Transcripts For CNN American Morning 20100810

1052 from pittsburgh pulled up at the gate yesterday afternoon. the passenger refused and continued removing his luggage from an overhead bin. that luggage accidentally struck the flight attendant. legislator demanded an apology, the passenger declined using a not-very-nice four-letter word. legislator then turned on the public address system and addressed the message to the passenger and particularly the man who declined to hit. he enacted the inflatable slide, grabbed a few beers from the alley and slid out of his career as a flight attendant, got in his car at jfk and drove home but he's now facing two felony charges, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. theoretically that could land him in prison for seven years. safe to say that mr. legislator is no longer presenting a flight risk. >> from what we understand, he really did enjoy the perks of working for an airline. we know he loved the free travel. i guess the beer every once in a while. his famyspace page says i love max out with trips and the world. sometimes at a moment's notice! let's go! he's certainly clipped his own wings here because it is not likely jetblue will invite him back nor any other airline. >> absolutely. i think he's said good-bye to a career where the perks can be very good but what a dramatic way to go. just imagine the flight attendants who inside probably were just cheering. that's the way to go! >> i mean it really is still unbelievable. a couple of things, it's very interesting. they talk about flight attendants needing to keep their cool. at the same time when you read some of the stories they talk about the increased demands, pressures, passengers that aren't happy with things being account down to bare bones. a lot of people say being a flight attendant in a post-9/11 world is not fun. >> flying is not fun for most of us. there are just so many hassles that we have to deal with. in the situation here with jetblue in particular, the "wall street journal" had a wonderful article just a few days ago about the flight attendants at jetblue pointing out that a good number of them are retired new york city police officers, new york city firefighters, why do they hire them? because they know how to keep their cool. i don't think mr. legislator's a former firefighter or police officer. >> also ironic, didn't jetblue win in the customer service/satisfaction survey they did saying they were the friendliest flight attendants? >> they do try to keep it fun on the plane. >> not this guy. >> unbelievable. we got a lot of comments of this story that keep coming out. let me read you a couple. one, mega propgs s to this guy. i'm sure he reached his bs threshold dealing with ridiculous passengers. gotta hand it to him, telling off the passengers over the p. 569 system, then cracking a beer before you deploy the emergency slide of your grand exit. epic. >> i expect professionalism from flight attendants. >> idiot passenger whose think they should be first push this guy over the edge. the cops need to arrest the pinhead who got up before the plane stopped taxiing to the exit. >> it is the story folks at the airport are going to be talking about this morning. keep the comments rolling in, let us know what you think at cnn.com/amfix. also the interesting thing we were asking about the one of the charges that he has about possibly causing harm to people. apparently if that emergency chute goes down as fast as it does, if somebody is underneath it, they can be killed. >> oh, yeah. there is a lot of people who -- wing walkers and things like that who are alongside the aircraft when it comes in. yeah, he could have hurt somebody. >> he's lucky he didn't in that case. still developing this morning, members of the house forced to put some vacation plans on hold, summoned back to washington for a rare session during recess to vote on a $26 billion spending bill. >> house speaker nancy pelosi says it is a critical measure that's needed to save thousands of teaching jobs but republicans call it another opportunity for democrats to spend money that we don't have. our congressional correspondent brianne in kieler is live outside the capitol this morning. good morning, brianna. it is unusual for congress to be called back during recess. >> it's very unusual, john and kiran. it was december of 2008, almost a year-and-a-half ago the last time that congress was called back during a recess. this that was to pass federal assistance to automakers. you may know it as the auto bailout. before that it was the summer of 2005. it was the last time they were called back in the summer and they came back a few days early to pass emergency funding in the days following hurricane katrina. so this happens very rarely and when it does, guys, it is pretty ka dramatic. >> why the urgency this time. nancy pelosi said it couldn't wait. >> reporter: well, certainly this time democrats want to seize the moment. they don't want to wait four weeks to come back. what it really comes down to, this was an unexpected development. the house went on recess a week before the senate. they didn't think the senate was going to really pass anything, that they would have to take care of, lo and behold it happened, a $26 billion bill that in the senate they picked up a couple republicans on and they were able to pass. it includes $10 billion for teachers who have either been laid off or who might be laid off here in the short term. there's also $16 billion to help states with their medicaid costs so that they don't fall short in other areas and have to lay off firefighters, police officers, and all of the like. so this is an opportunity for democrats to say, look, we care about jobs, we came back in the middle of recess to take care of this and let's face it, guys, one of their big liabilities going into this election season is that 9.5% unemployment rate. so they're saying this is going to save more than 300,000 jobs. those are the numbers that democrats are quoting. but as you said, john, republicans say, no, this is just an election year payoff to teachers unions and this is more government spending. >> sure, everybody's got a perspective. but did the democrats have the votes to get it through? >> speaker pelosi has confident that she has the votes and she's actually already planning on having an enrollment ceremony. so a bit of a spectacle after the vote today. we're expecting that president obama will then sign it later tonight. but democrats realize this is going to be a tough vote for some fiscally conservative democrats. they're going to lose some of those perhaps blue dog democrats. one of the aides, john and kiran, saying to me it is really difficult to ask fiscal conservatives to vote on a $26 billion package even if it doesn't add to the deficit in this election year climate, guys. >> brianna keilar for us this morning at the capitol, thanks so much. new this morning, bp crews are close to completing the first relief well that would allow them to seal the damaged gulf oil well from the bottom shutting it once and for all. incident commander thad allen says the relief well is nearing the main well for "intercept and see mending from beneath the floor of the gulf." bp expects that to happen by week's end. a new test may help predict whether you are likely to get alzheimer's disease. a study in the archives of neurology found spinal fluid can reveal certain proteins that are telltale signs for the disease. the biomarkers, researchers say, were found in 90% of patients who were diagnosed with alzheimer's. sanjay gupta will talk about this later on this morning. >> we look forward to that coming up, 7:50 eastern time. meantime, continuing with this theme of people sort of having inappropriate reactions. >> people behaving bizarrely? >> yes, when people want their mcnuggets, they really want their mcnuggets. this is a drive-through attack that took place at a mcdonald's in toledo, ohio. it was new year's morning when melanie dushane became enraged when she was told that mcdonald's was only serving breakfast. it was 6:00 a.m. she got out of the car, punched an employee right in the mouth, then she tried to climb through the window. when that failed, you see she took out an open beer bottle and hurled it through the glass before taking off. last month the woman got 60 days behind bars, three years probation for the tantrum. it was much worse than a tantrum. people could have gotten badly hurt but they are going to -- keeps her cool. maybe she needs to be working for the airlines. keeps her cool and hands the order off to the next customer. that's the beginning of that rage attack with this woman. they don't serve lunch at 6:00 a.m. >> so the woman in the car not a good flight attendant, the woman behind the counter, good flight attendant. rob marciano is in the extreme weather center. kind of a bizarre spate of news this morning we're talking about here. >> safe to say that being a flight attendant or fast food clerk there is not easy business. let's at least salute them this morning and enjoy the video. >> the worst shift of all shifts, new year's morning. right? new year's day morning when you're at a 24-hour mcdonald's. yikes. >> i suppose at that hour, that day, there is a lot of people who want lunch. >> i think the fact that she had an open beer in the car kind of says it all. >> you need something to wash down the fries, don't you? listen up, we talked about the tornadoes yesterday across parts of minnesota over the weekend. lots of rain in places like iowa. flash flooding in central and southeastern parts of that state, specifically webster county got hit hard. so flooded roadways and the like. some numbers are startling. for the last two months in parts of iowa, two feet of rain. it has been unusually wet for that part of the country. it's also been unusually warm. check out some of the heat warnings and advisories out for the central part of the u.s. 105, 120 heat inteexpected late this afternoon. a couple of showers in the northeast, mostly north of trenton. northeast of that. then we'll get into temperatures that will be in the lower 90s. talk more about that and unusually cool weather for our west coast friends in 30 minutes. if you're feeling warm, we'll talk california just a little bit, just to kind of get new that surfer/fun mood. >> it continues. we expect temperatures close to 100 degrees here in new york today. >> it is going to be steamy today but the weekend once again doesn't look bad. >> rob, thanks. after 15 stabbings in flint, michigan, police in virginia and ohio think attacks there could all be linked fitting the same pattern. the fbi is now involved. the latest on this case just ahead. 12 minutes now after the hour. 15 minutes after the hour. police in three states and the finance a fbi are on a manhunt this morning looking for a suspect in the series of a brutal stack deaths. >> police in leesburg, virginia and toledo, ohio say crimes committed there fit the same pattern as in flint, michigan. jason carroll is tracking this developing story for us this morning. they got their hands on one of the suspects they believe is working with this group, still on search for two others. >> actually they received 200 tips so far which is helping them develop some leads. that's encouraging news. but even sew it is a story that has people on edge in several town. investigators are calling these crimes of opportunity. saying they believe the suspect is "very desperate and very dangerous." police in flint say they now think 15 attacks there are linked, five of them deadly. the suspect is described as a white man in his late 20s or early 30s. he's stocky one shaven and muscular. he stands about 6'0", 180 pounds and usually wears a baseball cap. police say in some cases the man first lured his victims closer to his car in the early morning hours by asking for directions or help. >> what's in the mind of this asillant. we have no idea why he's doing what he's doing. obviously there's something wrong with the individual. >> the attacks started may 24th in flint. the most recent in michigan was august 2nd. by the next day the stabbings in virginia started, possibly leading up to one in ohio on saturday. we heard from one woman who talked about how her nephew was attacked. >> stabbed. he was stabbed and was stabbed. he's still in the hospital. he's not doing good at all. he's a serial killer, yeah. he's crazy. he need to be locked up. >> most of the victims are african-american, so police think that race could be a possible motive. authorities were able to link the crimes through descriptions of the suspect's vehicle, dark green early '90s chevy blazer. what's interesting about this, we spoke to one of the investigators yesterday. he was actually reluctant to use the word "serial killer" because it is such a loaded term. but obviously the people there in those communities believe that's exactly what they're dealing with here. >> amazing. you said they've received several hundred tips. maybe they will catch up with him soon. >> the same investigator says he's confident they'll catch this guy. >> if they get a good description of the vehicle -- >> should definitely help. coming up, we'll talk more about this case, 50 minutes from now, with the county prosecutor who you say in jason's report. we'll talk about whether or not there is a specific pattern to these attacks that people can be aware of and given where the attacks were, where they think he might be. looks like he went from michigan to virginia, maybe back toward michigan again. >> we look foord to getting to the bottom of this. you've heard the old adage that money can't buy you happiness. right? but the way you spen your money could indeed make you happier. we'll explain. 18 minutes past the hour. i was driving in northern california. my son was asleep. i really didn't see it coming. i didn't realize i was drifting into the other lane. [ kim ] i was literally falling asleep at the wheel. it got my attention, telling me that i wasn't paying attention. the car hit the brakes faster than i could. i had no idea the guy in front of me had stopped short. but my car did. my car did. thankfully, my mercedes did. [ male announcer ] a world you can't predict... demands a car you can trust. the e-class. the best or nothing. that is what drives us. 21 minutes past the hour. we've all been told money can't buy you happiness. well, it turns out that that may be wrong. researchers say that it actually can -- you just have to spend it the right way. you don't necessarily have to have a ton of it to be happy. helping us mind your business this morning, the man behind the research, a psychology professor at cornell university. thanks for being with us this morning. >> happy to be here, kiran. >> it's a fascinating just whole area of research that you guys touched on because it is not necessarily how much you have. i mean enough to be i guess comfortable, not worrying week to week about how you make ends meet. but what is it about how you spend your money that can make you happier? >> well, what we found is that people who spend money on experiences, as opposed to material possessions, tend to be happier. you are experience purchases tepid to make people happier and enduringly happier. >> you say if you pick from that week-long vacation to somewhere you've always wanted to go to buying the flat-screen tv, you end up happier in the long run by going on the vacation? >> yes, that's correct. that can surprise many people. many people have the intuition that the vacation will come and quickly go, but i will always have the flat-screen television. but one of the great enemies of happiness is adaptation. we get a lot of satisfaction out of the things we buy initially but then they sort of disappear psychologically. we don't much notice them. but strangely, the experiences, even though in a material sense they come and go, they tend to live on in the stories that we tell, the memories that we have and they provide more long-term satisfaction. >> that's interesting. what about somebody that's sort of in the middle. say you buy a bicycle which is technically a material purchase but do you it so you can explore a state park, something near your home that's also experiential, as you put it. >> that depends on what actually one means by that. one material goods are essentially vehicles for experiences and the more a material good provides experiences, the more it will provide enduring happiness. >> is there -- there's also been research, what i was reading, through some of the research that you guys conducted, you talked about people in welter in countries tend to be happier. we always thought that was not necessarily the case. >> no, it is the case that citizens of wealthier countries tend to be happier than citizens of poor countries. within a country, people with more money tend to be happier than people with less money. it is not as you might expect and overpowering relationship, but it is there. >> it's not necessarily about material goods though. that's what you're talking about, which is interesting. what about the role of debt? we've seen in this very tough economic time right now where a lot of people are either unemployed, looking for jobs, under employed, living from paycheck to paycheck and living with a large amount of debt. how does that all factor in to just a sense of well being, wondering whether or not you'll be able to continue to provide for yourself and your family? >> well, one of the nice messages of this research on spending money on experiences or possessions is that those experiential purchases don't need to come at a great cost. doesn't cost that much to get a pass to a national park, many trails, bicycle and hiking trails are free. so even if difficult economic times, being oriented toward experiences is i think a nice avenue for happiness for really everybody. >> it is not about the rolex after all. that's good food for thought for people especially in these times. thanks so much for joining us this morning. >> thanks for having me. what started as a prison break has now turned into a massive multi-state manhunt for a couple considered armed and dangerous. the latest on the two suspects who describe themselves as a modern day bonnie and clyde. 25 1/2 minutes after the hour. we'll be right back. junior, run the numbers! price on a flight to maui. >> on it, dad. >> nobody move!! >> hrmmm? ♪ priceline negotiator >> i'm calling a family meeting. >> there's no time... we're searching hundreds of sites for the cheapest flight. >> what you're doing is setting a bad example for the kids. on priceline, you can shop all these flights, and get the best price guaranteed. and if you add a hotel or car, you save even more. >> shut it down, people! >> a family that saves together, stays together. 28 minutes after the hour. a massive multi-state manhunt intensifying this morning in the west for an escaped felon and his cousin who is also his lover. they fancy themselves as a modern day bonnie and clyde, suspected of two murders while on the run. brian todd is working the story this morning. >> reporter: though is he a convicted killer, authorities say tracy province was still relieved to have been captured outside yellowstone national park. still at large in that area, armed and dapg russ, john charles mcklusky, along with casslyn may welch. officials told ktvk she is his fiance and his cousin. >> we have learned that mccluskey his partner who helped break him out of jail consider themselves bonnie and clyde. they joke about it. >> reporter: on july 30th, casslyn welch, according to prison officials, threw tools over this medium security prison in kingman, arizona. they say the three cut through the fence. third inmate was caught quickly but officials say mccluskey, province and their alleged accomplice, welch, hijacked an 18-wheel truck, we leareleased o flif drivers in arizona, then were seen near phoenix. they are suspected in the kul killings of a couple whose bodies were found in new mexico last week, the truck then found in albuquerque. then according to officials they made their way into the yellowstone area. jeff shank, deputy director of the u.s. marshal's investigative division has pursued more than 3,000 fugitives. i asked him about the challenge of chasing mccluskey and welch. >> they suffer from the same problems and obstacles that normal every day couples have, yet it's times 1,000 because of the pressure of being on the run. it might lead for one of them to break down or they get simply get into a fight and storm off in the heat of the moment. >> reporter: john mccluskey was previously convicted of attempted second degree murder. if he makes his way back to his mother's place in arizona he has this warning from his own distraught stepfather. >> i told the u.s. marshals, i haven't got that long to live. but if i can ever see you, what you did, i'll shoot you in front of them and serve my time. >> authorities tell us they no longer believe mccluskey and welch are inside yellowstone park and they say they never evacuated the park even though they believed they were inside because the place is simply too big, it is about the size of delaware and rhode island combined and gets 30,000 visitors a day this time of year. officials say they believe the couple is in the general area outside the park and is believed to be driving a gray nissan central sedan. >> brian todd this morning. stay with us, in the next hour of "american morning," we'll talk about the chief deputy for the u.s. marshals in arizona about the massive effort to stop these two before they strike again. 31 minutes past the hour. time for a look at our top stories. the plane landed and he took off. a jetblue flight attendant now facing criminal charges this morning after he allegedly flipped out on passengers, grabbed a beer and slid down the emergency chute on a flight at jfk. he now has a facebook fan page, of course, this morning. it's growing by the second. the millions affected by some of pakistan's worst flooding ever are now bracing for days of more heavy rain. the flooding has left more than 1,200 people dead and one u.n. official says up to 7 million people are in need of food and other basics. making the matters worse, warehouses where relief supplies were stored are now under water. jury selection today in the murder trial of omar khadr, the youngest detainee at guantanamo bay, cuba and last westerner being held there. he pleaded not guilty yesterday in a pre-trial hearing. he is accused of terrorist acts and killing a u.s. soldier. a judge ruled khadr's confessions to interrogators can indeed be used as evidence against him. defense secretary robert gates wants to see some belt-tightening at the pentagon. the centerpiece of his budget plan, getting rid of u.s. joint forces command, a move that could cut 3,000 jobs. >> barbara starr joins us live from the pentagon with this morning's "security watch." are these cuts or more reallocation when it comes to where this money's going to go? >> reporter: you know, it is a little bit of both. some cuts, some cutting and having somebody else take over the job. defense secretaries have talked about this kind of thing for decades. every defense secretary comes in and says, i'm going to cut the budget. but right now with the wars and everything else, spending here in the pentagon about $700 billion a year. so gates is looking for a very significant belt-tightening. he's proposed several things. as you said, cutting an entire command, something called the joint forces command in norfolk, virginia. cutting down on the use of contractors. he even wants to trim the number of generals and admirals in the military. that's pretty tough business. some of this may have to be even approved by congress. listen to a little bit of why the secretary says he's doing this. >> the culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of savings and restraint. toward this end, i am directing that any new proposal or initiative large other small, be it policy, program or ceremony, come with a cost estimate. that price tag will help us determine whether what we are gaining or hope to gain is really worth the cost. either in dollar terms or in the diversion of limited manpower and resources from other missions. >> reporter: no price tag to this specific proposal right now. gates has already trimmed several weapons programs for what he says is an eventual $300 billion in savings. but there is plenty more out there that they aren't touching right now, including military health care spending. that's one of the issues that's very political and right now appears to be untouchable in these budget cuts. john, kiran? >> barbara starr for us this morning, thanks so much. we're going to be talking more about what it means to be an empowered patient. elizabeth cohen wrote a book about why it's so important to ask questions and to prepare when you speak to your doctor. 35 minutes after the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. 38 minutes past the hour. patients in the u.s. schedule more than 900 million doctor visits each year. the average amount of time that you actually get to spend with your doctor -- 13 minutes. >> the missing personal touch can lead to mistakes, miscommunication and that can be hazardous to your health. how can you be sure that you're getting the best care during each appointment? a new book out today, "the empowered patient" has some answers and the author just happens to be our very own senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. it is based on a weekly column you've been doing for cnn.com but the inspiration really was a situation with your mother who was in end stage renal failure, recently got a kidney transplant. >> in late december. she had kizny problems that went misdiagnosed when she wasn't feeling her well, her blood pressure went up and her doctor just said relax. she had serious kidney disease and they missed it. you have to be out there. there she is with her cousin, david cantor who gave her the kidney. she's doing great. thank goodness. >> you say this all came at a very vulnerable time for you. you just had a newborn baby. she had to be in the intensive unit for newborns and you realized she was getting spinal taps after the doctor said she didn't need them anymore and you couldn't bridge that gap between explaining to the nurses that she didn't need to undergo that painful procedure for a little infantersus what your doctor had told you. what happened? >> what happened was she was supposed to receive some spinal taps and she did. then the doctor said, okay, no more. but then i went down and she had just received an unnecessary one and was about to get another one. there's my daughter right after she was born. i said to the nurse, she's not supposed to get anymore. no more spinal taps. she said, oh, no, she gating another and you have to leave. >> i was just so upset. about an hour later another nurse saw me and said what's wrong and she then went and fixed it. she's my guardian angel to in day. >> what do you do in those situations? did you get lucky that this other nurse was willing to hear you out? >> i was very lucky. several nurses were willing to hear me out. i was just sobbing so much that i just couldn't speak until the last nurse came to me. in that situation what i should have done is tried to calm myself down and said you do not have my consent to do another spinal tap. either my husband or i would have to give concept. that's what i should have done. for the most part they can't do things in the hospital unless you give consent. it is your legal right to say stop. >> similar people have had sim layer situations. my brother died because his doctor wouldn't give him an x-ray that would have discovered the lymphoma in his chest at the earliest stage. you say in your book it is okay to be a "bad patient." but what exactly is a bad patient? is it bad patient like fussing or is it just, hey, i've got rights here, and i want to have a conversation with you and i want to make sure i'm getting the best treatment. >> right, that's what i call being a bad patient. if you say to someone, for example, something's wrong here. i think i need some kind of x-ray or something like, doctor, you say i'm okay but i think that something's wrong here can we do more testing. there is an excellent chance you are going to annoy that doctor. they might consider you a bad -- annoying patient. but in that situation you should be the bad patient. this is your health. and you're going to advocate for yourself better than the doctor's going to advocate for yourself ublly. so go in there, be a bad patient, annoy people if you need to. >> the other thing is being armed with information. it seems like a double-edged sword. you can google anything, any medical condition on the internet these days and just read and read and hear horror stories and the whole nine yards. by the same token, it is helpful to be informed when you go to your doctor but how do you approach a doctor's visit when you do have concerns, you've maybe read about things, you dop necessarily believe the diagnosis you've been given. how do you make sure that's a productive conversation? >> right. because there is this huge i call it the biggest divide between doctors an patients right now. everyone is on the internet and a lot of doctors are annoyed because patients come in and hand people -- they hand the doctor this big stack of internet printouts. you go on the internet, you go to trusted sites like mayo clinic, cnn.com/health, and you distill what you've learned so you aren't handing them pages an pages from a printout. you say i learned, this, and maybe can we talk about this, and maybe hand them one page. when doctors have 13 minutes and you give them 25 pages of printouts, they can't read that. boil down what your questions are. >> it is always good to come in with a real good sense of what it is that's troubling you instead of i've got a pain. describe it a little more. great to see this. give me the book so i can hold it up. elizabeth cohen, the new book, "the empowered parent." it is a terrific little guide to tell you how to help get yourself the best medical care. great to see you. congratulations. next month, "the empowered patient taking control of your health care." september 25th at 8:00 p.m. right here on cnn. still to come, rob will be back to give us our morning travel forecast. it will be hot -- again -- in many parts of the country. in ten minutes' time, let's hear it from the boys. the boy scouts giving president obama an earful. jeanne moos tells us why. 43 minutes after the hour. when you pursue an mba at devry university's... keller graduate school of management, you'll have a professor with you every step of the way. whether you take classes on campus, online, or both, you get the same attention, the same curriculum, and the same quality. 85 locations nationwide and online. discover how to grow the business of you... at keller.edu. good morning, atlanta. it is 77 degrees, a few clouds out this morning. it looks a little wet there. does that look wet? looks like it just rained. later on today, clouds and 95 degrees. it is going to be another hot one in hot-lanta. >> and a lot of other places around the country as well today, quite steamy on the east coast. rob marcia yo is following all the weather headlines for us. so did it just rain? >> no, it just looks that way. it hasn't rained in a day or two. but it's probably going to rain across the northeast later on today. between not having a window and like the three-inch monitor right now, i can't even see it. 105 degrees to 120 is your heat index values today across the midsection of the country. these are where advisories and warnings are. also advisories for places like philadelphia and new york city. temperatures here will be well into the 90s and the little bit of showers that's trying to squeeze out of the clouds here in the new york metropolitan area, tri-state area, that will only make it even more steamy so it will be hazy, hot and humid eventually today and uncomfortably so in many spots. also in the central part of the country. we are seeing thunderstorms already to strong to severe levels across parts of nebraska and iowa. they don't need anymore rainfall, that's for sure. temperatures once again obviously well above norm and and well below normal across parts of the west coast. out in russia, look at all this. this is smog, this is smoke, this is ash debris and this entire area is just massive. you've heard about the health problems in moscow. go over the u.s. and we'll give you an idea just how large this area is. it would take up almost the entire u.s. from coast to coast. what's going on over there is certainly extraordinary. there's still over 500 fires burning in and around russia. they have had one of their hottest summers on record. in some cases up to the last 1,000 years. if you think it's been hot across parts of the country and in your area, not quite as hot as it's been over there with our friends in russia especially. john? kiran? back to you. this morning, top stories just moments away, including the flight attendant who apparently had had enough sliding to freedom down the emergency chute, beer in hand. could it land him in jail? we'll have more fallout from the memorable meltdown on jet blue. the former mexican president's answer to the drug problem -- legalize them and let the user make the choice. could that put drug gangs out of business? >> don't come between a woman and her mcnuggets. a brand-new video, rage at the drive-through. those stories and more at the top of the hour. when the stage is set. and the cast has been gathered. when the curtain rises. and the spotlight is yours. having a strong signal at your back... is like having invisible power everywhere. because in that moment... you're not there to take up space. you're there to fill the room. rule the air. verizon. right now, buy a blackberry smartphone and get a second one free. like the bold. only at verizon. 52 minutes after the hour. sarah palin responding to criticism that she appears to roll her eyes during a spirited discussion with a teacher in homer, alaska. on her facebook page, palin took a shot at the media saying, "yes, i'm come to this. the media has now tried to turn my eyebrow movements into story lines. maybe that's why botox is all the rage -- if you can't move your eyebrows, your eye rolling can't be misinterpreted." you be the judge. >> >> well there you go. basically the woman had put up a huge sign that said "worst governor ever" and sarah palin came over to talk to her about it. they got in that back-and-forth. you heard one of sarah palin's daughters, possibly bristol, sort of trying to defend her mom in that situation as well. all the while the cameras rolled. there you see it. meantime, the boy scouts are voicing their displeasure with president obama claiming that he passed up an invitation to join their big jamboree to appear on "the view." >> no one was prepared for just how emotionally the scouts would react. here's jeanne moos with her unique take on it. >> reporter: it's bad enough getting booed, whether you're busted for dog fighting, or competing for miss universe. >> usa. >> boo! >> reporter: but imagine getting booed by the boy scouts. >> boo! >> reporter: and the person they're boog ing is the preside of the united states. actually what they were booing was president obama sending a taped message rather than coming in person to the recent boy scout jamboree. >> thanks for showing up! >> reporter: some 45,000 scouts were celebrating the 100th anniversary of scouting. two months earlier the white house informed the scouts that the president had prior commitments. >> it doesn't really bother me. >> disappointed but, busy man, what can you do. >> reporter: but just a few days after those interviews -- scouts just like you -- >> reporter: scouts just like these booed the president's message. and this 23-second video made its way on to conservative web vits whi websites which slammed the president for forsaking the boy scouts to appear on "the view." some figured the booing tape was somehow doctored. i don't believe for one second that this 23 seconds of film is accurate. believe it. some boy scouts booed. trust me, scout's honor. the boy scout who shout it wouldn't do an interview but he told us that though he didn't boo, there was a moderate amount of booing going on around him. mostly from scouts annoyed, not because of the president's policies, but because he didn't show up as six previous presidents have. the white house says "the view" had nothing to do with it. that the president was already scheduled to be on the road that day. >> look on the bright side. boy scouts finally get their merit badge for crushing disappointment. >> reporter: now on the face of it, booing would seem to go against some of the 12 tenets of boy scout law. a boy scout is trust worthily, hoil, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind. wait a minute, courteous and kind? a statement from the boy scouts says the organization does not condone booing. if the president's watching this, the jamboree returns in four years. >> i barack hussein obama so solemnly wear -- >> reporter: -- that if re-elected i will try to make it to the next jamboree. >> so help me god. >> reporter: jeanne moos, new york. top stories right after the break. don't go away. morning to you. coming up on the top of the hour right now on this tuesday, august 10th. welcome to "american morning." i'm kiran chetry. >> morning to you, i'm john roberts. lot to talk about this morning. a huge costly disruption or the greatest resignation ever? a jetblue flight attendant now facing criminal charges for allegedly cursing out passengers, then cracking open a beer and 14r50id sliding down the emergency chute at jfk. more on this dramatic exit in just a moment. lawmakers returning to washington for a rare session during its recess. why? they're going to be voting on a $26 billion spending measure. democrats say it is necessary to save thousands of teaching job. republicans aren't buying it calling it election year politics. we'll get a live report from capitol hill just ahead. the drugs require prescription for a very good reason. they can be dangerous, addictive, even deadly. yesterday we introduced you to a young woman struggling to get clean. so she was able to -- was she able to break her addiction to prescription pills? first though, the fallout from the flight attendant who was mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. steven legislator did something yesterday that a probably a lot of people would like to do to a rude customer or obnoxious boss. the jetblue employees faces charges the criminal mischief and reckless endangerment. allan chernoff has more on the meltdown this morning. >> how many people actually thought of doing this? he did it. the most dramatic exit at jfk. flight attendant steven legislator told a passenger to sit down when jetblue's flight 1052 from pittsburgh pulled up at the gate yesterday afternoon. the passenger refused and continued removing his luggage from an overhead bin. that luggage accidentally struck the flight attendant. that set off mr. legislator. he demanded an apology. the passenger declined using a not-very-nice four-letter word. slater turned on the public address system and delivered that same four-letter word to the passengers on-board and in particular to the man who had refused to sit. he then activated the inflatable slide, grabbed some beer from the alley and slid hit way out, we assume, of his career as a fight's tendant. he then got in his car at jfk and drove home but he's now facing two felony charges, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. theoretically that could land him in prison for seven years. i guess we can assume he is not a flight risk? >> it is amazing he was such a prodigy. he's 38. he says he's been in the business pore 28 years. he's been doing this since he was 10? >> yeah, right. that was the "reported" story that he gave on the plane. >> it was just a flourish. >> who knew. it seems that he probably was under tremendous pressure. we all know there is lots of pressure just being a flight attendant, all of us see it every single day. according to an online posting he's also been caring for his ill mother as he did for his father. stress can really get to you. sometimes you crack and i think a lot of people can understand it. >> in this case it looked like he not only cracked, he shattered. >> yes, indeed. the end portion that he actually could face jail time, wow. that's something about the repercussions of doing what maybe a lot of people would really like to do. >> i'd like to talk to him about all of this once they let him out of jail. >> we have a lot of comments coming from the website. we'll read a couple. one says, "give the guy a break. i can only imagine how frustrating it must be to deal with student arrogant passengers on flights every day. he is a human being and apparently reached his maximum stupid person xats and had enough. >> i've been tempted to exit a plane that way myself when trapped on the tarmac for an hour or more with no fresh air, no water to drink, surrounded by stinky passengers, surly flight attendants and screaming babies. i don't blame the guy. there comes a point when you've just had it. >> in this hour we've been getting a lot of support for this guy. mega props to this guy. i'm sure he reached his bs threshold dealing with ridiculous passengers. gotta hand it to him, telling off the passengers over the p.a., then cracking a beer before you deploy your emergency slide for your grand exit -- epic. >> let us know what you think at cnn.com/amfix. new this morning, a dragnet for an escaped convict and his lover now expanding to canada. police say they fear john mccluskey who's been on the run since late july and his suspected accomplice won't go down without a fight. the two are suspected of killing a couple in new mexico. a new test may predict whether you are likely to get alzheimer's disease. spinal fluid can reveal certain telltale signs for the disease. biomarkers were found in 90% of patients diagnosed with alzheimer's. a move to trim the pentagon's $530 billion budget. defense chief robert gates proposing some cuts including getting rid of the u.s. joint forces command. it could mean a loss of up to 3,000 jobs. house members are back in washington this morning to take care of unfinished business. the rare session during recess was called to vote on a $26 billion spending bill. it will prevent thousands teacher layoffs but still faces lots of opposition. brianna keeler is outside capitol hill. imagine being called back. >> reporter: it very rarely happens. the last time was december of 2008 when congress was called back during winter recess to pass a federal assistance to u.s. automakers. you may know it as the auto bailout. before that, it was all the way back in the summer of 2005. congress came back a few days early following hurricane katri katrina. they passed a funding bill for that. this is the summer break, congress leaves, staffers go on vacation. the ones who do come in kind of roll in wearing jeans and flip-flops a lot of the time. so for congress to come back here, for the house to come back here, it is pretty dramatic. >> why the urgency this time around? >> reporter: this particular bill, it actually has to do with sort of an unexpected development. the house left for recess about a week before the senate did this last week, and the senate unexpectedly got a couple of republicans on-board with the $26 billion bill. it includes $10 billion for teachers to prevent layoffs or for teachers who have been laid off to get them back in the classroom, then $16 billion to help states pay medicaid costs so that they don't have to cut back in other areas and lay off firefighters, police officers, the like. this is a democratic pushed bill and this is really them seizing this moment to come back and not wait four weeks. but of course, as you mention, john, republicans say this isn't going to save the 300,000 jobs that democrats say it is going to save. they say this is just an election year payoff to teachers unions and just more big spending. speaker pelosi thinks she has enough votes. she's already scheduled an enrollment ceremony which is a pretty public spectacle that would be after the vote. president obama is expected to sign this this evening. that said, they are expecting -- democrats are -- that they can lose some of those fiscally conservative democrats, some blue dog democrats on this vote because as one aide put it to me, to ask a fiscally conservative democrat to come back from recess and pass a $26 billion bill, even if it doesn't add to the deficit, which this one doesn't, is just too much of an ask, guys. >> brianna keilar outside capitol hill, thanks. seven minutes past the hour. time for a check of this morning's weather headlines. rob marciano is in atlanta with the word that, if you feel hot, at least you're not in russia? >> exactly. we're not the only ones sizzling for sure. russia and moscow, one of the hottest summers on record, they topped the century mark. they typically average 73 degrees so it is very warm over there. very warm again across the midsection of the country. hazy, hot and humid there. also across parts of the northeast where you are starting the day off with a couple of showers. heat advisories out for the new york city metropolitan area and also philadelphia. 93 degrees expected in the big apple. 98 in d.c. 100 in kansas city. 103 in dallas. out west, 58 degrees in san francisco. woodland, california, 50. santa barbara, 51. thermal, california, 61 degrees. just throwing numbers out. our west coast folks probably aren't watching at this hour but kind of get your head in the mindset that it is cool somewhere if you are waking up to a steam bath this morning. a lot of us are. there is a little something going on in the gulf of mexico. we'll touch on that in about 30 minutes. this next story is another one where people sort of just lose it for reasons that perhaps they later regret. this woman wanted her mcnuggets and this is the first time we're actually seeing video of this drive-through attack. it happened in toledo, ohio. new year's morning. this woman became enraged when she was told that mcdonald's was only serving breakfast. it was 6:00 a.m. >> she got out of the car, she punched the employee in the mouth a couple of times, as you can see there. tried to climb through the window but couldn't get the leg up. maybe she didn't have all her faculties in place. then when the woman behind the counter closes the window, she grabs a half-empty beer bottle and throws it through the glass. last month the woman got 60 days behind bars for her mcnugget meltdown. >> after it was over, there you see another car pull up and the mcdonald's employee calmly presses a couple buttons, opens up the door and hands her the food. that just goes to show you how graet they are there because it doesn't matter what goes on, they're going to get your hot meal to you and you're going to be on your way. >> can you imagine? i think we need to sign that woman up to be the chief flight attendant for all of the airlines because she maintained her cool in some pretty trying circumstances. stabbings in michigan, virginia and ohio. police say they could all be linked fitting the same pattern. now the fbi is involved. we're talking to the county prosecutor in flint, michigan next. 9 1/2 minutes after the mourp [ male announcer ] the financial headlines can be unsettling. but what if there were a different story? of one financial company that grew stronger through the crisis. when some lost their way, this company led the way. by protecting clients and turning uncertainty into confidence. what if that story were true? it is. ♪ the world's first 100% custom, invisible, digital, and fully programmable hour mourp hour. 12 minutes after the hour. this morning police in three states and the fbi are trying to figure out who's behind 19 different stabbings, five of them deadly. they think they're all connected saying that the crimes fit the same pattern. the attacks started on may 24th in flint, michigan. then last week the scene shifted to leesburg, virginia and recently shifted to toledo, ohio. joining us live this morning from flint, michigan, county prosecutor david leyton. what makes you think this is the same person? >> well, there are similarities in the crimes. specifically we have victims who have survived who have talked to our task force investigators and given a description of the assailant. that description matches the description being given by the victims in leesburg, and also the victims who have survived have given a description of the vehicle involved in the crimes here and that matches the description given by the survivors of the crimes in leesburg. based on that, we believe we have similarities that kind of match up and so we think we have the same perpetrator. >> so what is the vehicle that we're talking about here? >> the vehicle is a -- between a 1995 and 2005 chevrolet blazer or gmc jimmy. it is green in color, over beige or gold, kind of a two-tone type of vehicle. and each of the individuals who have been able to give a statement who have given us credible information have told us that's what the vehicle looked like that the assailant was in when the attacks occurred. >> we had mr. leyton a second ago a sketch of the suspect up. can you give us a description of the suspect? >> yeah. he's somewhere between say 5'10" and 6'2". he's a white male and he's usually wearing a ball cap. he has that stud in his left ear so we've asked people to be on the lookout for that individual. obviously he could have removed the stud but there probably would be some kind of a piercing there that would still remain. so that's the description of the individual that the victims have been able to provide to the investigators. >> most of his victims -- but not all of them -- have been african-american. are you treating this as a racial crime? >> well, the evidence suggests that we've had now 16 incidents here and 14 of the 16 individuals who have been attacked are african-americans. flint where most of these crimes have occurred is a predominantly african-american community. in leesburg, you have three stabbings, two of the individuals were african-american, one was a hispanic, latino, it's my understanding. it is my understanding also leesburg is a predominantly white community. the evidence would suggest that but we don't know what's in the mind of the assailant, we don't know what he's thinking or why he's doing this. we know he's an evil guy but we don't really know enough to make the leap that this is racially motivated. >> let's take a quick look at the time line and the travel that's involved here. the last assault in michigan was on monday, august 2nd. the next night, august 3rd, there was an attack in leesburg. whichever highway you take, of course, changes the distance but it is about 510 miles. you say the time line matches up. >> the investigators have told me that the time line indeed does match up, that there would be ample time for the assailant to do the crime in genessee county, michigan, then travel to leesburg and commit the crime there as well. >> then we have another attack in toledo, ohio, last saturday night, just three days ago now. does that -- that obviously fits back in with the wapattern if h were driving back to michigan. do you think as you pursue this investigation that he may have gone back to michigan? >> well, we don't know where he is at the moment and we certainly want to know which is why we've reached out to the community to ask for leads an tips. but the time line is such that he could have been in leesburg, could have come back to toledo. it's right on the way back to genessee county, michigan. you just make a right-hand turn and head north, come up route 23 and you're right back here. the time line adds up. plus, while all of these other crimes in leesburg and toledo were occurring, there were no stabbings in genessee county, michigan. so that furthers our indication that this is the same person. >> we have up on the screen a tip line that we want to pass along it our viewers. if you have any information call michigan state police at 866-246-9500. david leyton, thanks for taking the time. good luck to you in catching this fellow. >> thank you very much. we'll catch him. >> all right. you've heard the old adage that money can't buy happiness but now researchers say that indeed it can. just not in the way that you imagined. we'll explain right after the break. 17 minutes past the hour. 20 minutes past the hour. welcome back. along with a handshake and apology for the hot weather, texas governor rick perry greeted president obama in austin yesterday with a letter requesting 1,000 additional national guard troops at the texas-mexico border. the president delivered the letter to valerie jarrett. the governor says that federal support for the border is "insufficient." >> while the president was in texas, dallas police officer crashed his motorcycle -- he was one of the people in the motorcade. senior corporal michael mannis is said to be in good condition. he was kept in the hospital overnight for observation. the president was in texas for yesterday's big speech on education and to raise money for democratic candidates. whoever said that money can't buy happiness apparently wasn't spending that money correctly. researchers say that buying a new tv or a gadget may not do so much to lift your spirits. instead, they found that people who spent money on an experience perhaps a vacation tended to be happier. i found out why when we spoke to a psychology professor at cornell university. >> many people have the intuition that, well, the vacation will come and quickly go, but i will always have flat-screen television. but one of the great enemies of happiness is adaptation. we get a lot of satisfaction out of the things that we buy initially, but then they sort of disappear psychologically. we don't much notice them. but strangely, the experiences, even though in a material sense they come and go, they tend to live on in the stories that we tell, the memories that we have and they provide more long-term satisfaction. >> he also went on to say that it is true that people in wealthier countries tend to be happier than citizens of poorer countries. but the other interesting thing about the study, and one of the accompanying articles was a woman who just had what you would say had it all, a nice house, two bedrooms, two cars, the whole nine yards, and wasn't that satisfied. she found herself on the work treadmill, as she called it, and pared everything down to just 100 possessions. did a lot of things that she always wanted to do like charity work an trips and found herself a lot more satisfied. >> it gets down to quality, not quantity in many cases. addicted to prescription drugs. we'll check back in with melissa, a young woman struggling to get clean. we've got her story coming up. 23 minutes after the hour. ♪ [ upbeat instrumental ] [ rattling ] [ gasps ] [ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. travelers. take the scary out of life. we're with you when you're saving for your dreams. 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[ male announcer ] hurry in to your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for 1.99% financing during our certified pre-owned sales event through august 31st. today part two of our special series "addicted." we know that some of the most dangerous and addictive drugs can often be found in your own medicine cabinet. more and more people are discovering that perhaps their teenagers are sampling in this with the false belief that they may be safer than street drugs. well, today we're checking back in with melissa who was just 13 years old the first time that she tried prescription pills that were prescribed to her mother. she was battling addiction for years and hit rock bottom when she tried to take her own life. that's when melissa decided to get serious about staying clean. >> i went over to a friend's house and i thought i was having a good time and i ended up trying to commit suicide. i felt really lonely and i guess a lot of times when you're using drugs that's how you end up feeling but i felt really alone and i felt worthless. i don't remember calling an ambulance or how it got to me. i went to the hospital. i was in intensive care for four days. they told me i was 15 minutes away from death. >> what did you take? >> i took benadryl, tylenol, aleve, advil, basically there was some prescription pills that were in there. i took some of those as well. i'm not sure what they were. i basically went for anything i could get my hands on. >> after you came to in the hospital, what was the first thing that went through your mind? >> the first thing that came to my mind was, wanting to get high and thinking that i needed to be high. i've been in rehab and it just -- it wasn't enough for me. it didn't strike me as that serious. but being 15 minutes away from death, that was my bottom. that's as low as i can get. and it made me realize what i need to do. >> reporter: after being released from the hospital, melissa was sent to a mental health facility. where after years of abusing prescription pills, as well as alcohol and pot, she made the decision to get clean. what was the withdrawal like when you were at the mental hospital? >> it was terrible. it was absolutely terrible. i had really, really bad nightmares and i just felt unat ease and uncomfortable all the time. you think you're going to stop doing the drugs, okay, maybe things will start to get better but it gets worse before it gets better. >> reporter: and that meant getting the proper diagnosis. during her counseling sessions, melissa learned she was bipolar and began receiving the right treatment. she also made the tough call to leave home temporarily, moving to north carolina to stay with her sister and escape her daily temptations. we gave melissa a video camera and asked her to document her recovery. >> i woke up today, so far feeling good. no temptations, no craving. i got to say this isn't easy. i don't know what went wrong but for some reason i just want to get high. i just have to keep on the right track and i feel really positive. everything's been going good. >> reporter: she's been clean for three weeks. however -- >> i guess i'm just going to have to see what happens when i get home and i'm scared. i'm definitely scared getting sober and cutting the [ bleep ] is really, really scary. >> reporter: the real challenge for melissa lies ahead. she's back here in her hometown. she's been here for just a day and she knows how easy it can be to slip back into the same habits. you're back home living with your mom. you say that your mom does have prescription drugs. how is that working out? >> it was a little scary at first. but she got a lockbox and put them in a lockbox and more so my concern was the coming home to my hometown where people are going to send me text message like, hey, i got my script, or something like that. >> reporter: when we sat down with melissa, she had been sober for 46 days and says she sees life differently now. so what's your first thought usually when you wake up in the morning now? >> typically i wake up and look outside and just kind of wonder what's going to come throughout the day, wonder what it will bring. >> and when you were using drugs what was your first thought when you woke up? >> normally, i feel like crap, i'm tired and i need to go get high. >> do you ever sometimes look back and say, man, i got off lucky compared to what could have happened? >> i got off extremely lucky. i don't know why i haven't died with certain amounts of drugs i've put into my system. >> reporter: an addiction she says has left a scar. that she hopes will fade with time. >> i love my life. i couldn't say that a while ago. i couldn't say that i love myself. i couldn't say that. i thought i was beautiful and now i think i'm an an extremely beautiful person, more so on the inside and that's all that matters, is that i'm happy with myself. >> melissa truly is a beautiful person and when we spoke to her, we just had a feeling that she was just destined for better things out of life. and we were very happy to report as we did when we first aired this story that she was sober 48 days and counting, i think it was. she had gotten clean, gotten her driver's license. she was working toward earning her ged. but sadly, this story has taken a turn in that we haven't been able to contact her now for about a month and there are just some fears when she broke off contact with my producer that perhaps -- >> she's backsliding. >> well, we don't know but we have been trying to contact her and we're going to continue to follow her journey either way. >> maybe if she's listening, maybe there are some friends that can reach out to you. she did have a new sense of self-confidence. let's hope she kept on the right road. crossing the half-hour now. air rage on steroids! a jetblue flight attendant, steven slater now facing criminal charges. witnesses say he went nuts as his plane landed at new york's jfk airport yesterday on a flight from pittsburgh. slater allegedly unleashed a foul-mouthed tirade on passengers, then grabbed some beer from the gallery, opened up the door, popped the emergency chute and slid away. coming up, we'll talk with one of the passengers who witnessed the flight attendant's meltdown and rode with him on the air tran leaving the airport. wasilla is where levi johnston's almost-motheren almost-mother-in-law's start in poll tickets. . opponents of a planned mosque near new york's ground zero getting the chance to show adz on their buses. defense secretary robert gates wants to get some -- wants to see, rather, belt tightening at the pentagon. the center diagram piece of his budget plan -- getting rid of the u.s. joint forces command. a move that could cut 3,000 jobs. barbara starr joins us live from the pentagon with this morning's security watch. obviously this morning the question involved here is will that jeopardize our nation's security? >> well, probably not, to be honest. the joint forces command is one of these pieces of pentagon bureaucracy that a few years after it was created people say why do we really need that. it is part of the military that tries to get all of the services to work together. so gates is proposing cutting it is part of this big budget cutting plan, but in fact a lot of what it does will simply be taken over by another part of the defense bureaucracy. defense secretaries for decades keep talking about let's cut the budget, let's cut the budget. this is something that they all talk about. gates, however, is really trying to make an effort. he says he is talking about things like cutting that command. he's talking about really trying to severely cut down on the use of contractors. he's even talking about cutting the number of generals and admirals on the pentagon payroll. but will that really make a cut in the now $700 billion of annual spending for running both the bureaucracy and the wars in iraq and afghanistan? listen to why the secretary says he feels he has to take these steps. >> the culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of savings and restraint. toward this end i am directing that any new proposal or initiative, large or small, be it policy, program or ceremony, come with a cost estimate. that price tag will help us determine whether what we are gaining or hope to gain is really worth the cost, either in dollar terms or in the diversion of limited manpower and resources from other missions. >> but a lot of questions about whether this type of budget cutting is really going to make a long-term difference in that $700 billion price tag around the u.s. military. and a lot of concerns already emerging in congress, they don't like to see jobs cut, especially from their states. john? >> barbara starr at the pentagon this morning, thanks. a manhunt this morning intensifying for an escaped convict and his accomplice. they apparently have dubbed themselves the modern day bonnie and clyde. they're considered armed and dangerous. there is a massive search going on. we'll get the latest on the hunt. 35 minutes past the hour. 38 minutes past the hour. police are bracing for a battle today when they finally catch up to a fugitive couple on the run. they believe they're getting closer. john mccluskey and casslyn may welch are reportedly not only lovers but cousined and suspected of killing a couple in new mexico and possibly headed toward canada. tracy province was also one of the escaped inmates but he was arrested early yesterday morning in wyoming. joining me to talk more about the manhunt for these two, the chief deputy for the u.s. marshals in arizona. thanks for being with us this morning from phoenix. >> good morning. glad to be here. >> you guys have focused on an area around yellowstone park. what's the latest this morning that leads you to believe they may still be in that area? >> latest information indicates that they're still in western montana. we believe they have left the yellowstone national park area and are now either in the western montana or possibly southwest canada. >> possibly making it over the border. i know you had a little bit of a break yesterday because you picked up escaped convict tracy province who was also on the run with them. they apparently decided to split apart. this was near yellowstone. he went quietly, actually appeared to be a little bit relieved that he was not on the run anymore. did he give you guys any intel, any good information about the other two still on the loose? >> he gave us very limited information. little information he did give us we're trying to corroborate. we believe that there was some half-truths in that information he provided but regardless, i think we -- the public's information has been the driving force behind apprehending province yesterday and now hopefully that will help us find mccluskey and his accomplice, welch. >> we're showing pictures right now. if either of them look familiar to people. refresh those who are watching again on what exactly they are wanted for, what they are suspected of. >> yes. john mccluskey was convicted of attempted homicide for a drive-by shooting in 2009. his partner, casslyn welch, is wanted for conspiracy in the escape of mccluskey. in addition, john mccluskey is a suspect. he was linked by forensics to a double homicide of an elderly couple in santa rosa, new mexico. we believe both these individuals are armed and extremely dangerous. we're concerned for the public safety. we believe that it is in the interest of the public if they see them to please contact 911, their local police and do not try to impede these individuals in whatsoever. >> i heard they referred to themselves as bonnie and clyde and indicated they may commit suicide. most likely you're dealing with people who won't just throw up their hands and say "we surrender." what do you do in a situation like that knowing that when you finally catch up with them it could get violent? >> we prepare for the worst and hope for the best. our personnel are well trained. we notify law enforcement and the public in this case as well to make them aware of the serious danger and risk associated with contact with these two individuals. i think law enforcement is well trained, well prepared and the first individual that was arrested last sunday, renwick, had a shoot-out with law enforcement and we were able to capture him without anybody getting hurt, to include renwick himself. now we have john mccluskey who we believe is armed, has weapons and has indicated to associates and other individuals he's been in communication with that they will not be taken alive. >> do you know anything about their survival skills, about whether or not they'd be able to live for long periods of time, perhaps in a woods in an area where they would be out of sight from every day people? >> i'm not sure to the extent of training or background that either one of these have. we know that they are familiar with camping. we believe they have very limited resources. whatever resources they have are very limited. when the initial escape transpired, the plan was for them to get in a vehicle, get-away vehicle they had nearby. but in the confusion of the escape, renwick was able to find the vehicle first and he left. eventually was captured in colorado. these other two individuals had left money behind, additional weapons, and identification in that vehicle so we believe that they're desperate. they have limited resources and will probably rob and potentially kill to further their escape as was potentially evidence which the incident in santa rosa, new mexico. >> sounds like a dangerous situation for anybody who unfortunately encounters them. best of luck. we understand you are working tips that they may be in western montana or perhaps made their way across the border into canada. best of luck to you. i hope you catch up with them soon, chief deputy marshal for arizona. a spinal fluid test that could help predict whether you are likely to develop alzheimer's disease. our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta on the significance of this discovery. and it looks like it is pretty significant. and rob's got this morning's travel forecast right after the break. stay with us. hey, smart, we could stay here foence. i'm a member of this hotel's loyalty program. well, how far away is it? 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[ male announcer ] accumulate 10 nights and get a night free. welcomerewards from hotels.com. smart. so smart. good morning, charlotte, north carolina. lot of sky in that shot. right now, the sky is mostly sunny. little bit of cloud. 76 degrees the temperature on the ground. later on today those skies will be sunny with a high of 97 degrees in charlotte. >> it's going to be a scorcher in a lot of parts of the country. 47 minutes past the hour. rob marciano's checking all the weather headlines for us this morning. you also have an eye on the gulf. >> yeah, let's talk about the gulf. this little disturbance we mentioned yesterday is kind of rolling across florida. it's really been a nuisance for florida for the past three or four days bringing heavier rains to this area. now it is kind of centered right about here. it is not quite tropical as we would characterize it but it would very well get that way. they're probably going to fly a recon aircraft in there this afternoon to check it out. we'll watch that carefully. obviously anything in the gulf being surrounded by land gets to be a bit of a worry this time of year as we crank up to the prime time hurricane season. heat advisories and heat warnings out for central part of the country. sounds like a broken record. we'll try to stay cool but they have been extended to places like philadelphia, new york. these two spots will be well into the 90s today. couple of showers in spots across the tri-state area to get the day going. that's only going to kind of keep things even more steamy once that water gets on the road and the sun comes down to bake things up. hazy, hot and humid here. thunderstorms already a few of them rolling across the northern plains. it will be cool out west. speaking of west, let's go really west. actually, across the international date line, there was a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in the islands here near american samoa. it was not quite enough to generate a tsunami. they measured a bit of wave action but as far as we have gotten reports of, no immediate threat for a tsunami with that one. but nonetheless, a major earthquake happening in that ring of fire area. as far as daytime highs today back home, 100 degrees expected in kansas city. 103 in dallas. 97 in st. louis. 98 degrees in washington, d.c. 93 degrees in new york city. 75 in los angeles. your heat and humidity across the big apple will only last for a couple days. this weekend looks to be another winner. might make it three in a row. we're on a roll. >> we love to hear that. we'll take it, any day. thanks, rob. this morning's top stories just minutes away, including at the top of the hour, the flight attendant who had just had enough. sliding to freedom down the emergency chute with a beer in his hand. freedom was short lived. we'll talk to a passenger who witnessed the meltdown not only on the plane but on the air train in the parking lot. parents teaching their toddlers zen, to meditate. is this really possible? when is a kid too young for yoga and to share his thoughts. your muffin top may kill you. why flabby bellies could lead to a shorter life even if you are not overweight. those stories and more coming your way beginning at the top of the hour. after using rogaine for a while, i went to my stylist and she said hair was growing back... i was like, yes, this works... 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[ male announcer ] stop losing. start gaining. it is time for your a.m. house call. stories about your health. could be a major development in the battle to wipe out alzheimer's disease. >> researchers have found a spinal fluid test that may help predict the onset of the brain disease with near perfect act brace. that sounds hard to believe. chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta is in atlanta to talk more about this potential breakthrough. if that's the case it really is a breakthrough. >> a word between use very often. you are right. it is an appropriate word here. we haven't had that much to talk about with regard to alzheimer's for some time now. but this is the -- a pretty big deal in the world of neurology and neurosurgery. what we are talking about here is a test, a spinal tap test, where you take a little bit of cerebral spinal fluid from someone's body and analyze that. take a look at it. and what researchers were focusing on, proper two proteins. they are sort of a signature for alzheimer's disease. here is what they found that was so interesting and exciting as well. they looked at three groups of people. people with all timers and people that had mild memory problems and people that had no memory problems. the people that had known alzheimer's almost with 100% predictability it was able to diagnose that they did have alzheimer's. again, from that spinal tap test. then people that had mild memory problems, about three-quarters of them had this abnormal set of proteins in the fluid. all of them within five years got alzheimer's. that's the amazing thing. if they got the abnormal test result, all of them within in mild memory group went on to develop alzheimer's within five years. that is what -- what researchers are focusing in on and have been looking for long for some sort of predictive test that they could tell you ahead of time that if someone would develop the disease, this may be it, important clue to it. >> it is a predictive test. it seems to be extraordinarily available. spinal taps are fairly common once somebody has a disease process going on. for preventative medicine, spinal tap seems to be a dramatic step. >> yes. you know, there's no question. this is a procedure that certainly, you know, because of the field i'm in, i perform all the time, it does involve women that had epidurals during pregnancy will understand what this is like. basically in the lower part of the back, needle is placed through a couple of the bones. in this case that needle goes through the outer layer of where the spinal roots are. and you tyke a little bit of cerebral spinal fluid out that way, someone has to lay flat or on their side for several minutes afterward. as you said, john, it is a test of commonly performed. people need to be trained to do this procedure. most general practitioners don't do it routinely. that would have to change if this was to become a more standard screening test. yeah, that's probably the biggest drawback now of this particular sort of examination. >> i just want to clarify because i -- it is fascinate when you talk about the 100% accuracy. you talk about the third group who had no symptoms. mine, is it -- is it that as you develop alzheimer's or even the early parts of it, this protein is released? can you technically clear yourself? let's say have you a family history of alzheimer's. can you get a spinal tap, not have the proteins, and say i'm not going to develop it? >> great question. here is the way to look at it. statistically this is very important. third group, for example, no memory problems whatsoever, a third of them had this abnormal protein mixture in their cerebral spinal fluid. it is predicted all the people that had the abnormal finding are going to go on to develop memory problems. that's not to say if you have a normal test you won't go on to develop alzheimer's. the test is predictive in the sense if you have the abnormality, you are likely to develop alzheimer's. you are not cleared necessarily the test comes back normal or negative. so to speak. >> all right. it is a tough thing because as we know, there are no that many medications out there for people to take. >> this is one of the things in medicine. now you have a better idea of how these proteins accumulate and you know they are making their way into the cerebral spinal fluid. it may give researchers better idea of how to potentially pref enthis and how to treat it in someone that's developed the problems. you are right. this is a difficult thing. you find out someone has something, there is not a lot you can necessarily do about it. obviously that's the next important step in this whole thing. >> hopefully this is a big break in that in the future research. fascinating stuff. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> we are going to take a quick break. top stories coming your way. okay, class, our special guest is here -- ellen page. hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! we're going on a field trip to china! wow. [ chuckles ] when i was a kid, we -- we would just go to the -- the farm. [ cow moos ] [ laughter ] no, seriously, where are you guys going? ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! ni hao! [ female announcer ] the new classroom. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco. good morning. it is tuesday, august 10. glad you are with us on this "american morning." i'm kiran chetry. >> i'm john roberts. thanks for joining us today. a lot to talk about. take this job and shove it. jet blue flight attendant facing criminal charges for cursing out passengers, cracking a beer, and then sliding down the emergency chute at jfk. we will talk to one of the passengers that was on the receiving end of the tirade. we have seen female leaders elected to public office around the globe and in the united states, women have yet to really break through. at least in big numbers. why is that? and could the trend be changing? >> plus, if you are a parent with a screaming toddler or two, you will try just about anything to calm them down. time-outs, prayer, bribes, maybe the threat of, god forbid, no dessert. what about meditation? no for you but for your kids. deepak chopra says it works and he will be here to tell us how, just ahead. >> the a.m. fix blog is up and running. join a living conversation now. go to cnn.com/a.m. fix. >> first, the fallout from the flight attendant who was as mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. >> yeah. jet blue employee now facing charges, though, of criminal missxheef and reckless endangerment after giving passengers a bye that will go down in history. allan chernoff has more on the meltdown. >> perhaps a little bit of meditation might have helped him. the flight attendant is well on his way, i think, to becoming a folk hero. talk about a dramatic exit. flight attendant stephen slater told the passenger to sit down when jet blue's flight 1052 from pittsburgh pulled up at the gate at jfk yesterday afternoon. the passenger refused and continued removing his luggage from the overhead bin. that luggage accidentally struck the flight attendant. mr. slater demanded an apology. the passenger declined using a four-letter word and that set slater off. he turn order the public address system and used the same four-letter word in front of all of the passengers, in particular directed to that man, that refused to sit. then he activated the inflatable slide, grabbed some beer, and sleighed his way out of a career as a flight attendant. it was not long before the police showed up to arrest him. he is facing two felony charges, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief and could land him in prison for seven years. it is safe to say, he's not a flight risk at this moment. >> flight attendants have to be able to keep his cool. particularly under emergency situations. this didn't appear to be that. i also have a question about the person who was removing the luggage. hit him in the head. could that person potentially face some action? >> no action has been taken against him just yet. mine, of course, the flight attendants are trained to remain xool ask have to deal with unruly passengers all the time. just last week, "wall street journal" had an item about jet blue hires many retired new york city firefighters, police officers, and for that very reason because they know how to stay cool on and they know how to defuse a tense situation. dealing with quite a bit of stress for a very ill mother. >> rye. other interesting thing is a lot of people are cheering him this morning saying he's a folk hero for what many dreamed of doing but would never do. >> absolutely. go online and have a look at facebook. there is now a free-stephen slater site. there is a t-shirt being promoted online to free mr. slater. i think she's going to be a name we will remember. at least for a few day it is not a few weeks. >> jeanne moos has her story lined up for today. >> you have to stay tuned to cnn because jeanne will do this story justice. >> he removed himself from it in a dramatic way. >> he defused it by inflating the slide. >> everyone wondered what they were for if it wasn't for an knowledge, get out of dodge. >> thanks. you don't want to miss this. coming up, we will be speaking to a passenger who witnessed the meltdown and also ride back on what's called the air train out of jfk with the flight attendant who had the meldown. we are going to be talking to him coming up. developing this morning, defense secretary robert gates taking aim at the pentagon's budget and expecting belt tightening. the centerpiece of hiss on tearty plan getting rid of the u.s. joint forces command. that's a move that could cut 3,000 jobs. >> culture of endless money that has taken forward must be replaced by a culture of savings and restraint. towards this end i'm directing that any new proposal or initiative, large or small, be it policy program or ceremony, come with a cost estimate. that price tag will help us determine whether what we are gaining or hope to gain is really worth the cost. either in dollar terms or in the diversion of limited manpower and resources for other missions. >> secretary gates is also proposing cutting down on the use of private contractors and even trimming the number of generals and admirals. the pentagon 'budget costs you, the taxpayer, more than $530 billion every year. also new this morning, the white house is saying that president obama is totally fine of democrats running a more conservative areas. don't want to be seen by his side. senior adviser david axelrod spoke to wolf blitzer about campaign politics yesterday in "the situation room." >> the candidates running now are on the ballot. they are going to make the judgments they think are best for their campaigns and i'm totally fine with that. the president understands that. >> this became an issue after gubernatorial nominees in texas and georgia decided to campaign somewhere else while the president was in town. while the president was in texas yesterday, a dallas police officer in his motorcade crashed his motorcycle. he's said to be in good condition. doctors kept him hospitalized overnight for observation. the president was in texas for yesterday's big speech on education, university of texas and raise money for democratic candidates. >> jimmy johnson, former nfl head coach, current fox football analyst, is now a survivor. johnson will be part of this year's survivor nicaragua cast. he tried get on the show twice before. the last time he had a physical which showed he had two blocked arteries. he got a accident put in there and says that actually tried out for "survivor" saved his life. >> they have good medical attention. i for goat who it was that fell in the fire, early episodes, burned his hands, they got him out right away. good jimmy johnson discovered he had a problem. rob marciano discovering the problems potentially in the gulf of mexico with a low developing. could turn into something serious. >> yes. may very well be enough to mess up jimmy johnson's hair. that may very well be. >> it it couldn't be that strong. >> exactly. quite the helmet. it will be interesting to watch. this has been interesting to watch. just in the last few minutes, the national hurricane center has upgraded the probability of this becoming a tropical depression or tropical storm today. and they are sending a recon aircraft in to investigate it. that's from a broader area of low pressure. not quite tropical but becoming that as we see it get into the warm waters of the gulf of mexico. any time that happens we are certainly get worried and we will be watching it closely. computer models bringing it towards the upper gulf coast line. just how strong is the question. how hot is the question. hazy, hot, humid across the central part of the question. thunderstorms in the northern tier. some could become severe. couple showers across the northeast to start your day. that will add to the humidity. the temperatures in the mid to upper 90s in some spots. 97 in d.c. 92 in new york. that will be steamy. 100 in kansas city. 103 in dallas. number of heat advisories and warnings out, central part of the country once again. we will get through the month of august and cool down. pet we have to deal with hurricane season. talk more about that in about 30 minutes. >> it is always surreal to see las vegas, 101. then san francisco, 53. so close yet so far away. >> exactly. it has been unusually cool out there in california coastline. if you are really -- if you are feeling like that flight attendant and need to get out of the heat, head west. >> all right, rob. thanks so much. speaking of the fed-up flight attendant who made the dramatic getaway on the tarmac at jfk, cursed out fliers, exited jet blue by the emergency slide, and we will talk to an eyewitness onboard that plane and also rode to the parking lot with the flight attendant. right after the break. 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>> at the very end as we were getting off the plane, he got on the intercom and made an announcement that -- he swore at a passenger. and we didn't know what that was about. the rest of us that were still waiting to get off thought that was just very strange. nobody ever gets on the intercom and, you know, swears. and so we thought he was in trouble at that point just, you know, he's having a bad day there. i didn't know anything about the slide until i got off the plane and was on my way out of the terminal. i heard people talking about it. and then i ran into him on the air train. saw him. i didn't talk to him. i saw him on the air tran. he was talking to another passenger about it. >> what was he saying on the air train? he -- flew out the side door. he didn't -- you didn't notice the slide was deployed? >> i noticed -- we were going out on the left. i noticed the door on the right -- looked like it was open. i was just focused on getting off the plane. and so i didn't know he used the slide. it didn't occur to me. >> had went from the slide, tarmac, terminal, caught the air train. what was he talking about on the air train? >> he flung his tie off. he was happy that he said i quit my job. i'm done with this. he was happy. it wasn't like he was mad. he seemed relieved and excited that his career was, you know, be taking a new turn. >> even in some of the pictures of the arrest, subsequently police did catch up with him and was charged with two felonies for deploying that slide. could hit somebody. >> right. >> on the ground. and -- he seemed to be all smiles there. you see right there in the purple, also smile. >> that's the guy i saw. he was smiling like that. >> you can see -- they had a close-up picture of it in the newspapers today he seemed to have a cut on his head. >> he did. >> apparently -- this passenger that -- cursed at him, he claims, pulled his luggage down earlier and hit him in the head. when he asked for an apology used a curse. >> i heard all of that. i didn't see this happen because as soon as the plane pulled up to the gate, everybody stands up. everybody wants to get off the plane first. i stayed in my seat because i'm halfway back. i'm not going to get out for another five minutes. why stand up and get in the way. and i was than until about my turn to get off -- it cleared out, that i heard him make this announcement. >> you know, deploying in mm emergency chute in an aircraft unless you are supposed to unless it is a complete accident is a crime and punishable by substantial time in jail. did this fell on give you any indication that maybe he was worried that what he did wasn't going to sit well with the authorities? >> no, he didn't seem to have thought that through at all. the other passenger talking to him asked him what happens with the slide. what happens to the plane? he said oh, that plane is out of commission for at least the rest of the day. it will probably miss three flights. i thought -- all those people waiting to go from jfk back to pittsburgh because they just turned the planes around, they are stuck there another hour or two while jet blue finds them a new plane. he was -- you know, happy that he had done that. at least didn't seem to have thought he was going to get in trouble. >> clearly, this was somebody that had a lot of from us frags and sort of basking in the glory of his moment. not necessarily looking at the consequences to come. >> yeah. he said something as we were sitting there either wait fog the train or on the train, something about, you know, this is -- mark -- scratch on my head, this is, you know, just part of a really bad day or this is just, you know, one thing that happened today. it sounded like he woke up and -- you nodar. >> apparently -- caring for an ailing mother as well. that was truly one of those network moments. this time he didn't throw open a window. have you seen him on the flight prior to that? did he serve you? >> no. i saw him in the aisle right after i got on. i think it was one of the first ones on and he was walking up and down the aisle. he was in the front of the plane. i was right around the wings. i was right in the middle. i had a couple of other flight attendants that walked by during the flight. i recognized him when i got off the plane that -- when i was at the air train. i -- that's the guy. it was -- and -- as he was talking, i recognized his voice from the intercom. and so that's where i -- this is -- okay, this is the guy. i sat there and had my phone out and i was -- ready to tweet about this because this story just got more and more interesting. i wanted to make sure i got it right. at first i thought it was passenger that pulled the chute. i didn't want to get the wrong thing out there. >> that's good you took time to think bit. better to be correct than first. what do you think should happen to him? >> you have to face the consequences of your actions. it is funny to say we can all kwi our jobs and tell the boss to shove it. but i would not want to get arrested in doing that. he just didn't seem to have thought this through. i mean, i don't -- i don't really see him as a hero. i'm starting to feel sorry for him. clear there is a lot more going on here and he did not expect any of this to happen. >> definitely the heat of the moment kind of got away with him. >> i think so. >> great to see you this morning. thanks for dropping by. better luck on your next flight. >> thank you. >> at least you made it on time. >> still ahead, women in politics. not as -- well represented as other countries or other fields here in the u.s. there is a group of activists helping to train a new generation of female candidates. it is called the 2012 project. we will talk to one of the creators still ahead. concierge claim centers. so i can just drop off my car and you'll take care of everything? yep, even the rental. what if i'm stuck at the office? if you can't come to us, we'll come to you in one of our immediate response vehicles! what if mother won't let me drive? then you probably wouldn't have had an accident in the first place. and we're walkin'! and we're walkin'... making it all a bit easier -- now that's progressive! call or click today. ♪ welcome back. despite so many women running strong campaigns this election year, women in general actually have not been able to crack the glass ceiling of politics the way they have in other professions. in fact, women make up only 17% of congress and 124% of state houses nationwide. one national nonpartisan campaign is hoping to balance those numbers. debbie walsh is the director for center of american women in politics and joins me to talk about the 2012 project. thanks for being here. tell us about what the theory behind not as many women. when you hear 17% or -- in statewide offices, you know, about a quarter of women are the leaders of their states and their representatives in their various states. it seems like a very small number. >> it is a small number. we can do better in this country. we rank about 74th in the world for the percentage of women in our national legislature. and the problem is we are not seeing enough women running for office. we are seeing some of those big marquee races, name everybody knows. but when you dig down a little bit, we are not seeing the numbers. that's reflected in the numbers you talked about. 83% of congress being male. 76% of all state legislators in the country being male. we can do better. >> it is interesting because it doesn't necessarily poll the same trend as many other fields where you have seen women excel and lead in a lot of fields. >> well -- >> why doesn't it translate to politics? >> we zone have a lot of women ceos of fortune 500 companies. there is a long way to go all the way around. women have been building their professional careers and they are still the primary caregivers at home. so running for elective office has not been the same kind of priority. we also know that women are much more likely than men to need to be asked to run. men are more likely to wake up one morning, look in the mirror, say, boy, i would be the best congressman my state has ever seen. women don't think that way. they are busy doing their work and have an issue they care about and then maybe they think about how can they solve it and they might think more along the lines of volunteering, going the nonprofit route but not thinking about politics in the same way. >> right. you have to almost think of yourself differently. you have to have a lot of self-confidence and not be afraid to sort of get out there and say i'm the perfect person for this. which isn't necessarily always what you see some women willing to do. >> exactly. >> on top of that, when you take poll after poll, people aren't that enthralled with our leaders now. >> they are not that excited about politics. that does add to it. that's actually why we are developing the 2012 project, to go out there and identify and educate and inspire women who are 45 and older, women that are -- family responsibilities have lessened and they have achieved leadership in their fields and we want to identify those women and in 2012, between to encourage them to run. because 2012 is a year of redistricting and it is the year when we are going to see the most leveled playing field in the electoral politics, districts across this country at the state legislative and congressional level. redrawn. creating open seats and those open seats are the possibilities. between want to target women from professions that aren't necessarily well represented in government. so professions like science and technology, energy, environment, finance, people who will come into elective office with new ideas and knowledge base that this country needs as we move forward. the new challenges we are facing are going to require that kind of expertise so why not have women who have that expertise come into government. >> it doesn't matter whether they are republican or democrat. >> this is a nonpartisan national campaign. we are looking for women across this country who can run for office and who are ready to think about what's that next step. these are women who have broken their own glass ceilings and in the professions they are in. now we want to find -- ask them why not think about politics as your next step. your next big thing. and the place where they can really make a difference. >> despite being sometimes divisive characters, sarah palin, in the world of politics, she has thrown her weight behind other women. mama grizzlies. endorsing a lot of women for 2010. you have carly fiorina running in california. there's a list of many women that have a deese enshot in 2010. >> there's exciting races out there for women. marquee races. we have two women versus women governors races. we are going to see women elected for the first time in new mexico and oklahoma. but those big names mask what i think is the reality of where we are right now with women in politics. numbers for women running for the united states house of representatives and for the state legislatures in 2010 are about the same as they were two years ago and four years ago. we have a lot of work to do and with the 2010 project we want to go out and make sure in 20 street, we have a year of real opportunity, that we have lots and lots of women running. women that will bring different perspectives and new ideas to governing. it is really a patriotic movement. >> if you are out there listening, you think they are talking about you, go for it. the 2012 project, great initiative. thanks for joining us to talk about it. i appreciate it. john? series of stabbings in michigan, virginia, and ohio may be linked. is there a serial kill other the loose? our jason carroll with that story coming up next. ♪ ♪ d ssiliefoow fit ckop t dr, rsretsvethg. ♪ rsmos fwa ft. fit ckop t dr, e w twk. on fm ri, op wh ee dabits acsswwprtrayom junior, run the numbers! price on a flight to maui. >> on it, dad. >> nobody move!! >> hrmmm? ♪ priceline negotiator >> i'm calling a family meeting. >> there's no time... we're searching hundreds of sites for the cheapest flight. >> what you're doing is setting a bad example for the kids. on priceline, you can shop all these flights, and get the best price guaranteed. and if you add a hotel or car, you save even more. >> shut it down, people! >> a family that saves together, stays together. this morning we had an extraordinary first happened look at the devastating floods in pakistan. torrential rains affected more than 14 million people. >> unfortunately more heavy rain is predicted in the coming days. the united nations says this disaster is worse than the 2004 tsunami. we are live in islamabad, pakistan. reza, you traveled to some of the hardest-hit areas. what's it like there mao? >> reporter: when you go to some of the areas, it really drives home the scope of this disaster zone and the suffering these flood victims are facing and the challenges of getting them out. remember, in parts of central pakistan, these floods hit more than a week ago. but today there are still people, thousands of them, in need of help who are stranded and pakistan navy has been working around the clock to get them out. and in one of these rescue missions, we were fortunate enough to ride along. this lake that you see didn't exist about a week ago. these are the flood floodwaters that buried entire villages in the district in northern san province. thousands of people still stranded in some of these villages in the navy special services here in pakistan has been using about 20 boats of this region on rescue missions. we are on their hover craft and we are along for the ride on this mission. it looks like we have arrived at the village. most of the homes under water. >> what is he saying? >> he's saying that -- take the people out. >> reporter: a lot of the people didn't want to go a few days ago. but now you can see most of their village is under water and now they are saying all right, it is time to leave. these are conditions, these people have lived in for about a week now. about 40 to 50 people in this village being rescued and they keep coming. most of them are children. they are brabing the belongings that they can. we saw what it appeared to be a newborn wrapped in a blue blanket. and they just keep coming. they are say being a thousand more people left in this area stranded but this hovercraft does not have any more room. they are just telling them we are going to come back. just taking a few more people. but they are going to have to wrap up here. just an unforgettable few hours with the pakistan navy who has been working for about seven, eight day ace round the clock. what's staggering is the number of children who are among these flood victims. it is very common for pakistani families to have five, six, seven, maybe more children. first off wonder how do they survive the floods. you also wonder how will they continue to make it if they don't get help soon. john, kiran? >> reza sayah, thanks so much. crossing if half hour, time for this morning's top stories. a new test may predict whether you are likely to develop alzheimer's disease. a study in the archives of neurology found spinal fluid can rereal proteins that are telltale signs for the disease. researchers say they were found in 90% of patients diagnosed with alzheimer's. the plane landed and he took off. the jetblue flight attendant facing criminal charges after he allegedly had enough, pliped out on passengers, grabbed some beer, slid down the emergency chute on a flight at jfk. he has a facebook fan page this morning. he has been dubbed a folk hero already. it is growing by the second. dragnpolice fear john mcinc can i, who has been on the run since last july, and his suspected accomplice will not go down without a fight. the two are suspected of killing a couple in new mexico and authorities believe that they are now in western montana or possibly southwestern canada. to another manhunt to tell you about. police in three states as well as the fbi are searching for a suspect believed to be behind a series of brutally stabbing deaths. these attacks started back in may. the 24th of may. in flint, michigan. >> now police in leesburg, virginia, toledo, ohio, say crimes committed there fit the same pattern. our jason carroll is tracking this developing story and is here with us this morning. this is quite a tale. police have no idea where this guy is. >> you heard the investigators early this morning describing this man as evil. this is a story that has people on edge in several town. investigators are calling these crimes of opportunity. saying they believe the suspect is, quote, very desperate and dangerous. police in flint say they now think that 15 attacks there are linked. five of them deadly. the suspect has described as a white man, a sketch you see of him there in his late 20s, early 30s. he's stocky, 180 pounds. usually wear as baseball cap. in some cases the man lures the victims to his car in material morning hours by asking for directions or help. most of the victims are african-american. police think that race could be a motive. they talked about that with the county prosecutor in flint, michigan, earlier on "american morning." >> the evidence suggests that we have had now 16 incidents here and 14 of the 16 individuals attacked are african-americans. flint, where most of the crimes occurred, is a presented no, ma'am presentdominantly african-american. it is my understanding that leesburg is a predominantly white community. the evidence would suggest that but we don't know what's in the mind of the assailant. >> the attacks started may 24 in flick. most recent in michigan was august 2nd. by the next day the stabbings in virginia started pop possibly leading up to the one in ohio on saturday. we heard from one woman who talked about how her nephew was attacked. >> stabbed. he's still in the hospital. he's not doing good at all. >> serial killer. he is crazy. he needs to be locked up. >> authorities were able to link their crimes after interviewing the victims. they gave similar descriptions of the attacker and the vehicle he drove described as a dark green early '90s chevy blazer. at this point investigators have already received more than 157 tips. that was as of 3:00 yesterday. by now they received more. they are confident they are going to be able to catch this guy. >> good description on this guy and the vehicle. maybe somebody sharp out there will discover it and call in a tip. >> we will see. >> jason, thanks. >> all right. a new parenting trend on the rise. does meditation really work for unrulely toddlers? deepak chap areopra ought to kn. ♪ 37 minutes after the hour. parents know when the kids act up you will try -- pretty much anything to try to calm them down. what about medication? not for you but your kids. could that work? here to talk more about it, deepak chopra. first of all, what might the benefits be if you can teach a child to meditate of doing the meditation? >> lots of benefits. the best way to calm a child down is settle, centered parents. those children, young children, particularly mirror the neurons of their parents. physiological thing. having said that, a lot of experience with meditation in children and, they focus more. they are easy and relaxed. they have better grades. and they have better health, physical health. >> first of all if the child is misbehaving or acting out for parent to be tearing their hair out, that is the wrong approach. >> they mirror. i was seeing a case of it in the dog, you know, he was -- peeling his skin and destroying his, you know -- >> told bad dog, bad dog all the time. >> the owner got therapy, the dog improved. recognize it. children and pets mirror their parents. >> people begin to look like their pets after a while. maybe vice versa is true as well. okay. a toddler, 3-year-old, most parents will tell you, deepak, it is not typically associated with tranquility and focus and the things you need to do for meditation. >> make a game of it. you can -- tell the toddler mentally repeat the word happy for three minutes. four minutes. five minutes. and becomes a game. i did it with my children. i now have done it with my grandchildren. they love it. >> so how do you do it? you have to get them quiet, obviously. >> no. 3-year-old, 4-year-old, up can't get them quiet. you say just for five minutes, keep silent. don't say anything. don't close your eyes. mentally keep repeating the word. it can be peace, happy, joy, love, whatever. >> this is the mantra. >> this is -- >> when you are doing meditation -- >> an adult, when they meditate, focus and focus on their breathing, focus mentally. and repeat a mantra over and over. >> when the child is about 10 years, you can sit the child down, close their eyes. you will form a mantra meditation. >> all right. so -- if a child won't say something like happy, happy, peace, whatever, are there other things you can get them to do like making sounds? >> yes. sounds. words. ahhh, e, o, ooh. if they make these sounds, again, has similar effect on the brain. there's very interesting studies now. attention deficit disorder improves, attention span i am proves. very specific changes in the brain waves, feeder waves. and alpha waves and even phenomenon. there's evidence that you might turn on things like serotonsero. they modulate the activity. >> the bonding hormone which brings parents and children closer together. if can you get a toddler through those early years -- >> a game of it. i like at my 5-year-old, granddaughter, what are you doing? don't disturb me. >> if you get them through the early years and get them into the idea it is fun to do, and it is calming to do, what are the benefits somebody reaches, you know, teenage years? as you said and have done this with your children? >> my kids started when they were 5, 6. teen years were not turbulent. they wondered why everybody at school -- they never had a problem throughout their teens years. >> a lot of parents out there that probably meditate themselves. if somebody isn't really into meditation, does than know the source literature, and they are saying this sounds like a good idea, something i would like to get involved in, where can they start? what do they need to look for? >> go to a yoga center. you can read, teach meditation throughout the world. we have 2,000 teachers trained at the chopra center. these days, every yoga center offers some kind of meditation. breathing meditation. lots of breathing techniques that you can do. they are simple to do and should be part of the yoga routine, too. new york city, there's -- a yoga center every would blocks. >> of course. out there in the center of the country, some people like to call flyover country, there aren't yoga centers every few yards. so -- is there a book? is there something else you might suggest? internet source. >> yes. even phone apps. it teaches people how to meditate. you can find many sources of meditation, cds, books. in fact, there's meditation for idiots. guides to meditation. it is mainstream. >> that's where i will start. it is great to see you, as always. >> thank you. >> thanks for coming in. good tips this morning. >> would love to see if deepak could tame my 4-year-old in a tantrum. that would be a good one. >> i'm not sure barnum & bailey could do that. >> but there is an app for that. 43 minutes past the hour. coming back, we are going to check in with rob marciano. dangerous heat in back in many places. he will take a look at that. a tropical system forming out in the gulf of mexico. a look at that as well. dr. scholl's back pain relief orthotics with shockguard technology give you immediate relief that lasts all day long. dr. scholl's. pain relief is a step away. i can take one airline out... and another home. so with more flight options, i can find the combination that gets me there and back quickest. where you book matters. expedia. male ann pops. ] , now,wn, down ♪ and we'll ride the bus there ♪ pay the bus fare ♪ or we find a new reason [ female announcer ] something unexpected to the world of multigrain... taste. ♪ hey, now, now ♪ we're going down, down, and we ride the bus there ♪ [ female announcer ] delicious pringles multigrain. ♪ a new way of living [ female announcer ] multigrain pops with pringles. time to face the pollen that used to make me sneeze... my eyes water. but now zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour allergy relief, comes in a new liquid gel. new zyrtec® liquid gels work fast, so i can love the air®. ♪ ♪ that's all right because i like the way it hurts ♪ ♪ just going to atlanta, georgia, this morning where it is partly cloudy at 15 minutes to the top of the hour. 77 degrees right now. going up to a high of 95. it will be steamy on an august day in atlanta. >> rob marciano checking out the weather across the rest of the country. >> good morning. want to touch on what's going on in the gulf of mexico. 20 minutes ago or so, this area of disturbed weather has been bumped up to a high probability of becoming a tropical depression or tropical storm here in the next day. maybe even today. fly an aircraft recon mission out there and check it out. you see the flare-up of thunderstorms around key west and the rest of the florida keys. this has been problematic really this entire broad area of low pressure the past couple of days. heavy rains across central and south florida. even water spouts across the west coast. and this kind of activity is going to continue today. looks like it is becoming more active. be on guard. west coast of florida, all the way up to the upper texas coastline, this could develop into something here and obviously impact folks fairly quickly. speaking of quickly, impacting folks a couple of showers across new york city and tri-state area north of town. once those go through sun will come up, if it is wet it will feel steamy. especially from philadelphia to new york. heat advisories in effect of these cities with temperatures into the 90s. he warnings up in these highlighted areas. 120 is what it will feel like. to get your mind on the cool side, 50 degrees yesterday morning. wood land hills, california, santa barbara, 51 degrees. record loams yesterday morning. these folks out here complaining it is too cool. i guess we all have our problem problems. >> no matter what you weigh, whether you are a normal bmi or whether you are overweight, thick waist doubles your risk of death. dr. is an gentleman gupta has information you will want to hear about coming up. ♪ ♪ what i'm looking for everybody got the idea. there are some toddlers in there that do need to meditate. we are glad to see they are picking it up. if you are among the millions of older americans that are overweight a new study says a few extra inches on your waist could increase your risk of death from heart disease, diabetes, and even some cancers. >> chief medical correspondent is here, dr. is an gentleman gupta, in atlanta. we talk about the danger zone. it is getting the belly fat. what they consider a few inches? >> right. when talking about belly fat, the number they are paying attention to here, is four extra inches for men and women. again, that's measuring the waist circumference. you know, it is -- we have all this -- equipment in hospitals. things to measure all sorts of different things. the thing i found so i-ing about this study was that simply measuring the waist circumference gave you an accurate predictor of how likely someone will die early of all sorts of preventible problems. it didn't seem to matter how much you weighed or what your body mass index was. you can have a normal body mass index. if you have a big waist that seems to be a real problem. specifically here, take a look at the numbers. expanding waistlines by an additional four inches. men and women alike. earlier mortality dying, 18% increased for men and 25% for women. and, you know, the thing about it is, think about fat and the stuff here, subcutaneous fat. what's problematic, what the studies point at is something known as visceral fat, fat on the inside of your body. i don't know how well you can see that. think about the fat on the outside of your body, a predictor, of how much fat is on the inside of your body and how much of it is strangling your organs and accumulating that way. that's the biologically active fat in tissue, increases risk of diabetes, stroke. again, about four inches on the waist. >> diet and exercise are always key in maintaining healthy weight and healthy physical shape. when it comes to this visceral fat, this -- active body fat you talked about, are there particular foods, exercises that are better than others for reducing it? >> people think about, you know, doing things like crunches or situps because they want to get rid of this subcutaneous fat. that probably isn't the right answer here. what you want to be doing is total body exercises and not even intense. rather moderate exercises, just doing a consistently. what you are trying to do is burn calories, consistently, and as much as possible. also, john, this may be a little bit counter intuitive. actually, doing strength training, resistance training, building up muscles in the upper body and legs. business muscle groups. that helps burn calories even at rest. and you can have some fat. it is not to say you shouldn't eat fat whatsoever. healthy fats. the term to look for on the bottle is monounsaturated. the healthiest fats of all. it is really -- all the stuff you might expect, few nonintuitive things thrown in there. >> some cases it is hard to get guys let's just say to go to the doctor in general. when you get there they throw you on a scale. i have never seen my doctor take out a tape measurer. >> it is interesting because they actually -- did a survey to try to find out how many doctors actually do this. you know, again, i think a lot of people are guilty of this. we spend a lot of money on all sorts of diagnostic tests. a tape measurer which costs nothing, takes hardly any time to do, could be one of best predictors. maybe they will start doing it more after reading stud on like this. >> there you go. got to start somewhere. right? >> that's right. >> i know there are a few people out there asking wait a minute, can i get lipo and get rid of that inside stuff and will i be fine? people are always looking for a shortcut. >> yeah. no doubt. it is not a bad question. to get rid of this, reduce your waist, is that going to help, you know, the problem later on. the answer is no because sort of going back to this picture again, it is not the subcutaneous fat, it is the fat on the inside. you can have normal weight and normal body mass index. lipo, get your weight back to size, but this is the real problem. the shortcuts don't apply. >> all right. sanjay gupta for us this morning. thank you. >> you got it. take care. mmmm. you don't love me anymore do you billy? what? i didn't buy this cereal to sweet talk your taste buds it's for my heart health. so i can't have any? if you can deprive me of what can help lower my cholesterol... and live with yourself. right. mmm, i worry about your mother. cry herself to sleep every night over my arteries, but have yourself a bowl. good speech dad. [ whimper ] [ male announcer ] honey nut cheerios tastes great and its whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. bee happy. bee healthy. so why are over a thousand people a day switching to chevrolet? room for eight and all sorts of space behind the third row. they just thought of everything. it just feels like a really solid car. that should come in handy. it's the chevrolet summer event and anyone can get the traverse they want. nah-uh... this one's mine. get 0% apr for 60 months on the 2010 traverse with an average finance savings of around fifty seven hundred. the switch begins at chevydealer.com. ♪ is too many credit cards? s ♪ he's guessing seven cards probably are ♪ ♪ 'cause now his credit score s seriously poor ♪ ♪ he won't be able to afford a house or car ♪ ♪ so he's working for the man ♪ to pay off all he can ♪ and to see how he's doing ♪ this is the site he's using: ♪ free-credit-score-dot-com! free-credit-score-dot-com! ♪ ♪ free-credit-score-dot-com! vo:offer applies with enrollment in triple advantage. there's oil out there we've got to capture. my job is to hunt it down. i'm fred lemond, and i'm in charge of bp's efforts to remove oil from these waters. you may have heard that oil is no longer flowing into the gulf, but our spotter planes and helicopters will keep searching. we've still got thousands of vessels ready to clean up any oil we find. we've skimmed over 35 million gallons of oil/water mixture. i grew up on the gulf coast and i love these waters. we'll be here as long as it takes to clean up the gulf. you know, the guys who always do a super job. well, it is. just get the superpagesmobile app on your phone. and look for a business with the superguarantee®. you'll get the job done right, or we'll step in and help make it right. so, protect yourself. use your phone to find a business with the superguarantee®. only from superpages.com®. and let the good guys come to the rescue. ♪ ♪ i don't care too much for money ♪ ♪ money can't buy me love ♪ can't buy me love minding your business this morning. whoever said money can't buy happiness apparently just wasn't spending it right. researchers say buying a new television or gadget may not do much for your spirit. >> instead they found that people who spend money on an experience like taking a vacation or going to even a local park in your area tend to be happier. we spoke to thomas who is a psychology professor earlier today to talk to him about why. >> many people have the intuition that, well, the vacation will come and quickly go, but i will always have flat-screen television. but one of the great enemies of happiness is adaptation. we get a lot of satisfaction out of the things that we buy initially but then they sort of disappear psychologically. we don't much notice them. but strangely, the experiences, even though on the material sense, they come and go, they tend to live on in the stories we tell and the memories we have and provide more long-term satisfaction. >> the professor went on to say it is true that people in wealthier countries tend to be happier than citizens of poorer countries. he also said that it is not how much money you have to spend. it is what you do with it. >> continue the conversation on today's stories. go to our blog, cnn.com/amfix. that will wrap it up for us. thanks for joining us and we will see you back here bright and

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