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American Morning
Suicide Bomber Attack Kills 35 Outside a Bank in Pakistan, Karzai Challenger Drops out of Afghanistan Election Race, Pressure Building on the White House to Close Strategy on Afghanistan, Swiss Diplomat Allowed to Visit American Hikers Detained in Iran, CIT Bankruptcy, A Political Rebellion
Aired November 02, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good Monday morning to you. Thanks for joining us on this Tuesday, the 2nd of November. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We are following breaking news at this hour.
Right now, a deadly explosion close to Pakistan's army headquarters. Police say that a suicide bomber targeted workers waiting to collect their salaries outside of a bank in Rawalpindi. That's about 18 miles from the capital of Islamabad. At least 35 people were killed and more than 65 others wounded.
Today's attack comes less than a week after one of Pakistan's worst bombings that left at least 100 people dead. Pakistan's government says that militants are seeking revenge for its ongoing offensive against Taliban and al Qaeda forces near the Afghan border.
ROBERTS: There are other big stories that we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes here on the "Most News in the Morning." This week's presidential runoff in Afghanistan in jeopardy and looking unnecessary now that the challenger has dropped out. A dramatic development that could impact President Obama's decision on troop levels from the entire region. We're live at the White House and in Kabul, Afghanistan bringing you every angle of this developing story.
CHETRY: Do you ever wonder what advice President Obama is really getting from the one of the most important people in his inner circle? It's part of our special series "The Presidential Brain Trust." Our Ed Henry has an exclusive interview with Vice President Joe Biden. Wait until you hear what he has to say about former Vice President Dick Cheney's criticism.
ROBERTS: New developments in the case of three American hikers being held in Iran for more than three months. A fourth hiker who is not arrested wrote a letter to President Ahmadinejad appealing for the immediate release of his friends and a Swiss diplomat met with the detained Americans for a second time. We'll speak with one family member about the efforts to bring them all home.
We begin this morning though in Afghanistan where this week's runoff election for president appears pointless now that it's become a one-man race. Challenger Abdullah Abdullah decided to drop out on Sunday, six days before the election claiming that there's no way the process will be fair. President Hamid Karzai, the only remaining candidate now.
Now these pictures just in to CNN. United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon arriving in the Afghan capital this morning meeting with Karzai and his former challenger.
We're following the story on two fronts this morning. Ed Henry is live at the White House. Let's start with Sara Sidner, though. She is live in Kabul this morning.
And how are these developments playing out with the Afghan people, Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, no matter who you ask, the citizens of Afghanistan are reacting quite strongly to the latest political turmoil in this country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER (voice-over): Abdul Sabur is barely able to squeeze out a living on the streets of Kabul far from his village where there is no work at all. He wants a change of leadership in his country.
"How long has Karzai been in power, nine or ten years," he says. "He hasn't done anything for the people. Karzai has brought nothing but killing, destruction and explosions in Afghanistan." He says he is distraught with the announcement Sunday by President Hamid Karzai's sole opponent in the scheduled runoff election.
DR. ABDULLAH ABDULLA, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I consider my announcement today as final and conclusive and the decision that I do not -- I will not participate in the November 7th elections.
SIDNER: And with that Dr. Abdullah Abdullah left only one choice for voters in the presidential race, Mr. Karzai. That is just fine with this voter.
"Whether elections happen or don't happen, the entire people of Afghanistan are for Karzai. Elections he will win." He says Abdullah knew he would not win and that is why he left the race.
SIDNER (on camera): No matter what the subject, you can you get plenty of men here in the main square of Kabul to talk to you. But when it comes to talking to women, nobody will talk. All of them that we tried to speak to say they're simply too afraid.
(voice-over): Now the question is, how will Afghanistan's independent electoral commission react to Dr. Abdullah's withdrawal. Will it go forward with an expensive and difficult election that poses dangers to the voters of Afghanistan, or find a legal maneuver that allows Mr. Karzai to take the reigns without it?
The president of the IEC told CNN an answer will be announced Monday. But while the commission ponders the legal and logistical issues, every day Afghans and the rest of world are waiting knowing the decisions made will impact the lives of the people and the troops fighting and dying as they try to stabilize a nation in turmoil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: In just one half hour, Afghanistan and the world should know what Afghan's independent election commission has decided on that runoff, whether they will go forward with it with only one presidential candidate on the ballot -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to that announcement later on today. Sara Sidner for us in the Afghan capital of Kabul. Sara, thanks so much.
In the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING, by the way, Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan joins us live from Washington. We'll ask him how these developments might impact President Obama's strategy for the war in Afghanistan.
CHETRY: We're also following this story from the White House where the pressure is building this morning. The Obama administration has said it would wait for the results of Afghanistan's runoff election before making any decision on strategy or troop levels in the country.
Our Ed Henry is the only reporter live at the White House this early.
Good morning, Ed. And, Ed, what are aides saying about this latest twist, the announcement from Abdullah Abdullah that he's in fact leaving and deciding against running in this election?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, White House aides are certainly trying to downplay this but there's no denying this is a serious complication for the president because the White House itself just a couple of weeks ago was spending so much time saying it was critical that this runoff lends some credibility to the Afghan election process and show that, in fact, they would have a credible partner in Afghanistan as the president prepares potentially to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
Specifically White House aides saying, look, you know, Abdullah Abdullah has made his own decision. It's a political decision. It's fine for him to make. The U.S. is not going to interfere. And they also point out that there were polls in recent days suggesting Dr. Abdullah Abdullah was not going to win anyway. But that does not change the fact that this now prepares Hamid Karzai for a second term as Afghan president at a time when allegations of corruption have really hurt his credibility, not just around the world but specifically U.S. officials have been raising questions about that very credibility.
So this complicates the equation even more for the president and especially final point, you had White House aides in recent weeks saying look, a decision on troop levels is going to have to wait probably until after this runoff. Now that this runoff is essentially null and void and somewhat pointless, it's going to put even more pressure on this president to come out with this decision and this announcement on troop levels -- Kiran.
CHETRY: It's also interesting because one of the people who has certainly given his opinion about troop levels is Vice President Joe Biden. We're taking up a new series this week where we look at Obama's brain trust, and you had an exclusive interview with Vice President Joe Biden. Did he tell you anything or give any indication of the ongoing debate in the administration about troop levels?
HENRY: He's keeping his cards very close to the vest about what he's advising the president behind closed doors in Afghanistan. And that's because that's partly why he's so influential because he makes sure that he doesn't go public with what he's saying about such sensitive issues. And when you talk to top White House aides here, they say just a year ago this week when the Obama/Biden ticket was victorious, these two guys didn't really know each other that well. You've got the cerebral Obama whereas the more go from the gut Joe Biden, very different people, didn't know each other very well and it was a little bumpy in the early days and gaffes by Joe Biden. But by all accounts, from the vice president's staff as well as the Obama staff, I'm picking up that he is very influential in the domestic side but also on the foreign policy side, specifically Afghanistan.
And when I asked whether he believes that the president is dithering as Vice President Cheney, former Vice President Cheney has suggested, Joe Biden did not hold back at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I like Dick Cheney personally, but I really don't care what Dick Cheney thinks. And I'm not sure a lot of Americans do.
Look at the policy they left us. Look at the policy and neglect they left us in Afghanistan. Look at the policy we inherited in terms of their foreign policy. Look, I think the president is doing exactly what any president should do. And by the way, the military thinks that too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Another reason why these two men are getting as well, the vice president is doing what good vice presidents do. Provide cover for the president, push back against critics. And specifically, I hear from top White House aides, look, we got to let Joe be Joe. That they realize sometimes he steps into some gaffes when he's blunt. But they say that bluntness that gets him in trouble publicly sometimes is exactly why the president likes him in private.
This president knows that Joe Biden is not going to pull any punches in his private advice. He's not going to give him, you know, the varnished truth. He's going to make sure it's unvarnished and be very blunt with this president. And this president appreciates that.
And the final point is Joe Biden also made kind of a little boast to me about how he hasn't made a lot of gaffes lately. We'll play that in the next hour, Kiran. CHETRY: We look forward to it. All right, Ed Henry for us this morning. Thanks so much.
And as Ed said, coming up at 7:30 Eastern, you don't want to miss more of our special series, "The Presidential Brain Trust." As we just said, it all begins with Ed's exclusive interview with Vice President Joe Biden.
ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning, just hours after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton left Israel, Palestinians are openly questioning her ability to jump-start peace talks in the region. Clinton praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offers to limit settlement construction in the West bank. Palestinians insist that all construction needs to stop and won't return to the bargaining table until that happens.
CHETRY: Tracking the safety of the swine flu vaccine. Today, independent health advisers will deliberate in private meetings. The group will hear safety data from studies of swine flu vaccine in more than 10,000 people looking for any possible side effects. They're monitoring the process because the vaccine was rolled out so quickly this year, but specialists say because it's built, you know, and developed the same way that the seasonal flu is, they aren't expecting problems.
ROBERTS: And for the first time in 27 years, an American has won the New York City marathon. 34-year-old Meb Keflezighi crossed the finish line yesterday in two hours, nine minutes and 15 seconds. He was born in the African nation of Eritrea and fled to America during that country's bloody conflict with Ethiopia in the 1980s. What a performance he put in yesterday.
CHETRY: And probably he broke his own record, right?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: And...
ROBERTS: One of the fastest times ever in a marathon.
CHETRY: Yes. Unbelievable.
ROBERTS: Can you imagine, 26 miles in two hours and nine minutes?
CHETRY: I absolutely can't. I don't think even do a quarter of it.
ROBERTS: That's like turning just barely sub-five minute miles for 26 miles.
CHETRY: It's an amazing feat.
ROBERTS: Incredible.
CHETRY: And he's in his mid-30s as well and... ROBERTS: Thirty-four years old, yes.
CHETRY: He is great. He has his wife, his mom there, two of his little kids and he has a third one on the way. So, he's ready to be a marathon man in more ways than one. Congratulations to him.
Well, still ahead, we're following the latest on the hikers that are still being held in Iran. We're going to talk to one of their brothers about the ongoing efforts to free them.
It's ten minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up on 13 minutes after the hour. It's been three months since Americans Shane Bauer, Sara Shourd and Josh Fattal were arrested in Iran. They reportedly crossed an unmarked border while hiking in northern Iraq in Kurdistan and are being held at Evin (ph) Prison in Tehran. This morning a fourth hiker who was not arrested is asking Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his friend's release.
Joining us now to talk more about the latest developments is Alex Fattal, Joshua's brother, to give us the very latest. Alex, great to see you again. So what we've learned in the last few days is that the Swiss ambassador was allowed a second diplomatic visit with your brother and his two friends. What have you learned about their condition from that visit?
ALEX FATTAL, BROTHER OF MISSING HIKER IN IRAN: We were very happy that they got a second visit. That was definitely good news. But it doesn't ease our minds entirely. We're worried about them. We think they're probably very isolated.
In that visit, I think the Swiss ambassador was able to convey to them some of the efforts that are underway in the outside world to try to get them released. And hopefully that will be a means to kind of reduce the isolation they're feeling. I mean, we're having difficulty getting information. We can only imagine how difficult it must be for Sara, Shane and Josh who are, you know, in this prison cell in Evin (ph) Prison in Tehran.
ROBERTS: Yes. You know, that is a notorious prison. What are you hearing about the conditions that they're being held in?
FATTAL: We continue to be told that the physical conditions are adequate and they're OK. They're not being mistreated in any way and that definitely gives us comfort. That's good to hear. It's always very reassuring.
But at the same time, we're concerned that they probably feel very lonely, very cut off from the outside world. It's been 94 days at this point. It's over three months and it's just -- must be a tremendous stress.
ROBERTS: Yes. I'm sure they must feel incredibly lonely and isolated. The Swiss ambassador did have the opportunity to bring them some supplies. What did she bring?
FATTAL: Sweater, some food, writing pad, some books and I think that's great that there's some books and writing pad. I'm sure those are greatly appreciated.
ROBERTS: Now, you haven't been able to have any kind of direct communication with your brother or with the other two since they were captured or since they were detained. Did you expect that Iranian authorities may allow them to write a letter?
FATTAL: We hope so. It's - we want a phone call. We want to hear their voices. I mean, 94 days and we haven't heard their voices. We would like some - some direct form of communication. We're appealing as strongly as we can to - to please allow them to - to phone home. But more than anything, we're appealing for them to be released.
It's just very clear to us that our kids are harmless. You know, we release those videos recently, my brother rapping and - and Josh, Shane and Sarah dancing around in a cinder block building. But we feel like it's very clear that - that our kids had no intention of entering Iran and are harmless and mean no ill will towards them.
ROBERTS: Yes. Let me, Alex, ask you just a little bit about that. Those - those videos, and we saw a little bit of it right at the top there, and you just mentioned that we can roll some more right now. Shot by Shon Meckfessel, who is the fourth member of - of the group. He didn't happen to go hiking with them on that particular day, but tell us what the video show here.
FATTAL: Oh, it just shows them horsing around on a vacation. You know, you could be on vacation anywhere with a digital camera, just - just playing around. My brother is - is doing this impromptu rap - rap about how it's hot in Iraq and how he needs a fan in - in Kurdistan. And, you know, they're going to a waterfall in - in Kurdistan. They're looking to cool off.
ROBERTS: Right.
FATTAL: The other video is them just kind of dancing around pretty silly in - in the cinder block building and having a good time. I mean, they're - they're blatantly harmless.
ROBERTS: Yes. You know Shon is - Shon is also sending a letter to Iranian President Ahmadinejad. He's going to release the contents of it today. Can you give us a bit of a preview? What does he say in the letter?
FATTAL: Sure. Well, he - he's appealing for Josh, Shane and Sarah's release, and he's very much vouching for his friends. You know, as - as friends and family members, I think the best thing we can do is just very transparently establish who Josh, Shane and Sarah are. That's why we released the videos. That's why we're doing everything that we're doing, including vigils. I mean we're going to be having vigils throughout the country and the world, from Pines City, Minnesota to Cape Town, South Africa, from Changsha (ph), China to Los Angeles on the 8th of the November, and there's more information about that up on our Web site, freethehikers.org.
ROBERTS: OK. You know, we should - we should pint out too that November 8th will mark 100 days since they were detained by Iranian authorities.
Just - just quickly, the last time we had you, on a couple of weeks ago, you had just delivered a petition to the Iranian mission to the United Nations. They accepted it. Have you heard anything back about that since?
FATTAL: We haven't had a direct communication about the petition, but we - we feel that everything that we do will hopefully have a cumulative effect and Josh, Shane and Sarah will be released. I mean, it's - it's overwhelmingly obvious to - to all of us that they're - they're certainly harmless and if they're guilty of anything, it's just crossing the border unknowingly and we would certainly appeal to the Islamic Republic of Iran to - to not - not treat this case as a political case in any way. This is purely a humanitarian case, and please release them.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll continue to watch it very closely. Alex, it's great to see you again. Thanks very much for coming on. Stay in touch.
FATTAL: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: OK.
CHETRY: Do you know CIT Group - some of you may have not heard of it, but it's one of the nation's leading funders of small and medium-sized businesses. Well, they just filed for bankruptcy. In fact, it's the fifth largest bankruptcy in US history. How will it affect you? Christine Romans will be breaking it down for us.
It's 18 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. I just love that song.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Me too.
CHETRY: Christine Romans is here, joining us this morning at 22 minutes past the hour. And we're talking about a - a huge bankruptcy. People may not even know what this company is or why it matters to us - CIT Group.
ROMANS: If you're a small business owner, if you are a retailer, if you are someone who manufactures furniture, if you want to go out and get a Dunkin' Donuts franchise, if you were someone who wants to open a restaurant, you do know what CIT Group is. This a very key lender to small and mid-sized business. It has filed for bankruptcy protection, a prepackaged bankruptcy, and the company assures us that it will try to keep operating as normal in the bankruptcy process. Just a few months ago, we would say that - that is impossible. We know from the - from the auto companies that these big companies have been operating, these big, important to the economy companies have been operating in bankruptcy as usual. We have to see if that really works (ph) out.
OK. So, let me tell you why it matters. It has maybe a million customers that operates in 30 different industries. It is the top lender, according to the company itself, to women and minorities. It is a top leaser (ph) of - of rail cars and aircraft. If you go to the mall or you go to a big box store, you are going to touch and see and feel products that have been financed with the help of CIT.
Let me give you the example of, say, a furniture maker. This is incredibly important, something called a debtor financing or factoring. For all of you whose business is - who runs businesses, you know what I'm talking about, but what this means is that CIT is able to get in there and buy the invoices from somebody who's manufacturing something to get them the money so they can make more of it until you, the consumer or the retailer, pays the bill. So it keeps the oxygen of credit flowing in there.
How big is this company? $71 billion is its value at the time of its bankruptcy. Look at this: Lehman, Washington Mutual, WorldCom, General Motors - these are the top American bankruptcies. All but one of them have happened in the last year. CIT gets added to this list. This is - we'll talk more about what it's going to mean for the holidays and for retailers and for what you see in the stores next hour, but I can guarantee you that there are thousands and thousands of small business owners right now who are worried about snags in this whole process. And the company says that it will be operating as normal during the bankruptcy process.
ROBERTS: Well, we can only hope.
ROMANS: Right.
CHETRY: All right. So we have a "Romans' Numeral" this morning, and this has to do with bailout money.
ROMANS: It does -- $2.3 billion is the Romans Numeral, and this is meant to tell you, even if you don't know what CIT is or you're not a small business owner, this is why it matters to you: $2.3 billion, this is the amount of your taxpayer dollars at risk. It's what CIT took from the bailout funds that obviously it will not be able to pay back right now. If history is a guide, the bankruptcy process may likely just wipe out our investment in this company.
ROBERTS: Oh, boy. Christine Romans, "Minding Your Business" this morning, unfortunately not with good news.
So it's the off-year election tomorrow. There's a lot of interesting races that we're following, one in particular in Upstate New York, in the 23rd Congressional District, where the Moderate Republican candidate was basically run off the ballot by Conservatives who said she's too liberal. What's going on up there? Our Jim Acosta takes a look, coming right up.
Twenty-five minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It is election time in America again, and you know how much we love that here at CNN. The off year elections happening tomorrow.
Some of the big races that we're following, the governor's race in the state of Virginia. It's Bob McDonnell against Creigh Deeds, McDonnell according to some polls right now leading by double digits. Interesting to note that in the last seven governorships, five of them have been won by Democrats. The Democrats were the last two governors, but literally in every governor's race since 1977, the governor's race goes opposite to the person who's in the White House, so if there's a Democrat in the White House, it goes Republican and vice versa.
Another big one that we're watching here, state of New Jersey, Governor Jon Corzine in a very, very close race here against Chris Christie, the Republican. Part of the reason why the race is so close, because Chris Daggett, the independent, is also in the race there. So we'll see how that one turns out. President Obama was there yesterday campaigning.
But here's the one that's really, really interesting, the 23rd Congressional District here in New York State, Dede Scozzafava was the Republican candidate. Douglas Hoffman was running for the Conservative party and literally, with the support of people like Tim Pawlenty and Sarah Palin, this whole race got turned upside down. And Dede Scozzafava dropped out of the race and has since thrown her support behind the Democrat Bill Owens.
Three candidate contest in Upstate New York that is really sort of shaping maybe the future, what's going to happen next year, will the Conservative wing of the Republican Party dominate as David Plouffe, who was Barack Obama's campaign manager during last year's election said, it really sends a signal to Republicans, no Moderates need apply.
Our Jim Acosta is following this incredible race for us. He's in Washington this morning with the AM Original. Good morning, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Good to see the magic wall is back and Dede Scozzafava's face looks the same whether you have it right side up or upside down.
Anyway, for weeks Republicans have called the governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia referendums on President Obama. Now the White House is looking to a congressional battle in Upstate New York where something of a political rebellion is raging over the future of the GOP.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEDE SCOZZAFAVA, DEBUNKED REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Just call me Dede.
ACOSTA (voice-over): It was like Halloween candy for Conservatives. Dede Scozzafava, the embattled Republican candidate for Congress in Upstate New York, didn't just drop out of the race, she was practically thrown under the party bus by a parade of GOP leaders in favor of Doug Hoffman, the self-described conservative party candidate.
DOUG HOFFMAN, CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We're fighting for our children and our grandchildren's future.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: We're in the middle of, I think, of a political rebellion going on in America. And this - this rebellion are by a people who really have not been actively involved in the political process and they don't really care whether you're a Democrat or a Republican.
ACOSTA: House minority leader John Boehner credits conservatives who protested President Obama's agenda at tea parties and town halls across the country for grabbing the GOP's attention. But Boehner worries whether some went over the top.
BOEHNER: I'm a big believer of Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment. Never talk ill about another Republican.
JOHN KING, HOST, CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION": That was not followed in this race.
BOEHNER: I know.
ACOSTA: Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was one of Scozzafava's biggest critics, saying on her Facebook page, there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race. A pro-abortion rights and pro-stimulus Republican, Scozzafava said in a statement after dropping out, "I've been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record."
The GOP split has given the Democrat in the race, Bill Owens, a fighting chance to win a district that's normally slam dunk for Republicans.
VALERIE JARRETT, WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: It's rather telling when the Republican Party forces out a moderate Republican and it says, I think, a great deal about where the Republican Party leadership is right now. I think it's becoming more and more extreme and more and more marginalized.
ACOSTA: Tell that to Rush Limbaugh.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, CONSERVATIVE RADIO SHOW HOST: The Republican Party needs to learn something. If it goes country club blueblood moderate, it's going to lose. If it goes Reagan conservative and commits to it, it's going to win landslides.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ACOSTA: We shall see. The big question heading into election day is whether the conservative gamble backfires in what's become a race that is too close to call. Dede Scozzafava now says she's backing the Democrat in that contest and she's urging her supporters to do the same -- John.
ROBERTS: It's pretty amazing what's happened out there just south of the border with Canada. But you're right, Jim, she looks the same upside down or right side up but the race is definitely turned upside down.
ACOSTA: That's right.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Yes. Jim Acosta, this morning, thanks so much.
CHETRY: All right, we're about half past the hour right now, checking our top stories.
A car bomb exploding outside of a bank in Pakistan killing at least 35 people. Most of them were just standing in line waiting for their monthly paycheck. The attack happened in Rawalpindi, about 18 miles south of the capital Islamabad. The violence comes as Pakistan forces engage in heavy fighting with the Taliban on the Afghan border.
ROBERTS: Disturbing new evidence. North Korea was to blame for the massive cyber attacks against the U.S. government. The head of South Korea's main spy agency says the July attacks were traced back to circuits that Pyongyang was leasing from China. Computers at the White House, the Pentagon and the State Department were all sabotaged in that attack.
CHETRY: Michael Jackson's "This is It" was king of the box office over the weekend. That film brought in more than $100 million in its first five days. It was only supposed to run two weeks. Remember we predicted this. Sony is now saying, it's going to keep it in theaters until at least Thanksgiving. A low budget horror flick "Paranormal Activity" slipped to number two.
ROBERTS: I went to see "Where the Wild Things Are" in IMAX. It was great.
CHETRY: It's great?
ROBERTS: Yes. That's terrific.
CHETRY: Not good reviews. Some say it's not for the kiddies but they say it was a really interesting interpretation of a very short book.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: A long movie and a short book. No question.
CHETRY: Well, it's 33 minutes past the hour right now. Bono, he's not only the frontman for one of the world's greatest rock bands, U2, he's also a crusader in fighting HIV/AIDS and he's keeping track of President Obama's pledge to increase money to fight the disease.
Well, this morning we're putting his claim and others to the Truth-O-Meter test. And joining me from Washington is Politifact.com editor and founder, Bill Adair.
Hey there, Bill. Not often that you fact check rock stars. But hey...
BILL ADAIR, EDITOR, POLITIFACT.COM: No, it's not. Yes, maybe we'll do Bruce Springsteen next.
CHETRY: Exactly. All right, well, Bono, as we said, not only known for U2 but he's become wildly known for his political activism which leads us to this claim. This is the one that he made.
He said that when it comes to AIDS or aid, rather, without the S, "When it comes to aid, the United States is still about half as what European countries give as a percentage." Now it's not totally clear exactly what Bono is referring to, whether he's talking about aid for AIDS relief, HIV relief, or in general foreign aid.
So how did the Truth-O-Meter -- first of all, how did you rate his claim?
ADAIR: Well, we gave it a half true on the Truth-O-Meter. And that's because of what you were just alluding to, the confusing context. It appears from reading the interview that he is referring to AIDS relief, which actually he would be wrong about because in the case of AIDS relief, the United States actually ranks very highly because of some initiatives under the Bush administration.
But if he was talking about foreign aid, about aid to countries to help poverty, then he would be right. So confusing context, he gets a half true on the Truth-O-Meter.
CHETRY: And if you're talking real dollar signs, it's still a significant amount of money coming from the United States. It's just that when you do percentages...
ADAIR: Well -- exactly. In terms of foreign aid, the United States gives far more money in total than other countries. But when you look at a percentage, he would be right that we do lag behind in terms of generosity behind Europe.
CHETRY: All right. Well, health care, that's up next. The conservative group, the Concerned Women for America write on their Web site, and this is the quote. "The Democrat's health care bill gives a new Health Choices commissioner the right to look at an individual's tax return to determine what medical benefits or subsidies that person qualifies for."
And so here in this case they're trying to say that it would be an invasion of privacy under this new health care bill. How did the Truth-O-Meter rate that claim?
ADAIR: We gave that one also a half true on our Truth-O-Meter on Politifact. And the reason is that the group is correct that under the bill, particularly the House bill, which specifies that the person running the agency would be the Health Choices commissioner.
That person would have the power to look at tax returns to determine eligibility for subsidies, these are the health care credits that would be aimed at the lower middle class to help them pay for insurance coverage that they couldn't afford now.
But it's misleading when you look at the way the concerned women state that when they talk about determined benefits. That would give you the impression maybe you couldn't get an operation that you might need because you were wealthy or not wealthy or whatever. That part is not true. So overall that statement gets a half true on our Truth- O-Meter.
CHETRY: All right. And our final claim comes from House minority leader, John Boehner. And this is a statement that he put on his Web site, he wrote, "Forcing Americans off of their current health coverage and on to a government plan isn't the answer but that's exactly what the Democrats plan would do."
And this is something that taps into what some folks are concerned about, that down the road we could all be what people are calling a single payer system. How did you rate that?
ADAIR: We gave that one a false on the Truth-O-Meter. When you look at the bill, it -- just doesn't do that. There are protections in the bill that would prevent people from being forced into the public option.
Indeed the basis of both the House and Senate bills is that people would stay on their current privately provided health insurance in the case of most people. Most people get their coverage from their employers, they would continue to under both bills.
And there are also rules that would prevent you from being forced into the public option or being forced into any plan. One of the fundamental principles behind the health care exchange is choice. That you could choose what plan you wanted. So that one gets a false on the Truth-O-Meter.
CHETRY: All right, Bill Adair, every week, great to have you, thanks so much.
And to check...
ADAIR: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks. And to check out some of the other claims that Bill has run through, the Truth-O-Meter, head to our show page, CNN.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: Well, Coach Carter, he was played by Samuel L. Jackson in the movie but he's a real person. He was a basketball coach at Richmond High School in California where that terrible gang rape recently took place.
Our Dan Simon catches up with the real Coach Carter coming up in just a couple of moments to get his take on what happened there. Thirty-eight minutes now after the hour.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
CHETRY: It's 41 minutes past the hour. We're getting some breaking news out of Afghanistan. Right now we've been telling you about this election runoff. Well, a chief Afghan editorial official -- electoral official, rather, is now telling the Associated Press that Saturday's presidential runoff has been canceled.
Afghanistan's election commission is holding a news conference right now to talk about it. President Karzai, there you see to the left of your screen, is the only remaining candidate on the ballot after the challenger, who you see there on the right, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, decided to withdraw Sunday.
We're expecting an official announcement from the Afghan Election Commission coming up in just a few moments. But again the headline out of this, the runoff election now canceled. We'll get more details for you as soon as they become available - John.
ROBERTS: When a 15-year-old girl was gang raped nine days ago, Richmond High School in California went from a source of inspiration to a symbol of desperation.
So former basketball coach Ken Carter decided it was time to come back for a visit. Carter is a legend in Richmond. Hollywood even made a movie about him.
CNN's Dan Simon caught up with Coach Carter during his emotional return home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's the coach who made Richmond High School a symbol of positive change and he's crushed to see it now linked to an unspeakable crime.
KEN CARTER, FORMER BASKETBALL COACH: It's a little surreal. And it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Because I love this school and I love this city.
SIMON: Coach Carter is a celebrity here and he wants to use his fame to help the school heal.
(on camera): What aspect of the case to you was the most mind boggling?
CARTER: Just like everybody else, when you have x number of people witnessing this and no one called 911. And it's so easy to do.
SIMON: A few years ago Ken Carter became the inspiration for a hit movie starting Samuel L. Jackson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Teachers ain't supposed to touch students.
SAMUEL L. JACKSON, ACTOR: I'm not a teacher, I'm the new basketball coach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: The film chronicled Carter's 1999 season as basketball coach. He forfeited games and locked his players out of the gym because of poor academic performance. The kids got the message, grades went up and the team became a power house. Carter says this is what he told his players on the first day.
CARTER: Sat in the very front row of every single class and to be saying yes, ma'am and yes, sir to all teachers, and to be extreme gentlemen to the young ladies on campus. Because that's what we did. That was our standard.
SIMON: Carter left Richmond in 2002. He's now working to open his own private school in Texas. But the homecoming rape has brought him home to Richmond with a different kind of message.
CARTER: I don't know if each one of males had sisters. But I knew -- I know each one of them had a mom, they had a mother. Now you look at the situation, would they like that to happen to somebody in their family? I'm sure nobody.
SIMON: During a school forum, some seem to blame the incident on the lack of cameras and security.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do some schools get everything, why do some schools have new camera systems? How many schools in our district have a fence?
SIMON: Carter says their anger, while understandable, is misplaced.
CARTER: You could have as many cameras around here as possible. To stop something in this community, you're going to need the community. When the community says I'm tired of this, you know, then a change will be made.
SIMON: For now Carter is trying to put together a charity basketball game, hopefully he says with Samuel L. Jackson and other actors from the movie. All the money would to the victim and her family.
CARTER: I don't know what the family's financial situation is. But when something like this happens, I'm sure the parents are not able to work and things of that nature. SIMON: It's a fist step in a long healing process for the 15- year-old girl and the high school Carter helped put on the map.
Dan Simon, CNN, Richmond, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Dan Simon together with Coach Carter there. What an interesting piece. It's coming up now at 45 minutes after the hour, Lance Armstrong was in town recently. He's got an art exhibit and he's touring the world to help raise both awareness for and money for the treatment of cancer. I got together with him. I chat with him a little bit. There we are. And also talked about bike racing. He's going to be back in the Tour de France. And he'll also be appearing in the tour of California. Some interesting and surprising insight from a man who you thought only rode a bicycle. He's an art collector as well. Tell you more about that coming right up. Stay with us.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. A live look this morning at the White House where in D.C. It's 51 degrees right now going up to 56 for a high and expected to be mostly cloudy. It's 49 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano has been tracking the weather for us. A little bit of rainy weekend for a lot of people and some snow as we were talking about over in the Rockies, but things are now just in time for the workweek settling down.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, for sure. Hey, good morning guys. Hope you had a great weekend. Last week, as you know, was pretty busy weather-wise. This week or at least to start this week, fairly quiet. We have a little something off the East Coast. But, I want to show you the wide shot of the radar here over the nation. And there's just little pockets, very few rockets of rain, and where it is raining, it's raining relatively lightly.
Over the East Coast here, New York the East Coast from Atlantic City southward through the Delmarva, just a little bit of spitting here, shouldn't be too much of an issue. Some rain and spots, but I think the game tonight should be okay. How about some rainfall for parts of the South? We talked about flooding last week.
These are records for the month of October and some of these numbers just blew the old records out of the water. Shreveport over 20 inches of rain, Little Rock seeing over 16 inches of rain, and St. Louis Missouri seeing 12.38 inches. Fifty-five degrees for a high in New York, 52 in Chicago. If you are doing traveling today, there may be delays in the New York metro and Philly because of low clouds in the morning. Same deal in Chicago and Detroit, but don't expect a ton of trouble, and again, for the game tonight, where the Yankees will probably wrap things up, the weather looks okay tonight as well.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Do you think they'll wrap it up in Philadelphia or whether they want to bring it back here and win it at the studio? MARCIANO: If Cliff Lee is anywhere close to where he was in game one, they'll bring it back to New York.
ROBERTS: I think they'll win it anywhere they can. (INAUDIBLE) Rob, thanks so much.
Lance Armstrong is not just about the bike. It's about art as well. He's an art collector and he has an exhibit that is touring the world to raise money and awareness for cancer research. We'll be talking to Lance coming right up.
CHETRY: We look forward to that. There you go, there's John saying hello. And also -- there they are one-on-one together. Also, we're getting exclusive one-on-one with Vice President Joe Biden. He sat down and talked to our Ed Henry for the first of our series here on American Morning, the presidential brain trust. These are the people closest to the president. What do they advise him about? What do they talk about? Ed Henry takes a look. Fifty-one minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We're about seven minutes before the top of the hour this Monday morning. Legendary athlete, Lance Armstrong, beat cancer. He conquered world's biggest cycling challenge to Tour de France, winning it seven times.
ROBERTS: And last year came back after four-year lay off and got third. But Armstrong is more than just an inspirational athlete. He's become a full-time lobbyist for cancer research. And I had the chance to talk with Lance in the gallery here in New York about his latest project that brings together more than 20 of the world's top artists for cancer.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
LANCE ARMSTRONG, SEVEN-TIME TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER: I was sitting about a year ago actually with Mark Parker, whose the president and CEO of Nike and had this idea to ask a few artists to contribute their work for this exhibition. It really tells a bigger story, and it's a story to live strong. It's the story of the foundation. It's the story of a global struggle with the disease. And these guys and gals agreed to do it. All of them will be sold to benefit my foundation.
ROBERTS: So what kind you were involved in art and who are some of your favorite artists?
ARMSTRONG: I built my first house when I was just started -- just turned professional and had some success, had a little money, built a home. At that point on, I started looking at art and picking up pieces with travel and I think my favorite piece here to answer the second part is Ed's piece. They're the vital to the core piece. And I asked -- Ed was the first artist that I asked to do this and probably one of the most legendary American contemporary artists we have. His response was immediate.
ROBERTS: So you've got this exhibit touring, the auction of the bicycles and 40 years...
ARMSTRONG: Giving it all away.
ROBERTS: Forty years since Nixon declared war on cancer. So much money has been raised. So much research has gone into it, and yet in 2010, cancer is going to be the number one killer in America. How does that happen?
ARMSTRONG: Because it's a complicated disease that encompasses literally hundreds of diseases. And I think we take for granted the word, cancer. When in fact you've got to look at it as hundreds of different types of diseases and we've got -- we have fixed some of them and some of them -- most of them we have not fixed. But I also think too that you have to look at the entire spectrum of the disease. What we called the cancer continuum; all the way from prevention to end of life care.
ROBERTS: Do you think there is going to be one major break through that could be on the cusp of or at least will be 20 years out or will it be sort of incremental progress in some of the different areas?
ARMSTRONG: Will we have that magic bullet? Probably not. I mean I wish we could. We could go off into a lot of other things. But I think it will be incremental, and I think it will be incremental going back to within the continuum. But the prevention is a big piece to this. Access to care is also a very big piece to this.
ROBERTS: So where do you come down and decide to get the public option reform argument?
ARMSTRONG: That is a complicated issue. And I think that clearly we need reform. I think there -- without trying to solve the problem, because I couldn't do that. I'm not sure anybody can. But the solution is going to be some hybrid of what we have now and what we need to get to. And it's a hot debate. I've been very surprised at how heated this has gotten. I think a lot of people, I mean, just watch television.
ROBERTS: You talk about health care, that is one of the most personal issues you could ever talk absolutely.
ARMSTRONG: The health care crisis, let's call it, is deep. It goes to many, many different levels of privacy and insurance and preexisting conditions and quality of life. And...
ROBERTS: You're not a supporter of the public option?
ARMSTRONG: I'm a supporter of the option that provides the highest level listen -- if you took the poorest person in America and the richest person in America, I think, in my opinion, they deserve the same level of care.
ROBERTS: I do.
ARMSTRONG: I don't see how that can be an unfair statement. How we get to that point -- and certainly some people can't afford insurance and there might need to be a public option. I've been in this city, New York City plenty of times. I've been up in Harlem. I've been to Dr. Freeman Center out there, and you see people that they don't stand a chance. But three miles away, in the heart of Manhattan, they all survive.
ROBERTS: It's quite a difference.
ARMSTRONG: Big difference. It's an issue of disparity and I think we can fix it. I'm glad I'm not the president.
(END OF VIDEOCLIP)
CHETRY: There you go.
ROBERTS: No question about that. Some great works of art there. The one that he bought is one on the Ed Ruscha's vital to the core. It's done in yellow. You should own for the Livestrong Foundation. Not a whole lot of art done in yellow. But he said, he talked to the artist, and he said it's not about vital to the core. It's not about you, Lance. Then I have to have the piece.
CHETRY: There you go. That's a good way to sell it. Good spill good as well. But neat you got a chance to talk to him.
ROBERTS: Yeah. We'll talk to him more coming up in the third hour here in American Morning.
CHETRY: All right. We look forward to that. Meanwhile, we're coming up to two minutes before the top of the hour. Our top stories include breaking news just in from Afghanistan that the runoff election in that country has been officially canceled. We'll find out more about why in 90 seconds.
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