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Thawing U.S.-China Relations; Rep. Giffords Making Progress; Stocks Set to Fall; Postal Prices to Rise; Lawrence Taylor Pleads Guilty; The Best Cities for Jobs; Face to Face with a Rat; Mt. Etna Lights up Night Sky; Brazil Flooding Kills Over 500
Aired January 14, 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: Hi, guys. 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. Here's the stories that got us talking this morning.
Snow in 49 states. Mudslides in Brazil. Intense flooding in Australia. What in the world is going on with the weather? La Nina and something called the North Atlantic Oscillation. Bonnie Schneider going to explain it all to us.
Actor Peter Fonda discovers a dead body on Sunset Boulevard. Police say the "Easy Rider" star was driving when he saw a body slumped over inside a car and called 911.
I used to be a Leo. But now I'm a Cancer? Some constellation experts say there are now 13 Zodiac signs instead of 12. We're debating the astrological controversy this morning.
Well, in the next hour, Secretary Hillary -- Secretary of State, rather, Hillary Clinton will deliver remarks at the State Department and talk about the future of U.S.-China relations but how do Americans characterize that relationship?
You may remember this ad just before the midterm elections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do great nations fall? The ancient Greeks, the Roman Empire --
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: It was produced by a group troubled by the administration's economic policies but the boogieman, the threat in the ad, was China. There are some in the U.S. who find that threat very real.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't buy China. U.S. made.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of American jobs -- millions have been outsourced to communist China. PETE DOMINICK, JOHN KING, USA'S OFFBEAT REPORTER: Is there anybody here to blame for that? Do you -- how do you feel about that? Are you concerned about that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm very concerned about that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We created our own monster. We kept buying cheap. We don't care who it's from.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A sour relations with China, but is there also a subtext to these China conversations? A hint may have come from Robert Gates. Yesterday he was in Japan talking to its leaders about regional security.
On Tuesday, the defense secretary called North Korea a direct threat to the U.S. and that within five years they could even have a functional missile program. He said that on his visit to China.
Just before the New Year, diplomatic cables from 2009 published by WikiLeaks suggested that China has become frustrated with North Korea. One of their diplomats characterizing Pyongyang as a spoiled child.
And next week Barack Obama will welcome President Hu Jintao for a White House visit. So is it a great deal if this talk -- is it about China? Or a talk about North Korea?
Mike Chinoy with the U.S.-China Institute joining us on the phone from Hong Kong.
So, what do you think the administration is hoping to gain from the visit with the Chinese leader, Mike?
MIKE CHINOY, U.S.-CHINA INSTITUTE: Well, Kyra, U.S.-China relations have gone through a particularly rough patch in the last year or so. There've been tensions on a whole host of issues. The usual longstanding problems about trade and American complaints about the value of China's currency.
But also, bigger strategic questions the United States has seen China sort of throwing its weight around in the region and being unhelpful on important issues that the U.S. worries about, particularly North Korea where Washington thinks the Chinese haven't done enough to rein in the North Koreans.
So I think central to the visit of President Hu Jintao is going to be meetings with President Obama and the hope that the two leaders can kind of to reset the relationship and figure out ways to manage an extremely complex relationship with their many common interests but also an a number of interests that conflict.
PHILLIPS: And so, today one Chinese diplomat said to CNN that maybe the biggest misperception on the U.S. side of China is the so- called China threat. I don't understand why some people in the U.S. always believe that China's posing a threat to the United States.
Now the last thing the U.S. wants is China and North Korea in a united front against the U.S. Bottom line, a major push on the trip. Do you think it's really about squashing North -- the North Korean threat?
CHINOY: I think the administration is going to push China very hard to do more to rein North Korea in. And certainly President Obama and President Hu will be talking about that issue.
Again, it will be very interesting to see whether or not the two can reach some kind of consensus on how to move forward in dealing with the Korean issue because that remains the most potentially dangerous trouble spot in northeast Asia.
But on that there are American concerns about the rise of China but for their part the Chinese feel that their rise is something the United States is not altogether enthusiastic about and the Chinese resent what they see as American attempts to curtail the rise. So there's a lot for the two leaders to figure out.
The most important thing I think is going to be whether they can find a way to agree on how to manage the relationship in all its complexities so that when they run into these trouble spots it doesn't lead to a serious downward spiral.
PHILLIPS: Mike Chinoy, we'll be talking a lot more as we wait for the secretary of state's live press conference.
Mike, thanks so much.
New developments in the deadly shooting rampage in Tucson. A teenager walking his dog may have stumbled across another piece of evidence. A black bag containing ammunition was found abandoned near the home of suspected killer Jared Loughner.
If DNA tests confirm that the bag belonged to Loughner it could help police track his movements before that rampage.
Funeral services will be held later today for another victim. U.S. District Judge John Roll was one of the six people killed. Yesterday services were held for the youngest victim, 9-year-old Christina Green.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is showing more remarkable signs of recovery today. In fact, less than a week after being shot in the head doctor could remove her breathing tube later today.
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is actually Giffords' hospital in Tucson. He gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the medical efforts there to save her life.
And Sanjay, you actually had a conversation with Mark Kelly, Giffords' husband. What did he say about her condition? Because doctors are calling what they have seen so far a miracle. DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, you know, and he doesn't strike -- he doesn't strike me as a kind of guy who's prone to using the word miracle too much, but he did say the word miraculous in terms of talking about specifically her eye opening, which we talked about a couple of days ago, Kyra.
You know he's a remarkable guy. He's an astronaut, as you know. He was in Houston when he got a call from Giffords' chief of staff saying come here to this hospital as quickly as possible. He was able to get access to a plane and was here within 45 minutes and came right as his wife was being wheeled out of surgery and learned the details of what happened to her at this -- at that time from the Dr. Rhee and Dr. Lemole.
Imagine what a plane ride that must have been, Kyra, for him. But he said every single day she has moved forward in some way and that's been such a key part of this for him. She's had no really bad days, no backwards days, he said.
I asked her -- I asked him specifically about when the president visited. I said, did she know the president was there? And he said -- he sort of paused for a second and said, I think she knew the president was there but she was trying to piece together why he was there.
And that gives you a little bit of an idea of how her mind is possibly working. I did ask Dr. Lemole, the chief of neurosurgery, specifically about that issue, as well. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Do you feel that she understands all that has happened to her?
DR. MICHAEL LEMOLE, CHIEF OF NEUROSURGERY: I'm starting to think so.
GUPTA: She knows.
LEMOLE: It's -- it's really -- I was there when the congresswoman and the senator were in the room, and to see her open her eye and look at them, there's just no question in my mind and she's done that for her husband, as well.
Those glimmers of recognition, that tracking of the eyes tells you a whole lot more that she is aware of her surroundings to some extent coming in and out perhaps, and that she's trying to engage that reality, as well.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: She's dangling her legs over the side of the bed now, they say. She's able to move both of her legs. You know, she still has a breathing tube, although it could come out as early as today.
You know, it was pretty remarkable just to see, as you said, Kyra, how the process unfolded here once she got to the hospital here.
PHILLIPS: And now that the talk about taking her breathing tube out. What are they looking for? What are they waiting for? What will this mean? Put it into perspective for us.
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting. A thing about a breathing tube is that it obviously provides breaths through a breathing machine but that's not all it does. It also can help -- you know keep your airway protecting so someone is quite sedated or sleepy still, there are risks of closing off our airway, this keeps it open.
It also helps prevent them from aspirating anything into their lungs. So there's lots of different uses for a breathing. But once they think someone's awake enough, they're conscious enough, they're going to protect their own airway, they can take this out.
Why it's so important besides the fact that it's a step forward, Kyra, is that it may be the first time you can really check her speech. How is she able to communicate? You know is she understanding things and communicating well?
You can't do that when someone has a breathing tube in. So we have a big, important first test.
PHILLIPS: All right. And you also had a chance to visit with some of the other victims, right? How are they doing?
GUPTA: Well, you know, there are four patients still in the hospital over here behind me at University Medical Center. The stories are hard to hear, Kyra. You know, I talked to the patients about specifically what happened, how their recovery has been doing. They're all doing well. A couple more maybe discharged over the weekend.
I talked to Ron Barber. He's a staff member. He -- you know, he had been retired from his previous job, decided to come back to work for the congresswoman, was standing next to her on the day of the shooting, was looking right at her when she was shot, Kyra. He described this in horrific detail.
He subsequently looked at the source of the noise and he himself was shot in the face and shot in the leg and he ended up slumping down to the floor. So he's told me he was literally lying right next to the congresswoman, her back to his front. They're both lying there shot on the floor.
And as he was struggling, still trying to figure out what had just happened, Gabe Zimmermann, who, you know, we've all heard about now, 30-year-old staffer for the Congresswoman Giffords, as well, he said Gabe fell right between them having been shot, as well.
And he said to me, Gabe was so still, I knew that he had died. It was -- you know, I don't know if you're looking at images of Ron now, he's just a kindly, soft-spoken man. It was jarring somewhat to hear these words coming out of him. He said that he was searching for the BlackBerry because all he could think about was calling Gabby's parents, as he put it to me, because they needed to know.
He was that delirious and he was bleeding literally profusely from his leg. It was life threatening and a woman named Anna who you may also see in the video, the one with the longer hair, ran over to him and with her bare hands stopped the bleeding, just putting pressure on that wound. And likely saved his life.
He saw Daniel Hernandez out of the corner of the eye doing the same thing for Congresswoman Giffords.
You know I could go on and on, Kyra. It was just -- it was amazing to hear these stories on what exactly happened.
PHILLIPS: Yes. It's pretty amazing what people will go do to respond in a situation like that.
Sanjay Gupta, so glad you're there bringing us these reports from inside the medical center. Appreciate it so much.
Well, it's been rough for several states dealing with snow and ice this week. And we've got the pictures to prove it.
Check out this virtual ice spout in Independence, Missouri. Broken water pipe sent icy water spewing into the air as temperatures hovered well below freezing yesterday. The ice turned into snow and shut down the street while a snowplow moved in to try and clear that area.
Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider tracking all the frigid weather for us all across the nation now.
Good to see you, Bonnie.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good to see you, Kyra.
You know we're monitoring all of the weather as you mentioned at the top of the hour. We've got floods in Australia and Brazil. Extreme cold and winter weather in the south. It's all related to one weather pattern and it's called La Nina.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Yes, it does. It's been a long week, Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: Yes.
PHILLIPS: All right.
Well, all week we have shown you Atlanta encased in ice and it's basically paralyzed our city. Today, school districts across the metro area are closed for the fifth straight day and that has led to a bit of a controversial decision.
Two districts in north Georgia are calling students back to class on Monday. That's the Martin Luther King national holiday. Fanning and Gilmore Counties have already used nine snow days this year and say they have to make up the lost time somewhere.
Well, some civil rights groups including the NAACP here in the state of Georgia say that decision is an insult to the Georgia icon.
And I'm sure you've got an opinion about this. Do me a favor, go to my twitter page @KyraCNN, tell me what you think. I'll read some of your thoughts in the next hour.
Well, turn or Turin, rather, had the shroud. The Dead Sea had the scrolls and well, Bonduel, Wisconsin has 340-year-old bible. Funny what people find when they open up an old safe.
And the change that a lot of people don't believe in. Changes to the Zodiac. Stars crossed. Signs moved. People who aren't who they thought they were, well, lots of folks calling Taurus on all of this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Lost at sea for nine days, but now found. A 52-year- old Mississippi man is on dry land, finally. His rescue story tops our Cross Country. Josiah Hoffman and his boat, Long Last, went missing January 3rd during a severe storm in the Gulf of Mexico. Hoffman spent nine days adrift before spotting a barge and contacting the Coast Guard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSIAH HOFFMAN, RESCUED AT SEA: When they arrived they looked like angels. I mean, to know that they were going to tow me back, it was -- that was a real relief, because I was think how in the world am I going to get to Mississippi from here?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: He says he's just lucky to be alive.
Glen Ellyn, Illinois, age is just a number for a 39-year-old freshman college basketball player. Jermaine Townes is trying to earn a spot as starting center on the College of DuPage team. Well, the veteran of Desert Storm says he's happy whatever the outcome.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERMAINE TOWNES, 39-YEAR-OLD COLLEGE BASKETBALL PLAYER: Old School. That's what they call me. Let me play on your team for one year, I'll be the biggest cheerleader you ever had on your team.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And if you never end up starting?
TOWNES: I'll be happy. Let me tell you something. I'm happy to be in the crib line. I'm happy to put on the uniform. I'm satisfied already.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: We'll track Old School. Finally, Biblical history made in the small village of Bonduel, Wisconsin. A teacher discovers a 340-year-old Bible inside the safe at the St. Paul Lutheran School. Researchers say the 1500-page Lutheran Bible was printed in Germany in 1670. No word how the Bible even made its way to Wisconsin.
All right. Let's talk about this story that has everyone's horoscope in a wad. The change in the Zodiac signs. That's right. You only think you're a Capricorn. The new chart says you're a Sagittarius and didn't know it. Capricorns go where Aquarians used to be, and so on and son.
Old Ophiuchus messed up everything. It was kicked off the chart a few millennia ago, but scientists brought it back. Lovely name, isn't it? CNN's Jason Carroll is a recovering Virgo, he's now a Leo, and he is covering this story. Jason, I don't even know you anymore.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Did you say "a wad"? Is everyone -- "a wad"?
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: It's got everybody --
CARROLL: For these things?
PHILLIPS: In a wad! It's true. This is the story that everybody's talking about.
CARROLL: It's true, it's true.
PHILLIPS: It's hysterical. People are worried about their relationships, now, their dating situations, how they handle, you know, should they go buy a lottery ticket?
CARROLL: Well, let's just explain it for everyone. Let's start from the beginning. We know that most people out there probably have an idea of what their sign is. But we know now that things are sort of turned around or, as you say, things are "in a wad."
This is all thanks to some of the astronomers at the Minnesota Planetarium Society. They say that the astrological chart most of us are familiar with isn't exactly accurate, because it doesn't account for how the Earth's position has changed over thousands of years.
Now, the Zodiac as we know it is based on a Babylonian chart created, what? Some 3,000 years ago. Astronomers recalculated the dates, taking into account the Earth's position in relation to the sun.
So, we're going to show you once again, let's take a look at how the new chart looks, see if your sign is on there. You know that many of the dates have now changed, and there are also, now, 13 signs.
Scientists, as you pointed out, have restored the good old sign Ophiuchus. The ancients originally had that sign, but they dropped it. You can see it's highlighted there. They dropped it because they only wanted 12 signs, Kyra, not 13.
The whole thing, as you say, has created quite a stir, or a "wad," as you say. The astronomer which released the findings said in a response, take a look. "In science, we deal with a long tradition of fact-based investigation. We are not in the business of interpreting the purported relation between the positions of planets and human affairs."
Well, Kyra, the people who do deal with the human affairs of astrology readings say, hold on. They've known about this for quite some time. Susan Miller is the creator of the popular website astrologyzone.com.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN MILLER, ASTROLOGYZONE.COM: Please don't believe the hype. This is not a new concept. This is not a new discovery. It's something astrologers have been looking at for years and years and years. It's not a new concept. Please believe that. And we have had time to test this, and it doesn't work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Doesn't work. So Miller says many astrologists have already tried using the updated chart, which again accounts for the Earth's changed position, but she says, in general, the consensus is that the readings were not as accurate.
So, what should we do? Some astrologists say you should look at your old sign, look at your new sign, and kind of split the difference. But the purists say you've got to look at the way things have been sort of recalculated. So, I was a Virgo, now I'm a Leo.
PHILLIPS: See, and I did my little research, here, because to tell our viewers, you and I --
CARROLL: Oh, you did?
PHILLIPS: Were friends in college, and we'd hang out and get into trouble now and then.
CARROLL: Yes.
PHILLIPS: We're going back more than two decades, I shall point out. So, I used to be a Leo.
CARROLL: Right.
PHILLIPS: Jason was a Virgo, and that's how we got along so well. So, now, apparently, I'm a Cancer and you're a Leo. And this is what I found out. This is me toward you, now, OK, Jason? "You can certainly make your Leo feel admired and adored, very important to him. However, whether they can feel you feel secure and emotionally connected," very important to me, "may be a larger challenge." We're both very stubborn, now, so it turns -- it looks like we will battle -- CARROLL: That's true.
PHILLIPS: Have a battle of wills, and nobody will win. OK, that kind of makes sense. Now --
CARROLL: No, you would probably win.
PHILLIPS: You think so? You always won in college, though.
CARROLL: Yes.
PHILLIPS: You always got, like, A-plus-pluses, and I was struggling to get that B. Let's not forget Downing's class. I'll never forget it. I'm bitter about that. OK.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: OK, but here's something funny. This is -- this is you toward me.
CARROLL: Uh-oh.
PHILLIPS: "As to other areas of compatibility, your Cancer will admire the way you live life to the fullest." That is so true. "And probably cringe at the bill for doing so." And just to let our viewers know, when we hung out in college, that's right. Jason had to go to Chateau Marmont to get cocktails.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: He had to go to the Ivy on Beverly to do lunch. And the guy would break my bank! That's right. I went broke in college because of Jason.
CARROLL: You know, Kyra? Thanks for putting all my business out there. Thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
CARROLL: You're so --
PHILLIPS: Love you, Jason.
CARROLL: But in this economy, I've cut back. Just so you know.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Yes, you have. And we're still very compatible. You're one of my best buds. Thanks, Jason.
CARROLL: All right, Kyra. I'll see you soon.
PHILLIPS: OK. It's probably a good bet that we will talk more about this throughout the afternoon.
Well, Pope John Paul II on the verge of being named a saint. The Vatican confirming a miracle, saying that the beloved pope cured a sick French nun. So, he's on the fast track towards sainthood. We're looking into that next.
But first, hockey fans may not always be saints, but they chimed in to help a little girl finish the national anthem in Virginia after a technical glitch messed with her mic. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH HUGHES, 8 YEARS OLD (singing): Bursting in air, gave proof --
(AUDIO GAP)
CROWD (singing): That our flag was still there. Oh, say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave o'er the land of the free --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the Vatican has fast-tracked the late Pope John Paul II for sainthood. He will be beatified on May 1st. That means that he'll be among one of the blessed worthy of being venerated.
It comes after the church confirmed his first miracle, saying a French nun was cured of Parkinson's disease after praying to John Paul two months after he died. He's now one step away from sainthood. The Vatican needs evidence of a second miracle, but experts say this process has flown by.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: And in many cases, these procedures actually take centuries. This, obviously, has taken only six and a half years.
In church law, there is a rule that there is supposed to be a five-year waiting period between someone's death and the beginning of a sainthood process. Benedict XVI waved for John Paul II. That was in response both to popular demand -- I mean, you will remember those images during the pope's funeral mass, where you had the crowd chanting, "Santo Subito," meaning "Sainthood now."
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": Right.
ALLEN: Also, the cardinals, before they elected the next pope, actually signed a petition saying whoever the next pope should be should move this forward. So, Benedict did that.
The Vatican will insist, however, that aside from getting rid of the waiting period, they followed the normal process. Now -- and that may well be true, but they obviously followed the normal process much more quickly than is often the case.
And I think that it's because, at the grass roots of the Catholic Church, this is a foregone conclusion. Frankly, if you ask the typical Catholic, the question isn't "why has this happened so fast?" The question is, "Why has this taken so long?"
CHETRY: Why hasn't it happened? Right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, fast-tracking the steps towards sainthood are unusual, but there is some precedent. John Paul himself put Mother Theresa on the fast track to beatification after her death in 1997. She was beatified in 2003.
So, did you ever say to yourself there are no jobs in this town? Maybe it's time to move to Houston, or Minneapolis, one of the cities where the jobs are, according to a new report. We'll run down the list with our Stephanie Elam in just a few minutes.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right, Wall Street coming of a down day and today we're expecting another decline at the start of trading. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. So what the heck is the problem, Alison?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. You know, stocks had been marching steadily higher. In fact, they're reaching highs we haven't seen in two and a half years so, you know, it's not such a huge surprise to see some pullbacks in the markets.
In fact, analysts are saying it's really a good sign that the market is kind of keeping itself in check. Well, today, earnings are in focus and so far so good. We're seeing some signs of economic improvement.
For one, Intel posted its best fourth quarter earnings in its history. JP Morgan Chase posted an almost a 50 percent jump in fourth quarter earnings. The company says it took less of a hit on bad loans, but we've got some disappointing reports out that re weighing on stocks. The Dow right now down 30. The Nasdaq off five.
I know, Kyra, it's almost like every day we hear about the post office raising rates. Well, they're doing it again. They're raising rates on most prices in April, but the good news is the first class stamp stays is going to stay the same as 44 cents, but keep in mind everything else is going up in price. Kyra --
PHILLIPS: OK, Alison. Bummer. We'll talk again coming up in a little bit.
All right. It's about 9:30 in the east. The sun's been up for a few minutes in Tucson, Arizona, and there are new developments in the shooting case that left six people dead and wounded Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. A black bag with ammunition turned up near the home of suspect Jared Loughner. If DNA tests confirm the bag is his, it could help police track the movements just before that rampage.
Lawrence Taylor, the former NFL star, pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute. Well, he claimed the woman told him she was 19. She was really 16. Taylor avoided jail time and got six years probation. He also must register as a sex offender.
Martha Stewart has got nine stitches in her lip thanks to her little French bulldog. Stewart knelt down to tell her good-bye. Well, the dog apparently got startled, jumped up and headbutted Stewart right in the face.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New survey just came out. In a new survey, employers say the worst mistake that a job applicant can make is chewing gum or underdressing. Yes, that's the worst. Also not a great idea, picking up a framed picture of the boss' daughter off his desk and saying "Mind if I keep this?"
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: That doesn't work? That's good to know. Thanks, Conan.
Here's something else good to know, the best cities to find jobs, Stephanie Elam has the list. Steph, tell us about it.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, for a lot people out there, they want to know, OK, so where are the jobs? Maybe you're in an away we go moment seeing that movie, picking up moving to a new city.
So we have some answers for you. Moody's Analytics and monster.com compiled a list of cities where hiring is picking up. The first on the list, like you said, Kyra, Houston. Oil and gas exploration is a huge growing industry right now and it's bringing jobs and the booming energy sector means related industries like shipping and manufacturing also going to get a boost, as well.
So now from there, let's move on up to the Pacific Northwest and hit Portland. It's a growing industry there for technology, moving there. Intel, the chip computer giant maker, well, obviously, they are planning to do more there, up there. Planning to build a new research and development facility and that could mean 6,000 construction jobs and 800 high paying manufacturing jobs so really crossing just the whole spectrum of jobs there.
The next place we have to talk about is where they're partying like it's 1999 is Minneapolis. Moody's says half the white collar jobs lost in the recession are actually back in that city and strong areas there are manufacturing and also leisure and hospitality. I hear that is one great city to visit. I've heard that many times. I haven't been there. The retail sector there, too, Kyra, Mall of America is undergoing a major expansion that could also bring some jobs.
PHILLIPS: We definitely want that. Now, what do you think? Any surprises on this list?
ELAM: You know, one city that is pretty surprising because it's known pretty much for one reason -- tourism. That's Orlando, Florida and you know, because of the fact that people saw vacations as something they just couldn't do during the recession, now's starting to come back.
The metro area currently has nearly 12 percent unemployment, yet it's on the list for 2.5 percent job growth this year. Moody's said tourism is going to lead the city's recovery and because of the fact that people feel a little bit better about their situation about the economy, vacations are back in people's plans for this year.
Case in point, the new Harry Potter Entertainment Complex, it just opened in June. They haven't told us, they won't tell us how many people they've hired so far, but they say they always have openings there and then the last place to look at right now, the nation's capital, Washington, D.C.
They're hiring and it's not the government we are talking about hiring. It's office jobs, contractors, leisure and hospitality, all things to spring up to be close to the government and related to that just outside of government jobs and good news for the nation's capital, as well.
PHILLIPS: Love hearing that good news. Thanks.
Still ahead, dramatic rescues after massive flooding in Brazil. We're going to show you more of this compelling video in your morning "Passport."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: OK. It's really hard to believe that that is real. When you don't live in New York, but if you live in New York, you know exactly what's going on here. This really happened.
A rat actually scampered around a New York subway and then it came face to face with this one passenger who had dozed off. More than a half million people have watched this video go viral now on Youtube.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got to see this. A video is posted online this week of a rat crawling over a guy that fell asleep on the subway. Yes, the video was shot by a guy that didn't help a dude who had a rat crawling only him in the subway!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Exactly. Point well made. What the heck?
Well, Michael Steele is seeking a second term to head the Republican National Committee, but he faces a challenge for that post. Let's talk about the RNC meeting in Maryland that's going on.
Our senior political editor Mark Preston is there and he's, of course, watching this very closely. So, Mark, a lot of people should be interested in what's going on inside this meeting.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: They should, Kyra. Look. This is inside politics at its best, which going to play out over the next few hours is we're going to have Republican activists across the country pick the new leader of the Republican National Committee. Why is this important?
It's important because this person is going to be responsible for not only raising hundreds of millions of dollars to try to defeat President Barack Obama in 2012, but this person will be the face of opposition to President Obama and the White House.
The reason being you have Republicans on Capitol Hill, Kyra, who made big gains in November, but they've made big gains on the idea that they would legislate and then you will have a whole handful of potential candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination.
They're going to be running against each other for that so what we'll see here, Kyra, is we'll see these activists choosing the next leader, perhaps for the next two years of the opposition to the Obama administration.
PHILLIPS: You know, we've talked about this a lot over the past couple of years. Michael Steele has had serious missteps. He's made some gaffes, but Republicans did real well in 2010. So, why do you think he's still being challenged?
PRESTON: Well, you know, Kyra, it is an excellent question, and there are a couple of reasons. One is there is those in the Republican party that think that Michael Steele was more concerned about getting press for himself that he enjoyed being on TV and not really involved in the nuts and bolts of trying to build the party.
Part of that nuts and bolts is raising money and the criticism that Michael Steele did not do enough to reach out to those really deep pocketed donors to try to do so. Now, Michael Steele can make the argument that in fact he was part of the Republican-winning machine.
They won Ted Kennedy's seat up in Massachusetts. They took back the governorships in Virginia and New Jersey. They took back the House of Representatives in November and made gains in the Senate.
So that's what we'll hear from Michael Steele today. We've heard that over the past couple of weeks and a lot's riding on the line for his political future, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I'll keep checking in with you and see how that meeting goes. Mark, thanks.
A major eruption. Mt. Etna roars back to life. We'll show you more of the spectacular pictures.
Also, ahead, $20 million, $30 million homes, even $100 million. Multi-million dollar homes back on the market. Who the heck is buying them?
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PHILLIPS: Well, scanning our "Morning Passport," Mt. Etna erupts lighting up the night sky in Italy. These stunning pictures were sent to us by iReporter Shawn McCarthy. The volcano roared to life Tuesday sending lava down the side.
Mt. Etna towers miles above the town of Catania in the island of Sicily and it's a largest active volcano in Europe. So far it doesn't look like Etna is threatening any lives.
That's not the case in Brazil. Hundreds of people have been killed by the massive flooding there.
Zain Verjee joining us live from London with more on that -- Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kyra. Non-stop rain, that's what's been going on over in Brazil; 14 days straight and more than 500 people have been killed. About 5,000 families have been evacuated.
But the rain, Kyra, is basically washing away the river banks and causing these incredible mudslides. Just take a look at this dramatic video. Probably the -- the -- the most dramatic I've seen all day out of Brazil.
If you take a look you see this woman, she's holding on to her dog, Kyra. And she's perched up in a -- on a -- on a -- as -- as the river basically crumbles below her. She is thrown a rope in that picture and she holds on to it and has to release the dog and then she gets pulled up through a balcony. Look at that.
Kyra, has been really criticized for not having an effective disaster response and even for letting so many homes being built in areas that they know is susceptible to mudslides but that was a really -- a really disturbing picture but it really captures the sense of the desperation in Brazil.
PHILLIPS: Yes and to see -- you know, seeing her grab for that rope and trying to keep dog with her and then she realized she was not going to be able to hold on. And had to let the dog go and they pulled her up.
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VERJEE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: I just can't even imagine.
Italy's Prime Minister Berlusconi, oh boy. VERJEE: It continues -- this investigation into the sex case --
PHILLIPS: Yes, just -- I know.
VERJEE: -- oh, I know, if you know, if it's not one thing it's the next thing for the Italian Prime Minister. Silvio Berlusconi now under investigation, suspected of abuse of office and involvement in underage prostitution.
Now, what's been happening is that -- he's been accused of using his office to try and get this young Moroccan teenager that was detained at a police station on suspicion of theft released. And they're saying that you abused your power and what were you doing in this -- involved with this underage woman, anyway.
So the Berlusconi lawyers have basically said that this is absurd, it's totally unfounded. Not true. But it's still grabbing the spotlight and it doesn't make him look good. He's 73 -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Yes and he doesn't seem to keep himself out of trouble, either.
VERJEE: No.
PHILLIPS: All right.
Super duper rich buying and selling homes. Unbelievable how much they're paying. It definitely says something to -- to all of us about the economy, yes?
VERJEE: Yes. Right. I mean, it's for the super duper rich. And you may be interested in this, Kyra. If you are in the market for a $5 million plus home you may be interested.
People are actually snapping these kinds of homes up; $19 million here, $23 million there, $15 million you know in other places like L.A., Kyra and England as well. People buying these luxury homes.
The buyers are apparently from places like India, Brazil. There are many other places, too in the Fareast as well as traditional markets like the U.K. and the U.S. And you know what the problem is, Kyra? That there's not actually enough supply of these kinds of luxury homes.
It turns out that the people buying these kinds of places don't have them as primary residences. They are just sort of places they can swing by for, you know, one -- that odd second weekend in the month or maybe just have it there as an investment.
So those are good problems to have -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: As you and I both well know we won't be purchasing a home anywhere near $5 million.
VERJEE: I know. No, no.
PHILLIPS: Zain Verjee, we enjoy our humble little abodes. Thanks, Zain.
VERJEE: We sure do. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, from the Department of State, Secretary Hillary Clinton getting ready to deliver remarks on U.S.-China relations. As part of the inaugural Richard Holbrooke Annual lecture, the Secretary's speech will present the administration's broad vision of U.S./China relations in the 21st century.
Now, the speech is setting the stage for the upcoming state visit of Chinese president Hu Jintao. That's going to happen next Wednesday and also ironically Richard Holbrooke's memorial service is today.
But first, "Flashback" January 14th 1970, Diane Ross and the Supremes' "Stop in the Name of Love" and took their final bow, as a group at the Frontier Hotel in Vegas. The original three featured Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson. They began in the late 1950s in Detroit as (INAUDIBLE) and moving to the top of the charts during the 1960s and earning worldwide acclaim as we know as one of Motown's best.
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PHILLIPS: And we are waiting for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to step up to mic -- to the mic there at the State Department. She's going to be delivering remarks this morning on U.S./China relations getting ready for the Chinese president to arrive this Wednesday.
As soon as she steps up to the mic, we'll take it live.
And we're following lots of developments for you in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know Demi Moore played her in the movie "G.I. Jane" but could "G.I. Jane" really be coming to the U.S. military? We'll have that story in the next hour.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. What does Gabrielle Giffords have in common with Maury Hernandez (ph), a police officer in Florida? Both took bullets in the brain and Officer Hernandez has some advice for Giffords and her family. I'll have that at the top of the hour.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER: I'm meteorologist, Bonnie Schneider. We're tracking a fall-out for the southeast. More cold temperatures and snow to shovel out for the northeast and unfortunately the threat for flooding and mudslides continues for the Pacific Northwest. That's all coming up in weather.
PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, ladies.
We'll take a quick break, more from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, Lebron James said it was karma after his old team lost by 55 points the other night. Jeff Fischel from HLN's Sports here. It looks like Lebron is learning a lot about karma isn't he?
JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: He sure is, you know, his old team the Cavs they're like the worst team in the league, don't give them a hard time, right? He tweeted karma is a "b". The next night after that tweet, he hurt his ankle and the Heat lost. And it just keeps getting worse.
Last night first with the Nuggets, Lebron's ankles still hurting. In fact he didn't play. Look at J.R. Smith, though, for the Nuggets. The incredible lay-up. The Heats go down with the Nuggets by 28. In fact they're 0-2 since that tweet. That's karma for you.
Bizarre basket -- Timberwolves in white, Wizards in that bluish color. The T-Wolves' Darko Milicic on the jump ball tips to his teammate, but actually it goes right in the baskets. He gave away a two for the other team, but it turns out the Wizards -- or the Timberwolves wouldn't need it. They would still go on to win.
Magic and Thunder: It was Magic big man Dwight Howard, bringing the thunder. Look at the alley-oop for the big man. Dwight Howard throws it down. Not enough though. The Magic would lose to the Thunder by one.
All right. No surprise here. Heisman trophy winner Cam Newton says he's turning pro. After you win a Heisman and a national championship, what else do you have left to prove, right? The Auburn quarterback is expected to be drafted in the first round which means yes, he'll soon be a multi-millionaire.
Ok Kyra, check this out. Professional golfer -- bowler, Josh Galen (ph), he's a professional, he lost the ball. Don't give up on it, though. All the pins go down on the next lane. It's a strike kind of. Let's see what happens. Bang, they all go down. Sadly for him, he doesn't get credit for it. It was the wrong lane.
PHILLIPS: Zippo. Wrong way.
Who was it -- wrong way -- who was the football player that ran the wrong way?
FISCHEL: Took off, all the way.
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. Oh, my goodness. Bad karma.
FISCHEL: There you go, exactly.
PHILLIPS: Have a great weekend, Jeff.
FISCHEL: You, too.
