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Giffords 'Improving Every Day'; Retracing Loughner's Steps; Tucson Supermarket Reopens; Tragedy's Political Impact; Tunisia President Flees; U.S. Scraps Virtual Border Fence; Children at Risk; Giffords' Staffer Played Dead; Public Places, Personal Safety; Three U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq; War Widow Told to Pay Up; Subway Rat and Cute Opossum Grab Headlines; New Video of Loughner Released
Aired January 15, 2011 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning from the CNN Center. I'm Martin Savidge in for T.J. Holmes. Thanks very much for joining us this morning.
Closed signs come down at the site of that deadly shooting in Tucson one week after the tragedy, but it's not business as usual there. A live report is just seconds away.
The Homeland Security Department says it's tearing down a virtual fence along the border with Mexico. We'll tell you why.
And then a dramatic power shift in Tunisia -- a new leader takes the helm as the former president flees. That story is just ahead.
It may be a step in the healing process. The Tucson, Arizona supermarket that was the site of last Saturday's shooting rampage reopened this morning; an attempt to get back to business as usual in a city that's still grieving for its dead and for its wounded.
Coming up in just a minute we'll have a live report from Thelma Gutierrez who is live on the scene.
Meanwhile, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords continues to recover from the wounds that she suffered in last week's attack. Her husband says her condition has been improving every day and doctors say that she is making all the right moves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MICHAEL LEMOLE, CHIEF OF NEUROSURGERY, UMC: Her eyes that we described being open is -- that -- that kind of occurrence is more frequent at this time. And we can even think that she is beginning to carry out more complex sequences of events, more complex sequences of activity, in response to our commands or even spontaneously.
So we're very encouraged that she's continuing to make all the right moves in the right direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Giffords is one of four people still hospitalized after that rampage and the only one in critical condition. The other three are listed in good condition.
Funeral services were held yesterday for one of six people killed in last week's rampage, federal judge John Roll, about 2,000 mourners attended including former Vice President Dan Quayle. Quayle carried a personal note from former President George H.W. Bush, who nominated Roll to the federal bench in 1991.
Arizona's two U.S. Senators also attended the mass and they plan to introduce legislation putting Roll's name on a federal courthouse that's under construction right now in Yuma, Arizona.
So many questions remain about what drove the shooter to gun down a Congresswoman and 18 other people. But there's no disputing what the man accused of the crime did leading up to the attack.
CNN's Randi Kaye has compiled a timeline.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The night before the shooting, 11:35 p.m. Friday, investigators tracking Jared Loughner's last steps say he drops off a roll of 35 millimeter film to be developed at Walgreens.
(on camera): Less than an hour later, 12:29 a.m. Saturday, Loughner checks into this Motel 6, he shows an ID and pays by credit card, activity on his electronic room key shows he went in and out of the room several times during the night.
(voice-over): 2:19 a.m., Loughner returns to Walgreens to pick up his developed photos.
(on camera): 2:34 a.m., Loughner makes a purchase at this Chevron station's convenience store, he buys a donut, a soft drink and some energy bars. The security camera captures Loughner on video. Before he leaves, he uses the pay phone.
(voice-over): Less than two hours later, 4:12 a.m., Loughner posts a message on his MySpace page, it reads, "Good-bye, friends" and contains a photo developed earlier at Walgreens.
6:12 a.m., Loughner makes a purchase at Wal-Mart. Nine minutes later, 6:21 a.m., he's at Circle K to buy something else.
It's now just about three hours before the shooting. 7:04 a.m. Loughner makes his first attempt to buy ammunition at Wal-Mart. The store clerk keeps him waiting because he's behaving strangely. So at 7:27 a.m., Loughner goes to another Wal-Mart, where he buys ammunition and a diaper bag, which is similar to a backpack.
(on camera): 7:34 a.m. Saturday, now just about two and a half hours from the time of the shooting, Jared Loughner is stopped for running a red light just a few miles from the Safeway supermarket. An officer with the Arizona Game and Fish Department checks his license and registration. He sees there are no outstanding warrants and lets Loughner go with a warning. Around 8:00 a.m., back at Loughner's parents' house, his father confronts him about a black bag he's carrying. Investigators say Randy Loughner asks his son what's inside the bag and where he's taking it. They say Loughner mumbles something and takes off into the desert. His father chases him in his truck but doesn't catch him.
(on camera): More than an hour later at 9:30 a.m., Loughner calls a taxi to pick him up here at this Circle K convenience store. Authorities say the taxi arrives at 9:41 and takes him to the Safeway supermarket. It is now just minutes before the shooting.
(voice-over): At 9:54 a.m., the taxi arrives at the Safeway. The driver and Jared Loughner go inside the supermarket to get change for the fare. One minute later, 10:00 a.m., Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords arrives for her Congress on the Corner event here.
A few minutes later, Loughner asks a member of the Congresswoman's staff to speak with her. He's told to wait in a line of about 20 people. He does so, but then exits the line and walks quickly towards the Congresswoman. At 10:10 a.m., investigators say Jared Loughner opens fire.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: The youngest victim was, of course, 9-year-old Christina Green, born on 9/11. She was laid to rest Thursday. Her father says that's when the family learned that some of her organs were donated to a little girl in Boston.
He also told our Susan Candiotti, he and his wife would like to meet that little girl some day to quote, "give her a big hug."
As we told you, that Tucson Arizona supermarket that was the site of last Saturday's shooting rampage reopened this morning.
And CNN's Thelma Gutierrez joins us live from the scene -- Thelma.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, I can tell you, that there were two baskets here right in front of the front door of the Safeway. And there was a big sign that said "Safeway Temporarily Closed." And then about 7:00 this morning, two of the managers walked out, they took that sign down and they moved those carts and allowed the first employees to walk through that front door.
I talked to some of the employees. They said it was cathartic to walk through this area where this terrible tragedy had happened, where they had seen these -- these terrible sights and -- and heard these terrible sounds, but to walk through those doors, to go back to work and to get back to the sense of normalcy.
You can see, Martin, just right to my right, a memorial right in front of the Safeway. Flowers, the "Giffords for U.S. Congress", that signed, someone just came and put that up. We have seen a steady flow of customers come into the store and many had stood at that memorial and they -- they've sat and they've reflected for a moment, then they quietly walked away.
Coming up a little bit later in the hour, there will be a moment of silence within the store. They'll announce it on the PA and all the employees and all the customers will bow their heads and -- and take that moment of silence to remember all the victims.
SAVIDGE: Thank you, Thelma.
Yes, it's nice to see the doors open again. But there is still a lot of very strong emotions, as you say.
GUTIERREZ: Right.
SAVIDGE: Thanks very much. We'll check back with you.
CNN senior political analyst, David Gergen predicts that the Arizona shooting will change the political tone in Washington, starting with the health care debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: As the Republicans in the House of Representatives debate the health care bill, my expectation is their arguments will be more tempered than they would have been otherwise. I think there will be less demonization. Sure, they're going to disagree with the health care bill, that's what they ran on.
But I think they will do it in a more tempered way. And I do think the President has opened the way now to a new conversation that he can continue in his "State of the Union" in -- in a ways that can bring people together and perhaps institutionalize more bipartisanship and more bipartisan meetings, meetings at Camp David and the like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: David Gergen there.
A virtual border fence that's cost a billion dollars; the Homeland Security Department now says they're getting rid of it. Find out why after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: President Obama is urging calm in Tunisia. The close U.S. ally in -- in North Africa is forming a new government after weeks of street protests. Its president of 23 years fled to Saudi Arabia with his family. Tunisia's parliament spokesman or speaker rather has been sworn in as the interim president and he's calling for elections in 60 days.
Our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman is in the capitol of Tunis and he joins us on the telephone. Ben, what's the situation on the streets now? BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, right now, the dust to dawn curfew has gone into effect about seven minutes ago. And there's very little movement in the street. In fact, even the daylight hours, there was no curfew, there were very few people going out because the situation is so fluid.
Mostly in the street, you see Army soldiers, policemen and tanks, there are armored personnel carriers, no civilian cars, by and large driving in the central part of the capitol. People were out looking for food, most stores are closed, bakeries aren't working; they're looking for just about anything you can buy. There's a lot of people selling eggs on this street.
But the situation is very unstable as I said there. A little while ago, about an hour ago, there was a burst of gunfire, probably soldiers firing on looters. Looting seems to be increasingly a problem, not just in Tunis but other parts of the country as well.
By and large, it looks like the job of maintaining order is not been completely done by the Army and the police -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Ben, I'm wondering, we know that the Speaker has been sworn in. But do we really know who's in control of that country right now?
WEDEMAN: Well, at best, you could say the Army and the police. The civilians have gone through the motions of putting together a new government. We have an interim president right now. But the -- the real job is being done by the armed forces and security forces, which in many of these countries, are the real power behind this throne.
It's widely believed here that the former president Ben Ali had simply become too much of a liability because of corruption, because of dissatisfaction with the economy, that the intelligence and the Army leaders simply decided that it was time for him to go.
So it can't -- it can't really be said there was a revolution here. It looks like the popular movement brought down the president, but it didn't bring down the regime -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Ben Wedeman in the capital of Tunisia. Thanks very much for the update. Obviously a curfew in effect as darkness has set in.
In Brazil, flooding has killed more than 500 people. The floodwaters have swept through the mountainous areas in Rio de Janeiro, or at least that state (ph). Torrential rains hit the region at the beginning of the year and rescuers have not been able to reach many hard hit areas.
And with thousands of families living on mountain slopes or river banks, authorities say they face an extreme risk of being washed away. The region has been declared a disaster area. So many people have lost their lives, schools and police stations are now being used as makeshift morgues. Time now for a cross-country look at some the other stories our affiliates are covering.
In Florida, a fugitive is back in custody after 30 years on the run. Authorities say Ian McDonald faked a heart attack in 1980 while being held in South Florida. At that time, he was awaiting extradition to Canada on drug charges.
Chaotic scenes in Aurora, Colorado after a bank robbery; police say two heavily armed men walked into that bank, disarmed the security guard, someone in the bank alerted police. And as the men were leaving, officers chased them down an alley. One of the suspects was shot and the other was arrested a few blocks away.
In Idaho, a woman who split the second biggest jackpot in U.S. history may have to split her winnings again with her estranged husband. Holly Lahti won $190 million in this month's mega millions jackpot. Josh Lahti says he found out about his wife's good fortune from la reporter. And attorney says under Idaho law, if the couple hasn't divorced, he could claim half of the money.
The U.S. is scrapping its costly and controversial virtual fence along the border of Mexico. It is a high-tech surveillance system designed to reduce smuggling. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says it has been riddled with technical problems, schedule delays and cost overruns since its inception in 2005. So far, it has cost nearly a billion to cover just 53 miles in Arizona.
Napolitano says the new plan will be tailored to specific regions using drones, mobile surveillance and thermal imaging. It will also include successful elements of the old system like optical sensor towers.
CNN's Anderson Cooper talked to a former Bush homeland security adviser and a CNN national security contributor, Frances Townsend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": Fran, the virtual fence though, I mean it couldn't effectively police 53 miles of a 2,000-mile border. Janet Napolitano though says she wants to still use some of the technology from this fence going forward. Is that a good idea?
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the problem is she says that, Anderson, but there is nothing in the statement. There are no specifics. What we do know is we have gotten a lot more experience based on our troops being in Afghanistan and Iraq in very difficult terrains, about how to use technologies to supplement and to support the people on the ground.
Hopefully, we're going to bring those technologies to bear our southwest border but her statement doesn't say that. And so people are going to be rightly skeptical having frankly wasted almost a billion dollars, why should we have more confidence? I think the department is going to have to prove to Congress and the American people that they now know how to effectively manage these programs and spend tax dollars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Senator Joe Lieberman, who chairs the senate homeland security committee, praised Napolitano's decision. He says the administration's new tailored approach is wiser and hopefully cost more effective.
Michael Steele is out as the chairman of the Republican National Committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL STEELE, FORMER CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I will step aside because I think the party is ready for something different. At this time, I release my supporters. I thank you for the opportunity to serve and to lead. And now, I exit stage right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Steele was plagued by controversy and criticism even though he presided over the GOP regaining control of the house. Wisconsin GOP chairman, Reince Priebus was elected the new chairman yesterday. Priebus says one of his first tasks will be retiring the more $21 million in debt from last year's election.
Ron Reagan says his father may have been showing signs of Alzheimer's as early as his first term. He makes that connection in a new book saying he had, quote, "the first shivers of concern three years into Ronald Reagan's presidency". President Reagan disclosed that he had Alzheimer's in 1994, that's five years though after leaving office.
Maine's Republican Governor Paul LePage had these choice words for the state's NAACP after they questioned his decision not to attend an MLK day event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. PAUL LEPAGE (R), MAINE: They invited me to go to the state prison to meet black prisoners. I told them I would go, I'd be more than happy to go but I would meet all prisoners. And they didn't -- that wasn't acceptable to them, so tough luck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your response to them saying it's more than just one instance but rather a pattern?
LEPAGE: Tell them to kiss my butt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: The governor's got a reputation for blunt language; during his campaign for governor, LePage faced fire when he said he would tell President Obama, quote, "to go to hell" if he was elected. LePage later said he regretted the bluntness of those words. Top stories now: three American troops have been killed today in Iraq, two of them in Mosul in the northern part of the country. An Iraqi official says two Iraqi soldiers opened fire, killing the two Americans and wounding a third. Another U.S. troop was killed in central Iraq.
In Brisbane, Australia, tough days ahead for thousands of flood victims; with the high waters starting to recede, they face a massive cleanup effort. The flooding has killed at least 16 people.
The rhythm and blues star, perhaps best known for her soulful ballad "At Last", reportedly is suffering from leukemia and dementia. The "Los Angeles Times" says that Etta James is being treated at home. The paper says her husband and sons are fighting a legal battle over her $1 million in savings. All parties say their only concern is making sure that James receives proper medical care.
"PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT" premiers this Monday, his first guest will be Oprah Winfrey. After their sit-down Oprah told CNN it was one of the toughest interviews in 20 years. Catch it Monday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
The U.S. government wants your kids to eat their veggies. That could help stop a lot of health problems in young people. We'll hear from the co-author of "Eat and Beat Diabetes".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: Uncle Sam is playing mom and wants school children to eat their veggies. The government is proposing new tougher guidelines for school lunch programs to tackle an epidemic of childhood obesity.
Here's what the USDA wants to do: increase the availability of fruits, vegetables and grains; set strict calorie guidelines; and cut the amount of sodium and saturated fat. Here's why. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost one-third of American children ages 6 through 19 are obese. That poses an increased risk for a variety of health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.
Earlier, I talked to Dr. Howard Shapiro, he's the co-author of "Eat and Beat Diabetes".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOWARD SHAPIRO, CO-AUTHOR, "EAT AND BEAT DIABETES": A book that says you can eat and beat diabetes because most of the time when people are diagnosed with diabetes, they think they can't eat anything. We're showing you, you can it. And it's for everybody.
Anybody that's overweight is at risk for diabetes. The guidelines in this book and the information in this book pertain to anyone wanting to lose weight.
SAVIDGE: All right. But let's talk about the government's guidelines and this new outline that they have put out there. What do you think of this?
SHAPIRO: Well, it's a great idea, especially for kids because kids are pushing the curve up for diabetes and kids are obese. And their obesity is the problem.
If you get diabetes before the age of 40, you're going to lose 11 to 14 years of your life. Kids are getting it at 11 and 12 years old now.
Here's the point. You're saying eat more fruit and vegetables. It's great because fiber fights diabetes, fiber nutrients fights diabetes. They're saying eat heart healthy fat, get away from saturated fat. That's great. And they're saying to lose weight, lose weight's the first attack against diabetes. So it's really a good idea to do this and it's about time.
SAVIDGE: All right. Well, you have a wonderful lay-out of food here. Let's take a look at some of the food you think is good for children.
SHAPIRO: Yes. These are some of the demonstrations that I have in this book. And what we're showing you is food saboteurs today, things you think are great for diet, and they suck you in and they're wrong.
For example, sugar-free cookies.
SAVIDGE: Right. I would think great.
SHAPIRO: You think, great because they're sugar-free and why not have instead of six, why not have seven or eight or ten because they're sugar-free? But in that six sugar-free cookies, you had six teaspoons of starch that acts just like fat -- I'm sorry -- just like sugar and you have three pats of butter which is in the cookie. That much fat in the cookies, that much starch in the cookies, sugar-free doesn't mean a lot there. And you're going to be in trouble.
Snacks -- OK. 100 calories.
SAVIDGE: Can I just back you up on the cookies?
SHAPIRO: Sure.
SAVIDGE: Would I be better off eating regular cookies?
SHAPIRO: Yes, you would. You know why? Because you would eat one or two, you know you had something that was high caloric and you stop. This allows you to eat some in the morning and some in the afternoon and you eat them because you think that they're good.
100-calorie snack foods; that is the portion for 100 calorie snack. That's not a lot. With these muffins, these are tiny. Each one of these plates has 100 calories. If you have 100 calories there that may not be that's not enough so why not have another little bag and another one later in the day.
The point here is that if you have one package of 100-calorie cookies everyday you're going to add 10 pounds to your in a year.
SAVIDGE: So it's the same thing. Kind of like those cookies.
SHAPIRO: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
SHAPIRO: And now we're fat-free muffin -- fat-free muffin is 520 calorie; you have that much sugar in it. It's fat-free, you've got sugar, you've got starch, it's not healthy. In place of it, you can have this entire meal. This entire meal is 200 calories less. It has whole-grain waffles. It has the fruit, soy sausage, much healthier, much better and you're saving yourself a couple hundred calories.
SAVIDGE: All of this.
SHAPIRO: All of that.
SAVIDGE: Wow.
SHAPIRO: A fifth of a bacon cheeseburger, 210 calories or a whole veggie burger for 210 calories. If you had that whole burger it would be over 1,000 calories. So you're better off having the veggie burger. It's healthier. It's better and that's what you can have if you went the other way.
And my favorite -- my favorite is a carrot cake because that's 820 calories.
That piece of cake, 820; you have a cup of coffee, you eat that piece of cake. You think it's like the size of a brownie, nothing. That much starch, 16 -- 16 teaspoons of starch; that much fat, 9 1/2 pats of butter. Let me just show you something, this has 13 teaspoons of sugar. And this is what 13 teaspoons of sugar look like in that one piece of cake.
SAVIDGE: You're frightening me.
SHAPIRO: If you think you're getting a bargain with a carrot cake, you're wrong.
There are a couple of dos and don'ts for kids, for parents. One is, don't make food a bargaining chip because we don't want you to bargain with your parents. Don't pressure your kids about their appearance and don't judge your children.
There are a couple of dos. Set the time limits for the video, set an example in your own home because that's the most important part. Listen to your own kids, they'll come home and they'll tell you if somebody called them a nickname, that's the time to step in.
So we're addressing kids today, this book is about everyone. And parents shouldn't think that baby fat's cute, it's not.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SAVIDGE: That's Dr. Howard Shapiro.
Suppose for a moment that you were there when the gunfire started in Tucson. What would you do to protect yourself? We'll have some advice, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: We are still hearing harrowing stories from last week's Tucson shootings. One of Representative Gabrielle Giffords wounded staffers returned to work yesterday. Pam Simon discussed her ordeal with CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Were you scared? I mean, did you understand what had happened?
PAM SIMON, WOUNDED GIFFORDS AIDE: I don't remember the emotion of fear at all. I just remembered kind of survival instincts kicking in. I laid very still and played dead. I didn't know if he was still around. I checked to make sure my fingers and toes were working so I knew that I wasn't paralyzed. I didn't know how badly I had been shot or how many times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: How would you react or actually, how should you react in a situation like the Tucson shootings. CNN Brian Todd takes a look at what people are saying.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As he tried to reload, authorities say the suspect was tackled by two men while this woman a diminutive 61-year-old named Patricia Maisch made another critical move.
PATRICIA MAISCH, GRABBED MAGAZINE CARTRIDGE FROM SHOOTER: He was laying right next to me. I was able to go up and take the magazine away from him. He had pulled it out of his pocket. It was on the ground. He dropped it. I was able to get it before he did.
TODD: Experts say it's clear those actions saved lives. We asked them about the best way to minimize casualties in those crucial moments.
(on camera): What do you do in a public area in a chaotic situation. I'm here with Bill Pickle. He's a former Senate sergeant at arms and a special agent in charge the vice presidential protective division of the U.S. Secret Service. He guarded Vice President Al Gore for a number of years.
Bill, let's say we're in this open plaza and there could be a shooter over by where these trees are or beyond them, what's the best instinct to drop and roll or maybe take cover behind a pillar here and then take off? What do you do?
WILLIAM PICKLE, FORMER SECRET SERVICE SPECIAL AGENT: Well, I think you answered part of it. It's instinctive. Everyone reacts differently. But if you're out in an area like this and you hear a shot or some type of violent action, the most immediate reaction is you freeze and then you want to flee.
You either want to take cover and/or flee. Someone without any type of training to handle the situations, it's best to leave the area as quickly as possible. Don't stay there and make yourself a target.
TODD (voice-over): What about protecting yourself with your own gun? In the wake of the Tucson shootings, at least two members of Congress said they will start packing when they return to their home districts.
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ, (R) UTAH: I was a concealed carry permit holder before I was in Congress. I've continued with that practice and I will probably make it even more regular in my routine moving forward. It's just a personal security thing for me. I think it's a smart thing.
TODD: And Democratic Congressman Heath Shuler is encouraging his staffers to get their own concealed carry permits.
PICKLE: You're going to have to ensure that they have gun safety, firearms training and they have to have some kind of training in how to handle stressful or dangerous situations. That's a tall order for a young staff person.
TODD: Congressman Shuler and Jason Chaffetz both say they've received threats in the recent past. Chaffetz is planning to introduce legislation calling for U.S. Marshalls to protect members of Congress when they return to their home districts.
Contacted by CNN, an official with the Marshals would not comment on that other than to say that would require significant funding.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: The eastern U.S. is warming up, but in the Pacific Northwest, threats of flooding, Reynolds Wolf is up next with your weekend forecast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: A week ago, Atlanta was preparing for the ice age. Now a new week almost here and different weather.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, as though the age for glaciations is over. Yes, we can say good-bye to the wooly mammoths and what not. Tell you what, things are going to start warming up a bit. Well above the freezing point for the rest of the week for Atlanta. However, when you get to the Pacific Northwest, they have warmer conditions too. The problem is they have a lot of rain that's in store for them also. In fact, take a look at the satellite imagery. The infrared satellite imagery shows that we've got a lot of things that might not meet the eye immediately.
Very little action in parts of California due to an area of high pressure and this is going to send the storm track farther to the north and plenty of moisture in the Pacific Northwest. But it's not just the rain that they're going to get. The rain, to be honest, is really will not going to be that heavy, anywhere from one to two inches of rain expected for the weekend for the low lying areas.
The mountains may get more, but there's something else they're going to get is going to warmer conditions and with the warmer conditions, it's going to cause that snow pack high in mountains to begin to melt a bit. As that water goes down the hillside, as gravity takes it's pull, it will feed streams and rivers and of course, low- lying areas the water will be to pile up.
For that reason, we've got flashflood warnings and watches in effect near Seattle, where you have your flood warning. So at this point, you just have to keep in mind that you might have issues in these areas, especially near the rivers, near lakes problems in some place, any place that has poor drainage, you might have a few problems.
Just keep in mind, if you want to drive in any area where you happened to have water covering the roadway, one to two inches of rain as I mentioned for a lot of the low-lying areas and higher amounts certainly in the highest elevations.
For your national perspective, what you can anticipate would be rain not only in the Pacific Northwest, but also in the central and South Texas. It's very dry for the four corners. It's a beautiful day by Camelback Mountain in Phoenix and Scottsdale. When you get to parts of the northeast, it's going to be kind of a varied weather forecast for you.
Along the coast, it looks pretty good, but into parts of the finger lakes region and of course, towards Buffalo and even Erie scattered showers and likelihood for the thumb area of Michigan down through portions of Flint and maybe even into Detroit.
Look for the chance of snow and very dry for you in parts of Atlanta with highs into the 40s. That's a quick snapshot of your forecast. Let's put a wrap on it. Back to you, Martin.
SAVIDGE: Barney Rubble says to tell you hello in the ice age here.
WOLF: I will indeed. Good to know.
SAVIDGE: Top stories now, one week after the Tucson, Arizona shootings, the supermarket where the attack took place has reopened. They will have a moment of silence in about a half hour. Six people died, 13 others were wounded in last week's shootings at a town hall gathering hosted by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Four people are still hospitalized including, of course, Giffords.
Three U.S. troops killed in Iraq today, two in the northern city of Mosul. An Iraqi Interior Ministry official said they died after two Iraqi soldiers opened fire on U.S. military trainers. The alleged shooters are in custody. A third U.S. service member was reported killed while conducting operations in the central part of that country.
A dramatic power shift for a U.S. ally. The long time president of Tunisia is out, fleeing the North African country after weeks of street protests? The army now patrolling the streets, the head of parliament is acting president. New elections scheduled in 60 days.
The widow of an Air Force veteran in Florida is being told to repay the government $41,000. Her situation is raising concerns among several veterans' organizations. She's not the only service member widow being asked to repay the government.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE (voice-over): In 2003, Freda Green got a $41,000 check in the mail from the military. She couldn't believe it.
(on camera): Thought, what, a mistake?
FREDA GREEN, MILITARY WIDOW: Yes and then I called the Air Force finance. They said, no, that's your money.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): The military assured Freda, the money was owed her after the death of her 81-year-old husband. The Pentagon said that Gerald died of a medical condition linked to his 34 years in the Air Force. The money was Gerald's way of looking out for his wife after he was gone. Then, last November, Green got another letter from the military she couldn't believe. They wanted their money back.
(on camera): Do you have $41,486?
GREEN: You want to loan it to me? No, I don't have that money.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): What happened? Green got married. The process is really complicated, but the bottom line is Green's husband paid into an insurance policy over his military career. When he died, the government refunded those payments to Freda. Now, it wants the refund back, because she started getting a second benefit after she re-married at the age of 74.
(on camera): So what do you think of all this?
GREEN: You want me to be nice?
SAVIDGE: Language acceptable on television.
GREEN: I'm not very happy. SAVIDGE (voice-over): Green is not alone. Estimates are some 57,000 widows are now being told to repay the government, much to the anger of veterans' organizations.
REAR ADMIRAL NORB RYAN (RET.), MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: Here we are taxing the group that has done the most for this country, and if I were in the Pentagon, I'd be awful embarrassed about this situation.
SAVIDGE: Fixing the problem is estimated to cost $600 million a year. Something Florida Senator Bill Nelson says the government should pay, just as it does for planes, guns and war in general.
SENATOR BILL NELSON, (D) FLORIDA: The cost of war is taking care of the families, the widows and the orphans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Fixing that problem, as you just heard is going to take money. Congress is not necessarily in the mood to give money away. So right now, this issue remains unsolved.
There was a time driving an electric car was just a fantasy, an engineer's dream, not anymore. Judging by this year's annual Detroit auto show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: NEWSROOM continues at the top of the hour with Fredricka Whitfield. Fred --
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good to see you. We've got a lot beginning in the noon eastern hour with our favorites, our legal guys will be along with us to talk about a host of legal cases including Dr. Conrad Murray, the former doctor for the late Michael Jackson.
Well, you know, you probably heard by now his license to practice in California has been pulled. Is that fair before his case actually goes to trial? Our legal guys are going to delve into that.
And then, while we're out talking about things in California, why not talk Golden Globes. We're going to be joined by in-style fashion editor Kyle Robinstein to talk about all the lovely fashions we always look forward to. It's part of the fun for the Golden Globes.
You know, a lot of the stars say this is one of their favorites because they get to sit down and eat, have a little wine and look good and wait to see if their number is called and wait to see if they're called.
And then at 2:00 Eastern time, we're going to talk about budget being the new black, the kind of fashion statement being made in the financial picture. You need to ask yourself no longer, can I afford this, when trying to make a purchase, instead, you need to ask yourself, do I need this? Where am I going to put it? What will I do with it? Ask yourself these questions and put yourself into better financial straits. That is kind of the new black now.
And then Dr. Sanjay Gupta, 2:30 Eastern Time usually will be the NEWSROOM, the 2:00 Eastern hour, we're going to be sharing the whole 2:00 Eastern hour with Sanjay Gupta. He will have his special. You know he had special access to a number of surgeons that were involved in the Representative Giffords' surgeries and coming to her aid. He will have some conversations with that at 2:30.
And then 3:00, a social media. We know that social media is being used in so many different ways to connect people, maybe your high school sweetheart or maybe old friends. Well, now, in the adoption process, a number of adopted children are reaching out to their biological families in this fashion. Sometimes it brings good news for the reunions and sometimes not so good news.
And 4:00 Eastern Time, always a good time to go to the movies. Do you check out the movies on the weekend?
SAVIDGE: I do. You know, it kind of goes back to what you were talking about earlier, I've always wanted to cover the red carpet stuff in Hollywood because it always looks like a lot of fun although admittedly, probably it isn't a lot of fun, but "e!" if you're out there and you need somebody to help you.
WHITFIELD: There you go. You're throwing your hat to the - when we will talk movies, we're going to talk about the movies that are out this weekend. Everybody wants to see the "Green Hornet." Were you ever a "Green Hornet" fan?
SAVIDGE: Yes, absolutely.
WHITFIELD: OK, well, maybe this is the one for you and then the "Dilemma," Vince Vaughn. This is kind of interesting thing. A perplexing question, you know, your friend or somebody you know, somebody is cheating on somebody, what do you do? What's the big dilemma here? Do you say? Do you just watch? Do you kind of be that "I spy," we'll see, "The Dilemma" at the movies, 4:00 Eastern Time.
SAVIDGE: You've got a lot coming up.
WHITFIELD: I know. It's our marathon weekend.
SAVIDGE: Well, have a great weekend and it's good to see you.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you, too.
SAVIDGE: OK, thanks. Electric cars, they're becoming more popular. Last week at annual Detroit auto show, the Chevy Volt was voted the North American Car of the Year. But the Volt wasn't the only electric car to impress automakers. Last hour, I talked to a woman who is known as the car coach that's Lauren Fix. And I asked her, why there was an increase presence of electric vehicles at the car show this year?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LAUREN FIX, AUTOMOTIVE ANALYST: I think part of it, people think there is going to be a demand and we're have obviously looking for something other than using fossil fuels. There are lots of options out there and we have been working on that for a while.
You see the Ford Focus that's brand-new for 2012. You've got the Smart car, which is now going to be electric. Of course, we already had the Mini E, the Mitsubishi as a car, the Tesla so there's a lot of choices that we -- used to be just the Chevy Volt, but of course, the Nissan Leap is the real first true mass production all electric cars. We're going to see that as well.
SAVIDGE: So let's discuss that the pluses and minuses of these vehicles we're just talking about. What are they?
FIX: Well, OK, the first off the pluses are there's a wide selection. We're used to be thinking if I want a hybrid, it's only the Prius. Now even the Prius is going to be available in an electric car.
Some of the additional advantages, they are recycling plastics to make these cars lighter because when you think about it you have to propel this without a gasoline engine, electricity so they are recycling water bottles to make the car sleeker to push through the air, obviously it's about weight and safety as well. So you're getting the same safety features as you would in a gas-powered car that's a definite positive.
Being able to plug it into a regular outlet or 220 outlet like drier outlet is great. Municipalities are starting to offer discounts besides the $7,500 federal tax credit, which is available on all electric cars. It's no longer available on the gas and the electric cars.
So that means a Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leap, all of that can give a discount. If your company offers it in additional discount you can save even more money. I talked to one guy who was able to get a Nissan Leap down to the $20,000 range and it's a $40,000 car. So a lot of this is available. You have you to do a little bit of homework, but it is an option but not for everybody.
SAVIDGE: Yes, how accessible are these cars? Some are sort of in limited places where you can get them and then, of course, there's the issue of the cost.
FIX: Right, there are a lot of negatives as well. So, I mean, you have to balance what your situation is and your driving. You'll be able to get a Chevy Volt across the whole country in very few short months. Nissan Leaps will be in restricted markets as well the Mini E, the Smart car is only bringing 250 cars.
The Ford Focus which will be available the latter part of this year will be available across the country. So it depends on what you're looking at. If you absolutely have to have one then go spend the full retail. There are just going to be no discounts at all whatsoever other than that federal tax credit. So if you could wait six months, the prices will drop. That initial demand and excitement just as it would for any car, dips off about six to nine months later and you can get a deal. If you always buy a certified pre-owned car that somebody had for one year. So there are a lot of deals that will be around the corner by the end of the year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Part of my conversation with Lauren Fix, the car coach.
Big rats in New York City, probably not a big deal unless one is crawling up your face. Our Jeanne Moos has the creature double feature next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: A close encounter with a critter can be cute or it can be down nightmarish. In New York, a supersized rat climbs up a man's leg and onto his face. While in Germany, just about everybody wants to come face-to-face with a cross-eyed opossum. Jeanne Moos has a creature double feature for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the tale of two critters. One gives folks joy. The other gives them the creeps. Ever wonder what it would be like to wake up with a rat crawling on you? Jeff Ford had fallen asleep riding the subway from Manhattan to Brooklyn at 2:00 in the morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I looked up. This was going on. I see a rat running back and forth.
MOOS: He whipped out the camera and took these shots of the rat after he jumped onto a sleeping guy's lap then took off. By the time, Jeff adjusted the camera to shoot the video, the rat was back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He runs up the guy's leg.
MOOS: It's bad enough to see rats on the track, but in your face. Nobody bothered to rat out the rat to warn the sleeping guy. Amazingly, he remained fairly calm, so calm that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He goes right back to sleep like it didn't happen.
MOOS (on camera): Maybe he thought he was dreaming, but it's a rare and slow news day when you can cross a rat story with a tale of a cross-eyed opossum.
(voice-over): Her name is Heidi. She lives at the zoo in Germany and her cross eyes have seduced opossum lovers worldwide. She's got her own Facebook page with thousands of friends added by the hour making comments like what big eyes you have. A stuffed animal has been modeled after Heidi. Kids chant her name. The German TV station RTL demonstrated how her appeal would be lost were her crossed eyes not so crossed. She was originally orphaned in North Carolina and raised at a sanctuary.
A composer wrote a song and got three young girls to record it singing lyrics like Heidi is so dinky. The cross eyed marsupial has been compared to one of America's best known anchors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I look like that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you're both adorable.
MOOS: Even a subway photographer has fallen for Heidi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That rat was cute. If I woke up and saw a cross eyed marsupial in my lap --
MOOS: He'd lap it up, but in the New York subway, it doesn't pay to play opossum. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: This reminder, "Piers Morgan Tonight" premiers this Monday. Pier's first guest will be Oprah Winfrey. Watch as he turns the table on the queen of talk. Catch Pier's debut shoe Monday night 9:00 p.m. Eastern. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Fredricka Whitfield.
WHITFIELD: How am I going to get the image out of my head with the rat running up his leg and right to his face? I'm sorry, his reaction was not big enough. I think I would have jumped of my seat. You would have heard me, you know, uptown, downtown, everywhere. I would have been loud.
SAVIDGE: Have a good show.
WHITFIELD: That was fun. All right, thanks so much, Martin. Have a great day.
