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American Morning
Obama to Address Congress Tonight; Is China Spying in U.S.?; Al Qaeda May Seek Soft Targets; Obama to Address Congress on Health Care; Melanie Oudin, 17. in U.S. Open Quarterfinals
Aired September 09, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you again. It's Wednesday. By the way, it's September 9th. So it's 09-09-2009.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Does that mean anything? 8-08 meant something. It was like good luck in China. But 9909, does it mean anything?
CHETRY: Well it does mean something too, according to numerologist. We'll tell you.
ROBERTS: OK. We'll find out.
Meantime, here's what's on this morning's agenda. Stories we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes. In about 12 hours' time, a potential make or break moment for the president addressing a rare joint meeting of Congress spelling out exactly what he means by health care reform. In a moment, we'll look at what it all means for you.
CHETRY: Lifestyles of the rich and felonious. There are new pictures of Bernie Madoff homes and boats that were seized by the feds are not being sold off at auction. Our Christine Romans gives us a tour of the Ponzi schemer's prized possessions.
ROBERTS: And eight years after the September 11 attacks, a new report says terrorists are now aiming for easier to hit targets like hotels. The report also says al Qaeda has changed its franchising out.
Coming up, CNN's national security contributor Fran Townsend on whether we're adjusting the way terrorists are doing business. Everybody's outsourcing these days.
Now we begin with what could be a crucial day for the White House. Tonight, President Obama delivers a make or break speech on health care and after a summer of wild attacks and mud slinging the president is hoping to hit the reset button. Earlier, I spoke with his press secretary Robert Gibbs about tonight's address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So what's the president going to do tonight? Is he going to outline an actual plan or a series of ideas?
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, he will outline some very specific ideas that I think will leave people with a couple of thoughts when they walk away from the speech.
One, they'll know that this plan provides safety, security and stability to the millions of people that have health insurance each and every day but are watching their premiums sky rocket and double every few years. Secondly, for those that don't have health insurance, but need affordable coverage, he'll lay out a plan for how people can get that as well. He'll talk about the crippling cost of health care on government, and why we just can't afford to wait any longer. We have to act now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Slightly vague specifics there.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is in the White House for us this morning.
Suzanne, what are you learning about the president's speech? I asked the Secretary Gibbs if the president was prepared to drop the public plan, he wouldn't go that far, and also whether he was for caps on malpractice lawsuits, he wouldn't go there either. So, what do we know?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Vague specifics, that's a great way to put it, John. This is the thinking here when it comes to the public option. The president is going to talk about the importance of the public option, he's not going to say it's a make or break situation but he said try to explain it in ways that we all understand what it means.
So, they are going to de-emphasize who the public option helps. For instance, he's going to talk about the fact there are 180 million people who get their insurance through private insurance companies, the public option is not going to affect them. People who get their insurance covered through Medicaid or the V.A., it's not going to cover them, either.
It's going to cover a small but critical group of people, small business owners who, say, are in a certain place and are denied coverage of the predominant insurance company that's there and needs some sort of alternative, and they would turn to this idea of this government public option.
So, really, John, what it's about is that it's one of many ideas the president is going to talk about but he's going to try to make it more palatable to folks so they get it, so they understand what the public option is, who it serves, who it doesn't serve. So, it's not the so-called bogeyman that everybody's been talking about, John.
ROBERTS: Is this going to satisfy people in his own party who have said, "Mr. President, we need you to take the reins here, we need you to outline something really concrete."
MALVEAUX: You know, it's yet to be determined whether or not it really is going to work that way. We do know that the president has been reaching out quietly as well as publicly to some folks. We saw Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid here at the White House. Obviously, they were talking about the public option. Nancy Pelosi really is pushing that.
We also know quietly he, the president, talked to Senator Max Baucus, the one who's really put forward a very detailed plan. He's going to talk to him again today before this speech before Congress to try once again to see if his ideas can marry their ideas.
But he's going to talk about the public option as well as many other specifics -- at least the White House says specifics -- to try to bring these members of Congress on board. And once again, you talked to Robert Gibbs. He said he's still going to push to make sure that they have health care reform by the end of the year - John.
ROBERTS: Sounds like the helicopters are arriving to take the president to New York this morning. Suzanne Malveaux for us at the White House -- Suzanne, thanks so much.
MALVEAUX: Sure.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, the president has been the most vocal proponent of health care reform it's Congress that has to agree on a plan when all is said and done. And that seems to still be quite a long way off.
But here's where things stand right now in this "A.M. Extra" for you. Four of the five congressional committees considering health care legislation have already passed bills. The Senate Finance Committee is the lone holdout that they could have something today. Meantime, the four plans already passed have many of the same features -- each would require all Americans to have insurance and also prevent insurance companies from blocking people with pre-existing conditions, or dropping them when they get sick.
The one sticking point is the public option, this would be an insurance program run by the government to compete against private insurers. And as Jim Acosta tells us, the debate on what to do with that is still red hot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, the president is not just taking heat from liberals in the party. He's also feeling pressure from veterans of his campaign for president, who say health care reform without the public option is not change they can believe in. But one Democratic leader says it may be time to cut a deal.
(CROWD CHANTING)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Former staffers from President Obama's campaign rallied in front of the White House, umbrellas in hand just in case he rains on their parade with a public option -- the idea of giving Americans the choice of a government health care plan.
(on camera): The president compromises on the public option. Has he let you down?
MIKE ELK, FORMER OBAMA CAMPAIGN FIELD ORGANIZER: I think if the president compromises on public option, he hasn't just let me down, he let down my entire generation.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: It may be that we need to take a half loaf rather than a full loaf, and get the full loaf three years down the road.
ACOSTA (voice-over): But the number three Democrat in the House, James Clyburn says it's time to find some middle ground. "One compromise," he says, "would be to test the public option as a pilot program."
CLYBURN: Let's do that now and then, three years down the road -- some people say four or five -- then let's take a look at the facts and see what worked and see whether or not we will then mandate going forward what the public option will look like.
ACOSTA (on camera): There are some members of your party in the House who will settle for nothing short of a public option now. What do you say to them?
CLYBURN: Well, what I would say to them is that this gets us there.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Clyburn is also open to calls for a trigger that would mandate a public option down the road if the insurance industry doesn't improve its performance.
CLYBURN: Well, the fact of the matter is, a trigger would include a public option.
ACOSTA: The White House is signaling the president hasn't given up on the option. In a speech to Congress, Mr. Obama is expected to make the case that the option won't impact Americans who get their insurance from their employers or Medicare.
GIBBS: I think the president will discuss both what the public option isn't and what the public option is, in terms of bringing choice and competition.
ACOSTA: Still, even as he campaigned as a changed candidate on health care, Mr. Obama said he was also a dealmaker.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the end, all the good plans in the world won't mean anything if we can't get them passed.
ACOSTA (on camera): And the Democratic majority whip, James Clyburn, is reminding some of his colleagues that the civil rights laws of the '60s were not passed all at once, but over the course of a decade. That kind of effort, he says, may be necessary on health care reform -- John and Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Jim Acosta for us this morning -- thanks.
ROBERTS: And in just a few minutes, coming up at 8:20 Eastern, we're going to talk with two political speechwriters, David Frum and Bob Shrum about the president's address to Congress tonight. Stick around. Frum and Shrum are coming right up here on the Most News in the Morning.
CHETRY: Also, brand new overnight -- freedom for a "New York Times" journalist kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan. The newspaper reporting that Steven Farrell was rescued early this morning when NATO commandoes stormed the room where he was being held. Farrell was captured Saturday while covering a NATO air strike in Northern Afghanistan.
Meantime, an Afghan journalist who was also taken and worked with Farrell was killed during the daring raid. Until now, the kidnappings have been kept quiet out of concern for their safety. Farrell was kidnapped once before back in 2004 when he was covering the war in Iraq.
ROBERTS: The plot thickens. Investigators say a bone fragment found in the back yard next to sex offender Phillip Garrido's house is probably human, and will now go to the state DNA lab for more testing. Police say Garrido took care of that property but they say it's not unusual to find Native American remains in that area. Garrido and his wife charged with the rape and kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard 18 years ago.
CHETRY: And three more great white sharks spotted off of Cape Cod. That makes five tagged this past week. Officials say they've all been electronically tagged so that shark experts can then track their movements, hopefully learn more about why they are there. These shark sightings last week prompted officials on the cape to actually close the beaches to swimmers over the popular Labor Day weekend.
ROBERTS: All right. So, we've been to Montauk, Park Avenue and Palm Beach. What do you say we put on the jacket, the boater (ph) and go yachting?
CHETRY: Yes, right. The Sperry Topsiders for this one, a trip on the Bull. This is Bernie Madoff, disgraced financier, biggest Ponzi schemer, now sitting behind bars. But that doesn't mean that a lot of his prized possessions aren't up for sale. A yacht anyone?
Eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Pretty shot in New York this morning, the Hudson River and the bridge. Ours is working. I wonder if San Francisco's is. It's supposed to reopen at what, 10 minutes ago. So, hopefully, things are better for them.
Meanwhile, here, cloudy, 68 degrees, a little bit later, showers. It's pretty much the story if you live on the east coast today, 71 degrees for our high.
And Christine Romans is here. She's "Minding Your Business" right now.
Today, you're on -- you're on Bernard Madoff prize property patrol.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Say that 10 times fast. Let's move on to yachts, shall we?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROMANS: Let's move on to yachts and take a look at the three boats that Bernie Madoff, the now famous and jailed Ponzi schemer had. The U.S. Marshals has seized all of these. They have been -- this one right there, the Bull, 55 feet, 1969 custom made yacht, has an elevator apparently up to the flying bridge. Although I can't see -- it must be a little platform that goes up. I know that's almost too much, isn't it?
The engines have 60 hours on them. Completely rebuilt. That's it. Completely rebuilt these engines. So, it's just 60 hours on them. It was shrink-wrapped when it was seized.
Oh, look at the nice customized napkins there. And the bull painting. Of course. Of course, I love the bull references.
It was seized after April 1st and shrink-wrapped. There are three Madoff boats, actually. Boats are kept now in Fort Lauderdale. The 55-foot Bull. A 38-foot Shelter Island runabout -- it's like a 1930s, 1940s style classic high bow.
ROBERTS: When U.S. Marshals taking us for a tour?
ROMANS: I know. No, I gave them a rest this hour, guys.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: And a 23-foot Maverick that was for weekends, on the inner coast to waterways. So three different boats, all of them at Fort Lauderdale.
You know, and interesting, the marshals are hoping that some of the notoriety of Madoff for the international boat buyers' circuit might help bid this up, might mean that there is good demand for this boat. I mean, imagine if you're, you know, a sultan or a prince, you can say look, this is Bernie Madoff's old yacht. I mean, I don't know if that really works in the boat buying business.
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE)
ROMANS: I'm not sure. I'm not sure. Yes, I don't know, it's not going to be something that you're going to be proud of, right?
ROBERTS: I mean, JFK's old yacht is one thing.
ROMANS: Perhaps. My personal favorite...
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: My personal favorite not the 55 feet.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: My personal favorite is not the 55 feet of Bull, it's that 38-foot Shelter Island runabout. It's a pretty cool-looking boat. It's like if you can imagine, you know, an old...
CHETRY: You're probably being with someone else.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: 8:12 in the morning. We're already talking about (INAUDIBLE). I love it.
ROMANS: All right. Well, that's it. That's all I got on Bernie Madoff. We've seen everything. I think we've seen everything. The cars -- oh, yes, when I see all the cars, I'll bring those back.
ROBERTS: Christine, thanks so much.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Just don't go to the (CROSSTALK).
Thirteen minutes after the hour. Shrum and Frum are coming up right up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBERTS: Good morning, Washington. We've got light rain and 67 degrees right now. Later on today, showers are continuing and a high of 77. Not such a nice day for the president's speech.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
So much at stake tonight as President Obama makes his case for health care overhaul. In a speech to the Congress and the nation, the House chamber will be filled with Democrats divided by health care reform and Republicans flat-out against it.
Joining us to talk more about this pivotal moment: from Washington, David Frum, former Bush speechwriter and columnist for TheWeek.com. And with us here, Democratic strategist Robert Shrum, also a columnist with TheWeek.com, on opposite sides of the fence.
I love the way that you guys do. You write competing editorial with each other.
Bob, let's start with you. Can the president regain the momentum in the health care debate with one appearance before Congress, albeit a big appearance?
ROBERT SHRUM, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, no. But I don't think he's lost momentum. In fact, I think, if you look underneath all of the noise, what's happening is that Democrats are continually moving toward an agreement. I suspect that you'll have some kind of trigger for a public option instead of just a public option.
But I think we'll see a health care bill by the time we get to October or early November.
ROBERTS: David Frum, you agree with Bob that he hasn't lost the momentum?
DAVID FRUM, FORMER BUSH SPEECHWRITER: He is losing the momentum. And the momentum is carried in public polls. The president is now facing a public that is no longer so sure about this idea. Opinion seems approximately equally split. And there are some interesting polls out that show a lot of members of the public are now rating health care as the single most important voting issue for them.
His party is not worried about the Republicans who are weak. It's frightened of the public.
ROBERTS: You know, and, Bob, in an editorial this morning in "The New York Times" Maureen Dowd says the president should have been more forceful earlier. She writes, quote, "He should have done this speech back in June and conjured up a better glossary. You can't combat a scintillating term like 'death panels' with somnambulant one like 'public option.'"
Do you think -- should he have been out three months ago selling it?
SHRUM: See, I don't think "death panels" actually in the end has convinced people that anything like that's in the bill. Obama's had this criticism all along. I mean, you'll recall, on this show and other shows, back in February, people were saying the stimulus is in deep trouble, may take months to pass, Democrats are in disagreement, and he got the stimulus bill. His great strength is steadiness.
I think the big difference you'll see tonight from this and the town meetings is that he'll be out there connecting a moral and emotional argument to the facts. Not very people -- very many presidents have been able to do that. Ronald Reagan, although people didn't notice it all the time, did that. JFK did that. I think he'll do that tonight.
ROBERTS: David, Maureen Dowd also says the president looks vulnerable now. Digging deeper into her editorial today, she says, quote, "After signaling that there was nothing he would fall on his sword for on health care; after dropping Van Jones at the first objection from Glenn Beck -- a demagoon who called Obama a 'racist' -- the president is getting to be seen as an easy mark. If Obama didn't have a knife-thrower like Rahmbo" -- talking about Rahm Emanuel in the Oval Office -- "Democrats would be totally convinced that the president would fold in a heartbeat."
Do you think she's right?
FRUM: Well, that's -- that's not super good advice. And the idea that the president would have done well to back a 9/11 truther in the White House is not a very good idea. Obama faces two huge problems with this health care, and they are both not about presentation on TV.
One, he has a public terrified of the accumulating debt. The United States is heading toward World War II levels of debt under President Obama. And nobody believes his glossy assurances that this health care plan won't add another trillion on top of this. That's problem one, debt.
Problem two is the people who most depend on health care, America's seniors, are worried about the stability of the Medicare program. And to add another obligation on top of Medicare, and to fund that new obligation by taking money out of Medicare, that frightens America's seniors. And they are the group where you can see public support dropping fastest.
(CROSSTALK)
SHRUM: I generally have a lot of support for David who had the honesty to say in a column recently that the Republicans are not offering anything on health care. There is no diminution of Medicare benefits under this plan. There is -- there are a series of savings in terms of the recompense for Medicare providers and hospitals who've actually volunteered to make these savings.
The real problem here is that the country -- by the way, "The New York Times" this morning also says the numbers haven't fundamentally moved on health care over the last month, while we've been covering all of the noise and all the town hall meetings.
I think the president benefits tonight from all of this stuff about make or break. Because I think he's going to make it. And I think he's going to give a very good speech, and I think he'll get a bill, and I think he'll make history in the process.
ROBERTS: Hey, David, one other thing that I wanted to ask you about this morning, Bob mentioned death panels just a moment ago. And Sarah Palin is back out with another statement on that on her Facebook page. She says, quote, "Is it any wonder that many of the sick and elderly are concerned that the Democrats' proposals will ultimately lead to rationing of their health care by -- dare I say it -- death panels."
FRUM: Yes.
ROBERTS: A lot of folks this morning here in the newsroom were scratching their heads saying, "Why does she back out with that?"
FRUM: Well, I think she believes in audacity. You go forward, you say the same thing, say it again and again.
SHRUM: And truth doesn't matter, right, David?
FRUM: Well, I don't think she's hugely concerned about that. But look, here's the -- here is why seniors are worried. And this is a different thing from the ideological conservative view that I would express -- just assessing how they feel. They know the Medicare program is already rickety. If it were a public pension plan governed by the rules on the private sector, it would be in the hole to the tone probably over $35 trillion. They are worried about this.
And now, there is going to be another obligation and the president is -- and, Bob, I don't think is exactly right when he says that the president's proposed savings will make no difference. The president's big idea is to crimp the Medicare Advantage program in which about a fifth of seniors are currently enrolled.
SHRUM: But they get something instead -- they get something instead, David. And, in fact, they save a huge amount of money on prescription drugs. I think the most absurd thing that it illustrates...
(CROSSTALK)
FRUM: But seniors who like Medicare Advantage are going to find they lose something they like.
SHRUM: No. But they get something that's better and they save money on prescription drugs. The most absurd thing in this whole discussion has been -- have been the seniors who stand up -- and I know the president's got to deal with this -- saying, I don't want the government touching my health care. What do they think Medicare is?
ROBERTS: Yes. All right. Well, we got to leave it there, gentlemen. We'll see what the president has to say tonight, where the debate goes from here.
David Frum, Bob Shrum, always great to have you gentlemen, on together. Thanks very much.
FRUM: Thank you.
SHRUM: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Famous Frum and Shrum duo.
You could see the president's speech live on CNN and CNN.com tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern, by the way - Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. And still ahead, we're talking about the latest terror threats. Years and years after 9/11, are buildings safe or terrorists actually heading for softer targets? Fran Townsend is going to be joining us live to weigh in on that in just a minute.
Twenty-two minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
The FBI ranks China as one of the biggest espionage threat to the United States over the next decade.
ROBERTS: From top secret research, to items up for sale on eBay, of all places, some of our most intimate national security details could be at risk. For today's look at the "Spies Among Us," homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve joins us now live from our Washington newsroom.
Good morning, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John and Kiran.
The Cold War is over, but spying definitely is not. Experts say, along with Russia, one country runs a particularly comprehensive and successful espionage operation against the United States. And that country is China.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And liftoff of the space shuttle Discovery.
MESERVE (voice-over): The space shuttle, the international space station, the Delta IV rocket, and the F-15 fighter -- some of the most sensitive and valuable technologies developed by the United States. And information about all of them was given to China by this man, Dongfan Chung, a naturalized U.S. citizen was an aerospace engineer with a secret clearance. A search turned up 300,000 sensitive documents hidden under his house -- letters with marching orders from his Chinese handlers, even a medal from the Chinese government.
He was convicted in July. He'd been spying for China for more than three decades.
Experts say Chung is just one player in a complex and comprehensive Chinese espionage operation.
(on camera): What kind of information are they getting from us?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're getting pretty much everything.
MESERVE (voice-over): The Chinese government says such charges reflect an old Cold War mentality.
WU JIANMIN, CHINESE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: They want to put out stories to demonize China for their benefit. It's not good.
MESERVE (on camera): So, the allegations about espionage are not true.
WU JIANMIN: Not true.
MESERVE (voice-over): But there is ample evidence that the Chinese are siphoning secrets to aid their military and economic development. Since 2006, the U.S. government has prosecuted 60 people for stealing secrets for China.
DAVID KRIS, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: We've stopped some things from happening that if we've not stopped them and would have resulted in very grievous losses. Of course, you don't know what you don't know.
MESERVE: Chinese cyber capabilities are sophisticated. And though it's difficult to prove, the government and its surrogates are believed to have infiltrated computers at most U.S. government agencies.
ALAN PALLER, SANS INSTITUTE: The sad joke in the Pentagon is that, if somebody can't find a document, somebody says, "We'll call the Chinese."
MESERVE: Computer experts say Chinese hackers may have left behind code that could be triggered to shut down or destroy critical infrastructure even weapons systems. The Pentagon recently told Congress, "Of all of the foreign intelligence organizations attempting to penetrate U.S. agencies, China's are the most aggressive."
KEN DEGRAFFENREID, FORMER COUNTERINTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL: It is a damaging thing and it is unprecedented.
MESERVE (on camera): And it's continuing.
DEGRAFFENREID: And it's continuing. And we're not mounting a proportionate response at all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: The U.S. wants to stay on good terms with the Chinese, and some experts say that made it more difficult for the U.S. to deal effectively and forcefully with Chinese espionage -- espionage that some believe is already jeopardizing the economic and military strength of the United States.
John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning from Washington -- Jeanne, thanks so much.
And tomorrow, our "Spies Among Us" series takes a look at the black market for bombs. Could terrorists get their hands on nuclear material on the black market and smuggle a device into the United States?
CHETRY: Two minutes before the bottom of the hour.
Checking our top stories right now.
Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd is expected to announce that he's keeping his banking committee chairmanship but he will actually not be taking up Ted Kennedy's gavel as head of the Senate Health Committee. Senator Kennedy's death was a blow to the health care reform effort, and Dodd, a close friend of Kennedy, has been talking up the possibility of Vicki Kennedy perhaps replacing her husband. At this point, though, she's shown no interest.
ROBERTS: Well, how much radiation does your cell phone emit? This is a long-asked question. Well, a new study says radiation levels vary wildly. Some giving off, some more than others. The FCC currently doesn't require cell phone makers to divulge radiation levels. So rankings for dozens of models are not on the group's list.
CHETRY: For everybody laughing out there, he said long-asked question.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Yes. A long other question is one that's often asked in a courtroom or in Congress.
The iPhone, by the way, is in the middle of the pack, according to the study. To see where your phone stands, go to CNN.com/amFIX.
CHETRY: So, what are you going to do?
Meanwhile, keep the Ziploc bags handy. Unfortunately, this is something that we've gotten used to now when we fly. Those restrictions on the amount of liquids you can carry, I always forget my water bottle in there. It gets stopped. Darn it.
Anyway, security officials say that three ounce maximum rule that was put into place three years ago, after they foiled that plot to down a plane with liquid explosives, that ban is going to stay until more high tech X-ray machines at airports can be installed. And that could take at least a year.
Well, in two days it will be eight years -- astonishingly enough -- since the 9/11 attacks. And a lot of times, this time of year, we ask are we safer today? Are we doing enough to protect ourselves? Have we let our guards down?
There is a new report out that says that while the United States and countries around the world have taken significant steps to protect their visible targets -- like military bases, government buildings, embassies -- that al Qaeda has adapted, and is now looking to attack lower profile soft targets like hotels and shopping malls.
Joining me now for more on that, Fran Townsend, President George W. Bush's former homeland security adviser and a CNN national security adviser as well.
Fran, thanks for being with us. You know, we talk about eight years since 9/11. A lot of times, we said, the new normal things that, you know, you wouldn't have thought about before 9/11 have just become a way of life for us. We spoke about the Ziploc bags at the airports, taking our shoes off getting on a flight.
But looking eight years ahead now, where do we stand in terms of whether or not we've let our guard down and whether or not we are shielding ourselves properly against the perhaps adaptations of al Qaeda?
FRAN TOWNSEND, FORMER BUSH HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: Well, Kiran, there should be no doubt the American people should take a good deal of confidence in the fact that we've built capability. We've had intelligence reform. We have this new Department of Homeland Security. We've taken a lot of steps. The FBI has a real national security and domestic intelligence capability, but al Qaeda does adapt.
The report that you referred to by an organization called Stratfor that is a private company that does intelligence assessments, makes the point that look, as we get better, as the governments get better and harden their own targets, al Qaeda and terrorist groups look to soft targets.
Look at what happened in Mumbai, the Bali bombing in Indonesia. Ever since about 2003, when we saw attacks against hotels in Iraq and residential compounds in Saudi Arabia, al Qaeda has looked to these softer targets. They are much more difficult to protect.
We've seen in the eight years since 9/11 an increase in the number of attacks. They doubled against hotels and soft targets, and fatalities in those attacks are six-and-a-half times greater than they were in the eight years prior. So this is a growing concern.
CHETRY: And as you mentioned, you mentioned the Mumbai, we've seen it in Jakarta, we've seen it in Afghanistan, we see it in Pakistan. And apparently, as we talk about these smaller groups, right, they're almost calling them al Qaeda franchise, smaller groups, they need less money, they need less operating ability.
But they say in this report, the reason that hotels have been targeted is they are the ultimate small target -- soft target rather, meaning that there are plenty of people there, that at times the security perimeters are quite easy to penetrate.
So is that a United States threat? We talked about all of these cities abroad. But is that something that could happen in the United States?
TOWNSEND: You know, Kiran, in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election, we worried at the political nominating conventions that hotels would be targeted, because we'd seen it overseas.
We haven't seen it here. And I think that really has to do with there are a number of ways that we look for those sorts of threats. There are reporting requirements for large purchases of explosives. After things like the World Trade Center bombing in '93 we watch very closely truck rentals, things that are unexplained.
We look for anomalies. The FBI works very closely with state and local law enforcement.
And so, we have mechanisms in place to try and detect this before the threat manifests itself, because the sorts of things like perimeter security, pushing the perimeter back, is very difficult in large urban environments like New York City and Washington, D.C.
And so, we look for other mechanisms to detect it earlier on before the threat is actually at the hotel door.
CHETRY: It's interesting. Does this study look into whether or not, and is there any type of assessment on whether or not -- look, we can build up our buildings, we can build up our security as much, but if the feeling is still there, if the will to commit terror attacks against America is still there with al Qaeda, have we made any progress in trying to change that ideology or at least make us less of a target?
TOWNSEND: You know Kiran, the problem there is in this horrible sort of hateful ideology of al Qaeda, you're not -- the true believers you're not going to dissuade.
What you want to do, I think we've seen President Obama and before that President Bush try to reach out to the Muslim world. And talk to -- this is not -- never been a war against Islam or the Muslim world. It's very much targeted at this ideology.
So I think we made some progress. There's much more to be made. And really the progress there needs to be made by the moderate Muslim community speaking among themselves, talking about -- because this is really not -- this hateful ideology is not a symbol of Islam. Frankly, Islam is peaceful ideology.
This is an aberration, and that needs to be made clear.
CHETRY: All right, and, as we say, the eight-year anniversary of 9/11 is coming up this Friday. And we look at the fact that we have actually not had another attack here on U.S. soil. Is that a mixture of luck? Is it the fact we have made great changes? And where do you see us being most vulnerable?
TOWNSEND: You know, absolutely. This is not luck. There have been thousands of men and women both in uniform and not in uniform placed in dangerous places around the world to detect these threats, to thwart them.
We've had tremendous success against the operational leaders of al Qaeda in the federally administrated tribal areas. We've made great progress at our borders. We've made great progress in our intelligence and law enforcement communities.
And so it's not luck, Kiran. It really is an awful lot of hard work by lots of people, both here and our allies around the world.
That doesn't mean we don't -- I mean I think anybody in the counterterrorism community would tell that you al Qaeda continues to this day to plan attacks, not only against us, but against our allies in Western Europe.
CHETRY: Right.
TOWNSEND: We saw yesterday the conviction in the -- in Great Britain for the 2006 bomb plot, which you mentioned resulted here in this country in the ban on liquid.
Those people continue, al Qaeda continues in the tribal areas, and their affiliates around the world, to plot attacks. What the most important piece in stopping the next attack is to maintain the country's vigilance.
CHETRY: All right, absolutely, very, very true. And we see it every day they are continuing to do that as best they can.
Fran Townsend, great to talk to you, by the way. Thanks for being with us this morning.
TOWNSEND: Sure, good to be with you.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: It is a big day for a 17-year-old from Marietta, Georgia. She is in the semifinals at the U.S. open.
Melanie Oudin is who we're talking about. And we're going to talk with her coach. Brian De Villiers is coming up in just a little while. Will she be able to make it through to the semis? She's has wowed the crowd so far, and she has had a stratospheric improvement in her game since she went pro last April, or at least April, 2008.
So we'll be talking to Brian coming up about her chances. It's 36.5 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Nothing like a simple tagline to frame your debate when it comes to health care or anything. From pulling the plug on grandma to government takeover to death panels, the taglines being tossed around are very powerful.
Carol Costello is taking a look at the tagline war.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, there is no doubt about one thing. Many Americans are confused about exactly how the president wants to reform health care.
So, what to do now? Well, on Wednesday, many analysts say the president must present a plan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have every right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait a minute.
COSTELLO: It has been President Obama's summer of discontent, his health care message hijacked by extremists on both sides. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want this country turning into Russia.
COSTELLO: He's been called a traitor by liberals, a socialist, racist. Some say the ugliness has turned charismatic Barack Obama into just another politician.
Former Republican Congresswoman Susan Molinari is a lobbyist whose firm deals in health care matters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has seen himself, if you will, this super man falling to earth.
COSTELLO: And voters we talked with in Chicago, Mr. Obama's hometown, certainly feel that way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feel like he's been promising so much but hasn't really acted upon anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think there's a lot of inconsistencies in what he's saying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody really knows the answers.
COSTELLO: They feel Mr. Obama has allowed extreme comments to not only diminish his stature but to control his message. Many supporters know President Obama's plan doesn't include killing grandma, but they want him say that. They want his plan.
NAOMI BEDFORD: I think he's letting the critics fluster him just a little bit.
COSTELLO: John Avlon, an independent who writes for "The Daily Beast," says that's why the president needs to be frank and firm before Congress Wednesday.
JOHN AVLON, "THE DAILY BEAST": I think what he needs to do is first say "I hear you, I heard you. And I'm not going to let either extreme dominate the debate."
COSTELLO: Avlon says the president must also tell voters he gets their concerns about government growth and uncontrolled spending, and he needs to tell voters, most of whom have insurance, why we need reform.
And it needs to be said with just a bit of the passion the president displayed in Ohio on Monday.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Security and stability for folks who have health insurance, help for those who don't. Coverage they need at a price they can afford. That's reform that's needed.
COSTELLO: And Republicans say Mr. Obama needs to find a way to convince conservatives of that. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he really needs to rise above the partisan bickering tonight and become the leader of the United States and talk about what are those things that he needs to see in a health care bill, and then urge the two parties, Republicans and Democrats, to get together and make it happen as quickly as possible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Avlon told me the president's decision to address Congress instead of a large crowd of people was a gutsy move because the president is much more effective in front of a large group of people.
But he says the president must not only convince the American people, but lawmakers, too -- John, Kiran?
ROBERTS: Carol Costello this morning. Carol, thanks so much.
So what do you want to hear in the president's speech? You would expect more than taglines right? Sound off on Carol's blog on CNN.com/amfix and let us know.
CHETRY: Beatlemania is back. They are re-mastering, re- digitizing all of the original songs of the Beatles, and they are going to release it today.
ROBERTS: Is it significant that today is 9-9-09 and "Revolution Number 9" is "Number 9, Number 9" coming back in a new form?
CHETRY: Well, we're going to find out. The video game launches by the way, too, today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 8:45 and 35 seconds here in New York.
Today is also 9-09. And for numerologists it's a big deal. In fact, when we were just playing the Beatles, the refrain was Revolution 9. But numerologists say it's associated with traits like forgiveness, compassion, and success.
ROBERTS: Here's one more thing to consider, too. Somebody wrote this, that today is the 252nd day of the year.
CHETRY: OK. Aha -- two, five, two.
ROBERTS: Two-five-two adds up to nine.
CHETRY: This is getting crazy. You're a numerologist, huh?
ROBERTS: Not me.
CHETRY: You see the number 21 in everything.
Well, it's a big day for the biggest band in rock 'n' roll history, because on sale today re-mastered versions of the Beatles catalog. And the surviving members of the Fab Four says that it's the closest reproduction of how their music sounded in the studio.
Also on sale, the Beatles rock band video game.
ROBERTS: I remember the first album that I ever bought, and it was just released, was "Help" in 1964 or '65.
CHETRY: And I remember buying "Beatles Ones," like all of the number ones, two different disks. So should I go buy this remastered one too?
ROBERTS: It depends how much you like the Beatles.
COSTELLO: OK. Good to know. They're great, but you know.
(WEATHER BREAK)
ROBERTS: Brian De Villiers. He is the man behind teen tennis sensation Melanie Oudin, who has just rocketed at the U.S. open into the semifinals tonight, 7:00, the 17-year-old from nowhere on the edge of greatness. We'll talk to him about her chances today coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
She missed her junior prom, homecoming too. But for 17-year-old Melanie Oudin it's all good, or, as she might say, it's awesome.
CHETRY: That's right. She is a teenager from Marietta, Georgia. She's really the toast of this year's U.S. Open tennis tournament here in New York. To reach tonight's quarterfinals she beat four Russian players, including the 13th seed Nadya Petrova. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(APPLAUSE)
MELANIE OUDIN, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: This is my dream forever. I've worked so hard for this, and it's finally happening. I'm in my first quarterfinal of grand slam. So it's amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, Brian De Villiers is Melanie Oudin's coach, and he joins us now. It's great to have you with us this morning.
BRIAN DE VILLIERS, MELANIE OUDIN'S COACH: Thank you.
CHETRY: You said right before we came out you hope she's still sleeping because she has a big day ahead of her tonight. 7:00 p.m. is the match. And they have called this the Cinderella story, Melanie, of the U.S. Open. How do you feel that she's gotten this far? DE VILLIERS: I am very excited and thrilled forward her. Like she said, she's worked so hard for this. It's taken nine years to get here, so she's excited. We're all excited. And I'm just hoping she performs well.
ROBERTS: Yes. I said going into the break she's in the semifinals, and you pointed out it's the quarterfinals, but wishful thinking. I was leaping ahead here.
In terms of her development, she was a wild card going in. She turned pro April of 2008. She was a wildcard going into last year's U.S. Open. She lost in the first round. She made it to the quarters of Wimbledon. She's in the quarters this year.
What is it that has made the difference between last year and this year?
DE VILLIERS: I think last year she felt a lot of pressure. The girl she played she knew from the juniors, and it was a wild card U.S. Open, first time. And she put a lot of pressure on herself.
And I think coming into it this year she has a little more experience from Wimbledon. And just over the year her game is finally starting to click. She's figuring things out and she's playing a lot smarter.
CHETRY: And as her coach how do you mentally get her prepared for not only the game itself that she's going to be playing, but all of the hype surrounding it? I mean, now she is a household name. She was the 70th seed, now she's a household name. She beat four big seeded Russian players, and now she is heading into this tonight.
What are you telling her about staying mentally prepared?
DE VILLIERS: Look, that's her biggest strength. Mentally she is incredibly tough. She doesn't get phased by all of the attention yet. She's well grounded.
We have a bunch of friends from the academy up here, so she's hanging out with buddies, people that she trusts, and know that we support her. And I think she'll be fine. Like I said, that's her big strength.
ROBERTS: My understanding is that Justine Henin was really kind of like her role model. And she retired last year still ranked number one in the world.
And many said that not only are they the same height, but they're the same type of player as well. You get these big Russian women way back at the baseline just pounding the shots.
She has a whole arsenal of interesting shots. She's got good backhand. She's got the shot from the baseline. But she's also got a lot of good cut shots. She can drop something in short of the net.
Have you worked on her skills, because of the height differential, of being a shot maker?
DE VILLIERS: When I started working with her I knew she wasn't going to be tall, and I knew she'd never be a big first strike player. So she had to rely on a lot of variety, a lot of speed, and, of course, mental toughness. So that's all we work on.
ROBERTS: Some people say the way she plays is the way tennis should be played.
DE VILLIERS: That's what I think. I'm old school, so I like to see a lot of slice, a lot of variety, a lot of mixing it up.
But with the technology and the size of the athletes today, I mean the game has changed, and you have to deal with what you have. So she's smart about that.
ROBERTS: Also just the age factor -- I mean, she's 17 years old. She's one of the youngest players out there that has made it this far.
How does she sort of balance that? Being a teen, as she talked about, she's home-schooled, and she said that that really made a difference for her so that she could practice and she could tour as much as she does. How does that factor into all that's happening and being here at the quarterfinals?
DE VILLIERS: You know, a lot of the top girls are pretty young as well. Prava (ph) Genkova (ph) is 18, (inaudible) 19. So she's kind of on track with her age.
You know, the other thing, that's why I brought up some of her friends from Atlanta just to keep her a little more grounded and just to have fun with this.
ROBERTS: That's great.
In winning the matches that she has, she has lost the first set and then come back to win the next two. When you talk to her, when she's out there on the court -- she doesn't seem to be afraid to lose and then come back. It doesn't phase her. Why does it not phase her?
DE VILLIERS: She believes in herself. She prides herself as being in incredibly good shape, and she knows if a match goes the distance the advantage will swing her way.
CHETRY: And what type of relationship do you guys have in terms of, you know, how you keep her spirits up, how you guys interact with each other? She joked around that you were going to let her eat ice cream if she got through the round.
DE VILLIERS: Maybe.
(LAUGHTER)
No, I've been very tough on her over the years, just trying to keep her disciplined and grounded and give her a good work ethic. And she has the drive and the passion, and she loves it, so she's willing to do it.
ROBERTS: Well, it seems to be working. Quarterfinals tonight, 7:00 at Arthur Ashe. Brian De Villiers, thanks for being with us. Congratulations for your part in this, which I know is in no way been small.
DE VILLIERS: Thank you very much.
CHETRY: Good luck, and we'll be watching.
ROBERTS: It's 57 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: There is a look at Washington, D.C. Rain right now, 68 degrees. Showers set for some of the day as well, 77.
And as we talked about, could be rain tonight at the Arthur Ashe Stadium for the U.S. Open quarterfinals.
ROBERTS: Yes, we were talking to Brian De Villiers about what the effect is. And he's says you want to eat on schedule, you want to practice on schedule, you want to get everything ready to go. And if the rain comes in it's delayed it can throw you off your game a little. Let's hope the rain holds off.
A lot of people are going to want to see those matches tonight as well.
CHETRY: We'll be watching for sure.
And also one quick note. We talked about the San Francisco, the Bay Bridge that was shut down. It's back up and running. They got it going again.
ROBERTS: A lot of commuters will be very happy about that.
CHETRY: And by the way, don't forget, the president's speech to a joint session of Congress, it is tonight. You can see it all live here on CNN or on CNN.com 8:00 p.m. eastern.
ROBERTS: That's going to wrap it up for us. Continue the conversation on today's stories. Go to our blog at CNN.com/amfix. We'll see you again bright and early tomorrow morning.
CHETRY: And the news continues right now, "NEWSROOM" with Fredricka Whitfield.
