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American Morning

Republican Wins Anthony Weiner's Old Congressional Seat; President On the Road Selling Jobs Plan; Casey Anthony's Parents Break Silence; Attack on U.S. Embassy Over; Record Poverty in America; Heroes Rescue Motorcyclist; Fewer Pat-Downs for Kids; NTSB Wants Trucker Cell Phone Ban; Anderson Gets Waxed; Recall for Immigration Law Sponsor; Ethnic Teachers Fight Ban on Ethnic Studies in Court; USDA Takes New Steps on Food Safety

Aired September 14, 2011 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): A sobering setback for Democrats. Anthony Weiner's vacant House seat won by a Republican. That has not happened in New York's ninth district in nearly a century.

ROMANS: After nearly 20 hours, the Taliban assault on U.S. embassy in Afghanistan is over. Details on how security forces were able to take down the terrorists.

COSTELLO: Casey Anthony's parents breaking silence. They're talking to Dr. Phil. You'll hear from Cindy Anthony who explains why she still believes her daughter was an awesome mother.

ROMANS: And New York City's finest busting a move at the West Indian Day Parade. Now, those officers feeling some heat on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO (on-camera): And good morning.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Maybe because it was bad dancing. Anyway, good morning to you. It is Wednesday, September 14th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING.

ROMANS: Up first, Democrats reeling from an Obama backlash, licking wounds this morning after a devastating setback in New York. Bob Turner winning the race to fill Anthony Weiner's congressional vacant seat in the big apple. This is the first time a in a century a Republican has captured this very traditionally Democratic district in New York, and Turner did it with an anti-Obama campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB TURNER, (R) NEW YORK CONGRESSMAN ELECT: We've been asked by the people of this district to send a message to Washington, and I hope they hear it loud and clear.

(APPLAUSE)

TURNER: We have been told this is a referendum and we're ready to say, Mr. President, we are on the wrong track.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right, Mary Snow tracking it all for us this morning. Mary, how big a surprise was this?

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, this was supposed to be a snoozer. Anthony Weiner, forced to resign back in January. Remember, talking about the fact this district is expected to go away due to redistricting. So this candidate was going to be seen as a place holder. And it was anticipated the Democrat would win. David Weprin was the candidate here.

And Democrats really started getting nervous when polls showed he was running behind. You may remember there was also a special election in New York state back in the spring. A Democrat took a Republican district, and it was basically on Social Security and Medicare. The Democrat in this race, David Weprin, did try to make this about preserving Social Security and Medicare, but, you know, it was the economic recovery that became the dominant theme.

COSTELLO: So it's jobs, jobs, jobs. Not the cuts to entitlement programs, nothing else. If a politician wants to win these days, he should just talk about getting people employed. Is that the lesson?

SNOW: And we should point out, even though Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one, there are conservative Democrats in this district who have supported Republicans in the past. But, really, it does seem that, you know, voters are saying that economic recovery and jobs were the dominant theme and the frustration with what is going on.

COSTELLO: There was an Israel factor, too. Bob Turner ran, criticizing the president with his relations on Israel?

SNOW: Yes, and this was really unusual, because Bob Turner is a Roman Catholic. David Weprin, the Democrat, is an orthodox Jew and he found himself on the defense over Israel. Bob Turner made this an issue, criticizing the president for not being a strong enough supporter of Israel, and Ed Koch, former Democratic mayor of New York City, came out to endorse the Republican in this race, saying he wanted to send a message saying that the president had thrown Israel under the bus.

So, you know, this is a large Jewish population in this district, there is. And the polls, talking to one pollster, in the end, it was not a big factor among the people that they spoke to, but, still there is --

ROMANS: Some of those conservative Democrats in that population might actually have agreed more with the Catholic's position on same-sex marriage, right, than maybe the New York state making same-sex marriage law?

SNOW: Right. And David Wepner, an assemblyman, voted to support same sex marriage. Even though Bob Turner downplayed that in the race, outside groups came in, saw this as an opportunity to make this an issue. So it was really a lot of national issues.

ROMANS: Interesting.

COSTELLO: Mary Snow, many thanks.

SNOW: Sure.

COSTELLO: New evidence this morning, why the stakes could not be higher for president Obama and his jobs plan. According to a new CNN- ORC poll, 55 percent of Americans do not think the president is doing a good job. And while on the road the president suggested Republicans know he is vulnerable and punishing the unemployed to keep his poll numbers down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They supported this stuff in the past, but they're thinking maybe they don't do it this time, because Obama the promoting it. Give me a win? This isn't about giving me a win. This isn't about giving Democrats or Republicans a win. It's about giving the American people a win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Dan Lothian live at the White House. So, Dan, are people, you know, at a wider forum, he's speaking to his supporters there in Ohio, but are people buying that argument?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does appear that they are. Much more mixed reviews than a poll that was just released this morning from CNN-ORC poll showing that a lot of Americans, while they are unsure about all of the details of the president's plan, when it comes to the major proposals, they like what they see.

Take a look at the screen -- 43 percent are in favor of the plan, 35 percent oppose it, 22 percent are unsure. So that's why you're seeing the president hitting the road again today after visiting the battleground states of Virginia and Ohio just yesterday. The president this time heads to North Carolina. He'll be visiting a small business just outside Raleigh-Durham, where the White House says he will tour a small business that stands to gain from some of the elements of the president's jobs bill.

And then after that he'll make some remarks at North Carolina State University. We expect to hear the same message we heard from the president yesterday. First of all, explaining to the American people what's inside the jobs Bill, but also calling on them to put pressure on their lawmakers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: I need you to call and e-mail and tweet and fax and visit and tell your congressperson that the time for gridlock and the time for games is over. The time for action is now.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Now, this selling jobs will continue. According to senior aides here at the White House, the president will spend the next few months hitting the road, not only visiting battleground states, other states as well. Expect a media blitz in regional interviews. In addition to that, the president is also expected to take another bus tour although the details of that tour not being made just yet, Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Dan Lothian reporting live from Washington. Thank you.

Now's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories. The question, what is our government's responsibility to those in need? Some depressing numbers for you. America's poverty rate jumped to 15.1 percent. That's over 46 million people. What defines poverty? If a couple has two kids and a family income of $22,314 per year, they are poor. Ann Valdez is one of the working poor. A single mom, she gets by thanks to food stamps and Medicaid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN VALDEZ, LIVING IN POVERTY: We're in poverty. We have educations, we have abilities, we have aspirations we have families. We have the same thing that apple pie America has.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Maybe you sympathize with Ms. Valdez. Maybe that's the best can you do in these tough economic times. Personal responsibility is hot these days. Government aid appears to be not. You certainly heard that in the Tea Party debate when Wolf Blitzer asked what should happen to a hypothetical 30-year-old man who had been injured in a car accident and had no insurance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON PAUL, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's what freedom is all about, taking your own risks. This whole idea you have to take care of everybody.

(APPLAUSE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": But congressman, are you saying that society should just let him die?

CROWD: Yes!

PAUL: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: There are some in America who ask, why should we, the taxpayers, help those who don't take responsibility for their own lives? Why should the government dish out long-term unemployment benefits or food stamps or welfare? So our talk back question is a tough one this morning. What is or government's responsibility for those in need? Facebook.com/Americanmorning, Facebook.com/Americanmorning. I'll read your comments later in the hour.

ROMANS: After nearly 24 hours the attack by Taliban on an embassy in Afghanistan. No one inside the embassy was injured, but at least one police officer was killed outside the building. A spokesman for NATO says the strike was, quote, "carefully planned."

COSTELLO: We've gotten word they were getting out of jail, but this morning we're getting a whole different story. An Iranian judiciary official now says there is no decision on whether two American hikers, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, will be let go. Iran's president yesterday told NBC news they could be released with a couple of days. The hikers' attorney said they'd be free as soon as each paid half a million dollars bail. But as things stand's now, all of that up in the air.

ROMANS: Dish Network suffered a major outage late last night, mostly affecting HD service. Stations across the country reported problems from Denver to Indianapolis to Savannah, Georgia. The company blamed a satellite anomaly and hopes it will be fixed by this morning. Dish Network says if you unplug your box and plug it back in, you should be able to at least watch standard definition channels.

COSTELLO: Good luck with that.

Several New York City police officers have explaining to do. A YouTube video shows them bump and grinding with women while on duty at the West Indian Day parade earlier this month. The NYPD says it's investigating.

ROMANS: And a massive Minnesota wildfire grows to more than 100,000 acres. It's been burning for nearly a month after a lightning strike. The blaze spread 16 miles in a single day this week. The smoke stretches across three states, hundreds of miles. The Chicago city skyline is shrouded in a smoky haze.

COSTELLO: I know, and in Minnesota, I was talking to Jacqui Jeras earlier. Is it unusual for Minnesota to have a wildfire?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They do have a wildfire season. This is in the Superior National Forest. Christine, you're from there, so you know it's very densely wooded, so it's really hard to fight these fires because there are so few road around there and it's hard to get at. They can't do a lot of air assaults with this thing, either.

But boy, can you see this from space. Take a look at this picture we have from NASA. This shows you the plumes of smoke as well as the clouds that developed because of it. It's very cold in Minnesota, by the way today, and the winds are very strong. So unfortunately the potential for more growth with this fire is very high.

Now, there is a chance of a couple of showers this afternoon. So that's the best thing we can tell you about that fire growth. Also, of course, fires burning in Texas. We've got a new fire burning in parts of southern California right now.

Now, this cold front is really the biggest weather story we have across the today. This is going to affect so many people. Basically, if you live in the Colorado Rockies, anywhere east of there, you will get a break from this front, except for maybe southern parts of Florida.

Temperatures much cooler today. Look at Minneapolis, 58 degree. That's cold for this time of year and overnight temperatures so cold, frost and freeze advisories in effects for much of the upper midwest, in the upper 20s to lower 30s where the fire was, only 32 degrees at this hour.

Still blistering hot across the south. 101 degrees in Texas. 107 in Dallas, that would be 70 100-plus temperatures. Waco also in on that streak, Houston, 102 yesterday, and that's the latest you've had those triple digits temperatures. And even Joplin, Missouri, at 100 degrees. So the cool down is on the way. We expect travel trouble because of the cold front bringing in scattered showers. Chicago could have some delays because of the haze and wind from the cold front. St. Louis looking for delays because of thunderstorm. Denver also getting those thunderstorms and windy. Low clouds and fog in San Francisco. Today it looks like it will be their last chance of rain before things begin to dry up a little bit. So one big system affecting so many across the country today.

ROMANS: Thank you, Jacqui.

COSTELLO: Still to come, Casey Anthony's parents opening up to Dr. Phil. You will hear why Cindy Anthony says she still believes her daughter was an awesome mother.

ROMANS: And the story people can't stop talking about. These good Samaritans rescuing a motorcyclist from beneath this burning car. You'll hear from the heroes who pulled this young man to safety.

COSTELLO: And a new pat-down police for kids at airport check points. The TSA responding to the outrage over videos that went viral.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's 12 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: How long could we go without having to talk about the Casey Anthony story?

COSTELLO: Not long. ROMANS: She went underground. Casey went underground. We haven't seen her. But her parents are breaking their silence for the first time since their daughter was cleared of murder charges back in July.

COSTELLO: That's right.

George and Cindy Anthony talking with Dr. Phil, admitting their daughter continued to lie after their granddaughter Caylee went missing. Cindy confiding in Dr. Phil and the rest of the people watching Dr. Phil about the rage she felt towards Casey when the case first broke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY'S MOTHER: Oh, I just screamed at her. So what the hell are you talking about? I said - what do you mean you haven't seen Caylee? And that's when I - I just screamed at her and I - I wanted to go choke her or hit her and I just went over there and I just punched the bed as hard as I could to get my anger out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Let's bring in CNN Legal Contributor Paul Callan to talk more about the interview with Casey Anthony's parents. She says further in that interview that she was an awesome mother. She can't understand why this happened. And that maybe her daughter was suffering from a brain tumor or something.

I mean, what do you make of this sort of, trying to explain away this behavior?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, obviously, there's no way to escape the Casey Anthony story. Just the nation's been obsessed, you know, with it for so long. So this is the wrap-up.

But, I mean, it's obviously a mother who cannot accept the fact that her granddaughter was killed by her daughter. I think this interview clearly shows that she believes that her daughter's the killer, and she's now concocted these excuses.

She's saying she suffered from postpartum schizophrenia. By the way, doesn't exist. There's something called postpartum psychosis but it manifests itself in a very, very different way. You have it over a long period of time and it's blatantly obvious.

She said her daughter had a brain tumor. They did CAT scans of Casey Anthony. There's no evidence that she ever had a brain tumor. She did have a couple of seizures. But I can tell you as somebody who has prosecuted murder cases myself that seizures don't cause people to murder their kids. So -

ROMANS: So she's just a mother trying to explain away what is behavior that seems impossible for anyone to understand, which is also why people are obsessed with this story, because you just can't understand how a mother wouldn't know where her daughter was and wouldn't go looking for her. CALLAN: Yes, exactly. And I think, you know, she's got to be haunted by guilt to a certain extent herself. I mean, this child was missing for an extensive period of time before the grandparents got involved, really, in reaching out to the police and starting a search, and they, of course, backed their daughter through most of the preliminary investigation. When I think it had become obvious to the police that the daughter may have, in fact, been involved in the killing.

But, of course, we have to remember, a jury has found Casey Anthony to be not guilty of this crime. So -

COSTELLO: And we also had to remember that many feel that both parents lied on the stand for Casey Anthony. So now in this Dr. Phil interview, it's obvious both of them think, you know, Casey Anthony killed Caylee, yet they lied on the stand, supposedly, and their daughter has been cleared.

And how do they live with that?

CALLAN: Well, I don't know. And you know, prosecutors - what's the prosecutor's responsibility here? They did the best they could to try to get a conviction in this case. Now, do they have an obligation to go after George Anthony and to Cindy because of this? I think most people would like to just walk away from this case and pretend that it never happened.

ROMANS: I know we've mentioned it already but I would like to listen to that sound bite of Cindy Anthony giving sort of the reason from a legal perspective why this wouldn't have already come up in court. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. PHIL MCGRAW, HOST, "DR. PHIL": Your theory is that she is a victim in this in some way. A victim of an illness, a tumor or something?

ANTHONY: I truly believe that, because there was never any signs that Casey was an unfit mother. She was an awesome mother. Looking back now, I'm almost wondering if she didn't develop postpartum schizophrenia or some type of issue after her pregnancy, a hormonal type.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAN: Well, you know, I think from a legal standpoint we have to remember something very important. Jose Baez, the defense attorney in this case, was faced with a death penalty case. In a death penalty case, if you have a medical defense, you are going to present that medical defense.

And by the way, postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis, while it's extremely rare, we have seen it in cases. There's been some pretty well publicized cases where mothers hurt their children in that state. You have to know that if Baez thought there was medical support for that claim, he would have presented it or he would have been guilty of legal malpractice. So I think we can safely assume, there was no medical evidence to support that defense. And this is a mother who's now reaching and desperately trying to decide how this person, this daughter of hers, could have murdered her own child.

And I think from a legal standpoint, though, there's nothing to suggest there was a legitimate psychiatric defense in the case.

COSTELLO: You know, I think we'll hear from them again. I predict that.

CALLAN: I think you're pretty accurate about that. You know, maybe Casey will sue the parents now for defamation, for accusing her of being mentally ill. I mean, anything can happen, you know?

COSTELLO: You're right. Anything is possible in that case. Thank you so much, Paul Callan, for being with us this morning.

CALLAN: Nice to be with you.

COSTELLO: Still to come, the amazing rescue everyone is talking about. You'll hear from four of the heroes who lifted that burning car off of a trapped biker.

ROMANS: And we've been talking about this poverty and income statistics, which brings me to today's "Roman's Numeral," 42 percent. Here's a hint. It has to do with someone's growing paycheck.

It's 22 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: "Minding Your Business" now.

U.S. market managed to eke out small gains by the end of trading yesterday. Right now, futures for the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P are all trading higher ahead of the opening bell.

Wall Street is bracing for another, I don't know, indecisive session, though. Fear about Europe's debt problems are plaguing the markets.

Moody's Rating Service announced this morning it has downgraded two of France's largest banks. Why? Because of their exposure to Greek's debt and the financial crisis there, and this matter here's, because all the world's largest banks are so interconnected and the health of the banking system critical to global economy.

Later this morning, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will make a push for the president's American Jobs Act in a panel discussion in New York. He's expected to put pressure on lawmakers to move quickly and to pass the whole jobs package. Wall Street will be watching his comments for any insights about the condition of the U.S. economy, also any news on Europe's debt situation. Ford and the United Auto Workers Union have reportedly extended contract talks indefinitely. This is according to the Detroit Press this morning. The UAW continues labor talks with GM and Chrysler today. Midnight is the deadline before the current contract runs out for those two companies.

A radical redesign of Window 8. Microsoft unveiling the new software at its annual conference in Anaheim, California, yesterday. Company says part of the redesign was to make it more user friendly for touch screen devices.

And this morning's "Roman's Numeral" the number 42 percent is how much the richest five percent in America saw their income rise over the past 30 years. Now if you compare that to the middle class family, middle class families only making 11 percent more than what they did in 1980.

Don't forget, for the very latest news about your money, check out the all-new CNNMoney.com.

AMERICAN MORNING will be right back after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It's just about half past the hour. Time for our top stories.

The Taliban's attack on the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan is finally over this morning. Earlier today security forces killed the six militants who stormed the nearby building and launched a high-profile attack on the U.S. embassy. Officials say no one inside the embassy was injured.

ROMANS: A setback for Democrats. Bob Turner winning the race to fill Anthony Weiner's vacant congressional seat. It's the first time in nearly a century that a Republican captured this traditionally Democratic ninth New York district.

COSTELLO: And today, President Obama heads to North Carolina to build support for his $447 billion jobs plan. His push coming at his disapproval rating hits a new high, 55 percent do not approve of the president's job performance.

ROMANS: New numbers out on poverty in America and they're pretty alarming. Last year another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty bringing the total to 46 million people now living below the poverty line. That's 15.1 percent of Americans. That means a family of four still living on about $22,000 a year. But the big headline may be of the decline of the middle class.

Joining us now is Don Peck, features editor of "Pretty Atlantic" and also the author of "Pinched, How the Great Recession Has Narrowed Our Futures and What We Can Do About It."

Don, welcome to the program. The great recession, knocked the stuffing out of the middle class. It knocks more people in the ranks of the very poor in this country. Too many children are living in poverty.

And, frankly have been for years, but this lack of opportunity, this lack of being able to move up once you get into the middle class or being able to hold on to your position in the middle class, that's pretty alarming.

DON PECK, AUTHOR, "PINCHED: HOW THE GREAT RECESSION HAS NARROWED OUR FUTURES AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT": It's really alarming, and you know, when you look at the structure of job losses in this recession, what you find is that on net, the vast majority of job losses what economists called middle skilled jobs.

These are jobs in manufacturing and non-managerial office work that have traditionally provided a middle class life to people with a high school diploma, but not a college degree. That's 60 percent of American adults.

Those people by the millions have been falling out of the middle class. The job growth that we've had such at it is in the last couple of years has been at the bottom of the economy. Jobs paying $15 an hour or less.

So this report not only shows increasing poverty, which is extremely worrying and reflects very high unemployment rates. It also shows quite clearly the calling of the middle class, something that's been happening for years and has only accelerated since the crash.

ROMANS: So the middle skilled jobs, what so interesting to me about this, is there's always been an opportunity in this country, no matter what your education, skill level, your mix of abilities, to be able to find a place. And I'm finding there aren't as many places anymore. What changes that? What fixes that?

PECK: Well, I mean, what's happened is companies in the recession have pulled forward off-shoring decisions and restructuring decisions substituting technology for labor that otherwise would have taken them years.

So we're seeing an acceleration of very deep forces in the economy anyway and disproportionately affected people with kind of middling skills, again, mostly people without a four-year college degree. There is no silver bullet for fixing that unfortunately, but there are wide array of measures that we can take, I think.

I do think a stimulus that the jobs bill, the president just proposed, can be an important salve over the next couple of years to create jobs quickly, keep more people from falling out of the middle class. Ultimately, we need to increase or rate of breakthrough innovations to provide for good jobs.

And then I really think we also need to reform our educational system. We focus almost entirely on university education. Only 30 percent of adults, even young adults, are college graduates. College education, we should encourage it, but it can't be the entire solution to our middle class woes.

We need to rebuild more pathways into the middle class for people who don't get a four-year college degree.

ROMANS: And that's the thing when you look at dropout rates. We have some, you know, I think it's 2,000 high schools in America that are dropout factories. I mean, that's just a lack of opportunity if you're in the wrong zip code.

It's a real issue that has to be discussed longer term. So you've got education. You've also got this chronic unemployment. Long-term unemployed now, a record number of people out of work. People falling into the poverty numbers who 10 years ago never would have imagined they would have been in the ranks of the poor in America.

The chronic long-term unemployed, should we be extending unemployment benefits indefinitely or should we changing how we do those programs so people can work and try to start businesses and try to do other things while getting jobless benefits?

PECK: In a normal economic environment, there are problems with very long unemployment insurance benefits. Because if people don't have the incentive to jump the new jobs, which usually pay less than the ones they've had to leave, they often do tend to kind of wait too long to make that jump, but these are not normal times.

You know, the number of unemployed people for job opening is about four to one right now in normal times about two to one. So I think these extended benefits are necessary. I was happy to see in the president's plan that he's trying to tie the extension of those benefits to things like training opportunities or part-time work or volunteer work.

Things that kind of will keep these people tied into the workforce. I think that's an important step, and I'm glad that we're taking it.

ROMANS: Yes, an administration official told me yesterday that they want to make it so people can get long-term benefits, get an extension of benefits and try to start a business. The some people might be held back from trying to start a business or trying to do something.

You know, start their own one-man or one-woman operation, because they're afraid they'll lose their benefits. But the other side of that story, Don, quite frankly, as conservatives say, we can't be keeping people on unemployment benefits for three years. Are you kidding me that's just too long?

PECK: Well, I mean, again, I think if times were normal, if unemployment were at 6 percent rather than 9 percent, I would agree with them. I mean, I think the U.S. in normal time it's, pretty good unemployment insurance system.

But these -- you know, unemployment, as you said, it's above 9 percent. The average ratio of unemployment is over nine months. You know, we need to do things to ensure that people who are unemployed don't become detached from the workforce altogether.

So mandating training, mandating part-time work does that. It solves the problems that conservatives are identifying right now. ROMANS: All right, Don Peck, features editors of "The Atlantic" and author of the book "Pinched." Thanks, Don. Nice to see you.

PECK: Good to see you. Thanks.

COSTELLO: No matter how many time s you see, you just can't take your eyes off at a 21-year-old motorcyclist in Logan, Utah pinned underneath a burning car after a fiery parking lot collision.

He is alive today because a group of good Samaritans lifted that burning vehicle off of him and pulled him out to safety. Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we asked four of those heroes, including the first police officer on the scene, why they ran towards danger?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. JAMES OLSEN, LOGAN, UTAH POLICE DEPARTMENT: I'm comforted to know that these -- all these gentlemen here are very educated and they calculated the risk before going in. It was a conscious decision.

They downplayed it a little bit, because they had some adrenaline that was really helping them out. They knew what they were doing. They knew there were risks involved, but they made a conscious choice to get involved.

And quite frankly, it saved the man's life, because me and the other officers would have never been able to probably do it in time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And those good Samaritans, they said, they told us, we didn't even think twice about it. Somebody was in need. We went to help. What are you talking about? The rescued motorcyclist, by the way, Brandon Ragos is undergoing physical therapy. He is expected to recover.

ROMANS: I can't hear what they were saying, but it's almost by instinct, they were lifting one guy pulls -- they didn't know each other.

COSTELLO: There was a woman in a skirt who ran up, bent down, and looked underneath the car to see if anyone was under the car, which, of course, Brandon was under the car and then everybody rushed in to help. No question.

ROMANS: Fewer pat-down for kids at airport security checkpoints. Thank goodness. The TSA now changing the way children are screened before they get on planes. You know, adding fuel to the fire last year, this little girl was 6 years old. She's been crying before this happened.

Physical body checks really angering parents and a lot of privacy experts. The TSA now says kids under 12 years old will be allowed to keep their shoes on. They're going to get several passes through metal detectors and scanners if they keep going off. The pat-downs will only be a last resort when talking about little kids. COSTELLO: No texting, no talking not even hands-free. The National Transportation Safety Board is now saying it wants to ban all cell phone use by truckers or anyone else with a commercial license while they are behind the wheel.

It's only a recommendation so far. Not a law yet, but it comes after investigators ruled that a trucker was on the phone at a time of a crash that killed 11 people in Kentucky last year.

ROMANS: These mothers to be in China are sitting at home with their feet up. No way. These women are, check it out, they're competing in what's called, "the body painting contest for pregnant women."

COSTELLO: For some reason that makes me laugh, but I love that.

Anderson Cooper is so busy these days that we needed to make another one of him. Here he is unveiling his own Madam Tussaud's wax figure on the second episode of his new talk show.

He spent the past summer being measured down to the tiniest white hair on top of his head. Anderson will be on display at Madame Tussaud's starting today.

ROMANS: We never have too many Anderson Coopers that what I say. All right, still to come this morning, the Agriculture Department declaring war on E. coli. What the government's doing to protect your meat from potentially deadly bacteria.

COSTELLO: Arizona in the middle of a new showdown with a Mexican- American community over a ban on ethnic studies in school. Teachers saying they don't teach racism. They teach about racism. It's 39 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: The man who sponsored Arizona's tough new immigration law is facing a recall election now. Arizona's Supreme Court ruling that vote can go forward.

It's an attempt to unseat State Senate President Russell Pierce, the primary sponsor of the immigration law. Federal courts have already blocked the most controversial parts of the law and it is now headed for the Supreme Court.

COSTELLO: And now Arizona is in the middle of another showdown with the Mexican-American community. It's over a controversial law that bans ethnic studies from being taught in Arizona public schools. Thelma Gutierrez has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Arizona, it's a battle for the classroom, and the right to teach American history, government literature and art from the Mexican-American perspective.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Culture class tackles what kind of issues would we call it? Social justice issues.

GUTIERREZ: Ethnic studies instructors call it an academic awakening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to people know that we're proud of our contributions from Mexican perspective.

GUTIERREZ: The former state superintendent of schools Tom Horne, now attorney general of Arizona says he couldn't disagree more.

TOM HORNE, (R) ARIZONA ATTORNEY GENERAL: In the Mexican-American cities program, there was a very radical group of teachers who are teaching kids that the United States is dominated by a white male racist imperialist power structure that wants to oppress Latinos.

GUTIERREZ: Horne says textbooks used in class like "Pedagogy of the Oppressed," "Occupied America," and "Critical Race Theory" are radical and have no place in the classroom.

A law passed in Arizona last year bans courses that, quote, "either promote the overthrow of the United States government or promote resentment towards a race or class of people."

But Sean Arce, Director of the Mexican-American Studies Program says Horne's misrepresenting the curriculum and never spent a day in their classrooms.

SEAN ARCE, DIRECTOR, MEXICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM: We don't teach racism. We teach about racism. We teach about injustice.

GUTIERREZ: A group of ethnic studies teachers in Tucson, Arizona are fighting back in federal court, arguing the ban is unconstitutional.

ARCS: If students don't see themselves in the curriculum, they're not going to be as engaged in school.

JOHN HUPPENTHAL, ARIZONA STATE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: It's that racial identity that we have severe problems with.

GUTIERREZ: Current state school superintendent, John Huppenthal, commissioned an independent audit to assess the curriculum. While they did find a, quote, "overabundance of controversial commentary" in an introductory part of the curriculum, they found no evidence the program promoted the overthrow of the American government, promoted resentment towards any race, nor evidence that it advocated ethic solidarity.

CURTIS ACOSTA, ETHNIC STUDIES TEACHER: That's one of the more prouder moments that I've had, is that knowing that our state superintendent, who ordered this audit, his own auditors found exactly what we've been saying.

HUPPENTHAL: It was obvious to us that the audit was a whitewash, didn't truly represent what was going on in the classes.

ACOSTA: That accusation frustrates me, and angers me, because he's been in my classroom, and I would never change it. And I invited him back.

GUTIERREZ: The audit also found that students who took the special curriculum had a better chance to graduate than those who didn't. But unless the federal government intervenes, the Mexican-American studies program will be closed.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Still to come this morning, forget Black Friday, it was Target Tuesday.

(LAUGHTER)

Find out why shoppers swarmed the retailer and crash its web site yesterday. It's still crashed right now. It's amazing.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Is it?

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: Yes. And the USDA taking new steps to make our meat safer from E. coli. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will have all the details for you. It's 46 minutes past the hour.

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COSTELLO: 47 minutes past the hour. Good morning to you. Here's what you need to know to start your day.

New questions about whether two American hikers jailed in Iran are actually getting out. An Iranian judicial official now says their release is not a sure thing. Just yesterday, Iran's president said they could be out of jail in two days if they paid bail.

Bob Turner winning the election to fill Anthony Weiner's vacant House seat. It's the first time in nearly a century that a Republican has captured the traditionally Democratic Ninth New York District.

The GOP also celebrating an election victory in Nevada. Republican Mark Amodei sweeping past Democrat Kate Marshall in a special election last night to join New York's Bob Turner as the newest GOP member of Congress.

Elizabeth Warren is running for the U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts. The former Obama administration official and consumer advocate confirming she will challenge Republican Scott Brown for Ted Kennedy's old seat.

And it was Missoni madness at Target stores across the country. Everyone trying to get their hands on the items with the iconic colorful stripes from the Italian fashion house. The frenzy was so bad, Target's web site crashed. Actually, it's still crashed this morning. The line features clothing for women and kids as well as home goods. You're now caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING back in 50 seconds.

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ROMANS: You can probably expect more meat recalls in the future. That's a good thing.

COSTELLO: Well, it is if you put it this way.

(LAUGHTER)

The USDA will begin testing for seven strains of E. coli bacteria. Until now, it focused on just the most common strain. The new government program mandates any food contaminated with E. coli will now be kept out of the food supply.

ROMANS: Chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is here with the gross meat story of the morning to start your day.

(LAUGHTER)

Sanjay, why weren't foods contaminated with E. coli kept out of our food supply before now?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This probably has most to do with amount. What they would say is they would test for all these various strains of E. coli but if there were trace amounts, specifically of these additional six strains of E. coli, they say, look, we think it's a small enough amount that it probably won't cause a problem.

I want to point out, this may not necessarily lead to more food recalls. What they're really trying to do is try to get to this process before the food ever gets out there. So this is talking about testing at the facilities. If they find these strains of bacteria, not allowing the food to ever get into the food supply. So, that could potentially be a good thing.

Now, one thing I'll point out is that we talked a lot about food safety issues. There's been a Food Safety Modernization Act, which was passed just at the end of last year, where they talk about the fact that the USDA, the FDA now has the power to issue recalls. In the past, they did not. As you may know, they recommended recalls, but they didn't actually have the authority to do the recall, to mandate it themselves. And they also beefed up inspections at these plants to try and prevent, you know, the potentially problematic bacteria from ever getting into the supply.

Not everyone thinks it is a good idea, by the way. The American Meat Industry basically saying, look, these six strains are so minor that it's just going to cost millions of dollars to test for them and to keep food from getting into the supply, and may not have a significant public health benefit. This is sort of the back and forth that has been going on.

COSTELLO: That is from the American Meat Association?

(LAUGHTER)

GUPTA: That's right.

COSTELLO: All right. There is an outbreak happening right now, not E. coli, but something else. What are you hearing?

GUPTA: Yes. It's fascinating to try to trace these food outbreaks to really figure out who got sick and then figure out what they ate and then piece it altogether. I just -- from a mystery standpoint, it's always fascinating.

In this case, they think they've figured it out. It is listeria, a different type of bacteria than E. coli. And they've traced it back to cantaloupes, specifically from the Rocky Ford region of Colorado. Again, it's a fascinating process. But 16 people have become sick in Colorado and neighboring states, as well. But the whole process of trying to figure out from where it all came is what they've been working on.

Now, you know, the rest of the process is sort of what you expect. They, obviously, try and get to that particular place from where these cantaloupe came and make sure that it's shut down for now and further produce coming out of there now is clean and free of listeria.

But listeria is potentially a problematic one. Even though the numbers are small right now, people can -- you know, this is a potentially deadly pathogen, especially for people with weakened immune system and all, also pregnant women. So they're being given extreme caution here from eating these types of foods. And the basic rules still apply. You know, wash this produce very clearly. Make sure you take the skin off where a lot of the bacteria can reside. The basic sort of hygiene practices still apply. But that's how they sort of trace this all back.

COSTELLO: Gotcha.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

GUPTA: You got it.

COSTELLO: We asked you to talk aback on one of the big stories of the day. This was the question: What is our government's responsibility for those in need?

This from Joseph, "Government responsibility is to get them to a point where they're not in need and teach them how they can make it on their own."

From Christina, "Government's responsibility is to help the poor help themselves in the same spirit of the Peace Corps. Providing tools through education, training, and empowering everyone to reach their own potential only makes us a better country. It is shameful to have such a high poverty rate." This from Gabriella, "Only the elderly and disabled should get government aid. Anyone who is healthy and has two good arms and legs can work for what they need. No jobs you say? Invent your own business, be creative and an entrepreneur."

Keep the comments coming, Facebook.com/Americanmorning. We'll read more of your responses later in our show.

ROMANS: These numbers come among record spending for safety-net sorts of things. More people are being fed by the government more than any other time in American history. So the safety net is there. The question is, at what point do you pull back and at what point do you have to spend more, and what programs are effective and which ones aren't?

Tough questions.

COSTELLO: Yes, you know, Congress and the president can all agree on that so easily, right?

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: Sure.

Opening bell just about 90 minutes away. Wall Street wobbly, again. The reason to keep your eye "On the Money" today at the top of the hour.

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