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American Morning
Five Car Bombs Rip Through Baghdad; American Charged in Mumbai Attack; Emergency at Woods' Mansion
Aired December 08, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's almost 8:00, Tuesday, December 8th. I'm Joe Johns, in for John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us this morning.
We start with some breaking news. Still a lot of unanswered questions this morning, (INAUDIBLE) firefighters responding to a medical emergency at Tiger Woods' Florida mansion, the call coming in just after 2:30 this morning. And there you see a woman being wheeled into the hospital off of a stretcher -- on a stretcher there, taken off of an ambulance. This is a woman who we believe was taken from Tiger Woods' home.
Fire officials will only confirm that paramedics did respond to a medical call on the street where Tiger Woods live in Windermere, Florida.
We will be getting a live report from our local affiliates in just a moment.
JOHNS: Also, breaking news out of Iraq, what could be a devastating blow to Iraq's progress. At least 112 people dead after a series of coordinated attacks. We're in Iraq with the latest information.
CHETRY: And U.S. citizen now facing charges for allegedly being involved in a planning of last year's deadly terror attacks in Mumbai, India. One hundred and sixty people were killed, among them, six U.S. citizens. In just a moment, Drew Griffin of CNN Special Investigations Unit on the Chicago man allegedly in the middle of the Mumbai massacre.
JOHNS: And a deadly snowstorm is moving east and getting stronger right now. Three people have been killed in traffic accidents blamed on the storms. What is it doing to the nation's airports? Our Rob Marciano has the latest developments.
But, first, breaking news out of Iraq: Five coordinated car bombs rip through central Baghdad, killing at least 112 people, 400 others are being treated for injuries. The attacks are targeting government offices and a busy commercial district.
Our Isha Sesay is in Baghdad with the breaking details.
ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe and Kiran, today is shaping up to be the bloodiest day in Baghdad since late October. Police officials are telling CNN that five car bombs rocked the capital on this Tuesday morning. Explosions happening in southern, western, and central Baghdad, a number of locations targeted including a busy commercial center and a government ministry building.
In terms of casualties figure, we heard over 100 people are being killed, and over 180 people wounded. The majority of those civilians, men and women and children included in those numbers.
Those explosions that happened in central Baghdad happened over a short period of time in quick succession indicates an appearance of being coordinated, showing that even though the overall situation in Iraq, when it comes to security, has improved somewhat -- when militants strike, they strike in a coordinated manner and they claim many lives.
Back to you.
CHETRY: Isha, thank you so much.
Well, we have breaking news from Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is making an unannounced visit to Afghanistan overnight. And his message to U.S. forces there, we're in this thing to win. Gates has already met face to face with President Hamid Karzai, assuring him that America will not abandon Afghanistan. The secretary also plans to meet with U.S. military leaders while he's there.
And a developing story right now. A U.S. citizen is facing charges this morning for allegedly helping with the planning of last year's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. A hundred and sixty people were killed, six Americans among them. And the Justice Department now is focusing on a man from Chicago who allegedly attended terrorist training camps in Pakistan.
Drew Griffin of CNN Special Investigations Unit joins us now with more on this American terror suspect.
Good morning, Drew.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: Good morning, Kiran.
And I think this case really shows the global nature of what police are dealing with when they're trying to attack terrorism, and what kind of operation is needed to break this case. In this case, Kiran, India's prime minister makes a direct plea to President Obama for help during that state dinner last month and that's what may have pushed this case into a final arrest mode.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (voice-over): It was a well-planned assault on two Mumbai hotels, a Jewish center, a cafe, and Mumbai's train station. Gunmen racing in, killing as they went, then holding off police for two days as the hotels burned and victims were trapped inside. For the last year, India has pointed the finger at Pakistan, and the Kashmiri terror group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, the so-called "Army of God."
Now, the U.S. attorney in Chicago says one of two men arrested earlier this year in connection with another conspiracy was involved in the Mumbai attacks. David Headley faces charges of aiding and abetting the murder of six U.S. citizens killed in those Mumbai attacks, and conspiracy to bomb public places in India.
Headley, a U.S. citizen, born in Afghanistan but grew up in Philadelphia, is charged with using his status as an immigration consultant to help plan and carry out the attacks in India. He faces charge with two others of planning an attack against the Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, as well as an editor and cartoonist at the paper.
The FBI says Headley is cooperating with its investigation but would not cooperate with Indian investigators. CNN has learned, one President Obama pledged cooperation with India, FBI agents from Chicago flew to aid in the investigation. Those agents are in India working alongside Indian intelligence.
According to court papers filed in Chicago, Headley conducted surveillance and took video of the Mumbai targets then met with the conspirators in the months before the November 26th attack.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Perhaps even more frightening, Kiran, a source close to the investigation is telling CNN that at the time of Headley's arrest, just this last October, FBI agents believe this Chicago man raised in Philadelphia was already planning a second attack in India.
We've reached out to his lawyer for response, he says that Headley is cooperating with the FBI's investigation but wouldn't comment on additional charges while the case is under review. Headley heads to court in Chicago tomorrow -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Drew Griffin for us this morning, thank you.
So, is this another case of a homegrown terrorists? And how do authorities step ahead to foil these future terror plots? Well, in the next half hour, we'll be joined by Richard Falkenrath, deputy police commissioner for counterterrorism for the New York City Police Department, also a former security adviser with the Bush administration.
A programming note, by the way, this Saturday and Sunday night on CNN, we go inside the Mumbai massacre as told by the terrorists themselves. "Terror in Mumbai," CNN Saturday and Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
JOHNS: Also new this morning, the GOP erupting over comments made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid comparing opponents of health care today to slavery sympathizers.
Listen for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, MONDAY)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: If you think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right. When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were those who dug in their heels and said, "Slow down, it's too early, let's wait. Things are bad enough." When women spoke up for the right to speak up, they wanted to vote, some insisted that they simply slow done, there will be a better day to do that, today isn't quite right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Senator John McCain called on Reid to come to the floor and apologize for those remarks. RNC Chair Michael Steele said, if Reid doesn't apologize, Democrats should question his fitness to lead.
CHETRY: Well, she would not let go -- some jaw-dropping security video from a Boston subway. A woman whose purse got stuck in the train door, the conductor gave the OK sign and they moved on while she was pulled down the platform until finally slamming into a wall. She suffered a bloody nose. Some bruises, is considering legal action. The train attendant who gave the all clear during that was fired.
JOHNS: Wow, that's pretty incredible. I'll tell you what, I'd let of that purse though.
CHETRY: Yes. We should said she had her passport in it, she just returned from vacation. You know what it's like...
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNS: Yes, that's true. But you can always get another passport.
CHETRY: Yes, that's true.
JOHNS: All right. A major storm making its way east with parts of the Midwest expecting more than a foot of snow today, and airport delays are already stacking up.
Rob Marciano is tracking the storm live from Atlanta.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.
This is a season, no doubt about it. This storm, unique in that it hits California and it didn't weaken. They usually do as they get into the mountains and then re-strike and then go ahead into the plains. This one has held its strength all the way through the Rockies, and they've seen winds gusting 80 to 90 miles an hour with a couple feet of snow and it's moving towards the Midwest.
Here it is -- a big-time storm system that will wind up and bring winds, rain, and in some cases, snow to parts of the Northern Plains and parts of the Midwest as well. As far as how much snow and what kind of delays can you expect, Denver and Minneapolis and Chicago, you're going to see some delays -- already hour-plus delays in the Chicago area.
And then rain across the South, you can have one tornado warning across southern Mississippi, in Hancock County. That's radar indicated. So, at this point, no confirmation of that.
But snow is stretching from the mountains all the way now into the western Great Lakes. This is a big storm. It will exclude for the most part, as far as snow is concerned, the I-95 corridor. But you will feel the rain and you will feel wind on the backside of this. And it will get colder as we head towards Thursday and Friday.
That's the latest on this. We'll have more in about a half hour.
Joe and Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: All right. Rob, thank you. And we'll check back in with you as you said.
Meantime, we have some breaking news that we're following this morning. Firefighters responding to a medical emergency at Tiger Woods' mansion in Florida. The call is coming in just after 2:30 this morning.
And we have some video right now. This is a woman who was reportedly was taken from Tiger Woods' home and then transported to a local hospital.
Jeff Lennox of Orlando affiliate, WESH, is live right now for us, outside of that hospital in Ocoee, Florida.
Jeff, a lot of questions. What do you know so far this morning about what exactly may have happened?
JEFF LENNOX, WEST-TV CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, we know that emergency crews responded to Tiger Woods' home soon after that 911 call came in, around 2:36 this morning. Paramedics are getting there on scene within about 10 minutes after that call came in.
And as you can see, some after paramedics arrived on scene, they transported a woman who is described as being middle aged here to Health Central Hospital here in Ocoee, Florida. And you can see in that stretcher, that woman being taken into the hospital by paramedics.
Now, we do have confirmation that that ambulance that you see right there, did come from Tiger Woods' home in Isleworth, an exclusive neighborhood here in central Florida.
Now, we have also confirmed this morning, that tailing that ambulance, about five minutes after that ambulance arrived here at the hospital, a black Escalade arrived, right behind that and we believe that Tiger Woods' wife, Elin, was in that Escalade. We didn't see her, but those are the reports that we're getting here.
So, (AUDIO GAP) outside the hospital this morning. But we do have some video of that black Escalade speeding off a couple of hours after that woman arrived here at the hospital.
Now, there are some news out there, some reports right now that this could be Elin Woods' mother. We do know that she arrived in town, sources are telling us, sometime yesterday. So, this could possibly be her. But again, no confirmation on that.
You saw the Escalade speeding off and that middle aged woman going into the hospital early this morning. Late-breaking details just coming in in the Tiger Woods' saga.
Of course, we're on top of this story. And as soon as we find out more information, we'll, of course, pass it along to you, guys.
Back to you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Jeff, any plans for the hospital to talk about this at all or perhaps the fire and rescue?
LENNOX: They started talking about it at first, we started calling them around 3:30 this morning. But then, quickly, they got very quiet once they realized that this could be connected to Tiger Woods' family. So, right now, they're keeping quiet. No word of any press conference or anything else coming from Health Center in Ocoee later today yet.
CHETRY: All right, Jeff Lennox for us this morning of WESH-TV in Orlando -- thanks.
Well, still ahead, you know, there are many people who say there's science behind the debate on global warming that is happening. That climate change is certainly happening. Of course, how much is human involvement.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Well, there is one person who says all of it's a hoax, the greatest hoax. Senator James...
JOHNS: Senator James Inhofe.
CHETRY: That's right. But, he is actually going to Copenhagen to speak with two other senators. He says that he's going to be pretty much a one-man truth squad. We're going to get his take on exactly about why he's going there -- coming up.
Twelve minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's 14 1/2 minutes after the hour right now.
The debate over climate change and the so-called climate-gate e-mails coming to head on Capitol Hill.
President Obama is going to be heading to the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, next Friday, and he won't be alone. One of the Senate's biggest critics of global warming is also planning on being there and he's with us now.
I'm joined by the ranking Republican on the environment and public works committee, Senator James Inhofe.
Senator, great to have you with us this morning.
SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R), OKLAHOMA: Nice to be with you, Kiran.
CHETRY: So, back in 2003, you called global warming, quote, "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." What is your current position today on global warming and climate change?
INHOFE: Well, Kiran, it's actually stronger than it was then. I said that the idea that man-made gases are causing it, and they were saying entirely, I said that's the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.
Now, it looks like all the science that was behind this, the IPCC, and our viewers need to know that the United Nations, their lead guy, in fact, is Phil Jones, and you cannot even find him to interview. He is now out of the picture. An investigation is going on. And every day something new comes out, that has really totally debunked the science behind this whole thing that they are in Copenhagen for.
CHETRY: Well, we talked to several scientists involved, and scientists who have sort of studied this entire thing, what they are contending, is that, if you take 13 years' worth of peoples e-mails, between each other, that you could find a smoking gun at some point.
But they say on balance, there is really no denying that the planet is getting warmer, in fact, they said that 2009 could be one of the five warmest years we have seen since they started keeping records. What do you say to the fact that they say some of these e- mails are just cherry picked because of opposition to the whole theory of climate change?
INHOFE: Hey, Kiran, if it were just me saying it, it would be one thing. But, all over the world they are talking about this. And just this morning, the meteorologist, one of the groups has said that they are changing their position. This is the U.K. "Telegraph," this is the worst scientific scandal of our generation.
"The Guardian" activists saying pretending this is not a real crisis is not going to make it go away. I think the whole world is looking at this. And they are desperately trying to find scientists that are going to say, oh no, we have not been depending upon this, and maybe Phil Jones did not say those exact things. That's why we need an investigation. And I think that you folks would agree with that.
CHETRY: All right. Well, let's put aside climate-gate for a minute. I want to talk a little bit more about your presence here. You have called yourself a one-man truth squad, you're attending this conference in Copenhagen. What is the message that you want to deliver?
INHOFE: Well, I will be going with several senators and a couple of house members. The main reason I want to go is I had envisioned that Barbara Boxer and maybe John Kerry and some others, would go and make them think that we are going to pass cap and trade legislation. I want to make sure that they know it's dead, it is not going to pass the United States Senate. It's not even close.
And so I think we owe it to the 192 countries that are there to let them know what we are and are not going to do in the United States. Now, the recent thing, of course, is the endangerment finding. And, this is something that to me this is, well, in fact, this is an admission, that they don't have the votes to pass it through the legislature, so they are going to try to do it through the White House. I don't believe that is going to work.
CHETRY: All right. Well, let's talk a little bit about the cap and trade legislation. You have argued before that you think this is going to basically lead to a torrent of new regulations, that it would destroy thousands of jobs. It would make energy, gas, more expensive for consumers, and hit small business. How much of this is about the cost, and how much is about the science?
INHOFE: Well, first of all, you have two things. You have the science and you have the economics. And we have been talking about both for a long time with these bills. Just keep in mind, we have had four bills debated in the United States Senate. We do know this. There is no question about it, we have analyses from MIT, from the Work School of Economics, it will cost about $330 billion a year for cap and trade what was being considered in the Senate.
Now, this equates to about $2,000 an American family. Every taxpayer, so that's a huge tax increase. And according to Lisa Jackson, who is the head of the EPA, if we did this unilaterally and passed that it would not reduce the emissions worldwide, any, at all. It would just cause our jobs to go over to countries like China and India and Mexico, where they do not have any restrictions.
CHETRY: You are saying if they are not onboard, if they are not onboard, some changes -- although they have said they would be onboard with some changes. Reducing their own carbon emissions, as well as other things.
But, I just want, about carbon efficiency, I just want to ask you one quick question. President's reduction, he talked about the cuts that he would possibly be willing to make, maybe a 17 percent reduction in emissions from 2005 levels. Now, some of the -- we have talked to some of the environmentalists say that's actually quite low, that's a baby step, if you will, because they want them to cut 25 percent to 40 percent in order to head off some of the worse effects of climate change.
So, do you think that even some incremental changes to eventually reduce the carbon emissions in the U.S. would have that big of an impact financially on companies?
INHOFE: Oh yes, I do. In fact, 17% was in the Marquee-Waxman bill. That's the figure, that is what they have analyzed and said how much it would cost. Kiran, it doesn't mean that we can't do some things. The Western or the Eastern Pacific Partnership Program that would allow us to share technology with developing countries, that might be something worthwhile and that would actually have some results.
But not mandating these things that are coming in the cap and trade bill. You would ask the question that a lot of people do, if you really want to cut carbon, why don't you put a carbon tax on it. And the reason they don't do that, is then people would know how much it would cost them. The cap and trade is very tricky, they take winners and losers and try to convince everyone that they are going to be a winner. It's not going to pass.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll have to leave it there. It was great talking to you and please check in again from Copenhagen. Let us know how it goes for you there. Senator James Inhofe. Great to talk to you today.
INHOFE: I would like that. Thank you.
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: And here is an AM extra look at the impact the summit is having on the environment. A lot of important people in town for the summit and that means some big numbers. Britain's Telegraph Newspaper reports about 140 private jets will be coming and going. And on the roads, an estimated 1,200 limousines, add all that up, and you get the biggest number of all. The United Nations estimate of the carbon footprint of the summit almost 41 tons. Now, compare that to the average American. The carbon footprint of your average American is 20 tons in an entire year.
And tomorrow here on AMERICAN MORNING, we will be hearing from the other side of the global-warming debate, Former Vice President, and Nobel Laureate Al Gore will be joining us live, that's tomorrow, right here on the Most News in the Morning.
CHETRY: Well, we certainly look forward to talking to him about that for sure. And also still ahead, some ideas being generated by the White House, looks like the president's going to talk more about it today, ideas for getting millions of Americans back to work. Out Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business." She is going to break down some of those ideas for us. 22 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Didn't he retire? Didn't he retire, Eminem?
CHETRY: He is very popular to retire for that...
JOHNS: Yes, exactly. The artist formerly known as Eminem.
CHETRY: That is right.
JOHNS: Okay. Well, the decade, not only the year winding down, the best of the 2000s are out and according to Nielsen Soundscan, Eminem was the biggest, selling artist of the decade. With just over 32,000,000 albums sold, just edging out the Beatles?
CHETRY: Wow, I mean, some of this stuff is great, run in the treadmill to it, I'll tell you that.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Did the Fab Four, you know, they did not do so badly. Okay. They did it the number one album of the decade now that considering that next year will be four decades since they broke up, so how is that for longevity.
CHETRY: Twenty-five minutes past the hour right now. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" and she joins us now. Christine.
JOHNS: And you are not retiring?
ROMANS: Not anytime soon.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: No, I am not. But some of that T.A.R.P. money has been retired, and the hope is that you will be able to use some of that bank bailout money to fund some job creation programs. We are going to hear from the president, as you know, a little bit later today, about new ways to try get jobs started. What is the imperative here?
Well, at the beginning of this recession, 4.9 percent was the unemployment rate it is up to 10 percent now. It's an unemployment crisis, and that's something the polls are showing again and again. The president and his team, they have said that getting jobs growing is job one. Now they have to figure out how to do that.
By the way, I just want to make a quick point. Do you know that the unemployment rates of people with bachelor's degree or higher is 4.9%. So think of that, if you have a bachelor's degree still, it's going up, but still a much better position than the rest of the economy. So, I don't think you should expect a silver bullet here today from the president. You are going to hear some ideas that have already been tried and maybe some that will be slightly newer and honed.
One of the things that you are going to hear about is infrastructure improvement. Some of the Democrats are talking about a National Infrastructure Bank, funding a big bank that would actually be in charge of funding infrastructure projects. They are calling it cash for caulkers. That this would be money -- this is also something -- we're doing this already under the original stimulus. And getting loans to small business.
We have had an issue of trying to get this done. You are still hearing, I am still hearing from small business owners that they are dying out there. They still need loans, easy to get loans and they need money. This is where you could see those T.A.R.P. leftovers being used. I have been doing a lot of research this morning. It did not seem the White House could just dig in to that T.A.R.P money and use it for whatever they want. There are budget restrictions on that money.
JOHNS: Really?
ROMANS: That's right. There are some strings in the legislation. So I think you will hear the president be cautious about saying he is using T.A.R.P. money to do this. They are going to try to --
CHETRY: She said that it wouldn't be a direct usage, but, one of the questions is can we talk about the 130th regional bank failing yesterday or the day before --
ROMANS: And there will be more.
CHETRY: And these are some of the banks that you have said before, and Stephanie has said before, those are the ones that lend to small businesses, so what about T.A.R.P. funds going to those smaller banks like the bailout for the bigger banks?
ROMANS: And that is something that we have talked about and some of these regional banks have received T.A.R.P. money already, they can apply for it already. But that's one of the things -- some of the regional banks have a higher exposure frankly to the construction and the mortgage industry in the first place. So, that's part of the problem there.
But you are right. It is these regional banks that lend to small businesses. The other thing is there was a big bubble. A big bubble. And some of the economists say frankly there are some small businesses and certain industries that may not be viable with or without a business loan. And that's something that has a shakedown, too.
JOHNS: We are talking about using all these extra money, sort of...
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: It's money we did not have in the first place.
JOHNS: Pretending it's all over, and it's really not all over.
ROMANS: No, it's not over. We have a lot of work to do. But, I think that you will see the stimulus, a big chunk of the original stimulus is going to start really get into swing in the next six months or so, so that could be helpful.
JOHNS: Great, thanks a lot.
ROMANS: Thanks, Christine. JOHNS: The threat of home-grown terrorism on U.S. soil. This is something we are talking about in New York today. New York deputy police commissioner for counter terrorism, Richard Poukenmath, coming up next live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 30 minutes past the hour.
We are following breaking news out of central Florida today where firefighters have responded to a medical emergency at Tiger Woods' mansion, the call coming in just after 2:30 this morning.
And you're seeing video right now of a woman who was reported to be taken from Tiger Woods' home being taken to a local hospital. We have local affiliates on the story, and we are there ourselves making calls and trying to figure out what is going on. We will bring you more details on the story as they become available.
Also new this morning, five coordinated car bombings in central Baghdad killing 101 people, 400 others injured. A courthouse, the government's interior ministry, as well as a university among the targets. Just yesterday eight others were killed in a school bombing in Baghdad.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates making an unannounced visit to Afghanistan landing there overnight. He's assuring U.S. troops that we are in this thing to win. Gates already met face-to-face with the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzi, telling him America will not abandon him -- Joe.
JOHNS: Kiran, a developing story now, the Justice Department confirming a U.S. citizen from Chicago is now charged with helping plan the bloody terror attacks in Mumbai, India, last year, where 160 people were killed including six Americans. David Headley reportedly attended terrorism training camps in Pakistan.
So is this another case of homegrown terrorism? And how do authorities stay ahead of the next terror plot? Richard Falkenrath is the deputy police commissioner for counterterrorism for New York City. He's also a former security advisor for President Bush.
So when you look at this guy, it's clear he was on the radar screen for a variety of different things, including smuggling drugs, according to the "New York Times." Do you think flags were missed? And why were the red flags missed?
RICHARD FALKENRATH, DEPUTY POLICE COMMISSIONER FOR COUNTERTERRORISM, NYPD: Yes, he was on somebody's radar screen. He was certainly on the DEA's radar screen. But the focus on him did not begin until later well after he attended the terror training camps. In this case, it's now apparent that we did not get on to him early enough.
JOHNS: How common is it, really, for an American to be caught up, named, and singled out for being involved in a terror plot? Is this something that you just very rarely hear about? I think I have seen a couple other headlines.
FALKENRATH: It's more common than we like. In the last year, about ten cases have come to light about domestic homegrown radicalization. Some American citizens who have gone to Pakistan or to other countries to actually fight, some of them get been killed over there or get captured and are brought back, some that are arrested right here.
Last May we had four individuals arrested in Riverdale in preparation of an attack against two synagogues there.
So this is happening. It's the reality of the world we live in. We do everything we can to fight it. It may also be becoming more prevalent in the last couple years.
JOHNS: Why?
FALKENRATH: Good question. We are not sure. We are not comfortable with any of the answers why. We think it might have to do with some the imagery from abroad, the conflict situation in the Middle East and South Asia, but we're not sure.
Every case is unique. And the path that led the four plotters against the Riverdale synagogues is a very different path than led David Headley to what he did in Mumbai.
JOHNS: There are reports that this fellow is also cooperating with the authorities. And while we are not certain of that, the implication is some good information could be gotten from him. When you have somebody on the inside like this, how much information can you reasonably get?
FALKENRATH: You can get a lot. These inside information sources are vital.
He is now cooperating with the authorities, so a lot of the information that they put out in a very substantial document from the Department of Justice is all the information that he's provided them, most of which has been corroborated, and which has led to a very unusual U.S. criminal indictment against a former Pakistani military officer.
JOHNS: So is Headley an example of the United States staying ahead of the game or staying one step behind it?
FALKENRATH: This one is in the game. If you look at the last major case, Najibullah Zazi, that was ahead of the game. But you never want to see a U.S. citizen actually participate in an attack that gets carried out.
And the Mumbai attack was one of the worst the world has seen since 9/11, and this individual, an American citizen, travelled there to support it five times. And nobody wants that.
JOHNS: People here in New York, especially, because they are so sensitized to this since September 11th, and anybody around the country would look at the situation and want to know one thing from a guy like you, and that is are we prepared, are we ready for whatever is coming at us next time?
FALKENRATH: We hear in New York City think we are ready as we can be. We work in very close partnership with our federal partners, and the FBI, the CIA, and we do everything we reasonably can to protect this city.
But we are a free and open society. There are no guarantees. There is no perfect security. And people can slip through the cracks, and it looks like this guy, David Headley did slip through the cracks at least insofar as he was able to support the Mumbai shooting.
JOHNS: Great, thank you so much, Richard Falconroth for coming in today and talking with us a little bit, and we'll be back in touch with you.
FALKENRATH: Thanks, Joe.
JOHNS: And a programming note. This Saturday and Sunday we here on CNN will go inside the Mumbai massacre as told by the terrorists themselves. "Terror in Mumbai," CNN Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern.
CHETRY: Also the CDC estimates that one in 100 U.S. children will be diagnosed with autism. This morning we are digging deeper with an "A.M." original series I'm reporting on called "Inside the Child's Mind." We're going to see firsthand the dramatic transformation that one boy made thanks to early intervention therapy.
It's 37 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It's a heartbreaking diagnosis that many parents have heard before, your child has autism.
CHETRY: It's still a medical mystery as to what causes autism. But this morning in part two of my series "Inside the Child's Mind," we're getting a look at how early intervention led to a remarkable breakthrough for one young boy who started slipping away.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: As a baby, Jake Exkorn was everything his parents hoped for, happy and healthy.
KAREN EXKORN, JAKE'S MOTHER: He hit all the developmental milestones. He walked, he talked, he played.
CHETRY: But at 17 months the light began to fade from Jake's face. KAREN EXKORN: At first he stopped responding to his name, and then he stopped playing. Then by his second birthday he stopped speaking entirely.
CHETRY: Karen worried it may be a hearing problem or a speech delay.
KAREN EXKORN: I never expected to hear the words "your child has autism."
CHETRY (on camera): What was that like to hear?
KAREN EXKORN: It was completely devastating. It meant there was no hope for my son. And yet I was determined to help my son in any way that I could.
I knew that I wanted a treatment for Jake that had science behind it. And a lot of treatments don't. The one that had the most science behind it was a treatment called ABA.
CHETRY (voice-over): ABA, applied behavior analysis is an intensive approach that uses reputation and rewards to teach autistic children the things that come naturally to most kids.
KAREN EXKORN: We wanted to teach Jake to respond to his name. So we would say, "Jake," and we would take an M&M and hold it up just between our eyes.
CHETRY: Day after day, 40 hours a week they plugged away, hoping to help Jake relearn what autism has taken away.
KAREN EXKORN: Going into this, there were no guarantees. Nobody ever mentioned the word "recovery" to us, so that was not our goal, ever.
CHETRY: And there continues to be no guarantees, but for the first time a new study shows that early intervention therapy can improve language skills and behavior and raise I.Q., giving hope to parents of children with autism.
GERALDINE DAWSON, AUTISM SPEAKS: What we know is that if children receive early intensive behavioral intervention, some of the children do lose their diagnosis.
CHETRY: Geraldine Dawson is the chief scientist for the advocacy group "Autism Speaks." She helped design the study and says symptoms of autism can begin as early as eight months.
DAWSON: So the most important thing is to be alert for those symptoms, and then get into intervention right away.
CHETRY: Jake, after a year of ABA therapy, showed progress. Then at age four, a turning point. When Karen took him for ice cream, and without prompting, Jake told the man what flavor he wanted -- "nilla." KAREN EXKORN: The man had no idea this was this defining moment in my life. This was huge. This was huge. And this marked the beginning of spontaneous language for Jake.
CHETRY: What soon followed was an even bigger milestone, when at Jake's four year checkup, Karen was told her son no longer had symptoms of autism. The doctor said Jake had recovered.
CHETRY (on camera): Did you believe it?
KAREN EXKORN: Hearing her say that blew me away in the same way when I heard her say the diagnosis.
CHETRY: Today Jake is a thriving 13-year-old. He plays basketball, football, and is every bit the typical teenage boy.
JAKE EXKORN: I like to hang out with my friends. I don't love to study, even though sometimes I have to. And I would describe myself as outgoing, athletic, and nice.
CHETRY: A dramatic transformation for a family who once thought they lost their little boy to autism.
JAKE EXKORN: I don't think about it too much, but when I do it's kind of crazy. But my mom and dad put in a lot of effort into it, and so did I, and it paid off.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: So now while Jake's case is really certainly amazing, doctors tell us it's actually pretty rare for kids with an autism spectrum disorder to recover so completely. But experts say that most autistic kids who lose their diagnosis do have some lingering problems, possibly with anxiety or tension issues.
And researchers still don't understand the mystery of why some children respond better to these therapies than others do. But they know that therapy can work and with the disorder being diagnosed earlier and earlier there is more hope as we showed you yesterday that can sort of see changes in the brain...
JOHNS: Right.
CHETRY: ... and they've seen markers in the brain and think that hopefully one day down the road it can have the same payoff like it did for Jake.
JOHNS: And so this was 11 years ago...
CHETRY: Right.
JOHNS: ... when he was diagnosed. The million dollar question is how do you know, how do you know to move on this that aggressively the way his parents did?
CHETRY: Right. And when I talked to Karen about that I said, I mean, now, I mean, autism is basically a household name and we know so much more about it, schools are tailored, you know schools have programs that are tailored to help people. But back then, there was not as much notice.
She says, she was really -- tried to be a trail blazer, scouring the Internet, trying to learn things for herself, trying to what she said, pick something with had science behind it, it's ABA, and just go from there.
And the other interesting thing she said that she wished she had more help along the way. She actually wrote a book, it's called the "Autism Source Book." She says that a lot of doctors and pediatricians and teachers say that this book has really helped, because she just basically compiled a lot of information that she figured out into this book for other parents.
JOHNS: Wow.
CHETRY: So it is out there and it is pretty amazing.
JOHNS: Absolutely.
CHETRY: ... his story.
JOHNS: And more tomorrow?
CHETRY: More tomorrow, "Inside the Child's Mind", we're keeping it break from autism, we're talking a little bit about learning and how children learn best and whether or not there is a difference actually in the brains of young male children and young female children.
And we took you to one school where they give single sex classrooms a try to see if it boosted their students grades and their test score. So we're going to take a look at whether this idea works or some of the critics say there's gender bias and perhaps you're not preparing kids for a coed world.
But this school has seen some remarkable changes.
JOHNS: looking forward to that. This has been good stuff.
CHETRY: Thanks Joe.
JOHNS: Thank you.
Now, a massive snowstorm coming our way; that's what we're hearing the weather center blizzard conditions? It sounds kind of scary, huh? And people dispute this as far as I am concerned, it's not winter yet.
Back in just a couple of minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right. Well, there is a look at Des Moines, Iowa this morning. How about that?
JOHNS: A cold day in Iowa.
CHETRY: Yes, you are worried about a few flakes here and there as you try to get back to D.C. Imagine that? Light snow right now at 23 degrees a little bit later snow again, 28 for a high.
And it looks like we may be getting some of that weather heading east and certainly not as much but Rob Marciano following the extreme weather for us including tracking blizzard, correct?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, everybody getting a little taste of this. It just depends on where you are and what kind of precip and whether you're going to get.
Check out these pictures coming in to us from Flagstaff, Arizona. We often think of Arizona being a warm fuzzy place. Well, North of Phoenix in the mountains it could get snowy. A record setting amounts yesterday; 20 inches at Flagstaff. And they are out there with the snow shovels.
All right, this storm now -- cruising across the Colorado Rockies and into New Mexico. Blizzard warnings up for those folks; this is a massive, massive storm that's also going spawn some severe weather. We just had a tornado warning last hour but it was not verified.
So a number of reasons for travel to be delayed today across the airports: Denver, Chicago, and Minni for snow and wind; Atlanta and Memphis and St. Louis some rain and low clouds; also low clouds and some fog across Dallas and Houston.
Here is your heavy rain stretching from the Mississippi Delta up through the Piedmont parts of Northern Georgia. And that will filling in across the Tennessee Valley as well.
Temperatures right around the freezing mark in Chicago teens. It'll be all snow in Minneapolis the rain snow land right around Kansas City, you'll see some snow.
Temperatures dropping close to zero degrees near Denver, Colorado. So that's kind of nippy out there for sure. How much snow we're going to see? It's nine to 10 inches in some spots if you want to feel like your warm a quick video of Hawaii, I've got to show you this stuff.
Unbelievable waves, 40-footer that's coming into the North Shore; haven't seen this kind of wave action since 2004.
So there you go, Joe...
JOHNS: Yes.
MARCIANO: If you're worried about it not officially being winter...
JOHNS: That, that. MARCIANO: Joe, go to Hawaii and put some flowers around your neck and you'll feel much, much better.
JOHNS: That's what I'm talking about buddy.
CHETRY: Do you surf?
JOHNS: Yes, right.
CHETRY: Do you?
JOHNS: Of course not. And I don't ski, either.
CHETRY: He just wants a giant coconut to sip out of with an umbrella.
JOHNS: Yes, precisely.
MARCIANO: Well, I could see that.
JOHNS: I do a little scuba, so how about that?
CHETRY: There you go.
JOHNS: That's cool, right?
MARCIANO: Don't forget your straw hat.
MARCIANO: Yes, well, you know I want to get out there and work out. By the way, before you because I'm going right to the next tease. Do you workout? Do you work out this morning? Are you going to work out today?
CHETRY: Does he work out? I mean, look at him.
MARCIANO: I could barely get here this morning.
JOHNS: You got that six-pack going on? Ok.
MARCIANO: Yes, no it's sort like a two-pack at this point, so it's not that.
JOHNS: Right.
CHETRY: Thanks to the 12 packs.
JOHNS: Well, exactly.
Well, Sanjay Gupta is coming up next. He's going to talk about the fact that if you get the serious sweat when you're working out, you cut your stroke risk but it only applies to men which I find to be very interesting and very unusual.
Be back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) JOHNS: Rock that body. Welcome back to The Most News in the Morning. When it comes to preventing a stroke, a new study shows exercise only helps if you are a man. I just find that so hard to believe. I am totally not buying that.
CHETRY: Well, let's get some clarification right now. We are paging Dr. Gupta this morning to find out more. So that intense, intense exercise where you're breaking a sweat, it helps prevent stroke but only in men?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it seems to. And this is one of those things where it goes back to trying to figure out what the goals are of exercise. Certainly exercise has benefits for men and women at all ages.
But this is a very particular study, looking at around 3,000 adults, average age 69, all from the New York area, and following them out for ten years.
And what they found: people who did the moderate to highest intensity exercise seemed to derive the most benefit if they were a man. It's unclear why that is, why women didn't derive the same benefits. It could be that some of the stroke rates were lower in the first place, or they derive benefits in other things more so.
But if you are trying to decrease stroke risk specifically through exercise, you can decrease by about 63 percent over a period of time if you do moderate to high intensity and if you're a man.
Now what they mean specifically by that, because people get asked this all time, when it comes to moderate or higher intensity exercise, it's really things like Joe mentioned earlier, jogging, tennis, swimming, 20 to 40 minutes at a time and most days of the week. Three to five days a week.
So that seems to offer some benefit. But again, I hope the message isn't that exercise isn't beneficial for women at any age.
JOHNS: So what I am taking a way from this is that there is no clear reason why we don't have any certainty on that, right? I mean...
GUPTA: Well, when...
JOHNS: Go ahead.
GUPTA: When you look at stroke, the things that sort of increase your likelihood of stroke, you can break them down into broader categories; high blood pressure, for example, elevated cholesterol.
But there's something else that a lot of people have been paying attention to lately and that's the level of inflammation in the body. Inflammation could be a big precursor for both stroke and heart disease. And it seems to be -- again this is what they're hypothesizing is that men for some reason, when they exercise, they have better control of that inflammation in the body as compared to women.
Again, why that is exactly? Hard to say. That could be why they get more stroke benefit or anti-stroke benefit from exercise.
CHETRY: Interesting. You know I can't keep up with Sanjay. He's had babies right and left, they wanted him to be surgeon-general, he writes a book, he turns 40, he writes another book, now you're jumping in the Hudson River. What the heck is going on?
GUPTA: You guys should join us, by the way.
CHETRY: It's ok.
JOHNS: Sure.
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNS: In the snow storm.
GUPTA: Yes. You actually jumped out of your seats there.
We are going to do this in July, Joe. It's a New York City triathlon, July 18th. We're going to invite five of your viewers to come join us. Practice what you preach, they say, right?
It's a mile swim, 26 mile bike, and 10 k run. But here's the thing. We'll fly people up to New York, get them signed up and also get them trainers in their locals and sort of monitor their progress; the idea being that people have their work out routines all over the country. We can all learn from them.
We're going to document it all on the Web as well. So...
JOHNS: I've always wanted to do that.
GUPTA: You guys should join us, I am serious.
JOHNS: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNS: I always wanted to do the whole deal, the riding of the bike and all.
CHETRY: He does. He has -- he has a built in swim cap, you don't have to worry.
JOHNS: You had to go there.
GUPTA: It makes it one step easier for you Joe. You have no excuses.
CHETRY: Sanjay thank you.
Fifty-eight minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Updating our breaking news now: firefighters responding to a medical emergency at Tiger Woods' mansion; the call coming in just after 2:30 this morning. The woman in the video believed to be taken from Woods' home, transported to a hospital in Okoe, Florida. Stay with CNN for continuing coverage of this developing story throughout the morning.
JOHNS: That will do it for us. Continue the conversation on today's stories, go to our blog at cnn.com/amFix.
CHETRY: And it's good to have you with us, Joe, for the past two days?
JOHNS: Absolutely, it's been so much fun.
CHETRY: Hopefully you will get back out of here.
JOHNS: You bet.
CHETRY: John Roberts is back again tomorrow. Hope to see you again tomorrow as well.
Meantime, here is "CNN NEWSROOM" with Brooke Baldwin -- hi Brooke.
