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American Morning
Controversy Erupts over Gadhafi Visit to U.S.; Ahmadinejad Claims He Will Seek Leniency for Americans Held in Iran; Best Places for Working Moms to Seek Employment; Country Divided
Aired September 23, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, welcome again to AMERICAN MORNING on this Wednesday. It's the 23rd of September. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. Thanks for being with us.
And here are the big stories that we'll be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
Outrage in a New York City suburb over Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi pitching a tent on property owned by Donald Trump. He's in the New York area for the U.N. General Assembly this week. We're tracking this developing story.
CHETRY: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promising to seek leniency for three American hikers who have been held captive in his country for more than seven weeks.
This is happening as he prepares to address the United Nations General Assembly tonight. He is already issuing a challenge to President Obama. Our State Department correspondent Jill Dougherty is here to break that down for us.
ROBERTS: Plus, across the country, Americans are speaking out, polarized over politics, divided over health care, the president's agenda, taxes, the list goes on.
So can we fix these deep divisions, or will we stay a house divided? Carol Costello's got the latest in our series "Mad as Hell" this morning.
Well, the people of Bedford, New York, have a message for Moammar Gadhafi -- get your tent out of our town. The Libyan leader pitched his tent in the New York City suburb to host his guests. He's in town for today's the U.N. General Assembly giving a speech today as well.
Just a few years ago the U.S. government considered Libya a state sponsor of terrorism. And while there has been a policy shift between the two countries, statements here clearly have not changed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: For Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, it seems the third time's the charm. After striking out in Central Park and Englewood, New Jersey, his Bedouin tent is finally being pitched on a property owned by none other than Donald Trump in Westchester County, north of Manhattan. The outrage boiled over in less than a New York minute.
ANDY SPANO, WESTCHESTER COUNTY EXECUTIVE: We really don't want him here. He's not welcome here. This guy's a terrorist. He's maimed and killed innocent people. He really doesn't belong here, let alone in Westchester, in the United States.
ROBERTS: Donald Trump's company was quick to react, saying, "We have business partners and associates all over the world. The property was leased on a short-term basis to Middle East partners who may or may not have a relationship to Mr. Gadhafi. We are looking into the matter."
Gadhafi is in the United States for the first time in 40 years. He wants to use the tent to receive guests while attending the United Nations General Assembly.
But local residents want no part of it. They're still enraged by last month's images of Gadhafi giving a hero's welcome home to convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdelbaset al Megrahi after he was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.
Rabbi Schmuley Boteach played a big role in keeping Gadhafi out of New Jersey and is now leading the chorus to pull down his tent in New York.
RABBI SCHMULEY BOTEACH, AUTHOR AND COMMUNITY LEADER: He's thumbing his nose at us. This event with al Megrahi happened about three weeks ago. And we all watched how this killer -- and a cowardly killer at that, all he did was place a bomb on a plane and let the people be blown to smithereens. He kissed Gadhafi's hands.
And we Americans need to tell Gadhafi to kiss a different part of our anatomy entirely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: An attorney for Bedford says the town ordered work on the tent to be stopped last night. Town officials plan to be back on the site this morning to see if workers are complying.
We want to dig deeper on this as well as brand-new comments by Iran's president on those detained American hikers. Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is here with us this morning along with our foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty.
And Jill, when it comes to this tent, Schmuley Boteach, whose property you went out to, he had joined the Libyan property where they initially wanted to put up the tent, says he's thumbing his nose at the United States. Is this really a finger in the eye to the U.S.?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: I think it's a great pr bandit, because after all, Colonel Gadhafi is very good at getting press. Look, we've been talking about this for months now. Does he want to have his tent? Probably, it's true. But, I mean, the way he dresses, the tent, the whole thing, he likes to get attention, and we're giving it to him.
ROBERTS: It's a long way from the United Nations. I don't know what practical value it's of.
DOUGHERTY: Well, he couldn't do it in Central Park. They didn't want him to do it in New Jersey. So I guess you go to the next green spot.
ROBERTS: And he did.
CHETRY: You know what else is brand new this morning is Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking out about those three hikers, the Americans detained in his country. They're accused of crossing the border over from Iraq.
Ahmadinejad is in New York as well, as many other world leaders, for the U.N. General Assembly. He spoke to reporters late last night, saying that he's willing to push for leniency in the case of these Americans. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (via translator): We're not happy that this has happened. But when the law is broken, the law itself foresees a procedure that has to be carried through.
What I can ask is that the judiciary expedites the process and gives it its full attention and to basically take a look at the case with maximum leniency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour joins us now with this as well. Ahmadinejad has said that he would appeal to the court for maximum leniency. That's a pretty strong statement in this. Why is he coming out with that now?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is. It's conciliatory, and it reminds of what he said about Roxana Saberi all those months ago. He won't come out and say "I'm going to get them released," but he did back then and he has just now said that he will tell the judiciary to act expeditiously and with leniency.
So perhaps that will mean movement on it as it did with Roxana Saberi.
And why is he doing it now? Because he's in the United States, because, obviously, he's going to speak at the U.N. But beyond that, the U.S. government has decided to break with the Bush administration policy and now enter direct and bilateral talks with Iran, including being in the group of the P-5 plus one over the nuclear and other negotiations.
So that's new. And I suppose he wants to pave some kind of different atmosphere. But it's going to be difficult because of the tension still about that disputed election.
ROBERTS: So what is the way forward for the White House? The White House has come out saying that President Obama will not directly engage Ahmadinejad during the United Nations proceedings, but they do want to -- they are looking for some sort of a diplomatic opening. So how do you see the way forward here?
AMANPOUR: Well, I think they're confused, and I think everybody at the moment, about how to deal with Iran and how to deal with the bigger issues.
Because at the beginning, if you remember, President Obama and his administration were thinking about entering a big sort of global negotiations with Iran, engaging them, obviously, on the nuclear issue, but in a way to end the 30 years of hostility that has been between them because of the beginning of the Islamic Revolution.
Now with the disputed election, that makes it much more difficult. It just makes this so much pressure on the administration not to engage with the Iranian government because of this disputed election and particularly, obviously, what went on afterwards.
CHETRY: With the protests.
AMANPOUR: Yes, with the protests, the arrests, the allegations of torture and the killings and all of that. So this has been very difficult.
So they're going to see what they can do. And it looks like they want to engage, and if that doesn't work, then try to pave the way for sanctions. But that's also fairly risky because the Russians have already said they're not going to go towards sanctions.
So the way forward is a little unclear at the moment. But it seems like the opportunity for that attempt to enter negotiations with the view to really trying to hammer out all the issues between the two countries may have been stalled and stymied somewhat for the moment.
Certainly Ahmadinejad is not making it easy either with what he said about the holocaust again last week. You know, Germany threatening to walk out of his speech at the U.N. General Assembly if he mentions that today. How do you negotiate with this guy?
AMANPOUR: Well, he says many, many things. He keeps saying the same things. These are not new things that he keeps saying. He said this over and over again about the holocaust.
He also makes it much, much tougher when he's speaking inside Iran than when he's speaking here. To this interview that he just did last night, he tried to sort of soften the edges of, nonetheless, what he believes, that the holocaust was a myth and that if it did happen, then it's up to Europe to deal with it, not the Palestinians. That's his standard, his standard public rhetoric.
Some people do believe that there might be walkouts in the General Assembly today, not just because of that, but that and because of the election and the way the government handled it afterwards.
ROBERTS: We'll watch it closely today. Christiane, good to see you this morning, thanks.
CHETRY: And Jill Dougherty, as well thank you for joining us. We'll have much more on everything that's taking place at the United Nations.
Meantime, we want to remind you there's going to be tough questions, tough interviews beginning Sunday, 2:00 p.m. eastern. Christiane Amanpour grilling international leaders about global stories that matter to you. "AMANPOUR" 2:00 p.m. Eastern right after "GPS" and it premiers this Sunday. Congratulations and good luck to you.
AMANPOUR: Thank you.
ROBERTS: She's firing up the barbecue as we speak.
(LAUGHTER)
Flavored cigarettes are now against the law in the United States. The ban took effect yesterday, the first sign of the Food and Drug Administration's new power to regulate big tobacco.
The FDA says candy, fruit, and clove-flavored cigarettes appeal to young people and cause thousands of teenagers to get hooked on tobacco. Menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars still not affected by the ban, but the FDA is studying those products.
CHETRY: Well, the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission issuing a finding of probable cause that it was racism involved in the decision to kick out a group in suburban Philadelphia that were -- a group of campers that were trying to swim there.
It's a ruling that came down. They looked at the Valley Swim Club's decision to revoke the swimming privileges of a mostly minority day camp back in June.
It's a story we follow closely here on "American Morning." And this pool has now been ordered to pay a $50,000 penalty and also to give board members antidiscrimination training. The swim club, though, says they will fight this ruling.
ROBERTS: And Christiane, Jill, watch this closely. We want to just warn everybody, everything turned out OK, but this is an incredible video. Something you have to see here -- a narrow escape for a small child in Sunnyside, Washington, who nearly got crushed by an out-of-control car.
This is a sidewalk video here. There you see the child, and boom! There's the car. It comes up on the sidewalk. It had backed into another vehicle and then somehow crashed into this building.
But you see there right in the center of the screen, there are a line of sidewalk barricades, poles that the car climbed up on as it hit the wall and got suspended on those poles.
The child walked away unharmed -- unbelievable video. Watch one more time. There she is. Here comes the car -- boom. The car gets hung up on those pylons -- unbelievable.
CHETRY: I can't even watch it. It's shocking.
AMANPOUR: Every parent's nightmare. I don't understand who was taking the pictures.
ROBERTS: It was a security camera.
AMANPOUR: Wow.
CHETRY: Well, we are talking more about these Americans that were held in Iran. And as we've said, the statements coming from Iran's president indicating perhaps leniency, but also working within the courts.
Well, this has been a nightmare for their families, seven weeks now not knowing the fate of their loved ones. We're going to be talking to them about what they are hoping will happen and whether or not they think that their loved ones will be freed soon.
It's 10 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 12 minutes now after the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It has been nearly two months, 54 days to be exact, since three American hikers strayed into northwestern Iran. They were arrested and detained. Their families have not heard from them since.
Now Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is here in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, and the families are hoping for good news.
Laura Fattal is one of those mothers. She joins us along with her son, Alex, from Philadelphia this morning. She is the mother of Josh Fattal.
We should also mention that friends Sarah Shourd and Shane Bauer are also still being detained in Iran.
Laura, you and the mothers of Sarah and Shane wrote a letter recently to the leader of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. What did you say to him in that letter?
LAURA FATTAL, MOTHER OF AMERICAN DETAINED IN IRAN: We asked President Ahmadinejad to join -- have our children join him in New York when he addresses the General Assembly...
ROBERTS: Right.
L. FATTAL: ... where we were very interested in having him bring the children with him.
ROBERTS: I'm sure you would have been. You actually had some hope that he might have shown up last night with them. Those hopes were dashed. But what gave you that hope that just maybe, just maybe, he would have brought them along?
ALEX FATTAL, BROTHER OF AMERICAN DETAINED IN IRAN: Well, we imagine they'll be coming soon. We are encouraged by the recent statements of the president that he wants to deal with this matter expeditiously.
ROBERTS: Yes. He did say in an interview last night with APTN, which I'm sure that you were watching closely, from his hotel that the case has to go through the courts. He says that the three broke the law. They need to be punished.
But he is willing to plead to the courts for maximum leniency in this case. As our Christiane Amanpour pointed out just a couple of minutes ago, he made a similar plea in the case Roxana Saberi who was released soon after.
So does that give you hope that maybe the end of this, if not upon us, at least near?
L. FATTAL: Yes. We're very, very encouraged by the compassion of President Ahmadinejad in the release of all three children, Josh, Shane and Sarah. There was a very encouraging report from the president.
ROBERTS: Alex, we had you on a couple of weeks ago. At that point the Swiss embassy was appealing on your behalf for some sort of consular contact with Josh, Sarah, and Shane. What has happened since then on that front?
A. FATTAL: Well, we still don't have word from them. We haven't gotten a phone call. We haven't been able to receive a letter, to send a letter. So we've had no contact, and that's been extremely difficult.
But, again, we're hoping that we'll get to give them a big hug. At this point, we're hoping for their quick release. As the president has said, he's working for a quick release and lenient and expeditious resolution to this.
ROBERTS: I'm certain you can't wait to welcome them back home.
Laura, do you have idea at this point, any information at all what kind of condition they're in, even where they're being held?
L. FATTAL: No, we don't. We don't have any specific information at all. But we are continually hopeful.
ROBERTS: So you don't know -- I think the last information that we had, and it was very sketchy information, was that they were still in the area where they had crossed the border. You don't have any word of them being moved maybe to the capital or to some other place in the country?
L. FATTAL: We have no specific information at all.
ROBERTS: Alex, initially, you and the other two families kept a very low profile here regarding what was going on. But increasingly over the last few weeks, you've been more and more vocal about it, more and more public about it. There's even a candlelight vigil that's planned for the 30th of September.
Why the change in strategy in addressing this issue?
A. FATTAL: We take things day by day. We're speaking with all of the families and deciding on a daily basis, on a weekly basis, what it is we're going to do.
And what we're planning on is for the 30th of September to have vigils throughout the country -- Los Angeles, the Bay Area, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, throughout the country. We're very much hoping that those vigils turn into welcome-home parties. That would mark two months in detention. We are hoping and hoping that it doesn't go that long.
ROBERTS: Laura, we talked about the letter that you and the mothers of Sarah and Shane had sent. We also heard you say that it's a very generous offer from President Ahmadinejad to plead for maximum leniency.
But as a mother this morning here on national television with President Ahmadinejad in this country, what is your plea to the Iranian president this morning?
L. FATTAL: Yes. We're asking for a humanitarian -- we have a humanitarian appeal that he will continue his compassionate attitude towards our children and that he will release them and bring them to the United States and have us embrace them and be part of all the families, that it's a national issue, families in California, in Minnesota, and here in Philadelphia.
ROBERTS: Well, certainly our thoughts and prayers are with the three and hoping for a swift resolution of this. Laura Fattal, Alex Fattal, thanks so much for joining us this morning. We certainly wish you a lot of luck with this.
L. FATTAL: Thank you.
A. FATTAL: Thanks, John.
CHETRY: And hopefully, again, as you said, they'll find out some more information, but at least a good sign. You can't look into the mind of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but they said "maximum leniency."
ROBERTS: Yes. And as Christiane said, if you look at the historic parallel here, he said very similar things about Roxana Saberi, and she was released not too long after. So fingers crossed.
CHETRY: Absolutely. And still ahead, our Carol Costello all this week has been exploring the notion that America is "Mad as Hell." Today it's solutions. Is there a cure for this?
It's 17 1/2 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: You know you're old when you don't understand not only the name of the group but the name of the song.
ROBERTS: I missed it.
CHETRY: "Vampire Weekend." That was the group.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It has nothing to do with your age. It has to do with you're such a hardworking mother that you don't have time to listen to all of this music all the time. That's why.
CHETRY: Christine Romans joins us right now. And that's a perfect segue to what you're talking about. As a working mom, are there places where you want a job, where it's a plum place to work and very conducive to work?
ROMANS: "Working Mother" magazine has come out with this list of 100 best companies to work for. And there's a bunch of things on the list they use to narrow down the companies.
And a lot of different names on here -- Abbott, Deloitte, Discovery Communications, Ernst & Young. You can go to "Working Mother" magazine and you can see all the 100 different companies to work for.
But here are the criteria, telecommuting and flex time. How are these companies making it easier for people? They say how, when, and where you work isn't as important as the quality of the work you produce, and these companies also realize that.
Job sharing -- 98 percent of the companies on this list had some sort of job sharing. That compares with 16 percent of companies on average, only 16 percent of job sharing.
CHETRY: When you say job sharing, what are you referring to?
ROMANS: I'm talking about two people sharing one job, so that Monday, Wednesday, Friday somebody has that job, Tuesday, Thursday somebody has it. Two part time people doing the job of one person.
Compressed work weeks, backup child care, sick child care -- many of these companies go above and beyond what is normal for doing all that kind of stuff.
So their point is that it's the job that you do that's the most important, don't be caught up in this traditional benefits, you know, benefits idea and work week idea. CHETRY: It's out for us -- CNN is a wonderful company, but, a, we can't do flex time, right, because we go on at the same time every day. That doesn't change. And we can't telecommute yet.
ROBERTS: We could be in studio five minutes before air or ten minutes before air.
CHETRY: That's our flex time.
ROMANS: A lot of companies depending on what you do, it's different. In customer service, for example, there are a lot of companies where you have to be there for the workweek. But some of these companies have a lot of different ways that women who are working mothers can try to stay on the work force.
One thing I found interesting about this, there wasn't really a lot of change in these numbers, which tells us the economy's kind of tight. So there aren't new companies getting added onto this list. And what we have to watch over the next year and a half is companies start to get rid of these benefits because it's too expensive.
ROBERTS: What's your "Romans' Numeral" for us this hour?
ROMANS: This shocked me more than a Romans numeral I've had in a long time -- 8 percent. Shocked me.
CHETRY: This is companies that offer maternity leave? Paid maternity leave?
ROMANS: Paid maternity leave. Only 8 percent of companies offer -- only 8 percent of companies offer paid maternity leave. That just -- I can't believe that. It's not very much.
ROBERTS: Is this one of them?
ROMANS: This is one of them. But we have -- we've cut back on how much paid maternity leave with this company since I began with this company. I thought they were going to grandfather me in, let me have the full 12 weeks. I think it's only eight weeks paid here.
CHETRY: That's right. Christine and I had our babies on the same day.
ROMANS: I know. Do you believe that? What are the chances?
CHETRY: You probably don't want us back after eight weeks, although we came back.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: I know.
CHETRY: All the guys in here are laughing. Talk about a wreck.
ROMANS: Think about that -- 8 percent of companies offered some form of paid maternity leave. ROBERTS: That's amazing.
ROMANS: That makes it tough to be a working mom in a lot of places.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans minding your business this morning.
Well, America is "Mad as Hell" not just because of what Christine was talking about, but a lot of other things as well.
Carol Costello continues our series this morning. Is there some way to bring this split country back together again? Stay with us. It's 24 1/2 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
All this week we have been talking about a country divided, taking a closer look at all the outrage over health care, gun control, and big government.
CHETRY: Yes, and the politics really fiery, people polarized, Washington partisan. So we're asking, can we actually put aside enough differences to fix our common problems?
Our Carol Costello is looking into that this morning in our series "Mad as Hell." But today it's the Kumbaya portion of your "Mad as Hell," right?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what we need, a big Kumbaya in this country. Solutions, that's the tough part. We're on hopefully the tail end of a deep recession. We've been living beyond our means. And there is a sense that not all of our politicians have been stand-up guys and gals.
So what is the fix?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: This is the picture of American disillusionment.
GOV. MARK SANFORD, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: I apologize.
BILL CLINTON, (D) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am profoundly sorry.
ROD BLAGOJEVICH, (D) FORMER ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: I'm innocent of every single allegation.
COSTELLO: So many who have served the people betrayed them. And even those who have not, some say aren't cutting it.
COSTELLO (on camera): What should be done?
CHRIS WESLING, CONSERVATIVE: Well, like I said, I think they ought to fire all the politicians and get new ones.
COSTELLO: Chris Wesling isn't expressing anything new. Distrust in politicians is in our DNA. But today some say it's different.
RICH GALEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Now you've got an entire population on the entire continuum from left to right including the gigantic center that it looks across the political landscape and sees nobody that they like, nobody that they trust, and nobody, frankly, that they want to follow.
COSTELLO (voice-over): But at the Latrobe Gateway football game in western Pennsylvania, there were some still willing to give politicians a chance. The president, after all, has a 55 percent approval rating. The fix for some is Mr. Obama.
STANLEY ZIMMERMAN, INDEPENDENT: He's swimming against the current, you know. And he's got a lot of energy. And he's got a lot of -- a lot of battle.
COSTELLO (on camera): So what's your secret of being in that happy mood?
WALT OLIVER, DEMOCRAT: Because it could be worse. It could be worse. Like a lot of people say, why you smile so much? To keep from crying sometimes, maybe. But I guess as long as I'm working and everything, I'm satisfied, you know.
COSTELLO (voice-over): At the Community of Reconciliation Church in Pittsburgh, the fix is about hope, too, and about redirecting our moral compass.
PASTOR DENISE MASON, COMMUNITY OF RECONCILIATION CHURCH: There's no question in my mind the moral authority in this country is capitalism and narcissism. I mean, it's me and how much. That's the basis upon which most of us make our decisions.
DOLAN VOGLE, REPUBLICAN: It's a very me, me, me attitude. I'm involved because I give to my kids all the time.
COSTELLO (on camera): You know, in all the people I've talked about, I've not heard one person accept blame for what's happening in the country right now. You're the first one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what I truly believe.
CARL VOGLE, REPUBLICAN: You're here at a football game just like a football team. Everybody's got to pull their weight. And once you do that, you have a winning team. The same thing would go with the government and with America.
COSTELLO (voice-over): So maybe, despite the anger and the distrust in many of our leaders, it will be all right. Nearly everyone here in Pennsylvania, no matter their political persuasion, believe that.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: It's refreshing, isn't it? Remember, I asked psychiatrist Dr. Gail Saltz if America was her patient, what would her diagnosis be? She said chronic depression, anxiety and narcissism. Her prescription, empathy. A look outside of oneself. She agrees with the vocals that we just heard. So, go, team.
ROBERTS: Great report. I tell you Carol, yesterday your report focused on gun control, in particular, with Democrats controlling both Congress and the White House, are we going to see more gun laws in this nation?
CHETRY: So we asked for feedback about that. Boy, did we get it, Carol. I'm sure you're not surprised about that.
COSTELLO: Yes.
CHETRY: So this one in particular really lit up the phone lines. Here's a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: Gun owners, by and large, sound like this. They're chickens.
CALLER: Our forefathers never imagined AK-47s in every home. There's got to be a limit somewhere.
CALLER: People are so upset about dog fighting, but it's OK to blow any other animal away that they feel deemed to be killed. Come on. You know it's barbaric.
CALLER: I'm a young black male. No one wants to talk to us. But those gun laws directly affect us. We're the guys out there that are being wiped out and demolished by these guns.
CALLER: If more people were licensed gun owners and actually carried their guns on their hips, criminals would be a lot less likely to act out.
CALLER: The only ones that's going to have the guns is the criminal. You can't do it that way. It doesn't work.
CALLER: Having a gun doesn't always mean you need to use the gun. It's just going to make someone think before they try to commit a crime on you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: As we said yesterday, Carol, intense passions at both sides of this issue. No surprise either.
COSTELLO: You know, on the blog, on my blog, hundreds and hundreds of comments. People are really fired up about this issue. No pun intended. And many of the comments on my blog, at least, were pro-gun. No gun control at all. They're very passionate about gun rights. I think we should do more stories on this, don't you? CHETRY: Yes, absolutely. No, I think it's a huge issue, really. And a lot of really good points of view. I hope people left their name and number on there because it would be neat to talk to a few of them.
COSTELLO: You're not kidding. Keep the comments coming, by the way. We want to know what you think of today's story. Can we stop the gridlock and get something done in Washington? What is the fix to our nation? What can bring us together? Head to our blog, cnn.com/amfix or you can call the show's hotline at cnn.com/amfix. Thank you for responding. Always interesting to read and hear.
ROBERTS: Great series, Carol. And I know how intensely passionate you were about it. Well executed. Thanks.
COSTELLO: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour. Checking our top stories this morning.
It's the flood of a lifetime for people in parts of the Southeast. Aerial views revealing the big picture here. Highways closed as rivers and creeks continue to overflow. Trees just barely poking out of the water in some neighborhoods. Nine deaths now blamed on the downpours that started last Friday. Officials say one man remains missing after jumping into raging floodwaters on a bet. Georgia officials estimate $250 million in damages so far.
CHETRY: And the other extreme, on the other side of the nation, fresh wildfires spreading and now threatening hundreds of homes in Southern California. The station fire that killed two firefighters is still smoldering in spots. But new flames are rising and spreading from the Santa Ana winds, northeast of Los Angeles. This fire has spread over 8,500 acres. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declaring a state of emergency in Ventura County.
ROBERTS: An expanded terror warning now for wide-open and crowded places, hotels, stadiums, even restaurants as officials search for more suspects in the New York-Denver terror plot. The Department of Homeland Security is now warning police nationwide to step up their watch over so-called soft targets. Authorities are concerned over a possible Al Qaeda plot to set off bombs that might be hidden in backpacks.
CHETRY: Well, speaking of terror plots, security analysts are saying that there is actually improved securities at places like airports and major landmarks that has forced Al Qaeda to, "aim smaller."
ROBERTS: But when you're thinking of protecting those smaller places, some that see thousands of visitors coming and going every day, it presents a real challenge. Would you walk through a metal detector and check in at a hotel, say?
CHETRY: Our Jason Carroll is looking into the challenges of protecting those places this morning. We're all used to it at the airport now. Take off your shoes, throw your laptop in, put everything in a Ziploc. But would you, as John said, want to walk through a metal detector back and forth at your hotel?
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what the debate is going on in the security community. Would guests be willing to do it? You know, the Department of Homeland Security has a list of protective measures for hotels to follow if they so choose. But will they choose to upgrade security, and if they do, will their customers be up for it?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): The United States is a country that prides itself on its open society. A place where people can see a movie or go to a ball game or check into a hotel without having to pass through the same type of security found at airports. But what if that changed? What if there were security checkpoints at hotels?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I kind of would hate to move in that direction. I think what's great about America is the freedom to go places.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once it starts, I think people get used to it.
CARROLL: In comparison, heightened hotel security is not unusual overseas. The Sheraton in Karachi, Pakistan, armed guards on patrol. None at the Sheraton in Los Angeles. The Marriott in Jakarta, Indonesia. Metal detectors, none at this Marriott in Washington, D.C.. Now that the Department of Homeland Security has released a bulletin saying hotels are attractive targets for terrorists and generally lack the security to prevent access by terrorists, some security experts say it's time U.S. hotels become more proactive in increasing security.
Pat D'Amuro is the FBI's former executive assistant director of counter terrorism and counterintelligence.
PAT D'AMURO, GUIULIANI SECURITY AND SAFETY: You have to be reasonable. You have to protect your guests. And you have to try to make it as unintrusive as possible. However, guests are going to have to realize that this is being done for their safety.
CARROLL: Several suggestive protective measures are outlined in the Homeland Security bulletin such as installing perimeter barriers, adding highly visible security, and random screening of guests. We contacted several major chain hotels including Marriott and Starwood resorts to ask about the likelihood of implementing the recommendations. None would comment.
Clark Ervin does not believe U.S. hotels will change. He's the author of "Open Target: Where America is Vulnerable for Attack."
CLARK ERVIN, THE ASPEN INSTITUTE: 9/11 proves that we are no longer impermeable to the kinds of security threats that other countries around the world, sadly, have routinely had to deal with. And so we're going to have to learn either to put up with these kinds of security measures before an attack happens or to do it after.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, a representative at Hilton weighed in on the topic, giving us a statement saying, "Hilton Hotels Corporation views guests and employee safety as our highest priority and has comprehensive security policies and procedures. We continually monitor security-related practices, and we work with law enforcement whenever additional guidance is needed."
You know, during the piece there, you and I were sort of talking about the fact that security analysts bring up the fact that it wasn't that long ago when we were not taking off our shoes at the airport. We got used to it. And so their argument is, if hotels were to implement new security measures, we'd get used to that as well.
ROBERTS: Having stayed at a lot of hotels where they had security measures around the world, it's not all that intrusive.
CARROLL: Right.
ROBERTS: Put your luggage through a scanner. And every time you go back and forth, you go through the metal detector. You do get used to it.
CARROLL: Better to do it now, you know, before something happens.
ROBERTS: Yes. Jason Carroll this morning. Thanks, Jason.
CHETRY: Thanks so much.
Well, there's a new book out. It's called, "Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage," written by Chris Andersen. And in it, he makes some very, very interesting - I don't want to use the word allegations because it's negative, but he has some insights into what this couple went through in the beginning of the president's budding political career, how they balanced family. And also he makes some interesting claims about how the first lady felt about the prospect of Hillary Clinton being Barack's vice president.
He's going to join us to talk more about his book, coming up in just a few moments. It's 39 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Forty-two minutes past the hour.
You know they're a power couple, a partnership, about as A-list as you can get. President and first lady Obama. There's no matter what you think in terms of politics. They are an intriguing team. So what makes their relationship tick? Well, our next guest gives us a peek into some of the Obama's most pivotal moments as the future first couple in a new book called "Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage."
"New York Times" best-selling author Chris Andersen joins me now. Thanks so much for being with us.
CHRIS ANDERSEN, AUTHOR: Great to be here, Kiran.
CHETRY: You know, the interesting thing before we get started into the meat of the book is that we reached out to the White House for a response to the book. And that they declined a comment but they made it known that they weren't happy. And in fact, they pulled a previously scheduled interview that we had with a senior adviser once they learned you were on the show. What's your reaction to that?
ANDERSEN: As senior as you can get, as I understand. I was dismayed because the "USA Today" story on the book said it was a glowing portrait of a rock-solid marriage, and that is exactly what it is. It's a very positive look. And I think what is a remarkable first family.
CHETRY: And the other interesting thing is some questions that were brought up about, you know, sourcing because at times in this book, you do relay conversations where Michelle and Barack would be the only people in the room. So explain your sourcing.
ANDERSEN: Right.
CHETRY: And explain how that works.
ANDERSEN: Well, you know, it's the fly on the wall technique.
CHETRY: Right.
ANDERSEN: I suppose is you go to the people that Michelle and Barack confided in, their friends in Chicago and his friends in Springfield, Illinois, his old poker playing buddies in the Senate that he talked to about these incidents. And they said precisely what they said to each other and what happened behind the scenes. I do re- create that in the book.
This is my 28th book. It is the fourth book I've written about presidential couples. The others were the Kennedys, the Clintons, and the Bushes. And I have to say I think this is the most riveting of all those books.
CHETRY: You talked to over 200 people?
ANDERSEN: Over 200 sources. Yes.
CHETRY: People very close to them as well.
ANDERSEN: As close as you can get.
CHETRY: All right. Let's get to some of the interesting parts. One of the things you write about here is how hard it was, and it's a challenge that I think a lot of new parents in relationships can understand where you're trying to make that turn. I mean Michelle Obama in her own right, a very successful and high-powered attorney.
ANDERSEN: Right.
CHETRY: And then a working mom supporting her husband's political ambitions. And one of the things that you write about is, you write, "Michelle delivered an ultimatum to her husband. If Barack couldn't find a way to pursue his political dreams and at the same time make more time for his family, then he would have to choose between the two." Explain those years and how this impacted the couple.
ANDERSEN: She has been very open about this. When he was pursuing his political ambitions in the state Senate in Springfield, he spent four nights away from home, leaving her at home to take care of the kids in Chicago. She was desperate. Valerie Jarrett, close friend, said she was desperately lonely and angry. She told her mother, you know, no, no, I did not sign on for this. He'd better do something to turn this around.
The president went to - not the president then - but then state Senator Obama would tell his friends constantly, God, Michelle is angry at me all the time. I've got to do something about this. And it really wasn't until September of 2001 when they reached a crisis. And that was the...
CHETRY: Yes, and actually we're going to talk about that as well. You talk about this turning point almost in their relationship.
ANDERSEN: Right.
CHETRY: And this is when Sasha, their younger daughter, who was just a few months old, had a meningitis scare.
ANDERSEN: Yes.
CHETRY: And the first lady herself actually talked about that had she was giving a speech last week. So let's listen to a little bit of that.
ANDERSEN: Great.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I will never forget the time eight years ago when Sasha was four months that she would not stop crying. And she was not a cryer. So we knew something was wrong. But he told us that she could have meningitis. So we were terrified.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So there you go. She talked about how scary it was. And then you write in your book that Barack Obama, now President Obama, later said, "My world narrowed to a single point. I was not interested in anything or anybody outside of those four walls." How did that change how the couple decided to handle their work-life balance?
ANDERSEN: Well, only for a short time did it actually. Because he said, she said it was a nightmare that brought them closer together. But they actually reverted to their old ways and started bickering again about who is going to spend more time with the family. In fact, it wasn't until he decided to run for the Senate two years later in 2003 when she said she made - she reached the epiphany in their relationship and that was when she made the decision not to find happiness through her husband.
She said, you know, "I cannot depend on my husband to make me happy. I've got to do it for myself." So she decided to go to the gym at 4:30 in the morning. She got in a full-time housekeeper. She took her mom up on offers to take care of the kids and really turned their life around. She saved the marriage, in fact.
CHETRY: That is fascinating. This is also interesting. You describe a moment in the campaign when there were discussions, as we know, it was a very, very contentious primary.
ANDERSEN: Right.
CHETRY: And there were talks about whether or not Hillary Clinton would be the vice presidential nominee or whether that would be something the Obamas would want. And you say that Michelle Obama asked, do you really want Bill and Hillary just down the hall from you in the White House? Could you live with that?
ANDERSEN: Exactly.
CHETRY: How did those conversations go?
ANDERSEN: Darn good advice, if you ask me. You know, he has often said that she is my chief adviser, the person I listen to. I wouldn't make an important decision without first consulting Michelle. And he asked her opinion. And she gave it to him. It's not the first time, by the way. She was the person who said the "yes, we can" slogan when it was floated by him when he was running for the senate back in 2004.
CHETRY: He was reluctant.
ANDERSEN: He was reluctant. He didn't quite get it. And David Axelrod and the other folks were trying to convince him to go with it, couldn't. But Michelle, she said, "It's going to work, trust me," and he did.
CHETRY: And you saw a little bit of the protective nature of spouses crop up when she felt that then President Clinton was being a little bit - I mean former President Clinton was being a little hard on the candidate, Barack Obama.
ANDERSEN: Yes, right.
CHETRY: And in this one exchange she said, I wanted to rip his eyes out and then made a clawing with her fingernails. You write, " 'Kidding', she said. 'See, this is what gets me into trouble.' "
ANDERSEN: Right.
CHETRY: A revealing moment. You're protective of your spouse when they're getting hammered on the campaign trail.
ANDERSEN: And this is what makes them so special is that they're not that guarded. You know. I love Laura Bush, but let's face it, she hid a lot behind that kind of frozen smile. And I think in the case of the Obamas, they're willing to show their true feelings and emotions and the fact that as a couple, she says look, I don't want anybody to think it's easy to have a marriage like ours. It's strong but it's not perfect.
CHETRY: Well, it's a very fascinating read. Chris Andersen, the author of "Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage." Thanks so much for being with us this morning. We appreciate it.
ANDERSEN: Thank you. I enjoyed it.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: Forty-eight and a half minutes after the hour now.
And our Dr. Sanjay Gupta spent a couple of weeks in Afghanistan recently. He was there over the Labor Day weekend and the weeks that followed. Some amazing reporting from the field there as he followed around these combat medical teams and the fabulous work that they do there, trying to keep our troops and even many of the Afghan population safe from harm.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta's going to be joining us in a couple minutes to talk about those experiences. Stay with us.
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ROBERTS: That's a perfect song to talk about the stock market. Stocks rallied on Tuesday with the Dow, S&P 500, the Nasdaq all hitting one-year highs. "Minding your Business" this morning and despite ongoing predictions for September slide, over the past two weeks, stocks have reputedly carved out one-year highs. The Dow industrial average rose to 9830. 9830. Experts say the Dow hitting 10,000 would be a nice boost to morale.
CHETRY: Going to add one more digit, right?
ROBERTS: Maybe hit 15,000 and some of the value that we had in the market would be back.
CHETRY: Well, keep dreaming for now. Hopefully. The good news for the unemployed, the House just passed - we were just talking about this - this emergency bill that will provide an additional 13 weeks of jobless benefits to Americans living in 27 states where the unemployment rate is at least 9.5 - 8.5 percent, rather. Unemployment payments to more than a quarter million workers will end this month alone and so that's why this extension and Christine said that later down the road it could extend to a million people.
ROBERTS: People in desperate need. You saw his exclusive reports from the front lines in Afghanistan. It was gritty and intense, even for our Dr. Sanjay Gupta who has covered stories for us all over the world. Now CNN's chief medical correspondent is back in these United States.
CHETRY: Yes, and he's here to tell us more about this remarkable experience, both as a brain surgeon and also a reporter in the battle zone. One of the most moving stories that you had. It was little Malik, and he was a toddler. He was rushed with a massive brain injury. He fell, right? And how did that unfold in this Afghani E.R.?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, you know, one of the things about kids is that everyone it seems has kids out there. So kids are treated differently I think, even the people I thought were kids, they had kids. I think kids galvanize everyone when they come into an emergency room. They are completely apolitical, innocent bystanders to all this.
When he came in it was unclear exactly what happened to him, how he was injured specifically. We knew he had this massive brain injury and that if nothing was done, he certainly was going to die. That part was clear. But exactly how he got there was pretty remarkable. So cute. I mean, because I have a two-year-old. I know small children, and it's just amazing to see him like that.
He was brought by special forces, he was in an area called Kundai (ph) province which was really, really remote. In fact, his parents had to walk 30 miles, by foot.
ROBERTS: My goodness.
GUPTA: Walk through this rugged terrain to get him to a regional hospital where they decided they really couldn't do anything for him. Special forces saw him there and decided to bring him to a larger battlefield hospital called Rural Tree (ph) Hospital where they have a neurosurgeon there. You know, there's only three neurosurgeon in the entire country of Afghanistan for 33 million people.
ROBERTS: Temporarily four.
GUPTA: Temporarily four, right. But what happens, even in a non-war zone time is that if you get a head injury like this, you're going to die. You're simply not just going to survive.
ROBERTS: So he was treated at this hospital. He was then taken back to a regional hospital. He went back and what were the conditions like there?
GUPTA: So, you know, we eventually take him back to a hospital closer to his home, 30 miles from his home. You know, no bed sheets, the water pumps instead, no running water. It's hard to imagine how he's going to continue to get care there. Without the special forces guys continuing to check in on him. So you had the somewhat of an artificial situation right now because you had this extra support but under normal circumstances it would be very hard for him to get recovery.
CHETRY: So we see him looking like they were helping him walk. You actually at one point were asked to scrub in because they were short. So what - first of all, how is he and what was that experience?
GUPTA: I think he's doing well. It's interesting because after we did the story several other news organizations including the "Associated Press" sort of tracked him down as well. Selfishly I've been getting reports on Malik as well. It sounds like he is doing...
CHETRY: He had surgery?
GUPTA: He had surgery on the left side of his brain. They were worried about him being very weak on the right side of his body but he is moving. He was walking as you saw in some of those images there. So I think he's doing well.
Doing the operations over there is sort of a remarkable thing. You know, it's an honor, I think, in many ways to be asked to do it. But the thing that really struck me is, you know, I operate every week and I never worry about my own life. I never worry that I'm going to be shot or there's a bomb that is going to go off near me while I'm operating.
These guys, some of the images, I don't think you can tell, but they are wearing side arms when they're operating. There is a constant sort of threat of OK, we are risking our own lives to save somebody else. You know, sort of that human hierarchy that I think was really sort of striking to me.
On this day I will risk my life so that I can help somebody else. It's amazing to me. And they are doing it every single day out there, these medics and these doctors and nurses, everybody.
ROBERTS: Incredible work they're doing and some fantastic reporting from you.
CHETRY: Thanks.
ROBERTS: We should also say, though, that the next time that Sanjay reports on the H1N1 flu, you'll know that he knows what he's talking about because he'll be speaking from personal experience.
GUPTA: That's right.
CHETRY: You had swine flu.
GUPTA: That's right. I got it. In one of those T-shirts, "I went to Afghanistan and all I got was the swine flu." I'm here to talk about it.
CHETRY: He just coughed. Did you cough in your elbow there?
GUPTA: I'm going to get nasty e-mails about that. I'm here and I will tell you all about it. The good news is that I'm no longer contagious. And I survived it. So I'll tell you what it was exactly like.
CHETRY: You're going to be blogging about this because there's a lot of questions for parents, too. You're saying kids get it. Get it for your kids.
GUPTA: You know, and I'm saying that as a parent. And I'm saying having gone through it, it was a miserable few days. I think the vaccine is going to help. I think there has been a lot of testing on seasonal flu vaccine in the past. You would love to have more testing on H1N1 but in the end you got to make a decision. And my decision is I'm going to get it for my kids.
ROBERTS: And don't forget too that for all of you who managed to come down with the swine flu, Sanjay got it in Afghanistan.
GUPTA: Right. It's everywhere.
ROBERTS: And managed to survive. So it should be all right. Sanjay, great to see you. Welcome back.
CHETRY: Glad you're better.
ROBERTS: So, Moammar Gadhafi - this is a big controversy, pitching his tent in Bedford, a little suburb north of New York. We're going to be talking with the town's attorney trying to shut Moammar Gadhafi down. Coming right up.
It's 58 minutes after the hour.
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