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American Morning
Live from Space!; Apple's New IPad; The Royal Wedding Website; Shooter A "Radicalized Muslim"; Ibuprofen Reduces Parkinson's Disease Risk, According to Study
Aired March 03, 2011 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Was it terrorism? Brand-new information this morning on the man accused of killing two U.S. airmen in Germany yesterday, and how Islamic extremism may have motivated him on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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VELSHI: Good morning. It is Thursday, March 3rd. I'm Ali Velshi.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.
Some disturbing news this morning that the word of the shooting and killing of two U.S. Air Force members at the Frankfurt airport in Germany. And there are a lot more questions this morning to be answered.
But, right now, German authorities are telling us they have a 21-year-old man from Kosovo in custody and prosecutors are now saying that he is a radical Muslim and that American soldiers were, indeed, his target. They also say the suspect seemed to have been acting on his own and that he had spent time on local radical Islamic Web sites.
Now, President Obama said he was saddened and outraged by the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want everybody to understand that we will spare no effort in learning how this outrageous act took place and working with German authorities to ensure that all of the perpetrators are brought to justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Two other service men were injured in the attack. The suspect is scheduled to appear in court later today.
VELSHI: We're also watching the violence in Libya.
Dictator Moammar Gadhafi bombing his own people again overnight. The new air strikes are threatening to pull the United States into the conflict. For a second day in a row, dictator Moammar Gadhafi ordering his forces to drop bombs on his own cities, Al-Brega and Ajdabiya, home to one Libya's largest oil refineries.
We want to show you a video up close of a fierce gun battle, armed civilians and army defectors trying to keep Gadhafi out. Scores of casualties were reported on both sides.
Right now, the United States is considering a request from Libyan rebel leaders to lend the military help against the Gadhafi regime. They need weapons and they want America to declare Libya a no-fly zone and then enforce that with aerial support.
That is something that U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates cautions could lead us into war.
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ROBERT GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: There's a lot of, frankly, loose talk about some of these military options, and let's just call spade a spade. A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya -- to destroy the air defenses. That's the way you do a no-fly zone, and then you can fly planes around the country and not worry about our guys being shot down. But that's the way it starts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Right now, two amphibious assault ships, USS Ponce and the USS Kearsarge, have passed through the Suez Canal, which means they are in the Mediterranean and they are moving toward Libya shores. The Obama administration wants them there to provide humanitarian help only.
Secretary of State Clinton says decision on participating on a no-fly zone operation in Libya is a long way off.
Uncertainly in Libya and across the region is having a direct impact here in the United States. According to AAA, the price for a gallon of regular gas, unleaded self-serve is up 4 cents over night $3.43. That is the ninth consecutive increase. Drivers in Hawaii continue to pay the highest average price in the nation at $3.82 a gallon, but we have received information and we have confirmed it that many parts of the country, gas stations are charging more than $4 a gallon.
CHETRY: Well, the United States Army has filed 22 new charges against Private First Class Bradley Manning. He is the lead suspect in the WikiLeaks case accused of downloading classified documents and then supplying them to the whistle-blowing Web site. Manning initially faced 12 counts. Among the new charges against him: aiding the enemy. That's a capital offense. But Army prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty.
And there will be five more years at least before Robert F. Kennedy's assassin gets another shot at parole. A California state panel denied parole yesterday for Sirhan Sirhan, saying the 66-year- old inmate still fails to understand the magnitude of the crime he committed more than 40 years ago.
VELSHI: The daughter of Rolling Stone's guitarist, Keith Richards, is in a New York court accused of spraying graffiti on a building and a drug possession. Police say was arrested after she spotted spraying the letters T and A on a building. She's due back in court in April. I'm not -- we have no information as to what T and A stood for.
CHETRY: Well, Wisconsin's state Senate Republicans are turning up the pressure on Democrats who left town weeks ago, trying to prevent this vote on the governor's proposed budget that includes slashing collective bargaining rights for some unions. They voted to impose $100 per day fine on any senator who was absent without leave for two or more days. Democrats say that the threats will not sway them.
VELSHI: And let's go live to Capitol Hill now. Joe Biden is spending time there today. He'll be meeting with congressional leaders from both parties to hammer out a new federal budget agreement. Remember, that's a big part of the discussion right now. The president just signed a stopgap measure that keeps the federal government funded for two more weeks.
CHETRY: And we're less than 16 hours away from a possible NFL work stoppage. Owners and the players union will take one last shot at mediation talks this morning before the current labor contract expires at midnight. The two major sticking points, how to share this $9 billion in annual revenue and also expanding the NFL regular season from 16 to 18 games.
VELSHI: Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center.
I don't know if it's extreme today, Rob, but it certainly is colder than we'd expected to be in the first days of March.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. And a big 15 to 20- degree difference today as compared to yesterday, especially across the Northeast. This little cold blast was in Chicago yesterday and it was in Milwaukee and Detroit, and driving south and east towards the Northeast where -- yes, it's a little bit chilly out there. I can tell you that, about 10 to 20 degrees below average as a matter of fact.
Twenty-two is the current temp in New York City, 10 in Beantown, 17 degrees in Pittsburgh and 24 in D.C. And this does not include the wind chill. So, it feels even chillier than that when you get a little bit of breeze going through the canyons of the Big Apple.
A couple of storms out west will continue to press into the intermountain west and those will kind of converge on parts of the larger cities towards in the Northeast this weekend. But, until then, I think, we'll for the most part, be dry and warm down across parts of Texas.
So, if you want the heat, that's where you go. Temps in Dallas will be around 76 degrees, 67 degrees in Atlanta, where things are starting to bloom but a chilly 31 degrees up there in the Big Apple. And keep the winter gear handy, that's for sure. We ain't done yet.
VELSHI: We're going to be talking a little more about winter gear later in the show, Rob. Thank you.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: Up next: those spacewalkers were boldly going into the International Space Station, where we're going to get a chance to talk to the Discovery shuttle astronauts live.
VELSHI: Let's be clear: we're not going to get a chance to talk to them. You are.
CHETRY: Oh, you want to talk to them as well?
VELSHI: I'm a little sour grapes. I wouldn't mind getting the question.
CHETRY: We have about six astronauts and the commander and the specialist. It's got to be a lot of people. So --
VELSHI: Very cool. Just to be clear, they are in space and we're talking to them from Earth. I love that.
CHETRY: Yes. And what does it feel like, this final mission, and what happened with the leaky space suit? We're going to get some answers coming up.
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VELSHI: That's our control room, by the way.
CHETRY: Yes, it is. It is not mission control, but it's mission control for our show.
VELSHI: For us, yes.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, it is the countdown, to the final countdown I guess you could say for the crew of space shuttle Discovery. They're in orbit right. They wrapped up their second and final spacewalk yesterday and they have the honor of being on Discovery for its final voyage ever.
VELSHI: This is crazy. This is big history.
CHETRY: This is. And it's a little bittersweet.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: It's actually a little sad.
But the Discovery crew joins us from the space station. They are orbiting 220 miles above Earth, so we will have a little bit of delay.
But you guys look great. It's Commander Steve Lindsey, Eric Boe, the pilot, Steve Bowen, mission specialist, Alvin Drew, mission specialist, Mike Barratt, mission specialist, and Nicole Stott, mission specialist.
Great to see all of you this morning. Let me start with Commander Lindsey.
You guys launched Thursday. You got to the space station on Saturday. As we said, this is going to be the final mission. What has it -- what has it been like so far?
CMDR. STEVE LINDSEY, COMMANDER, STS-133: Well, so far, the mission has been fantastic. We've -- we've accomplished most of our major objectives already.
We had two successful spacewalks, accomplished all of those objectives, plus a whole bunch of extra -- what we call get-aheads. We installed the last scheduled U.S. pressurized module to the space station. We installed an external stowage platform with critical spares for the space station that have been transferring and working a lot of science as well, as well as some logistics and cargo transfer.
So, so far, the mission has gone just absolutely spectacular. We couldn't be happier with it and looking forward to a couple more days up here on our beautiful International Space Station.
VELSHI: Commander, you are going to be the pilot when you bring this thing in for its final landing ever. You'll be the commander. Pilot Eric Boe is going to be riding shotgun. So, you two are going to bring this thing in.
Eric, I want to ask you. When you bring that down and you hear those final words from mission control to say, successful landing of the space shuttle, what are you -- what are you thinking about that moment?
ERIC BOE, PILOT, STS-133: Well, we'll be glad to be back on earth. And with -- as a final landing, I think you said it before, it's going to be bittersweet. You know, the shuttle, it's amazing. The Discovery looks like it's flying its first flight and it will be a time that when we get to, you know, the huge team that is evolved in maintaining Discovery on the ground. So, it's a huge pride for the 30 years-plus of the shuttle flying and Discovery doing great work on orbit.
CHETRY: That really is. And we're just seeing the pictures right now. It's amazing.
Alvin, I want to ask you. You got to do a special experiment, a message in a bottle experiment. What was that?
ALVIN DREW, MISSION SPECIALIST, STS-133: Message in a bottle experiment was commissioned by JAXA, or Japanese space agency, where they wanted to capture a bit of outer space in a glass tube to bring back to put on display throughout Japan. So, my job was to go out there and open up this bottle and capture some space, actually just the vacuum of space and seal it back up to bring it back to the folks of Japan.
VELSHI: Folks, what an honor to speak to you and I hope you're looking great up there. Continued safe mission to you all. We will all be watching very closely, all of us, the nation and the world when you all bring it in. We'll be having a big round of applause for all of you up there.
CHETRY: Yes, we'll definitely be cheering you on. Good luck to all of you and thanks so much for taking some time to talk with us this morning.
All right. We had to wrap it up. They have small windows.
VELSHI: They're actually saying goodbye to us now but there's a bit of a delay.
CHETRY: Yes. All right. Well, you know, it's space, 220 miles.
VELSHI: Yes.
Hey, would you ever want to do that?
CHETRY: I would absolutely love to in a perfect world but I don't know if I'm cut out for it. Those confined spaces --
VELSHI: They are certainly something, yes.
Well, Hillary Clinton is fed up. Her tough talk on dealing with pirates. We're going to ell you about that next.
CHETRY: Also, the Apple launches the iPad2. This is the next generation of the magical web browsing service. It is faster. It is lighter actually. You know, it is -- it used to be 1 1/2 pounds. It's now 1.33 pounds.
VELSHI: You seem a little bit obsessed about the weight of it. I'm hearing a lot about this in commercial breaks, in fact, as well.
But that's not the only big news out of Apple. We'll bring you more information about it when we come back. Stay with us.
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VELSHI: Are we going to talk about this again?
CHETRY: Yes, but I don't really care. I'm happy with my first generation.
VELSHI: Morning shockers. It is official, the ipad2.
CHETRY: Ipad2.
VELSHI: Ipad2. See, I can -- it's all right. It's here, OK? Biggest surprise at yesterday's event wasn't that it was lighter and that has two cameras and two processors and all of this kind of stuff, it was the boss. Steve Jobs shows up. Gets a standing ovation and then explains why he is there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(APPLAUSE)
STEVE JOBS, CEO, APPLE: We've been working on this product for a while, and I just didn't want to miss today. So, thank you for having me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: The new iPad, thinner, faster, and lighter than the original iPad, as expected. The front and rear cameras, Kiran, because?
CHETRY: Well, you need to face time or Skype, and then, you also need to be able to take pictures, and they also are offering -- they have a dual processor in there.
VELSHI: You can do two things at once.
CHETRY: A dual core process. Yes.
VELSHI: Start at 499 bucks ships on Friday. If you don't see Kiran here on Friday, that's because she is going to get one.
CHETRY: As I said, I'm just happy with my original --
VELSHI: Until your birthday which is in August, and you're not -- I put money on the fact that you are going to have an iPad2 before your birthday.
CHETRY: Well, they've got the date. They've got the location. The guest list is out. Kate Middleton and her Prince William have a wedding website. It is officialroyalwedding2011.org. Did you get that? It launched yesterday. And according to the royal family, it contains photos, video of the couple, and it will also be the first place to get information on Kate's dress. Now it is smart, though, because, I mean, imagine the requests of people wanting to know this.
VELSHI: I agree. I agree. Put the information out there and let people go and get it themselves.
CHETRY: Yes.
VELSHI: What would it take to get Ricky Gervais to host next year's Golden Globes? Well, quite simple. he wants Charlie Sheen as his co-host? Gervais says on his blog that he'll host the Globes again and the Emmys and the Oscars if Sheen joins him. Sheen, you'll recall, was a prime target for Gervais when he hosted the Golden Globes this year.
CHETRY: Well, it would be certainly must-see TV but not sure if it will actually happen, though.
The most famous mop top, that's they're calling it, since the Beatles.
VELSHI: Even I know it's Justin Bieber.
CHETRY: It's the Biebes. It's all about blow drying to the max.
VELSHI: Are you a Bieliber?
CHETRY: Am I Bieliber?
VELSHI: That's what they call him, yes.
CHETRY: Well, I don't have Bieber fever. I got a vaccination, yes, earlier. It included, you know, the regular flu, the swine flu, and Bieber fever. Anyway, sold more than 40,000 --
VELSHI: His hair.
CHETRY: The hair from the haircut.
VELSHI: Not all of his hair, just like bits of his hair.
CHETRY: Right. That's his new-do. So, guess who both it? The Casino Golden -- OnlineCasinoGoldenPalace.com, scooped it up in an option. Biebs gave his bangs to Ellen DeGeneres after the new haircut. She's the one that auctioned them off, and boom, 40 grand. And all the proceed goes to the Gentle Barn, it's a (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: It has injected a lot of money into the economy because a whole bunch of kids are now going to their barbers and say, "Can you change that crazy look that I've got to this new crazy look?"
All right. Which companies have the best reputations? The winners are coming up after the break.
CHETRY: Also, teens today. They're pushed to the brink. They're burned out. It's never enough no matter what they do. Well, coming up a little bit later, an inside look at the documentary race to nowhere. One mother said, "I'm going to get this out on tape, and I'm going to start talking about this in my communities." It's caught on, but is anything really going to change? We're going to take a look.
VELSHI: And from kids, let's talk about the elderly. Hollywood legend, Mickey Rooney, is visibly shaken as he testifies to the Senate committee against elder abuse. His passionate testimony that he, too, has been a victim. Twenty minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: For most companies, especially those that are not monopolies, reputation is everything. And this morning, "Fortune" magazine is out its list of the companies that are most admired. Joining us to break it down is Leigh Gallagher, assistant managing editor at "Fortune." Leigh, great to see you again.
LEIGH GALLAGHER, ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Great to see you, Ali.
VELSHI: This is a helpful list because it's admired. When a company is admired, it often means a lot of things. It means that it could be a good investment, it could be a good place to work. Let's look at the list, first of all.
GALLAGHER: Sure.
VELSHI: Let's take the top five out of there. Apple, we've been talking about Apple all morning yesterday because of the iPad2. Google, Berkshire Hathaway, Southwest Airlines, and Procter & Gamble. Any big surprises in that top list?
GALLAGHER: Well, I think, what we're seeing here is Apple, Google, Berkshire Hathaway, one, two, three. I mean, these are the biggest brands in business right now.
VELSHI: Sure.
GALLAGHER: This list isn't what consumers think. This is what your -- these company's peers think. So, this is what business executives think or the most admired company.
VELSHI: And the Berkshire Hathaway, while we may not think of that as the brand, it owns a lot of companies that you will do business with.
GALLAGHER: Exactly. Certainly Warren Buffett is a brand. So --
VELSHI: Now, let's bring this - we've been talking about jobs a lot with Christine Romans this morning. One of the most important things is I want to know the companies that are best able to attract top talent because that means that they're good to their employees. People want to work with them. That has changed from before the recession to now.
GALLAGHER: Definitely. We've seen a lot of shifts in prerecession post-recession.
VELSHI: Yes.
GALLAGHER: Typically, the company that rules this particular category on this list was General Electric.
VELSHI: Right.
GALLAGHER: Now, it's Goldman Sachs which is very interesting. That's a shift --
VELSHI: Has that got something more to do with pay? Because Goldman Sachs has taken a reputational hit the last year.
GALLAGHER: It has. I mean, for a company to work for Goldman Sachs is very highly ranked. It also ranks high on our best companies to work for list. But this covers everything from talent and pay to the quality of the management, as well, the ability of the company to retain the top managers and the top executives.
VELSHI: Interesting. All right. Let's look at this other one. Innovativeness. You probably take a stab at this and you get it right. It has not changed. The company atop the list before the recession and now is?
GALLAGHER: It's apple. Before the recession, now, Apple sort of wins the game with innovation, and it has for quite some time. So, there was no real surprise there, but it's got a lock.
VELSHI: You talked about Warren Buffett. While people may not know much about him, they know he is a brilliant investor.
GALLAGHER: Yes.
VELSHI: And the company that held the title of best long-term investment prior to the recession was Berkshire Hathaway.
GALLAGHER: It was Berkshire Hathaway. And now, it's actually Google which is quite surprising. Ten years ago. I mean, think about right after the internet crash. If somebody had told you that Google was going to be the best long-term investment, you would have thought they were crazy.
VELSHI: Yes.
GALLAGHER: But that's what this company is looked to as right now.
VELSHI: Because, at the time, you would have thought of Google as one of these companies that's volatile, goes up a lot, risky, overvalued.
GALLAGHER: Exactly.
VELSHI: And Berkshire Hathaway was thought of its long term because his philosophy on investing was long-term. "I invest in companies. I like that I want to do business for a long time."
GALLAGHER: Yes. Which he still does.
VELSHI: Yes.
GALLAGHER: Which he's still done well, but in terms of the top company for what this group sees is the best long-term investment.
VELSHI: So, that means it's more of a shift toward thinking that these internet companies are real, and they're long term as supposed to -- this has more to do with Google maybe than Berkshire Hathaway?
GALLAGHER: Definitely. I would say so. I mean, it's always considered a blue chip, if you think about it. It's also how these companies managed through the recession. A lot of these companies invested through the recession, kept moving on and did not, you know, did not cut dreadfully, did not take bold moves. They actually made bold investments.
VELSHI: For those of us out there who are investing in your 401(k), your IRA, this is an important distinction. During a recession, it really tests a company's meddle. Do they cut to the bone? Or do they keep their standards high? Do they keep their quality high? Do they treat their staff well? Even if they have to lay people off, do they try and do everything they can to keep their shareholders and their employees and their customers happy?
GALLAGHER: Definitely. And not only that, but you really want to look at the companies that take bold moves during the recession because there are so much opportunities when things are disrupted, and strong leaders and companies will come out stronger after the recession if they make those kinds of move. Whether or not they were leaders or laggards before the recession.
VELSHI: Right.
GALLAGHER: So, it's everything what they do in those few years.
VELSHI: OK. Great. This is going to be a good read. Thanks so much. Leigh Gallagher is an assistant managing editor at "Fortune" magazine. It's available now. This is the list of the most admired companies -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Good stuff. Thanks, Ali. Well, top stories now.
And there's new information this morning on the man accused of shooting and killing two U.S. air force members in Germany. Prosecutors say that the 21-year-old suspect from Kosovo was motivated by radical Islam, and that his aim was to kill American soldiers. He is due in court in Germany this morning.
Amazing video right now from a fierce gun battle for Libyan City. The opposition fighting to hold on to the city of Brega, home to a key oil refinery. Now, Gadhafi's forces bombed again today. The air strikes ordered by the Libyan dictator as he struggles to hold on to power.
President Obama will face reporters today with President Felipe Calderon of Mexico. The crisis in Libya will, of course, likely come up in the questioning. He's facing a tough decision about setting up a no-fly zone over Libya. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that setting up a no-fly zone would basically mean war.
And In Wisconsin, Senate Republicans voted to fine democrats $100 for every day they are not back in the state. Democrats left town weeks ago trying to prevent a vote on the governor's proposed budget repair bill that includes slashing collective bargaining rights of unions. Democrats say that the fines mean nothing. They are not going to come back because of the threat.
VELSHI: Leaders of a controversial church in Kansas are promising to quadruple their protests at military funerals now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that those demonstrations are protected under the First Amendment. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church have picketed outside many funerals, holding signs with anti- gay slurs. They are cheering yesterday's 8-1 Supreme Court ruling.
It has angered Albert Snyder, though. The case is about his son, Matthew, who was killed in Iraq in 2006. He sue the church after they demonstrated at Matthew's funeral.
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ALBERT SNYDER, FATHER FALLEN MARINE: This court has no problem with the government sending our children over to these wars, send them back in a body bag, and not even have enough respect for that dead soldier to be buried peacefully.
MARGIE PHELPS. WESTBORO BAPTIST CHURCH: We are trying to warn you to flee the wrath of God, flee eternal destruction. What could be more kind than that? Don't keep killing your children!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Again, that is the reaction from the Westboro Baptist Church who claims to believe that military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan are god's punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality and a sign of this country's destruction is at hand.
A Somali pirate warning against any effort to rescue a Danish family captured by pirates in the Indian Ocean. This pirate saying this family will die like the four Americans who were killed last week. A couple and their three and it children sailed into the pirate infested waters off East Africa. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a Senate hearing saying it may take an old-school effort to take back the sea.
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HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We were talking about this at the dawn of our -- of the American government and here we are back with 21st century piracy. And I'm fed up with it and we need to do more and we need to make it clear the entire world better get behind whatever we do and get this scourge resolved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Right now pirate are holding 750 hostages in all.
VELSHI: A shocking admission from a Hollywood icon -- 90-year- old Mickey Rooney telling a Senate committee he was a victim of elder abuse. Rooney claims that his step-children abused him verbally, emotionally, and financially, and now he feels obliged to speak out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICKEY ROONEY, ACTOR: I'm asking you to stop this elderly abuse. I mean, to stop it, now! Not tomorrow, not next month, but now. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Rooney urged lawmakers to pass a specific law to make elder abuse a crime.
CHETRY: Nervous breakdowns and cheating in school and anorexia, the high stakes, high pressure atmosphere in schools and what they are doing to our teens today according to the documentary "Race to Nowhere." We're taking a look and talking to the film's director, a mom who started this after she noticed the toll it was taking on her own kids and now this is certainly set of a national conversation about whether or not we're doing the right thing or pushing our kids too far.
It's 32 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: It's 35 minutes past of the hour.
A concerned mother turned filmmaker explores the pressures faced by America's school children and teachers in our achievement culture. It's a documentary called "Race to Nowhere." The film wasn't released in theaters and instead being screened in schools and communities across the country, and these screenings are certainly backing them in. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to take tests and do interviews to get into public high school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: AP and then a four-year college.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I don't get into college, you know, my mindset is basically like, you know, I'm screwed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Are we pushing our children to excel or pushing them over the edge? That's the question explored in a documentary "Race to Nowhere." And it's creating a lot of buzz with parents around the country.
Since September, 1,500 communities have shown this film, including this one last night at veterans park elementary school in Ridgefield, Connecticut. It focuses on stressed out kids overstressed with homework and sports and after-school programs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel pressured to have perfect grades.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This comes from home.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: But some parents wonder, is this pressure to succeed the best thing for their children?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was amazing to see this. I mean, everything that they were talking about, it's our town. Everybody is striving for that extra advantage to get into college. And, you know, unfortunately, I find myself guilty of doing that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like he should be doing this and this. You kind of get caught up in that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We try to look where the pressure comes from. And it comes from her peers, it comes from her teachers, it comes from just about everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter, she's in seventh grade. We moved here for the school system. And the pressure was so bad for the last five years she missed over 30 days of school just from being sick, from upset stomachs and headaches and the stress. And, finally, she looked at me this October and said, I've had enough. I'd rather die than come back to school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Heartbreaking to hear. And joining us now the director of "Race to Nowhere" Vickie Abeles joins us now. Thank you for being with us.
VICKI ABELES, DIRECTOR, "RACE TO NOWHERE": Thank you.
CHETRY: One of the common things we've heard at all of these screenings when you ask people afterwards is they say I know it's not right and I know the kids are overtaxed and overstressed and I know we're pushing them too far but I just got caught up in it. How do you break that cycle?
ABELES: I think it takes a lot of courage. And I think one of the things this film is doing by bringing communities together and engaging in the fact and letting people realize you're not alone. And once you realize you're not alone it's much easier to move along in a forward direction.
CHETRY: And I want to play a clip of the beginning of your documentary about why you decided to do this. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABELES: I was determined to find out how we had gotten to a place where our family had so little time together, where our kids were physically sick because of the pressures they were under, and where a 13-year-old girl had taken her life.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: Your own daughter, the same age as the girl in your community who committed suicide, was also hospitalized because of intense stomach pain, and the doctor said it was stress-related. I mean, was that just it for you as a parent trying to figure out I got to make a change?
ABELES: Right. I think that was the tipping point for me. It was when I realized I had had enough. And it's what caused me to start talking to parents, teachers, and students across the country. I realized there was an important story to be told and that, oftentimes, when it comes to education, the people that are closest to the education system are the last to be heard from, and those are the students and the teachers.
CHETRY: And so we talk about it. Everybody is recognizing that we do have a little bit of a problem when it comes to pushing the kids too far. Is it simply teachers doing -- ordering too much homework? Is it coaches maybe not realizing that a 10:00 p.m. hockey practice at night isn't going to work? Who is, I guess, at most to blame?
ABELES: We set out to make a film that wasn't about blame. There is plenty of pressure coming from a lot of different places. I think culturally, we live in a high stakes, high pressure culture and there is a great deal of fear driving so much of what we are seeing that our kids aren't going to be able to compete in the global economy.
When you look at the research, what you see, there's tons of research out there that shows this approach, this quantity different approach to education, it's not working and not leading to healthy young adults and not leading to young children who are arriving in college and the workplace prepared.
And we have a huge epidemic in terms of the depression, the cutting, the abusive prescriptions to get through all of this. This isn't about lowering the bar but looking at a new way to prepare our young children for their futures.
CHETRY: So how are some communities proposed to doing this? How is it working in practical terms?
ABELES: This is huge and it starts with a shift in our mindset as a culture. Deborah Steinpeck (ph) the dean of the Stanford School of education, just spoke to that. It's not going to be the experts that lead the way on this. It's going to be ordinary people, parents, educators, student, health care professionals and changing the dialogue and changing what they are doing in their homes and classrooms.
And it's powerful when you see a school community come together and realize we are all in the same place and feel the same way and want the same things for our young people, and it's much easier to move forward. Some of the positive things we have seen at schools. We have seen high schools to a later start time and decide not to have an AP program anymore. That's not saying we're lowering the bar. That is saying we're freeing the students and teachers up who are dictated by the tests.
CHETRY: Let's hear from one student who had a lot to say about that that was also in your documentary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to be smart. But also you have to be pretty. And also you have to, you know, do sports, and you have to be involved in the arts. And amongst all that, you have to find something unique about yourself and you have to know yourself, because if you don't know yourself before you do all of that, you're going to -- you're going to lose yourself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: I mean, that's a lot to put on somebody, especially at that pivotal time, you know, this journey into adulthood and all of this. All of us can remember that type of stress. Another person remarked in your documentary you're simply robbing kids of 11th and 12th grade. It's this steeple chase to getting accepted at college at any cost. How does that change?
ABELES: By seeing this film. I think this film is really raising awareness but that approach is not working. It's not leading to young people who are prepared for college and not leading to young people who are staying in college. And then they are entering the workplace unprepared, lacking in the life skills that we need.
I think we're educating the creativity out of this generation. There's no time for them to discover their passions, to figure out who they are. And then there is a great deal of unhealthy outcomes as well, and I think we have to be concerned about that. We are paying a price for this right now.
I think importantly anybody who is concerned about this, can call our office and can go to our website and bring this film to your community. Once you see this film, childhood will forever be changed.
CHETRY: Hopefully, this will be the first step.
ABELES: Absolutely.
CHETRY: Awareness first, knowing you're not alone is a big part of it.
ABELES: That's right. And we're going to influence change out of a lot of different levels. We have got industry involved at this point, the colleges across the country are screening this film and we plan to make an impact at the policy level as well.
CHETRY: That's wonderful. All of it started from you just picking up your camera and documenting your family life. Vickie Ablies, thanks so much, appreciate your time today.
ABELES: Thank you. VELSHI: Great conversation, Kiran. I look at what kids go through today and I'm not sure I would have been all that successful if I had the kind of schedule some of them keep up with.
Feels like spring in the south, but weekend storms are moving into the northeast. What you need to know to be prepared after the break with Rob.
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VELSHI: All right. Look at that. It looks beautiful right by the Statue of Liberty, right? But it feels like it is deep in the heart of winter, 22 degrees.
CHETRY: That would be. Yes, that would be a cold time to be out there in New York harbor.
VELSHI: You know, the Statue of Liberty is always cold. Each cold even when it's a hot day. It's just -- it's windy out there. Twenty-two degrees now, and fair. It's going to be sunny and 35. A broiling 35 later in the day.
CHETRY: Rob Marciano joins us now with more. I mean --
VELSHI: If you did go down to the Statue of Liberty, Rob, what should you take with you?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, more than --
CHETRY: Your camera.
MARCIANO: -- more than what Lady Liberty wear and that's for sure.
VELSHI: Yes.
MARCIANO: You know, I got to believe she's pretty chilly in that toga she's wearing. You know, bring a toque.
VELSHI: Right, a toque. Maybe a head gear.
MARCIANO: I don't think you need the face -- you know, the face mask. Maybe bring some sunglasses. Sun looks pretty nice this time of year, but as you said it's definitely --
CHETRY: Can you -- can we just show the toque, please? So people know what we're talking about.
VELSHI: We've been talking about this, right?
MARCIANO: Have we done some preproduction on this?
VELSHI: Right.
MARCIANO: Oh, you got to be kidding me!
CHETRY: Wow.
VELSHI: That is a good Canadian toque. That's what you need on a day like this!
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VELSHI: I have a freakishly small head and Ali has a freakishly large. And that's really a good --
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VELSHI: Yours looks bigger than mine.
MARCIANO: Goodness.
VELSHI: Thank you for introducing everybody in America should get a nice Canadian toque for weather like this today.
MARCIANO: I love it. Yes. Admittedly, Kiran does look the cutest there with the --
CHETRY: Absolutely not. Absolutely: I go with Rob. You look -- you wear that toque well.
MARCIANO: Twenty-two degrees -- thanks very much, guys. Eleven degrees right now in Atlanta.
Wear whatever you got handy because we're back in the winter, at least for a day. And definitely bring along the sunglasses because the sun is bright in the month of March. And it's pretty strong. If you're in the sun away from the wind, it's not horrible. So, maybe get Lady Liberty to protect you on the windward side and you'll be all right.
All right. We got some winds across parts of Florida. It's still very dry. This fire is still burning near Mims, just north and west of Titusville, and the winds are blowing basically offshore and onshore, which brings the levels of humidity up but it's going to be gusty throughout the day today. So, they haven't got a handle on this thing yet. It's still about 25 percent contained.
A couple of storms out west that we're watching, and that will create some snow across the intermountain west for some skiers and the temperatures will be on the rise across parts of Texas, 76 degrees. So, think warm thoughts there. Only a high temperature of 31 degrees in New York City.
That's the latest check on weather. AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.
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CHETRY: It is time now for your A.M. house call.
Tennis star Serena Williams is recovering after a major health scare. She had to undergo surgery this week for a pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in her lungs. The 29-year-old Williams says she hopes to return to the court by early summer. She hasn't played since last July when she won her fourth Wimbledon title.
VELSHI: The popular pain reliever ibuprofen sold under brand names like Advil and Motrin, it may lower your risk of Parkinson's disease. The Harvard School of Public Health studied more than 30,000 healthy men and women and found those who took ibuprofen at least twice a week over a six-year period lowered their risk of developing Parkinson's by 38 percent compared to those people taking different painkillers.
Researchers say the study suggests that ibuprofen could be a potential neuroprotective agent. But they warn there are still important safety questions that need to be answered about whether any risks associated with taking ibuprofen for a long time.
CHETRY: Let's get CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, to weigh on that.
I know you're going to be answering some mailbag questions. But we wanted to ask you about this because it sounds pretty significant -- a 38 percent reduction in Parkinson's symptoms.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, these are always interesting studies because, you know, a huge study, over 100,000 people.
Here's a couple of things I would say. First of all, this idea that decreasing inflammation of the body could decrease your chance of getting Parkinson's disease -- that idea has been around for some time.
What is interesting about this study is they compared all sorts of different anti-inflammatories and ibuprofen really seem to be the best overall. It could be that ibuprofen actually crosses what is known as a blood-brain barrier better, so they actually get to the brain where it's exerting its affect.
And also, there's a particular type of cell known as dopamine which is greatly diminished in people with Parkinson's. Could this be protecting those dopamine cells? That's the theory at least.
But, so far, this is still an association. There's not a cause and effect here. But, you know, this is something that scientists are going to keep an eye on in terms of trying to prevent Parkinson's.
VELSHI: Sanjay, let's get in the mailbag here. We've got some questions from viewers this morning. Remember the woman with measles who passed through four U.S. airports. You were telling us about this. She returned from an overseas trip.
Our first question comes from Wendy. Wendy wants to know, "What about the other people traveling at a later time on the same plane? Would they be at risk?" In other words, does measles hang out?
GUPTA: It really doesn't. It's a good question, Wendy. And I hadn't even thought about that until you bring that up.
The good news is -- it's not going to be an issue. First of all, most people are vaccinated against measles and they don't have to think about this at all. Second of all, Ali, you know, you and I both travel a lot, you know that that air is sort of refreshed on airplanes and that includes taking out pathogens from the air.
And finally, as you pointed out, the measles virus, it likes to be in the human body. While it can spread through the air, it doesn't last very long in the air. So, certainly not by this point would there be any risk at all.
VELSHI: We're learning actually from Sanjay during the H1N1 stuff about how in most planes, most modern planes, air is circulated much more than you'd actually think it is.
CHETRY: Well, that some good news, at least in terms of that.
Well, we have another question from our Twitter verse. This is Ghostwriter 556. He tweets us a lot. He asks, "Have you heard anything about the triggers causing asthma attacks?"
GUPTA: Well, you know, that's an interesting question. I mean, obviously, that's a general question. There are lots of different things that can trigger an asthma attack. I mean, some of them might surprise you -- everything from certain medications to the weather to exercise to even your emotions can trigger asthma attacks. People who are crying or become very anxious, for example, can trigger an actual asthma attack.
What they are referring to in asthma is that the airways actually start to constrict, or spasm to some extent, so that's why you have difficulty breathing as you see there. The biggest issue I think and this is what asthma experts, lung experts, will always say is, if you're having asthma, really take note of your surroundings to figure out if you can figure -- see what the trigger was and write that trigger down. As easy as that may sound, most people don't do it, and so they really have no idea what specifically triggering their asthma. That's one thing.
Also, if you're using inhalers, really fascinating study came out that said despite the fact that we've gotten much better at getting inhalers into the hands of people who need them, still, anywhere between 70 percent to 90 percent of people who have inhalers don't use them properly. There's two steps of the process: you have to get the inhalers and you got to make sure people are trained to use them.
So, that's what I say. But again, with respect to the question, just about anything you think of can trigger an asthma attack write it down if it's happening over and over again.
VELSHI: The issue with learning to use the inhaler is that the stuff doesn't get down into your airway effectively, kind of stuck in the back of your throat?
GUPTA: That's right. It's a coordinated thing to use an inhaler. So, you're -- you have to be able to dispense the medication and inhale it at a very specific timing. Otherwise, it's just sort of sitting in your upper airway and not doing its job.
CHETRY: Right. And for little kids, they do have what they call the spacer, which sort of helps them.
GUPTA: That's right.
CHETRY: You can squirt it out and they can breathe it in in a series of breaths, helps the younger kids. Because I know my daughter deals with that as well. And it's just scary and you're afraid you're not sure if the medication is actually getting where it needs to go.
Well, Sanjay, great to see you, as always. Thanks so much.
GUPTA: You got it. Take care, guys.
VELSHI: It is 56 minutes after the hour.
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VELSHI: And this just in to CNN -- the first pictures of the man accused of shooting and killing two U.S. Air Force members in Germany. CNN obtained this from his Facebook page. The suspect is named Uka Arid Uka, 21 year old from Kosovo. German prosecutors now say that he is a radical Muslim and his targets were, in fact, Americans.
CHETRY: They also -- they say that he visited radical Islamic Web sites and that he appeared to have acted on his own. Two other U.S. airmen were also wounded in the attack. It's an attack that's been condemned by the State Department and from our president, President Obama.
And, again, the first pictures of the suspect. And we'll continue to follow this throughout the day.
VELSHI: We are hearing that there were words exchanged between the men who were attacked and this alleged gunman. But now, it does seem that it wasn't an argument that triggered this. It was, in fact, according to German prosecutor reports, a targeted attack on American service members.
CHETRY: All right. Well, that is going to do it for us today. Thanks so much for being with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We'll be back bright and early tomorrow.
VELSHI: Carol Costello joins us now with NEWSROOM -- Carol.
