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Washington's Terror Allies; "These People are Actor"; Where the H1N1 shots?; Oppression in Afghanistan; Violent Inmates to be Released; Iran Claims U.S. Linked to Bombing Attack; Frustrated with Wall Street?; Taste of Culture
Aired October 19, 2009 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: No drug bust for medical marijuana patients. New rules come out today.
And marathon deaths. Three men collapse in Detroit. One victim in his 20s.
And parents concerned about their kids and H1N1 wonder, where's the vaccine? We have some answers for you.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins, it is Monday, October 19th, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Our CNN crews are all in place to bring you the news this morning. We'll start off with Dan Simon, who is standing by in Colorado. He's got the very latest on the balloon boy bombshell. The Larimer County sheriff says it's all a hoax and felony charges are now likely in this case. We'll get you up to speed there.
And at the Pentagon, Barbara Starr this morning with the very latest on the developments in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well. The insurgencies seem to be getting stronger and Washington seems to be growing more and more worried.
And this is the view in Pakistan. The death toll rises in a major offensive against militants. Could this be a turning point? And Pakistan is where we begin this morning. The fighting is taking place on three different fronts near the Afghan border. A focal point has been South Waziristan where insurgents have established a refuge and a power base.
Pakistan says its ground troops and air assaults have killed dozens of militants. The insurgents say they've killed dozens of Pakistani forces. The offensive comes amid separate visits from high- level Americans. Senator John Kerry is in Pakistan to deliver a multi-billion dollar aid package.
And also this morning, General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. Central Command, met with Pakistan's prime minister.
Once again, the theme is the shared interest between the countries in fighting terrorism. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining us now with a closer look.
So, Barbara, what is General Petraeus hoping to accomplish with this trip?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Heidi, by all accounts, what General Petraeus is going to look for, once again in Pakistan, is a reality check. A gut check on the ground from top Pakistani civilian and military officials.
Pakistan, as you recall, has been racked by violence. Especially over the last two weeks. A number of attacks, said to be by the Taliban. Perhaps the most humiliating one last week, when Taliban militants got inside headquarters in Rawalpindi, akin possibly the like an attack on the Pentagon. Very humiliating for Pakistani military forces.
What General Petraeus wants to get a feel for is just how vulnerable the government and the military really is at this point to the militants. What kind of toehold do the Taliban have, not just in these tribal regions, but fundamentally across the country? Get a sense of that and get a sense of what needs to be done to fix it. Heidi?
COLLINS: And, meanwhile, Barbara, in Afghanistan, the results from the domestic disputed August presidential election looking murkier than ever, it seems. What's the very latest on that front?
STARR: Plenty of trouble on that side of the border as well. It looks like election officials, some of the election officials, will now say that there was so much fraud in the presidential elections in Afghanistan two months ago that there will have to be a runoff with President Hamid Karzai and his closest challenger, a man named Abdullah Abdullah.
Whether Karzai accepts the notion of a runoff is highly problematic at this point. Most experts say he will dig his heels in and not accept that. And if that happens, that's going to spell bottom line big trouble for the United States, because the White House is signaling it will not send more troops if there is not a legitimate, credible government in power there. So now what to do? Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. All right, our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, thank you.
With the presidential crisis intensifying in Afghanistan the White House faces now even tougher questions on the future of U.S. troops there as you just heard Barbara discussing.
Yesterday, on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION", we heard from President Obama's top adviser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAHM EMANUEL, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: What President Karzai must do, and what -- you know, the process this, is a credible and legitimate election or result, more importantly, for the Afghan people and for that government going forward. Whether that's through a runoff. Whether that's through negotiations, the process will be determined by the Afghan people.
The result, and for us, and for the president, is whether, in fact, there's a credible government and a legitimate process. The Afghan people then think, this has worked, it's processed through.
It'd be reckless to make a decision on U.S. troop level if, in fact, you haven't done a thorough analysis of whether, in fact, there's an Afghan partner ready to fill that space that the U.S. troops would create and become a true partner in governing the Afghan country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Emanuel went on to say it would be irresponsible to send more troops to Afghanistan before the election is resolved.
The story that gripped the nation. Many Americans watched in real-time as a balloon believed to be carrying a 6-year-old boy sailed high over Colorado. Well, now authorities are saying what some people suspected. It was all a hoax.
CNN's Dan Simon reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That home video, the interviews.
RICHARD HEENE, FATHER: I'm really sorry I yelled at him.
SIMON: The call to 911.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Are you sure that he's in that?
R. HEENE: Yes, we looked everywhere.
SIMON: All of it, authorities say, part of an elaborate hoax orchestrated by the 6-year-old's parents, Richard and Mayumi Heene.
SHERIFF JIM ALDERDEN, LARIMER COUNTY, COLORADO: These people are actors. Not only have they appeared on several reality television shows and on YouTubes, we have since determined that, in fact, they met together -- the way that they met and established a relationship was in acting school in Hollywood.
SIMON: And the motive, according to the sheriff, was so the Heenes could better market themselves for a reality TV show. The alleged plot to pretend that 6-year-old Falcon was inside that runaway balloon, he said, was hatched two weeks ago. What made authorities believe it in the first place?
ALDERDEN: They granted us complete access to their children to interview independently. After Falcon was found, they didn't even hesitate to allow us to talk to him outside of their presence.
SIMON: But Falcon, investigators believe, spoke the truth during the family's live appearance on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE," only hours after the drama unfolded. The widely played interview proved to be the turning point.
R. HEENE: Did you hear us calling your name at any time?
FALCON HEENE, BOY FEARED MISSING: Mm-hmm.
R. HEENE: You did?
MAYUMI HEENE, MOTHER: You did?
R. HEENE: Why didn't you come out?
F. HEENE: You guys said that we did this for a show.
ALDERDEN: If you look at the nonverbal responses as well as some of the verbal cues, it became very clear to us, at that point, that they were lying.
SIMON: Still, even after authorities became skeptical, they publicly backed the family, admitting now to misleading the media so the Heenes would trust them. The couple could face multiple charges, including three felonies, conspiracy between the husband and the wife to commit a crime, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and an attempt to influence a public servant. Their attorney says they should be presumed innocent.
DAVID A. LANE, ATTORNEY FOR RICHARD AND MAYUMI HEENE: I mean, if they have probable cause to make an arrest, then make an arrest and give me the evidence and we can -- it's analogous to a batter standing in the batter's box waiting for a pitcher to throw a pitch. You can't swing until they throw the pitch. Throw the pitch and then we'll see.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Dan Simon joining us now live.
So, Dan, so many questions to be asked, even at the end of all this. Not even sure about the charges just yet, but we do know that the sheriff apparently consulted with an expert to see if that balloon could even fly with the boy inside. They talked a lot about drag in the middle of all this. Well, what was finding there?
SIMON: Well, that's right. The sheriff actually got in touch with a physics professor from Colorado State University and that professor took a look at that balloon and determined that no way could it have gotten off the ground with a 37-pound boy inside.
I think that's some information we all would have liked to known on Thursday, don't you think, Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes. All right, Dan Simon continuing to follow this story and of course the aftermath, which has some serious implications.
Dan Simon, thanks so much, live from Colorado can this morning. We are talking about this story on our blog this morning as well. The question, what do you think should happen to the parents in this case? Go to CNN.com/heidi and post your comments there. We'll share some of them with you a little bit later in the show.
A promising college football player stabbed to death on campus. Police are still looking for Jasper Howard's killer. Howard was a cornerback for the University of Connecticut and police say he was stabbed in a fight outside the school's homecoming dance. He'll be missed by the UConn team both on and off the field.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DESI CULLEN, UCONN FOOTBALL PLAYER: This is so much harder than I -- you know, he -- before this morning, a lot of people may have looked at him as a teammate, as a friend, but ever since he stepped foot on this campus, he was our brother.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Howard was 20 years old and came from Miami. He was also about to be a father.
A child rapist is about to be set free. So are other dangerous criminals serving life terms in North Carolina? But somebody found a legal loophole.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. That nor'easter across the northeast yesterday has brought some freezing temperatures to the south and Hurricane Rick, monster storm, decreasing in intensity, but still scheduled to make landfall.
We'll break down the forecast when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Autopsies are planned for today for three men who died while running the Detroit marathon. The victims were ages 26, 36, and 65. All three were running the half marathon yesterday. One man collapsed just after finishing. The other two collapsed on the course. Officials say emergency personnel responded within seconds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone that responded was properly equipped and did exactly what they were supposed to do with the equipment that they had. One of them was in a cardiac arrest right at the finish line here. That physician that responded had the AED. The AED fired appropriately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The only other deaths in the event's history occurred 15 years ago. Incredible pictures out of Brazil. An intense gun battle erupted between rival gang -- drug gangs and police officers in a Rio shanty town this weekend.
Fourteen people are dead, including two police officers who were inside that helicopter when it was shot out of the sky. Eight buses were also set on fire to distract people. About 2,000 police officers have flooded the streets of Rio. Military police say two suspected drug dealers were killed. Four others were arrested.
In Puerto Rico, more deadly violence believed to be drug related. It happened outside a bar and grocery store in a neighborhood west of San Juan. Seven people killed in a shoot-out. At least 25 others wounded. Among the wounded, a 9-year-old girl and a pregnant woman who left her 8-month-old fetus.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN. Your hurricane headquarters.
COLLINS: Rob Marciano joining us now from the severe weather center to talk a little bit more about Hurricane Rick. What's the deal here?
MARCIANO: This thing blew up over the weekend, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes.
MARCIANO: At one point yesterday it was a category 5, which is winds of -- over 155 miles an hour. Surpassed that benchmark without a problem. At one point, it was 180-mile-an-hour winds yesterday.
Out in the open ocean, for the most part here in the eastern pacific, it has decreased somewhat in intensity. Right now at 125 miles an hour. So that's a category 3. It's entering slightly cooler waters and was also getting into some sheer to help tear it apart.
Good thing, because at that rate, it would have just demolished parts of Cabo San Lucas. It is headed in that direction, it is forecast to decrease in intensity as it hits some cooler waters and some of that wind shear. Probably a cat 1 or cat 2 when it makes landfall late tomorrow night or early Wednesday morning. So that's the scenario with this thing. A historic storm. The strongest -- second strongest storm ever in the eastern pacific.
Let's go to the western Pacific. The Philippines. You know we talk about Groundhog Day here, Typhoon Lupit. This thing is a 135- mile-an-hour typhoon and this is forecast to head towards the northern Philippines here over the next several days. So those folks certainly can't catch a break with this ramping up of the typhoon season.
Across parts of the northeast, we had that nor'easter yesterday. WCVB, our affiliate in Boston, you had some record-breaking snows yesterday. And if you were watching the Patriots game, you certainly saw some of that action.
Some of those colder temperatures have gotten down to the south where we have frost and freeze warnings. Temperatures now warming up into the lower 40s in some spots, but getting down into the mid-30s in many others.
So we'll be basking in some warm sunshine this afternoon, but certainly a taste of late fall with chilly temperatures this morning across parts of the south.
COLLINS: Yes. And here I thought all that purple on your map there was for the Minnesota Vikings. You know...
MARCIANO: They did well.
COLLINS: That's the game I was watching. 6-0, baby.
MARCIANO: Congratulations to Brett Favre. That was a...
COLLINS: Yes.
MARCIANO: Didn't think it would be that close towards the end, but it turned out to be quite a game.
COLLINS: Got to love it. All right, Rob, thanks so much. We'll check back later.
MARCIANO: You bet.
COLLINS: We were promised it would be here by now, but you may have a tough time finding that H1N1 vaccine. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen helping you track down spots to get your shots.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Top stories now. Iranian officials are linking the U.S. and Pakistan to a group that carried out a suicide attack. The U.S. calls the accusations, quote, "completely false." At least 42 people were killed in yesterday's bombing, including key leaders of the elite Revolutionary Guard. State-run Iranian media say that People's Resistance Movement of Iran has claimed responsibility for the attack.
We'll have a live update on this story 20 minutes away.
On Capitol Hill today, work is proceeding in both the House and Senate on reaching a consensus health care reform bill. Democrats are meeting behind closed doors to merge two Senate bills, hoping to bring the finished product to the floor by the end of the week. Three other bills need to be merged in the House. Four of the five bills in Congress include a public or government-run option.
Medical marijuana users can light up with less fear today. The Associated Press says the Obama administration is relaxing the rules. New guidelines are coming out from the Justice Department today. And during the Bush era, suppliers and users could face federal charges, even if medical pot was legal in their state. But now they could slide as long as they follow their state's laws.
Flu season is here and you've heard all about warnings regarding the H1N1 virus. But you may have a tough time finding the vaccine for it. It was supposed to be widely available by now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANNE SCHUCHAT, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: We wish that we had more vaccine and there is more vaccine coming out every day, but it doesn't look like we're going to be able to make those estimates that we had projected for the end of this month.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains where you can get your shot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For months now a clear message.
DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: We think vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your kids from this virus.
SCHUCHAT: We think vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your kids from this virus.
COHEN: And yet for most of us, there's no vaccine to be found. And where you can find it, it's scarce. That has Dr. Bruce Ribner very worried.
DR. BRUCE RIBNER, EMORY HOSPITAL: We've had a number of young, healthy patients on ventilators and even dying in the intensive care units. Our supply...
COHEN: At Emory Hospital in Atlanta, a quiet desperation is in the air.
(On camera): So here's your H1N1 vaccines.
RIBNER: Here's our H1N1. As you can see, it's a very small amount. And we got one fifth of the amount of vaccine that we anticipate we will need.
COHEN: And you're hoping for more?
RIBNER: We're hoping desperately for more.
COHEN (voice-over): I'm hoping desperately to find H1N1 vaccine for my children.
(On camera): I'm going to call my local drugstore and see if they have H1N1 shots yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How may I help you today?
COHEN: Hi there. I'm trying to find out if you have H1N1 shots at my local clinic? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not yet, ma'am. We're not set to have those until mid-November. That's around November 15th.
COHEN: I'm going to go to Flu.gov. That's the federal government's Web site. They have something called a flu shot locator.
(On camera): The federal government sends me to the state government which sends me to the county government.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good afternoon.
COHEN (voice-over): Where they tell me I can get the nasal spray vaccine for my 3-year-old, but my other three children will have to wait. How long? They're not sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are out of that vaccine right now.
COHEN: In the meantime, at Emory, they're vaccinating as many workers as they can.
(On camera): I came to Emory Hospital here in Atlanta to see one of the first health care workers get an H1N1 vaccine. Her name is Dr. Nadine Raphael, she's 33 years old, and she's pregnant.
This is kind of a scary time to be pregnant.
DR. NADINE RAPHAEL, HEALTH CARE WORKER: It is.
COHEN: H1N1 flu seems to be especially tough for pregnant women.
RAPHAEL: Right. More than what we heard for seasonal flu.
COHEN: So this is it? This is your room, huh?
RAPHAEL: Yes.
COHEN: After you. There you go. The shot you just got. The shot you just got, is that for you or for your baby?
RAPHAEL: Both.
COHEN (voice-over): Dr. Raphael is relieved to get the vaccine, to protect herself and the baby she's expecting. Now the question is when will the rest of us get it?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Joining us now to talk a little bit more about this, so Elizabeth, put it in perspective for us a little bit. How much of a shortage is this? I mean, how much were we expecting and how much did we really get?
COHEN: Right. Well, let's talk about the state of Georgia, where you and I live. They were expecting to have a million doses by the end of this month. They're going to end up with half that amount, less than half that amount by the end of this month. COLLINS: How concerned are they about that?
COHEN: They're very concerned. I mean I talked to the commissioner of the Department of Public Health and she's like, where is it? We were waiting for it? Where is it? So they're very concerned.
COLLINS: Yes, I mean you think they would have seen some of this coming, yes or they didn't expect that many people to actually want to go and get it?
COHEN: No, that isn't the problem. The problem is manufacturing delays. And so it just isn't coming out. This is all being done very quickly. Remember this virus didn't even appear until April, so they very quickly had to get these vaccines together and it's just not going, I think, quite as fast as they would like.
COLLINS: Yes. And you'd mentioned in the story, that only one of your children was able to get the H1N1 vaccine, right?
COHEN: That's right. Exactly. I called the state of Georgia and she said you can get your 3-year-old. It will give for the nasal spray vaccine, but it's only for 2 to 4-year-olds. That's all they're offering it for at this moment.
That was when I called on Friday.
COLLINS: Right.
COHEN: And my other children are older than that.
COLLINS: Right.
COHEN: So I couldn't bring them in. They say they're going to open it up for older children, too, but when I called on Friday I could bring in her, but not the other ones. They said the other ones would have to wait.
COLLINS: I bet she was very excited about that.
(LAUGHTER)
COHEN: Exactly.
COLLINS: Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Thank you, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
COLLINS: A presidential crisis in Afghanistan that. The concerns ripple all the way to Washington, but hit closest to home for the women living in Afghanistan. We'll tell you why they have reason to fear.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: As you know, the Dow topped 10,000 last week, but optimism faded as some corporate earnings reports disappointed investors.
For a look at what's in store this week, let's go to Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange.
Hi, there, Susan. Yes, we had two days above 10000 and then Friday some of those earnings reports were way low.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Heidi. And that's pretty much going to dictate the direction of all the major averages as we listen to the opening bell, a big week for earnings this week, Heidi. More than a quarter of S&P 500 companies reporting we are expecting a higher open and we could once again see Dow 10,000.
Today one company reporting its quarterly earnings is Hasbro. The big toy maker. It posted a nearly 9 percent increase in its profit, but mostly due to cost cutting. The nation's second biggest toy maker said sales actually fell. Transformers and G.I. Joe did well. I'm sure they do very well in your household, Heidi, but weakness in girls' toy. Preschool and games and puzzles way down. Results comes a week after rival Mattel reported lower sales in earnings.
Which brings us to toy retailers. Toys 'R' Us is jumping on the layaway bandwagon. The store is now offering the delayed payment option for more expensive items like bikes, cribs, dollhouses and play kitchen.
The Dow is over 10,000. We're going to mark a very historic moment. 22 years ago, Heidi Collins, the Dow plunged more than 500 points. A drop of nearly 23 percent. The biggest one-day percentage decline ever. We know it as the crash of '87. And I say that as the three major averages are higher.
And you know, despite that terrible loss that day, 22 days ago, also on a Monday, Heidi, the Dow ended higher for this year. So it was a very sharp sell-off, but rebounded quite nicely, if you have the stomach for it.
They actually had nurses on the floor that day. I was talking to one of the veteran nurses, because traders were in such a state of shock and in such distress.
COLLINS: I'm sure. All right, well, let's certainly hope that doesn't ever happen again.
All right, Susan Lisovicz, we'll check back later on. Thank you.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
COLLINS: This hour, major stories are unfolding for two of Washington's key allies. In Pakistan, air and ground forces are targeting insurgents near the Afghan border. On this third day of the offensive, both Pakistan's army and the Taliban are claiming victories.
In Afghanistan, the presidential crisis appears to be intensifying now. An Afghan panel has rejected the findings of significant vote rigging in the August election. The U.N.-backed investigation said such irregularities should force a runoff between President Hamid Karzai and his top challenger, Abdullah Abdullah.
Democracy in Afghanistan. Possibly no one has more at stake than the women who live there. They endured crushing oppression under Taliban rule and fear that a return to power could instantly erase their eight years of progress.
Joining us now to discuss that is Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. A documentary filmmaker and creator of "Lifting the Veil," which was seen here on CNN. She's joining us this morning from New York.
Sharmeen, thanks for being with us.
As you watch this, everything that's happening in Afghanistan right now, and most significantly, this possible runoff election that could take place very soon.
What is the status of Afghanistan's women today? How much do they fear that they could just go back to where they were eight years ago?
SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY, FILMMAKER AND CREATOR OF "LIFTING THE VEIL": Well, Afghan women have suffered greatly in the last five years. You know, the West had unrealistic expectations of what Afghan women could do. They thought that, you know, women could be in parliament, women could drive and that would make things better, cosmetically.
But, in fact, earlier this year, a law was passed in Afghanistan that made it impossible for women to deny sex to their husbands. That force women to seek permission before they left their homes or went to school or work from the husbands. And that allowed men to deny their women food if they do not give them sex. So these kinds of laws are very much a reality under Hamid Karzai's Afghanistan, the newly Democratic Afghanistan. And I feel that women have this feeling that they've been let down, that the West has not lived up to the expectations. And that can be seen throughout the country, where self-emulation rates, women burning themselves to escape the horrors of family life have increased. In 2008, 79 women poured kerosene on their bodies and burnt themselves alive because that was the only way out of their marriages.
COLLINS: So is this the Afghan government or the West then that is putting these rules either back into place or making new ones?
OBAID-CHINOY: It's the Afghan government, but because the women felt that with the invasion, with NATO forces coming in that their lives had become better. They had this unrealistic hope that they would be free, that they would get equal rights. But then they were disappointed, because even though 68 women were voted into the Lower House of Parliament, none of these women are allowed to speak, none of these women are allowed to pass laws. So a lot of women have felt that what has happened in Afghanistan in the last eight years has just been cosmetic. And really in the villages, in the towns, Afghan women lead very similar lives to what they did under the Taliban.
COLLINS: Is there any way for them to organize and for them to somehow gain more power? I mean, there are some women that are serving in parliament, but are you saying that they just still, even though they're there, don't have a say?
OBAID-CHINOY: I would say that maybe one or two women in parliament have a say. And the other women do not. And you can tell by the fact that when this law was passed, about men denying women food if they didn't give them sex, 68 women who were in parliament, only a handful of women voted against it. The rest all voted for this law.
And so you can tell that even though women are in parliament, it's very cosmetic. But having said that, women can organize themselves. We saw in April that a number of women took to the streets in Kabul protesting against discriminatory laws, but the government did not back them. There was not enough police to give them security, so a lot of men threw stones at them, they harassed them and the women had to disperse. The women of Afghanistan cannot move forward if the men do not allow them to.
COLLINS: Right. And who will make the men allow them to if that is what we see for the future of this country? I mean, talking in specific, as you mentioned the West and the disappointment the people have in the West, are we talking about more U.S. forces, then, that would come in and teach the security and stabilize the situation in that way first?
OBAID-CHINOY: Absolutely, you need stability. You need an environment. But NATO forces have a lot of leverage with the Afghan government. And they need to put women's rights on top of the issues.
You hear a lot of rhetoric that forces need to fight against the Taliban first, create an environment of peace. But that's happening in the south. In the north of Afghanistan, where there is relative peace, why are NATO forces or why are Western governments not pushing for equal rights for women? Or, at least, if not equal rights, then repealing the discriminatory laws that exist against the women? Because, after all, that was one of the major reasons that was touted in 2001 for this invasion, that we would bring women equal rights in Afghanistan.
COLLINS: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, we certainly do appreciate your insights on all this.
A documentary filmmaker out of New York today. Thank you.
They were given life sentences, but this week 20 convicted rapists and murderers are set to be released from North Carolina prisons. Among them, this man, Steven Wilson. He's serving a life sentence for kidnapping and raping a 9-year-old girl in 1978. Wilson's victim is outraged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What would I say to him? It's not what would I say to him, it's what would I do to him, because I feel like he shouldn't be living on this earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Wilson has racked up 18 infractions while in prison, including attacking another inmate with sexual intent, yet he and the others are to be released on Thursday. A North Carolina law defines a life sentence as 80 years, but state courts have ruled that with good conduct credits, the inmates have served their time. State officials are now scrambling to find a way to keep them behind bars.
Iran claiming the U.S. was involved in a suicide bombing over the weekend. The U.S. says that's completely false. Both countries sit down for nuclear talks this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A third death from a sweat lodge at an Arizona resort. A 49-year-old woman has died after spending time in the hospital. She was one of the people crammed into the heat of this lodge October 8th. It was part of a spiritual ceremony led by self-help guru James Arthur Ray. Police are treating the deaths as homicides.
A University of Connecticut football player stabbed to death on campus. Police are still looking for Jasper Howard's killer. They say he was stabbed in a fight outside the school's homecoming dance. Howard was a quarterback on Uconn's football team. The coach says Howard was going to be a father.
Pakistan steps up efforts to rout out the Taliban. Thousands of troops are storming Taliban strongholds after a series of deadly attacks this month. Pakistan says its ground troops and air assaults have killed dozens of militants, but the insurgents say they have killed dozens of Pakistani force. Both Senator John Kerry and General David Petraeus are in Pakistan today.
Let's get over to the severe weather center now, where Rob Marciano is standing by. I'm glad he's indoors and not in the northeast right now, because snow all over the place, right?
MARCIANO: yes, record-breaking snow. Of course, this time of year, doesn't take much to break records.
COLLINS: Yes.
MARCIANO: Unless we get a little dusting on the ground. Typically, it does the trick. And we saw a fair bit of that yesterday. As a matter of fact, I'm hoping to load up a little bit of video. OK, I'm told we have it. Roll that beautiful bean football footage.
Tom Brady putting on a show yesterday. I know he's not quite your Brett Favre.
COLLINS: No, but what'd he get? Four or five touchdowns?
MARCIANO: Or Fran Tarkenton back in the day.
COLLINS: Yeah, Fran.
MARCIANO: But I turned this on yesterday. I didn't expect it to be close, but I wanted it to be just because it's so much fun to watch football in the snow.
And they got, this is in Boxborough, south of Boston, as you know. And they got more than a dusting there. So record-breaking snows yesterday, and almost record-breaking performance, I think, there as well for the Patriots. Congrats to them.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Yes. A whole lot of sitting around in my house this weekend.
All right, Rob, thank you.
MARCIANO: See you.
COLLINS: We want to get back to this story now. U.S. and Iranian officials at the same table this morning. They're part of key talks in Vienna over Iran's nuclear program. But this comes as Iran is pointing a finger at the U.S. and Pakistan over a suicide bombing that killed 42 people.
Ivan Watson is joining us now from Istanbul, Turkey, with more on this.
Ivan, good morning to you.
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Yes, Iran is in three days of mourning now after a deadly attack Sunday morning in the southeast of the country in its Sistan, Baluchestan Province. State media reporting that a suicide bomber targeted the elite command of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, killing the deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps's Land Forces and also killing the provincial commander and several other core and brigade commanders.
In addition to that, dozens of other people killed and wounded in this attack. It's really taken out the leadership for this most important military institution in the southeast of Iran a serious blow. And what we have now is a group called Jundallah (ph). It represents the ethnic Baloch (ph) minority in the southeast of the country; it makes up about 10 percent of the population in Iran. These are Sunni Muslims, not the Shiite Muslim majority. They're being accused of this attack.
And what's very interesting, Heidi, is the reaction from the Iranian government. They are accusing the U.S. and the eastern neighbor, Pakistan, of playing a role in this attack. Accusing Pakistan of allowing these militants to operate from their territory, demanding now, officially to Pakistani diplomats, that they hand over the militants that they accuse of carrying out this deadly, deadly attack on Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps - Heidi.
COLLINS: Is this kind of a suicide attack unusual for Iran, Ivan?
WATSON: Well, this region of Iran has had problems like this in the past. In February of 2007, the Revolutionary Guard Corps of was targeted, (INAUDIBLE) blamed on this movement Jundallah (ph) and 11 of their soldiers were killed when their bus was attacked.
There was also last May an attack on a Shiite mosque in the southeast. And more than 20 people killed in a bombing in that mosque. And I think what this shows, Heidi, is that Iran, whatever we know about it, it's not a homogenous state. It is made up of a mosaic of different ethnic groups and religious groups.
And you see this kind of periodic violence not only in the southeast where the Baloch (ph) are but also in the southwest, periodically, where there's an Arab Sunni minority and in the northwest, where there is a Kurdish minority that is also Sunni and the interesting thing is, Iran, the government always accuses the U.S. and Britain of being behind...
COLLINS: Yes.
WATSON: ... these movements, of arming them and funding them, Heidi. Those are charges that Iran -- and that the U.S. rather, and the U.K. always deny -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, very quickly, though, Ivan, we also know that Iran's state-run media is saying that a different group, the People's Resistance Movement of Iran, has actually claimed responsibility for this attack.
WATSON: Yes. That's another name for this organization, this movement called Jundallah (ph), which means God's warriors, basically. They have two separate names there and they've singled out the leader of this organization by the name -- a fellow by the name of Rigi (ph) and they are demanding that neighboring Pakistan hand over the leader of this group.
I might add, though, Pakistan has had its own share of troubles, Heidi, fighting a Balochistani (ph) separatist movement for years. It also faces problem with the Balochistan separatist movement -- Heidi. COLLINS: All right, certainly a lot going on. I sure do appreciate the reporting. Ivan Watson coming to us from Istanbul, Turkey, this morning.
And as we've mentioned these accusations are flying while key nuclear talks on Iran are happening; both the U.S. and Iran in Vienna, along with Russian and France, the goal, holding Iran to a deal to let other countries handle its uranium.
This, as U.S. inspectors get ready to visit Iran's nuclear plant near the city of Qom. Iran waited until last month to reveal that plant existed.
Here's how that proposed uranium deal with Iran would actually work. Iran would send Russia 1,200 kilograms of low enriched uranium, were talking 3.5 percent enriched here.
Now, Russia would enrich the uranium to 19.75 percent purity, below weapons grade and then send it on to France. Well, then France would turn it into metal rods and send it back to Iran. Finally, Iran would use those rods in a nuclear reactor to make medical isotopes for treating cancer patients.
Fascinating.
They were bailed out with taxpayer money, so where is the gratitude from Wall Street? A message from the White House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Look out for recession victims on Main Street; not the big players on Wall Street. Two top White House advisers are trying to drive home that message.
Stephanie Elam is joining me now to break some of this down for us. So, Stephanie, good morning to you. What do advisers say Wall Street actually needs to focus on with all of this?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, , good morning, Heidi.
I think the main thing here that you saw from this blitz that we saw over the weekend that the top advisers were running as they went out talking to the political shows this weekend was basically that, for one thing, these top Wall Street firms have got to stop fighting for changes in regulations right now.
Obviously, what happened last fall, no one wants to see again. And they're saying you've got to work with us because these regulations need to be here to, in fact, protect all of us, not just Wall Street, but to protect everybody else so we don't have this catastrophe like we saw last year.
They're also saying that people need more lending, they need to have...
COLLINS: Yes.
ELAM: ... more money coming out to them, and so they need consumers to be able to get money to start up businesses, mortgages if people want to get a home, all those kind of things are saying lending is still really tight.
And the other issue here is these really big bonuses that we keep hearing more and more about. You've got some of these banks are looking at them, they have a bonus pool over $1 billion or so and they're saying that is out of control as well, Heidi.
COLLINS: So are Obama's advisers talking about companies that have actually gotten bailout money or just all of Wall Street as a whole?
ELAM: In general, they are focusing on all of Wall Street, but in particular they are talking about these firms that have gotten Wall Street -- that have gotten some of that bank bailout money which obviously is taxpayer money.
Now, you take a look at some of the big earnings that we got last week, we've got Goldman Sachs and we heard from JP Morgan Chase and they are coming out with these great numbers.
Now, keep in mind both these companies have already paid back the money that they got from that bailout fund. But still, what you hear Rahm Emanuel is saying and David Axelrod is saying is that yes, you got help but at the same time you've got to do your part for society and actually help people out here and that's we're they're asking for the lending.
Overall, they're saying the main issue here for people who are all over Main Streets across America is that they need to have more money in their pocket, more access to credit and that would help get the economy back on its feet, obviously. That's one of the things that we constantly talk about. Is that if people can have money, then therefore they can go ahead and sort of help lubricate these whole economy and get those wheels moving again.
So you hear a lot of that talk about that. And the other point that you hear is that unemployment, you've got this rate almost near 10 percent in this country...
COLLINS: Yes.
ELAM: ... you've got people who are without jobs.
So to hear about these massive bonuses really gets people upset because they're struggling so hard to make things meet.
COLLINS: All right, we'll continue to watch all those numbers together because I know, you really can't look at them separately for very long, anyway.
ELAM: That's true.
COLLINS: All right, Stephanie Elam, I sure do appreciate it thanks.
ELAM: Sure.
COLLINS: An awful lot going on this morning. CNN crews are in place to bring you all the details with these stories.
Let's check in with our correspondents beginning with Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, good morning.
STARR: Good morning to you Heidi. New problems for the Obama administration in Afghanistan and Pakistan; we'll have that at the top of the hour.
LISOVICZ: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange where we're keeping track of your money. Stocks are trying to push higher and the government's latest stimulus update shows your tax dollars help to save hundreds of thousands of jobs. What kind of jobs? Heidi, meet me in the classroom in the next hour.
MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. We had record-breaking snows across the northeast this weekend and also near-record breaking hurricane, Rick, still a major storm scheduled to make landfall across Mexico. We'll detail that track at the top of the hour -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, very good. Thanks, guys.
Also ahead, health care sticker shock; millions of Americans are now signing up for next year's insurance coverage. You might want to take two aspirin before you look at your new costs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: This month, "LATINO IN AMERICA" and what better way to explore a culture than through food. Here's CNN's Soledad O'Brien.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, four, three, two. Camera three.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Lorena Garcia is a television chef and her weekly Friday morning segment on America's largest Hispanic network, Unavision, has made her a household name in Spanish-speaking households.
"Wake up, America," is enormously popular among Latinos.
It's a relaxed, off the cuff blend of humor, news and Latin lifestyle. And, get this, the show draws more Hispanic viewers than the big three network morning shows combined.
LORENA GARCIA, CHEF: Being a Latina in this country right now, I think, is the best position we can be. We're growing, we're being noticed. So pay attention.
O'BRIEN: Martha Stewart, step aside. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lorena Garcia. Nothing gets better than this.
O'BRIEN: Chef Lorena's got her own product line and she's building an empire.
GARCIA: Oh, my God. Oh, my God. This is amazing!
O'BRIEN: Now Lorena wants to share her passion for cooking and reach a bigger audience.
GARCIA: My cherry on top, having my own English-speaking show; cooking show, that's what I like to do.
O'BRIEN: Fresh out of culinary school, Lorena was told, to break through she'd have to lose the accent. It didn't stop her.
GARCIA: I realized that when people tell you no to something you cannot do, that should give you the strength to continue.
Let's do this. Thank you, guys. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: We are two days away from "LATINO IN AMERICA," a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing America. CNN's 2-night even takes place Wednesday and Thursday 9:00 p.m. It will also be simulcast in Spanish on CNN en Espanol.
