For April 4, 2011, CBS

Chris Wragge, Erica Hill, Marysol Castro, Jeff Glor
CBS The Early Show
04-04-2011
CHRIS WRAGGE: No delays reported on 5th Avenue at this hour. Welcome back to THE EARLY SHOW everybody. I`m Chris Wragge along with Erica Hill right here in midtown Manhattan, Monday morning.

ERICA HILL: Wishing you a speedy commute wherever you may be.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Exactly. But so far this Monday is pretty good right here. We hope you have a great day as well. Thank you for joining us here on THE EARLY SHOW this morning. Coming up, people call aspirin the original wonder drug.

ERICA HILL: Mm-Hm.

CHRIS WRAGGE: And no wonder. We know it can reduce the risk of some-- severity of heart attacks. Now, a new study shows that it may also reduce the risk for deadly pancreatic cancer. Doctor Jennifer Ashton will have details of this very important new research, big breakthrough.

ERICA HILL: Also ahead this morning, switching gears a little bit. A couple of high-flying internet stars, two eagles. Huge attention. There they are.

Huge attention online. Now they`re going to be on your TV screen-- CHRIS WRAGGE: Mm-Hm.

ERICA HILL: --this morning. Two of their three eggs have hatched right as-- as it was watching on the webcam, hidden in their nest, there you see the little guys. Literally millions of people from around the world-- CHRIS WRAGGE: Oh, my God.

ERICA HILL: --are checking them out. How could you not? They`re adorable.

This morning we are checking on the live feed. You`re looking at it right now to see what`s going on with egg number three. Could it hatch during THE EARLY SHOW?

CHRIS WRAGGE: Wait a second.

ERICA HILL: We`re going to keep an eye on it. While we`re watching that, Jeff Glor is watching a few other things for us.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Don`t mess with that momma, either.

ERICA HILL: Yeah.

JEFF GLOR: They are so small and fragile-looking.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Yeah.

ERICA HILL: Yeah.

JEFF GLOR: It`s amazing. Isn`t it amazing to watch? Good morning, guys.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Good to see you, Jeff.

JEFF GLOR: Good morning everyone at home. More problems for Southwest Airlines. Last night, a Southwest jet en route from Oakland to San Diego was diverted to Los Angeles, because of a burning smell in the cabin.

Meanwhile, cracks were found in three more Southwest jets. CBS News correspondent Don Teague is in Dallas with more on all that. Don, good morning.

DON TEAGUE: Good morning, Jeff. Those cracks were found after that truly terrifying incident for passengers on Friday. That`s when a five-foot-by- one-foot hole tore apart in a Southwest Airlines 737 shortly after it took off from Phoenix. Now, the plane landed safely and investigators are now trying to figure out what caused that plane to tear apart. Inspectors say they have found multiple preexisting cracks surrounding the tear that was in that plane. Southwest grounded seventy-nine of its 737s for inspections in response. And they`ve now found cracks on at least three of those planes, and say further evaluation or repairs will be necessary before they fly again.

MARK ROSENKER: I believe the Boeing company is going to put out a service bulletin. The FAA is going to be looking very carefully at how they`re going to be able to doing some oversight and making sure the maintenance and inspection is being done in the proper way. This may turn out to be that we need to step up our inspection process to guarantee that we have the safest aircraft that we can possibly be flying.

DON TEAGUE: So Southwest says it`s finished the inspections of nineteen of those seventy-nine 737s and the three with cracks were found in those nineteen. By the way, they say the inspections should all be complete by Tuesday or perhaps Wednesday at the latest. Jeff.

JEFF GLOR: Meanwhile, Don, I know this has been a mess for travelers.

What`s the-- what`s the cancellation situation at this point?

DON TEAGUE: Sure, it was ugly over the weekend. Southwest canceled some six hundred flights and delayed hundreds more. They say there will be more cancellations today, perhaps a hundred or so and possibly tomorrow as well.

So getting a little better for the airline but still problems for passengers. Jeff.

JEFF GLOR: All right. Call ahead, check ahead if you can. Don Teague in Dallas. Don, thank you.

President Obama announced his re-election bid this morning in a new Twitter message or a couple of them. Mister Obama said quote, "Today, we`re filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign. While I stay focused on the job you elected me to do," he said. "The work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today." In Libya, NATO officials say the U.S. will stop flying combat missions after today and shift to a support role. Rebels have reportedly regained the strategic oil town of Brega, but are coming under fire from Qaddafi forces. Control of Brega has changed several times over the past month.

Engineers at Japan`s damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are still trying to trace the leak of radioactive water this morning. Workers have spent three days now trying to fix a crack in a maintenance pit that is spilling water into the ocean. They used concrete and absorbent materials but so far they have failed. Officials say the massive amount of leaking radioactive water is diluted by the ocean.

More than three weeks after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, here it is an amazing reunion of a dog with her owner today. She saw the dog named Ban on TV. You remember seeing these pictures from last week as it was rescued from floating debris, weeks after the earthquake. She may have been dragged out to sea on the roof of a damaged house. But the dog is said to be okay and again back with its owner this morning.

Different city, different reaction for Charlie Sheen. He took his My Violent Torpedo of Truth tour to Chicago on Saturday night and got a standing ovation. The audience stayed there then. That did not happen the day before in Detroit where he was booed and had to end his show early in Detroit.

It was lady`s night at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Miranda Lambert won the most awards last night, including best song and video of the year for "The House that Built Me." The night`s top honor went to Taylor Swift, though, who won entertainer of the year.

TAYLOR SWIFT: It`s just the biggest thing in the world to me because my heroes won that award.

JEFF GLOR: Lady Antebellum won for best vocal group and album of the year, Need You Now.

And it was a night of upsets in the NCAA Women`s Final Four. Notre Dame did what was unthinkable last year, beating UConn, 72 to 63, only the second loss for UConn in three seasons. And it also went down to the wire in Stanford, the Texas-- Stanford-Texas A&M game. Thrilling finish as the Aggies scored in the last seconds to upset Stanford 63-62. Texas A&M will face Notre Dame tomorrow night for the Women`s NCAA National Championship.

And, tonight, it`s the men`s championship, UConn against Butler. That`s at nine o`clock right here on CBS. That takes place in Houston.

Also in Houston, Marysol Castro, who is b-balling this morning. She`s cooking all kinds of stuff. Good morning, Mary.

MARYSOL CASTRO: Good morning, Jeff. Good morning everyone at home. So it`s been a very busy morning here at Bracket Town, LG Kitchen Bracket Town. We have the cheerleaders. They have a very long day ahead of them. From both teams, so we want to see who can out-cheer the other. UConn Huskies, tough night last night. But tonight you`re going strong. Let`s hear it ladies and gentlemen.

CROWD (in unison): H-U-S-K-I-E-S, go Huskies.

MARYSOL CASTRO: Connecticut stars--Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb. Nice, nice, nice. And now to be remiss another dog. The Butler Bulldogs, let`s hear it guys.

CROWD (in unison): Let`s go Dogs, let`s go Dogs. Let`s go Dogs, let`s go Dogs. Let`s go Dogs, let`s go Dogs.

MARYSOL CASTRO: Yeah. It`s a-- it`s a long day. There`s our Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard. Going to be a good game you guys. I have to tell you.

Let`s go straight to the national high temperatures. The Northeast feeling very balmy today. Portions of the Southern Plains as well. Forty-one in Caribou. Forty-eight in Chicago. Seventy-six in Los Angeles. But take a look at New York, it`s sixty-nine degrees. That`s going to be the trend in the Northeast for today. These temperatures are five to ten degrees above average. It will be mostly cloudy. The winds start to pick up in the afternoon outer-- hours. You can see in northern New England, it`s still a little bit cooler. The Midwest, blustery winds, cooler temperatures, ten to thirty degrees below yesterday`s temperatures.

That`s a look at the weather across the nation. Now let`s see what`s happening right outside your window.

(LOCAL WEATEHR BREAK) MARYSOL CASTRO: Thank you so much. That is, in fact, your latest weather.

And here is Blue, a very famous mascot. What do you have to say for yourself? Licking the microphone, that`s all he has to say for himself.

Chris, back to you.

CHRIS WRAGGE: It was ice cream. All right. Marysol, thanks so much. We`ll see you in a couple of minutes.

In this morning`s MoneyWatch, protecting your tax refund. Identity theft top the list of problems reported to the Federal Trade Commission last year, more than two hundred and fifty thousand complaints. One growing scam is tax-related identity theft. So with tax date just two weeks away now, CBS News business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis is here to tell us how we can protect ourselves.

REBECCA JARVIS (CBS News Business and Economics Correspondent): Mm-Hm.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Good morning, good to see you.

REBECCA JARVIS: Hey, good to see you, too.

CHRIS WRAGGE: I guess the first question is how-- how do you know you`re a victim of this?

REBECCA JARVIS: The-- the scary part of this is it might not be immediately obvious to you. A couple of ways you could find out but I should say, the IRS isn`t necessarily going to flag you if this happens. They may send you a letter that says you made more than what you reported on your taxes.

That`s one sign. Or when you go to e-file, when you file your tax return on the internet, you may get rejected and you might get a message that says you`ve already filed. Someone with that Social Security number has already filed. That is another red flag.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Let`s ask, how come-- well first of all, how common is this?

Because I think peop-- people might wonder, well, you know what, I`ve heard about it.

REBECCA JARVIS: Right.

CHRIS WRAGGE: But I didn`t realize it was that big an issue but we talked about some of the numbers.

REBECCA JARVIS: And it is rather prevalent. I mean overall identity theft, as you said, is in the hundreds of thousands of numbers. In this case about twenty-three thousand people were flagged by the IRS as having come in contact with this in 2009 which is the most recent data we have available.

CHRIS WRAGGE: And one thing they say people might know if you ever get an e-mail from the IRS, it`s-- that should raise a big red flag because they don`t e-mail.

REBECCA JARVIS: Yeah. That is a dead giveaway and there are a number of dead giveaways that we should talk about here. But first of all, if you do think that maybe you`ve been a-- a-- a victim of this, don`t rush to necessarily tell the IRS right away. The reason that you don`t want to rush to claim identity theft is that if you do that, you could be facing a tax audit which is, you know, it`s an arduous process to have to go through.

What you can do is wait for that refund to come. It should take about six weeks, if you file by paper. Three weeks if you file electronically. If you find out that that refund has already been cashed and you didn`t receive it, well, there`s a giveaway that you are a victim. Contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit. This is a unit that`s set up specifically to deal with this issue. And lastly, an investigation, if you`re looking for the amount of time to wait, it can take up to six months before you get an answer on whether or not you`ve been a victim and what the IRS has to say.

CHRIS WRAGGE: So you have to be a little patient with it. Do you have tips that that you would recommend for people that feel as though they have been victimized?

REBECCA JARVIS: Yeah, you brought up a really good point. Do not ever respond to an e-mail that looks like it came from the IRS. That is the number one thing. They are never going to send you an e-mail. Also check a tax preparer`s background because a lot of us, we go to places where they`re not us doing our tax returns. We want to know the background on that tax preparer before you hand over all that personal information. Vet them with friends, family, people who`ve used them in the past. Keep those tax files secure. Can`t be said enough. I mean, we put so much personal information out there-- CHRIS WRAGGE: Yeah.

REBECCA JARVIS: --these days. Keep it secure. Have a safe internet connection. We`ve done stories about this, where hackers can actually hack into your internet connection if you`re not using a secure line, and lastly, dispose of those files carefully. Those old tax returns, if you are getting rid of anything, those W-2 forms, make sure that you shred them, also hold onto them for a-- CHRIS WRAGGE: Yeah.

REBECCA JARVIS: --handful of years because, obviously, the IRS can come back and ask for that information for up to three years.

CHRIS WRAGGE: You also want to treat it like a doctor. You wouldn`t just go to anyone to take care of your well-being, your finances you put-- you should categorize that as-- as highly as well.

REBECCA JARVIS: Absolutely. Look for the best and make sure that it`s secure and vetted by the friends.

CHRIS WRAGGE: All right. CBS`s Rebecca Jarvis. Thanks, Rebecca.

REBECCA JARVIS: Thanks.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Good to see you this morning.

Up next, how a deadly dose of aspirin may protect against one of the deadliest forms of cancer. This is THE EARLY SHOW here on CBS.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS) CHRIS WRAGGE: In this morning`s HealthWatch, preventing pancreatic cancer.

Each year about thirty-seven thousand Americans are diagnosed with the disease, one of the deadliest types of cancer. It kills seventy-five percent of patients within a year and ninety-five percent within five years. But a study out this morning suggests aspirin can actually help reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer. Medical correspondent Doctor Jennifer Ashton is here with that story for us this morning. Doc, good morning.

DR. JENNIFER ASHTON (EARLY SHOW Medical correspondent): Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Now the American Association of Cancer Research describes these findings as significant and quote, "It`s a pretty big breakthrough," huh?

DR. JENNIFER ASHTON: Right. Let me tell you about this study. They looked at a little over twenty-one hundred people, divided them up in two groups, those with pancreatic cancer and healthy matched controls. All of whom were over the age of fifty-five. Then asked them to report their use of aspirin, acetaminophen, which is Tylenol and ibuprofen which is Motrin or Advil. And they found that those people who took at least one baby aspirin a day-- I-- I`m sorry a month, had a twenty-six percent lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer, which is significant and potentially very exciting.

CHRIS WRAGGE: You hear a lot about aspirin reducing the risk of cancer, especially colon cancer. Did they give specifics as to why aspirin is directly related to a reduced increase in pancreatic cancer?

DR. JENNIFER ASHTON: Well, this study, Chris, just looked at an association. So it did not provide cause and effect or the mechanism. But there is a theory that the way that aspirin and drugs like Motrin or Advil work to reduce other types of cancer risk is by cutting the risk of inflammation. Now interestingly in this study, they also found a slight reduction in risk amongst those healthy people who took ibuprofen, but it just wasn`t statistically significant. So again, the thinking is that it cuts-- CHRIS WRAGGE: Yeah.

DR. JENNIFER ASHTON: --down on inflammation.

CHRIS WRAGGE: I think a lot of people when they hear just kinds of bits and pieces of stories. They hear aspirin, heart attack, aspirin with something like this. I mean, should people just start taking aspirin just to kind of, you know, be-- as a safety precaution?

DR. JENNIFER ASHTON: Well, we`ve heard about it also with reducing the risk of colon cancer. But we need to understand that aspirin, like any drug, has significant risks. And, in fact, some doctors say that if aspirin went up for FDA approval as an over-the-counter medication today, it may not get approved so readily. So there are some big risks that people need to be aware of. Number one, it can increase the risk of bleeding, internally and in the stomach, as-- as known as gastrointestinal bleeding. It can just cause stomach irritation, which can be a problem. It can worsen asthma in people who have asthma. And most importantly also it can interact with other drugs, especially blood thinners. So it definitely has its risks and people should talk to their doctor about whether those are worth it.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Pancreatic cancer is such a-- a dreaded cancer. Is there any other new developments in the research you can tell me that we`ve seen firsthand?

DR. JENNIFER ASHTON: Two big things on the horizon. One having to do with screening which is looking for something called biomarkers. It`s the DNA fingerprint that may be circulating in the blood. The other one, treatment, using individualized vaccines to treat people with pancreatic cancer.

Research is ongoing in both of them.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Okay. Doctor Ashton, thank you.

DR. JENNIFER ASHTON: You bet, Chris.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Good to see you this morning.

Coming up next, you don`t need an eagle eye to watch this bird family.

We`re going show you the latest from their website that suddenly has millions of fans. This is THE EARLY SHOW here on CBS.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS) ERICA HILL: Watching live video this morning from our website, which has been monitoring a pair of bald eagles guarding their nest of newborns.

Since the first and second eggs hatched on Friday and Sunday respectively, the eagles have been quite the internet sensation. CBS`s Terrell Brown has more.

(Begin VT) TERRELL BROWN: If you were lucky enough to spot one bald eagle in nature but now thanks to a grapefruit-size camera embedded in a nest in Iowa, millions have a bird`s-eye view of two as they guard their newborns and wait for their final egg to hatch.

MAN: And they`re so delicate. I mean they`ve got these big claws and they retract their claws up and move the eggs around. It`s just amazing.

TERRELL BROWN: The family`s every move from inside their nest some eighty feet high in a cotton tree is captured twenty-four hours a day on live streaming video.

WOMAN: We`ve been obsessed with watching the nest for about a week now.

TERRELL BROWN: Since the couple laid its first egg in late February, the site has recorded more than eleven million views from one hundred thirty countries. Over the weekend, traffic became so heavy that the site briefly crashed while a second egg hatched. And the eagles waited for number three to emerge.

BOB ANDERSON (Director, Raptor Research Project): This eagle cam touches many people in many different ways. I`m amazed.

TERRELL BROWN: But it`s not just eagle cams. Last summer, streaming video of Shiba Inu puppy cam garnered twenty-six million views. Experts say such high activity could mean overwhelming traffic that can clog the internet.

For now with one hundred thousand people watching this eagle family at any given moment, it looks like the internet will have to figure out how to keep up with nature`s version of reality TV.

Terrell Brown, CBS News, New York.

(End VT) ERICA HILL: They`re so stinking cute.

CHRIS WRAGGE: They are.

ERICA HILL: Right.

CHRIS WRAGGE: That reality TV is much better than half the reality TV that`s actually on TV.

ERICA HILL: Well, because it`s actually real. I think the problem with the other reality TV is it might not be real.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Yeah.

ERICA HILL: I-- I could be off but so there`s you see looking live again, everyone`s waiting now for egg number three to hatch as you mentioned the first one Friday. Number two was yesterday. All waiting on number three. No pressure.

CHRIS WRAGGE: No. Come on.

ERICA HILL: No pressure at all.

CHRIS WRAGGE: You-- you got another half hour while we`re on the air.

ERICA HILL: Oh, it`s a little breezy there in Iowa this morning.

CHRIS WRAGGE: But you know that any animal that`s out there that`s pregnant, they should just put a camera on it. Look at all the attention.

ERICA HILL: I know.

CHRIS WRAGGE: It`s incredible.

ERICA HILL: But it is amazing.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Some serious stuff.

ERICA HILL: You can keep track of the eagles actually-- CHRIS WRAGGE: Yeah.

ERICA HILL: --by going to our website.

CHRIS WRAGGE: Yeah.

ERICA HILL: Monitor the progress, just log on to earlyshow.cbsnews.com.

More to come, you are watching THE EARLY SHOW on CBS.

CHRIS WRAGGE: We`ll have your updates right here.

(ANNOUNCEMENTS) END

Content and programming Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2011 Voxant, Inc. (www.voxant.com), which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


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