Sandy's Mess May Be a Health Hazard; Changing Times: A Bisexual Congresswoman
JOHNS: Monday marks four weeks since Hurricane Sandy slammed into the New York and Jersey coastlines. Now some homeowners are worried the mess the storm left behind may be hazardous to their health. Our Mary Snow is looking into their concerns -- Mary.</s>MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Joe, we're in Long Beach, New York. This is a town that was so devastated that a mandatory evacuation order was only lifted last week. And it was just in the last two days that the Long Beach Medical Center was able to get up emergency medical tents up and running. You may see them behind me because the storm has hit down the hospital, but the doctors here know from federal medical teams on the ground that there has been a steady stream of medical complaints from people living here.</s>SNOW (voice-over): Lurking in the devastation from Sandy is yet another worry for homeowners, exposure to toxins, mold and dust and in some places sewage. Long Beach homeowner, Fred Morello will only enter his house wearing a protective suit and mask as he clears out areas that were submerged in several feet of water.</s>FRED MORELLO, LONG BEACH HOMEOWNER: I am concerned about mold, sure. But at this particular point, I don't have the time for it. I have things to get done and they got to get done. So I protect myself as best I can.</s>SNOW: While Morello says he has no time to get checked for the cough he now has, others have been showing up to mash like tents set up by federal disaster medical assistance teams. (on camera): You've been to other disaster areas.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.</s>SNOW (voice-over): Commander Kevin Mcgillicuddy says besides people seeking psychological treatment, they've mostly come in complaining of coughs, bronchitis and asthma since the base was set up November 13th.</s>KEVIN MCGILLICUDDY, FLORIDA 5, DMAT: We've been treating 70 to 80 patients a day.</s>SNOW (on camera): A day?</s>MCGILLICUDDY: A day. And since we've started this base we've treated over 1,000 patients.</s>SNOW: Majority of them would you say pulmonary problems?</s>MCGILLICUDDY: Pulmonary would probably be the best, yes.</s>SNOW (voice-over): The commander stresses it's unclear how many cases are linked to people with chronic conditions being worsened combined with the fact that access to their regular medication has been tough. Some of those questions are in the hands of the Long Beach Medical Center, which is taking over now that it's been able to set up a makeshift emergency room in its parking lot. The hospital is still closed because of the storm. Dr. Robert Canter heads the ER Unit and says it's the unknowns that concern him.</s>DR. ROBERT CANTER, LONG BEACH MEDICAL CENTER: It's sort of like 9/11, at this point who knows. Down the road I'm sure we're going to find a lot of problems.</s>SNOW: But doctors' stress it is still too early to know whether some of these ailments are just short-term or part of something more serious. And one worry now, Joe, is the weather and dropping temperatures. Officials say damp and cold weather could be to blame for some of these respiratory problems being reported -- Joe.</s>JOHNS: And I would imagine some of the questions being raised are not just about New York and New Jersey, but that storm came all the way up the coast. So people in other areas might have concerns as well.</s>SNOW: Absolutely. And this is just one microcosm of all those places that were so hard hit.</s>JOHNS: You bet. Thanks so much, Mary Snow. This month's election caused dramatic changes in the U.S. political landscape. Not only here in Washington, but in some places you'd least expect. Arizona, for example, is sending the nation's first openly bisexual congresswoman to Capitol Hill. CNN's Miguel Marquez has more on who she is and the changing state she's coming from. Hi, Miguel.</s>MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that state certainly is changing. There are now nine members of Congress from Arizona, five of them Democratic, four of them Republican. That's the first time that's happened since 2000. We caught up with that new member to see who exactly she is.</s>MARQUEZ (voice-over): Krysten Sinema, a politician, social worker and professor now congresswoman-elect of Arizona's new Ninth District in Metropolitan Phoenix. (on camera): Your life is about to change big, isn't it?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I'm going to be a little busier.</s>MARQUEZ: A Democrat in a state known for its red meat Republican politics. Policies on illegal immigration so tough many Latinos called them discriminatory. Hard as nails on crime too unconstitutional claim many offenders. (on camera): Another example of just how conservative things are, the gun laws in Arizona some of the most permissive in the country. (voice-over): No permit needed even to carry a concealed weapon here at Shooters World in Phoenix. There's even a ladies night. Home to Senator John McCain, Governor Jan Brewer and Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Kyrsten Sinema's rise all the more surprising the first openly bisexual member of the U.S. Congress raised Mormon, but has been called an atheist. (on camera): Do you believe in God?</s>KYRSTEN SINEMA (D), ARIZONA CONGRESSWOMAN ELECT: You know, I'm not a member of any faith community. And I think that faith is a deeply personal issue that individuals should deal with in their private lives.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meet radical left wing activist, Kyrsten Sinema.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her opponents labeled her everything from a communist to a witch in one of the most hard-fought and expensive House races in the country.</s>SINEMA: Outside groups came in and spent a lot of money trying to tell a story about me that wasn't true.</s>MARQUEZ: One of four kids growing up her family homeless for two years, her resume all the more impressive, a masters in law degree and a PhD. She even runs marathons and triathlons, tough, competitive, ambitious, a new voice in a state that may be changing. Miguel Marquez, CNN, Phoenix.</s>MARQUEZ: She's an impressive new member of Congress out there. Though things are changing, do keep in mind that the Latinos and young people hoped to unseat Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County. They hoped to put in a Democratic senator out there. Neither of those things happened. Mitt Romney won the state by about ten points. So Arizona does have a bit farther to go -- Joe.</s>JOHNS: Miguel, Kyrsten Sinema is pretty well known here in Washington, D.C. and there in Arizona, how much do you think this is a known of her name brand and personality as opposed to something happening with the Democratic Party in Arizona?</s>MARQUEZ: Yes. She was well-known in Arizona. She served many, many years in the state legislature. So it was mainly her well-known name in that district that got her in.</s>JOHNS: Miguel Marquez, thanks so much for that. One of the most famous bands in history had its first audition tape rejected. The long lost Beatles demo tape ahead.