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American Morning
Rare, Deadly October Nor'easter; Cain Controversy; Survey: Microsoft Best Place To Work; "Occupy" Trademark?; Thousands Without Power After Storm Hits Northeast; JetBlue Strands Passengers in Airplane for Hours; "Jet" Magazine Celebrates 60th Anniversary; The Seven Billion Question
Aired October 31, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: The storm that postponed Halloween. Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. The power is out and people are digging out from a freak snowstorm that socked the east coast.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Herman Cain caught up in controversy. I'm Carol Costello. A new report says two women accused him of sexual harassment back in the '90s, and they were paid to keep silent. How the candidate is countering those charges on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHO: Good morning, everybody. It's Monday, October 31. Happy Halloween.
COSTELLO: Whoo hoo!
(LAUGHTER)
I have my little skeleton bracelet.
CHO: Yes, you do. Paying homage to the holiday.
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: Ali Velshi and Christine Romans are off today.
COSTELLO: Up first this morning, forget the rake, take the shovel. Record snowfall. Millions without power this morning. Hundreds of travelers stranded. And five people are dead. And it's not even November. The east coast stunned by a rare and deadly October nor'easter.
CHO: That's right. The storm dumping wet, slushy, heavy snow from Maryland all the way to Maine. Close to three feet of it in parts of New England. It's the kind of snow that makes trees buckle and brings down power lines. The storm has literally postponed Halloween in parts of New England.
The "Boston Globe" is reporting that some towns have actually rescheduled the holiday for November 4th. Don't tell that to the kids. Local officials say they don't want the kids to be out with so many power lines down.
COSTELLO: Yes. And more than 1 million people are still waking up this morning without electricity. Power crews are out all the way from West Virginia to Massachusetts. Officials are saying it could be a week before everyone is back online again.
In Connecticut, the governor said this storm broke a state record for blackouts.
And that record was set back in August with Hurricane Irene, so it's been a crazy couple of months.
Chad Myers is live for us in York, Pennsylvania, this morning.
Hey, Chad, good morning. So, what's it like where you are?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, people are moving. Good morning, guys. People are moving now this morning. It isn't so bad.
This is what's left of our Saturday snowman. It didn't really make it through yesterday. It was almost 50 degrees here yesterday. That allowed power crews to kind of get a head start, a little bit of a jump-start on getting these power lines up.
It was only an eight-hour storm here. But in those eight hours, they got eight inches of snow, piled up on those leaves, and the branches came down.
Now, they are in a triage unit here. If we can put up one power line, says the power company, and get 150 to 200 people back online, that's going to be the priority line. If we put up a line and it only puts up your House back online, you're going to be way down the bottom of the totem pole. It will take a long time for us to get to you. In fact, some of these people don't even think they're not going to get power until Wednesday.
CHO: Wow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MYERS: This could take a long time to get back up, isn't it?
BARRY BAUMGARDNER, METROPOLITAN EDISON: Absolutely.
MYERS: How many days, do you think?
BAUMGARDNER: I'd say probably Wednesday.
MYERS: Wednesday?
BAUMGARDNER: Yes. We've got a lot of crews coming in from other areas, other states.
MYERS: I see the windshield is a mess. It's smashed. What did that feel like?
JOEL ROSENBLATT: Well, you're just looking at it, and it's the sound of the tree falling on the car scares you. And it didn't break, so I didn't get any glass in my face. I mean, it shattered and the mirror is hanging down there. So, I couldn't even see the back windshield through the mirror, because the mirror is hanging down.
MYERS: Does it make you think about driving under trees or even driving at all?
ROSENBLATT: Yes. I debated whether to turn right and go home before I made that part of my trip yesterday or not, and I didn't, and it was a mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
MYERS: I've never had anything like that at all fall on my car. Except maybe a hailstone when I lived in Oklahoma. But a tree falling on your car when you're driving, that probably put a little bit of a shudder in that man, Joel Rosenblatt, the guy we talked to yesterday.
It's going to be OK today. We're going to get things back on. I'll tell you what though? All the hotels are again sold out here because people don't expect to have power. And what could have been an empty couple of days in these hotels has turned out to be a boom.
The only trouble is the people that weren't anticipating spending $100 or $150 just to sleep in a hotel for a couple of days. Now, there's a $300 to $500 hit in their wallet. And that may take a bite out of Christmas.
Guys, back to you.
CHO: Yes. In this economy, not exactly what they wanted to have to deal with.
Chad Myers, thank you very much.
Reynolds Wolf in the extreme weather center for us.
Reynolds, you know, Chad was talking about this earlier. Because this storm happened in October, and not, say, December or January, that's really what made it such a big deal, right?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No question about it. That's a great point.
You know, one of the amazing things is, say you've an average tree, say, that's 40 feet in height. When you have a lot of leaves and, of course, you got the moisture to adhere to it in a freezing type situation, tree that stands 40 feet may have up to four tons of snow and ice on it. It stands to reason that you'd have some tree damage. And with the branches falling, that's what's going to cause power outages.
So, people without power -- many people obviously without heat this morning, especially in parts of the, say, Delmarva Peninsula, back over to Jersey shore where we still have morning lows there in the 20s and 30s, we still have those warnings in effect, and certainly, you're going to have some delays if you're just driving around, say, parts of your back roads, obviously, just trying to get from point A to point B. You're also going to see some delays also at the airports, especially in parts of south Florida, if you're trying to get through, say, Orlando, maybe Tampa, or even Miami. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are going to give you delay, but just an under hour or so. In Detroit, you got a delay there that can be expected later on -- same situation because of scattered showers, maybe a thunder boomer. In San Francisco, the gusty wind conditions.
But the rain in Detroit is going to be caused by another area of low pressure. This frontal boundary that will extend well over 1,000 miles drifting from west to east when it makes its way across southern Michigan. Yes, you're going to have some thunderstorms and maybe some rain into the afternoon. Scattered showers in the central and northern Rockies. Some snow possible in the highest elevations.
Now and for the most of the West Coast, looks good there and in a few places. Rain, of course, up towards parts of Seattle. Four Corners, pretty nice, sunny and warm.
In terms of warm conditions, it will be nice and warm for you in the Desert Southwest. Albuquerque 70 degrees; 78 degrees in Dallas; 68 in Memphis, 56 in Chicago.
And check out the Northeast. Yes, those temperatures will be rebounding, 50s in Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., Atlanta with 62. Tampa and Miami into the 80s.
That's your forecast. You're up to speed. Now, it is your turn in New York.
COSTELLO: Thanks, Reynolds. I don't know where I'm going to be this morning. I think I'm going to be in Miami.
CHO: That's right. So do I.
COSTELLO: Good news followed by bad news for Herman Cain and his campaign this weekend. Cain's number one in the latest Iowa poll, and that's the good news.
The bad news, according to a report by "Politico," Cain was accused of sexual harassment by two women in the 1990s while he was head of the National Restaurant Association. Cain's camp is denying the report, calling it unfair and untrue.
Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, one of the "Politico" reporters who broke the story elaborated on the claims of one of Cain's alleged victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN MARTIN, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER, POLITICO: There are reports of both physical and verbal actions by Mr. Cain. He made physical gestures. Also, verbal comments that made these women feel uncomfortable, made them feel awkward and angry. And so much so actually that they complained to both colleagues and senior officials at the organization about their treatment, and subsequently left the organization with five figure cash payouts and nondisclosure agreements to not talk about what actually happened during their time at the organization.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Let's get the latest on the Cain controversy from CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. He joins us live from Washington this morning.
And this is one instance where Cain's charm may not work, Paul.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You're right. Polls indicate that among Republicans, he's got a lot of likeability. They do like him a lot. But this -- how he answers the questions here is going to be crucial, Carol and Alina.
Now, Sunday morning, yesterday morning, Cain was on the Sunday talk shows and that reporter you just had there, Jonathan Martin from "Politico," questioned Herman Cain about the story. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATEE: I'm not going to talk about two people that you won't tell me who they are, OK? I'm not going to comment on that, because, you know, I think that that is one of those kinds of things that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last question.
REPORTER: Will you answer yes or no --
CAIN: Have you ever been accused of sexual harassment?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: That was Sunday morning. Now, fast forward about 10 hours, and "Politico" goes out with their story. Once I saw it, I quickly contacted the Cain campaign, their communications director, their spokesman, J.D. Gordon.
This is the message they put out and it reads, "Fearing the message of Herman Cain who is shaking up the political landscape in Washington, inside the Beltway media have begun to launch unsubstantiated personal attacks on Cain, dredging up thinly sourced allegations stemming from Mr. Cain's tenure as the chief executive officer at the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, political trade press are now casting aspersions on this character and spreading rumors that never stood to the facts.
Since Washington establishment critics haven't had much luck in attacking Mr. Cain's ideas to fix a bad economy and create jobs, they are trying to attack him in any way they can. Sadly, we've seen this movie played out before, a prominent conservative targeted by liberals simply because they disagree with his politics."
A couple of things about that statement: first of all, there was no denial of the allegations. But also you heard phrases like inside the Beltway media, Washington establishment, critics and prominent conservatives targeted by liberals. So, it seems that the tactic the Cain campaign is trying to do is turn it against the storyteller here and trying to say this is the liberal media going after a conservative.
We saw Ann Coulter, a leading conservative voice come out to protect and defend Herman Cain last night -- ladies.
COSTELLO: Yes, she called it a high-tech lynching, much like, you know, Clarence Thomas' nomination process. So, that was supposedly a high-tech lynching. We'll see if it sticks.
Paul Steinhauser live in Washington.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
CHO: Paul, thank you.
Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING -- profiting from the protests. An in-depth look at how people are hoping to make money off the "Occupy Wall Street" movement.
COSTELLO: And if you're jonesing for some NBA basketball, you'll have to wait another month at least. Of course, the entire season may now be in jeopardy. We'll talk with a "Sports Illustrated" writer about the lockout and whether there's any real progress.
CHO: And baby makes 7 billion. It's a major milestone for the world's population. But what does it really mean for you and me? We'll break it down for you.
It's nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 12 minutes past the hour. Welcome back.
It's the incredible shrinking NBA season. With league owners and the players union unable to reach a deal to end the lockout, Commissioner David Stern has now cancelled all games through November 30th.
So where do they come from here? Is the entire season in jeopardy?
Jon Wertheim, "Sports Illustrated" senior writer, joins us now.
Good morning.
OK. So, as I understand it, there's just one big issue that has not been resolved, and that would be revenue sharing. And, of course, the league says it's lost hundreds of millions of dollars. And the players say not so fast.
We want more of the share of the overall NBA profits. So, who's in the right here?
JON WERTHEIM, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Well, I mean, splitting up revenue is tricky business. And these teams seem to be losing money but the value of the franchises keep going on. So the players are saying you may have a little loss year on year, but look at what's going on with the value here.
So the players have come down. They were getting about 55 percent. They are now around 52 percent. Each of those percents is about $40 million a year.
So, the players have said, look, we have already taken about a $1 billion off the table over the course of this deal. Players want -- the owners want about 50/50. And that's where we are now. The game of chicken begins.
COSTELLO: So, are they -- I mean, there is a wide chasm are or they close to a deal and we're just not hearing about that?
WERTHEIM: I mean, you know, 52 1/2 to 50 doesn't seem particularly wide. But again, that represents hundreds of millions dollars. And the players have basically said we're not going any lower, and the owners have said we're not going higher. And, again, it's a game of chicken. And we'll see what happens.
The NFL -- they were able to get this thing done at the 11th hour. Basketball has not. We have already lost a month. And we'll see where we're going.
COSTELLO: So, how are the fans feeling, you think? I mean, are they angry or they just sort of like, whatever?
WERTHEIM: That's an interesting question, because, you know, basketball does not have the same place in the culture that football does. I think in football, there was more sympathy for the players because what they are doing is violent, they get hurt.
This is interesting. I think, objectively, if you look at this, the owners appear to be the ones who are a little bit more intransigent. On the other hand, I think a lot of casual fans can't get past the point these guys are getting paid millions of dollars to play a game. The owners may make billions, but they are going to work and wearing a tie. These guys are out there, millions of dollars to play a sport. And I think for a lot of fans it's really hard to sympathize with players.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes, especially in this economic climate because let's face it, we have, what, 9.1 percent unemployment in this country. It's like get real, make a deal, play ball.
Let's turn our attention to football now because can't let a day go past where I don't talk about the Detroit Lions because I am a lions fan, I'll just say that up front. But the Lions played the Broncos.
WERTHEIM: That's good.
COSTELLO: Tim Tebow is like this huge star. And one of the reasons he's liked is because -- well, is because of his Christianity. He has a lot of really passionate fans, and during the game, which the Lions won 45-10, it was a huge blowout, some of the lions were taunting Tim Tebow, because there's this new thing called tebowing where you drop to one knee, pray to the heavens that you're going to, like, pull it out at the last minute.
JON WERTHEIM, SENIOR WRITER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: In fairness, after they tebowed, they sort of said, hey, it's all in good fun, and he was very gracious and said no worries. I find this whole thing fascinating. That here's a quarterback -- it's really -- this is sort of, you know, faith-based versus reality-based like economy (ph) on the football field, and there are a lot of fans and some players who roll their eyes and say this guy is sort of pious and not that good of a player.
There are other fans who love this guy. I mean, this guy is barely a starter. We'll see what happens next week. One of the highest selling jerseys. This wildly popular player. And it's really interesting to see how this plays out. Players were sort of mocking him yesterday, and then, it was all in good fun.
As you said, not a great game for Tim Tebow, but on the other hand, a week earlier, he had this dare we say miraculous finish where that sort of justified all of his fans' belief. He had this tremendous game against Miami, won dramatically, yesterday not as good, but it really is interesting to sort of see how this player pretty marginal statistically but this huge faith-based following. I didn't even see how this plays out.
COSTELLO: It is. I mean, there's a whole Web site dedicated to tebowing. It's sort of like the planking phenomenon. I don't know if we put it up already, but there are people just tebowing, in many odd places throughout the world, like, see it right there? I mean, it's just like this fascinating phenomenon, but it leaves the Denver Broncos in this difficult place.
I mean, Tim Tebow is so popular he's inspired this kind of thing. So, even though he did -- he was so awful in that game, even though he was awful, I mean, will they be forced to start him again next week?
WERTHEIM: Yes. If you read the coach's remarks, it seems like the ride may be over for a while. So, it's not a ring-on endorsement he got yesterday. As you said, a lot of grass stains for Tim Tebow yesterday, but it really is something to contend with. And you wonder, does this huge fan following that he has, has that influenced whether he got a few starts this year? Again, it's just as an observer fascinating to watch this unfold.
COSTELLO: Seven sacks for Tim Tebow. It was bad. It was so bad. Thank you so much for coming in this morning. We appreciate it, as always -- Alina.
CHO: Carol, thanks.
Up next, Stocks buckle in for a bumpy ride. We'll check in the early morning markets.
Plus, what's the best place to work and why? Is it the money or is it something else? We'll explain. It's 18 minutes after the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Twenty minutes after the hour. "Minding your Business" this morning.
Hard times for the Japanese automaker, Honda. Net profits are down 77 percent from last year. The March earthquake in Japan that interrupted production and record flooding in Thailand that forced plant closings contributed to the decline.
U.S. markets are poised to post one of their best months ever. So far in October, the S&P 500 is up 14 percent. That's the best month of performance since 1974. But the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 futures are all sharply lower this morning, suggesting a lower opening at the bell.
According to a survey of 43 leading economists, the European debt crisis will remain a big threat to the global economy in 2012 and will hurt growth in the United States, but those experts also see less risk of a new recession.
The best multinational company to work for in the world, Microsoft. According to the research and consulting firm, great places to work, employee trust was the biggest factor in landing Microsoft the top spot. Rounding up the top five, software giant, SAS, data management firm, NetApp, Google, and FedEx.
According to the stuffy, the top companies have three traits in common, employee trust in management, pride in the company, and can (INAUDIBLE) colleagues.
"Puss in Boots" scratched out the competition earning the top spot in this weekend's box office. The animated films debut raked in $34 million. Rounding up the box office was "Paranormal Activity 3" and "In Time."
Up next, Occupy Wall Street, it's one of the biggest activist uprisings in generations, and now, someone wants to own a part of it. The battle to trademark Occupy Wall Street is next.
And no food, no drunks, no bathroom. Passengers trapped aboard JetBlue plane for seven hours. We're going to play the audiotapes as the pilot pleads for help. And now, how can JetBlue make this right again? AMERICAN MORNING is back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: And good morning, New York City. Fair skies. Only 38 degrees. So, it's chilly outside, but we're headed for a high of 53, which is a good thing.
CHO: I love me a little Jay-Z and Alicia Keys in the morning.
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Live picture now of New York City's Zuccotti Park. This is, of course, where it all started, the occupy movement. Thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters remain camped out this morning despite that freak nor'easter over the weekend. Remember, the protests began here in New York City.
They spread across the country and around the world, more than 80 countries. And though it seems to run counter to what the occupy movement is all about, some may actually be trying to profit from the protests.
COSTELLO: Poppy Harlow is here to tell us all about it.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: It's an interesting development that had to happen, right? I mean, it's one of the biggest activist uprisings in generations. And it did not take long just a few weeks for someone to want to own part of it. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: You know what those are? They're trademark applications for this movement, Occupy Wall Street. And this guy over here, you see him, he's one of the folks trying to trademark it.
ROBERT MARESCA, APPLIED FOR TRADEMARK ON "OCCUPY WALL ST.": I made these T-shirts just a few on the first day, and then, I made about 20 on the second day, and then, I realized that it's not very healthy to smell the fumes, so I decided to get in touch with a silk screener.
HARLOW: Why trademark it?
MARESCA: Well, because when you start to go into a large order, you have to make a large investment and the chance of being sued, the potential is there. It did not go through my head that it was something of a potential business thing.
HARLOW (voice-over): Amazon is full of merchandise with that slogan. And an eBay search for Occupy Wall Street brings up nearly 5,000 results. And then, there's Ray Agregon (ph), a self-titled entre- protester we found online. He's made a few hundred backs, so far, selling T-shirts at the occupystore.com
MARESCA: It's trademarkable. Someone is going to trademark it. And why not me?
HARLOW: But can anyone actually trademark Occupy Wall Street? It's not a brand name. At least, not yet.
RICHARD ROTH, TRADEMARK ATTORNEY: One would argue on the one hand that it's just common words in the public domain. It's just descriptive, but it does have a little ring to it that may very well pass muster with the trademark office.
HARLOW (on-camera): If you get this trademark, are you going to keep it or are you going to give it to Occupy Wall Street?
MARESCA: I will give it to whatever legal structure that they organize, and they can do what they feel is best for it. HARLOW (voice-over): Down at Zuccotti Park, there is pretty overwhelming sentiment against owning the Occupy Wall Street trademark.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's something that belongs to the people, and it's unnecessary to trademark it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a bit hypocritical and, you know, it kind of counteracts why we're here.
HARLOW: What did practice (ph) you to this movement?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To separate money from politics.
HARLOW: But Robert Maresca insists he doesn't want to profit from it and promises to funnel the money back to the movement. Just how he plans to do that is another question.
(on-camera) How do you think you could get the money that you might make off of this if you get the trademark? How do you get it back to Occupy Wall Street if that's your goal? How does that work?
MARESCA: Well, I don't -- I'm not going to say that I had this big giant business plan in my head. All I knew was that I was getting sick off the smelling fumes.
HARLOW: You said that you would sell the trademark if you get it to Occupy Wall Street if that's possible for a dollar.
MARESCA: $1. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cool.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sold!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: To give you a little background on Robert Maresca. He told me that the reason he's so attracted to this movement is, as you heard, to get money out of politics, but also, his main goal is voter registration. He really wants to sort of rally the public and rally the mass to register to vote, to have some more say in politics so it's not all about money as he feels it is.
In terms of this, this is interesting. He applied for Occupy Wall Street ST period. OK. We just found out that last week, the group, Occupy Wall Street, applied for the full Occupy Wall Street trademark and so did a California base the investment group. So, this is going to be fascinating to watch.
COSTELLO: A California based investment group?
HARLOW: Sure. It's big money. And that's the thing. Robert says he's going to give all the money back to the movement if he gets the trademark. Occupy Wall Street wants to own its own name, and then, so does an investment group in California. (CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: I bet that investment group in California won't give the money back.
HARLOW: That's a very good question. So this is going to take two to three months experts tell us to see if the trademark goes to anyone, or if so who it goes to, or if it's in public domain and therefor no one can own it. But in the meantime, you can get your Occupy Wall Street t-shirts on eBay, on Amazon. They're all over the place.
CHO: It's just a matter of time. Thanks, Poppy.
HARLOW: Sure.
CHO: Here are your top stories. Herman Cain is denying a report that two women filed sexual harassment claims against him back in the 1990s. "Politico" says those complaints came during Cain's tenure as head of the National Restaurant Association and both women were paid large cash settlements for their silence and left their jobs.
COSTELLO: Four million people waking up without power after a nasty surprise nor'easter. Authorities say some people could be in the dark for days after heavy snow snapped tree limbs and took down power lines up and down the east coast.
CHO: A state of emergency declared in the state of Massachusetts as 540,000 people are waking up without power. And joining us now is Governor Deval Patrick. Governor Patrick, thank you so much for joining us. I know that you are en route to Framingham Emergency Management right now to give a briefing at 9:30 in the morning, about an hour from now. Can you give us a preview of what you'll say?
GOV. DEVAL PATRICK, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: Well, first of all, good morning. And I'm glad you guys have power. We're down to about half a million people from a high of 700,000 who are still without power after being hammered on Saturday night with in some places up to two feet of heavy, wet snow.
The roads are pretty clear. The main roads are in great shape, but many of the secondary roads have still downed limbs and lots of downed wires. So I'm going out to have a sit-down with the executives from the utility companies just to review once again their plans, the numbers of crews they are bringing in and their forecast for getting people back up and running.
COSTELLO: Governor Patrick, this is Carol Costello.
PATRICK: Hi, Carol.
COSTELLO: Hi. How are you? You're up early this morning and I can see why. So many people without power, some of them may not have power for a week or maybe more. We don't know. How satisfied are you with how prepared the utility companies were for this storm?
PATRICK: Well, I think the utility companies have all put on extra crews. They've had -- they are bringing in crews from as far away as Louisiana and Michigan. There's some 1,500 crews out now and another 350 coming in from out of state.
And we've got as many as 700 National Guard as well as many members of state agencies helping out with the tree removal. The biggest issue here, Carol, is that because the leaves are still on many of the trees, and the snow was heavy and wet, we've just had limbs and in some cases whole trees just snapping in half and coming down on wires. So rather than having a transmission line that once repaired restores a whole neighborhood, this is really a house-by-house operation.
CHO: Well, and you speak to those trees just being so heavy with leaves and the wet snow. And we're seeing that playing out all through the northeast. Having said that, one national weather service forecaster said 15,000 years ago in the ice age, this would have been OK. But for modern times, this is a really big deal. It's really incredible. And, you know, residents are just really, really frustrated in your state and elsewhere. What kind of advice do you have for them to get through this over the next few days?
PATRICK: Well, first of all, it's important that people be careful. I am asking people to treat a downed wire as a live wire until they are able to establish that it is not. I know people are anxious to get on with their lives. But it's important that they are patient and they give the utilities folks a chance to do their jobs. This is not going to be -- I don't think we're talking about weeks. It probably is days. And as I say, they have made progress in restoring about a quarter of the people who were out of power just overnight.
So we want to continue that progress. And it looks like we'll have a few sunny warm days or relatively warm days to make the progress.
COSTELLO: Gosh, I hope so. Governor Patrick, thank you so much for joining us this morning. And we'll monitor your 9:30 a.m. Eastern presser.
CHO: They have even postponed trick or treating in several towns in Massachusetts including Worcester to November 4. So anyway, poor kids out there. Let's hope your parents give you some candy or something meantime.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about the airlines, because they were in trouble too because of the storm. Passengers say it was downright degrading actually on a JetBlue plane as 200 people were stuck on that plane on the tarmac for seven hours during this weekend's snowstorm. Susan Candiotti has the story from inside that JetBlue plane.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alina and Carol, good morning. Blinding snow in a freak October storm created havoc in the northeast. But one of the worst nightmares was for stranded passengers in Hartford, Connecticut.
Twenty-three planes were diverted to Hartford, according to JetBlue, which says six of the planes were theirs, stranding passengers on the tarmac for eight and nine hours, no food, water, bathrooms unusable. Passengers did have cell phones and unleashed their fury.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're filled. Nobody can go in them anymore. You just have to hold it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bathrooms are locked. People are quite upset.
CANDIOTTI: A department of transportation rule enacted last year called the passengers bill of rights was supposed to prevent situations like. Among the requirements, food, water, and a clean bathroom within two hours of being stuck and the right to get off a stranded plane after three hours.
In a statement, JetBlue apologized and says power outages at the airport made correcting problems difficult. The changes came after a February 2007 incident. Passengers were stuck on a JetBlue flight at JFK for eight hours.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was no power, and it was hot. There was no air. They kept having to open the actual plane doors so we could breathe comfortably.
CANDIOTTI: And now it appears history is repeating itself.
KATE HANNI, FLYERSRIGHTS.ORG: It is absolutely unacceptable that the airlines and the airport did not manage to get these passengers off the plane.
CANDIOTTI: Kate Hanni fought for the bill of rights after being stuck on a plane herself five years ago. She now runs a Web site that advocates for passengers, and says the airlines need to cancel flights sooner.
HANNI: The flying public has overwhelmingly said they would rather have their flight cancelled or be stuck inside an airport than they would like to be stuck inside an airplane.
CANDIOTTI: An airport spokesman did not respond to CNN's calls seeking comment. The DOT's new regulation doesn't apply to airports.
HANNI: Hopefully we can get airports added to the rule, because this is a real -- I knew when I talked to operations last night, I knew that they were scrambling and they knew they had screwed up royally.
CANDIOTTI: The DOT says its passenger protection rule has virtually eliminated all delays of three hours or more. A spokeswoman says no airline has been fined since the new rule came out. But because of what happened this weekend in Connecticut, the DOT has just opened a new investigation. Alina and Carol?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Thank you, Susan.
And there's the thing. JetBlue may not have been to blame for this. It might have been the airport itself in Hartford, Connecticut. And JetBlue kind of has this evidence because the pilot onboard that plane stuck on that tarmac begged the airport for help. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, you know, we can't seem to get any help. I apologize for this, but is there any way you can get a tug and a tow bar out here to us and get us towed somewhere to a gate or something. I don't care. Take us anywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you need any trucks or anything like that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we got the fire truck over here and I guess they have some medical background here. I'm not sure who all the players are back there to back you up, but it looks like they've got it covered. My priority right now is a tug and a tow bar. If you give me a welding shop I'll be willing to make one myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: It's just unbelievable. If it's found that the airline is at fault, what, $27,000 fine per passenger.
CHO: Is' $24,500, $5.5 million total with the 200 passengers onboard. It's incredible. Listen, beyond placing the blame, it's just a nightmare for those passengers to be stuck on that plane. No food, no water, no bathroom. You know --
COSTELLO: Apparently the planes were diverted to Hartford from other airports and it couldn't handle all of the extra planes it. It didn't have enough equipment to get the people off the planes. So I don't know. It will be interesting to see what happened.
CHO: We were talking about this earlier. The pilot was pleading for help. Just put out the chute.
COSTELLO: Slide down the chute and just get out of there.
CHO: Just get out. Anyway, a big mess.
Still ahead, it's a glamorous magazine aimed at black readers. And now "Jet" magazine is celebrating its 60th anniversary with Barack Obama on the cover. No easy feat considering the impact the internet has had on magazine sales. Up next, CEO Desiree Rogers joins us live with a look at how the magazine is celebrating African-Americans living the dream.
It's 39 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: "Jet" magazine, the pocket-sized publication, broke cultural ground as a magazine aimed at African American readers. And now it has reached a major milestone, 60 years in the business. Congratulations, "Jet." The new anniversary edition celebrates African-Americans living the dream, and who better than to feature the president of the United States on the cover there. Joining us now is my friend Desiree Rogers, the CEO of Johnson Publishing, which publishes "Ebony" and "Jet." Desiree, great to see you, by the way.
DESIREE ROGERS, CEO, JOHNSON PUBLISHING COMPANY: Good morning.
CHO: You know, when you look at all of the covers over the years and you see people like Martin Luther King, Jesse Jackson, Michael Jackson featured 40 times on the cover, including when he died, and that was the bestselling issue of all time. Take me back to the early days of "Jet." What was the mission back then and what is it now?
ROGERS: The mission early on was really to give black Americans a view of what was happening in our communities really across the country and even across the world. The first issue had something as silly as, you know, 10 ways to buy a mink coat and what was happening with Billy Eckstien, a great singer at the time. So we have done news and entertainment throughout the years.
CHO: But the mantra -- our good friend Soledad O'Brien used to say to me, if you weren't in "Jet" you hadn't made it yet.
ROGERS: That's how the neighborhood felt.
CHO: And I asked, why is this the case? And she said, you know what, it was in every hair salon. It was just everywhere. And your friend, the chairman, Linda Johnson Rice, says if it didn't happen -- if it wasn't in "Jet," it didn't happen.
ROGERS: That's really what people thought. I was with Ed Lewis recently who started another magazine. And he said if it wasn't in "Jet," honey, it didn't happen. So we're wanting to bring that back.
CHO: And you have done a lot of things to sort of shake it up, right? You have brought in some new editors.
ROGERS: Yes.
CHO: And you're actually going to redesign the magazine. I mean, this is unbelievable to me. After 60 years, when you first told me this, I said, wait one hot second. You're making "Jet" bigger? It is a pocket-sized magazine. It was designed to be this way.
ROGERS: It is. And we're going to -- we're looking at making it a little larger. I think that, you know, one of the things that's so important in there is the "picture of the week." So make it a little larger so people can really see it. Or the "beauty of the week" or the "love section," all of these are great pieces of the book. And we've heard people would like to see them a little bit larger.
CHO: And in fact, we have one image of the redesigned "love section," right?
ROGERS: We do. We do, yes.
CHO: And what is your goal here in terms of modernizing the magazine? What do you hope to accomplish?
ROGERS: I mean, we hope to have something that really has that same excitement that the book had when it began. And so to really be brief, snippets of life, you know, how to unwind. How to really get all the news in one place with a commentary. You know, how to celebrate love. Just really quick, fun ways and easy. People don't have a lot of time.
CHO: That's right. They don't. You know, one thing I love about this magazine, and particularly the 60th anniversary, your former boss is on the cover, Barack Obama.
ROGERS: He is. He is.
CHO: Barack Obama, the President of the United States. It's part of the "Living the Dream" section in the magazine. You feature people like Oprah Winfrey, the First Lady, Will Smith. You know, "dream" is a word that I see a lot in "Jet." I imagine that's not by accident.
ROGERS: It is not. It really has been and is a book that inspires. People want to see people that they know, but they also want to see people that perhaps they don't know in their communities that are doing good work. And so it really is an inspirational book.
CHO: Can we talk about something you've done at "Jet" for a really long time, which is the "Beauty of the Week"? It's very pin-up and yet you still do it today.
ROGERS: It is -- it is. In the '60s, '50s -- did you see those girls back from the '50s in their swimsuits?
CHO: I did. I did.
ROGERS: We can't get rid of that.
CHO: It is -- I mean, it really is part of the fabric of the magazine.
ROGERS: It is, we're going to make it more dimensional though you'll know a bit more about her.
CHO: Oh that's finished (ph), so more than just the age and the occupation.
ROGERS: Yes. Yes, you'll know what school she went to and what she majored in, that kind of thing.
CHO: Ok, that's great. That's great, so what's next for you I mean, as head of Johnson Publishing, you also head up "Ebony" magazine.
ROGERS: Yes.
CHO: Also "Fashion Fair and Cosmetics."
ROGERS: Yes.
CHO: I mean, it's a big empire.
ROGERS: "Ebony" is launching their new digital site in early January. So look out for that. That book has been completely redesigned. "Jet" will be coming along with their new digital site after we launched the new magazine. And then "Fashion Fair" has got a great line of lipsticks and nail colors that they're launching for the holidays called "Siren Call."
CHO: Congrats. Well fabulous, I can't wait to see them. You know I have to say, I give you a special congratulations for remaining relevant in a really tough climate. In a -- in a world, that is now more multicultural and multidimensional. You know, not an easy feat. So I congratulate you, Desiree, for doing that.
ROGERS: Thank you.
CHO: Great to see you as always. And you're heading to Washington on Wednesday for the social secretary's luncheon?
ROGERS: Luncheon, yes.
CHO: Wow, for your former job.
ROGERS: Yes.
CHO: Ok. Great to see you.
ROGERS: Great to see you.
CHO: Your "Morning Headlines" are next. It is 47 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is 10 minutes until the top of the hour. Here are your "Morning Headlines."
U.S. markets open in just about 45 minutes. Right now the DOW, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 futures are all down sharply, suggesting a lower open.
It is the final trading day of October, with the S&P 500 up 14 percent this month. If that holds, it will be the best monthly performance for the index since 1974.
Herman Cain denying a report that two women filed sexual harassment claims against him in the 1990s. Politico says those complaints came during Cain's tenure as head of the National Restaurant Association and that both women were paid cash settlements for their silence. Cain's camp calls the story untrue and an unfair attack.
Parts of New England shoveling out as much as 33 inches of snow on Halloween after a nasty surprise nor'easter. Four million people waking up without power this morning.
JetBlue reportedly could face millions in fines after leaving passengers stranded on a plane for seven hours on the tarmac in Hartford, Connecticut. Passengers say it was hard to breathe and the toilets were backed up.
Wegman's supermarket chain recalls 5,000 pounds of Turkish pine nuts that may be tainted with salmonella. The pine nuts have been linked to 43 cases of salmonella poisoning in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland between July 1st and October 18th.
And hail to the Cardinals. Thousands of fans lined the parade route in St. Louis on Sunday to honor the World Series champions. Cards beat the Texas Rangers in seven games to win the 11th World Series title in franchise history. Oh it's huge.
That's the news you need to start your day. AMERICAN MORNING is back after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. It's 52 minutes after the hour.
You know, it's a very big day for all of us here. The global population is hitting the big 7-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0; that's a lot of 0s. Seven billion people now on the planet. And CNN's Richard Roth hit the streets for reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Seven billion. Hard to believe and hold up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a humongous number that's beyond most people's comprehension.
ROTH: Seven billion people on planet Earth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seven billion?
ROTH: As in billion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
ROTH: A symbolic but powerful number. Have you seen these people? The seven billion?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I haven't.
ROTH: Have you created any of those seven billion?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope not.
ROTH: Oh, baby. This hospital arrival looks like he wants to accept the prize but emerged too early. Another baby's mother not disappointed at just missing producing the 7 billionth human.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, wow. No. He came out when he came out. But it was close. ROTH: What does the number seven billion, as indicated in this sign in front of the U.N., what does that mean to you as a demographer?
JOHN BONGAARTS, POPULATION COUNCIL: That the large, that we have increased the population in the world by an enormous amount in a very short time. We are adding 75 million people every year.
ROTH: They're everywhere. And it also seems there are seven billion baby carriages in Manhattan. Why did you decide to have a child, if I may ask, with so many people on the planet?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I live in Ohio, and it doesn't seem to be as crowded. I moved out of New York.
ROTH: Why is your child now crying since I asked you that question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because you don't want people to have any more kids.
ROTH: I didn't say that.
As the Secretary General of the world, are you ready to tell people to stoop having children? Or at least in Manhattan?
BAN KI MOON, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: Let us make sure that this seven billionth child can live without any shortages, can live in peace.
ROTH: Ladies, good evening. I'm Richard Roth of CNN.
I entered a womb-like environment in the back of a Mexican restaurant where few men had gone before.
HEATHER OUIDA: Just living in Manhattan, you feel so sort of claustrophobic. And you think, that number is just massive.
ROTH: It's a new mom support luncheon. Hmm. Baby knows what's coming. What do you think about bringing a child into this world with 7 billion people? When is enough, enough?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't even ever give it a second thought. It means nothing to me.
ROTH: The child or the seven billion?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The child means everything. If you told people in the 1800s to stop having babies, where would we be now? So I say keep doing it.
ROTH: Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: That Richard Roth is one brave man. You know, he was also stuck on the tarmac on a flight in Connecticut too.
COSTELLO: He wasn't on that JetBlue flight? CHO: I don't think it was the JetBlue, but he was stuck on the tarmac. Brave man. Braver for it, Richard.
COSTELLO: Five minutes to the top of the hour. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: You never get tired of this effect, do you?
CHO: I happen to like the lighting better, by the way.
Hello, you scared me again.
COSTELLO: That's our friend, Jason. Good morning to you.
Kids in the nation's capital braved the wet and cold weather this weekend for a real treat courtesy of the President and the first lady. They handed out goody bags with White House trick or treats inside. The bags included a mix of dried fruits, M&Ms with the presidential seal and baked cookies shaped like the White House. The kids came from local elementary schools, the boys and girls club and also from military families.
CHO: Finally this morning, you don't see this every year. Check out this iReport from Pennsylvania. It's a snowman lantern. You could call it other things too. But it's made possible by, of course this unseasonably early nor'easter.
Where is our friend back there?
COSTELLO: Jason is still back here. Kyra, we have to deal with Jason back here before, you know, he takes a chain saw to us.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Imagine that.
CHO: No need for an eyebrow wax.
PHILLIPS: It's Jason. Yes be careful. He's -- do we say he is the ultimate back stabber? That wouldn't be good.
CHO: Good one.
COSTELLO: We love Jason actually.
