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American Morning
Georgia Governor Declares Flooding Emergency; Obama to Hold Three-Way Summit With Israeli, Palestinian Leaders; A Look at America by the Numbers; Phillip Garrido Claims Black Box Invention Had Special Powers
Aired September 22, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Tuesday, September 22nd. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for joining us. Here are the big stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
A deadly storm system pounding the Southeast, close to two feet of rain, washing out hundreds of roads and bridges and killing six people. One of the victims, a 2-year-old toddler. Floodwaters ripped him from his father's arms. Our Rob Marciano is live in Georgia this morning where the extreme weather just will not let up.
CHETRY: Taking a break from the health care debate, President Obama will try to get the deadlocked Mideast peace talks moving again. He holds a three-way summit today with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu as well as Palestinian President Abbas. It's taking place here in New York. And we're digging deeper on the president's diplomatic challenges as he makes his U.N. debut.
ROBERTS: And a health care reform bill starts taking shape today in the Senate. The compromised measure was proposed last week by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus. Committee members will be considering more than 500 amendments to the Baucus bill.
CHETRY: Well, our top story this morning. Deadly flooding hitting the southeast. Right now in Georgia, there is a state of emergency in effect in 17 counties. People are being told to stay home this morning, avoiding some of the flooded-out and damaged roadways. Six people have died so far including a 2-year-old who was swept from his father's arms during raging floodwaters.
Firefighters and emergency workers say they have never seen anything like this before. And more storms are expected to move in today. Our Rob Marciano is covering all of this for us on the outskirts of Atlanta with the very latest on what's going on there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): It's a cruel irony. After months of drought, heavy rains spawning deadly floods. Across much of the southeast, streets are covered. Homes are destroyed. Tranquil creeks now on a rampage. In some places near Atlanta, nearly two feet of rain fell. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the highest water that I've seen, and I've been living around here all my life.
MARCIANO: This couple was rescued by boat late last night in the pitch black. They had to use flashlights to see. And the only thing they could bring with them, their dog and a few family treasures.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are my wedding pictures.
MARCIANO: But they were luckier than others. Others who lost something so much more dear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His girlfriend was talking to him at 12:30 last night. He said water is flooding my car. I cannot get it open. He said I've got to call 911 and then his phone went dead.
MARCIANO: In Georgia, right now, 17 counties under a state of emergency. Officials say they're in rescue and recovery mode, but those rescued especially around Atlanta have been slow and difficult.
Pictures showing just how crippled some areas of the city are. In the western suburb of Powder Springs, a house is left to burn. Next to it, a fire truck stranded, helpless in the rising floodwaters. These two men had to get around on inflatable mattresses, and so many people are stunned by what they're seeing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now shock. I don't think it's really set in that this is real. This is -- we're flooded out. We don't have a home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Much of Cobb County, John and Kiran, underwater, quite literally. This particular area, this is Sweetwater Creek. And I apologize for the lack of better audio equipment, but we're working on that.
This entire subdivision, 30 to 40 homes submerged up to the second story. And when light comes up here in the next 45 minutes to an hour, you'll be able to see just how widespread this flooding is. The good news is the water is no longer rising, is actually receding. Obviously, it's not raining anymore.
A quick check on the radar to give you an idea of what you can expect across the Southeast today. It will -- there is a chance for seeing showers and thunderstorms but nothing -- nothing like we expected yesterday. That southeast flow that was feeding that moisture and causing that convergence has weakened. And the threat for seeing heavy rain like we saw yesterday, heavy, consistent rain is not in the forecast. But up to a half an inch to an inch in spots certainly would lead to more flooding, aggravating the situation. And for that reason a flash flood watch is up until later on tonight.
This community, like many across Cobb County especially, and this doesn't include the eastern and northern parts of outside of Atlanta, John and Kiran, a ghost town as folks had to evacuate and get out of here as the waters quickly rose. Yesterday morning, at 8:00 in the morning, the fire crews were out here telling people to get out, grab all you could and leave quickly, and the waters within minutes were up to their doorsteps.
Quite an amazing thing. Historically, we haven't seen anything like this since the hurricane season of 2004, but most cases, this is worse -- worse than that -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: You know, and Rob, it's just astounding. We've been talking for a few days and you guys have been forecasting for a few days these heavy thunderstorms, a lot of water in that area. But when we hear about, you know, a 2-year-old being swept away, families not even being able to leave their homes in time, what happened that it just overtook these communities so quickly?
MARCIANO: Well, we had a week of steady rainfall, you know, in some cases five to ten inches of rainfall. And then late last night or two nights ago that we reported yesterday, it rained, in some cases, another ten inches in a matter of six hours. There's no way any sort of soil can absorb that. I don't care what kind of drought you've been in. The soil was already saturated and with that sort of rainfall coming down, the waters quickly rise.
I just want to point out one thing. We talk about tornadoes. We talk about fires. We talk about hurricanes. Flooding is the number one weather-related killer in this country. And certainly this particular scenario, unfortunately, proved that again -- John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Just such a tragic situation there. All right, Rob, we're going to be checking in with you throughout the morning on this story. Thank you.
ROBERTS: He has been consumed by the bitter health care debate in this country, but this morning President Obama takes up a global challenge finding common ground between Israelis and Palestinians in an effort to re-launch Mideast peace talks, He'll hold a three-way summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Former President Bill Clinton talked to Larry King last night about the prospects for peace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Are we ever going to get something concrete in the Middle East?
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, first, it's more up to them than it is up to President Obama. They need a partner in the Middle East. The Israelis do. And they need a world committed to their security. So for those reasons, you know, I think there's a fair chance we'll get a peace agreement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: President Obama is making his U.N. debut as world leaders gather here in New York City. White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us this morning. She's covering all this at the U.N. General Assembly.
Good morning to you.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And good morning. Well, obviously, there's a lot of excitement, a lot of things going on.
President Obama is really going to be at the center of this world summit. He is highlighting his own agenda to tackle climate change, loose nukes (ph), promote trade, but all eyes are going to be on his interactions with some of those other heavy hitters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Barack Obama will be tested by friends and foes alike. The delicate dance of diplomacy involves engaging some and ignoring others. His first face-to-face meetings will be with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine's Mahmoud Abbas, signaling his administration's priority to jumpstart Middle East peace.
JON ALTERMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Under those circumstances, he's not going to get a grand gesture from the Israeli side. He's not going to get a grand gesture from the Palestinian side. The president's goal is to show that he cares, he's working on it, he's trying to move it forward.
MALVEAUX: But forward momentum on the specifics regarding Palestinian security or Israeli settlements are unlikely. President Obama also wants to move forward on tougher economic sanctions against Iran if it continues to pursue its nuclear ambitions. That's why he's sitting down with those most resistant to the sanctions. The leaders of Russia and China.
ALTERMAN: The president has to speak to the leaderships and get a sense for how willing they are to sanction Iran, what they might want in return, and what their real assessment of the Iranian threat is.
MALVEAUX: Iran's leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, will also be attending the international summit. White House aides say Mr. Obama has no intention of engaging him. He's one of several the president will try to avoid.
ALTERMAN: I think he's going to want to avoid President Ahmadinejad who lives in his own sense of reality. He's going to want to avoid President Chavez. I don't think the president should give away a handshake or a meeting with President Gadhafi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: So we're focusing on international issues today, taking a break from health care. But one of the things that was fascinating to learn is that these world leaders are actually following the health care debate as well. I talked to Jon Alterman in that piece and he said the reason why is he wants to see if people will defy the president and then they're able to get away with it, that this is something that they are taking their cues from the American people, see how they're going to handle President Obama.
ROBERTS: Is there a sense from the international community as there is to some degree here that he's just got too much on his plate? As you said, loose nukes, Iran, Middle East peace, health care. Obviously, he's got a lot out there.
MALVEAUX: In gesture, they realize that he's spread pretty thin here, and so -- but they're all jockeying for their own self-interest, whether they're going to be promoting it, if it's Middle East peace, or if it's trade, that kind of thing. But the U.N. ambassador, Susan Rice, said look, this is one of those moments where we've already seen dramatic changes with other world leaders in the relationship. People want to work with the United States. They want to work with this president here. They've seen changes already when it comes to Guantanamo Bay, the prisoners, or in terror interrogations, that type of thing. So they're very eager to get to the table.
We'll see if his popularity really translates into policy changes. That really is the big question.
ROBERTS: It's going to be a week to watch. Suzanne Malveaux, great to see you.
MALVEAUX: Thanks.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, at nine minutes past the hour now, the Senate Finance Committee is starting debate today on that health care reform bill. Lawmakers will be plowing through more than 500 amendments to the framework that was unveiled last week by Chairman Max Baucus. The $774 billion measure would require all Americans to have health insurance. It would also add a tax on companies offering more expensive insurance known as Cadillac plans. Baucus, though, has agreed to revise his plan to ease Democratic concerns about affordability for lower and middle-class Americans.
ROBERTS: A new United States senator from Massachusetts could be named by the end of the week. Today, Massachusetts lawmakers debate a bill that would allow their governor to appoint an interim replacement for the late Senator Ted Kennedy.
Former Governor Michael Dukakis is considered one of the front- runners for that temporary appointment. If the bill passes, Massachusetts voters would then select a permanent replacement in a special election scheduled to be held in January.
CHETRY: Smoking bans could be saving a lot of lives. There are two separate reports that analyze 24 different studies and found that heart attack rates dropped 17 percent within a year after communities enacted bans on public smoking. Researchers say that that could be preventing about 150,000 heart attacks every year.
Thirty-one states now forbid smoking in workplaces, in restaurants or bars. Of course, one of the things we talked about is whether or not measures to ban smoking places outside like Central Park or other outdoor areas is actually something that people would embrace.
ROBERTS: It would be, to editorialize here just a bit, a good thing because it's really annoying.
Well, he was known as "the hammer." The question is did he have two left feet? Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay made his long awaited debut last night on "Dancing With the Stars." He did the cha- cha, shaking his behind literally to "Wild Thing." You just can't make this stuff up. Have a look.
(VIDEO CLIP - "DANCING WITH THE STARS")
CHETRY: It reminds you of your uncle who had a little bit too much to drink at a wedding reception, doesn't it?
ROBERTS: Those joints look like they need a little bit of lubrication. When it was over, Bruno, the judge, told DeLay he was "crazier than Sarah Palin." DeLay and his partner Cheryl Burke received 16 points out of 30 from the judges and could be voted off the show tomorrow night. That knee slide, that's not bad.
CHETRY: There you go. And Cheryl, you know, she's used to being a winner. She danced with two of the people that ended up winning. Drew Lachey and one other person. So, it's probably killing her.
ROBERTS: If I ever did a knee slide like that, I'd be in for double arthroscopic surgery. Kudos to the Hammer for that one.
CHETRY: You'd make it. You'd make it.
Well, still ahead, we are going to be speaking with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency director, Ken Davis. We have new information this morning about what is going on, what emergency officials want everybody in the south to keep in mind as this flooding continues to cause major problems.
One of the recommendations, do not go to work today. Seventeen counties now in a state of emergency. We're going to have the latest for you coming up.
Twelve minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Back to our developing story. Fourteen minutes past the hour now.
Storms pounded the Southeast, flooding, killing six people so far. We heard from our Rob Marciano that on top of days and days of rain, ten inches fell in just six hours overnight, completely overpowering the ground. They were not able to absorb all of that water. And as a result, five people died in Georgia where some parts of the state have now seen 22 inches of rain since Friday.
This is a state of emergency in 17 counties. Roads and bridges closed. And state -- the state officials are warning people to stay home this morning.
Joining me from Atlanta right now, Ken Davis. He is a public affairs director at the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
Ken, thanks for being with us this morning. I know you guys are really busy, and we appreciate your time.
KEN DAVIS, GEORGIA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (via telephone): Thank you, Kiran.
CHETRY: So you're at the state operations center in Atlanta. What is the latest situation about flooding right now in Georgia?
DAVIS: Well, we still have flood warnings and possible flash flood warnings in effect over a wide area of metropolitan Atlanta. Up to several interstates are closed. Well, four to be exact -- pardon me -- three in the metro Atlanta area and we've recently received a report of an interstate in central Georgia closed, I-75.
CHETRY: Yes. As I also understand it, the Department of Transportation issued just a statement saying, you know, stay home. I understand that, you know, workplaces are going to have to understand that people have been told not to go to work. Part of that is that you need to inspect all these bridges, right, and make sure that they're OK. What are some of the other big problems?
DAVIS: Well, the -- as you mentioned, with the bridge inspections, of course, many people leave in the dark to go to work. Even where the waters have receded on some roadways, there could be damage. So there's still a safety threat out there.
CHETRY: I got you. Now, we know that the governor declared a state of emergency in 17 different counties affected by this severe weather. You're also dealing with power outages as well. So, how is that coming along for people that are there in that state that are dealing with a lack of any type of electricity right now?
DAVIS: Well, again, the restoration of power is still at a standstill until daylight. So suffice it to say, there are probably a few thousand people without power statewide.
CHETRY: All right. Our latest numbers were 28,000 right now.
DAVIS: Yes.
CHETRY: And they said that that's down, actually, from about 50,000 earlier. But tragically, we've seen six people dying as a result of this weather, the flooding. One of those casualties, a young boy.
DAVIS: Yes.
CHETRY: He was in the arms of his dad and just literally washed away, which is so heartbreaking to imagine happening to a family. Had there been enough warnings or were there enough warnings for people to evacuate, or did this just happen too fast? DAVIS: Well, a lot of this was flash flooding. But again, the major threat is people in vehicles. The incident you just cited, that was perhaps one of the few cases where the victims were not in vehicles. But the majority of the victims were in vehicles that went through standing water over roadways, and that's one of the major threats.
And we encourage people to not do that. You know, turn around, don't drown is the phrase we like to say. But, if you can't see the roadway, don't take a chance, particularly on days like today or during a period like we're going through right now.
CHETRY: All right. So, again, the advice from you as well as the Department of Transportation in Georgia, stay home today. Don't risk it because the roads still are not passable in many areas.
I want to thank you, Ken Davis, joining us this morning on the phone from Georgia's Emergency Management Agency. Thanks.
ROBERTS: There's a lot of misery down there. You know, the floodwaters, particularly stream sides and things, rogue (ph) tree roots, trees falling down on the houses. So many basements there flooded as well, you know. Not talking about death and that much destruction, just a real nuisance for a lot of people waking up this morning. Wow, bad stuff.
CHETRY: Yes. They're talking about needing to inspect at least 11 bridges in these areas before they say people can drive on them. So, I mean, literally, you have to stay home.
ROBERTS: That's the problem with flooding is there's so much damage that you can't see on the surface that you've got to inspect everywhere across the south this morning. It's going to take a while for them to recover.
Hey, Christine Romans up "Minding Your Business," coming up in just a couple of moments. Where are the states where you make the most money? She's got a report on that just ahead.
Nineteen minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's coming up now on 22 minutes after the hour. Christine Romans with us this Tuesday morning "Minding Your Business." You want to know the richest states to live? She's here with that information for us.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And a whole lot more. The Census Bureau releases some data that really show how the recession is changing just about every aspect of your life from where you live, to the length of your commute and everything.
The 2008 census community (ph) for years are surveying three million households on 40 different topics, and they show the population of foreign born in this country fell for the first time since 1970. For the first time since 1970, this has always been the land of the American dream. In 2008, it was the land of the American recession.
Thirty-eight million people in this country born in other countries, there were declines in low-skilled workers from Mexico and other countries. And that was -- those people looking for jobs in Arizona, Florida and California, you could really tell that in these statistics.
Fewer jobs in housing and construction meaning that demand from those places declined. One in five residents speaks the language other than English in the home. And when you look at the health insurance figures, you can see a close correlation between lack of health insurance and the fact that somebody was born in another country. So that is something that is definitely part of the health insurance debate.
We're seeing more people are moving less. Mobility is at a 60- year low, and living standards and incomes fell. So we wanted to look through where you make the most money, the top earning states and the lowest earning states in the country.
Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Alaska, Hawaii -- these are the places where -- these are where you get the top earnings, according to the Census Bureau. The lowest earning states, Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama. Median income falling in 27 states. As I said, again, according to these really interesting census figures from 2007, just about every facet of your life was affected -- or 2008, rather, affected by the recession including how much money you make, you know, job opportunity, whether you're moving, all of these things.
CHETRY: And in where...
ROBERTS: Certainly makes it official that everybody's feeling it anyway.
ROMANS: Absolutely, yes.
CHETRY: Where you -- did what state you can make a lot of money in change as well? Meaning, was New York on that list and now off because of the Wall Street situation, or no?
ROMANS: No. No. These are Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Alaska, Hawaii. These got stuck on the top of this list.
ROBERTS: And those are from 2007, anyway, right?
ROMANS: These are 2008 figures -- 2008 figures.
ROBERTS: 2008.
ROMANS: Yes. So this is the first kind of read about the recession on American life.
CHETRY: And, Christine brings us a "Romans' Numeral" each morning. This is a number that's driving a story about your money. So what have you got?
ROMANS: I have 25.5 minutes. And...
CHETRY: That's the average commute?
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: It is?
ROMANS: It's the average commute to work and it's rising. And why is it rising? Because we're carpooling, because we're trying to save money on gas and we're taking the train, taking the bus. It's taking a little bit longer.
And for our AMERICAN MORNING audience, one in eight of you leaves the house before 6:00 a.m. So, you're late if you haven't left yet.
ROBERTS: So we'd better start going on the air at 5:00 a.m.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, 25 minutes. Not too shabby.
ROMANS: 25.5 minutes. That's right.
Bloomington, Illinois, is the shortest. Fourteen minutes.
ROBERTS: Excellent.
ROMANS: They're not driving very much in Bloomington.
ROBERTS: So we'll move there.
CHETRY: Bloomington, Illinois.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning, thanks.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: Thank you.
Well, still ahead, we're going to talk a little bit more about new details investigators are learning about Phil and Nancy Garrido. These are the two accused in the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard.
Twenty-five minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Twenty- seven and a half minutes past the hour right now.
You know, in just a few hours, police in northern California are going to be back out at the property of Nancy and Phillip Garrido. They're searching for evidence that could link the couple to two child abductions 20 years ago. The Garridos are charged with kidnapping Jaycee Dugard back in 1991. She was just 11. And holding her captive at their home for 18 years. Phillip, meanwhile, is also accused of fathering two children with Dugard.
Meanwhile, we're learning more about a bizarre obsession that Phillip Garrido had, a black box that he claimed had special powers. Dan Simon is following that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the call came from out of the blue early last year, the man on the line identified himself as Phil Garrido. He was calling this man, a private investigator.
(on camera): What was he like in that time you spent with him?
RALPH HERNANDEZ, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Well, way much more different than what you're seeing on the latest news broadcasts. He was like you and I are right here. We're speaking normal, dressed normally, acting normally.
SIMON: Of course, we now know that when Garrido placed that phone call, 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard had been missing for 17 years. She was now 28 and Garrido had fathered two daughters with her, and they were living in secret behind his house.
So why would Garrido be calling a P.I.? He needed help, he said, convincing people that he had an extraordinary invention.
(voice-over): This is it. Garrido's black box. Until now, only a handful of people have seen it. He became obsessed with his so- called invention.
Basically just a black case with a handle. A couple of jacks. Very light.
It turns out just a few days before Garrido was arrested for his alleged crimes against Jaycee Dugard, he asked a friend to keep the box for him. His friend wants to remain anonymous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He plugged into it. He would give you a set of headphones, and he would have a set of headphones. And he would manipulate his hand basically over the top of the box, and it would have sound coming out of it, emitting sound like distortion noises like whales and all sorts of little interference noises. While he would move his lips and not speak but yet move his lips, and you would be able to hear his voice through the headphones.
SIMON (on camera): Did he ever do it on you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the time.
SIMON: And what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Notice we're smiling at one another.
SIMON: Yes.
(voice-over): Among those he asked to try his invention, we couldn't find one who took it seriously.
But Phil Garrido believed he was on a special mission from God. In this press release, he declared "a Bay Area man has made a major discovery." In fact, he was talking about religion more and more obsessively. At this point, it was about two years before he would be arrested.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I had any idea that this was the type of a mad man that we now know he is, he would never been anywhere in my inner circle.
SIMON: They all think of Garrido as a mad man now, his twisted double life, his black box, his voices and his growing fixation with religion. All of it would soon lead to a confrontation with the police in Berkeley and then an arrest. His biggest secret finally exposed -- the hidden compound and Jaycee Dugard found after 18 long years.
Dan Simon, CNN, Contra Costa County, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour now on this Tuesday morning.
And here are your top stories.
People in Georgia now being advised to stay in their homes today. Raging floodwaters forcing the governor to declare a state of emergency in 17 counties. Six people in the southeast are dead including a 2-year-old baby who was ripped from his father's arms by the floodwaters. Another storm on the way there today.
CHETRY: The Justice Department's inspector general is planning to investigate the embattled community organizing group, ACORN. The limited investigation will focus on efforts by ACORN to get grant money from the justice department.
As many of you know, ACORN has been under fire following the public release of undercover videos showing a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute trying to receive advice from ACORN employees on how to skirt the law.
ROBERTS: And the United States may be looking to China for help to get North Korea back to the table for nuclear arms talks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just wrapped up meetings with diplomats from Australia, Japan and South Korea. They all agreed that face-to-face meetings between the U.S. and North Korea are needed, but China has to lay the groundwork first. President Obama meets later on -- meets later on today with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Now to the war in Afghanistan and the president at a crossroads. President Obama considering a move to send more Americans into harm's way in an increasingly unpopular war. His top commander in Afghanistan saying that more boots are needed on the ground or he can't win. So what's next?
Zalmay Khalilzad is the former ambassador and special envoy to Afghanistan. He's now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He joins us in our Washington bureau.
Mr. Ambassador, you probably heard General Stanley McChrystal's assessment of the situation there in Afghanistan that if he doesn't get more combat troops on the ground and begin to turn things around within the next 12 months, it's possible that the U.S. mission in Afghanistan could end in failure.
What's your assessment of what the general has to say?
AMB. ZALMAY KHALILZAD, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR AND SPECIAL ENVOY TO AFGHANISTAN: I think the general has made an important contribution. He's recognized that in order to succeed in the mission of achievement objective vis-a-vis the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan, he needs to pursue a population protecting counterinsurgency strategy. And to do that, he needs the resources necessary to protect the Afghan population so that they can cooperate against al Qaeda and the Taliban.
ROBERTS: The president was asked recently about a potential increase in American force strength on the ground in Afghanistan. Let's listen quickly to what he said, and then I'll ask you about it on the back side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are in the process of working through that strategy. The only thing I've said to my folks is, A, I want an unvarnished assessment, but, B, I don't want to put the resource question before the strategy question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: He's looking at strategy here. And the question regards to strategy is what is the appropriate policy to pursue in Afghanistan? Is it counterinsurgency, as General Stanley McChrystal suggests, or is it targeted counterterrorism? Which do you think is the appropriate policy to pursue?
KHALILZAD: I think that in order to have an effective counterterrorist strategy in Afghanistan, it is important to do a counterinsurgency strategy to succeed.
You know, General McChrystal was America's number one counter- terror fighter for most of his recent career. Now, in Afghanistan for the past several months, he has had overall responsibility, and he has come to a judgment that I support that to be effective in the current terror mission, he needs to do a good job in terms of counterinsurgency. ROBERTS: Yes. There's increasing dissension in the Democratic ranks to this idea of increasing U.S. troop presence on the ground in Afghanistan. Carl Levin, the head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, doesn't like the idea. Senator Russ Feingold said he would prefer a flexible timetable for withdrawal of American forces.
If you begin, Mr. Ambassador, to draw down American forces at this critical point in Afghanistan, what do you think the net effect would be?
KHALILZAD: Well, it would be a devastating blow to our efforts against al Qaeda and the Taliban, if we were to ultimately abandon Afghanistan before we succeed. Al Qaeda and the Taliban would regain the foothold that they lost in Afghanistan. It would be similar to the loss that the Soviets suffered in Afghanistan in the 1990s. It would embolden al Qaeda, it would embolden the Taliban and it would substantially damage American credibility around the world.
ROBERTS: At the same time, there are problems with the Afghan government where it's rife with corruption. General McChrystal says that if you're going to have an effective government in Afghanistan, one that the people can actually have faith in, one that would be able to govern the country, you've got to root out the corruption.
There was some speculation that you might have run for office there in Afghanistan in the last round of elections.
Is it possible to eliminate or at least reduce the corruption in the Afghan government, particularly in light of this idea that Hamid Karzai associated himself with some rather unsavory characters in order to get the support he needed to do win the presidency, people like General Dostum?
So, is it possible to get corruption out of the government there?
KHALILZAD: Well, we need to be much more effective than we have been in recent times in getting the Afghan government to do what it needs to do in order for the mission to succeed there. We cannot succeed in Afghanistan if the Afghan government doesn't do what it must do in terms of governance, in terms of dealing with corruption.
I think we need to reach a new compact with the Afghan government that -- what it must do in response to what we do to support it. In recent years, our relations with the Afghan government, particularly in the last several months, have been rather strained. The administration has tried to get someone else perhaps to be elected as the president of Afghanistan. That effort has not borne fruit yet.
I think once the results of the election ultimately become known through the process that is there in the Afghan constitution and laws, we need to have a new understanding, a new compact with that government. It must deal with the issue of corruption. It must do better to provide services for the Afghan people.
ROBERTS: A lot of challenges ahead and not a whole lot of time to address them either. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, good to talk to you this morning, sir. Thanks for dropping by.
KHALILZAD: Well, it's very nice to be with you.
CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead, we heard one former president, Jimmy Carter, say that he thought racism was a factor in the health care debate. So does another former president agree? Bill Clinton on "LARRY KING LIVE."
Thirty-seven minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Former President Bill Clinton says he does not believe that racism is motivating opponents of President Obama's health care reform efforts.
CHETRY: Yes. That means he disagrees with another former president, as you know, Jimmy Carter, who's already on the record last week. He said he believes that racism is an obstacle for President Obama and that it's driving a lot of the anger in the health care debate.
But on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" last night, President Clinton insisted that the health care debate is not about hate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Congressman Joe Wilson, he yells "you lie." Since then, President Carter says racism is at the bottom of all this uproar. Where do you -- what do you feel?
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe that some of the right-wing extremists which oppose President Obama are also racially prejudiced and would prefer not to have an African- American president.
But I don't believe that all the people that oppose him on health care and all the conservatives are racist. And I believe if he were white, every single person who opposes him now would be opposing him then.
Therefore, while I have devoted my life to getting rid of racism, I think this is a fight that my president and our party, this is one we need to win on the merits.
And so I understand why it's frustrating because the congressman was from South Carolina, and South Carolina is noted in the Republican Party for having Bob Jones University and...
KING: Dixie flag.
CLINTON: The Dixie flag, the messy primary with John McCain and President Bush in 2000. But I really think that we should disaggregate lingering problems of discrimination from the attacks to which the president is subject. The ones that have a racial -- obvious racial overtone, you can see that's coming from an extreme right winger who also has racial prejudice.
But we have to win this health care fight on the merits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: President Clinton last night with "LARRY KING LIVE" talking about all of that.
We've got extreme weather across the country. Real hard times down in the South as well. Flooding in Georgia and other southern states. What's on tap for today?
Our Rob Marciano has got the weather forecast for the nation coming right up.
It's now 43 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Beautiful shot this morning of the sun coming up over New York City. A little U2 on our AM play list this morning at 46 minutes past the hour. Right now, it's 67 degrees. It's going to be 78 and cloudy today in the Big Apple.
Meanwhile, it's time to fast forward through the stories that will be making news later today.
At 9:30 Eastern, former New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress will be sentenced on a weapons charge. Burress last month he pleaded guilty to the charge after accidentally shooting himself inside a New York City nightclub. Now, in this plea deal he agreed to serve a two- year prison term.
Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman expected to officially declare her candidacy for governor of California. The 53-year-old Whitman will be a leading Republican candidate to succeed Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010 when term limits will force him to leave office.
And the group FlyersRights.org holding a hearing on legislative proposals to give passengers the option of getting off the plane if they're stuck on the tarmac for three hours or more. The former CEO of American Airlines as well as California Senator Barbara Boxer are among those who will testify.
You know, we'll see how it goes. We've been talking about this for years now about this passengers' bill of rights. Can you get off the plane if you're stuck sitting there for hours?
ROBERTS: Well, not if you're those 50 passengers who were on that Continental Express flight coming into Minnesota. And they sat on the tarmac for nine hours in Rochester overnight. This little cigar tube of an aircraft couldn't get up, walk around, couldn't do anything. Something's got to be done.
Jacqui Jeras is at the weather center in Atlanta. She's checking in on all the extreme weather across the country.
How's the flood situation in the south there, Jacqui, and what's expected to happen today?
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Jacqui, thanks so much for that.
CHETRY: Well, we've all seen these exchanges where maybe a reporter is on live television and someone in the crowd starts screaming or comes behind them. A couple cases they grab the microphone and ran.
Well, our Jeanne Moos with a funny take on some of these confrontations on live TV.
Forty-nine minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
You know, anything can happen on live television, but it's always must-see TV when reporters get a little interference from the crowds around them. Recently an event that was covered by the national networks, the audience turned on the reporters, and it was all captured live.
Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They call it the Value Voters Summit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARRIE PREJEAN, FORMER MISS CALIFORNIA: And God chose me for that moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: But what we valued was how reporters from opposite political camps -- MSNBC and Fox -- both got hassled live.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
BRIAN MOOAR, MSNBC REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE) and got you're invited guests. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's too bad.
MOOAR: And we're doing television.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're being rude. You can get out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES ROSEN, FOX NEWS REPORTER: There's a gentleman who's trying to crowd into my live shot right now, are trying to prevent us from continuing our work here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're disturbing people here.
ROSEN: Excuse me, sir. I am doing my job. I'm a reporter and we're actually showing your event on television.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: It happened almost simultaneously and it had nothing to do with ideology.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you mind?
MOOAR: Ma'am?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is about the rudest thing you could do.
MOOAR: We're on live with MSNBC.
(CROSSTALK)
MOOAR: Please don't touch the microphone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you mind?
MOOAR: Tell us what your thought is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My thought is that you are rude.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are being rude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEN: I'm doing my job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you stop?
ROSEN: Excuse me, sir. You're interrupting my work right now. Please... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're interrupting all of us.
ROSEN: Please. You're causing a disturbance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: The reporters were just reporting from where risers were set up for cameras shooting the event.
(on camera): Organizers say the problem was that more people showed up than expected, so they had to add chairs in the back and those seats encroached on the area already set up for the media.
(voice-over): So when the reporters spoke, the attendees couldn't hear the speakers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY MSNBC)
MOOAR: And you are?
LINDA PUTZ: I am Linda Putts (ph) and I paid to come here to listen, not to be disrupted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS (on camera): Now, reporters are used to getting hassled, but usually we get pestered by idiots just jumping up and down in the background. That's my producer.
(voice-over): The other day, protesters at the Washington Tea Party chanted, "Tell the Truth!" and "No More Lies!" behind a CNN Radio reporter.
PROTESTORS: No more lies! No more lies!
LISA DESJARDINS, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: Can I ask you guys something?
What do you think of Congressman Joe Wilson?
PROTESTERS: Yes!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: At that same rally, a Fox News producer got nabbed revving up the crowd behind her reporter by waving her hands. Fox told the Huffington Post: "She is a young, relatively inexperienced associate producer who has been disciplined."
Back at the Values Summit, the man who scolded MSNBC's reporter was escorted out by security and organizers apologized to the press.
But there's nothing like looks that kill to liven up a live shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOOAR: Well, it's great live television.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEN: You're causing a disturbance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: ... New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Isn't that the worst, though, when you have to cover those events and somebody's speaking and you have to do a live shot in the background? You're trying to be quiet. It's so awkward.
ROBERTS: You know, after having been in that situation a lot, you perfect the golf commentary is what you do.
CHETRY: You talk like this. Try to be as quiet as possible.
ROBERTS: Norman at the 18th Green now with a 30-footer.
CHETRY: Oh, goodness.
ROBERTS: You do. You just, you know, some people get out there, and they want to be the center of attention. And they just blare away. You've got to be sensitive that there are other people in the room who did pay to come and listen to those speakers. And you've just got to show appropriate decorum in those situation.
CHETRY: Yes. And then you have your producer saying, speak up, speak up, we can't hear you over the microphone.
ROBERTS: Just get the mike close to the mouth.
CHETRY: Well, when it comes to gun laws, we know there are two very different viewpoints. And the debate has some people quite angry. This week Carol Costello is exploring this in her series "Mad as Hell," coming up in just a couple of minutes.
Carol talks to some gun owners who are not happy right now. She's going to tell us why.
Fifty-five minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're back with the Most News in the Morning.
Fights over the economy and health care are dominating the headlines at home. But President Obama has got a week of foreign policy challenges ahead of him. Today, he faces Mid-East peace head on. The president meeting in New York with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Bitterness on both sides is high, and even the White House is keeping expectations low.
Our Suzanne Malveaux here now with a look at the diplomatic hand that he has to play here today. And it doesn't sound like eights and aces, does it?
MALVEAUX: Yes.
MALVEAUX: Yes.
I mean, who does he avoid and who does he embrace? Everybody is going to be watching that. I mean, President Obama, he's going to be at the center of this world summit. And he's highlighting his own agenda, talking about -- tackling climate change, grabbing loose nukes, promoting trade. But all eyes are going to be on his interactions with some of those other heavy hitters.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): President Barack Obama will be tested by friends and foes alike. The delicate dance of diplomacy involves engaging some and ignoring others. His first face-to-face meetings will be with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine's Mahmoud Abbas, signaling his administration's priority to jump start Middle East peace.
JON ALTERMAN, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Under those circumstances, he's not going to get a grand gesture from the Israeli side. He's not going to get a grand gesture from the Palestinian side. The president's goal is to show that he cares, he's working on it, he's trying to move it forward.
MALVEAUX: But forward momentum on the specifics regarding Palestinian security or Israeli settlements are unlikely. President Obama also wants to move forward on tougher economic sanctions against Iran if it continues to pursue its nuclear ambitions. That's why he's sitting down with those most resistant to the sanctions. The leaders of Russia and China.
ALTERMAN: The president has to speak to the leaderships, and get a sense for how willing they are to sanction Iran, what they might want in return, and what their real assessment of the Iranian threat is.
MALVEAUX: Iran's leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, will also be attending the international summit. White House aides say Mr. Obama has no intention of engaging him. He's one of several the president will try to avoid.
UNIDENTIFIED: I think he's going to want to avoid President Ahmadinejad who lives in his own sense of reality. He's going to want to avoid President Chavez. I don't think the president should give away a handshake or a meeting with President Gadhafi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And while we're talking about international issues this week, taking a break from the health care debate, the one thing that I found fascinating is learning that these world leaders have also been paying very close attention to the health care debate. The reason why, according to Dr. Jon Alterman, who was featured in the piece, is that they're trying to see if people can defy the president and get away with it, and they're taking cues from that. So it will be very interesting to see how he interacts...
ROBERTS: If the Republicans can hand him a setback, maybe they can, too.
MALVEAUX: We'll see.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Looking for weaknesses all over. Thanks very much, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Sure.
ROBERTS: There's a lot at stake politically for the president this week. Coming up, two experts on what it would take to bridge the gap in the Middle East, and can it ever be done? Nobody's really hopeful.
