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American Morning
Dow Opens Above 10,000; American Freed From Japanese Prison; Health Care Reform; Back from the Dead
Aired October 15, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And we're coming up to the top of the hour. It's 8:00 here on this Thursday in New York, October 15th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. 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 we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
All eyes on the opening bell this morning. In just 90 minutes, the Dow Jones opens above 10,000 for the first time this year. An amazing symbol of how things have improved on Wall Street. But what does it mean for you and your money? The CNN Money Team is standing by this morning.
CHETRY: Also, the Senate's on the verge of passing new hate crime legislation. It has the president's support. But is it a law that we need? Or does it punish people for what they think? We're going to talk about it with Attorney General Eric Holder.
Also, new threats against the president -- some say they have skyrocketed since he took office. Attorney General Holder joins us -- just ahead.
ROBERTS: And a high school football referee has cardiac arrest on field. He collapses. His heart stopped for almost three minutes. The frightening moment caught on camera. And he says he actually died.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A referee has just collapsed on the field.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 55-year-old Bob Schriever, that video is sometimes still difficult to watch.
(on camera): You're suddenly down?
BOB SCHRIEVER, FOOTBALL REFEREE: I'm down, I'm dead.
GUPTA: What did you have experience? What did you -- and did you have pain? What were you experiencing when everyone was seeing this?
SCHRIEVER: It's very peaceful. It's very serene, and it's extremely, extremely bright. I mean, it is bright.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Coming up: The rest of the ref's interview with Sanjay in his "CHEATING DEATH" series.
A year ago, Wall Street was imploding, banks were failing, but fast forward to this morning and what a remarkable rebound. In fact, right now, Goldman Sachs is reporting a $3.2 billion profit in the last quarter. That strong earning could drive the Dow as it gets ready to start the day over 10,000. It's its highest level of the year.
But financial experts warn the comeback from the March meltdown is going to take time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT HOLMES, THESTREET.COM: We want to break above this 10,000 level. We want to sustain it. You know, there's still a major problem with the job market. Everyone is expecting unemployment to hit somewhere between 10 percent and 13 percent in the coming year. So if the Dow is a six-month indicator of where things are supposed to be six months from now, we're still rebuilding. We still have a long way to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business." She joins us this morning.
$3.2 billion profit in the last quarter.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's for Goldman Sachs, that's right. The stock...
ROBERTS: Happy times are here again.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: At least for them.
ROMANS: And already on Twitter, a lot of people are saying to me, "Wait a minute, how much money in taxpayer support did they get?" Well, they got $10 billion in taxpayer support. They paid it back.
How much money did they get via AIG? Remember, they were paid taxpayer money through AIG for some business relationship they had with AIG, $12.9 billion. Yes. But this is a company that has two fewer big competitors now. Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers are gone, right? So Goldman Sachs has fewer big competitors out there and did very, very well in the quarter.
And John was just asking me about their compensation, how much money they've set aside for compensation, $5.53 billion they've set aside for compensation for the quarter. And that is about 43 percent of their revenue. So, a smaller share of the revenue, but that is a lot of money, folks.
And other people on Twitter this morning are saying, "So this means Wall Street, two, consumers, zero, right? That's the score."
I don't know if you can say it quite so black and white there, but the Dow has had an incredible rally, the NASDAQ, the S&P. So if you are exposed in the market, you are invested in the market, then you've seen some of your losses come back. I mean, just the last seven months has been a powerful rally.
You just heard that sort of cautious sound bite. We've been hearing this caution for months, but it hasn't mattered because the stocks have been going up, commodities have been going up. There's been this wall of money that's been put to work and we just don't know when it's going to be over and when this rally is going to stall.
We've been told that earnings are the test. And so far, the big companies are passing the test. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, both doing very, very well. We'll watch and see how Goldman shares trade today.
Remember, a lot of people have been buying up these financial companies. They feel like, well, look, they're going to -- if somebody's going to survive, it's going to be the big banking giants. And so, they've been buying the stock already.
ROBERTS: So, Goldman's earnings passed expectations significantly.
ROMANS: Significantly.
ROBERTS: So what does that mean for the bonus environment this year?
ROMANS: Well, the bonus environment for most of these banks is very, very good. It means that even though a share -- the share of the revenue is -- less of it is going to bonuses, you could see record bonuses on Wall Street.
ROBERTS: Everybody in the country should have been gone into the financial services business.
ROMANS: Yes. I don't think -- I don't have it in me. I don't know if there's this -- you have to be a certain kind of person to really excel on Wall Street.
ROBERTS: You have to be able to love money. Christine...
ROMANS: Or closing the deal.
ROBERTS: ... thanks so much.
ROMANS: I love talking about money and they're just telling me in my ear that Citigroup just reported a profit of $101 million. So, we'll go back and we'll find out whether that's an earnings per share...
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: A hundred and one million.
ROMANS: Yes. Citigroup...
CHETRY: That's chump change compared to JPMorgan.
ROMANS: Citigroup still has a lot of problems and many say, without extensive...
CHETRY: Yes, profits of $101 million, topping expectations.
ROMANS: Right. So, we'll dig into that number and tell you what that means for the opening bell as well.
ROBERTS: Thank you.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
CHETRY: All right. Well, President Obama says he wants to help out seniors who have been hit hard by the economy. He wants to send that help in the form of a $250 emergency payment, a one-time payment -- because for the first time since 1975, there will be no cost of living increase to Social Security benefits next year. More than 50 million seniors would be eligible. The White House says that the plan would end up costing about $13 billion.
Also new this morning, an American father who spent 2 1/2 weeks in a Japanese jail is now freed. Christopher Savoie was released early this morning and all charges against him -- they were kidnapping charges -- dropped.
The Tennessee dad is involved in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife. She took the kids and violating custody orders, took them to Japan. He went there to try to snatch them back and ended up getting locked up and charged with attempting to kidnap his kids.
Savoie's current wife, Amy, appeared on AMERICAN MORNING in the last hour. She talked about her husband. She says that she spoke to him briefly, but that the circumstances are far from a celebration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMY SAVOIE, WIFE OF CHRISTOPHER SAVOIE: The elation lasted, you know, for a few minutes, and now we're back to square one, where there's no closure. You know, we don't have Isaac and Rebecca in the situation from which they were taken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. Well, we just heard from Amy. And we go now to Tokyo for the latest developments.
And Kyung Lah joins us with more on that.
Any word on why he was suddenly released? Why those charges were dropped. What are your sources telling you?
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, from what we understand, the prosecutor's office says he was released in part because he made this promise. That he would not attempt to try to take his two children back to the United States in this manner.
Now, the implication in that statement is that he is not going to have any contact with those two children, at least not in the immediate future. As you mentioned, all of this dates back to that bitter custody dispute. His ex-wife, Noriko, a Japanese citizen, abducted those two children to Japan, when Savoie was declared the sole custodian under a U.S. order, a Japanese order ignores that. The Japanese government considers his ex-wife as the one who is the sole guardian.
So when Savoie came here and tried to bring his two children back to the United States, he was stopped, he was arrested and charged on charges of child kidnapping. And we have made multiple attempts to try to speak to Noriko, his ex-wife. She has declined our request for an interview. The grandmother, though, her mother, did release this statement to CNN over the telephone this evening, saying, quote, "I cannot make any comment on this for the sake of my grandchildren."
As far as the custody case, it is going to be years in the making. It is going to be ongoing, Kiran, but the immediate criminal case gives Christopher Savoie, it appears, at least for now, that the charges have been suspended and he's going to be a free man tonight. He is, we understand, with his attorney and he is trying to figure out what to do next.
CHETRY: All right. Kyung Lah for us this morning, in Japan -- thank you.
ROBERTS: New this morning, US Airways and United Airlines facing millions of dollars in fines. The Federal Aviation Administration accuses the airline of flying jets on hundreds of occasions that violated FAA safety rules or the airline's own maintenance standards. Both airlines have 30 days to respond.
CHETRY: Two victims of the Bernie Madoff rip-off are now going after the SEC. They are suing the government, saying that it missed, quote, "countless opportunities" to stop Madoff from stealing billions of dollars from thousands of investors. The suit was filed in the same New York courtroom where Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison.
ROBERTS: And talk show host Rush Limbaugh will not get the chance to be a part owner of the NFL St. Louis Rams. A group bidding to buy the team has dropped Limbaugh as a partner, saying his involvement became a, quote, "complication and distraction." Limbaugh's comments on race have drawn criticism from African-American players and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
CHETRY: Well, it is the rematch that boxing fans have wanted for more than a decade. Tyson/Holyfield III? Oprah the referee? Well, Harpo Productions announced that Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson will appear on -- OK, we made that graphic there, OK? If you didn't know that.
The two met in the ring twice back in 1996 and '97. Only one of them made the lean green grilling machine -- oh, neither of them did. Anyway, Holyfield won both bouts. The second was a disqualification after -- remember, he chewed off a part of his ear.
Anyway -- that's all I have to say about it.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Attorney General Eric Holder joins us live. There's new legislation pending in Congress that's in the Senate, which would expand the definition of a hate crime. There's all this violence against children going on across America. And what about threats to the president? We'll talk about all that with the attorney general coming up next here on the Most News in the Morning.
Ten and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
The Senate's on the verge of passing a new hate crimes measure. It's already made its way through the House and it has the president's support. But critics say it punishes people not for what they do, but for what they think.
To talk about that and a whole lot more this morning, we're joined by the attorney general of the United States, Eric Holder.
Mr. Attorney General, great to see you this morning. Thanks for being with us.
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Good morning. Good to be here.
ROBERTS: I want to get into the hate crimes legislation in just a second. But, first of all, the "Associated Press" has been reporting an important story today that Najibullah Zazi, the man at the center of the 9/11 plot against New York, is under arrest right now and charged with terror-related crimes, had had contact with the al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan.
What can you tell us about that and how significant is that to this case?
HOLDER: Well, there's not an awful lot I can say about the intricacies of the case. What we have said is that it was a very serious plot. It's one that we think that we have disrupted. But people still need to be vigilant. We, in law enforcement, are still trying to understand and find out what the full dimensions of the plot were. ROBERTS: If true, does it suggest that the nexus between terrorism in this country and that part of the world is still very much in place?
HOLDER: I don't think there's any question about that. We have to be cognizant of threats that come from and originate from overseas, as well as those threats that originate from within our country and we are working on both.
ROBERTS: On the hate crimes legislation, the measure passed the House already, as we said. It's before the Senate. It could pass some time in the next few days. It expands the definition of a hate crime to include sexual orientation.
Why the need for this legislation?
HOLDER: Well, as one looks at the expansion, the number of hate crimes that we have seen -- I testified for hate crimes legislation for the first time 11 years ago, when I was a deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration. And since that time, there have been about 12,000 hate crimes committed, about 8,000 or so of those are related to sexual orientation.
This bill would expand the definition of a hate crime to include sexual orientation, gender, disability -- all places where we need to have the federal ability to help our state and local partners prosecute these kinds of crimes.
ROBERTS: Now, conservative religious leaders are worried about this. They're opposed to it. They're suggesting that it could make a crime, preaching the biblical view of homosexuality, that -- that even thinking about it could become a crime under this legislation. What do you say to those criticisms?
HOLDER: The legislation is designed to punish people who engage in violent acts. It is not to punish people who would say things that, frankly, I would find personally abhorrent. This is all about people who take action, who take violent actions against defined people, defined categories of people.
ROBERTS: So this is not, as you see it, any kind of an infringement on free speech? In fact, looking at a couple of provisions in the Senate version of this bill, there actually are protections for free speech.
HOLDER: Yeah. The bill is designed to protect those people's -- first amendment rights of people who want to say, in any context, negative things about people's sexual orientation, religion, all things, again, that might be abhorrent to us, but certainly are protected by the first amendment. The legislation is designed to prevent people from violently attacking people on the basis of their gender, their disability, or their sexual orientation.
ROBERTS: So where, then, is the line between free speech and criminal behavior? And who polices that? HOLDER: Well, it happens, the way we do this all the time with regard to crimes, we look at people who actually raise their hands and hit somebody, who use bats to batter somebody. We look at the case of Matthew Shepard, who was pistol-whipped and then strung up on a fence. The person found him the next day thought that he was, in fact, a scarecrow, as opposed to a human being. The distinction between what somebody says in a church pulpit and what happened to Matthew Shepard is stark and easy to discern.
ROBERTS: Yea on this topic of violence, you were recently in Chicago. We've been talking about this case of 16-year-old Derrion Albert. We've seen the video of him being so mercilessly beaten to death there in Chicago. And also there's this other case out there in Florida, Michael Brewer, a 15-year-old who was beaten and set on fire. You sited some Department of Justice statistics 60% of young people have somehow been exposed to crime, a crime of violence. Half of those, 30%, were assaulted. And I think there's another statistic, nearly a quarter of U.S. children were victims of robbery, vandalism or theft. It begs the question, what is happening in our society?
HOLDER: Yeah, it's a question I think we really have to ask ourselves as adults, as Americans. It's a question we are asking ourselves in the Obama administration. It's why I went to Chicago with the Secretary of Education to examine the situation there and to make a statement that this is something that we are not going to countenance. We're going to come up with a mechanism, a plan, in which we really get at a problem that afflicts too many of our young people in too many of our community.
ROBERTS: So what is
HOLDER: It's a very, very serious problem.
ROBERTS: So what is that mechanism, what is that plan? What do we do about it?
HOLDER: Well I think we have to first have to come up with ways, in which we find out what are the causes of this? We have to come up with ways, in which we protect our children? There is, I think, a loss of values. We have too many weapons in the hands of young people. There has been, you know, too much in the way of gang violence. There are a whole variety of things that we, I think, have to identify and have to really attack. And it's not a coincidence that we see the greatest amount of this violence in the place where we see the greatest amounts of social distress -- where schools don't operate. Where you see the highest levels of unemployment and where men are not meaningfully engaged in the raising of their children.
ROBERTS: I want to tell you that this is such just such a wake- up call to -- to see that video and hear about those terrible crimes, Attorney General Eric Holder, great to have you on. I want to point out; it's the first time since you got the job. So we hope to see you back here soon.
HOLDER: See you soon.
ROBERTS: Alright take care, thank you -- Kiran.
CHETRY: You know a lot of times, you ask, if you could talk to your lawmakers and tell them what you want to get out of health care reform, what would you say? Many of you probably think, I'll probably never get the chance to do that. But there are people who pay millions for that chance. Jim Acosta takes a look after the break, 19 minutes after the hour
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Right now in Washington, Senate Democrats are hard at work. They're trying to keep the ball rolling on health care reform. Lobbyists are also digging deeper into their pockets to sway public opinion and the people you voted for. Jim Acosta is live in Washington now with a look at the amount of cash being spent on this make-or-break cause, health care reform. You know, we talk about bringing in change, ushering change. When it comes to lobbyists' influence, has anything changed?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, I'm afraid it has not, Kiran. This is still Washington, after all, and we're not talking about campaign contributions here, we're talking about industries putting boots on the ground, in the capital, lobbyists talking to lawmakers. And the amount of money that's being spent by lobbyists on health care reform could break all the records. Now that the five bills pending before Congress have cleared committee, that spending is expected to go into overdrive. It's a sign the real battle over health care reform has just begun.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congress is proposing over $100 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage.
ACOSTA (voice-over): It's war and the insurance industry is launching its first air attack on health care reform with an ad aimed at seniors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need health care reform that protects seniors.
ACOSTA: Liberal reform supporters and armies of special interest groups are entering the fray.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The case against health insurance reform always gets down to one word.
ACOSTA: Then there's the ground offensive -- lobbyists hitting the capitol to schmooze lawmakers. Members of Congress feel they're getting slimed.
REP. DONNA EDWARDS (D), MARYLAND: So I rise today, just weeks before Halloween, to unmask the health insurance industry. Now we see the industry and their lobbyists for what they are, a little shop of horrors. ACOSTA: A government watchdog group estimates the health care sector has spent more than a quarter billion dollars so far this year, lobbying Congress for changes to reform plans.
DAVE LEVINTHAL, CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS: This is one of the biggest lobbying pushes that we've seen on a single issue in U.S. history.
ACOSTA: Many of the lobbyists are former members of Congress and staffers from both sides of the aisle. And it's all legal.
LEVINTHAL: It's like a sports team. If you want to put together a good team, you're going to have to hire some pretty big dollar players.
ACOSTA: There's sort of the Terrell Owens and Tom Brady of the lobbying world?
LEVINTHAL: Well absolutely.
REP. JIM COOPER (D), TENNESSEE: It is kind of a Super Bowl of lobbying on health care reform, and the lobbyists are winning so far. But we, the game's not over yet.
ACOSTA: Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper, who resisted Clintoncare back in the '90s, says President Obama put himself in a tough position when he invited the health care sector to help craft reform.
COOPER: There are a number of groups that are threatening to revolt on the White House deals or the Congressional deals.
SENATOR RON WYDEN (D), OREGON: They're slicing a fat hog. They like the way things are today.
ACOSTA: Oregon Senator Ron Wyden says that's why it's critical for Congress to draft a health care reform bill that works for consumers.
(on camera): And which lobbyists do you fear the most?
WYDEN: I call them the status quo caucus. You've got some people in the insurance lobby. Obviously, they don't want the citizens to have more choices, choices that would hold them accountable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Republican leaders in Congress are now quoting that insurance industry study on the Senate Finance Committee version of health care reform, predicting higher premiums for consumers. But the accounting firm that authored that study is now clarifying its findings, noting that it did not analyze all aspects of that legislation.
And Kiran, we're finding some strange bedfellows in the world of lobbying these days. The insurance industry is getting a little help right now from the big labor unions and big business, who both don't like those proposals that would tax those high-cost Cadillac health care plans that we've heard so much about.
KIRAN: That's right. And that's a huge challenge as they try to get this passed, is that there are so many different interest groups with -- what they consider, you know, their breaking point, their make or break move or law. And that's why it's going to be difficult. So we'll see how it goes. Jim Acosta for us thanks.
ACOSTA: You bet.
ROBERTS: You know we've been getting all kinds of great reaction to our Dr. Sanjay Gupta's new series, "CHEATING DEATH." He's following people and talking to people who have had near-death experiences, some of whom have - may have crossed over to the other side, even if momentarily. Such as a high school football referee dropped dead in the middle of a game, no heart beat for nearly three minutes; there he is collapsed on the field. He came back. Wait until you hear his emotional story.
Dr. Gupta is coming right up. Twenty-six minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. You've heard the term, "near-death experience," imagine having an actual death experience and then coming back to tell the story.
CHETRY: It happened to a high school football ref. He collapsed there on the field and had no heartbeat for nearly three minutes. Hear what he tells our Dr. Sanjay Gupta he saw as he slipped away to the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): It was right here, September 14th, 2002, about a minute into the third quarter, and Bob Schriever, the referee, was suddenly down. The fans, the players, the television audience were about to be in for a shocking sight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my goodness. A referee has just collapsed on the field.
GUPTA: For 65-year-old Bob Shriever, that video is sometimes still difficult to watch.
(on camera): You're suddenly down.
BOB SHRIEVER, SUDDEN CARDIAC ARREST SURVIVOR: I'm down, I'm dead.
GUPTA: What did you experience? Did you have pain?
SHRIEVER: Nothing.
GUPTA (voice-over): Schriever was in cardiac arrest, on this very field during a high school football game. A team trainer, armed with the school's brand-new AED, or automated external defibrillator shocked him back to life.
SHRIEVER: That was scary.
GUPTA: Schriever was choking up as he showed me the video that day. And then he started to talk about what he remembered.
(on camera): What were you experiencing when everyone was seeing this?
SHRIEVER: It's very peaceful. It's very serene. And it's extremely, extremely bright. I mean, it is bright. And I was, I saw a place that I was supposed to go. I saw that halo. And something was saying, go towards the halo.
GUPTA: He says he was dead for two minutes and 40 seconds.
GUPTA (on camera): So this is the first time Bob's been back here. He just visited the place where he had a sudden cardiac arrest for the first time, since it happened. He's going to toss the coin, something he hasn't done in a while.
SCHRIEVER: What do you call it? He has called tails. It's heads. You won the toss, your choice.
GUPTA (voice-over): But what happened on this field still haunts him.
GUPTA (on camera): How often do you think about it?
SCHRIEVER: I think about that every morning when I wake up, first thing, during the day, I don't know how many times, and every night before I fall asleep.
GUPTA: Wow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: I think a lot of people are probably heard about automated external defibrillators, AEDs, these little shock things, John and Kiran. But they're everywhere. There in your building, for example, on every floor.
And they are so simple to use. You literally open up the box like this and it immediately starts having instructions, voice instructions as to what exactly to do. Starting off with calling 911 first, exactly where to place the pads.
The pads actually measure the heart rhythm, and if it needs a shock, the heart needs a shock, it goes ahead and delivers it. They are very easy to use, and obviously in the case of Bob Schriever, this thing clearly saved his life. He was down, in cardiac arrest, his heart wasn't working, and a defibrillator brought him back.
It's happening all over the country, all over the world and hopefully a lot of you watching will educate you as well.
John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: I love watching Dr. Gupta's pieces, because you learn something every time you watch it. Like, I didn't learn we had an AED on every floor?
CHETRY: Here? Yes.
ROBERTS: Where?
CHETRY: I've seen one down on the floor where we are. And you know there's also that big sign that tells you what to do if someone's having a stroke? I read that all the time.
ROBERTS: OK.
Well, tomorrow we're back with all of this. A bus driver in a school parking lot collapses and then goes without a heartbeat for almost an hour and recovers without even a bit of brain damage.
She lives to tell an amazing story of floating past clouds, looking down at her own body. But a neurologist tells our own Sanjay Gupta he thinks he has an explanation for the bus driver's story. "CHEATING DEATH" tomorrow, right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
And don't forget, Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us the medical miracles that are saving lives in the face of death.
"CHEATING DEATH," Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern only on CNN.
CHETRY: You do bring up a good point, though. We should know where it is. Everybody should know where it is if it's going to help.
ROBERTS: You can have a first aid kit, an AED, a fire extinguisher. But if you have no idea where it is, it doesn't go you much good.
CHETRY: Have you seen the Jacuzzi, by the way?
ROBERTS: I did see that.
CHETRY: Still ahead, it's coming up on 33 minutes past the hour right now. We're talking about attacks that took place, four deadly coordinated attacks in Pakistan overnight on police, militants storming three separate law enforcement buildings in the eastern city of Lahore, opening fire before a car bomber then leveled a police station.
Right now they're saying at least 27 people were killed in these attacks.
ROBERTS: North Korea threatening a naval attack after it says South Korean warships have been caught entering its waters off the peninsula's west coast.
Pyongyang claims the south violated its disputed maritime border 10 times on Monday alone. A South Korean official called the north's charge "groundless."
CHETRY: Also an American father who traveled thousands of miles in a desperate attempt to get his children back has been freed now from a Japanese prison. All charges against Christopher Savoie has been dropped.
The Tennessee dad was arrested 18 days ago, charged with trying to kidnap his own children after his ex-wife violated the terms of their custody and fled the U.S., taking the kids to Japan.
Well, after one final meeting next week with his national security team, President Obama will decide on a new strategy in Afghanistan.
The president's spending three hours yesterday with his war counsel. That's the fifth time that they've met. His top general is asking for 40,000 more troops on the ground, but there are new questions this morning about whether we even have enough soldiers to send if that is the number approved.
Barbara Starr live in our Washington bureau this morning with more on this developing story. We know that we have certainly stretched our resources when it comes to our soldiers and our support troops to the limit.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kiran. There is not an endless supply of U.S. troops. You know, it's all well and good for commanders to talk about sending more troops, but the question, where are day going to come from, and what is the impact of another long deployment on U.S. military families?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: As the White House continues to talk about the way with ahead in Afghanistan, the president signaling one of his concerns.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We just want to make sure that at all times, not only the young men and women who are already there, but also any additional young men and women, both military and civilian who might be working there, are served by a policy that's sustainable and effective.
STARR: One potential problem, the army, which will provide the bulk of any additional forces, may be hard-pressed to come up with the numbers.
Consider this -- the Army has 44 combat brigades, about 175,000 troops. But 19 brigades are already deployed, another dozen already committed for deployment. That leaves about a dozen brigades that could be sent to the war zone, about 48,000 troops. But if all those troops go to Afghanistan, the Army could be stretched too thin to deal with other threats and troops potentially face not getting the promised year at home in between combat deployments.
GEOFF MORRELL, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: I see no indication at this point that that would have to be adjusted. But I think we always reserve the right to make adjustments if that's what national security dictates.
STARR: But the head of the army sees less time at home with families as a real possibility.
GEN. GEORGE CASEY, CHIEF OF STAFF, U.S. ARMY: You can do the math as well as I can. More troops makes it harder to get, you know -- more troops impacts, there's no question about that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: OK, so that's the Army. What about the Marine Corps? Well, they calculate they can send just about another 8,000 troops to Afghanistan before they have to maybe cut back on time at home with their families. But first they have to get all their marines out of the war in Iraq -- Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Barbara Starr for us this morning. Thanks.
ROBERTS: President Obama goes to New Orleans later on today. It's going to be his first visit as president. So what do the people in New Orleans want to hear from the president today? We'll check in with a couple.
It's 37 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
This morning, President Obama will be traveling to New Orleans to check up on the post-hurricane Katrina recovery, his first visit since taking office. The White House says that the president is fulfilling a campaign promise that was made during the campaign last year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: This will be a priority of my presidency. I will make it clear to members of my administration that responsibilities don't end in places like the ninth ward. They begin in places like the ninth ward.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Some Katrina victims, though, were upset it's taken this long for the president to come back. And also they're not happy that he's only going to be spending perhaps four hours there today. As one Republican lawmaker put it, "people deserve more than a drive-through daiquiri summit."
Joining us from New Orleans Clancy Dubos, political editor and columnist at "Gambit Weekly," and also Thomas Langston, presidential historian and professor at Tulane University. Good to have you with us this morning. Thanks.
THOMAS LANGSTON, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: My pleasure.
CLANCY DUBOS, POLITICAL EDITOR/COLUMNIST, "GAMBIT WEEKLY": Good to be here.
CHETRY: Clint, let me ask you about the criticism of the length of time. Should the president be staying longer? Does it matter how long he's actually on the ground in New Orleans?
DUBOS: Well, any presidential visit, whether it's by President Obama, President Bush, or anyone else is largely symbolic. But to the extent that symbolism matters, certainly New Orleanians wish he were here longer and talking about more issues.
But I think most people are happy that he's here. He did extend his visit slightly to add the lower nine visit to his agenda. And, you know, once he's gone, I think the important thing is what happens afterwards. Is there going to be follow-through?
I think the more important things substantively is the fact that he's bringing three cabinet secretaries with him, because that's where the work gets done. The real import of this visit is not just how long he stays here or the fact that New Orleans is on his mind, but the follow-through at the departmental level.
CHETRY: You know, it is interesting -- I mean, they have pledged quite a sizable chunk of money to the recovery efforts here.
But Thomas, when word surfaced last week that the president was making this trip and how long he'd be there, it's funny to get a read from some of the local players, the "New Orleans Times Picayune" said, "That's it?" And also the Mississippi-run "Sun-Herald" Newspaper, "Why are we invisible?"
Why is this causing as much controversy as it is on the Gulf Coast?
LANGSTON: I would say it's not so much controversy, just plain old politics. One number will tell you a lot about what's going on -- 59-40, 59 percent of Louisiana voters voted for John McCain, and only 40 percent for Barack Obama.
This is right territory for the Republicans. Bush visited Louisiana I believe 13 times. Now, some of those visits were after Katrina, where he had a lot of explaining to do for the bungling of the disaster. But also, that was just -- you saw that the opportunity was here for the presidential visit to boost the fortunes of his party. For President Obama, you have to ask, frankly, what is he getting out of this? And is this visit helping him stay on message this week when the Senate finance committee bill is being debated on the floor?
CHETRY: Yes, I mean, look, he's said he's able to keep many balls in the air. And as we've seen, that's certainly been the case throughout these nine months of his presidency.
But Clancy, the White House is also pointing out that more than $1 billion in recovery act money has been targeted for New Orleans. They're funding almost 1,000 projects, roads, bridges, the Army Corps of Engineers, schools, health centers. So a lot of the work is being done. I mean, is this living up to the promise not to forget New Orleans?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, when you're in the middle of roadway build project, as New Orleans is, four years plus after Katrina and a lot has been done. There's no question a lot of progress has been made.
If you drive through New Orleans and really get into the neighborhoods and see all the neighborhoods, you can see tremendous signs of recovery.
I think promises are being kept, but when you're struggling with this and you're living with it every day, it's never fast enough. And I think that's the real issue.
This recovery is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. And I think what New Orleans people are looking for and people all over the gulf south, and Mississippi, are looking for, is a long-term commitment to stick with this and see it through to the end.
CHETRY: And Thomas, it's also interesting, during Katrina, we saw this phenomenon of almost two New Orleans. And you still see it now when areas that are -- that contain people who are more well to do, perhaps, less minorities, places like the French quarter, where there's a lot of tourism, have seen a real comeback.
And then in areas like the Lower Ninth Ward and in other places that are more minority areas, you've seen real, utter devastation. And you look there and just can't believe it was four long years ago. It seems perhaps this may have just happened last week.
Is there still that dichotomy that exists in terms of attention being paid, and also how seriously people are taking the post-Katrina situation in the Gulf?
LANGSTON: Well, what you have is a real patchwork pattern of recovery. As Clancy said, if you drive through New Orleans, you see tremendous signs of recovery, but it's ongoing. It's going to attention a long time before the city finds its new shape.
Now, I didn't -- I don't say, before the city comes back. We had, frankly, a failure of political leadership at the city level here after Katrina. Many New Orleanians believe this, where the mayor and other elected officials said, everybody just come back, right where you were.
Planners were saying, no, please, some people have to move to higher ground. Let's take this as an opportunity to reshape New Orleans, to make it safer for the future.
But people were able and encouraged to come right back where they were. So you have this patchwork pattern, and it's frustrating. It's going to take many years before we end up with a tighter, more sustainable city.
But I think that's where we're headed.
CHETRY: All right. Well, I want to thank both of you, Thomas Langston and Clancy Dubos, for joining me today. Thanks.
LANGSTON: Sure you bet.
JOHN ROBERTS: So if Congress has passed new laws now saying that cigarette companies can't call their cigarettes low tar or light or whatever. But for every law, there seems to be a loophole and the cigarette industry may have just found it.
Jason Carroll coming up to tell you what it is, next. Forty-five and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, you might want to be sedated if you're living in Atlanta, because, yes, look at that weather.
CHETRY: Or just maybe the weather will sedate you it's just cold like this week.
ROBERTS: Stay home in bed today. Cloudy, 52 degrees right now; later on today, afternoon showers and a high of 63 inches. It just will not stop raining in Georgia.
Rob Marciano is tracking the extreme weather across the country. And we've got some of that stuff coming up here to the northeast as well, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We do. A couple of things are combining themselves to create a doozy of a storm for the northeast and over the next 24 hours.
Right now, though, the southern part of that storm is moving through the south and there has been a severe thunderstorm watch issued by the SBC until 1:00 local time. And this line of thunderstorms is quickly moving to the southeast at about 35 miles an hour. These have some gusty winds with them, potentially in some spots, to about 60 or 70 miles an hour. That certainly will do some damage.
All right, rain right now moving across parts of Pittsburgh in through the Allegheny plateau. This will create some snow over the weekend, mostly at the higher terrain. And that's going to do some -- well, some damage because the trees still have some snow on them.
Interesting video coming out of Moscow, which this is a hole punch cloud, but I've never really seen one like this, quite honestly. A lot of times these things form in high, thin cirrus clouds when jets kind of fly through them and help create a bit of a hole, but I've never seen one like that.
Guys, back up to you in New York.
CHETRY: Wow.
ROBERTS: I saw one of those before, in one of the opening sequences of the film "Independence Day."
CHETRY: I know it does it looks like a...
ROBERTS: There's a spaceship up there. It's got like a death ray.
MARCIANO: Yes, it's got a lot of people freaked out over there in Russia, for sure.
CHETRY: Nice video, though, thanks Rob.
Hey, you know cigarettes these days -- don't be scared, we're not opening them -- but they've changed, they don't contain light, low tar, any of those distinctions anymore. But they are...
ROBERTS: Because we are not allowed to, right?
CHETRY: Right, some new rules, but the color coding, is that still a signal to smokers? Jason Carroll explores.
We'll be right back. 50 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
You know that there is no such thing as a cigarette that is good for you. In fact, tobacco companies are not even allowed to label them low tar or light anymore.
CHETRY: Yes, but they are allowed to market their brands with colors. He's got a red one here. We have a blue one here. And some are saying that these actually are sending signals to a smoker about what kind of product they're going to get.
Jason Carroll joins us now. So is this a question of genius marketing? Are they duping people?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, I don't know. Did it send a signal to you? What do you think?
CHETRY: I was predicting -- I don't know from right or wrong -- I've predicted that the reds would be the strongest, of course, that maybe the blues would be light, and then this silver box, right away with the green, I thought, menthol.
CARROLL: Well, you'll have to watch and see our story here. And see what some of the folks thought.
ROBERTS: Here's the signal I got.
CARROLL: Thanks, John.
Let's move on. For the tobacco companies' point of view, they've gone far enough. They've switched their labels to be in compliance with the new law.
But one study shows they may need to go even further if consumers are to be protected.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Light, ultra-light, low tar. Soon you won't find them on cigarettes anymore. Federal regulators banned the use of those terms, saying cigarette companies were selling smokers on the idea one type of cigarette might be healthier.
The American Cancer Society says light cigarettes are just as harmful as regular cigarettes. Now cigarette companies are rolling out updated branding with names like blue and silver. But is it the same old smoke and mirrors? Some researchers say, yes.
DAVID HAMMOND, UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO AT CANADA: The new descriptors, which will be allowed under the new legislation are having the same misleading deceptive effect as the old ones that will be banned.
CARROLL: Canadian researchers did tests showing people the new wording on similar packaging. In one sample, 83 percent rated silver cigarettes as delivering less tar than the brand labeled full flavor.
HAMMOND: If we put the word silver on the pack, if we put the word, white, if we put the word smooth, they were just as likely to think that brand was less harmful.
CARROLL: We did our own unscientific experiment. Showed people two packs of Pal Malls, one red, the other blue and asked which one, if any, they thought was healthier?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I could see blue being the lighter one of the two.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blue, like water, red is like fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Red is more severe, like code red is more severe than -- I don't know. Does it make any sense?
CARROLL: It makes sense to marketing experts when you consider before the new legislation passed, Pall Mall blues were labeled Pall Mall lights. MARIAN SALZMAN, PRESIDENT EURO RSCG PUBLIC RELATIONS: Color is a fabulous way to keep sending the message home. Fabulous, wonderful, I want it now. It's going to satiate a need I have. So I think it's fabulous messaging and really lousy for society.
CARROLL: Researchers from the Canadian study says cigarette companies should be banned from using certain words and colors, to which the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company maker of Pall Mall cigarettes told CNN, "This is really a common sense issue. There are hundreds of brands and styles of cigarettes on the market. Consumers need a way to distinguish what brand and style they want to purchase."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: Well, R.J. Reynolds also told CNN, their new packaging is designed to adhere to the new law. The law passed back in June mandates all tobacco companies be in compliance by June of next year, but there is still one more hurdle it must clear.
The tobacco company has filed suit against the federal government to try and block the ban on labeling cigarettes light or mild. You know, those people are trying to crack down on cigarettes. These cigarette companies basically want one uniform color like white.
Even when you're in the U.K...
CHETRY: Just look it up, Pall Mall Blue is ultra-light. But they can't say that anymore.
CARROLL: Right, we just did that. We just said that in the piece.
CHETRY: Sorry, we were busy talking about...
CARROLL: She interrupted. Let me finish.
(CROSSTALK)
CARROLL: In the U.K., for example, you have one uniform color, for the most part, and it's white. And it says clearly in the packaging, smoking kills.
CHETRY: Yes, cancer and...
CARROLL: Exactly. So I think that's what a lot of folks would like to see happen. Not the cigarette companies.
ROBERTS: Some of the labels I've seen in other countries are pretty graphic.
CARROLL: Right.
CHETRY: They are. And these, they're still so light, you can barely read it, "surgeon's general, it contains carbon monoxide."
ROBERTS: Carbon monoxide is the least of your worries. CHETRY: Does it make you want to light up again?
ROBERTS: No. Not in your life.
So, first of all, it was Jamal Malik Chaiwalla, who was on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." And now Kiran Chetry is a phone a friend.
CHETRY: I was the "ask the expert."
ROBERTS: Yes. And she did really well.
CHETRY: And I was...
ROBERTS: And you know, we've got to go to break. Otherwise we're not going to get a chance to show it, too.
CARROLL: Yes, we have to get to it.
ROBERTS: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Kiran was on the hot seat yesterday. She was the "ask the expert" lifeline on a taping of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." Did she cost anyone? Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The site of the Wright Brother's historic first flight, Kitty Hawk is located in what U.S. state?
CHETRY: All right, this one I'm pretty sure about, Tammy. I'm going to say North Carolina, A.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Kiran
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got it right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kiran, I know you do morning TV. I hope you stay up late.
In 1892...
CHETRY: Wow, I don't know. I don't know if Chevy made a Malibu back in 1992. I'm pretty confident Collette that it's also Dodge Neon. I have my fingers crossed for you but if you think that, I think that as well. I'm leaning towards that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is not, I'm sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Although, that was -- and I used to watch Conan all the time before we started keeping these hours, these bankers' hours.
ROBERTS: My mom had a 1968 Chevy Malibu. CHETRY: But the answer was -- I can't say, it wasn't Chevy Malibu, though. But I will tell you, here's a -- they called me 12 times.
ROBERTS: That's amazing.
CHETRY: I got 10 correct for them and two wrong.
ROBERTS: Good for you.
CHETRY: That's one of the ones I got wrong as well. John just likes to rub it in. Although the ten right, I was pretty shocked, because several of them were in what I consider my weakest category.
ROBERTS: I'm glad you had a lot of fun.
We've got to run. That'll wrap it up for us. We'll see you again bright and early tomorrow morning.
CHETRY: Black Sabbath.
Here's Heidi Collins.
