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Facebook Stock Flops on Wall Street; Fear of Implanted Bomb Diverts Flight; 50 Million Egyptians Begin Voting; Scandal Exposes Secret Service Culture; Egyptians Head to the Polls; Western Wildfires; 911 Call Answered with Snores
Aired May 23, 2012 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. Happening right now in the "NEWSROOM," main street's distrust of Wall Street growing stronger this morning. Word that insiders and not the average American investor allegedly got a heads-up on potentially negative news about Facebook. Today we're pressing the banks involved to speak up.
Plus do you know who John Wolf is? What about Keith Judd? Well, they're just two men who are taking more and more of the southern vote away from President Obama. The president this morning struggling and refocusing.
Plus security scramble. New information this morning on that U.S. Airways plane that was diverted. You would be surprised how often F-15s are sent up to follow passenger planes.
And Nancy Reagan now 90 resting after breaking a number of ribs from a fall. This morning the frail former first lady recovering.
NEWSROOM begins right now.
And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Some high-profile investors may have gotten an insider's view of Facebook's future before the social network's stock went public. But if you didn't have those big bucks, guess what, you were probably left in the dark. If that is true, it reinforces some of the worst stereotypes about Wall Street.
As "TIME" magazine put it, "It means the entire game is a hype- fueled casino rigged for the house with a sucker played by the average investor."
That is the controversy surrounding a name we all know, Morgan Stanley, which served as Facebook's lead underwriter and now regulators reportedly want to know exactly what happened.
Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.
Can you explain it to us?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: So follow this with me, Carol. So one of the big issues here is who knew what? So follow me here because a week before the IPO of Facebook meaning when Facebook went public with its shares, it went ahead and revised its documents with the SEC and that's normal. Companies usually update their information several times as it leads up to the big day.
Now what Facebook did is that they told the SEC that the company may struggle to make money off of its mobile devices and what analysts do is they take that information and they issue guidance to their -- to their investors, you know, what their assessment of the company is. So what Morgan Stanley, the chief underwriter of this IPO, did was it issued a weaker outlook for Facebook.
Now the thing is, public companies -- just keep in mind that public companies when you're issuing this kind of information, that information should be shared with everyone, both big and small investors, because what that does is it levels the playing field.
Now the guidance from Morgan Stanley winds up helping people make more educated decisions about how to invest in Facebook. But the thing is, Carol, it's not clear if the information was shared with everyone. You know, if the information only went to the big investors, they got a leg-up.
Now what Morgan Stanley says, it says they followed the protocol. Morgan Stanley says they followed the same procedures for the Facebook offering that it follows for all IPOs. These , Morgan Stanley says, are in compliance with all applicable regulations -- Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. So if Morgan Stanley is guilty of what you just said, what could happen to Morgan Stanley?
KOSIK: Well, first of all, we don't know if Morgan Stanley is guilty. I mean you can't jump the gun here. I mean it sound really bad that the little guy got screwed out of this --
COSTELLO: I know. But what if?
KOSIK: What if? Well, who knows? I mean, you wonder, you wonder if anything could happen after we saw what happened with the financial crisis. Has any -- has any bank really been punished?
Let me just say this, though. This, Carol, is a big legal gray area. Public companies are required to let all investors know this kind of information ahead of time, but some security law experts, Carol, say it may not apply to information that Facebook gave to underwriters before going public so in that case if that's the case, Carol, they would not have the obligation to give this information out all at the same time even to the little guy that maybe Morgan Stanley wasn't in the wrong here, because maybe they weren't, you know, obligated to give out this information all at the same time.
Now clearly it looks really bad PR-wise. It does little to quell what upsets everybody that the system is rigged against the little guy. You really just have to wait to see all the details kind of come out on this and the SEC is investigating.
COSTELLO: I don't know. I keep thinking, like, if they did do this, why pick Facebook? It's the most -- I mean --
KOSIK: The biggest fiasco IPO. You know? It really is.
COSTELLO: And so much public attention was focused on Facebook and its IPO. It's like, are you kidding? Seriously?
KOSIK: Yes. It makes you wonder, you know, just pile it on all of the trouble for this -- for the biggest IPO that we can remember. Right? It traded so many shares, so much interest. And look at this big black eye. I mean one after another on this IPO. But Facebook still made out in cash.
COSTELLO: Yes. I know. Alison Kosik, live at the New York Stock Exchange.
Now on to a stark reminder of the changing face of terrorism and how seriously new threats need to be taken. At this time yesterday not even the people aboard this flight knew that they were the center of the latest scare. A fellow passenger had quietly slipped a note that she had a device surgically implanted inside her. That's the very technique al Qaeda is now pursuing to kill Americans.
Fighter jets scrambled and the flight diverted from its planned landing in North Carolina to a closer airport in Maine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're down with the minutes. I mean I have been flying my whole life. I've never been from that altitude to landing that quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just weird. No one really knew what was going on. We thought it was a medical emergency, then they told us that they were low on fuel because there were strong headwinds. Then as we were landing you could see all the ambulances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Lizzie O'Leary is our aviation and regulation correspondent.
So, Lizzie, even before the flight landed, this woman who said she had the device implanted in her body, she was -- she was examined by doctors on board the plane. So tell us how those doctors determined that she didn't have a device implanted in her body?
LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN AVIATION AND REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know from two lawmakers, Carol, is that she claimed she had a device implanted -- surgically implanted. Didn't specify what kind of device. Never said, according to a senior law enforcement official, that it was a bomb or anything like that.
The flight attendants asked on the overhead paging system if anyone was a doctor. A doctor examined her. They found, according to two lawmakers, no evidence of fresh scars or anything like that that would be a cause for concern, and then they took her to the back of the cabin and essentially sat with her for a while until this plane was landing.
And according to one passenger I spoke with, they sat with her for some time, probably close to an hour until the flight was able to able to divert safely to Bangor, Maine.
COSTELLO: OK. So these fighter jets deployed. They were flying alongside the plane. If it was determined that this woman was a danger, what would those -- I mean what would happen?
O'LEARY: Well, fighter jets are -- you need to think of them this way. Sort of an extra set of eyes and ears. It sounds quite dramatic to viewers but this does happen and happens not infrequently. It happens sometimes with commercial airplanes but more generally with private airplanes that maybe go into restricted airspace.
That's something we have seen. So what you have with these fighter jets is a chance to get up, take a look at the plane and sort of have an extra set of eyes on it. And we've heard from passengers that these jets weren't even close enough for them to see it. Now we also know from air traffic control transmissions that the pilot of this U.S. Airways plane confirmed to air traffic controllers that the cockpit was secure, they were all aware of that, and he was in command and in conversation with the air traffic control pretty much the whole time as they guided this flight down.
So when you think about fighter jets, they are up there to add really an extra level of observation to a flight like this.
COSTELLO: All right. Lizzie O'Leary reporting live for us from Washington.
Turning now to presidential politics. We're crunching the numbers and a razor thin race turns even tighter. Here is our average of three national polls conducted in the past week. Gallup, NBC/"Wall Street Journal" and ABC/"Washington Post." Our Poll of Polls shows President Obama leading but just barely, 47 percent to Romney's 45 percent.
Also President Obama is running uncontested in most Democratic primaries but not in Arkansas. An attorney by the name of John Wolf challenge the president there. "The Washington Post" reports Wolf got about 40 percent of the vote yesterday. The Arkansas primary was held yesterday.
About the same percentage, by the way, of Democratic voters made their presidential protests known as Kentucky's primary choosing uncommitted over the president.
Today the so-called Cradle of Civilization writes a new chapter in its history. Some 50 million Egyptians can begin voting today in a landmark presidential election. It's the latest ripple from Arab Spring when outraged citizens rose up and toppled dictators and the thugs that kept them in power.
You remember these pictures. History making pictures. Well, this is history making, too. It is Egypt's first presidential election since the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak. He's awaiting the verdict on charges that he killed protesters during this very uprising.
So let's head to Cairo and get the latest for you. Our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is there.
What's the turn out like, Ben?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the turnout has been fairly good but this is a two-day election. The polls are open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and did now, for instance, this time it's 3:00 in the afternoon in Cairo. People are getting out of work and they're coming to vote. By and large the atmosphere has been very positive, very upbeat. People very happy to be able to for the first time in their lives actually pick who runs their country.
In fact, this morning we were at one polling station where we met a 70-year-old woman voting in a presidential election for the first time in her life. She had waited 2 1/2 hours. She arrived 2 1/2 hours before the polls opened because she wanted to be the first person in her neighborhood to cast her ballot.
Now right here we're at a middle school in a suburb of Cairo where voices have been raised just a little bit because people are a little tired of waiting around. It's pretty hot in Cairo at the moment. But those are really most of the complaints we're hearing, just that people have to wait for a long time.
No reports yet of any severe skullduggery in the election. It seems to be going fairly smoothly so far -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Ben Wedeman reporting live from Cairo, Egypt, this morning.
Today a member of the British royal family will carry the Olympic torch. The torch is zigzagging its way through the United Kingdom. Some 8,000 people in all will eventually carry it. Many of them everyday people. But today Zara Phillips is carrying the torch while riding horseback, although she didn't -- she was hanging (INAUDIBLE) the horse there. Phillips is the daughter of Princess Ann who is Queen Elizabeth's only daughter.
The Secret Service scandal in Colombia, booze, prostitutes and a shocking defense coming from some of the fired agents. They said hey, everybody is doing it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Just about 15 minutes past the hour. A look at stories we're following today.
We begin in Maine where we're learning more about that Paris to Charlotte flight and the passenger who said she had a device implanted inside her. Because of the threat U.S. Airways flight 787 was diverted to Bangor, Maine. U.S. fighter jets escorted it there. A law enforcement source says the woman will likely undergo psychological tests.
Still no verdict in John Edwards' corruption trial. The jury asked for more evidence again yesterday. As to how Edwards is doing?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: How are you holding up, Senator?
JOHN EDWARDS (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm OK. Thank you for asking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Edwards is charged with using campaign contributions to hide his affair with Rielle Hunter. Neither he nor Hunter testified during the trial.
Former first lady Nancy Reagan is following doctor's orders to not attend big events until she gets better. She backed out of an event last night at the Reagan Presidential Library that featured House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan. Mrs. Reagan fell and broke some of her ribs back in March and she has been slow to recover.
Well, here's an excuse worthy of any 12 year old. Four of the Secret Service agents fired in the Colombian prostitution scandal say it's unfair because, hey, everyone is doing it.
According to "The Washington Post," the former agents want their dismissals overturned because the agency has long tolerated wild behavior on the road. In fact, they say the unwritten code even has its own name, the secret circus.
That culture goes under the microscope this morning when a hearing is opened this morning.
CNN's Kate Bolduan is on Capitol Hill.
So, I'm sure that lawmakers are reading this article in "The Washington Post" with interest.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And you can be sure that the director of the Secret Service will be getting some tough questions today when he goes before the committee in just about an hour and a half.
For the part of the director, Mark Sullivan, in advance copy of prepared remarks that we received, Sullivan will obviously acknowledge that this incident has happened, that these events happened, saying that it's not representative of the values of the Secret Service.
But the director is defending in these remarks, defending his agency, calling the misconduct an aberration in one section and also pointing out that none of the security plan surrounding the president was compromised because of the incident. No operational security was compromised because of the incident and even pointing out vast majority of Secret Service personnel were down there were professional and doing their jobs, saying some 200 down there in Cartagena and nine have now been found to be involved with serious misconduct.
Sullivan in his prepared remarks, Carol, also says that obviously they are taking this as a learning experience and want to make sure it never happens again and that's one of the main questions that the lawmakers that will be speaking with him will be asking about how to make sure this doesn't happen again. But to your point, when you were talking in the lead in, he will also face tough questions about this issue of whether there is a culture of this within the Secret Service.
I spoke with the chairman of the committee yesterday, Senator Lieberman. He wants to know should they have seen this coming and that's something that also the top Republican on the committee -- she definitely wants to know. Susan Collins in her opening remarks that we received says the facts suggest to her this is likely not a one- time incident and she also goes on to say, quote, "It's basic counterintelligence 101, Secret Service personnel and others holding positions of trust in the U.S. government should avoid any situation that could provide foreign intelligence or secret service or criminal gains with the means of exerting coercion or blackmail," yet two primary means of entrapment, sexual lures and alcohol, were both present in abundance here involving these incidents. Tough questions coming up when this hearing begins in an hour and a half, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. We'll check back with you. Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill this morning.
Don't you love a good implosion? I think they are cool to watch. A new world record will be set today when demolition crews implode the BREN Tower at a nuclear testing site in Nevada. This will be the tallest structure of its kind ever imploded. The tower, which sits about 65 miles north of Las Vegas was used for nuke testing during the Cold War but it would take more than a million dollars in repairs to make it usable for new research.
So, some factoids for you, it stands more than 1,500 feet high, taller than both the empire state building and the Eiffel Tower. The implosion is scheduled for 12:30 Eastern Time this afternoon.
I'm going to be sitting right in front of CNN and I'm going to be watching.
Today, a parade of tall ships will sail up the Hudson River in New York. It's for Fleet Week. The parade will commemorate the 200th anniversary of war of 1812. There will be a military flyover.
Fleet Week celebrations give citizens a chance to meet members of the U.S. Navy and coast Guard. Isn't that beautiful?
Similar sight will be taking place in Baltimore too, where as you know soldiers there chased away the British and ended the war essentially -- just saying.
If you text someone while they're driving and they get in a car crash, could you be held responsible? One teenage girl is at the center of a lawsuit blaming her for a nasty texting while driving.
Let me say this another way -- so if you're in a car and you're driving and you're texting someone lie some place else, should that person that you're texting also be responsible for the car crash that you were involved in? It's a big lawsuit pending. We'll tell you about it, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: If someone gets in a car crash while they're texting and you were sending them the text, you could be sued. I know that sounds confusing. But this is what's happening to a teenage girl in New Jersey. This lawsuit could set a legal precedent.
Here's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The accident happened in New Jersey along this winding country road.
Motorcycle buffs David and Linda Kubert were out for Sunday drive.
DAVID KUBERT, INJURED BIKER SUING TEXTERS: I went around a curve and I saw a pickup truck coming right for us with a young man with his elbow steering and his head down and he was texting. Next thing I know, he hit us.
FEYERICK: Both David and his wife lost a leg in the head-on collision. Cell phone records show the driver, 19-year-old Kyle Best was texting a girlfriend Shannon Colonna, virtually at the moment of impact. In a potentially precedent-setting case, they are suing them both saying the girl knew her friend was likely driving home especially since the two texted each other almost every day.
D. KUBERT: If Shannon Colonna knew that Kyle Best was leaving work, and I believe she did and she was texting him, then I believe she's just as responsible.
FEYERICK: Although not physically in the car, the Kuberts' lawyer argues that the texting put her in the car electronically, saying she helped trigger the disastrous crash.
STEPHEN "SKIPPY" WEINSTEIN, KUBERTS' ATTORNEY: It is as if you were putting your hands over the eyes of the driver preventing that driver from seeing ahead of them.
FEYERICK: Kyle Best pleaded guilty to careless driving, failure to stay in the lane and improper use of a cell phone. The couple is suing for an unspecified amount in damages.
During a deposition, Colonna testified in her words she may have known her friend was driving, but her lawyer argues the suit should be dismissed, because, quote, "a message sender has no way to control when, where or how a message receiver acts after the message is transmitted."
David Kubert lost not only his leg but his job and insurance after the crash.
LINDA KUBERT, INJURED BIKER SUING TEXTERS: It could have been prevented. It was not an accident.
FEYERICK: A judge is set to rule Friday whether the Kuberts can move forward and sue both texters.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Deborah Feyerick is in New York.
So what is this about to the victims? Is it about money or making a point?
FEYERICK: It's a little bit about both. You have to think their lives were irrevocably changed after this happened. They each lost a leg when the motorcycle went out from under them and the husband actually saw his leg separate and the wife's leg had to be amputated afterwards. So, there's lot of trauma associated with this.
They also do want to send a message. They want people to understand that if you are aware that someone is driving, that maybe it's best to hold off on the texting because it is a distraction and as you heard the lawyers say, it is like covering their eyes. We did reach out to the lawyers for the defendants, the couple, Kyle Best and Shannon Colonna -- they did not talk to us for this piece.
COSTELLO: So this is the first time a lawsuit like this has ever been filed?
FEYERICK: Well, it's very interesting. There's not a lot of case law when it comes to texting. So, yes, this is sort of stretching the envelop envelope.
This is seeing whether in fact they can make the argument that if you do distract a driver, it's as if you are a passenger in that car.
Now, there is precedent where it goes to that. If you are driving drunk and you have a buddy with you and they say take another beer, speed up. Both passengers are then responsible.
But the question is, did that girl when she texted him know that he would actually respond when he did and the cell phone records suggest that perhaps, yes, that was the case, Carol.
COSTELLO: Deborah Feyerick reporting live for us from New York. Thank you.
Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning: do CEOs make good presidents? The argument may sound new but it's really not. For years, Americans have been captivated by business titans, think Ross Perot, Donald Trump, Herman Cain.
In 2004, George W. Bush ran as America's CEO president, touting his MBA. Mitt Romney is riding the same bus, touting his experience at Bain Capital as proof he'd be a recession-proof president. And voters seem to agree.
According to an NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll, 59 percent called Romney's business experience an advantage in helping improve the economy if he's elected. And Republicans are capitalizing on this. They are painting President Obama as the anti-CEO.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: This is certainly the most anti-business administration since Carter years and at least you can say for President Carter, he was largely incompetent. This administration has done a lot of damage to the country. We hope it can clean up the mess and repair damage after the election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Democrats are trying to convince voters that Republicans are wrong about that. Mr. Obama is pro-business but does not believe a CEO necessarily makes a good president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Your job as president is to promote the common good. That doesn't mean the private equity guys are bad guys. They're not. That no more qualifies you to be president than being a plumber.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Consider this: under George W. Bush economic growth was sluggish fueled by the housing bubble which as you know burst. What about Ronald Reagan? The retired actor? Or Bill Clinton, the career politician. Both non-CEO presidents that helped pull the country out of economic malaise.
So, the talk back question for you today. Do CEOs make good presidents? Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your responses later this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Thirty-two minutes past the hour.
Opening bell ringing on Wall Street right now. Dow futures down this morning over worries about Greece leaving the eurozone. Tech stocks may also suffer today as Dell announced weak sales, this, of course, as regulators looked into Morgan Stanley's handling of the Facebook IPO.
To Maine where we learn more about that Paris to Charlotte flight and passenger who said she had a device implanted inside of her. Because of that threat, U.S. Airways flight 787 was diverted to Bangor, Maine. U.S. fighter jets escorted it there. The woman will likely undergo psychological tests.
To Pennsylvania where state lawmakers pushing legislation to defund Planned Parenthood. Republican State Representative Daryl Metcalf will introduce it today. Two anti-abortion groups co-wrote the bill that would put health care providers that offer abortion services at the bottom of the priority list for state funding.
And former First Lady Nancy Reagan is following doctor's orders not to attend big events until she gets better. She backed out of an event last night that featured House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan. She broke some ribs back in march and has been slow to recover.
We get to watch history in Egypt. It's extraordinary really. For the first time, Egyptians will choose a leader without knowing in advance who Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who became the face of democracy in Egypt.
It was a battle that enthralled Americans. How could we not admire revolutionaries taking over Egypt's Tahrir Square transforming it into Freedom Square? These young people toppled a dictator, Hosni Mubarak, and they'll exercise a privilege we take for granted. They will cast a vote.
It's not all good news. Those idealistic young people have largely been sidelined. The election today is between Islamists and remnants of the old regime.
With me now, Chris Dickey, who is a Middle East editor and Paris bureau chief for "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast."
Before we get into men running for office in Egypt. Just your impression, I mean, 50 million people are supposed to vote today in Egypt. That's incredible.
CHRIS DICKEY, MIDDLE EAST EDITOR, NEWSWEEK & THE DAILY BEAST: Well, it is incredible. I think one of the things you have to remember about Egypt all the time when you talk about it is that it has by far the biggest population and in many ways the deepest culture of any country in the Arab world.
There are 80 million people in Egypt. So, as goes Egypt, in many ways so goes the Arab world especially in this time of change and transition and efforts to build some kind of democratic movement in the region.
COSTELLO: And, of course, that's why the American government and many Americans are watching the outcome of the Egyptian elections. The man leading in the polls is Abdelmonen Abol Fotoh. This man served for 25 years as a leader in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and many Americans aren't thrilled about that because they think he may be a hard liner.
Is he?
DICKEY: Well, he's not -- or at least according to official statements, and also going back a few years if you look at what he was writing four or five years ago, he has developing an image as a relatively moderate hard liner if you will, a moderate Islamist.
In the old days, I mean, decades ago, he was part of what became a terrorist movement. But more recently, he's definitely been staking out this turf as a very reasonable politician and a lot of diverse groups are behind him.
On one hand, you have the Salifists, who are, to all intents and purposes, the extremists of the Islamist movement. On the other hand, you have a lot of people who are associated with the Tahrir Square, those young people, who are saying, well, if it's got to be an Islamist, maybe he's not the worst guy. That's one of the reasons a lot of people are thinking that he has a good chance.
COSTELLO: If you look at conservative media online, there are a lot of articles that claim this guy is a truther, that he believes that 9/11 was an American conspiracy. Is that true?
DICKEY: He has said that. And that's the kind of thing you hear in the Middle East all the time. Obviously that's a crazy theory.
But he's not the only person who say that sort of thing. We heard the same thing in years past from the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. There was a whole movement within the Arab world for a long time that said ironically we couldn't have been that smart. We wouldn't have been that good. We couldn't possibly have taken down the Twin Towers and hit the Pentagon.
I don't think that will affect his policies. I do think he'll be harder for the American government to work with than anyone that came before, because for a very long time in Egypt, it was one stop shopping for the American government. They went to Mubarak and if he agreed to do something, that was it.
Now they have to deal with whoever win this is presidential election, they have to deal with Muslim Brotherhood controlled Congress or legislature in Egypt. So, no more one stop shopping. No easy deals with Egypt.
COSTELLO: We'll be watching the election and the outcome. Thank you so much for helping us understand.
Chris Dickey, Middle East editor and Paris bureau chief for "Newsweek & the Daily Beast."
Green Bay Packers fans could not contain themselves last night. Yes, they are going nuts but wait. Wait, this is the off-season. We'll explain why they were dancing for joy last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The most exciting moment as an archaeologist happened when I was looking at the great archaeological site of Tanis, which is, of course, we all know from "Indiana Jones." We got satellite imagery of the city of Tanis, we processed it and literally from thousands of miles away in my lab in Alabama, we were able to map the entire city.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Using this technology is an enormous shortcut.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This completely invisible world comes to life when you process the satellite data.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE;: There's a whole other way to use geography and GPS. She turned me onto this entire field.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The mirror ball trophy has been awarded. So which "Dancing with the Stars" finalist won? I bet you know by now.
"Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer is here to fill us on even more than we already are. I know Green Bay Packers fans went nuts when the winner was announced.
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: It was their right. One of their own, Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver won the big prize. You know, he's the third NFL star now to win this competition.
And, boy, was he excited. You have to take a look at what happened when he won the mirror ball.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: The winners and new champions of "Dancing with the Stars" are Donald and Peta!
(CHEERS)
(END VIDE O CLIP)
HAMMER: It's like he scored a touchdown. Packers fans --
COSTELLO: I thought he was going to spike her like a ball.
HAMMER: It's a good thing he had that level of control.
Carol, Packers fans should be very pleased with themselves today because this competition did come town to fan votes. So, some credit has to go to Packer nation, some of Driver's teammates and famous Wisconsin natives like Ms. America were all trying to rally support for him on Twitter.
You may or nay not believe this, Carol. Driver said winning "Dancing with the Stars" was comparable to winning the Super Bowl.
COSTELLO: Come on.
HAMMER: That's what he said.
COSTELLO: Good for him. I'm glad he's so happy.
But as a football fan, I rather he win the Super Bowl.
HAMMER: Oh, yes.
COSTELLO: Another story you're following.
Bruce Willis, another star getting political.
HAMMER: Yes, he was giving an interview an interview with "Esquire" magazine. He's promoting his five movies this year. He did wander from the professional into the political arena and he's actually getting heat for it. He called Mitt Romney a disappointment and embarrassment saying this, "He's just the Dash Riprock of the Republican Party."
Now, that's a reference to an old TV character that was a conceded image conscious Hollywood actor.
Willis added that even if he win, he won't change anything, saying this, "He'll get in there and they'll smile at him and introduce themselves. We're Congress. We make sure nothing changes. He went do it. He can't. Everybody wants to be Barack Obama, and what did he change?"
Now, I should make the point here, Bruce Willis isn't what a lot of people would call a Hollywood liberal. He supported George H.W Bush against Bill Clinton.
But, Carol, obviously, like a lot of people, he does sound pretty disenchanted with the whole political process.
COSTELLO: Yes, that's a familiar tune these days. A.J. Hammer, thank you.
HAMMER: You got it.
COSTELLO: A.J. will be back with us in the next hour for more showbiz headlines including the actress chosen to play Casey Anthony in an upcoming TV movie.
Look at how big this snake is. It's wrapped around a tree in a man's yard and he's having a lot of trouble getting rid of it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: A state of emergency is in place for one Nevada County. A wildfire there is threatening a couple of hundred homes. The Topaz Ranch Estates fire -- that's what it's called -- the Topaz Ranch Estates fire its started yesterday afternoon and has now burned 4,400 acres and it destroyed two homes.
Rob Marciano is here to tell us --
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The TRE fire.
COSTELLO: The TRE fire.
MARCIANO: That's what the insiders are calling it for sure.
COSTELLO: I got you.
MARCIANO: But you mentioned two homes have been burned to the ground, another 17 structures also. And this thing started just yesterday at around 2:00 in the afternoon. And burned quickly. A lot of -- a lot of wind and dry conditions here. The terrain itself is between 6,000 and about 7,500 feet. Obviously they have some air support in there. Just over 400 people have arrived to help beat these flames back.
But they've got -- they've got certainly some weather up against them. The good news is that it tends to be burning in some of the higher terrain and moving away at this point from some of the neighborhoods and the winds itself -- themselves are beginning to switch just a little bit.
Some of the smoke from this fire can be seen all the way down into the Las Vegas Valley. This particular fire is about 60 miles south of Reno. So that's how far north it is in the -- in the area.
A quick check on the weather just to give you an idea of what we're looking at today. Extreme fire danger in Eastern Arizona and much of New Mexico today with winds gusting to 55 plus miles an hour and obviously very dry conditions there. The gladiator fire just north of Phoenix continues to burn, only 26 percent containment there. So we you know we got -- we're off to a pretty early start here and we didn't have a whole lot of snow this past winter. So we fear that this year's fire season is going to be bad.
COSTELLO: Ok on to a different kind of problem. Not a serious problem but a problem nonetheless.
MARCIANO: Tell me.
COSTELLO: Rob take a look at this huge snake. It's curled around a tree in a man's yard. This is in South Carolina. The homeowner Andrew Philsen (ph) he took these pictures. He thinks that's a python.
MARCIANO: It's big like a python.
COSTELLO: It is very big tut it's not a python according to officials, whoever they are. It's likely a black rat snake. Have you ever heard of a black rat snake?
MARCIANO: No. But I suspect that one has eaten a lot of rats. I mean that's a --
COSTELLO: It actually has eaten a lot. Why is it in a tree, then you ask? I don't know. Maybe it's eating squirrels.
MARCIANO: I've seen some --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: They are rats with long tails, right.
MARCIANO: Yes.
COSTELLO: Anyway he's trying to get this thing off the tree but it won't go.
MARCIANO: Well, hopefully it's not -- it doesn't switch from rats to people.
COSTELLO: Well, the problem is I think the homeowner doesn't want to pay to have the snake removed so it's going to stay there until it goes away on its own.
MARCIANO: I'm wondering if that was a pet at some point. I mean, it's just -- how is it slithering through a neighborhood in South Carolina with -- going unnoticed.
COSTELLO: You've done a lot of stories on that.
MARCIANO: On pythons yes, maybe some.
COSTELLO: Not on black rat snakes.
MARCIANO: No they are not as sexy as pythons but equally as scary.
COSTELLO: I guess not. We'll keep you posted.
Imagine calling 911 and --
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, uh-huh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And all you hear is snoring. We've got the tapes to prove it. And details on what exactly happened to the dispatcher.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: We asked you to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning, "Do CEOs make good presidents?"
This from Angie, "No. The purpose of a CEO is to create wealth for corporate investors, often to the detriment of customers, employees and stakeholders. A President's job is to balance the needs of the entire country."
This from Alvin, "If that were the criteria, Ross Perot would have been president a long time ago. The rich are only accountable to themselves. It's their blatant disregard for those less fortunate that clearly disqualifies them for leadership over all Americans." This from Ryan, "In economic trouble, a successful CEO is necessary. They know what it takes and won't go into a burning fire with propane tanks like our current President."
This from Zvi, "Being a CEO isn't a problem. Being a rudderless, out of touch, elitist, corporate pillager is."
This from Diana, "Having a good business mind would be an advantage in a President. But running a country is not like running a company. You cannot get rid of the unprofitable parts like the sick and the elderly."
Keep the conversation going, facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read more of your comments in the next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: When you call 911, you expect to get help for your emergency. Not someone snoring. For one woman, that's exactly what she got. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We've all been there. Elbow falling off the arm rest as we fall asleep --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To live up to their purpose and potential.
MOOS: But it's one thing to snooze during a speech and another to snooze during a 911 call.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
MOOS: That's not just breathing. That's snoring. Around 12:30 in the morning, a call came in from this apartment complex to Montgomery County, Maryland Fire and Rescue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire and ambulance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello? Hello?
MOOS: The dispatcher apparently nods off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on one second, ma'am. Let me try and get them on the line again.
MOOS: A second dispatcher takes over but the sleeping one remains on the line as the caller reports her husband is apparently unconscious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But right now he is all blue.
MOOS (on camera): But the snoring confuses the second dispatcher that mistakes the victims having trouble breathing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And tilt his head back. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, uh-huh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. Is that him I hear doing the snoring noises?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok. Are you able to keep that airway open like that? I see the snoring noises have stopped.
MOOS: Not for long.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the blueness going away?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me it looks not good to me.
MOOS: You can actually hear the dispatcher snore maybe 17 or 18 times during the course of the 911 call. According to deputy fire chief Scott Graham --
SCOTT GRAHAM, DEPUTY FIRE CHIEF: In my 24 years here, this is the only incident that I can recall where a dispatcher has fallen asleep on a 911 call.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I don't know what to do. He --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he still making the snoring noises?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, for a little bit. But he stopped breathing for a little while.
MOOS: It turns out the sleeping firefighter was 17 hours into his shift.
GRAHAM: He was about 20 minutes away from going into his rest period.
MOOS: Now he is on paid administrative leave. As for the patient -- the deputy chief says the incident had no adverse impact on the victim's condition. About 5 1/2 minutes into the call, the sleeping dispatcher wakes up, picking up where he left off, muttering a question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the address? What's the address? Ma'am, what's the address?
MOOS: Who knew 911 needed a wake-up call? Jeanne Moos, CNN --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Uh-huh.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: One of our affiliates in Washington, D.C., WOSU is saying that the victim was taken to the hospital, treated and released and is doing just fine now. so at least that turned out ok.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
