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American Morning
A Carnival Cover-up on Engine-Room Fire?; President Obama Arrives in Japan for APEC, Reacts on Bush Tax Cuts; The Cruise from Hell; Alaska Senate Race; Let Them Sleep; Airport Body Scans
Aired November 12, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Friday morning to you. And thanks so much for joining us on AMERICAN MORNING. It is the 12th of November, I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us this morning. A look at the top stories now.
Is the big election defeat here at home hurting President Obama's standing on the world stage? The president will arrive in Japan fresh off of the G-20 economic summit in Seoul which ended with smiles on the surface, but some disappointment underneath. We'll have a live report just ahead.
ROBERTS: Are airport body scans going too far? Pilots, travel executives and flight attendants are all taking on the new security standards and one group is planning a protest that could affect your Thanksgiving travel plans.
CHETRY: And if you've tried everything to motivate your teens, but their school work is still suffering, their grades are slipping, maybe you let them just sleep in. It's working like a charm at one cutting-edge high school. We'll show it to you.
ROBERTS: You let them sleep in, but they still have to go to school.
CHETRY: Yes. Just a little later.
ROBERTS: Up first, kept in the dark while drifting at sea. The Carnival cruise from hell is over and now that everyone is back on terra firma, we're finding out passengers were never told about the engine-room fire that left them stranded for four days. Listen to this. It's the crew's public address announcement on home video that was shot moments after the fire broke out on Monday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a smoke situation. Lots of smoke in one of the engine control areas. You are all smelling that smoke if you're on deck, one, two, possibly deck six, as well, and if you're on the back of the ship.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: A smoke situation. That's all passengers say they were told. They also say they didn't find out just how serious the fire really was until they got off of the ship yesterday in Southern California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just now they actually told us there was a fire on the boat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did not know that there was a fire on the boat until now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what did they tell you why the boat suddenly stopped, you know, on your excursion?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They never told us what the issue was. All they told us was that there was smoke. There's lots of smoke.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What they told us on the ship was that it was a flameless fire. And I don't understand what that means because wherever there's smoke, there's fire. They say that the aft motor had caught a fire, I guess, or they said it was a flameless fire electrical wires that went out. And eventually that got into the forward engine which then cut all the power to the entire ship. That's what they told us. It was a flameless fire is what they told us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: In just a few minutes, we'll be joined live by two passengers who are onboard that cruise ship. One of them was staying in a cabin directly above the engine room where that fireless fire started.
CHETRY: Flameless fire.
ROBERTS: Flameless fire, whatever it was.
CHETRY: That's a little strange.
Well, the ordeal at sea was no laughing matter for the 3,300 passengers and 1,200 crew members who had to endure it, but it was perfect fodder for late night television.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": Everyone knows this story by now because it's been covered exhaustively in the news. Adrift for three days, no electricity, surviving on pop tarts and Spam. That's what they airlifted to these people, which is a delicious sandwich.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. O'BRIEN: That's what I did in college. I don't know what the big problem is. The ship was towed to San Diego, safely docked. I'm told it's now ready, and it's -- I think it's already going out back to sea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?
O'BRIEN: Yes. It's on the way.
There it is! It's back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, wow!
O'BRIEN: Oh, hey. Look at it. Good luck, you guys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": The president of Carnival Cruise Line spoke to the press today. He said he has everything under control. But did you see -- show the press conference today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, the safety of our guests and crew -- second, we want to get them home as quickly as possible trying to make it as comfortable as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Now, that was not a flameless fire.
ROBERTS: Merciless.
CHETRY: I know. Well, you know, some of the passengers also said you kind of had to laugh or you would have cried because it was very uncomfortable to say the least. Of course, CNN's coverage of the cruise won't be complete without the Spam-gate controversy and trying to put it to rest. Media reports suggested that the stranded passengers were forced to eat Spam while waiting to be rescued, but the folks at Carnival Cruise Line shot down those reports via Twitter writing, "Despite media reports to the contrary, Carnival Splendor guests were never served Spam."
Apparently, it was delivered to the ship but it wasn't served. So that was the difference.
ROBERTS: There you go. All right, so putting to rest those rumors.
Now on to President Obama's trip to Asia. He's going to arrive in Yokohama, Japan this hour. It's the final stop of his 10-day tour where he'll attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Earlier, the president wrapped up the G-20 talks in Seoul, South Korea with a news conference where he addressed extending the Bush tax cuts and his own standing on the world stage. Ed Henry has been traveling with the president. He's live in Seoul. And some question as to whether or not the White House is prepared to compromise with Republicans and allow the current tax rates to stay in place.
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. And the president in this news conference pushed back really hard on the notion that he's about to cave in to Republicans and allow them to extend the tax cuts for the rich. And the president basically saying his number one priority instead is to focus on extending the tax cuts for the middle class, making sure they extend beyond the end of this year and that he'll sit down and negotiate next week with Democrats and Republicans. But contrary to this report in the "Huffington Post," that he's ready to just give it all up because the only way to get to the middle class cuts is to cave on the rich. He said that's not the case. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That is the wrong interpretation because I haven't had a conversation with Republican/Democratic leaders. Here's the right interpretation. I want to make sure that taxes don't go up for middle class families starting on January 1st. That's my number one priority for those families and for our economy. I also believe that it would be fiscally irresponsible for us to permanently extend the high-income tax cuts. I think that would be a mistake, particularly when we've got our Republican friends saying that their number one priority is making sure that we deal with our debt and our deficit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: But the fact of the matter is that the president really has very little leverage heading into these tax cut negotiations in addition to Republicans insisting that the tax cuts for the rich continue. He also has some conservative Democrats in the Senate who want to do that as well. So he simply doesn't have the votes to stop them. He's very likely going to have to compromise. So what seems more likely going on right now is he's trying to stake out a firm position, not show all his cards. But in the end, he's very likely going to have to give in on that -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: So when the president gets back to Washington, Ed, one of the people he'll be sitting down with is Nancy Pelosi. Is he voicing his support for her as the minority leader?
HENRY: He all but is. It was sort of a tacit endorsement at this news conference. Remember just a few days ago, the White House insisted they're going to stay out of this leadership race. Nancy Pelosi wanting now to be the minority leader in the new House. And there are some conservative Democrats saying, wait, not so fast. Maybe there needs to be some new faces and what not.
The president got a question from a reporter saying what about some new blood in your party on Capitol Hill? The president basically said, look, there's going to be a lot of voices, but Nancy Pelosi has been an outstanding partner in pushing my agenda. So he's pretty much onboard with her, John.
ROBERTS: Ed Henry live for us in Seoul, South Korea with the latest on all that. Ed, thanks.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, subway rage caught on tape. A commuter says he was left scratched, bruised after a transit worker in Boston slapped him around.
Stuart (ph) Wilkerson said that the woman gave him the wrong train directions to Providence so he asked for her name and when she refused, he tried to take her picture and that's when she lost it. That worker has now been fired. But a transit spokesman says the victim didn't handle it right either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD DAVEY, MBTA GENERAL MANAGER: It looked as though he may have been a bit aggressive putting the cell phone camera, as I understand it, almost in the employee's face. The reaction of the employee was far too aggressive. And, again, nothing that we will tolerate at the MBTA.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Union rep for the worker says the tape doesn't tell the whole story and that she was just trying to defend herself.
ROBERTS: Well, heads up, if you drive a Nissan. The company says it's recalling more than half a million Frontiers and Xterras in the United States to fix problems with the stirring column. The recall also includes about 18,000 Nissan Sentras to replace a battery cable that could lead to the car stalling out.
CHETRY: Well, you can't even sit down to eat anymore, must shop another store. Toys "R" Us now says it will be open on Thanksgiving joining a lot of other retailers who cannot wait for Black Friday anymore. This is the earliest that Toys "R" Us has ever kicked off its door-buster deals.
ROBERTS: A beast of a merger in the media world. "Newsweek" joining forces with "The Daily Beast" to the online media site to form the Newsweek Daily Beast Company. "The Daily Beast" announced it by saying we're getting hitched. The current editor-in-chief of "The Beast," Tina Brown, is going to be in charge of both staffs.
CHETRY: And from upstate New York to "30 Rock," the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is on its way to New York City this morning. It's a 74-foot Norway Spruce. It was donated by the family of a 9/11 first responder. The tree lighting is scheduled this year for November 30th. So everything is moving up.
ROBERTS: Everybody's into the season a little earlier.
CHETRY: Shopping, tree-laying. Yes.
ROBERTS: I guess when the economy's bad, you've got to give people a little more time to sort of get out there and do all the things they need to do.
Coming up on nine minutes after the hour now. Let's get a quick check of the morning weather headlines. Reynolds Wolf for us in the extreme weather center.
Hey, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys. It looks pretty good on the East Coast now towards the west, but smack dab in the middle of the nation, it's hard to miss, the big trouble that we're going to have later on today.
Let's go right to the maps. As we do, you're going to see a line of storms that extends nearly 1,000 miles just to the west of Chicago, clear down to Amarillo, Texas. You see it right there. Some of the heaviest rainfall now moving across the central plains.
Kansas City, no rain for you just yet that's on the way. Over in Wichita and southward to Oklahoma City, we're seeing some scattered showers and storms. Possibly a little bit of flash flooding. And then on the far left-hand side of your screen, you're seeing something else altogether. A little bit of light snow fall developing just north of Amarillo at this hour.
As for the big problem, it's going to be really will be the central plains into the afternoon. Any travel plans you have, say, going through Dallas, perhaps even at Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City, you might have some delay. Fifty-one degrees, the expected high in Wichita but pure bliss in Boston and New York. We're looking at the highs in the upper 50s. Sunny in Boston with 57 degrees, 77 in Orlando, 74 in Phoenix and Portland. Imagine that. The Pacific Northwest with sunshine and 52.
Your complete forecast is coming up, plus another look at your travel weather and a sneak peek at what you can expect into the weekend. Back to you.
CHETRY: Reynolds, thanks so much. Looking spiffy today. By the way, I like the vest.
WOLF: Thank you.
CHETRY: I like that.
WOLF: Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, the pushback against new security screenings at airports is growing this morning. Pilots unions for US Airways, American Airlines are now urging members to avoid, to opt out of those full-body scanners at airports. They say the screenings are both a health risk and intrusive.
ROBERTS: Travel industry executives are going to take on the topic today in a meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Those businesses say -- those business leaders, rather, say the screens are hurting their bottom lines. A statements from an industry spokesman says, "You can't talk on the one hand about creating jobs in this country and getting this economy back on track and on the other discourage millions of Americans from flying, which is the gateway to commerce."
CHETRY: And you better pack your patience if you're flying on one of the busiest travel days of the year. A group of flight attendants oppose to the security procedures. They're now calling on travelers, as well, to opt out of these body scans Wednesday, November 24th. Does that ring a bell? Well, it's the day before Thanksgiving. And the protest would force security workers to give travelers pat- downs, and you know that physical searches take a lot more time. The idea being the cause of long delays and send a message to the Feds.
ROBERTS: I wonder if the people involved in the protest are actually going to be traveling that day. That'll be interesting to know.
CHETRY: Yes. Exactly.
ROBERTS: Well, coming up in our 7:00 hour, we're going to talk with the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. He is suing the TSA to try to get all of those body scanners pulled out of airports across the country.
CHETRY: So it's Murkowski, m-u-r-k-o-w-s-k-i.
ROBERTS: Ding.
CHETRY: Coming up, spelling may not be the only factor in play as the ballot counting continues on who ultimately will get that Senate seat in Alaska.
ROBERTS: And in three minute's time, we're going to be joined by two passengers who just returned from vacation hell. They were onboard that stranded Carnival cruise liner, and one of them had a cabin directly over the engine room that caught fire, but there were no flames. Yes.
Twelve minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Fifteen minutes after the hour now. Mayonnaise sandwiches, backed-up toilets, not exactly the stuff that dream vacations are made of. But that's exactly what 3,300 passengers had to deal with this week on, I guess what you could call the cruise from hell. And while transportation officials investigate the fire that crippled the Carnival Cruise Ship Splendor on Monday, we're going to find out what it was like to be onboard.
Our next guests were passengers. Amber Haslerud joins us live from San Diego this morning and Leticia Lewis is with us from Los Angeles. Great to see you both.
Amber, let's start with you. You were on a girls' trip with your mom and five other ladies and you happened to have a room. Your cabin was right above the engine room where that -- I guess what the cruise ship is calling a flameless fire took place. What was it like?
AMBER HASLERUD, PASSENGER ON STRANDED CRUISE SHIP: It was -- well, what I mean when it happened, it was loud. The rest of the days were just -- I wouldn't say chaotic, just a little not organized at first. But as the time went on, it got a little better. Situations weren't great as far as not having toilets and power. But, I mean, most people made it through and survived all right, obviously.
ROBERTS: Leticia, what was it like in this first few moments? What did you hear? What did you see? Did you smell anything?
LETICIA LEWIS, PASSENGER ON STRANDED CRUISE SHIP: John, it was truly interesting. At 6:00 A.M., I felt the ship vibrate, and I was a little concerned. And I had awakened my husband. I said, honey, you know, wake up, something is going on. And a few minutes later, John, I heard an alert that went over the loud speaker. And the alert said, "Alpha team, alpha team." And it was at that moment I realized something must be going on.
And so it was very interesting. We did -- there was a smell and odor. It didn't smell like fire. It had a, I guess, you could say an odor like maybe something that was melting.
ROBERTS: Got you.
LEWIS: As it were.
ROBERTS: So -- so you had that announcement saying alpha team, alpha team, get to the engine room. And then there was another announcement that went out over the speaker system, which was caught by one of our iReporters. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a smoke situation. Lots of smoke in one of the engine control areas. So at this time, we believe that it is safe for the guests (INAUDIBLE) to not inhale any of this smoke.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Amber, so they kept saying smoke situation, we have a smoke situation. Everybody needs to get to the upper decks. Did you have any idea that there was actually a fire in the engine room at that point?
HASELRUD: At that point, I did not. I just thought that there was smoke. I mean, it's possible that there could be smoke with no fire. But once we got out there and actually saw that it was black smoke, it was not realistic that there was no fire with black smoke that was that bad.
ROBERTS: Right. Leticia, what was the -- what was the worst part of the experience for you? You know, we talked about people being left with mayonnaise sandwiches because passengers in line -- these two-hour lines for food ahead of them were taking all of the meat out of the sandwiches, backed up toilets, cold showers in the dark, what was the worst for you?
LEWIS: You know, I was disappointed -- I was planning this trip with a group from church. It was a church event. And it was -- I don't wish this experience on anyone, John, but I was just really disappointed, like, oh, my goodness, you know, why this -- why is this happening? Why now? And -- but I'm so thankful that we're all alive. I, you know, give God praise that we made it out OK, because it could have been so much worse.
And the fact that we were all able to walk away and this is not an interview regarding search and rescue. I was very pleased that the USS Reagan was there. We were accompanied by submarines. The Coast Guard was there. The Mexican Navy was there. So that made us feel very special, for lack of a better choice of words.
But we were just very pleased with the outcome. The crew was phenomenal. Carnival did an excellent job taking care of the passengers. And again, I'm just thankful to be alive. So regardless of what we did eat --
ROBERTS: Yes.
LEWIS: -- or what we did not eat, we're here.
ROBERTS: Which -- which brings me to my next question, of course, Carnival Cruise Lines has refunded the cost of the cruise that you all were on and also offered you another free cruise. Amber, is that something that you take them up on?
HASELRUD: I will absolutely take them up on. I definitely feel I deserve it after everything that we went through this last week.
ROBERTS: So -- so this hasn't soured you on the experience?
HASELRUD: I mean, well, this was my first cruise. It definitely wasn't ideal. But I -- I would definitely give it another go and hopefully get the experience that I should have had this time.
ROBERTS: And, Leticia, what about you, would you go back out there?
LEWIS: Absolutely. Everyone agrees that this was totally out of the norm. And we cannot base our entire lives on one experience, we just have to learn from it and find out what happened, what was the cause. And, again, it could have been so much worse. But I'm thankful for everyone who prayed for us.
And, again, we will continue to cruise. My husband and I, my dad was with me, lots of friends from church. There was Dr. Price -- Dr. Frederick K.C. Price and Dr. Betty Price who was onboard with us, members of Calvary Christian Center was there. So it wasn't a wonderful event, obviously. It was definitely an experience, one that we would never forget. We're happy that we can laugh about it in hindsight.
ROBERTS: Yes, well -- LEWIS: But --
ROBERTS: -- we're glad that you're all back on dry land. And if you do go out on a cruise, be sure to give us a call before you go out, we'll check in with you after you're back to see how it was.
LEWIS: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Ladies, thanks so much for joining us this morning. I really appreciate it -- Kiran.
LEWIS: Thank you for having us.
ROBERTS: You bet.
HASELRUD: Thank you.
CHETRY: Well, at least they had good attitudes about it, because it doesn't seem like it was the least bit relaxing --
ROBERTS: Yes. But what are you going to do, right?
CHETRY: -- to say the least. I know.
Well, still ahead, could Christine O'Donnell follow in the footsteps of Sarah Palin? The former Senate candidate reveals whether or not she's going to star in a reality show.
And if your teens are struggling in school, they can't get motivated, would letting them sleep in actually be much better for their studies? It's working in one high school. We'll show you how.
Twenty-one minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSARIO DAWSON, "CONNIE HOOPER", UNSTOPPABLE: (INAUDIBLE), it's Connie Hooper. Are you there?
DENZEL WASHINGTON, "FRANK BARNES", UNSTOPPABLE: Twelve-oh-six, over.
DAWSON: I just wanted to see how you boys are doing.
WASHINGTON: We're doing about 60 mile-an-hour, Connie.
DAWSON: Sorry? Frank, I don't understand.
WASHINGTON: We're going after your train.
DAWSON: Twelve-oh-six, I'm not hearing you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: "Morning Talker" time.
Denzel Washington tries to stop a runaway train filled with explosives. It's part of the new film "Unstoppable," which opens today. But will it be unstoppable at the box office, though? Well -- Because, also opening this weekend, the sci-fi thriller "Skyline," and "Morning Glory," which is about the hilarious world of morning television, although the reviews have been less than enthusiastic.
So whoever wins the weekend, though, it will be shortly lived, probably, to stay on top because "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" arrives in theaters next week.
ROBERTS: Yes. The beginning of the big wrap-up for Harry Potter.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Here are some of the other stories that got us talking in the newsroom this morning.
It's already being called the longest campaign ad ever. "Sarah Palin's Alaska", a new show from the king of reality television, Mark Burnett. It premieres Sunday night on TLC. It takes you fishing, bear-watching, ice trekking, mushing with the former governor, and maybe 2012 presidential candidate.
The trailer for the show says that she even says jokingly, "You can see Russia from here." Well, almost.
CHETRY: Well, there you go.
Making Moe, Larry, and Curly proud. It was a pie-fight for the ages, an attempt to break the world record for one. Six hundred fifty New Jersey prep students, 1,400 chocolate pies, and it was all a fundraiser to benefit a local soup kitchen as well. It had more than enough people and pies, but "Guinness" still has to make it official.
ROBERTS: Well, when you -- when you watch this, you -- you want to stop laughing. You -- you really do, but it's really kind of hard, watching this clip of high school girls' hurdles. It's going viral on the web right now. They just can't stay up. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS (voice-over): Some of them go down, and they keep going down. But everyone turns out to be OK.
Someone's put some training montage music to it, and of course the -- the remix is -- oh -- are coming in now as well.
CHETRY (voice-over): It's a lot harder than it looks, hurdling.
Well, throw them away with the phone booth. Phone companies -- oh. Ouch!
ROBERTS: Like I said, you want to stop laughing. CHETRY: Oh, man. Quit while you're ahead. Now, after your lose your rhythm, you just -- you can't get over that next one. You may as well just stop there. Poor thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, phone companies are now fighting to stop mass- producing the white pages. They say most people just go to Google now anyway. They say it'll help the environment and their bottom lines by saving all that paper and ink.
In the past month alone, New York, Pennsylvania and Florida told Verizon it's OK to stop delivering the white pages to residential areas.
ROBERTS: Oh, the new world we live in.
Well, she dresses the turkey for dinner and she also sauces them up before she offs them. Martha Stewart told Stephen Colbert that she treats her birds to one last drink before they become the feast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA STEWART, TELEVISION HOST AND BUSINESS MAGNATE: My time of the year.
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, THE COLBERT REPORT: How many turkeys are you responsible for killing?
STEWART: This year, six.
COLBERT: Six? Have you ever killed one with your bare hands?
STEWART: Oh, yes.
COLBERT: Really?
STEWART: Yes.
COLBERT: Have you watched the light -- literally, the light drain out of its eyes?
STEWART: You know, I give them -- you know those little bottles of, like, cognac and bourbon that are on the airplanes?
COLBERT: You know, mini bottles, we call them.
STEWART: Yes. Mini-bottles.
COLBERT: Yes.
STEWART: Well, before the bird is slaughtered, you --
COLBERT: You get the bird drunk? Do you -- do you have your way with the bird?
STEWART: No. No. Just -- just pour it down --
COLBERT: Just the way to stuff it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Interesting.
ROBERTS: It also -- you know, the -- obviously, the bourbon, too, would get into the meat and it would probably make it just a little more succulent as well.
CHETRY: Really?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: I don't -- I don't know if I buy that.
ROBERTS: It's like marinating it from the inside.
CHETRY: Poor birds.
Upping the ante in the holiday retail war, Wal-Mart now says it will offer free shipping for online purchases through December 20th no matter how cheap your order is. It comes just a day after it was leaked that Target is offering appliances as low as $3 on Black Friday.
ROBERTS: What -- what appliance could you buy for $3?
CHETRY: I don't -- they're doing -- I think they're doing toasters and other things for $3. They are also talking about a flat panel -- I think it was maybe a 48-inch for $298. I mean -- yes.
ROBERTS: Oh, my gosh.
CHETRY: So -- and their circular got leaked.
ROBERTS: Now, where is this?
CHETRY: Target.
ROBERTS: Oh, we're going. Target's (INAUDIBLE). On our way.
CHETRY: Still to come, the mystery may be solved, but a strange sighting in the sky this week has now launched another round of conspiracy theories. Jeanne Moos gets reaction gets on the ground, just ahead.
Twenty-eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBERTS: That's just about the perfect song to start off your Friday, isn't it?
CHETRY: Oh, yes, and Zac Brown Band won Best New Artist at the CMA Awards. So --
ROBERTS: They're very good. It's my daughter's favorite songs. But it just feels like you're getting into a weekend when you play that music.
Crossing the half hour now -- and time for our top stories this morning.
President Obama is in Japan. He just arrived a short time ago, attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit this weekend. After wrapping up the G-20 talks in Seoul, he said leaders reached a broad consensus on moving the global economy forward.
One big setback, though, he failed to reach a free trade agreement with South Korea that would increase U.S. (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: A group of flight attendants is now joining the pilots' unions in protesting new airport security screenings. Pilots are urging members to avoid full-body scanners. They say the screening are a health risk and intrusive. Meantime, flight attendants are calling on travelers to opt-out of the body scans on the day before Thanksgiving.
ROBERTS: And today, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is expected to veto a ban on McDonald's Happy Meals. The city's board of supervisors approved an ordinance that requires fast food children's meals containing toys to meet higher nutritional standards. The mayor plans to release a report outlining his efforts to combat childhood obesity.
CHETRY: Well, the race for a Senate seat in Alaska looked like it might turn into a spelling bee and then a handwriting contest. It's not only the spelling of Senator Lisa Murkowski's name that's at issue because of her write-in candidacy, but how her name is written. The Republican incumbent is facing Tea Party favorite Joe Miller as a write-in candidate.
And the latest poll results have the senator within 11,000 vote lead with about 90 percent of the vote counted.
CNN political producer Shannon Travis joins us on the phone. He's in Juneau, Alaska, now with more on this counting.
And I guess a lot of -- I guess a lot of analyzing about spelling and in some cases how the name was written. What's going on, Shannon?
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN PRODUCER (via telephone): That's right, Kiran. I did pretty well in spelling bees in grade school, but this has been a real test of my spelling ability.
Let me tell you what the latest. Right now: things are looking up for Senator Murkowski. She's holding about 90 percent of the ballots, the write-in ballots. They're being sorted in her favor -- the clear, unambiguous votes for her.
So, right now, Joe Miller is still behind in the official vote tally. He needs to make up a lot of ground.
Also, late last night, though, before close of a business day, a representative for Joe Miller, his name is Floyd Brown, came out and said, hey, we still believe that Joe Miller has a chance because of the absentee ballots that are still remaining, that need to be counted. They think he can win with that.
But they're also very concerned about what they called voter fraud. They've been getting lots of reports of people calling and say, I was disenfranchised. And they put out a 1-800 number basically saying, hey, if you feel like you are a victim of voter fraud, call this number, they want to investigate that and they're going to launch a lawsuit over that, as well.
CHETRY: And meanwhile, there is a whole problem over the spelling of the name correctly, Murkowski.
TRAVIS: Right. That's right.
CHETRY: We talked about this even before this happened. What qualifies as being allowed to count?
TRAVIS: That's a central question of this fight here. The division of elections is saying, hey, if you misspelled Murkowski, it is a bit of a difficult name to spell. If you misspelled by a few letters here or there, then, you know, you're in cache (ph); you're (INAUDIBLE) votes for Lisa Murkowski. Some of those ballots have been ruled in favor of the senator.
But a real interesting point, we have been seeing -- I've personally being witnessing some ballots that were perfectly spelled for Lisa Murkowski, her name perfectly spelled out, those ballots being challenged, as well, by the Miller campaign. When I pressed the campaign, hey, why are you challenging perfectly-spelled ballots? They have told me and others of the media, hey, maybe it was illegible, maybe there were smudges on it, maybe there was some other imperfection that made us question it.
So, now, you're moving into the area of perfectly spelled ballots still being challenged. So, it's -- it could go either way.
CHETRY: But they are allowing all of those spellings that you showed to count. If the intent was Lisa Murkowski, it doesn't have to be spelled properly?
TRAVIS: Not all of them. I mean, the vast majority of them, we've witnessed a lot of them being cleared for Murkowski. Some of them they've said, it's spelled as Lisa Macoski, some people have combined different candidates' names, so it has to be -- there is no formula that I've seen applied. It's very subjective. Some of them are being applied for her, but some are not.
CHETRY: All right. We should know soon. Lisa Murkowski spelled many different ways this morning from Juneau, Alaska, with Shannon Travis -- thanks.
ROBERTS: I like that one that's got her a member of the clan Macoski, famous Scottish clan. Yes.
Checking the CNN Political Ticker this morning is senior White House adviser is clarifying the comments that grabbed headlines yesterday. David Axelrod said the White House is willing to negotiate ending tax cuts for the wealthy. He says that statement is the same thing the president has been saying since Election Day. Axelrod says the president is willing to talk compromise with congressional leaders.
So, what's next for former Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell? The Delaware Republican says she's not sure yet, but she's getting plenty of offers. On "The Tonight Show" last night, the Tea Party favorite said she's been offered a book deal and, yes, of course, a reality show. O'Donnell says she'd prefer to work on a watchdog type of show. But she's not looking for a position as a political pundit.
Go to the CNN.com/Ticker page for the latest political headlines.
CHETRY: Well, if you can't get your teen motivated and their grades are slipping and you feel you've tried everything, maybe you need to just let them sleep in. They're trying it out at one high school in England and it appears to be working.
ROBERTS: The TSA's new body scans becoming more and more common. But do they go too far? The pushback, it could affect holiday travel. We'll lay it out for you.
It's 37 minutes after the hour.
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CHETRY: Forty-one minutes past the hour.
If your teenager's having a tough time in school and you can't seem to motivate them, you might try letting them sleep in. At one school in northern England, it's working like a charm.
ROBERTS: Instead of waking up with or even before the sun, as many kids here do, the kids are allowed to sleep in because -- listen to this -- classes don't start until 10:00 in the morning.
Our Phil Black is live in London this morning. And he spent some time Monkseaton High School just outside of Newcastle.
And I'll tell you, the idea of school not starting until 10:00 in the morning, it's like a dream, Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the students certainly think so. John, Kiran, good morning.
If you visit Monkseaton High School in northern England, at around 8:00, you'll find the place completely empty. That's the time in a lot of schools are just kicking off for the day. But that's the time when those students' alarms are just going off. And it's because, as you say, the school has bumped back its start time until 10:00.
And it says it's done this based upon what it says is compelling scientific evidence which proves -- here's a surprise -- that teenagers can be in the morning a little grumpy, moody, difficult, perhaps even a little lazy, but which crucially proves it's not their fault. Scientists say that because of the wiring of their brains, the chemicals, the hormones flooding through their bodies, they are essentially programmed to sleep just that little bit longer than everybody else.
The driving force behind this change is the head teacher Paul Kelley and an Oxford professor named Russell Foster. Take a listen to both of their thoughts on this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big change in the way that we think about students, looking at their health and their mental health before we decide how the school system's going to work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a remarkable body of evidence now which suggests that teenagers genuinely have a biological predisposition to go to bed late and get up late.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: So, teachers are already reporting better attendance, happier students, and they hope with time they're going to be able to report back on their academic results, as well -- John, Kiran.
CHETRY: And what are the parents saying, Phil?
BLACK: Well, as a mix divide there -- the teachers love it, the students love it, there is a body of parents, though, who believe that this isn't the best way to prepare kids for the real world because that generally starts much earlier than 10:00. And they also think it's a big inconvenience because they're used to getting the kids off to school, going to their jobs, which, again, generally start earlier than 10:00.
But this 10:00 start time is, in fact, a compromise because the scientists believe the ideal start time for a teenager is 11:00.
ROBERTS: Having been the parent of two, I might extend that to 11:30 or perhaps noon, but it's an intriguing idea, Phil. And I know it's being looked at here in this country, though maybe not 10:00, maybe that's a little too late.
Phil Black for us in London this morning -- Phil, thanks so much.
Coming up, it was the missile that wasn't a missile but it still managed to launch huge conspiracy theories and provide material for the late night crowd. Our Jeanne Moos offers her take on the mysterious vapor trail -- just ahead.
CHETRY: Finally, it's Friday. Reynolds Wolf will have the morning's weekend forecast for you coming up right now after the break.
Forty-four minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Forty-seven minutes past the hour right now. We get a check of this morning's weather headlines, including some storms hitting the Midwest right now. We have Reynolds Wolf with us in the Extreme Weather Center. Hey, Reynolds.
WOLF: Hey, guys. Yes, you're not going to need an alarm clock this morning if you re tuning in from parts of the Midwest. Let's go right to it. It's kind of hard to miss right now. You can see this line of storms extending from Madison, and let's see, back over towards Milwaukee. Chicago, no rain for you yet, but trust me, that's on the way. That's we make a wait in to the Central Plain. Oklahoma City, we've got some scattered showers, Wichita some thunderstorms, but back in Amarillo, I want you take a look at this.
First couple of frames, you can see some rain drops moving through, then a little bit of cold air gets mixed in, and then boom, some snowfall. You might have an inch or so before the morning is out. Something else is you're going to be seeing later on today, not just these showers and storms, but there will be the possibility of getting plenty of sunshine, and the West Coast and also the East Coast. High is mainly in the 50s through Boston, New York.
Sunny through Orlando right along the I-4 corridor will be lovely for you. And Portland and Seattle, sunshine, 52 degrees the expected high, beautiful in the cascades as we make our way down into parts of Central and Southern California, 74 degrees with sunshine. That means the weather's going to be perfect with the exception of what's happening in the center of the U.S., right? No, we're going to have some wind in parts of the eastern sea board.
And with that, we might have a few delays for all of you travelers, especially in Boston at Logan. Also, all your New York metros could be anywhere from a 30-minute wait to maybe a 60-minute wait into the afternoon all due to the wind, but in Minneapolis, the top half of that frontal boundary that's going to bring you some scattered showers and few storms, and with that, a few delays. Be patient. All right, guys. Let's send it back to you.
ROBERTS: Reynolds, thanks so much. We'll see you again very shortly.
Passengers onboard that Carnival cruise ship that was stranded at sea are speaking out. They're saying the crew kept them all in the dark, and this went way beyond just the electricity being out. You'll hear from them coming at the top of the hour.
CHETRY: And another major car recall. More than half a million cars and SUVs in the U.S., a warning for Nissan drivers about steering problems. We'll tell you what they are and what models are affected coming up. Forty-nine minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: That's a throwback.
ROBERTS: Fifty-two-and-a-half minutes after the hour. It's time now for the Moost News in The Morning. And that's Moost for Jeanne Moos. Was it a bird, a plane, a missile, a mysterious vapor trail first in the sky over Los Angeles and then over New York City had everyone talking this week.
CHETRY: Yes, maybe the biggest mystery was how long it took the Pentagon to reach its contrail conclusion. Here's Jeanne Moos.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Three, two, one, we have liftoff of a story Jon Stewart dubbed missile impossible.
ROBERTS: It looks like it could be a launch from a submarine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A missile from a navy ship.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could it be a secret test?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Russian sub?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Maybe even a U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile.
MOOS: We're surprised someone didn't guess the wicked witch of the west.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Surrender Dorothy.
MOOS: But now, the missile theory has surrendered from the Pentagon to the website contrailscience.com. Experts agree the plume off the California coast was just a jet contrail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Contrail is a condensation trail.
MOOS: Water coming out of a jet seen here from the cockpit of another plane. Sort of like your breath on a cold day. Though, the west coast contrail got an unintentionally phallic makeover.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What else could do that?
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MOOS: Some say they know exactly what did that. LIEM BAHNEMAN, AVIATION PHOTOGRAPHER: It was U.S. airways flight 808.
MOOS: Are you sort of a contrail Cono Sur (ph)?
Actually, Liem Bahneman is an aviation photography buff who focused on airline flight paths and schedules, then found a web cam that captured a similar contrail in the same place 24 hours after the now famous one.
BAHNEMAN: The same daily flight from Honolulu to Phoenix was in the same position, as well. So, that was kind of the smoking gun for me.
MOOS: The smoking contrail.
MOOS (on-camera): Three nights after, the West Coast missile, there was another strange sighting here on the East Coast.
MOOS (voice-over): WCBS in New York had the video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bizarre glowing red hot streak in the sky right at sunset moving briskly behind the Manhattan skyline.
MOOS: Contrail enthusiasts think this one is also from a jet, similar in situation to one in which the plane is visible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The trail has been lit by the setting sun.
MOOS: One joker suggests that the West Coast contrail was iron man. Jay Leno suggested we follow the trail of the mystery contrail.
JAY LENO, HOST: Let's play it backwards and trace where the contrail came from. See, go all the way back (INAUDIBLE). Oh, there it had! There it is right there.
MOOS: Contrail controversies have happened before and they'll happen again. So --
(SINGING) Happy trails to you
MOOS (on-camera): Make that contrails.
(SINGING) Until we meet again.
MOOS (voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: You have to admit, though, that one looks a little unusual the way the plane is climbing out. It looked kind of like it was going out.
CHETRY: I know. I don't know if the conspiracy theorists were convinced that it was really just a contrail. ROBERTS: Yes. Those folks who think that we were visited by UFOs were probably going to be looking at this one saying, what's going on?
CHETRY: Oh, yes.
ROBERTS: Top stories are coming your way right after the break. Don't go away.
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