Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Power Shift in Congress; New White House Challenges; Ex- Pentagon Official's Last Hours; Two Winning Tickets Sold For Mega Millions Jackpot; John Boehner Prepares to Take Over as Speaker of the House; Australia's Epic Floods; Killer in Slain Councilman's Photo

Aired January 05, 2011 - 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: 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. Here's some of the stories that we're talking about this morning.

This is the day Republicans have been waiting for. In just a few hours, they take control of the House. And we've got extensive coverage.

Actress Glenn Close says she's distraught. Why? Well, her image appeared in those vulgar videos that cost a Navy captain his jobs. Owen Honors has since been relieved of his duties for his prominent role in those profane and slur-laden videos.

Two tickets purchased in Idaho and Washington states match all the numbers on the Mega Millions lottery. Now two lucky souls will split the $355 million jackpot.

But we begin with the countdown on Capitol Hill. Three hours from now the balance of power officially tilts in Congress. Republicans officially take control of the House and new faces will help carry the banner for big changes.

The so-called citizen legislators come from all walks of life. A pizza shop owner, a pottery maker, an auctioneer, even a youth camp minister. Champions of voter anger sweeping dozens of lawmakers out of office, electing 100 new people to this Congress.

More than a third of the fresh men lawmakers in the House have never held office before. Four others joining the Senate. That's the highest number of political novices in Congress in decades.

CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill. The bipartisan church service is actually taking place this hour.

So, Brianna, incoming Speaker John Boehner and outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi share a common faith, but the Republican leader wants to pursue some very different policies, shall we say?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They're very different on policies, Kyra. You have that right now but one of the things that they do have in common is that they are both Catholic. And this bipartisan prayer service is happening at this hour. And we're expecting it to take about an hour and we don't have cameras inside.

This is private. But this is this year at St. Peter's Catholic Church here on Capitol Hill. We're just a couple of blocks away from the capitol.

And I just want to tell you a little bit about what we've seen so far. The incoming Speaker John Boehner, he was first to arrive before the outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi. And we've been seeing a number of current and incoming members of Congress arriving here for this service along with their friends.

We did just have a camera at the incoming speaker John Boehner's house as he left and he said -- he was asked what his number one priority is for this Congress, Kyra, and he said it's to fix a broken institution, and he went on to say that the sun is out and the American people are in charge.

This is a day that's going to proceed certainly with some pomp and circumstance. Moving on we're going to see the House come into session at about 12:00 noon and then we're going to be seeing early in the afternoon the swearing in process where Speaker Pelosi will introduce the speaker-elect, and then he is going to swearing in the members of the House of Representatives -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, Brianna, how hard do you think it's going to be for Boehner and his leadership to manage these Tea Party members who pride themselves on independence and may want to go further than GOP mainstream on issues?

KEILAR: This is going to be one of the challenges, no doubt, that Republican leaders face with this very large incoming freshmen class and a number of them Tea Party candidates or Tea Party-backed.

I spoke yesterday, actually, with one of them, Raul Labrador of Idaho, who was a Tea Party candidate, considered one of the most successful, and what sort of struck me was perhaps some different expectations among Tea Party members and also leadership.

Because, for instance, this procedural vote on Friday that lays the groundwork for a vote next week to repeal the health care reform package, well, he was saying that he thought that this is something -- you know he was holding out hope that maybe it actually could get through the Senate. That some Democrats would defect in the Senate.

I think there are a lot of people who think that that's not going to happen so it may come down initially here to just managing some expectations, Kyra. And see if there is going to be a rift between these Tea Party members and their leadership. It's early to tell so we'll have to wait and see.

PHILLIPS: I know. It's going to be an interesting year. Brianna, thanks.

And here's a reminder that we're living in the age of Facebook. For the first time ever, Congress will be broadcast live on the social media site. Republicans want full exposure of their succession to power in the House.

Incoming House speaker John Boehner, as we know, announced yesterday that the live coverage will include him taking the oath of office and also his speech afterwards.

The new balance of power in Washington means that the president and his White House agenda will face the greatest resistance yet on Capitol Hill. And that's come as the Obama administration faces another challenge -- dealing with the pending exits of several top staffers.

It's still continuing to break and our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is all over it.

Suzanne, why don't we start with the new Congress, the changes to expect the White House to make with regard to dealing with resurgent Republicans? We'll take it from there.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Certainly. Right now, Kyra, today, the White House is going to kind of play it a little cool, a low profile here, allow the Republicans to have their day but they're going to come out fighting here, obviously.

White House advisers are saying, look, the president is going to outline his State of the Union address, but before that, that it's all about the economy. They're trying to get Americans' attention that they believe reforming the tax code is a good idea, investing in the kind of education for jobs that do exist is important.

Making some cuts, cut in spending is going to be also a key item that they're going to work on and try to bridge the gap with Republicans. And the president is emphasizing this message. He says, look, you know, with the Republicans having more responsibility in governing comes more accountability here.

So guys, look out. You're also in charge. You're also responsible for what gets done in the next couple of years. This is something that he said on Air Force One to those folks on the hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, I think that there's going to be politics. That's what happens in Washington. You know, they are going to play to their base for a certain 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.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It's tough to hear on Air Force One, Kyra, but you get the -- you get the idea. He's obviously talking to Republicans and telling them, look, you know, I know there's going to be time for politics here, but there's also going to be the expectation from Americans that we need to get some work done, some legislation done in the next two years despite the fact that everybody's looking at 2012 -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. So let's talk about the 2011. Who's in, who's out on White House staff and why.

MALVEAUX: Sure. And this is expected to happen fairly soon. Could happen as early as a couple of days from now because, obviously, he wants to have his new team in place.

Who's going to replace Rahm Emanuel? The person -- the chief of staff, the person who's there now, Pete Rouse, has been doing an excellent job. White House aides say the president is very impressed and very pleased with the job he is doing. He is a rather low-key figure. It'd primarily be up to him if he wants to stay on long term but we're told the president is quite happy with what he is doing.

The other possibility is a very prominent figure, William Daley. He was a former commerce secretary under Clinton. He's also a chair with the Midwest division of JPMorgan Chase. He is a Chicagoan, he's the brother of Chicago mayor, so clearly that would be a very powerful player if he was to go ahead and be considered for that position.

On the economic side, the National Economic Council to replace Larry Summers, very likely to be Gene Spearling. I've known Gene Spearling since the Clinton days. He was a top Clinton aide, he's also a counselor to the Treasury Department. Very widely known and expected that he would get that position.

And then finally in the press office, you got somewhat of a shake-up here. We're expecting that Robert Gibbs is probably going to be in some sort of -- play an advisory role, either in or outside the White House for the president.

I spoke with the two people who are being considered for his job. That would be Bill Burton, the deputy press secretary, and Jay Carney, the vice president's spokesperson. Both of them have been mum on this position here. So we'll see what happens -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We're counting on you. I know you'll get the scoop, Suzanne. You always get everybody to talk. Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, stay with CNN as the new speaker of the House John Boehner ushers in Republican control of the Congress. The gavel comes down and our coverage begins about noon Eastern.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer will be joined by the best political team on television.

Well, it's been five days since a respected ex-Pentagon official was found dead in a Delaware dump and police aren't just searching for his murderer, they're still looking for the crime scene.

But there is some new clues about the last few hours of John Wheeler's life. Officers located his car and a parking attendant says that she had a bizarre encounter with Wheeler just days before his body was dumped.

Deb Feyerick joins us now live in New York.

So, Deb, this victim was a tireless veterans' advocate. He appeared to have so much respect from so many people within the military. His murder is extremely mysterious at this point.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's exactly right. And that's why it's so crucial for police to figure out exactly what was going on in the days before he was murdered.

Here's this respected Washington insider. He was wandering around Wilmington, Delaware, disoriented, looking for his car. Apparently at the wrong parking garage. Now we do have a picture from a surveillance camera and according to the parking attendant where the picture was taken, Wheeler came in, it was a freezing cold day.

You can see him there. He was wearing just a suit and apparently he was holding a shoe, a burgundy loafer in his hand. He seemed very confused according to the parking attendant and he was searching for his car. He asked the parking attendant whether he could stay inside the booth because he was so cold he wanted to warm up. The parking attendant was clearly rattled by the encounter, she says that she simply could not stop thinking about him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IMAN GOLDSBOROUGH, PARKING LOT ATTENDANT: He didn't have a coat on and he -- what really strikes me is, he didn't have a coat on and he didn't have a shoe on. Then when I asked him where was his parking ticket at when we were at my garage, he said he couldn't find it. It was inside his briefcase. So when I asked him where was his briefcase, he said his briefcase was stolen.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Now Wheeler said he could not remember where he'd parked, just that it was near an old hotel, and likely he was referring to the same Hotel Dupont in Wilmington. That's where he was last seen, about 3:30 the afternoon of Thursday, 13 hours later he was dead. His body turning up in a landfill -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes. It's just -- it gets more and more strange as we learn these details. I mean, do we -- do police have any idea where he was murdered or how he ended up in this landfill -- in this dumpster?

FEYERICK: No. They really don't. And one of the things that they were doing, they were back at the landfill yesterday and they were searching for evidence, something that may have led them to perhaps greater understanding of where he was prior.

Now police did retrace the route that the dump truck took. They believe that based on the position of the body in the truck and then at the landfill, as well, a stage of rigor mortis, the body had not been in the dumpster for very long. And we did call businesses along the garbage route, two of them did tell us that they had requested -- that police had requested surveillance video.

Now we know that the 66-year-old former Pentagon official was apparently returning home from Washington where this bizarre string of events took place. He was in litigation with a next-door neighbor, and the lawyer says, yes, of course that was contentious. Litigation always is. But Wheeler had no known enemies.

So, again, the broaden the FBI, the police in Newark are consulting with the FBI, likely they're providing forensic assistance. They've got these great emergency response teams or evidence response teams, I should say.

But the question, of course, who would want to kill him and how did he end up 20 miles from where he was last seen?

PHILLIPS: Deb Feyerick on the investigation for us. Deb, thanks so much.

Well, even the dead can't seem to catch a break from New York City's blizzard cleanup crews. Plows dumped mountains of dirty snow from the Christmas storm at a Brooklyn cemetery knocking down about two dozen tombstones.

The snow dome crumpled cars parked nearby. And it's just another black eye for the department in the aftermath of that storm.

Rob Marciano is following all the storms now in the southeast.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Southeast, a little more snow in the northeast, as well. And you got know those urban areas, man, you get so much snow you -- no excuses but, you know, it's just tough to -- tough to move it around, that's for sure. My goodness. That has been a big old mess and hopefully the next time we get a storm like that they're better equipped.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: Are we talking lottery now? Did somebody win this thing? It wasn't me. I can tell -- I'm not feeling very lucky.

PHILLIPS: Otherwise you'd be buying a new magic wall.

MARCIANO: Yes. Definitely recycling that one.

PHILLIPS: Did you buy a ticket?

MARCIANO: No, I didn't.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I did.

Robert, you still have your ticket? Oh, he's got two.

MARCIANO: Two?

PHILLIPS: OK. But they're not the winning ticket, I take it. Yes. All right. Poor Robert. That's why he's still -- MARCIANO: Exactly.

PHILLIPS: -- working the cameras this morning.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Well, apparently, this is -- there are two winners, OK? Here's the numbers, 4, 8, 15, 25, 47 and the mega ball is 42. Two tickets, like we mentioned, matched all six numbers in the big drawing last night. They were sold in Idaho and Washington state. And here's what's funny. If you're a fan of the TV show "Lost," well, you may have gotten a chill. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP - "Lost")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that makes tonight's mega lotto jackpot drawing 4, 8, 15, 16 and 23 with the mega number 42. Whoever has those numbers has won or will share in a near-record jackpot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right, Mary Jo, because this is the 16th week without a winner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK. Did you catch that?

MARCIANO: He has almost all the numbers.

PHILLIPS: Four of the six of the six Mega Million numbers actually matched the ones that hit the jackpot for that character, Hurley, in the show "Lost."

MARCIANO: Yes. I love Hurley. I miss "Lost." I think he won $114 million or $118 million.

PHILLIPS: OK, that's a big switch, because you're looking at winnings of about 150 bucks if you got those four numbers.

MARCIANO: Oh, is that all?

PHILLIPS: Yes.

MARCIANO: That's not going to buy you a fried chicken franchise.

PHILLIPS: Big negative, no.

MARCIANO: OK.

PHILLIPS: Maybe a copy of the season of "Lost."

MARCIANO: Going to watch that over and over.

PHILLIPS: OK, well, next time.

MARCIANO: Congratulations to you winners out there.

PHILLIPS: There you go. We can't wait to hear more on what they're going to do with the cash. All right, thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight out of Buckingham Palace, more details about the big wedding day, almost as big as Rob's.

(MUSIC - "The Girl is Mine")

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILIPS: All right. Just got some video in. John Boehner actually leaving his house this morning and headed for church. No doubt, going to be praying for all of his goals in the new Congress. We are going to take it live, by the way, when he and Nancy Pelosi also make the big switch. He did talk with reporters, too, when he was headed there. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), INCOMING HOUSE SPEAKER: Sun's out, and the American people are in charge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's going to be your top goal for the House this Congress?

BOEHNER: Well, I think the number one goal as the speaker is to protect the institution. And I think most Americans believe that Congress is broken. Time to fix it. And that will be my number one goal. All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We'll, of course, cover that exchange live, coming up in just about two hours.

All right. Let's talk about "Huckleberry Finn" and "Tom Sawyer," shall we? The Mark Twain novels are classics. You and your kids maybe read them in school. They're windows into the 19th century American life, a history that includes a lot of painful chapters.

Well, NewSouth Books is publishing new versions of both books without the "N"-word. The word "slave" is being used in its place.

Now, what do you think? Is this sanitizing history to sound nicer in the present? Or does it make sense to have an alternative for readers who are too young or too sensitive to see that word over and over again? Listen to part of this discussion from "AC360" last night. Anderson actually talked with a couple of educators and a cultural critic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS, CULTURAL CRITIC: We can't act like the pain didn't happen. We -- the only way we can forgive that, I believe, Anderson, if we commit to never forget. And so, when we take this out, we act as if it didn't happen. We act as if that word wasn't meant to dehumanize us, to place us in that time.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": Well, Andre, what about that, though? To the professor's point, movies are edited all the time for different audiences and you have songs that are played on the radio in one version and are released in a different version with the expletives in them.

ANDRE PERRY, CEO, CAPITAL ONE-UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS CHARTER SCHOOL NETWORK: But I'm a firm believer that kids can get satire, they can get nudity, they can get a lot of things, if it's taught well.

DAVIS: Right.

PERRY: And again, this goes back to the quality of the teacher, the quality of the instructor. Certainly kids hear these words. They see nudity. They need a context in which to understand it. Just as if I'm going to take a group of students to the museum, I'm not going to cover up a beautiful piece of art --

DAVIS: Right.

PERRY: Because a woman's breasts of it is exposed. And again, but you'd need some context and quality teaching so that kids can understand. And kids are more sophisticated than you think. They can get this material if -- particularly if it's taught by a quality teacher.

DAVIS: We want to create social scholars, not cultural cowards. So, if we start to -- when we start to remove things, where does it end? And to what end? So, we want to provoke them to have discourse. We want to teach them properly. I think one of the reasons why this word became so violent and so problematic even today is because we didn't protect our history enough. We don't know our history enough. So to remove it --

BOYCE WATKINS, PROFESSOR OF FINANCE, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: I wouldn't agree, though.

DAVIS: We move that forward.

COOPER: Professor?

WATKINS: But I think that -- we can't compare the use of the "N"-word 219 times in this book, the use of that word in an offensive way, to a beautiful piece of art that happens to show a woman's nude body. That's a very different sort of thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. Well the last gentleman that you just saw there will be with us next hour to talk more about why he thinks taking the "N"-word is -- taking the "N"-word out of the book is a good move. We're going to have the opposing view, as well.

And one more tidbit that we wanted to include. Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, was not some raging racist. Actually, quite the opposite. In 1885, he wrote a letter to the dean of Yale Law School explaining why he wanted to pay the expenses of a black law student.

Here's what he wrote. "We have ground the manhood out of them, and the shame is ours, not theirs. And we should pay for it."

All right. How about you weigh in now? Go to my blog, cnn.com/kyra. Tell me if you think that the new versions of "Huck Finn" and "Tom Sawyer" are a good idea.

Prince William officially putting a ring on it, April 29th. Buckingham Palace given up a few more details about the big day. We'll take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. April 29th. Save the date for Will plus Kate. It's when the prince and his fiancee, Kate Middleton, will tie the knot. No small private ceremony for them, though. Buckingham Palace has released more details about the big day. And let's talk about it. Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance can't wait. He's all over the story. Hey, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey. I'm reserving a date in my calendar, 29th of April, because that's when -- that's when Buckingham Palace here behind me is going to have two parties. One of them, straight after the wedding, hosted by the queen for a small, select quantity of guests. And then, another one in the evening, which is going to be hosted by Prince Charles, of course, Prince William's dad, where there will be music and dancing and food for all the guests and all the friends of the family.

Before that, the roots of the wedding has been disclosed. They're going down -- Kate Middleton, in a car -- and this is interesting -- in a car. She's going to be driving down the route which leads from Buckingham Palace down to Horse Guards through to Parliament Square to Westminster Abby, where she's going to get married.

She's going to get married in Westminster Abby to Prince William. She's going to go in a commoner, she's going to come out a member of the royal family. She's going to get into a horse-drawn carriage, having arrived there by a car, and will drive back along the same route back to Buckingham Palace, where she'll go to those receptions.

Even being said, that she'll make her first appearance as a member of the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to the tens of thousands of people who will undoubtedly be lining the procession route giving their support to this latest royal wedding, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. So, no doubt the British public is pretty excited about this. And do we know anything more about this spectacular guest list?

CHANCE: Well, in terms of the excitement in -- amongst the British public, well, it's not altogether clear how excited people are at the moment. Remember, the wedding is not until April, and so, there's some months to go.

And there's been an opinion poll put out in one of today's newspapers, "The Independent," which is a big newspaper here, saying that 66 percent of the people don't really care that much in Britain about the royal wedding. Obviously, that could change as the time draws closer and the media frenzy grows and people become more excited.

In terms of the guest list, it's not a state affair, so there won't necessarily be heads of state invited. Obama, President Obama may not be invited unless they're friends of the family. And so, that's going to be interesting to see, as well.

PHILLIPS: OK. Matthew Chance, thanks so much. Next hour, we're talking about what makes a happy marriage. One expert says the key is a "me marriage." Can't wait to hear about this.

And coming up, he's a 62-year-old freshman. He'll be the oldest member of the incoming class of Congress. Mike Kelly will be my guest right here in the CNN NEWS ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: It's just about 9:30 on the East Coast, 6:30 out west. Here's the stories that have us talking this morning.

This is a still frame from the vulgar video that cost a Navy captain his job. And, yes, that is Oscar winner Glenn Close, unwittingly, making a cameo. Close calls the use of her image insulting and deeply offensive, explaining that she visited the US (sic) Enterprise several years ago. And now the Navy relieved the command of Owen Honors for his prominent role in those vulgar videotapes.

More testimony today in the Michael Jackson death case. A judge is deciding if the singer's physician Dr. Conrad Murray should stand trial for involuntary manslaughter. One of Jackson's security guards told the court yesterday that Murray appeared panicked while crouched next to the singer's body.

Sure, a spilled a cup of coffee can ruin a morning. Or it can divert an international flight. A United Airlines pilot spilled his cup of Joe on the communication equipment during a flight from Chicago to Frankfurt. It actually triggered emergency codes, according to Canada's Transportation Agency, and the plane had to land in Toronto, with 225 passengers and crew on board.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: On Capitol Hill, the clock is definitely ticking and the balance of power is shifting. When the clock strikes noon in Washington, Republicans will formally take control of the House. And in the Senate, incoming GOP lawmakers will chip away at the Democrats' majority.

All right. One of those doing that chipping is incoming GOP Congressman Mike Kelly. He represents Pennsylvania's 3rd district. He also owns his own business and he got a taste of Washington's business this past Sunday on "Face the Nation."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE KELLY (R), PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSMAN-ELECT: I got tell you, from being on the outside all my life, I don't know how in the world you folks go home and look these people in the eye and say, we've done a great job. We've done a great job. Your country's $14 trillion in the red --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to say something to Congressman Kelly. The you folks stuff, now you are one of those folks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Congressman Kelly joining us now live from Washington.

Is that true, are you one of those folks now?

KELLY: No. I'm not one of those folks. I'm one of the folks -- I am one of those folks from back in western Pennsylvania, northwest Pennsylvania. And one of those folks paying taxes all my life. So, one of those folks, yes, I am one of those folks.

I'm in the same arena, but am I on the same team? No, not if that team's not for looking to make this country strong again and make it healthy. So, I don't know. It was kind of an amusing little back and forth with those folks on Sunday but that's OK. I've been in tougher things.

PHILLIPS: Well, and good point. You have been in tougher things. You're a businessman. In addition to, you were defensive tackle, I understand, for Notre Dame. So here's my question.

Businessman or bone crusher, what's going to be more valuable as you come into Congress?

KELLY: You know what? I got more bones crushed than bones that I crushed. So, I was on the downside of that a lot.

PHILLIPS: I hope you don't get that beat up in Congress.

KELLY: Well, that's OK. Listen, it's a lot tougher when they're six inches away from you, wanting to take your head off. You know, look, my background as a business person -- and I mean it sincerely -- I don't know that anybody in this country -- who hasn't served?

If you're a professional politician, you can say, yes, we've been doing the right thing. But when you look at a situation that's so bad, they keep saying things are going to be all right, that's crazy. Look, we've got to get this fixed and we've got to work together. I understand that we've got to work together. Let's get it done. But we've got to have a common set of beliefs that in order to get it done, you've got to stop spending. You can't keep spending recklessly.

PHILLIPS: And you've actually -- you've also been a sign to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

KELLY: Yes.

PHILLIPS: So, what's the one thing you can tell me right now, because obviously, I'm going to have this on tape and I'm going to rewind it and bring it back a year from now.

What is it that you know or can guarantee that you will get done by the first year?

KELLY: I can guarantee you this: we are going to work as hard as we can to cut spending. And, no, this is not a political thing for me. This is a lifesaving thing for my children and grandchildren and for the rest of the folks around the country. So, no, we're going to look at it very seriously and do the things that we have to do.

I think we have a strong stomach and I think we have strong backbones and it just has to get done, Kyra. It is time to stop the talk and start getting to work.

PHILLIPS: But we also know how many times young and motivated individuals come into Congress. And they've got this passion and this will to be different and to change things. We saw with the Tea Party, I mean, that's how -- they played off the voter anger. You know, we hear this talk but many a-times, new members of Congress kind of -- it just doesn't happen.

They're outnumbered, they can't do it. They fall along with old politics in Washington and they're not able to keep up with that speak that we're hearing right now from you.

KELLY: Well, you know, first of all, I'm 62-years-old so I'm not looking for a career. I'm looking to come and make a difference. And, you know, if you're coming to get re-elected and that's your main purpose, then you're doing it for the wrong reasons. You have to come for the right reasons, to make a difference, you have to come to heal this situation.

So as far as what was said in the past, that's fine. I can't do anything about what was said in the past. I can only do what I can do personally. And I think there's folks in Congress right now, coming in today, that came for one reason and one reason only -- and that's to do a job. Not to look for a career and not to look down the road and say, OK, if I say this, is it going to come back and haunt me in some election campaign next time?

And I say, you know, don't worry about that. Just do what's right. People know what's right. They're not going to fall into that trap and say, but you said, but you said. Hey, fine. I'm telling you what I'm saying. I'm going to represent the people in northwest Pennsylvania and the people around the country. So if we can't start to tighten our belts and live within our means -- I mean, I've had to do it as a business person. So I'm looking it -- I'm looking to do it the same was as a congressman.

PHILLIPS: You brought in Karen Czarnacki --

KELLY: Yes.

PHILLIPS: -- much younger than you are, I want to say about by 20 years. She's your chief of staff. She worked under Quayle in the White House. She's so young she must have been an intern. I'm not sure. You must clarify. But she also an advisor in labor. You hand- picked her.

Why her and what's the strategy by bringing her as your chief of staff?

KELLY: Well you know what? The strategy was to get somebody that knew Washington, and somebody that Washington knew, but not a Washington insider that was going to lead you down the wrong path and be a Judas goat.

Listen, Karen brings some great experience in. Things that I need to know. Now, my common sense will lead me in a certain direction. Karen, I mean, you know, I got to tell you though, Kyra, everybody's younger than me so that's no big deal. We get along very well, we're on the same page. We're looking to do the same things and that is to make fundamental changes, to make things stronger, to make things more sensible. So having Karen's on board is a great thing.

You know, and the other thing is they always say it's not what you know, it's who you know. There's another part of that. It's not only who you know, it's who knows you. So when you make that phone call, you want to make sure that other person at the end of the line wants to talk to you.

Karen has been here for a long time. She's not an insider, but she's a person that understands the inside. And more importantly, the inside knows who she is. They know she's a straight shooter. And she knows that we're here for one reason. This whole staff in my office is going to do the same thing. We're all on the same page. Everybody's on a first-name basis. I don't need to be called Congressman Kelly. I'm just Mike; Mike from western Pennsylvania, trying to do a job.

So, we're all focused on the same things. And I think that's the way you get things fixed.

PHILLIPS: All right, Mike from western Pennsylvania, we'll be watching you closely.

Appreciate your time this morning.

KELLY: OK. Thank you. Bye-bye.

PHILLIPS: You bet. All right.

And, as you're seeing right there on the other side of your screen, live pictures right now. We mentioned that John Boehner was heading to church this morning. And church is now out. And as you know, the clock is ticking. The balance of power soon will make a complete shift. And Republicans are going to formally take control of the House. We're going to see exactly how that's going to go down in just less than a couple of hours. We will take it live right here on CNN.

And coming up next hour, we are going to speak to one of the few new members of Congress, once again, that's going to be taking a seat on the other side of the aisle. He defeated an incumbent who was also formally the head of the Congressional Black Caucus. Michigan Congressman-elect Hansen Clarke will join me live from Washington.

Well, you know Alec Baldwin as one of the stars of "30 Rock." But he tells CNN he's interested in a real-life political role now. We'll tell you why.

And tumbling their way to a bank full of loot. How some crafty robbery suspects made their getaway in Buenos Aires.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Incoming House Speaker John Boehner will be sworn in today. So how do Americans feel about Boehner and his predecessor?

Deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser joining us, from Washington with more. Paul, what do you think?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Kyra, I got some polls. When you want the polls, where do you come, you come to me. Ok. So let's talk about it. John Boehner, CNN Opinion Research Corporation, we had the most recent national polls on them.

And take a look at this, we ask, do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Boehner? You could see right here, 36 percent of the people we poll say, yes, they have a favorable opinion; 24 percent unfavorable; and 4 in 10 said they didn't know enough about him to form an opinion.

Something tells me that's going to change pretty soon as -- as he takes over as Speaker of the House today.

Check this out. Let's compare it to Nancy Pelosi from that same poll which was conducted late last month; 34 percent favorable; 51 percent unfavorable; but only 14 percent of Americans Kyra, didn't know enough about Nancy Pelosi to form an opinion -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Paul, the actor Alec Baldwin wanting to run for office?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. And here's somebody just about every American is very familiar with, the star -- one of the stars of "30 Rock" and -- and a film actor and comedian. He is going to be on "Parker-Spitzer" tonight 8:00 Eastern. He taped the interview and he told Eliot Spitzer that you know what? He said this specifically when asked about whether he wants to run or not, he said, yes, it's something that I very -- I'm very, very interested in doing. He's flirted with this before. I guess he's flirting with it again. But he says that he's also pretty happy doing what he's doing now and if he had to leave acting it would be extremely painful.

So there you go. And we'll watch tonight -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. All right, Paul. Thanks.

We'll have your next political update in just about an hour. You can always get all the latest political news too our Web site 24/7 CNNPolitics.com.

But first, "Flashback" January 5th, 1970. Remember the soap opera "All My Children"? It made its debut on ABC. You may remember this show was set in Pine Valley, a fictitious suburb of Philadelphia. Since the soap opera began, it starred Suzanne Lucci as Erica Caine. Her love, marriages and of course inability to win an Emmy for more than a decade add to the shows lure.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Scanning our globe in "Morning Passport".

We begin in Australia where Queensland and nearby areas are still inundated by epic flooding. Residents are being warned to be on the lookout for snakes and crocodiles now because of the rising waters.

Zain Verjee is live from London. Zain, this has been going on for -- for days. Do you think there's any relief in sight?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has been going on for days. Actually Kyra, flood waters today have reached their peak, they are expected to decline but authorities are saying it could take weeks before those levels really do go down.

And Kyra, more rain is on the way. Just to give you an idea of the scale of some of the pictures that you're looking at because it's really difficult to tell. This is an area that is the size of Texas that is totally under water. Nine people have been killed. It's affected about 200,000 people.

There are crocodiles, poisonous snakes -- snakes, some of it is the most deadly in the world are swimming through those waters. The currents are really strong, so people are just being told to stay put, don't go anywhere. Because the people are more worried that they may just be swept away.

The other thing Kyra is that there is a huge economic impact here. Because this is a big coal mining area, crops here also have been destroyed. So people expect billions of dollars' worth in losses here.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

All right, let's go to Philippines. And we are reading about this bizarre twist to a story about the death of a Filipino councilman. What are you hearing on it?

VERJEE: Gosh Kyra, this is -- this is such an incredible picture but it's so awful. I want you to look at it really closely. What happened was, it was New Year's Day, this councilman, a politician, is taking a picture of his wife and kids.

And look closely at this picture Kyra, on the left-hand side, what do you see? A gunman who was about to fire at the politician and he did eventually kill him. When you pull out of the picture a little bit, you also see that he had an accomplice, and it was a guy you see on the top right-hand side. He was kind of the lookout.

So they've both been arrested. They are being held in custody. The family sent over this picture. But this was the last picture he snapped right before he was killed. He solved his own murder.

PHILLIPS: That's pretty eerie.

And what about this bank robbery in Buenos Aires? I understand these robbers dug a tunnel beneath the bank months before New Year's and so far got away with a lot of money.

VERJEE: They did. You know, this tunnel was -- in fact it was described by the authorities as being quite luxurious. You know it had rugs, it had lights, it had a great ventilation system and it allowed them to go into the bank on the New Year's holiday weekend and they basically broke into 130 safety deposit box and left with a lot of other people's stuff and a lot -- a lot of money.

You can see these picture people standing outside the bank. They are so angry that this has happened. They are -- they are demanding answers, they are demanding compensation.

There are three suspects on the loose. Police are looking for them. They report on security cameras making off with all of their stuff but who knows if they'll get them. But you can see how mad people are about this. I don't blame them, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Well, and -- and Zane, also, when the economy got so bad a lot of people took their money out of the banks and put them into these safety deposit boxes thinking that they would be protecting their -- their goods.

VERJEE: Right, exactly. That's what happened. They either took their money and put them under the mattresses or they did do that. And so this is kind of an additional roll over effect that has really angered and frustrated so many people.

I hope they get those three guys. They do have security cameras and you know, if they are able to get that back for those people, they would be really lucky. But the authorities are not holding their breath.

PHILLIPS: Yes, it's tough to take, especially in these times. Zain thanks, it's great to see you.

VERJEE: Yes.

PHILLIPS: All right we're following lots of developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra. I'm at St. Peter's Catholic Church, just a couple of blocks from the Capitol where members of the House of Representatives had a bipartisan church service. Will that bipartisan spirit last as Republicans take over the house? I'll have that coming up.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam in New York. And I have to tell you, all of this mega millions discussion got us talking. Which is better, the lump sum or would you rather just take the annual payments. We're going to break it down for you. You may decide even though you probably didn't have one of those two tickets, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: If I did, I would be sharing it with you ladies.

All right. Have you heard about "The New Adventures of Huckleberry Film? The N-word on this trip -- a new version edits the epithet right out. All 200 of them. Taking a look at that next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: John James (ph) has a new name for the Miami Heat's big three. Jeff Fischel from HLN Sports having some fun with it too.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: Kyra, this was such -- one of the big stories right. Sports stories of 2010, LeBron James going to the Miami Heat along with two teammates: Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh. No one could come up with a catchy nickname.

Now LeBron says call the Miami Heat the Heatles (ph) (AUDIO GAP)

But there's just three of them, right. Kyra, there's no Ringo, I guess.

PHILLIPS: That looks so wrong. Can I just tell you?

FISCHEL: Yes, it's not working. Hopefully LeBron thinks this one over twice.

Now on to the Heat, on the court at home against the Bucks. Dwyane Wade, there is something in the way he moves. Big slam, 34 points. LeBron takes the long and winding road to the hoop. He had 25. He went again, that's 19 out of 20. They could probably win eight days a week.

More NBA, Madison Square Garden, the Spurs bring the NBA's best record against the Knicks. The Knicks, not intimidated -- they're not a doormat anymore. (INAUDIBLE) pick up, the huge Lamar Stoudemire, 28 points and the Knicks win it, 128-115.

Sugar Bowl, Ohio State and Arkansas. This was so controversial. Five Ohio State star players including QB Terrelle Pryor suspended for five games for next season but they were still allowed to play last night and Pryor dominated over 200 yards passing, two touchdown passes; he also ran for 100 yards. There's no way the Buckeyes would have won without these guys. They barely held on anyway -- 31 - 26, but a lot of people are saying, you know, this win is tainted.

Kyra, all right, back to you.

(CROSSTALK)

FISCHEL: I mean, these are their best players, and they were out on the field last night and they were great. There's no doubt.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Jeff.