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American Morning
Senate OKs War Funding without Cash for Guantanamo Closing; AWOL Cancer Patient's Chance for Cure Diminishing; Cougar Phenomenon Pairs Older Women, Younger Men; Florida Bank Failure Highlights High Failure Total; Chinese-Made Drywall Causing Illnesses?; Oil Companies Use New Drilling Technologies; Border Patrol Targets Guns and Cash in Mexico-Bound Vehicles
Aired May 22, 2009 - 06:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome once again, and happy Friday to you. It's May 22nd. We're about two minutes before 7:00 here in New York. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Getting ready for the Memorial Day weekend here. We're following several developing stories for you this morning.
Here's what's on the agenda, the big stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
First, the growing debate, past versus present over how to keep the U.S. safe from terror attacks. Right now, President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney are both defending their terror policies. The president's plan to close Gitmo took a huge hit overnight from his own party. More on that coming up in just a moment.
Dick Cheney's former adviser, Mary Matalin, joining us from New Orleans in just a few moments. We're going to get her take on the former vice president's claim that President Obama is compromising America's security. And we'll ask her if Cheney is lying about one claim that he's making about the president.
Please bring Danny home. That emotional plea from the father of a 13-year-old who's dying from cancer and on the run with his mother to avoid court-ordered chemotherapy. We're following the search which has now become a race against time.
We begin this morning with the new challenge to the president's new approach to fighting terrorism, and it's coming from fellow Democrats who helped derail the president's plan to close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. Last night, the Senate approved a $91 billion bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they only passed it after lawmakers stripped it of cash that was needed to close Guantanamo Bay. The vote coming just hours after an extraordinary debate between the president and the former vice president. The president blasting the Bush administration for creating Gitmo in the first place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Instead of serving as a tool to counterterrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol that help al-Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained.
So, the record's clear. Rather than keeping us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that operates in scores of countries. By any measure the costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: No sooner did President Obama end his speech then former Vice President Dick Cheney began his, arguing that the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and the Bush administration's interrogation tactics kept you safe at a time when America was "staring at 16 acres of ashes at Ground Zero in New York."
CNN's Jill Dougherty is live at the White House. And, Jill, between the vice president's criticism and the Senate vote, is the White House at all concerned that it's losing support for closing Guantanamo which was one of its big priorities.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, boy, that's the question, John. You know, it's a new day. The sun is up. They've made their case as the president made his case.
What has changed? Not a lot. You just heard about the Senate vote in which they shot down any new funds for closing down Guantanamo, unless the president makes a concrete case on what you do with the people who are in Guantanamo.
Now, yesterday we did hear one new thing from the president. And that is five new categories of how you can deal with those inmates. Some of them could be tried in the United States. Some likely transferred to other countries. But the essential question on the most difficult and dangerous cases really is not clear. These are the people the president says would be hard to make a case against. Maybe there's no evidence but they are nonetheless dangerous, he would argue, to American citizens.
So, what do you do with them? And there's no real definition about that. In fact, one official said it's a framework for a plan.
Now, on the other issue of the day, the debate over enhanced interrogation techniques, what some people call torture, that debate rages on. Let's hear it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I know some have argued that brutal methods like waterboarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more. They undermine the rule of law. They alienate us in the world. They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists and increased the will of our enemies to fight us while decreasing the will of others to work in America.
DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the fight against terrorism, there is no middle ground. And half measures keep you half exposed. You cannot keep just some nuclear-armed terrorists out of the United States. You must keep every nuclear-armed terrorist out of the United States.
Triangulation is a political strategy, not a national security strategy. When just a single clue that goes unlearned or one lead that goes unpursued can bring on catastrophe, it's no time for splitting differences. There is never a good time to compromise when the lives and safety of the American people hang in the balance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGHERTY: And the clock is ticking on the president's plan to close down Guantanamo -- John.
ROBERTS: Jill Dougherty for us this morning at the White House. Jill, thanks so much.
Opinions are strong on both sides of this issue, and we want to know what you think. Join the conversation by calling our show hotline at 1-877-MY-AMFIX.
And stick around because in about ten minutes' time, we're going to be talking with Mary Matalin, former adviser to the former vice president. We'll ask her for evidence that President Obama's policies have made America less safe.
CHETRY: A little later we're going to talk to Fran Townsend, also, who really was there in the Bush administration during that time. So she's going to weigh in as well.
Well, there's still no trace of the Minnesota mom and her teenage son who's dying of cancer. Colleen Hauser fled the state with her 13- year-old son, Daniel, after a court ordered him to undergo chemotherapy.
Authorities have now issued a felony arrest warrant for the mother. Doctors say that without chemotherapy, Daniel's chances of survival are slim. The boy's father is now making a public appeal to his wife to bring home their dying son.
CNN's Jason Carroll has been following this life-and-death search for it. And we even heard the authorities seem to soften their stance a bit and say, listen, come home and we'll worry about what happens after -- afterwards.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. And there's a real sense of urgency here because Daniel Hauser's second round of chemotherapy was supposed to begin in March. Daniel Hauser and his mother still on the run, and his father is hoping wherever they are they can hear his message and will listen to what he has to tell them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY HAUSER, DANIEL HAUSER'S FATHER: Please bring Danny home so that we can decide as a family what Danny's treatment should be. I know you're scared, and I feel that you left out of fear, maybe without thinking it all the way through. We sure can't do the best for Danny with both of you on the run. So, please, give me a call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Authorities say Hauser's wife and son may be in the Los Angeles area trying to head to Mexico. The last-known contact anyone had with Daniel or his mother was Monday. At the press conference, authorities promised Colleen Hauser leniency if she just simply turns herself in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF RICH HOFFMANN, BROWN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT: If you call and make arrangements to return, please be assured that we will not take an enforcement action if you have shown a good faith and effort to come back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Doctors diagnosed Hauser with Hodgkin's lymphoma this past January and began chemotherapy treatment. The cancer did respond to initial treatments but caused side effects, prompting his parents to refuse more chemo, saying they wanted to pursue natural forms of treatment.
The Hausers are Roman Catholic but also believe in natural Native American healing methods. Hauser's father says he still supports the family's decision to seek alternative forms of medicine. Ultimately, he says, he wants what is best for his son, and now that means coming home.
The doctor who initially treated Daniel says without further treatment, soon his odds of survival could plummet to just about five percent. With treatment, they say, chances of survival, about 80 percent to 95 percent. So, a big difference there.
CHETRY: So, what they're basically saying is if he stays on the run past a certain amount of time, even chemo might not help at that point.
CARROLL: The longer he stays on the run, according to doctors, the worse his chances of survival.
CHETRY: All right. Jason Carroll for us this morning. Thank you.
This story has certainly sparked an emotional debate among our viewers. Calls have been lighting up the "AMFix" hotline. Here's a little bit about what you've been saying about the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: The mother also should bring the young fellow back home so that he can get medical treatment. She's playing Russian roulette and she may be on the losing end -- maybe not her, but definitely her son.
CALLER: I think you should leave the child alone and let him decide. Give him a verbal explanation of what they're trying to do and then let him decide.
CALLER: Someone needs to lock her up and throw away the key. This is your child. I have five children. I cannot imagine not going to the end of the world trying to find a cure.
CALLER: That mother gave birth to her child. And she has every right to seek any methods possible for her child before putting poison into his body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So we want to know what you think. Get involved. Join the conversation. Call "AMFix" hotline at 877-MY-AMFIX. 877-692-6349. You can also weigh in on twitter.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: Former Vice President Dick Cheney is claiming that President Obama is making America less safe and more vulnerable to terrorists. Ahead, Cheney's former adviser, Mary Matalin, joins us live. We'll ask her for the evidence to back up his claim.
Plus, we're playing the numbers game this morning. Check out our "Romans' Numeral." It's a number that's driving one of the big stories of the day. Today, the number is 25. And it has something to do with the fragile state of our banks.
Got a guess what it is. Go to twitter.com/AMFix and let us know.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP -- "THE GRADUATE")
BENJAMIN BRADDOCK: What if Mr. Robinson walked in right now?
MRS. ROBINSON: What if he did?
BRADDOCK: Well, it would look pretty funny, wouldn't it?
MRS. ROBINSON: Don't you think he'd trust us together?
BRADDOCK: Of course, he does. But he might get the wrong idea. Anyone might.
MRS. ROBINSON: I don't see why. I'm twice as old as you are. How could anyone think that...
BRADDOCK: But they would. Don't you see?
MRS. ROBINSON: Benjamin, I am not trying to seduce you. BRADDOCK: I know that, but, please, Mrs. Robinson, this is difficult.
MRS. ROBINSON: Would you like me to seduce you?
BRADDOCK: What?
MRS. ROBINSON: Is that what you're trying to tell me?
BRADDOCK: I'm going home now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Here's to you. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Older men turning to younger women. It's a cliche in society and for good reason.
CHETRY: Really?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Really good reason?
ROBERTS: Yes, really good reason.
CHETRY: Well, now, there are older women who are turning the tables, and they're going after the younger guys. But, of course, they always get a nickname when they do it. Cougars -- and they're out on the prowl.
Well, the phenomenon has hit movies, reality TV, and now cougars are coming to one network's primetime lineup.
Our Carol Costello is on the story from Washington this morning. Why do they have to be named after predatory, you know, growling felines just because they fancy a younger guy?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a good question, Kiran, you know. And you mentioned this new ABC show, brand new on ABC this fall, "Cougar Town." It stars Courteney Cox as a 40-something woman on the prowl for sex, sometimes with a 20-something man.
Some say, yay, finally a show about an older, sexually liberated woman. Others hate the word "cougar" and what it says about women who think they're sexually liberated.
I'm just saying maybe it's time to sink our teeth into the cougar phenomenon and see it for what it is or isn't.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Our pop culture has gone cougar crazy. From skits on "Saturday Night Live" to Web sites like cougardate.com. It defines cougars as women in their 40s who smoke, drink, and go to clubs to pick up young men in their 20s. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COUGAR TOWN)
COURTENEY COX, ACTRESS: What the hell is that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That definition so defines ABC's new show, "Cougar Town".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COX: You like crackers with peanut butter on them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hope it's not too forward coming over here.
COX: This isn't really how I roll, OK. So -- holy crap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: There are some who say this kind of thing, this cougar craze is liberating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Emotion comes with maturity. Younger men don't have that. You don't want that necessarily. You probably had it, done that, want the sex.
As I'm older, he's older than me, six years older, I'll just trade him in for a new model, a younger version. Why not?
COSTELLO: Hey, it worked for Demi Moore, except Moore has a real relationship. Some say the type of cougarism in reality shows like "The Cougar" is predatory and desperate. As Rebecca Traister writes on salon.com, "is it possible that women who embrace the term 'cougar' don't know they're being laughed at."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP -- "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After I bought him an Oreo McFlurry he told me he was 21 and I took him home. Three weeks later, I found out he was 12 1/2.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA KAPLAN THALER, BRANDING EXPERT: I'd like to see the word "cougar" be reserved for wild animals and cars.
COSTELLO: Linda Kaplan Thaler says maybe it's time women demanded the term "cougar" be changed to sophisticat (ph). That way, May-December romances will become accepted for what they ought to be: loving relationships. ABC, are you listening?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It says it is. And, Kiran, just so you know, ABC insiders told me that "Cougar Town" is really about a woman seeing if dating a 20-something is a good thing or a bad thing. That's what insiders tell me. But I want to know what our audience thinks, our viewers think. So, this term "cougar," I mean, does it mean a liberated woman or does it give women a bad name?
So e-mail us CNN.com/AMFix, and I will read some of your comments in the next hour.
CHETRY: We look forward to it. All right, Carol, thanks so much.
ROBERTS: Checking out the Web site here. Cougardate.com. A fun approach to dating where women are cougars and men are willing prey.
CHETRY: And you know, I wish you could see the little mascot here, is a cougar, an animal with...
ROBERTS: In a cocktail dress.
CHETRY: Yes, in a cocktail dress with pearls on.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Nice.
OK. From cougars to bulls and bears.
CHETRY: Right. Exactly.
ROMANS: That was a great piece. I loved it, Carol.
I'm here to talk about the bank failure in Florida. Some people are going to be waking up this morning realizing that their bank failed and, frankly, cannot -- don't be concerned.
The bank is called BankUnited, a $13 billion bank. It closed overnight. You weren't given any notice, but you can still use your ATM card. You can still go on-line, find out your mortgage balance.
Everything stays the same. If you have a safe deposit box, don't worry. You can still go and use all the services you could before, because the FDIC, the government made sure there was a smooth transition here.
The government will absorb $4.9 billion in losses. That is the cost to the FDIC. This is -- 34 banks now failing so far this year. This bank, BankUnited, is the largest bank failure so far in 2009.
So, I really want to be clear here, a group of private investors have come in and bought this bank. Wilbur Ross, Carlisle, Blackstone (ph) group, some familiar names here. But if you bank at this big Florida bank like all these other banks that have gone belly up over the past year, year and a half, you don't need to worry because of the lessons we've learned from the Great Depression, quite frankly.
This is a very seamless transition. The FDIC is very careful to make sure that you are not disrupted. So, you can still go and use your ATM card. That means you still have to pay your bills. That means your automatic deposits and withdrawals are still going to automatically go in and out of your account. So be careful there. ROBERTS: All right. Time now for "Romans' Numeral." Every day Christine brings us a "Romans' Numeral." It's a number that's driving one of the big stories of the day about your money.
Today's numeral is...
ROMANS: Twenty-five is this number.
ROBERTS: Oh, I know what that is.
ROMANS: Do you?
ROBERTS: The average age difference between a cougar and her prey.
ROMANS: There you go. There you go. John is right. John is right.
CHETRY: Give me a hint. What is it?
ROMANS: It has to do with bank failures. And frankly some of the people who Twitter, they figured it out.
The bank failures from last year. They're 25 last year.
ROBERTS: Twenty-five.
ROMANS: And there are 34 this year. So, that tells you in just five months of this year, we've already surpassed last year. And, you know, we're moving up there.
But, I did some analysis of what kind of bank failures we had in the Great Depression. Half of the banks failed in the Great Depression. Right now, we're looking at like 0.006 percent bank failure. I mean, it's like some small fraction of our banks are actually...
ROBERTS: Some of these banks in this country.
ROMANS: Right. There are -- they really are. But we have nowhere near the problem we had during the savings and loan crisis, or during the Great Depression because, in part, of the lessons that we've learned from that and the FDIC has been very, very good about making sure it's seamless for people.
So a big bank failure in Florida. BankUnited is the name of the bank -- the biggest bank failure this year. BankUnited, if you bank with this one, everything should be seamless for you but your bank now has new owners.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
CHETRY: Wow. All right. Christine Romans for us. Thanks so much.
Well, former Vice President Dick Cheney continues to talk, trying to convince Americans that President Obama is actually making us less safe, backing his own and during the Bush administration's policies for terror and interrogations.
His former adviser will be joining us live. We're going to be talking with Mary Matalin for the evidence that backs Cheney's claims and why he's being so vocal now.
It's 17 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": The speech went over pretty well. I mean, Cheney was interrupted five times by applause and 50 times by people screaming, stop. I'll tell you everything. What do you want to know? Just stop, please. Don't go on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. When it comes to Guantanamo Bay, you don't have to read between the lines to figure out where President Obama stands. He wants it closed and he made that quite clear yesterday during his speech at the National Archives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: So, the record is clear -- rather than keeping us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that operates in scores of countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: A short time after President Obama concluded his speech, former Vice President Dick Cheney addressed the American Enterprise Institute on national security, and he offered up some blistering rebuttals.
Joining me now from New Orleans to talk more about the dueling speeches is Mary Matalin. She's a former aide to the vice president, also a CNN contributor.
Mary, it's great to see you. Thanks for being with us.
MARY MATALIN, FORMER BUSH DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Good morning, John.
ROBERTS: So the former vice president has said several times that the Obama administration's policies are making America less safe. Where is the evidence for that?
MATALIN: Common sense and history from -- it's one thing to say all the things Obama said on the campaign trail but within hours of being the actual commander in chief, he was suggesting the previous seven years marked by no attacks were policies that were ineffective, were immoral, were illegal, to bad broadcast for enemies, a weakness -- a weakness invites provocation.
Secondly, he, as he was clear in his speech yesterday, wants to return to a nine, ten law enforcement policy rather than a prevention policy.
Three, the threshold and key tool for fighting this enemy is gathering intelligence. And he has clearly demoralized and undermined those intelligence gathers.
Four, Gitmo, releasing the hardest of the hardened terrorists into some system, whatever system that might be, either would divulge classified material, would put prisoners -- if they put them in the prison population, they could hatch plots as was the case in New York. So I could go on and on. But some of these -- some of these policies by just -- by virtue of the former vice president speaking out were stopped as the release of the detainee photos.
ROBERTS: But is there any empirical evidence that America is less safe today? Is anything happened around the world to suggest that we are less safe? There are many people who believe that this administration's policy of engagement, in fact, will make this country more safe?
MATALIN: Well, there is no evidence of that either. In fact, there's evidence to the contrary, the so-called soft powers resulted in Iran being more verbose, launching a missile this week. North Korea has pulled out of any kind of negotiating posture. Soft power isn't working.
ROBERTS: Right.
MATALIN: There's no evidence for that, and there's plenty of evidence to the country that weakness invites provocation. During the '90s when we did not respond to six attacks in six years, the ranks of Al Qaeda swelled by some 20,000.
ROBERTS: But...
MATALIN: That was the recruitment tool. Weakness and successful attacks is the recruitment tool.
ROBERTS: But, Mary, just go back on what you said about Iran and North Korea -- both of those countries did exactly the same thing during the Bush administration.
MATALIN: Are you suggesting that they haven't been more verbose? Supposedly let's sit down and talk. We're supposed to make them come to the table and talk. In fact, they've gotten more aggressive.
So, he's doing what he said he would do, which would render them putty in his hands as he thinks is the case as sometimes it appears to be the case in America in his own party. That's not what's happening. That's not real politics.
So, he's been in there a couple of 16 weeks, three months, whatever it's been. But if he were allowed to pursue undebated these sorts of policies that he's put on the table and heretofore, they have been undebated, it's been a one-sided argument. There is no doubt, and history shows and common sense will dictate that we would be a less safe country than we were for the past seven or eight years.
ROBERTS: And as we were starting the segment, Mary, we played a little bit of sound from the president's speech yesterday in which he said that he believes America is less safe because of the very existence of Guantanamo Bay that it has probably created more terrorists worldwide than it's ever detained.
Do you agree with that statement? Because the Bush administration, President Bush said he'd like to close Guantanamo, just has to figure out how to do it.
MATALIN: Yes, John, I'll go to your construct. He offered no evidence for that. It's a tautological argument.
As I just noted, the ranks of al Qaeda were absolutely exponentially swollen during the '90s when we did not respond. There were these -- these enemies -- existed way before Guantanamo. Makes no sense to say that -- that fighting the terrorists makes the terrorist. That's a tautological argument.
Yes, President Bush wanted to close it. Some of us disagreed with that and for the very reasons we're disagreeing with President Obama right now.
What are you going to do with these detainees? Even the ones that have been released which were supposed to be the ones that could have been released...
ROBERTS: Right.
MATALIN: ... the DOD and some suspect, this is an underestimate, one out of seven go back to the battlefield. The top operatives in Yemen which is the new hot ground, the top operatives in Waziristan were released from Gitmo. It's not good to close it down and release these into our population certainly, or any population.
ROBERTS: And it's a debate that's going to continue at least for the next few weeks.
Mary Matalin, it's great to see you. Thanks for coming in this morning.
MATALIN: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: All right. Say hi to James for us - Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, one little boy is still on the run with his mother. His parents are refusing traditional cancer treatments like chemotherapy. Do the alternatives, they claim they want to use to heal him really work? We're asking our doctor, Sanjay Gupta, just ahead.
Plus, one thing turned a dream house into a house of horrors. People saying that the Chinese-made drywall has made their homes impossible to live in. The issue is now heading to Capitol Hill.
It's 26 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Good morning, Washington. Nice shot of the Capitol building there where it's clear and 62 degrees.
It's going to be a beautiful today. It's going to be a beautiful day today. It's not just a beautiful today. Sunny, a high of 86 degrees.
Time to take a look at this morning's top stories here on the Most News in the Morning. Five New York City schools are set to reopen this morning after shutting their doors because of the outbreak of swine flu. At least 25 schools are still closed here in the city.
The World Health Organization says the number of H1N1 swine flu cases worldwide has now hit 11,168. The FAA says one Florida-based airline should be slapped with a $1.3 million accusing Gulfstream International of faulty record keeping, forcing pilots to fly more than they should and shoddy maintenance practices.
"The Wall Street Journal" reports the Gulfstream trains many of the nation's commuter pilots including the pilot of Colgan Air Flight 3407. You'll remember that plane crashed near Buffalo, New York in February killing 50 people, 49 on the plane, one on the ground.
An update on porn star turned aspiring politicians Stormy Daniels. She says that she has formed an exploratory committee for a possible Senate run in Louisiana. She is looking to unseat Republican David Vitter, who is linked to the Washington-based prostitution ring run by the infamous Washington Madam back in 2007. Daniels went on a listening tour of the state several weeks ago.
CHETRY: All right. Well, former president -- I mean, Vice President Dick Cheney and current President Obama are sort of waging a war of words this week. The issue, whose anti-terror approach is more effective. And Cheney is holding firm that Bush-era interrogation tactics that kept America safe since 9/11; President Obama maintaining that these tactics actually put America more at risk.
Frances Townsend is a CNN national security contributor and also former homeland security adviser under President Bush. And she joins us.
Nice to have you in person. By the way, good to see you, Frances.
So, you were there during the second term of the Bush administration, and you watched yesterday when former Vice President Cheney vigorously defended what went on. Then we have, at same time, current president, Obama, talking about the need to get as far away as possible from these policies.
So, in your opinion, who's right?
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, as with most of these stories, everybody is a little bit right and everybody's a little bit wrong.
I mean, for one thing -- I mean, I think, you know, when you look at how strongly the rhetoric -- President Obama's rhetoric was on Guantanamo, the thing you listen to the substance. He acknowledges that some detainees will be re returned to foreign countries, some detainees will be tried in American courts like Ghailani -- who's going to be transferred for the East Africa Embassy bombing.
And then there's this third category that he doesn't really define. Well, isn't that interesting? You know, President Bush, he wanted to close it, too. And it was difficult. It was hard.
And they're finding -- I think, the new administration is finding the same thing. There's going to be this category of detainees who are a real threat to American security that can't be tried in American courts, can't be -- can't be transferred to foreign jurisdictions.
And what do you do with them? We don't know. We don't have an answer to that from the current administration.
CHETRY: It's interesting. I think that very few people -- I mean, most people agree that Guantanamo Bay has to eventually close, right? This can't be an open-ended prison in Cuba. But why this big debate over why they can't come to the United States?
We have currently and we've been housing many terrorists at supermax facilities here in the United States, people like Richard Reid, the suspected -- the shoe bomber, among others. Why can't some of those be transferred here to our supermax facilities, that our president has pointed out, no one has been able to escape ever?
TOWNSEND: Well, some may be able to. And I mentioned Ghailani. The East Africa Embassy bomber who's been indicted...
CHETRY: Right.
TOWNSEND: ... here in New York and will be brought here and tried here. That's the easy case. That's where we got the evidence. We know it can be produced in court. It's been produced in court and successfully resulted in convictions. And so, that's the easy one.
What are you going to do to the people that you hold and can't try? Do we really want them in American...
CHETRY: They say they can't be tried because of lack of evidence or ...
TOWNSEND: Lack of evidence or it's classified. It's intelligence -- or perhaps, it's only intelligence and there's no evidence.
CHETRY: Well, the president also talked about the possibility of having military trials for them. Why wouldn't that work?
TOWNSEND: Doesn't it sound an awful lot like Guantanamo to you?
CHETRY: Well, it sounds like the military tribunals.
TOWNSEND: Right.
CHETRY: I guess they talk about more rules, more rights for the prisoners. But, regardless of where they're physically located, can they be tried?
TOWNSEND: They can be tried in military commissions. And I think what you're going to see -- while the rhetoric sounds like a great diversion from Bush-era policies, I think it's going to look an awful lot like military commissions that were proposed by former President Bush. And I think that's right.
But I think the rhetoric is not helpful. I think we need to talk about the substance of it, and why you can additional protection, you can try them in military commissions, and that may, in fact, be the correct approach. But the sort of divisive rhetoric, I think it's very unhelpful on national security.
CHETRY: And one of these things, speaking of divisive rhetoric or rhetoric in general is, at this debate, this divide -- former Vice President Cheney said very strongly that he believes that what we did at Guantanamo Bay and the enhanced interrogation kept us safer and prevented another attack 7 1/2 years and going after 9/11. And what President Obama said yesterday is that perhaps Guantanamo Bay has grown and created more terrorists than it captured. What do -- what do you think?
TOWNSEND: Well, what I'll say is, on Vice President Cheney's side, certainly we know that there were 7 1/2 years and there were no attacks. People may agree or disagree with the policies of the prior administration, but we know for a fact that there were no attacks post-September the 11th.
We don't know what the current changes in counterterrorism policies will result in. Unfortunately, whether or not they make us less safe, the only thing they know is over time whether or not they're attacked or whether or not those policies are able to thwart potential plots. It's a real danger, because, of course, you only know afterwards.
CHETRY: And what about the fact that -- what about what President Obama said? That Gitmo created more terrorists likely than captured?
TOWNSEND: Well, I think he doesn't know that. I think it's a very sort of, you know, catchy phrase and catchy line with no factual support. We don't know that.
As Mary Matalin was telling John in the prior segment, there's an explosion of al Qaeda recruitment in the 1990s and that's really based on a lack of response to terrorist attacks and a signal of weakness to our enemies. And so, you can argue both sides of this. But I really do think that we come back to this incredibly heated rhetoric that doesn't really get for the American people to the substance of it -- which is where you want them.
I find it very interesting, though, that the president's own party voted against them in terms of the funding for the closing of Guantanamo. I think what that says is that the Congress and the American people want details about what the plan. We haven't heard what the details are. And Congress is unwilling to fund it until we do.
CHETRY: It's going to be harder to figure out, of course. So, that's a huge challenge that lies ahead.
Frances Townsend -- always great to talk to you. Thanks for being with us.
ROBERTS: Can I ask one question, Frances, before we go? But you and Mary have said that there was an explosion of al Qaeda in the 1990s when nobody was paying attention. Do you really believe this administration is not paying attention to al Qaeda?
TOWNSEND: No, no, no. That's -- I didn't mean to suggest they're not paying attention. The question is, are -- once -- are the prior administration's policies going to prove to have been more effective than the current? And I think we just have to be careful, as changes are made, what the impact of those is going to -- what the impact will be is often not known for some period of time.
ROBERTS: All right. Great to see you. Happy Memorial Day weekend.
TOWNSEND: Thank you.
CHETRY: Thank you, Frances.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks.
And thousands of people of more than a dozen states may be forced from their homes because the drywall used to build those homes may be making them sick. John Zarrella with a follow-up report.
It's 36 1/2 minutes after the hour.
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(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBERTS: Across the country, more and more people are complaining about Chinese drywall in their homes. Some even say their own houses are making them sick. And now, Congress is taking a look at the issue.
Our John Zarrella has been on this story for weeks and he's live in Miami this morning with the very latest.
And, John, for people who had this drywall put in their homes, this is nothing short of a tragedy for them?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it's not, John. You know, imagine, your home is unlivable. You have to move out. Several members of Congress are saying this is very much like a situation you would face in the aftermath of a hurricane. In fact, hurricanes are partly responsible for a problem linked to a product made in China.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Homeowners -- frustrated, angry, and desperate -- packed a hearing in Coral Springs, Florida.
AMY MASSACHI, HOMEOWNER: Somebody has to step up and help everybody. It's unfair.
(APPLAUSE)
ZARRELLA: Amy Massachi and the others here live in homes built using drywall made in China -- drywall, they believe, is making them sick.
MASSACHI: I can't breathe. Every morning, I wake up sinus, allergy, my voice is hoarse.
ZARRELLA: Thousands of homeowners in more a dozen states are complaining of upper respiratory illnesses, a rotten egg smell in their homes, and electrical outlets and air conditioning coils corroded and covered in black.
MASSACHI: All of this is brand new. And I'm only in this house a year and a half. This is causing...
ZARRELLA: State and federal studies have found sulfur and other compounds in the Chinese product which are not found in U.S.- made drywall. Sulfur can cause corrosion. But officials say, not enough testing has been done yet to say for sure the elements are causing illness and home damage.
But at a Senate hearing in Washington on Thursday, health officials said it was certainly possible.
DR. MICHAEL MCGEEHIN, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION: Based on the information I've looked that came out of Louisiana and Florida, that there's no doubt that that corrosive material is causing health problems.
ZARRELLA: Some homes are already being gutted right down to the studs and rebuilt. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against Chinese manufacturers. Knauf, a German company with affiliates in China, is being sued. They insist there's nothing wrong with their product.
KEN HALDIN, KNAUF PLASTERBOARD TIANJIN: Our independent tests, including toxicologists, say that there is not an acute health concern or something that carries a risk with it.
ZARRELLA: The drywall was imported mostly in 2006. There wasn't enough U.S. product to satisfy demand following a bad hurricane season. A few builders and mortgage companies are working with homeowners, but most are not.
Amy Massachi is now looking for a new place to live. It's tough on her family. Their dream house 18 months ago now only brings tears.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Massachi got a little bit of good news. Her mortgage company just informed her she's not going to have to pay her mortgage for the next three months. At least she'll have a little bit of time where she can rent without having to worry about a mortgage -- John?
ROBERTS: John, do we expect that anything is going to come out of these congressional hearings?
ZARRELLA: Well, Congress wants to see FEMA step in -- at least some members of Congress do. That's the direction they're going in right now. And ultimately, a lot of this is going to be settled in the courts through all those dozens of lawsuits that have been filed - John.
ROBERTS: John Zarrella for us in Miami. John, thanks so much for that -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, President Obama promised that the U.S. would do more to stop violence in Mexico. Now, there seems to be a plan in action. We're going to see what officials are doing at the border to keep drugs and cash out of the hands of cartels?
Also, the staggering cost of uncovering oil in the Gulf of Mexico. We're going to take you aboard a high-tech tanker to see how the search happens.
It's 43 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Well, a gallon of unleaded gas now is $2.36 a gallon nationwide. It's up 36 cents just this month alone. And while we're burning fuel this holiday weekend, the big oil companies looking for more.
Sean Callebs now on the new technology being used on these very costly searches.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran.
We're 130 miles off of the coast of Louisiana, out here in the Gulf of Mexico where the water is crystal blue. But really, Marathon Oil is focused on what is far beneath us. They expect this could be a huge supply of oil.
We all remember last year -- the gas prices up $4, even $5 a gallon. Well, they've been creeping up again just before this holiday season. There are a lot of factors and reasons gasoline is going up in price, not in any small part because it is expensive to look for this stuff. Marathon Oil will spend about $1 million a day just in exploration. They have spent $230 million so far and haven't even got a drop of oil.
WOODY PACE, MARATHON OIL MANAGER: The chance of exploration success in general is around one in four. And we invest hundreds of millions of dollars to go out and look for oil and gas with those kinds of odds.
CALLEBS: Tremendous advances in technology have allowed oil companies to go way offshore, go through thousands of feet of water, and then drill through miles of earth. It's interesting -- this is a drilling platform. The oil will be pumped to a production platform 18 miles away.
But to get there, it has to go through a pipe that looks kind of like this -- this is the cross section. Insulation on the outside keeps the oil warm on the inside and allows it to flow very smoothly out of that area. Look, we still get about 60 percent of our oil from overseas. If it weren't for these advances in technology, that dependency would be greater -- John and Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Sean Callebs for us this morning -- thanks.
Well, if you're one of the estimated 32 million Americans planning to be out on the road this holiday weekend, stick around. Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is going to be joining us coming up in the next hour. She's got some tips and some trick to find cheaper gas wherever you're going.
ROBERTS: Well, here's what we're working on for you this morning. Next up for General Motors -- bankruptcy court. The White House has reportedly worked out a draft bankruptcy plan for the giant automaker. Christine Romans will be here to break it all down for us this morning.
Plus, one Minnesota teen is still on the run this morning. His parents want his lymphoma treated naturally. But do alternative cancer treatments really work? We're paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He's in New York with us this morning.
It's 48 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
The case of one 13-year-old boy has put a spotlight on alternative treatments for cancer. Daniel Hauser is suffering from Hodgkin's lymphoma and is on the run with his mother, who refuses to subject her son to court-ordered chemotherapy treatments. The family wants to use natural healing but do alternate cancer therapies really work?
We are paging our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, for more.
Certainly, traditional medicine is beginning to embrace some alternative therapies, complimentary medicine. But, in the case of these cancer treatments, these radical alternative cancer treatments, any evidence that they actually do work?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, some of this is starting to be studied. But I think you bring up a good point right at the beginning that there is a difference between alternative versus complimentary or integrated. You know, I think there's a lot of embracing of complimentary medicines that don't completely eschew traditional medicine in favor of something else. So, you -- to add it as opposed to getting rid of one or the other.
You know, with regard to a cancer treatment that is proven to be so effective with Hodgkin's lymphoma, this is something where chemo was sort of proven to be effective in the first place. As far as cancer goes, 95 percent cure rate potentially with someone under the age of 20. Most doctors, even alternative medicine doctors are going to say, that's the way to go. But there are a lot of things that are being studied now with regard to alternative medicine.
NIH has an entirely branch dedicated to does this work, let's compare it to other things, do real control trials. These things like shark cartilage being tested for lung cancer, mistletoe for solid organ tumors. One thing that I read about, I think is fascinating, looking at timing chemotherapy with your circadian rhythms, to try and mitigate some of the toxic side effects from these things.
So -- now, these things are happening but, again, you have a proven therapy in Daniel Hauser's case.
CHETRY: And the parents are very against chemotherapy. In some cases, they said, they felt it amounted to torture or assault, and there is also some in their circle who feel that it could actually bring on other cancers. Have they made a progress in chemotherapy in helping it target the cancer but not necessarily destroying so much of the rest of our bodies?
GUPTA: Yes. You know, they have. In fact, it's called targeted therapies. Some of these therapies which do exactly that -- trying to figure out some of the unique characteristics of this particular cancer.
But you're right, Kiran. I mean, this is not easy therapy. I mean, you get mouth sores within a week, nausea and vomiting. I mean, your G.I. system is upset and you lose your hair. It's toxic stuff. So, that -- you can't not mention that. But there are a lot of ways to sort of target that and there are alternative or integrative therapies that you can add to these things as well. You got to ask questions about these things if you're thinking it. Well, you know, this may sound simplistic, but ...
ROBERTS: Do I go to Dr. Gupta and say, "I'm thinking of, you know, some alternative medicine treatments"? Are you open (ph) for all that stuff?
(CROSSTALK)
GUPTA: I think you do ask your doctor and if your doctor doesn't know, you find somebody who does know. And there are integrative medical specialists who can answer some of these questions.
You know, like I said, there's a division dedicated to this. But ask these questions about benefits and risks. Does it interfere with some of the medications you're taking now? Do you, guys, know that grapefruit juice interferes with a lot of medication?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Yes.
GUPTA: I mean, that's something that what we found out as a result of studying how medications interact and that comes up with alternative medicines as well.
ROBERTS: All right.
CHETRY: You know, speaking that. Since we have him in, I'll ask him a question. I got a little cold and, John, are these going to help John not get a cold?
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: I mean, does this help if you have a cold to wear a mask? Or is it -- no?
GUPTA: No, I don't think it probably helps. You know, if you have really close contact with somebody -- you guys are actually pretty close, but six feet and you're talking to him a lot perhaps. But it's all in your hands. Keep your hands clean because that's how John is likely to get it from touching something that you've touched and bring into his eyes, nose or mouth.
ROBERTS: Keep my hands hidden.
CHETRY: Don't touch Sanjay. I touched him earlier.
(CROSSTALK)
GUPTA: I get it from New York.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Thanks.
GUPTA: Thanks, guys.
CHETRY: Thanks, Sanjay.
Well, taking steps to stop cartel violence along our border with Mexico. It's not just stopping drugs from coming north. Now, Border Patrol agents are working to keep guns and cash from going south.
Also, imagine being a passenger on a plane, looking out the window, and that's what you see -- that get you worried. Jet fuel is spewing out the wing at 30,000 feet. We're going to tell you what happened next.
It's 54 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Fifty-six minutes past the hour right now.
For years, officials at the U.S./Mexican border have been searching cars and trucks coming north into the U.S., usually looking for drugs. Now, though, they're also checking vehicles heading south, for the two things that drugs cartel uses -- fuel for their violence -- guns and cash.
Our Ed Lavandera is at the border with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, we usually see federal agents hunting for drugs being smuggled into the United States, but what's being smuggled out of the country is now getting much more scrutiny.
(voice-over): This isn't something you normally see at a border checkpoint...
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where y'all going, gentlemen?
LAVANDERA: ... a line of cars waiting to leave the United States.
In the last two months, customs and border agents have intensified inspections of southbound traffic, looking for the ingredients that feed violent drug cartels.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carrying any weapons, ammunitions? How about any money in excess of $10,000?
LAVANDERA: Guns and money and lots of it. These are mouth- watering pictures of cash confiscated by agents in Laredo, Texas -- $3 million here found inside a passenger bus. The high-powered weaponry is being smuggled, too -- into the hands of cartel members.
GENE GARZA, PORT DIRECTOR, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: You know, handguns, the 9 mil, the .45, we're seeing, you know, the long rifles. You know, we're seeing shotguns.
LAVANDERA: Laredo port director Gene Garza says smugglers hide guns and cash in creative ways just like drug smugglers. But they might not be used to this kind of vigilance.
GARZA: They're banking on not getting inspected or the opposite, not finding it, because it is deep concealment. It is hard work.
LAVANDERA: X-ray vehicles like these are used to search for hidden compartments. This stash of weapons was found inside a vehicle's gas tank. Agents used this fiber optic scope to find the guns. The stepped up enforcement on the border comes after high- profile meetings between President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
The link between U.S. guns and Mexican violence is highlighted in cases playing out on American streets. Federal agents in Houston, Texas, say they've busted a prominent gun-smuggling ring, two men convicted and 10 others indicted so far. Federal investigators say the weapons these men bought in gun stores were found at Mexican crime scenes, including the Acapulco massacre, where four police officers and three secretaries were gunned down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Volkswagen coming in your way.
LAVANDERA: And for now, this is the last line of defense, to keep those guns out of the wrong hands.
(on camera): More than 350 federal agents have been redeployed across the southern U.S. border, to hunt for guns and cash. Officials here on the border hope those assignments are permanent and not temporary -- John and Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Ed Lavandera for us -- thanks.
And welcome, once again. Glad you're with us on this Friday. We're coming up on 8:00 here in New York. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: I'm John Roberts. We're also coming up on the Memorial Day weekend.
And here are this morning's top stories we'll be breaking down for you in this 15 minutes.
The debate over America's security and the past cranking up: President Obama defending his plan to close the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay. But the former vice president sees things differently and many Democrats may agree with him. More on that coming up in just a moment.
Troubled automaker, General Motors, may soon become the second of the Big Three driven into bankruptcy, and it could happen as early as next week. Our CNN Money Team is here and standing by to break down the Obama administration's plans and what it means for G.M.'s workforce.
And what could be a race against time to save a boy's life. New developments this morning regarding a mother and cancer-stricken son on the run from the law and medical treatment.
