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American Morning

Giffords Holds Her Own; Suspected Gunman in Court: Faces Death Penalty if Convicted; Vice President Biden in Afghanistan; Michael Douglas' Cancer Update; Warning Signs of Mental Illness Missed; Baby Jenny: One Year Later

Aired January 11, 2011 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ALINA CHO, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Good morning. State of emergency. The south this morning waking up icy and virtually paralyzed. Shut down and snow bound by a major winter storm. A storm that is promising another blizzard on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning, everybody. It's Tuesday, January 11th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Alina Cho. Kiran has the morning off.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. We are watching that big weather story. It is going to be another couple of days of madness when it comes to the weather. We'll be giving you all the updates on that.

But also this morning, a few other things we're keeping a close eye on that's including the suspected gunman from that shooting rampage in Tucson now facing murder charges and possibly the death penalty. This morning, we're learning more about Jared Lee Loughner and his troubled past.

CHO: If you're one of the millions who own an iPhone, is the wait over? In just a few hours, Verizon is expected to announce it will soon carry the iPhone. But even if you don't want the phone, could your service be affected? We'll tell you. The battle between AT&T and Verizon is heating up.

HOLMES: I thought everyone wanted an iPhone. Maybe not.

Michael Douglas this morning saying he's beaten cancer. It was a stage four throat cancer. He tells now NBC that the tumor is gone, but is he really out of the woods? We'll be checking in with our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the prognosis moving forward.

CHO: But encouraging news. Up first, though snow and ice shutting down Dixie. And now that the major winter storm is recharging, it is heading north this morning.

HOLMES: Take a look at this. Snow and sleet not coming down in parts the Midwest. New York, Boston, just hold on. It's on the way.

CHO: The storm has paralyzed parts of the south. People in places not used to this much snow. These pictures are coming to us from Atlanta. Hardly a car on I-85, barely a person on the sidewalks. Many people who were driving simply gave up and ditched their cars on the side of the road.

HOLMES: We're talking about scenes like this across the entire region and because of all of that weather, looks at this. Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, all of them have declared states of emergency this morning.

We have to bring in a team to cover this big story including our David Mattingly standing by for us at Hartsfield Jackson airport to show us a scene that includes a lot of people sleeping in that airport. Also, Rob Marciano live outside Centennial Olympic Park this morning with a look at where this storm is going. Rob, it's gotten out of there where you are for the most part, but ice and snow on the ground there for a while.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Let's talk about this storm. A number of watches and advisories out across the eastern half of the country, and about 30 states in total are under a watch or warning.

What we're doing is combining two systems. The one that came across the south and the one that came across the Midwest yesterday. Here's the radar showing the snow that's moving across parts of the Ohio River valley and lower Great Lakes right now. That's going to combine with what's developing off the Delmarva. The southern part of the storm is moving through North Carolina and the Virginias at this hour.

It comes total like this. Most of the energy will feed to the coastal low and ride up in a good old fashioned nor'easter. Off the shore line which means it will be snow for the I-95 corridor, four to eight inches expected in Philadelphia, eight to 14 in the New York City and tri-state area. That doesn't include wind. We could have blizzard conditions at times tonight and throughout the day tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the cold air remains entrenched across the south. Not much in the way of ice across the northeast like we had here and the ice is what is crippling, 36 degrees for the high temperature in Atlanta. That's not going to help a lot considering it will get down into the teens tonight and might not get above freezing tomorrow.

Some pictures across the south as far as traffic is concerned, cars spinning out, no doubt about that. We mentioned the tractor-trailers that have been jackknifed. If you are trying to get through and around Atlanta it looks like that.

Driving here this morning it is much worse this morning than it was yesterday I can tell you that from firsthand experience, one to three inches of solid ice on roadways here. You thought Atlanta is flat until you drive around in an ice storm. You see hills and you experience hills that you never thought were there.

All right, the other issue is ice on some of the limbs. One thing that's been positive with this is because we got more sleet than freezing rain there hasn't been a ton of power outages. If that went down in a city this big, I can't even imagine what we would be dealing with.

But the storm heads up to the east and cold air remains. This snow and ice even if we get above freezing for a couple hours today will be around the rest of the week. Back to you.

HOLMES: Rob, that was the absolute best way to put it, that Atlanta is virtually mountainous right now because of the roads. At least it feels that way. Rob, great stuff. Talk to you again soon.

MARCIANO: You bet.

CHO: We want to get to the airport situation and those delays. Many passengers actually spent the night at Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta. Sound familiar? The icy storm has grounded thousands of flights. Delta alone canceled 2,000 flights yesterday and planning another 1,400 today. David Mattingly live for us at Hartsfield- Jackson airport this morning. David, good morning.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. I wish I could say it was a good morning for a lot of people I talked to here but so far another wait and see kind of day. Just take a look at the people in line here. There's a reason why you don't see many smiles on their faces. It looks like they're here to check in for a flight but they're actually here to reschedule for a flight that's been canceled.

Some of the people I've talked to have been stranded here in Atlanta since Sunday. Delta, the largest carrier here at the nation's busiest airport, canceled 1,900 flights yesterday, 1,400 flights today. So a lot of people that should be in the air moving to their destination are sitting right here in Atlanta.

And the really ironic thing that I found talking to so many people here, a lot of them are bound for what you would consider cold weather destinations, buffalo, Minneapolis, Chicago, they can't get out of Atlanta.

We talked to the airport authority this morning. They tell us they have four runways open right now. Some flights are beginning to trickle out, so that is a good sign. They may have a fifth runway open later today. They'll have warmer temperatures today. Everything is going to eventually get better, but it's going to get better slowly. And that's not going to help the people here as patience continues to be at a premium here as people have to wait until they can get out.

All right, David. What's that bad cliche, pack your patience? Thank you so much for that update.

HOLMES: Another weather related story here but not here in the U.S. You have got to take a look at this video. That's flooding. We're talking about flooding that's been a problem for quite some time in Australia. In particular this is Australia's Queensland state. They have been dealing with this for some time. You saw at least one vehicle, several vehicles being swept away by these floodwaters. At least eight people have been killed so far.

CHO: How scary that must be with those cars being swept away.

HOLMES: That really gives you an idea of just how powerful this water can be, to be able to carry off vehicles like that. Another 72 people are missing in addition to eight that are confirmed dead. Now the real problem is possibly a lot of people that need help can't get supplies into the area. So this has been a problem for some time and something to keep a close eye on.

CHO: A three-year prison sentence for Tom DeLay for money laundering and conspiracy. But Delay is out on $10,000 bail this morning. He could be out for years while his lawyers appeal. Defiant in court, the former majority leader told the judge, quote, "I can't be remorseful for something I don't think I did."

HOLMES: And the smallest planet ever discovered outside of our solar system has been discovered -- smallest ever but still larger than earth. NASA is calling it the Kepler 10B. It's named after the spacecraft Kepler that made this discovery. It's one-and-a-half times the size of earth. It was confirmed after more than eight months of data collection. Scientists say the planet is orbiting too close to a star to be able to support life.

CHO: Just as the Fed tries to get a handle on those bank fees, new ones are emerging. Great. This time your free checking is in the crosshairs. Bank of America testing new checking accounts with fees that range from $9 to $25 a month.

Next month Chase will enroll customers in accounts with a $12 a month fee and Citibank charging monthly maintenance fees up to $30. One way to avoid fees, using bank credit cards or maintaining balances that can be high as $1,500. That's a high balance for most Americans to keep in a checking account.

HOLMES: That's a lot. Christine Romans is joining us here. This is something you talked about last week as well having to do with these fees.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Credit unions, small community banks, you have your two feet and can walk to say I don't want to pay for use of my own money.

CHO: Does it work?

ROMANS: Yes, a majority of credit unions do not charge you to use your own money out of a checking account. We've reported many times that checking fees are here just to use a checking account you will see fees. That's pretty much the way we're going.

HOLMES: People need to be aware. Check it out. Fees may be there. You need to figure it out.

But you are here. A lot of folks want the iPhone. They can't get the iPhone because they're not with a particular company, AT&T. That is about to change. It's good news for all maybe.

ROMANS: At 11:00 a.m. on 01/11/11, Verizon will announce it will start selling the iPhone. We know Apple shares were up big on this yesterday, up again in premarket. AT&T and Verizon shares pretty much unchanged in premarket trading. But this is a big story for apple users. A lot of analysts expect that apple could sell 12 million iPhones on the Verizon network. AT&T sold 1 million in the first nine months of 2010. There are a lot of big questions among them can Verizon handle this big traffic load any better than AT&T can? AT&T has been hit in the consumer satisfaction surveys again and again.

Verizon spent billions upgrading capacity late last year when executive there said I think we can handle it absolutely. You might not be able to chat and surf at the same time if the iPhones are on 3g network. We'll know more about that at 11:00 this morning. AT&T already busting back saying, hey, the iPhone is built for speed. I'm not sure iPhone users are ready for life in the slow lane. A smack at Verizon.

A quick look at Verizon's data plans and where you might fall on this. There's a $30 unlimited data plan. AT&T has a $15 and $25 plans there, again, a lot of big questions about what it will look like, questions that will be answered later today. This is a popular device, the iPhone.

Verizon had a lot of experience with androids and Google phone data hogs. Do you know that volume traffic is up some 5,000 percent on AT&T since the iPhone was introduced a couple years ago. That shows you how much space they use and infiltrated the market. We'll know more later. You have an iPhone?

HOLMES: I do.

ROMANS: Do you?

CHO: No.

ROMANS: I have an iPad but not an iPhone.

CHO: That's next on my list.

ROMANS: I'm definitely a phone booth girl in an android world.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Phone booth, girl?

ROMANS: I'm afraid.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: Thank you. Thanks so much.

Against my better judgment I stayed up to watch the national championship game last night, ended at midnight. I waited all year for this game and I was not going miss it. It did not disappoint. Number one Auburn taking on number two Oregon.

A lot of people thought these two high powered offenses would go at it and be a shootout. It was a bit of a defensive struggle. In the end last second field goal, there you see it, by the Auburn kicker. No time left, 19 yarder. This wrapped up a perfect season for them. It's their second national championship. The last one wasn't any time recently but back in 1957. The fifth straight BCS title for an SEC team.

CHO: Good for them. 1957 is a long time to wait.

Up next on "AMERICAN MORNING," murder suspect Jared Loughner may face the death penalty follow allegedly shooting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others. We have new information about a possible motive and we'll also have an update on Congressman Giffords' condition.

HOLMES: Also this morning, actor Michael Douglas calling himself cancer free this morning. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will break down his treatment and the road ahead for this Hollywood legend. It's 13 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: Live pictures this morning from outside the Tucson hospital where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is fighting for her life this morning. You can see the makeshift visual there. Lots of balloons, candles, flowers. People just keeping watch hoping to lend her some support and, of course, there are a lot of prayers there out in Tucson this morning.

HOLMES: It's been -- I mean, just initially, remarkable to hear that she could be shot in the head at pointblank range and not only survive but also have her doctors say that they're optimistic about her recovery. She is responding now to verbal commands, we're told. She even gave doctors a thumbs up yesterday. Her neurosurgeon hopeful she'll recover from that shooting rampage in Tucson saying she's holding her own right now. Also saying she's functioning at a very high level.

CHO: That is encouraging. President Obama and the first lady heading to Tucson tomorrow for a memorial service at the University of Arizona to honor the dead and the wounded and help America heal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to be important I think for the country as a whole, as well as the people of Arizona to feel as if we are speaking directly to our sense of loss but also speaking to our hopes for the future and how out of this tragedy we can come together as a stronger nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The parents, meanwhile, of shooting suspect Jared Loughner, they're getting a visit from the FBI. They were visited yesterday. A next door neighbor says Amy and Randy Loughner are devastated right now. They're just hunkered down in their home right now. Wayne Smith is the neighbor. He says the couple actually called him and asked him to bring the mail. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE SMITH, NEIGHBOR: They're not going to come out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not going to come out.

SMITH: You guys can stay here until Haiti freezes over. They're not going to come out. He did tell me to tell you guys that when he gets to where he can, right now he can't talk, guys. He can't get out three words without crying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Well, Loughner made his first appearance in court yesterday. His head completely shaven as you can see there in the photo. If Loughner is convicted of murder, he could face the death penalty. And this morning, we are learning more about the suspect and a possible motive.

Susan Candiotti live for us in Tucson this morning. And, Susan, I understand you're just getting some new information about a possible briefing this morning.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They've been having them on a daily basis that was -- and there will be one today. But the news is that number one, that Congresswoman Giffords' condition has not changed appreciably overnight. But we are learning that for the very first time at a briefing, we will be hearing from two family members at this press briefing. In the first case, it's a young woman whose father was killed but her mother survived and she was released from the hospital yesterday. And the second relative is a gentleman whose wife was shot and she is still being treated at the hospital.

But now as you are asking, we are also learning more about possible motives as to why the shooting occurred involving the suspect in this case, Jared Lee Loughner. Now what we're hearing is now from brand new information from a friend of his who says that he remembers Loughner telling him about a town hall meeting about three years ago that he attended with Congresswoman Giffords. And at that time he said that his friend asked the very first question at the town hall meeting and he said, quote, "What is government if words have no meaning?" And Loughner told his friend that the congresswoman didn't get an answer and that he was pretty mad about the whole thing and called her a fake after that. But then he said recently they didn't talk for a while and after the shooting he discovered that Loughner had left him a voice mail message. And listen to this, it said, "Hey, man. It's Jared. You and me had good times. Peace out. Later."

Now was this some sort of a sign or a message? We have yet to find out. Now the thing is, Alina, this information is coming to us from an interview in "Mother Jones" magazine -- Alina.

CHO: Susan, I want to go back to yesterday because there was a critical first appearance in court by Jared Loughner. I understand it lasted about 15 minutes. What happened? CANDIOTTI: That's right. That's right.

Well, it was a pretty routine hearing. When he came into court, he was wearing chains. He answered each and every question that the judge asked him in a loud clear voice. Mainly yes and no questions. And then the judge said that he was going to retain him without bond because he's considered to be a danger to the community. Another hearing was set up for January 24th. He was appointed a federal public defender because he said he couldn't afford an attorney on his own. And other than that a very short meeting. Again, we'll be seeing him back in court another couple of weeks. There could be an arraignment at that time. That's a possibility and an indictment on these charges.

CHO: January 24th at 1:30 p.m. is what I'm hearing. All right.

Susan Candiotti live for us in Tucson this morning with that update. Susan, thank you.

Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, if you were among the millions who enjoyed watching Sarah Palin's reality show, guess what? You're going to have to get your caribou fix somewhere else. We'll explain.

HOLMES: Also a little later, Ford on the comeback trail. That means jobs and a pretty good chunk of them. We'll tell you how many is coming your way in 10 minutes. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Look at that. A gorgeous sunrise this morning in New York.

CHO: New York City.

HOLMES: New York City. What you see there kind of belies what's on the way. We have a storm that's coming that's going to drop up to what -- is it 14 inches possibly, some are predicting?

CHO: That's what the mayor says.

HOLMES: That's what the mayor -- he's on it. Mayor Bloomberg is on it this time. Boy, you're going to see those snowplows out.

CHO: That's right.

HOLMES: They're probably out already.

CHO: At the ready. They are going to be --

HOLMES: Before the snow even gets here.

Twenty-one minutes past the hour. Welcome back, everybody, to this AMERICAN MORNING.

We're talking about snow here. There was an earthquake actually in the northwest over the weekend. And we're just finding out about it now though. We have video of it actually. Check it out. It's not what you think. I don't know if you saw this play. The Seattle Seahawks playing the Saints over the weekend. Some are calling this one of the greatest runs in the history of NFL playoff football. He literally, Marshawn Lynch there, the Seattle running back --

CHO: That's pretty amazing.

HOLMES: He was touched by about eight guys on the Saints. They couldn't get him down. Now, that's not the earthquake we're talking about -- the 67-yard run. But it got people, the fans so excited that they were jumping up and down and screaming enough that it actually measured as a seismic event equal to a small earthquake. Qwest Field there where they play is known as the loudest stadium in the NFL and they certainly brought it on that one. Caused a small earthquake that some scientists say could have been felt up to a mile away.

CHO: Unbelievable. Now you played football. How hard was that play? Hard?

HOLMES: You know, I didn't play anything on that level. But that was impressive or embarrassing for the Saints either way you want to look at it.

CHO: Yes. Well, there are two ways to look at it depending on who you're rooting for.

HOLMES: Yes.

CHO: Well, the Kardashians' prepaid debit card is long gone but that deal is coming back to haunt them apparently. The company behind the controversial card with hefty fees is now suing the Kardashians, turning the tables for more than $75 million for allegedly breaking their contract. Among other things, the company wants to be reimbursed for -- get this -- the $12,000 it paid for Kim's hairstylist and another 7,000 for someone to do the sisters' makeup.

HOLMES: I don't even know what to say right now.

CHO: It cost money.

HOLMES: Won't say a thing. Sarah Palin, though, a reality star. She's a star no matter what and where she goes. But you know her reality show, it's over already. The final episode of her reality show -- it was on Sunday night and TLC, the network that was airing it has no plans for a second season of it.

Now some are speculating there could be some equal time issues if Palin runs for president. Apparently, this was a pretty popular show.

CHO: Yes.

HOLMES: It got a lot of ratings for that network. So why would you cancel it? Well, maybe that's a reason why.

CHO: Interesting. HOLMES: We shall see.

CHO: Stay tuned.

Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, Michael Douglas with a stunning declaration this morning. Encouraging news about his health telling the world that he has beat stage 4 throat cancer. How did he do it? How common is it? What's next? We will talk to Sanjay Gupta.

HOLMES: Also coming up a little later, the south is shut down right now but the storm that shut down the south is making its way through the northeast now. We are tracking what could be the next big blizzard.

It's 27 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: Coming right up on 30 minutes past the hour on the nose. Welcome back on this Tuesday, January 11th.

A live look there at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park this morning. The snow has moved out but the city is still paralyzed. You can see the snow on the ground. People are sort of slip sliding around if you are in a car.

We will check in on airline delays as well. A live report from Hartsfield-Jackson Airport is in the next half hour. Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. Kiran has the morning off.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN, ANCHOR: And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. Again, that storm that really paralyzed the south is making its way up the northeast now. A live look at the radar. You see that storm on the right side. That's the one that caused havoc down south. It would be the next big blizzard to slam cities like New York, Boston beginning tonight.

Right now it's snowing and sleeting in parts of Virginia and the Carolinas. Storm already shut down parts of the south as you know with more than a foot of snow.

CHO: This morning Vice President Joe Biden is in Afghanistan to assess security ahead of the planned U.S. troop withdrawal, which begins in July. Biden told reporters in Kabul that U.S. troops would stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014 if the Afghan people wanted them to. He will meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai later today.

HOLMES: Now, some good news finally for this country's auto companies. Ford in particular. Hiring. They will add 7,000 new jobs in the U.S. by the end of 2012. This is the first time the company is adding jobs in some 10 years. The company says it lost more than 100,000 employees however over the past decade.

CHO: Well, six months ago it was the diagnosis that would change Michael Douglas' life forever. Stage 4 throat cancer. HOLMES: Can you believe now this Hollywood legend is saying he's got some good news. The tumor is gone saying "I've got it beat." That's what he's telling NBC News in an interview.

Joining us this morning though, our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, good morning to you. Good to see you. When you hear someone beat cancer -

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

HOLMES: - doesn't necessarily mean everything is over and done.

GUPTA: Well, you know, what he's probably referring to and I think what a lot of people look to at the end of treatment is you get a CAT scan and even do a PET scan which looks for activity of tumors and do you see anything there? And you know, if you don't, that's what we call in the medical world no evidence of disease. N.E.D..

To your point, T.J. though, these scans have a certain - they are only so specific in terms of what they can pick up. So it's something that's very small, for example, less than 0.6 of a centimeter, tiny like a grain of rice, it may not be able to pick up or see something like that. So no evidence of disease means we can't see it but we still have to act and worry a little that it could come back. So that's sort of the mantra now.

You know, the types of things that can cause a sort of cancer, alcohol and tobacco versus something like an infection, like the human papilloma virus infection, the way that cancers behave based on their origin varies. So this could be something that could be more easily treated or it's something that they have to be a little bit more vigilant about down the road. I'm sure the doctors are planning on that for him regardless of what happens in the future.

CHO: Sanjay, the first question that I have is, of course, that throat cancer is common. Michael Douglas is just a very visible face who has it. But I'm curious to know how common is it for you to beat it and if, as you say the cancer usually does reoccur, you know, where does it come back, you know, how soon could we see it come back if at all?

GUPTA: Well, you know, when you think about the throat you are talking about several different things in there that could potentially be origin of the cancer. We heard throat cancer. Did it come from around the tonsils? Did it come from the larynx itself? Was it the gums? Was it the - you know, inside the mouth? We don't know specifically.

And the reason it's important is because all those cancers behave a little bit differently in terms of the likelihood of recurrence and the, you know, the ease of detection of these as well. Remember a lot of people are diagnosed with late-stage throat cancer because the only symptoms they have may be sore throat or difficulty swallowing and somebody may have that from time to time just due to allergies or something like that which is why it is often diagnosed late. If it does come back, a lot of times it comes back in the lungs. You think about, for example, if this is related to smoking, these patients are often at higher risk of lung cancer as well. So you get an idea of how that cancer might behave.

HOLMES: All right. Sanjay, we're going to leave it there for now. Again, it was great news to hear, to hear him say that, whatever it is long-term we'll see how he works out but still for right now it sounds like good news about his health and said he's already moving on and will be getting ready for another role in the next movie. So some good news there for a lot of people who are big fans of this guy.

Sanjay, we appreciate you this morning. Good to see you as always.

CHO: Sanjay, thank you.

He has gained 12 pounds back of the 32 that he lost. So we wish him all the best.

Up next on "American Morning," we're learning a lot more this morning about Jared Loughner, the suspected gunman in Saturday's Tucson shooting spree. Ahead, two experts will join us to look into his troubled past for a possible motive.

It's 35 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, 38 minutes past the hour.

They say the warning signs were there about this shooter in Tucson. Teachers where he went to school reported erratic behavior and even some of his classmates sent e-mails out warning saying "I'm worried about this guy in class. I hope he doesn't come back with a gun." Literally they were sending stuff like that. So it seems like the signs were there. Why were they missed?

Let me bring in two gentlemen to talk about this with me now. Jeff Gardere, a clinical psychologist and you recognize also a contributor to healthguru.com and also Paul Callan, a criminal defense attorney. Gentlemen, thank you both for being here.

I want to start with you, Dr. Gardere. Actually, we have all said this or heard someone say this before about somebody that you work with, man, I hope I'm not around when that person comes back. You know, you might say it in jest. But people were actually saying it about this guy and he did it.

So help us understand. What's the difference between someone at work that's maybe just a little angry, a little different, a little weird and somebody that's potentially dangerous?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, we have to look at the consistency of the behavior. This is someone who was oppositional, was very aggressive, didn't have friends, was introverted, was inappropriate and would laugh inappropriately and there was a very consistent strange quality about this individual and I think, T.J., part of what's going on and why people just didn't talk about this was because they felt it wasn't their business, number one, and number two, this thought that people have that you don't want to impose your will, you don't want to impose a hospitalization or treatment on someone. So balancing the rights of the individual versus the rights of the community when they act out.

HOLMES: We're naturally all going to feel that way that it's not our business. How are we supposed to make it our business and how can we legally make it our business?

PAUL CALLAN, PROFESSOR OF MEDIA LAW AT SETON HALL UNIVERSITY: Well, here's the problem, T.J., and I think society, we see this all throughout society now. There was a movement over the last 20 years to give civil rights to mental health patients and to people with mental disabilities. They have privacy rights. Now for instance colleges when they are confronting a student who may have a problem, a serious problem, there's a reluctance to go public with it. There's a reluctance to report the student because of the privacy rights of the student.

On the other hand, the public has safety concerns and we're really trying to find the right balance. Obviously something went wrong here because this guy with a serious mental disability wound up with a gun and opened fire committing this terrible act.

GARDERE: And Paul, part of this is that really the school, the institutions, don't understand mental illness. You would think with all of these shooting cases a lot of these officials would say "OK, we get it. We know what's going on and let's get this person help. Let's look at what we need to do to address the issue." But what they do is they wash it away. Don't come back to this institution until you have a note from a mental health provider.

(CROSSTALK)

GARDERE: That's not the way to deal with it.

CALLAN: (INAUDIBLE) community college he went to though and I must say in their defense, they did expel him. He was suspended. That's sort of a brave move. A lot of these colleges, they won't do that with a student because they think it's a violation of his rights. So they moved against him and got him off campus. But unfortunately it wasn't -

(CROSSTALK)

GARDERE: But what was the follow-up? What was the follow-up?

HOLMES: What is the threshold? What is the legal threshold for me, a co-worker or anyone else, that I can actually make a move to get them involuntarily committed somewhere?

CALLAN: Well, T.J., it varies from state to state. In New York, for instance, you would have to show that the person you wish to have committed is a danger either to himself or more importantly to others. Ironically, Arizona has a very, very liberal law. They don't require that. Anybody can go in. It doesn't have to be a relative can go in and say you're suffering from a serious mental health problem and you can petition the court to have the person confined.

HOLMES: Seriously, who is going to do that? Who is going to go? A stranger - (INAUDIBLE) that guy isn't really my problem? Who is going to a court and do all that?

GARDERE: That's a great point. A lot of folks would not do that. But friends won't do it because they don't want to get their friend in trouble. The school may not do it because they just don't have the time because they have so many students.

But remember, the police were involved. Campus police were involved in some cases. Law enforcement were involved. And it's really amazing that they did not say "OK, let's petition the courts and get this guy some help." And I think part of that is a numbers game. They just aren't enough people with all of the budget cuts, with these officials to be able to deal with one particular person who has severe mental health issues.

(CROSSTALK)

CALLAN: I was looking yesterday, Jeff, at the statistics on this and amazing because colleges now admit such a wide variety of individuals from all walks of life, from all statuses of life, mental health problems are really becoming predominant. Over 10 percent of college students suffer from depression, suicide ideations, there is mental health problems in the college area that in so many students.

HOLMES: This is a very important question for you now. You talk about the prevalence of mental illness. Does mental illness however always translate to higher propensity for violence necessarily in a person?

GARDERE: Well, not necessarily. Statistics don't show that. What it does show is people who are not diagnosed, people who are not getting treatment, and who may have some sort of severe personality disorder or in this case have some sort of a psychosis, then there may be more of a chance that they will act out against themselves or against others and that is really the key.

Are people being diagnosed? Are they getting the mental health treatment? And parents have to deal with this all the time. If they have a very violent individual in their home, they just cannot force that person to get help.

HOLMES: And last thing to you, Paul, and I need you to do this for me in about 15 to 20 seconds, not necessarily mean. He might have a mental illness but that doesn't mean necessarily he'll be found criminally insane when he goes to trial.

CALLAN: Yes.

HOLMES: Explain that for me. CALLAN: It's very hard to prove insanity at trial. You really have to prove that your mental illness is so severe that you don't even understand that you are committing a criminal act. It's almost impossible to prove that. In this case with the amount of planning that went into this assassination, I think it's highly unlikely that he will meet the legal insanity defense threshold.

GARDERE: The pre-meditation will work against him in this one as far as getting an insanity plea.

HOLMES: All right. Dr. Gardere, Paul Callan, gentlemen, great discussion. Great wealth of knowledge between you two. We probably need to have you guys back. This case is going to go on. But some good information. We also need to talk about the fact that he got his hands on a gun. There are some laws out there as well -

GARDERE: Oh, Yes.

HOLMES: That's supposed to prevent people with mental illness sometimes from getting their hands on a gun. We need to do better there as well. But gentlemen, thank you both for a good discussion.

GARDERE: Thank you, T.J..

HOLMES: Alina.

CHO: T.J., thanks.

Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, out of the rubble of the Haiti earthquake came an incredible story of survival. Now on the eve of the first anniversary, a miracle baby is reunited with a woman who saved her. We will have their story. It's 45 minutes after the hour.

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CHO: This is some video just into us, into the CNN news room. That is what it looks like right now on I-285 in Georgia. The DOT is telling us that 15 -- at least 15 tractor trailers are stranded, literally parked there on the highway blocking traffic because it's simply is too icy to get around.

HOLMES: Man, and if people don't know, 285 is necessary in Atlanta. It pretty much just encircles the city and that's the way you get around. So if those are blocking that, that means nobody's going anywhere -- in or around Atlanta right now.

CHO: And the world's busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson is showing some signs of life this morning. Don't tell that to those people there after being snowed under. Four of the five runways, we're told, are now up and running. But the airline says its main concern is icy conditions at the gate. Only around 20 flights are expected to get out today. Less than 20 flights. Last night the airport handed out hundreds of blankets. Passengers spent the night because it was just too dangerous to get on the roads to get to a hotel. So they stayed right there at the airport. HOLMES: Yes. The main cluster of hotels you have to kind of travel away from the airport to get to -- you know this -- the downtown, midtown and everything else. And you can't get on the roads.

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CHO: Up next on AMERICAN MORNING, this is just such a great story. The littlest survivor of Haiti's earthquake one year ago tomorrow, by the way, reunited with the woman who helped save her. Our Elizabeth Cohen was there and we'll have her AM Original next.

HOLMES: Also, a little later, the parents of Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner, they're in seclusion right now. And at the top of the hour you're going to be hearing from a neighbor who was actually called to their home yesterday. It's 51 minutes past the hour.

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CHO: Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the Haiti earthquake. The tragic stories, of course, are endless. Lives lost and destroyed along with homes that can never be rebuilt. But in the midst of all this bad news, CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the story of an amazing little girl from Haiti named Jenny, who survived despite all of the odds.

Elizabeth was there as baby Jenny was reunited one year late we are the doctor who saved her. And she is live in Miami with this AM Original.

What an incredible story, Elizabeth. What was it like to be there?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Alina, it was just pure joy. Those are the only words I can think of to describe what yesterday was like.

To have been there a year ago, to have watched this baby come in unconscious and to see her yesterday reunited with the doctor who saved her was really incredible.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): This baby Jenny Alexis was nearly dead. Her head and chest crushed. She was stuck in the rubble for four days without anything to drink. Two months old, separated from her parents, all alone.

Amazingly, someone found jenny and brought her to a hospital where pediatrician Karen Schneider fought to save her. She rushed her to Miami, but had little hope she'd survive. A year later, that baby once on the brink of death is thriving. Today she's perfectly healthy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Love you baby jenny.

COHEN: Talking, walking just like any 14-month-old. It's a miracle Jenny's mother tells me. I want to thank the doctors and God. Nadine Devilme has thanked God countless times over the year for saving Jenny's life. But she's never met Dr. Schneider to say thank you. Then last week, by chance, I got this e-mail from Dr. Schneider, wondering how Jenny was doing. We decided to go see her together in Miami.

(on camera): Are you excited to see her?

DR. KAREN SCHNEIDER, JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL: Absolutely. Because she's definitely one of the success stories.

NADINE DEVILME, JENNY'S MOTHER: Hello.

SCHNEIDER: Hello. I'm Dr. Karen. Hello.

COHEN (voice-over): Jenny is taking an afternoon nap when we arrive.

SCHNEIDER: Gosh, she is so big.

DEVILME: Yes.

SCHNEIDER: I was so afraid she was going to die. But she did good.

COHEN: Finally, a year later, Nadine has her chance.

I always wanted to meet you, she says. For me, IT'S just a great thing to be able to say thank you to you.

SCHNEIDER: Well, you're welcome. You're welcome. She's a miracle baby.

DEVILME: Yes.

SCHNEIDER: Because for almost four days she had no fluid and yet she survived. So I've always said God has a special plan for her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Now, as for the future, jenny and her parents can stay in the United States for about another year and a half. Her dad already has a job, that's why we didn't see him there in that story. And Jenny is getting a little bit of physical therapy. She had surgeries on the arms and they just want to make sure that she continues to heal well -- Alina.

CHO: Oh, you'd never know it, Elizabeth. She looks great.

COHEN: I know.

CHO: And what a fantastic story. Just so heartwarming.

Elizabeth Cohen, live for us in Miami with that AM Original.

Elizabeth, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

CHO: Our top stories are coming your way after a quick break.

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