palin broadening her political umbrella beyond social conservatives who really have embraced her. Could this hurt her in a Republican presidential primary, if she were to run, or would this help? All these questions, Joe, all unanswered and we're waiting to see what Sarah Palin says next -- Joe.

JOHNS: Very interesting to see how social conservatives would take that one because she's, of course, a darling of social conservatives

Thanks so much, Mark Preston. Checking back with you, appreciate your reporting.

Your next political update in an hour and for the latest political news, you know where to go. CNNPolitics.com.

Here's what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

The second part of a story we told about yesterday, majestic mustangs in America's wild west being chased down and corralled by government choppers. Animal activists are outraged.

And he was jailed in 1979 for rape and armed robbery. Now a that proves, Cornelius Dupree spent 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He's spending a few minutes of his new found freedom talking to us from Dallas.

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JOHNS: More birds are dropping out of the sky and no one knows why. Several hundred dead red-winged black birds, Starlings, Sparrows and (INAUDIBLE) have turned up in Louisiana near Baton Rouge. So far, this bird kill has not been linked to the one just 360 miles north in Beebe, Arkansas, but there are some similarities.

Up to 5,000 of the same types of birds fell out of the sky over the weekend in Beebe. Early reports indicate they died of massive trauma, but not disease.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports some aren't buying it.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): still can't imagine what caused this bird to fall out of the sky and nosedive into his backyard.

KELLY MAYO, FALLEN BIRD WITNESS: We haven't touched him. That's the exact way that he's been since the first.

LAVANDERA (on camera): You can see what maybe looks like a little bloodstain on these brown leaves.

(voice-over): Arkansas livestock officials say some birds showed signs of massive trauma, but no evidence they were poisoned.

But what caused the trauma? Some officials suggest it was New Year's fireworks or lightening from a storm. Residents here aren't buying those theories. MAYO: Fireworks? I can't imagine fireworks would strike, you know, 4.00 or 5,000 birds and drop them in a one or two-square-mile area. That doesn't sound peaceful to me.

LAVANDERA: Beebe, Arkansas has developed a love-hate relationship with these blackbirds. Just ask Charles Moore who lives right next to a wooded area where tens of thousands of the birds live.

CHARLES MOORE, FALLEN BIRD WITNESS: To go out and do a simple thing to get a paper, sometimes we take an umbrella with us. They sky is just black with them and then there's going to be a lot of droppings.

LAVANDERA (on camera): And you've just got a target on your head, right?

MOORE: Oh, yes. Exactly.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): We walked through the wooded area behind Moore's home. Dead birds are still everywhere and Moore says the ones still alive are acting strange, some even struggling to fly.

(on camera): I think I see one over here.

MOORE: Is he alive?

LAVANDERA: It's a bird that probably should have flown away.

MOORE: Yes. I can't imagine a bird letting us get that close. That bird is sick as well.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): We tried to get a better advantage point of the wooded area where these birds flocked to when we came face to face with one of the dying blackbirds.

(on camera): I feel terrible. All of a sudden, I'm driving and see this bird kind of flop up on the hood of the car here and it just sort of started fluttering up this way and it went over the back and now it's sitting over there on the side of the road.

(voice-over): The little bird couldn't get off the road.

(on camera): Pull him off, over here.

(voice-over): As I stood there, the little blackbird died in my hands.

(on camera): It's terrible.

(voice-over): Ed Lavandera, CNN, Beebe, Arkansas.

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