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Sisters Freed for Organ Transplant; Jobless Rate Falls; First Shot at Health Care; Washington Couple Shares in Mega Millions Jackpot; Rare Orange Crocodile Spotted in Florida; Cell Phone Protects Valet From Bullet; Elderly Man Drives Wheelchair Down Interstate; Pittsburgh Contractor Demolishes Wrong House; Teacher's Aid Died Saving Autistic Teen; Jobless Rate Falls; Baby Snatched at Fake Movie Audition
Aired January 07, 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: T.J. --
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": As we bring it over to Kyra down in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: T.J. Holmes has broken a lot of hearts over the years.
HOLMES: Stop. That is not --
PHILLIPS: Yes, indeed.
HOLMES: Stop it. OK.
PHILLIPS: I've met those women.
HOLMES: "NEWSROOM" starts now.
PHILLIPS: They're still crying.
HOLMES: "NEWSROOM" starts now.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: "NEWSROOM" --
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": He's a newlywed. He's off the market. Sorry about that.
PHILLIPS: That's why they're crying. Have a good weekend, guys.
CHETRY: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: 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.
Two Mississippi sisters now free women walking out of prison just moments ago on the promise that they'll share a kidney. Gladys and Jamie Scott spent 16 years behind bars for an armed robbery that netted $11. They were serving life sentences. But Mississippi governor Hailey Barbour suspended that punishment in part because of their organ donation plan.
Marty Savidge live at the prison in Pearl, Mississippi, just outside of Jackson.
Marty, kidney transplant means freedom.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It does, indeed, Kyra. In fact, we just watched as the vehicle that was transporting the two sisters -- and we're talking about Jamie and Gladys Scott -- just left the front main gate as of about 30 seconds ago from the Central Mississippi Corrections facility here where they have been for many, many years.
So it is the first taste of freedom for them. There was no celebration. There was no honking of horns and there was no wild jubilation because they realize that their release is based on a number of conditions and at this critical moment nobody wants to do anything that could possibly jeopardize or upset the process that is under way.
A long, awaited process that should be pointed out.
What is going to happen now is that the sisters will be taken into Jackson. They'll be taken to a place where they can rest, where they can get some food. They've also been given a change of clothing because obviously for the last 16 years they've been in prison attire.
And then it is anticipated that there's going to be a news conference later this afternoon and it's expected that the sisters will speak at that time. However, we have to point out there's been a lot of rumors going on that perhaps the Department of Corrections for the state of Mississippi or even the governor's office is not too happy that they will be speaking out.
And so there is still some question as to how much they will say or how open they can be about the time that they've been in prison or how they feel about being released. So that's where it stands right now -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep talking throughout the morning then, Marty. Thanks so much.
Meanwhile this morning, the other huge job, new measure of the economy just minutes ago. We learned that the nation's jobless rate took a big tumble last month to 9.4 percent. That's compared to 9.8 percent in November. Just over 100,000 jobs were created so this is all good news. Right? Well, not quite.
Chief business correspondent Ali Velshi here to break it all down. How's it not good news?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm -- you know me, I'm an optimist. I want this to be good news. And how is it not good news that 100,000 jobs are created?
PHILLIPS: Right. VELSHI: Well, it's not good news because we wanted 162,000, 165,000, 170,000. We can't get back to that low unemployment rate we had before the -- before the recession started without 250,000 or 300,000 new jobs a month, so at this rate, until it picks up, it's just going to be this slow plodding recovery.
Here's the other thing. Forget that unemployment rate. 9.4 percent. It is a percentage of the number of people in the workforce but people have been unemployed for so long that people are dropping off the workforce. So pay attention only to the number of jobs created.
The 9.4 percent, it's a bit of a red herring. The unemployment rate. Yes, it's down, I'm glad it's down, everybody is glad it's down. What you need to see is that 103,000 jobs were created. Very good for the 103,000 people who have new jobs.
PHILLIPS: Where are the jobs?
VELSHI: Well, the biggest gainer, interestingly enough, was in leisure and hospitality. The hotel and food industry. There were jobs in retail that were added, there were jobs in health care. Health care, by the way, has not lost a job in -- I don't know, years. That's a growing area.
Few extra jobs in manufacturing but again we had 15 years of losses in manufacturing. So largely things haven't changed all that much. They're up but they haven't changed all that much. That's why it's not fantastic. Because at this point in the recovery, Kyra, we need things to change a lot.
PHILLIPS: Isn't that interesting, though, about leisure and hospitality?
VELSHI: Yes.
PHILLIPS: I mean that tells you something about the -- the economy.
VELSHI: Tells you people are spending, right?
PHILLIPS: Right.
VELSHI: Right.
PHILLIPS: People are spending money.
VELSHI: Yes. It could be people are spending money here and that's quite possible because the savings rate has gone up. It could also be we have a low U.S. dollar so people are coming in. People from Canada are coming in, people from Europe are coming in, people from South America.
It's a good deal to travel in America right now. So could be both and I'll look into it a little more but that tells you something. People are traveling. PHILLIPS: Yes. And also those gas prices are going up, as well, which is very frustrating.
VELSHI: And that's going to draw some of the travel back.
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. All right. Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: OK.
PHILLIPS: Appreciate it.
Well, later this morning, President Obama will announce key new members of his economic team. Among them economist Gene Sperling. He's expected to be named the next director of the National Economic Council. Sperling held the same position under former President Clinton.
And President Obama has to fill four high-profile vacancies in his administration now. The announcement is actually scheduled for 11:35 Eastern Time. You will see it live right here on CNN.
And for weeks the bluster has been building. We're talking about the battle lines deepening but today on Capitol Hill the first real shot is fired in the battle to repeal health care reform.
The Republican leadership of the House is holding a test vote on a hot point issue that helped sweep them into power.
CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar just outside the House chamber for this milestone event.
So, Brianna, what happens today exactly? And let's talk about why it matters to all of us.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, overall, this is a very big deal because this is the first vote on a health care repeal and the vote that we're expecting to take place on the House floor later this morning is a vote that says, here's how the actual vote on the repeal is going to play out next Wednesday.
This is vote -- we call it a vote on the rule. I know that doesn't mean a lot to a lot of people, but what that means is it lays out all of the parameters and something that's going to be so interesting that really caught our eye here is there is going to be eight hours of debate next Wednesday.
We were kind of joking that it seems like it's turning into the Senate here. Eight hours of debate, this is going to be on the floor all day next Wednesday, and it's going to be quite the spectacle.
And, Kyra, right now Democrats are sort of raising objections saying that they have been shut out of this process. They did propose some amendments, some changes to this very simple repeal in the committee process and the rules committee but, of course, not surprisingly, those were shut down -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: And, you know, the argument on both sides about health care reform continues, the debate continues, both sides constantly weighing in on this.
KEILAR: This has been hammered all week long. Republicans, here's what they're saying. They're saying that the health care overhaul is a job killer. They're saying that it's unconstitutional. All of this talk about this constitution. Why? Because of that individual mandate. Because it says all Americans have to get coverage.
And they say that it's going to raise your taxes. That it's going to cost more money. Of course, Democrats have their own argument here. They're saying this repeal is going to actually add $230 billion to the deficit. These are numbers from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
Of course, Republicans dispute them. And also they're saying that Republicans are on the side of health insurance companies, that this is going to be taking benefits away from seniors and from young people and that we're going to go back to a time if this were to succeed, where people can be discriminated against on the basis of preexisting conditions -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Brianna Keilar, thanks so much.
New York snow, volume two, here it comes. Another snowstorm about to smack the big apple and surrounding areas. Folks there could see half a foot of snow today. New York is still smarting from the paralyzing Christmas week blizzard. Remember that?
Some managers lost their jobs because the city's problems dealing with the snow. All right, that's just putting it lightly. A lot of people lost their jobs or some people lost their jobs because they were kicking back the bottle and not working on the snow. They were getting plowed instead of plowing the snow.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There's always going to be a couple of those in the group.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Like you know what? I'm not getting out there.
MARCIANO: No. But I'll tell you what, today is a day for the New York City Sanitation Department to redeem itself fairly easily. A softball sort to speak is going to be heading through New York and doing that right now. We don't expect to see the wind or the snow accumulations that we saw during the blizzard so they should have a pretty easy go of it as far as clearing the streets are concerned.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Do you ever cry when your wife cries? Do you get emotional? Do you feel bad? You feel sorry for her?
MARCIANO: I feel -- I feel awful. I'm a biggest sucker for tears.
PHILLIPS: You are.
MARCIANO: I'm no stranger to the waterworks myself.
PHILLIPS: You made a lot of women cry, too. I was giving T.J. a hard time, Rob Marciano.
MARCIANO: But for different reasons.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: What are you guys talking about?
PHILLIPS: File this away under sad but true. Scientists say that a woman's tears can actually be a total turn off, especially if men catch a whiff of the waterworks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIVIEN LEIGH, ACTRESS, "SCARLETT": Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?
CLARK GABLE, ACTOR, "RHETT": Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Turns out Scarlett's tears don't do anything for Rhett's libido apparently. Not doing anything for Rob Marciano, either.
MARCIANO: Sorry. This is where I'm supposed to look sad or cry or something.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: This is all staged for me to have some -- obviously, I'm a crummy actor.
PHILLIPS: It's just too cheesy. We'll roll out the song for you, though, pal.
MARCIANO: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Researchers in Israel actually had men sniff the bottled tears of weeping women. They assumed that smell would trigger sympathy. But no. It means that testosterone levels actually dropped by an average of 13 percent. Psychologists said it could be a biological way of warding off unwanted advances.
MARCIANO: So you see a guy that you don't want, you start to cry. That's the way I brought women to tears my entire life.
PHILLIPS: See, that was the issue. It's not you that broke their hearts, Rob. MARCIANO: Yes. That makes me feel real good.
PHILLIPS: Thanks for playing.
MARCIANO: All right. Sure.
PHILLIPS: OK. Go cry in your soup.
MARCIANO: I am.
PHILLIPS: OK. Now you probably cry if a backhoe buried your American dream. This is actually some serious tears that one family shed. Take a look at this empty lot. Yes. The house he was fixing up was there just a few hours before he came home. Contractor was supposed to knock down the place next door.
And their lives changed in an instant. Suddenly, they're mega millionaires. They have come forward to claim their share of a monster jackpot and you got to love this. The husband handed the check to the wife.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, their lives changed in an instant. Suddenly Jim and Carolyn McCullar from Washington state are mega millionaires. Jim says he knows exactly what to do with the money.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM MCCULLAR, MEGA MILLIONS WINNER: Been married 41 years, I know what to do with this check.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: That's right. Happy wife, happy life. He's a good man. Jim says they learned that they had the lucky tickets first on television. Then, confirmed it online.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCULLAR: You sit down, we had two chairs sitting there. Put the two chairs side by side, and I clicked on the Washington lottery icon, and up came the winning numbers. And I said, "Look at this, and look at that."
She looked, and she studied, and she looked, and she studied, and she looked at me and screamed!
(LAUGHTER)
MCCULLAR: Tears started flowing down, and I looked at her, and I started crying. I thought -- all she could say was, "Is this real? Is this real?" And I said, "I pinched myself already. We're awake, and this is real, and what are we going to do? What are we going to do?" And I said, "I have no idea, but we'd better hide."
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The McCullars will split the $380 million prize with a winner in Idaho.
Well, some residents in Venice, Florida, are seeing orange. We're talking about a massive orange that's a crocodile. The rare creature tops or trek Cross Country. Sylvia Mythen captured pictures of the croc near a neighborhood pond. One biologist says that it's probably an albino. But the state fish and wildlife department believe that the orange coloring is from paint or stain.
An Atlanta valet says he's the luckiest cell phone owner alive. The phone actually blocked a bullet to his chest when gunfire erupted outside the nightclub where he works.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN GARBER, CELL PHONE PROTECTED HIM FROM BULLET: And I actually had one go in through the back left side of my coat, come up through my coat, and hit my phone, which was placed on my left chest right here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Police say John Garber was not the target of the shooting, but two people have been arrested.
Finally, Fairfield, Connecticut. An elderly man puts his electric wheelchair in overdrive and takes to the highway. Drivers spotted them man rolling down the southbound breakdown lane of I-95. DOT cameras captured him when he exited the freeway. He didn't get a ticket, but police say his ride was definitely illegal. Poor guy.
All right. A contractor goes to a rundown house, tears the place down, leaves an empty lot covered with straw. Only one problem. He tore down the wrong house. The one a man was fixing up for himself and his family. Watch this story from David Johnson of WPXI in Pittsburgh. Then, we're going to talk to the homeowner and see if he's picked his jaw off the ground yet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDRE HALL, HOME DEMOLISHED BY MISTAKE: Leave for the holidays. Come back, and I see a backhoe sitting on my house. This is not way I thought I'm going to start off my new year.
DAVID JOHNSON, WPXI CORRESPONDENT: Now, all Andre Hall has to show for his work is an empty lot covered with hay.
HALL: Working on it, rehabbing it. I did the windows, put new windows in, doors, doorknob.
JOHNSON: He spent weeks fixing up the four-bedroom house on Motor Street.
HALL: Three more weeks and I would have been in there.
JOHNSON: When he found out the house was slanted for demolition, he got a court order to stop it for at least six months. He showed us the court letter and a letter that the city said it sent to contractors PJ Deller of Gibsonia. You can see the "do not demolish" underlined in big, bold letters.
HALL: Well, what happens to me now? What happens to all the work I did on the house? My tools are gone. My family, we can't -- where are we supposed to go now?
JOHNSON: We called city building inspectors, who say Hall's house shouldn't have been knocked down, that the house next door was the one that was supposed to be demolished. That's no comfort to Hall who, instead of moving in in another three weeks, now finds himself homeless.
HALL: But now all I've got is an open lot. With nothing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: It's crazy. A whole lot of nothing. Andre Hall's with us now from Pittsburgh. I tell you what, Andre. You look pretty darned stunned two days ago when you saw that empty lot. How are you feeling right now?
HALL: I'm still stunned. I can't believe, like, this really happened.
PHILLIPS: What did you tell your kids, Andre?
HALL: I can't even -- I can't even tell them, like -- like they used to go over to the house with me when I would do some work. Now I can't even -- I can't even tell them, because then it'll just crush their dreams, like, how are you going to pull up to this place that your kids picked the colors out for the rooms? I have visions of my daughters coming up from Kansas and playing in the backyard and -- now it's just gone. Like, if I pull up to the house and be like -- they'll be like, "Where's the house?"
PHILLIPS: So, where --
HALL: What do you want to tell them?
PHILLIPS: Where are you staying? Where are you staying now?
HALL: I'm in a one-bedroom apartment. I had plans to move into this house, I only had three more weeks and I'd have been in there. But now, when I pull up, I see a backhoe sitting on the house. I had to drive around the block to make sure that I was on the right street. And I found out it was the right street. It was just devastating. PHILLIPS: Well, we have tried to reach out to the contractor, PJ Deller. No one's returning our calls. The mayor's office did tell the affiliate there, WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh, that PJ Deller won't be doing any more demolition work for the city. Have you heard anything from the contractor? Because they're not returning our calls, and they need to be called out on this.
HALL: I've not heard nothing from the contractor or the city. The city is copping out to, "Oh, they're not going to get any more business." Yes, but they're not saying anything to me. Now, the city's trying to say, "Oh, if he did work on the house, he didn't have a permit." You don't need a permit to do interior work, to paint, to mud and tape inside the house. You need a permit to go outside and do exterior work. All the work that they had listed that need to be done was exterior work.
PHILLIPS: So, so the city's not helping you at all? They're not giving you any options? Because I see a letter, here. We've got a copy from the city of the Pittsburgh, the Department of Public Safety, the Bureau of Building Inspections saying, "Do not demolish" your home. It's got your address on here, and it's telling the contractor not to demolish your home. So, are they doing anything to help you with what your options are now?
HALL: They're not doing anything. If it was a Steeler game, they would do something. But nobody's trying to help me. Pittsburgh needs to stand up, because if they don't stand up, they're going to fall for anything, just let this keep happening.
This is -- this is crazy, like -- this is just crazy. My dream is done. It's gone. And now, now they want to point fingers. "Oh, it wasn't me. It was them. It wasn't me, it was them." That's crazy. And for him to come on TV, the head of Bureau Inspectors to come on TV and say, "Oh, he didn't have a permit, so why would he be doing work in the house?" I bet he hasn't inspected the house in five years.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, thanks --
HALL: Going to come and say I don't have a permit.
PHILLIPS: Well, we wanted to talk to you, we wanted to get the story out there, and we are asking PJ Deller, someone from that contracting incorporation to give us some type of answer of what's going to happen. Obviously, the wrong house was demolished.
The City of Pittsburgh, we'd like to know if they're going to help you in any way in telling you your options. Andre Hall, we sure hope that you stay in touch with us and let us know how this plays out. We'd like to put the pressure on the right people.
HALL: Thank you. Yes, they need the pressure put on them, because nobody said anything, nobody came by to see me, nothing.
PHILLIPS: Andre hall, you keep in --
HALL: I even --
PHILLIPS: Yes. Go ahead.
HALL: I even had my little nephew come down from Cal U to help me on the weekends on the house. He would come down there. Very strong builder. He would come down and just help me.
And now, when he -- when we went over to the property, he's like, "Unc, where's the house?" I'm like, "You don't even want to know."
I don't even want to take him to the paint picture to show him that this backhoe knocked down my house.
What do you tell your kids? What do you tell your kids, like, "Oh, the room that you picked out, with the colors and everything, is gone. You can't play in the backyard." The house that they were supposed to knock down, that's -- I was going to take that lot over and add on.
PHILLIPS: We'll, Andre, we will --
HALL: It's just --
PHILLIPS: Well, we're going to stay on the story.
HALL: Crazy.
PHILLIPS: And I want to encourage our viewers, especially if they live in your neck of the woods to reach out to us at my blog, cnn.com/kyra. Let us know if you might be able to help Andre and support his cause. Andre Hall, we'll stay on the story, we'll keep in touch with you. We sure appreciate your time today.
And a man dies apparently pushing an autistic teen out of the path of a bus. He was a teacher's aide for special needs students, an auxiliary police officer and, now it seems, a guardian angel. We're shining a spotlight on his extraordinary life today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, this story is just heart- wrenching. A teacher's aide for special needs students actually died this week trying to save an autistic teen from the path of a bus. Witnesses say that Thomas Jim Dunn actually pushed the child out of harm's way as the pair crossed an Illinois street during a soda run. It was a final selfless act for a man who is also a 20-year vet of the police auxiliary unit in Bourbonnais, just about an hour south of Chicago. WLS's Eric Horng takes a look at Dunn's last moments.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC HORNG, WLS CORRESPONDENT: Flowers sit at the intersection where Thomas Dunn, Jr. lost his life.
PAT DUNN, VICTIM'S BROTHER: It's hard to even express in words sometimes how much we're going to miss him. So I mean, it's very, very hard.
HORNG: Dunn, who went by his middle name Jim, worked as a teacher's aide at this school for kids with autism and other special needs.
JON KLAVOHN, PRINCIPAL, CAMELOT THERAPEUTIC DAY SCHOOL: It didn't matter who you were, it didn't matter how you were, he was the same with every student, every staff member. He was a person who cared deeply.
HORNG: On Monday afternoon, he was doing what he often did, teaching a student a life lesson by walking him across the street to buy a soda. Police say a public transit bus hit Dunn as it was turning left, barely missing the student. And investigators are now looking into initial witness statements that Dunn pushed the child out of harm's way.
GREG KUNCE, INTERIM CHIEF, BOURBONNAIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Knowing Jim, it would not be surprising had he done that. If you know Jim at all, that would be an instinctive reaction that he would have.
PAT DUNN: Doesn't surprise me at all, because that's the type of person he was. He'd always put himself out to protect somebody else. That's the kind of thing he did.
HORNG: To protect and serve was something Dunn knew well. He was a nearly 20-year veteran of the Bourbonnais police auxiliary unit, volunteering to help the village during festivals and events. And he was among the first responders during one of Bourbonnais' darkest hours, the fatal Amtrak crash in March of 1999.
KUNCE: He's the first one through the door if you call to muster up some people. He's the first one to arrive and, "What do you need?"
HORNG: Dunn is survived by his two children, and relatives and friends say his death speaks to how he lived.
KUNCE: He's a true hero. If, in fact, it's determined that he pushed that child out of the way, that would be a selfless act that he would have done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Jim Dunn was a 46-year-old father of two. Illinois state police are investigating what happened, looking into those witness statements that he pushed the student out of the way. But it could be a few weeks before they issue a final report.
Well, we've got some good news on the job market. An hour ago, the government said that the economy added 103,000 jobs in December, and the unemployment rate tumbled to 9.4 percent. Alison Kosik live at the New York Stock Exchange. Hi, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. We are expecting to see stocks open flat to slightly higher. To tell you the truth, Wall Street wasn't overly impressed with this jobs report, because we watched futures bounce around quite a bit after this report was released.
The headline number, you have to remember, was 103,000 jobs added to the economy in December. It really was a bit of a disappointment. Wall Street was expecting to have 150,000 jobs added.
But the good news, the October and November numbers, those were revised up to show 70,00 more jobs added than previously thought.
Also, I want you to be careful a bit with the unemployment rate now. It was a big decline, sure, from 9.8 percent to 9.4 percent. But it was partly because people were literally dropping out of the workforce. They were giving up looking for work. So, the drop in the unemployment rate doesn't necessarily mean people have found jobs.
All right. There's another big story we're keeping our eye on today. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke testifying on Capitol Hill today, he'll likely address these jobs numbers, as well. And more good news, here, stocks are still going to most likely post gains for the week.
All right, Kyra. This one is for you. You may be able to buy a piece of Facebook. The (INAUDIBLE) reports that the company could go public by early 2012 or it may start to disclose some financial information even without going public. You know, this is required by law because an increase in the number of private investors in Facebook that have come to light of late.
The company now is valued at about $50 billion. That compares to what it was valued at three years ago, somewhere along the lines of $15 billion. So Kyra, even though you may not be on Facebook, you may want to put your money into it and invest. Why not?
PHILLIPS: You're going to keep pressuring me about this until I finally do it.
KOSIK: I know. One day, one day, yes.
PHILLIPS: Alison, getting me in with the new year, 2011. Appreciate it.
All right. It's 9:30 on the East, 6:30 out West. Here's some of the stories that we're talking about this morning.
President Obama changing the lineup of his economic team. He plans to announce today that Gene Sperling will take over as head of the National Economic Council. Sperling held the key policy post at the end of Bill Clinton's term.
New York snow, volume 2. Here it comes, another snowstorm about to smack the Big Apple and surrounding areas. Could see half a foot of snow today.
And two sisters serving in an armed robbery have been freed early from prison. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour suspended the sentences of Gladys Scott and Jamie Scott on one condition: Gladys agreed to donate a kidney to her seriously ill sister. Now, remember all that talk of death panels during the health care debate? One lawmaker says they're a reality in his state. He's talking about budget cuts that have denied nearly 100 people potentially lifesaving transplants. Two people have already been denied and died.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Nearly 100 people in Arizona need potentially lifesaving transplants, but they can't get them. Not in their state anyway. Why? Tough times. Politics and some say misplaced priorities. Check out this story from Jessica Chapin of KGUN in Tucson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA CHAPIN, KGUN-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly 100 lives hang in the balance, pleading with Arizona leaders to come up with $1.5 million in funding. A tiny fraction of the budget. For people like Lois Tate's who's 27 year-old daughter needs new lungs, the funding is priceless.
LOIS TATE, DAUGHTER NEEDS NEW LUNGS: Her quality of life is slowly dwindling away and her only hope to live longer was to get a transplant, and that has been taken away from her
CHAPIN: She's one of several who sent a plan to Governor Brewer in early December, giving suggestions with three alternative funding sources. But no response. And for the last month, e-mail and phone calls have gone unnoticed.
(on camera): hat do you want to say to her?
TATE (via phone): Well, what we want -- we want to say to them is that take another look at different areas where we can come up with the money to restore this -- these transplants.
CHAPIN (voice-over): Since she couldn't get an answer so we tried the governor's office ourselves.
VOICE MAIL ANNOUNCER: Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice mail message system.
CHAPIN: Three calls, one e-mail and no response. So, we took her concerns to state senator Frank Antenori .
(on camera): Is the state doing anything now to restore the funding?
FRANK ANTENORI, ARIZONA STATE SENATOR: No, again, the funding reduction occurred because data showed that the outcome from providing funding for these patients was negligible.
CHAPIN (voice-over): He says even if dollars were available, the risky procedures wouldn't be worth taking money from other programs.
But no action leaves 96 patients like Tate waiting, fighting for funding and their lives.
(on camera): What do you have to say to those families and that mother?
ANTENORI: Well, again, I wish we had the money and it was flowing from the hills of Arizona to fund everything we wanted to fund. But tough decisions are made because we're in a budget crisis right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: More about this with our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. We'll also talk with the state lawmaker in Arizona who says this whole situation amounts to real death panels.
Constitution busting on Capitol Hill. A couple of House Republicans missed their swearing in but they voted anyway.
And one of the rescued Chilean miners, a huge Elvis fan. You knew this was coming. He's headed to Graceland.
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PHILLIPS: All right. "Fast Forward." Let's see what's happening later today.
It's day four of a preliminary hearing to determine whether Dr. Conrad Murray will be tried in Michael Jackson's death. Today, Murray's girlfriend is expected to testify. Murray called her from the ambulance as paramedics worked to revive Jackson.
Pest control experts say they want government help to fight against bedbugs. They're talking about it today at National Bedbug Forum in Denver. More than 400 members of the pest control industry will exchange ideas on what works and what doesn't.
And the rescued Chilean miner who's a huge Elvis fan, well, he's headed to Graceland today. Edison Pena will be a special guest during Elvis Presley's annual birthday celebration in Memphis. Elvis would have been 76 tomorrow. While trapped underground for almost 70 days, Pena was the one who led sing-alongs with Elvis music for all the other miners.
And the man known as the world's fastest golfer is setting his sights on breaking his own record. Whacking 50 balls in just 30 seconds.
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JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": The Constitution is one of the most important documents in the history of the world, but it's also very, very boring. It's the kind of thing that makes you wish you never learned how to read -
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KIMMEL: -- unless you are the kids from "Jersey Shore."
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- the line between the 7th and 8th lines of the first page --
MIKE "THE SITUATION" SORRENTINO, "JERSEY SHORE" CAST MEMBER: She's totally getting butt naked --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed --
NICOLE "SNOOKI" POLIZZI, "JERSEY SHORE" CAST MEMBER: Well, it might show my nana.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just like, "oh my God."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three -
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Massachusetts eight --
POLIZZI: Bring it on!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Georgia three.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!
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KIMMEL: I think America's ready for a Snooki-Pelosi. I really do.
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PHILLIPS: Let's ask our senior political editor Mark Preston what he thinks of the CNNpolitics.com desk.
I don't know, seeing all the "Jersey Shore" folks reading the Constitution? It would make me watch!
(LAUGHTER) MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, no. But look it -- our ratings would right through the roof as everyone else's would, Kyra, right? I mean, can you imagine if Snooki in Congress? That would be fun to watch.
PHILLIPS: Oh, dear God! That would just be a -- we have enough issues, Mark!
Hey, let's -- something else is creating a buzz, definitely. Donald Trump. Now he's saying he might possibly be run for the White House in 2012?
PRESTON: Yes, well, look. Donald Trump considers to talk -- continues to talk about running for president. You know, Donald Trump once considered it before. He's talked a lot about it. He's very good at promoting himself and very good promoting the Trump brand.
But last night he spoke to our own John King. He said that he's seriously considering it, still seriously considering it. And that a lot of people are talking to him about it.
Now, Donald Trump has been very critical of President Obama, but again, let's go back to the reality. The fact is Donald Trump is very good at promoting himself. And he's very good at promoting the Trump properties and, you know, what better way to promote it than to say that you perhaps are considering running for president.
You know, there's another New Yorker in the news right now that's not so good. You know, Michael Bloomberg is getting a cold shoulder right now from New Yorkers. The latest New York One Merit poll shows that he's approval rating at 37 percent and the reason being is the mishandling of that recent snowstorm up in New York that really just paralyzed Manhattan.
Now, Michael Bloomberg just a few months earlier was at 50 percent in a Merit's poll and you've got to wonder Kyra, is he hoping for some warmer weather -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And two Republicans participated in a House vote but they had not yet been sworn?
PRESTON: No. They hadn't been sworn in and -- and talk about a big embarrassment. Two Congressmen, Pete Sessions from Texas and Mike Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania were at a reception for some constituents of Fitzpatrick. Now, everybody else is on the House floor and getting sworn in. They happen to be at this reception and when it showed up on the TV they raised their hands and they took the oath virtually.
But guess what, you can't do it that way, the House rules require that you have to be on the House floor to take the oath. Now, they had voted which caused a little bit of concern and a little frustration from House Republicans. And in fact, there was a committee meeting that had to be postponed, a very important committee meeting regarding Republicans' efforts to repeal health care that had to be postponed until they got these congressmen sworn in. So, a little bit of an embarrassment for the House Republicans in the first couple of days of Congress -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: It's going to be an interesting year. Wouldn't you say, Mark?
PRESTON: Absolutely, bring on Snooki, it will even be more interesting.
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly.
All right. We're going to have your next political update in just about an hour but of course you can always get all the political news you need at our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.
A couple's chance to have their baby in a movie turns into a pretty big nightmare. Police say the baby was actually snatched during this phony audition.
But first, "Flashback", January 7th, 1927. Now, think basketball and Harlem Globetrotters. Yes, the iconic team played its first ever road game in the town of Hinckley, Illinois. Over the years, the team featured you know, Curly Neil, Meadowlark Lemon, remember those guys? They entertained audiences in 120 countries and territories across six continents.
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PHILLIPS: Well, scanning our "Morning Passport". In London, there are reports of beefed up security after intelligence suggests terrorists could be planning attacks but authorities are pretty tight- lipped about it right now.
Zain Verjee, following all of this for us from London. So Zain, what can you tell us?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're not getting too much information or details, but what we can tell you, Kyra, according to a security source, that there are plans possibly in the works to attack places like train stations, subway stations here in England, in London and greater London as well; as well as possibly aviation centers, too.
So yes, security's been totally beefed up. You can see police at different tube stations as well as Heathrow airports as well. The threat level was raised from substantial to severe for both aviation as well as London transport.
What -- what one source said us was that there was a possibility that there could be some kind of a Mumbai-style terror attack, so everyone is a little bit nervous, being asked to be vigilant and careful. But what this official told us was that there is no expectation of an imminent attack, but this was mainly precautionary -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Got it. All right, let -- let's turn to Germany. Thousands of poultry and pig farms quarantined apparently. What's going on?
VERJEE: Yes, this is such a huge scandal, Kyra. It's a tainted egg scandal. Basically thousands of farms as you said, in Germany that they're shutting down because there was a situation where animal feed that they were receiving was contaminated.
The company is called Harlis and Yinch and apparently, Kyra, they knew for months that they were sending fatty acids that were basically contaminated with dioxins. Because you see they have a specific level of dioxin that you can't really go above. And they were aware of it and yet they shipped all -- all the animal -- well, the fatty acids out to the farms and have created the situation of contamination.
So, all these places in quarantine now and criminal charges are going to be filed against this company.
PHILLIPS: All right, let's head to Canada. This was a story that that struck us all this morning. This New York woman is actually accused of faking a movie casting call because she wanted to kidnap a baby.
VERJEE: Yes, she is in jail, Kyra, because she came up with this whole elaborate way of stealing a baby. And she put out this casting call for babies and what she said was a Hollywood -- I'm sorry, a Bollywood movie production. And these parents came with their kids.
And what happened was she asked one set of parents, well, can I take your baby to another room and they said, ok, and when she did that, she just took off.
And police did track down the baby. The baby is ok, but I want you to listen to what other parents who were asked to do the same had to say.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At one point, it seemed like her mouth was completely dry, and she was really nervous and she was asking us to separate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just got fed up. Something was fishy.
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VERJEE: Kyra, she is now facing charges of abduction of a minor, so it's a -- a pretty bad situation for someone even to dream up doing something like that for newborn parents.
PHILLIPS: That's pretty sick and also it's a lesson to parents, you don't ever let that baby in anybody else's hands --
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VERJEE: That's right. PHILLIPS: -- without your supervision.
VERJEE: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Zain, thanks.
VERJEE: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
All right, we're working several developing stories in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Brianna Keilar -- Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I'm outside the House Chamber where we're awaiting the first vote on repealing health care reform. It could come as soon as next hour. Debate underway right now, we will be live around the vote.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- the biggest spending cuts for the U.S. military since 9/11. We'll have details at the top of the hour.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Stephanie Elam in New York. So we know unemployment and the rate has gone down, but guess what's going up this year? It's actually good, don't worry guys its good. But I'll tell you that coming up in the next hour -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, ladies.
Well, there's a new addition to the league of superheroes. Meet Electron Boy. He's make a wish dream was granted and he got to save Seattle. Now, the cancer patient's good deeds are immortalized in ink. We're talking to the do-gooder about his new comic book next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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PHILLIPS: well, it's only early January and we've already found the greatest basketball shot you'll probably see ever this year. Jeff Fischel of HLN Sports is here.
I'll tell you what? Before watching this over and over again --
JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: It has totally gone viral. Good morning. Every hoops player knows, time's running out, you've got to get away to get that ball in the basket no matter how far you are away from it.
PHILLIPS: Do whatever you have to do? Say Hail Mary.
FISCHEL: Exactly. Time's running out. So what do you do?
Austin Groff from Twin Valley South High School in Ohio comes up with this incredible shot. Just heave it. It's good.
PHILLIPS: And it was a swish.
FISCHEL: It went right in.
PHILLIPS: It didn't even hit the rim.
FISCHEL: The end of the quarter, he knows time's running out, so just why not? Right? Unbelievable. Watch one guy jump off the bench like as if the team has just like won the entire game. This is just the end of the first quarter. Unfortunately, Groff's team would lose, but that is truly the shot of the early year.
Talk about luck. How about Andrew Luck? The Stanford quarter back was a sure bet to be the number one pick in the NFL draft if he decided to leave college early. But get this, Kyra, he's staying in school.
PHILLIPS: Good.
FISCHEL: He wants to graduate. He doesn't want to turn pro yet. He says one more year and he can get his degree in architectural design, so he's putting it all off including the millions of dollars to come back to Stanford for his senior season.
College football's national championship game is Monday. It's inspiring one big fan to make a bizarre biggest best that's actually a marriage proposal. Ryan Tharpe is confident. He's Oregon Ducks will beat the Auburn Tigers.
How confident? He's posted on Craigslist this ad. It says Oregon fan seeks Auburn hottie for short-term Vegas marriage. His idea, he'll meet the woman in Vegas, they'll get married. And whoever loses the game has to pay for the annulment.
So, he wants to complete -- that's what you get for waking up in Vegas adventure, but doesn't want to wake up asking, do I know you and what did I do?
All right. You have to this though, Maple Leaf's Michael Grabovski -- he's a new dad. His daughter just born last week and he's showing off for the girl.
The spin-o-rama that puts it over for the gold, that wasn't a shootout. Helped the Maple Leafs beat the Blues.
You're looking at the fastest golfer in the world. Check out this guy. He doesn't stop. David Ogron, he holds five Guinness World records. He will tell you, the record's not just his. He owes a lot of credit to his holder, Scott McKinney.
Look at him down there. Scottie's nickname, of course, as you guessed is Speedy. And tonight they go for another world record, 50 shots in 30 seconds. I think they can pull that off based on what I've just seen.
I wonder if the guy who puts down the balls has gotten whacked? I love it.
FISCHEL: That is -- seriously David's work right there.
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PHILLIPS: I love it.
FISCHEL: You need time to (INAUDIBLE).
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Jeff.
FISCHEL: All right, Kyra.
