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American Terrorists in Pakistan?; Afghan Oasis of Peace; Executive Compensation; Alcohol and Breast Cancer Recurrence; Bernie Madoff One Year Later

Aired December 11, 2009 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN HOST: Meanwhile, the news continues right now. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins.

Good morning, Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning, guys. And good morning to you, everybody. New information this morning about five Americans arrested in Pakistan. Police say they plan to wage jihad in Afghanistan.

And if you or somebody you love is a breast cancer survivor, you'll want to hear about a new study. It contain as warning about drinking alcohol.

And nude photos of Tiger Woods? The golfer is not saying they are out there, but he's got a court order banning them.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins, it's Friday, December 11th, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

This morning, new details on five young men who seemingly vanished from their Washington, D.C. suburbs. Well, today they are jailed in Pakistan and accused of plotting terror attacks. Now investigators from both Pakistan and the United States are trying to unravel this web of intrigue.

CNN's Arwa Damon has update now on the status of the suspects. She's joining us live from Islamabad, Pakistan.

Arwa, good morning to you.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Well, what we do know that the suspects have been removed from the city of Sarghoda where they were detained to Lahore. That was for their own security according to the minister of Interior.

What we do also know from a recently released police report is that it is believed that they were trying to make their way to Afghanistan, that they had made contact with two militant groups here in Pakistan, both of whom, though, had rejected them, refused to harbor them.

Now piecing this altogether has been fairly complicated. It is a very complex story, so to do that we took a trip to the city of Sarghoda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAMON (voice-over): The city of Sarghoda has become known as a stronghold of radical Islamist groups, and now police here say they thwarted a major terror plot. This is the room where Wednesday they arrested five men who'd vanished from their homes in the U.S. at the end of last month.

Sarghoda police chief Usman Anwar says a few minutes later and they would have been gone. Anwar tells us they found maps highlighting known terror highlights and then e-mail account the men used to contact their militant handlers.

USMAN ANWAR, POLICE CHIEF: They were given specific -- extra specific instruction, I would say. And the telephone usage was privated (ph).

DAMON: Now the five as well as the father of one of them are behind bars. Two are of Pakistani descent, one Egyptian, one Eritrean, Ethiopian. Pakistani officials say all are Americans.

(On camera): Behind these doors is where the six are being held, interrogated by both Pakistani officials, and according to the Pakistanis, by the FBI as well.

(Voice-over): None has yet been charged, but Police Chief Anwar claims they could have posed a serious threat.

ANWAR: They were mercenaries. They were there for jihad. They could have done anything. They had U.S. passports. They could have access to many, many points which a lot of persons could not have access to.

DAMON: Also in Sarghoda we meet the mother of one of the men. She doesn't want to appear on camera for religious reasons. She says she came to Pakistan two months ago to look for a wife for her son, then he disappeared from their home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And one day he told he will come back. Monday, all day, he's gone. He didn't come back. He didn't pick up the phone. The next day again the parent told that all are missing. Then I'm told that now it's a serious thing.

DAMON: Miss Paruk (ph) doesn't believe her son could be involved in a terror plot. She thought he'd been kidnapped and alerted the authorities. A few days ago her son and his friends turned up in Pakistan. He told her he wanted to surprise her. Now she says her family is caught in the middle of this complex Pakistani-U.S. web.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are making a story, because both countries are fighting each other and they're involving other family. The people family are coming over here to visit, marry, enjoy their home country. This is not admitting that we are terrorists.

DAMON: Now a provincial town in Pakistan is suddenly the focus of an investigation spanning continents.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: Heidi, and in trying to further understand this, we just came back from an interview with Pakistan's minister of Interior, Rehman Malik, and we asked him what he thought their motivation may have been.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REHMAN MALIK, INTERIOR MINISTER OF PAKISTAN: It is only -- I can you give based on the previous experience. Yes, the farmers do come to Pakistan to take part, you know, in the war against Pakistan. And sometime Afghanistan and they had been working for al Qaeda, and one of the organizations which stands banned, (INAUDIBLE), you mentioned, it is a proscribe organization in Pakistan, and we have signatures of their contact with the TTP and al Qaeda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: What makes this even more disturbing for Pakistani authorities is that the arrests took place and these five were moving through the province of Punjab. And Pakistani authorities are very concerned about the militancy in Punjab because it is the home of the government. And it is also the home of the military leadership.

And the militants succeeded in destabilizing Punjab, Heidi, they're going to succeed in destabilizing the entire country.

COLLINS: We'll be watching closely. Arwa Damon for us this morning in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Thanks, Arwa.

New details also this morning about the role of Blackwater security guards in Afghanistan and Iraq. The "New York Times" reports private Blackwater guards actually worked with the CIA to capture suspected insurgents. Blackwater now known as Xe was hired to provide security for CIA agents. But according to former employees and intelligence officials, the private contractors instead played a more active role in one of (INAUDIBLE) snatch-and-grab operations.

A U.S. official tells the Associated Press the Blackwater guards did not perform CIA missions. . The House Intelligence Committee is already investigating other claims that Blackwater was used in the CIA assassination program.

The first of the new troops headed to Afghanistan are expected to arrive next week. And those troops are Marine battalion headed for southern Afghanistan. That's the area of focus for President Obama's new strategy.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen says 16,000 troops have their orders for Afghanistan. He also says winter gear and other equipment already in the pipeline. Last week, the president committed 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. They are all expected to be deployed by this summer.

The new strategy is aimed at areas with heavy Taliban presence. Some of the areas inside Afghanistan are already beacons of success thanks to the Afghans themselves. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The stunning beauty of Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley. These mountain peaks have kept this fiercely independent and devout Panjshiri safe. Neither the invading Soviets or the Taliban were ever able to control this region.

Because the area is now relatively secure, U.S. troops stationed here are able to concentrate on encouraging the local Afghan government to take responsibility for its citizens, a major priority of the new counterinsurgency strategy.

Army Major Ian Murray is part of a reconstruction team living here in the valley.

MAJ. IAN MURRAY, U.S. ARMY: We get to actually get out, work with the government officials, work with the local people and make sure that the basic services are being provided to them. We've been really focusing on building schools, providing some basic electrical power through micro hydro electric projects, and providing the clinics.

STARR (on camera): And you do not have Taliban or insurgency activity here?

MURRAY: No. There's no Taliban. No insurgent activity. We had no instances of any kind of Taliban activity in the valley.

STARR (voice-over): We are taken to visit a school the U.S. helped built. Boys and girls attend separately as they do across Afghanistan. It's a freezing cold day and these boys have walked miles to get here in the early morning.

(On camera): This cold remote valley is a place of great history to both the Afghans of the Panjshir and to the United States. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, the first CIA Jawbreaker team landed here with trunkfulls of cash, and within days the war against the Taliban would begin a war that still goes on today.

(Voice-over): All up and down the valley, you still find rusted hulks of Soviet armor and artillery. A testament of the will of the Panjshiris to resist the outsiders, which makes it all the more extraordinary that the people in this valley are willing to accept U.S. troops.

Here the U.S. have their own security force, local Mujadeen fighters who have sworn to protect the Americans, fighters who once fought the Taliban and the Soviets.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Panjshir Valley.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: If you're heading outside, you better dress in layers. It is incredibly cold across much of the country. And on top of that, New Englanders and people in the upper Midwest are trying to dig their way out of the first big snowstorm of the season. Wow!

In South Georgia, one man cannot believe he survived this. His mobile home obliterated by a possible tornado. The owner and his dog were inside at the time.

And utility crews in California, rushing to restore power in the sierras just as another storm hits.

Rob Marciano joining us now to talk a little bit more about all of this.

Yes, it was something like 18 degrees with the windchill, I guess, right here in Atlanta this morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Chilly. All the way down to the Gulf Coast, we saw temperatures that were at if not below freezing. So everybody now getting a piece of this. If you didn't get snow, say, on the east coast with this blizzard that affected much of the rest of the country, now you're feeling the backside of it which is in the form of cold.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: OK. Very good, Rob. Thank you.

MARCIANO: You got it.

COLLINS: Getting money back from Bernie Madoff. It's been one year since his arrest now, and investors are divided on a payback plan and exactly who should have access to his assets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The Obama administration's pay czar today announces another round of restrictions on executive compensation for companies that took federal bailout funds.

Our Christine Romans is joining us now live from New York with more about this.

So, Christine, tell us a little bit more about this pay cuts because we've been talking about it for a long time, it seems like.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's widely expected that the special pay master Kent Feinberg is going to announce very strict pay caps for some of the top paid employees of the six firms that get exceptional assistance from the taxpayers.

What this means, these are the companies, Heidi, that you and I have propped up with big infusions of taxpayer dollars. So this isn't all banks. This is the big six. It's Citigroup, AIG, General Motors -- not just banks, by the way -- Chrysler, Chrysler Financial, and GMAC.

So what are these restrictions? Well, it's widely expected and he's going to announce to reporters in about an hour and 15 minutes of exactly the details of this new plan. Widely expected that it'll be a $500,000 pay cap for these employees. These are the employees who are number 26 to 100 highest paid at these firms.

The first 25, as you know, he's already announced some pretty strict pay cuts for those people, strict in some cases and other cases people think they were a little bit too lenient. But for this number, the 26th to the 100th highest paid employees of these firms, it would be a $500,000 pay cap.

Now extra pay would be allowed if the company could show good cause. So we'll hear more from Mr. Feinberg about what exactly would be good cause. Will there be wiggle room for some of these compensation who have complained that, frankly, compensations a barrier from them keeping good people.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: Specifically at AIG. This has been something that AIG has complained about and said that many of their good people, in fact, have gone because of the pay issue.

COLLINS: Sure.

ROMANS: Because the insurance industry is still very, very competitive. We'll know more about the details, but Heidi, indeed, this is the U.S. government still quite tough on bonuses and compensation for these firms that have been bailed out by you and I.

COLLINS: Well, it all sounds good because, you know, it makes sense. If you know they've been given this money then it shouldn't be shelled out to the executives, except for what you just mentioned, the idea of competition, and the people who are propping them up, you and me, want these companies to do really well and hang on to the talent.

So what happens...

ROMANS: And that's been...

COLLINS: What happens next here?

ROMANS: Well, that's the balance that Kent Feinberg has to walk. Right? He has to say that these people will be compensated enough, but also has to realize that there is a public furor that many of these companies survived basically by getting a big cash infusion.

You'll notice the Bank of America is no longer on the list. Bank of America paid back its $45 billion to the Treasury this week. Many of these companies want to get out from under, you know, the grip of the government.

Separately, Goldman Sachs yesterday, which, by the way, has paid back its TARP. Investment.

COLLINS: Yes.

ROMANS: It is not one of these firms. Goldman Sachs executives say the top 30 of their management will not get cash bonuses this year, but will be paid in restricted stocks, will be paid out after five years. And that's something many people say as a move to try to buy some goodwill ahead of this meeting with the president.

On Monday he summoned all of the bankers to Washington. But I want to make a quick point about that. Those are the top 30 managers at Goldman Sachs. There are many, many more traders, executives, portfolio managers, proprietary desk heads, a lot of other people there, could still be making a great deal of money. So just a point there.

COLLINS: Understood. All right, Christine Romans, we will definitely be watching this one. Thank you.

ROMANS: Great.

COLLINS: Time to look at some of our top stories now that we are watching.

One man is dead after a shootout with an undercover police officer in New York's Times Square. The suspect was believed to be illegally selling CDs on the street, but police think he may have also been selling guns. The suspect fired two shots at the officer before his gun jammed.

Leaders from the European Union are wrapping up a meeting this week with a $3.5 billion pledge. They say it's how much U nations are ready to contribute to a global fund to help poor countries fight global warming. They will donate $3.6 billion a year through 2012. The announcement coincides with the climate summit going on right now in Copenhagen.

Anna Nicole Smith's former boyfriend and two of her doctors are due in court in just a couple of hours. They are being arraigned on drug charges forgiving her sedatives and opiates. They all pleaded not guilty at earlier appearances. Smith died of an accidental overdose in 2007.

If you are a breast cancer survivor or you know somebody who is, you need to hear this. New details about drinking and a possible recurrence of the disease. Stay right here. We've got the story for you in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Breast cancer survivors, listen up. Drinking alcohol may increase your chances of a breast cancer recurrent. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here now to explain a little bit more about this.

Yes, I bet people are listening up. This is a new study about this link between the two. What do we know?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, doctors have always known that there has been a link between alcohol and breast cancer. But what this study does is it puts a number on it for people, for women who have survived breast cancer, what drinking alcohol means to them. Let's take a look at what they found, the folks at Kaiser Permanente. They studied nearly 2,000 of their patients who were breast cancer survivors. And they found that women who drank three to four drinks per week, plus less than a drink a day, that increased the chances that they would get breast cancer again by a third.

So that's quite a bit. So again, even just three to four drinks a day -- a week, rather...

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Were problematic for breast cancer patients, increased the chances they'd get breast cancer again.

COLLINS: OK. So if alcohol is a risk factor and they've known this for quite sometime for recurrence, then if you have had breast cancer, you just don't drink, is that right?

COHEN: You know, the doctors we talked to said they don't tell their breast cancer survivors not to drink. They just tell them, look, it's likely going to increase your chances, restrict alcohol. They don't tell them, drop it altogether. They say restrict alcohol and let them make a decision.

COLLINS: All right.

COHEN: About what they need to do.

COLLINS: Well, why would it increase your chances of recurrence? And why just breast cancer and not other cancers?

COHEN: You know why? Because breast cancer tumors love estrogen. They feed off of estrogen and alcohol seems to increase the amount of estrogen in your body. So that's why that happens. It's the relationship between alcohol and estrogen.

COLLINS: Got it.

COHEN: And the relationship between estrogen and breast cancer tumors.

COLLINS: Got it. Got it. All right. Well, we'll keep watching on that one for sure.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

COLLINS: Answering the call to hate. We'll tell you how militant groups are recruiting in the United States and how some young men from the Washington suburbs may have been drawn in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It was one year ago today Bernie Madoff was arrested, and in the end he got 150 years in prison for running a multi-billion dollar scam. And meanwhile, people who trusted him with their life savings are still fighting to get even a little bit of it back.

CNN's Allan Chernoff has a tale of two of those investors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bennett Goldworth thought he was set for life when he retired three years ago at age 50. He bought a waterfront condo in Ft. Lauderdale and said good-bye to New York and his job selling real estate.

BENNETT GOLDWORTH, BERNARD MADOFF'S VICTIM: I felt like I had everything I want to in life. It was great.

CHERNOFF: A decade of investigating with Bernard Madoff gave Goldworth the financial security to enjoy the good life in Florida, until Madoff's arrest.

GOLDWORTH: Hi, Scott. It's Bennett.

CHERNOFF: Today, Goldworth is back at the Corcoran Group in Manhattan, grateful to be selling homes again. He's grateful also to be among the first to receive a full half-million-dollar insurance settlement from the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, which ensured direct accounts of Madoff.

GOLDWORTH: I'm one of the fortunate ones. I was very happy with it. I thought -- I really was very was pleased.

CHERNOFF: But other Madoff victims, like Judy and Don Rafferty, senior citizens who have had to come out of retirement, have gotten nothing.

JUDY RAFFERTY, BERNARD MADOFF'S VICTIM: I felt as though we were cheated. I felt violated.

CHERNOFF: The Raffertys, for years, have withdrawn what they believed were earnings from their Madoff account. The trustee overseeing restitution, Irving Picard, says the Raffertys withdrew more than they invested, and therefore are entitled to nothing.

RAFFERTY: They changed the rules in the middle of the game which I don't think is fair at all.

GOLDWORTH: The net winners should be at the back of the line. That's all -- you know, at the first thing, that should be addressed is that everyone get back everything they invested.

RAFFERTY: He got his money back, why wouldn't he feel comfortable? It's the people who have not gotten their money back that are not happy.

CHERNOFF: What bonded Bernard Madoff's clients, victimization, now divides some of them. Investors like the Raffertys feel once again their victims, while other Madoff investors like Bennett Goldworth have received compensation to get back on their feet.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A massive scheme carried out by a very small group of people. Next hour, we're going to look at who's been indicted in Madoff case and where the investigation stands right now.

Meanwhile on Wall Street, the Dow is riding a two session winning streak. Can investors make it a three for three?

Felicia Taylor is at the New York Stock Exchange now with details on that.

Good morning to you, Felicia.

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Heidi. We're certainly trying. We've got a higher open today. Investors taking their cue from overseas, where stocks rallied after a new report showed that China's exports improved last month. It does come a day after another report showed exports here in the U.S. also improved.

Big question, though, for Wall Street is, are shoppers actually shopping? The answer is yes. Retail sales rose 1.3 percent last month, and that's more than double expectations. A big portion of the increase was due to higher gas prices, but sales also rose in electronic appliance department and home improvement stores.

I have to tell you, across the board, most of the retailers are trending higher so far in early trade.

And, finally, after more than two years of delays, Boeing says its highly anticipated 787 Dreamliner plan will fly. There are reports that the first flight could take place as early as Tuesday. And if all goes according to plan, it will mark a major milestone for Boeing. Boeing has touted the Dreamliner as a high-tech and efficient plane that will save airlines millions of dollars in fuel and maintenance cost.

So let's take a quick check of the numbers. The Dow industrial is better by 38 points. Both the NASDAQ and the S&P are up about 0.50 percent. So far it's a great day on Wall Street.

Heidi?

COLLINS: Yes, very good. Let's keep it that way.

Thank you, Felicia. We'll chat with you later. Once again, here is the opening bell now at the New York Stock Exchange. As we said, riding a two-session winning streak, looking for a third. We'll watch those numbers for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Now to CNN security watch. Five men who seemingly vanished from their Washington, D.C. suburbs are in jail in northeastern Pakistan. Police there arrested the Muslim men on Wednesday. Investigators say they tried to link up with militant groups and were plotting terrorist attacks. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

USMAN ANWAR, POLICE CHIEF: They were mercenaries. They were there for Jihad. They could have done anything. They had U.S. passports. They could have access to many, many points which a lot of us could not have access to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Also this morning, we learned that a police interrogation report says the men planned to go to Afghanistan. By the way, Pakistani police have also arrested a sixth man, the father of one of the five suspects.

Help wanted, must be militant and willing to kill. It's not a want ad you will likely to see in any newspaper. But extremist groups are indeed actively recruiting young Americans. And many of their deadly sale pitches are taking place on the Internet.

CNN's Brian Todd with that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ramy Zamzam, a dentistry student at Howard University, seen here on his Facebook page -- one of the five young men who went missing from the Washington area and was arrested in Pakistan. On the campus of Howard, he was known as a cheerful, engaging student who happily took part in Muslim community activities.

Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, the former Muslim chaplain at Howard, didn't have close connections with Zamzam, but gives new detail on what fellow students are saying.

(on camera): What did they tell you that Ramy Zamzam was risking by leaving for Pakistan at this time?

IMAM JOHARI ABDUL-MALIK, FORMER HOWARD UNIVERSITY CHAPLAIN: Well, you know, this is the exam season at Howard University. And if Ramy is not here now to -- to take the examinations in his senior year in dental school, it means that he's thrown away this academic year. And if he comes back, not only does he risk this year, but perhaps maybe he's thrown away his hopes of having the life -- the American dream that his family sacrificed, for they are a people of modest means.

TODD: (voice-over): A Muslim student at another nearby college who knew Zamzam tells CNN he was devout, but they didn't talk politics. Imam Abdul-Malik says he's been told the five young men all worshipped at the Islamic Circle of North America in Alexandria, Virginia and took part in youth activities.

ABDUL-MALIK: The feeding the homeless. We have a -- the youth get together from different universities and go to downtown Washington and distribute food to the needy. They were engaged in all of those types of activities. TODD: Authorities say Ramy Zamzam was the one who left behind what's called a farewell video that brew the concern of Muslim leaders in the Washington area. Those leaders now pledge a new outreach effort to counter militant recruiting in the US, including on the Internet.

IMAM MAHDI BRAY, MUSLIM AMERICAN SOCIETY FREEDOM FOUNDATION: We realize that the old traditional ways of just bringing them into the mosque and sitting them down in a circle and talking, that's not happening now.

TODD: One terrorism expert says the stakes are high.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, TERRORISM ANALYST: At the moment, counter-terrorism agencies in the United States believe that there are a number of Americans still at large in the tribal areas of Pakistan, Al Qaeda's safe haven, potentially receiving terrorist training over there. That's causing a lot of concerns.

TODD (on camera): As for these young men, Imam Abdul Malik and other Muslim leaders say they do not believe there were any recruiters physically sent to the United States to lure them to Pakistan. Abdul Malik says he believes they were radicalized and inspired to make that trip via the Internet.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Also this morning, word that a U.S. drone attack has killed a top al Qaeda official. Few details available at this moment, but other than to say the strike took place in western Pakistan, quote, "recently." Officials are not identifying exactly who the top al Qaeda operative was. They will say, though, that it was not Osama bin Laden or his lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Demonstrations in a new draft agreement in Denmark. About 200 people took to the streets of Copenhagen today chanting, "Mind Your Business, This is Our Climate." At least 40 people were detained. Corporate CEOs have been meeting there this week over the role business should play in the fight against global warming. Delegates to the United Nation Summit have drafted an agreement laying out what country should do to curb greenhouse gases. How to pay for it, still has to be hammered out next. More than 110 heads of state will be there next Friday to sign a deal.

President Obama is on his way back to the United States this hour. He returns as the world's newest Nobel laureate. The president boarded Air Force One in Oslo, Norway, less than 24 hours after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. He created buzz around the world by praising peace makers yet saying that war is sometimes just unavoidable.

Severe weather center now. Rob Marciano standing inside today, because he is smart, because kind of no matter where you go across the country today, it is freezing out there.

(WEATHER REPORT) COLLINS: That's right. Absolutely. Go Vikings. I knew you forgot to say that so I was going to get it in there.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I knew you would.

COLLINS: All right. Thank you, Rob.

MARCIANO: OK.

COLLINS: Onto this now, healthcare reform without a public option. Are Democrats becoming comfortable with that idea? A look at the changing bills and the political rhetoric.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Checking our top stories now.

The wife of embattled South Carolina governor, Mark Sanford, says she is filing for divorce. Jenny Sanford says her decision came after many unsuccessful efforts at reconciliation. The Sanfords had been living apart since June when the governor confessed publicly to an extramarital affair with an Argentine woman.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates believes Iran could face Iran significant new sanctions over its nuclear program. Gates comments came after a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Gates also held a town-hall meeting with U.S. troops in northern Iraq today.

A man accused of stalking ESPN reporter Erin Andrews plans to plead guilty in court next week. Michael Barrett is accused of videotaping Andrews through hotel room peepholes while she was nude. Barrett's attorney says his client is also apologizing to Andrews. Andrews plans to speak at the hearing next week. Barrett faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for the interstate stalking charge.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: First, the public option, then abortion. Now another part of the Senate health care bill is drawing criticism. There's reportedly a loophole in the Senate bill involving coverage for costly illnesses like cancer. The Associated Press reports it would allow insurance companies to put annual dollar limits on medical care as long as those limits are not, quote, "unreasonable."

As you can imagine, patient advocates are speaking out against the idea. The Associated Press says the bill does not define allowable limits leaving that up to administration officials.

It looks like the controversial public option is dying a slow death in health care reform legislation. Senate Democrats look like they are ready to take it out of their bill. Now House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who had previously demanded a government-run plan seems to be backing away from her position.

More now from CNN's senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this summer.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: There's no way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option.

BASH: Yet now that Senate Democrats have a tentative deal to drop a public option, she's softening her stance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have said there is, quote, "No way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option." Is that still the case?

PELOSI: We in the House believe that the public option was the best way to hold insurance companies honest, to keep them honest, and also to increase competition. If you have a better way, put it on the table. As soon as we see something in writing from the Senate, we'll be able to make a judgment.

PELOSI: We in the House believe that the public option is the best way to hold the insurance companies honest, to keep them honest, and also to increase competition. If there's a better way, put it on the table. As soon as we see something in writing from the Senate, we will be able to make a judgment.

BASH: Pelosi opened the door to a health care bill with no public options as long as it meets certain standards like affordable health coverage and competition for insurance companies.

But perhaps more surprising that Pelosi's positive statements, the reaction from some of the most liberal lawmakers in her caucus.

REP. BARBARA LEE, (D) CALIFORNIA: None of us care about what it's called as long as people have the type of coverage they deserve.

BASH: These members of the powerful progressive caucus had vowed to block health care without a public option. Now...

BASH (on camera): We know the reality, and the reality is that the votes are such you're going to you're going to have to live without a public option.

REP. STEVE COHEN, (D) TENNESSEE: It's what appears to be. While I will not like it, I will not let that make me kill the program and the improvements in it.

BASH (voice-over): They like the Senate idea of allowing people 55 to 64 to buy into Medicare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we are going to expand Medicare, that's a public option.

BASH: But to be sure, not all liberals will stomach compromise.

REP. KEITH ELLISON, (D) MINNESOTA: Look, we need a public option for the purpose of choice, competition, and access. That's why we need it.

BASH (on camera): Many of the House liberals we talked to said they are wait and see mode. They are waiting to see the details of the tentative deal Senate Democrats struck, and that will not happen until the Congressional Budget Office finishes its analysis.

Still, in talking to Democrats, it is very clear that despite their deep philosophical difference on many of the policy issues, they are really eager to get the health care bill to the president soon, and the House speaker said that could even happen by year's end.

Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: New topping for your pizza? A little pot to go you're your pepperoni? You can get it at a Denver restaurant, but you will be carded at the door, and a driver's license will not cut it.

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COLLINS: Favorite story of the day here. When you think of a hobby for a 75-year-old grandmother of seven, you may not think of this, salsa dancing. Check out the moves of Patty Jones.

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COLLINS: Really? Are you kidding me? I love it!

The British retiree who lives in Spain won a talent show with her dance partner, who's 40 years younger than she is. Jones tells the "Times of London," "When the music plays, I just want to move. I feel extremely that I can do what I can do and shall continue as long as I possibly can." Fantastic.

Medical marijuana patients in Colorado can get their pot in pastries or pizza or even lasagna. Reporter Julie Hayes of affiliate KBBR visits a dispensary that doubles as a restaurant.

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JULIE HAYDEN, REPORTER, KBBR: You know the whole thing is legal as long as you have your medical marijuana card.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have your medical marijuana card? That's the first thing we would ask.

HAYDEN: That card gets you into Ganja Gourmet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'd like them to come sit at the bar and give us their order. And then if they want to choose a table, they can choose a table, they can sit on the couch and we'll bring the food to them.

HAYDEN: Evan is the pastry chef.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I had back surgery in 2001, medical marijuana, smoking it wasn't an option. So I figured I would cook with it.

HAYDEN: The menu is expansive. It's also pricey. A brownie is $10, and a dozen lemon meringue tartlets, $120.

Horowitz says he has owned the building for more than a dozen years, and he used to make the little magnets that real estate agents gave out. But that tanked with the real estate market and he decided to look into opening a medical marijuana dispensary.

STEVE HOROWITZ, GANJA GOURMET: What I discovered is they all ran good businesses but they were all about getting their patient in, selling them the medicine, and getting them out.

HAYDEN: With live music, couches, and the bud bar, Horowitz's Ganja Gourmet it fills a niche.

STEVE HOROWITZ: There were very few places that had a place to chill and meet people, and none of them had an emphasis on food.

HAYDEN: Medical marijuana patient Don Armstrong thinks it's a great idea.

DON ARMSTRONG, MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENT: I only get out to the grocery store or the VA. So this is an opportunity for me to go out and socialize a little.

HAYDEN (on camera): Right now the Ganja Gourmet is not zoned for a restaurant-style kitchen, so they're making all of the food elsewhere. And Horowitz, like a lot of other people with medical marijuana dispensaries, are anxiously waiting to see what kind of rules and regulations the city and state come up with.

Julie Hayden, Fox 31 News.

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COLLINS: Steve Horowitz tells "The Denver Post" if the city cracks down on the dispensary as a restaurant, he'll just offer his food items to go.

Now the latest chapter in the Tiger Woods' saga. The British high court has granted Woods an order that blocks any nude pictures of him from being published. Woods' lawyer says they're not admitting any photos like that are out there, but he says if they do exist, they may have been manipulated to create a false impression of Woods in the nude.

We have a lot of news to get to this morning. Our CNN crews are standing by to bring it all to us. Let's check in now with our correspondents, beginning with Rob Marciano in our toasty weather center.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is cozy. It's that time of year where it's cozy indoors and can get nasty outside. Feet of snow piling up across upstate New York. The wind is blowing and the cold air all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico, plus there's another storm rolling into the west coast the weather at the top of the hour.

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen in Atlanta. Swine flu deaths more than doubled from mid-October to mid-November. I'll have the details at the top of the hour.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam in New York. Electricity prices are going down, but your electric bill may be going up. I'll explain why a few extra bucks a month could be a good investment in the country's energy future. That is coming up in the next hour -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, guys, thanks so much.

Plus, we want your reaction to a story we're posting on our blog. Caught on camera -- a woman who is nine months pregnant comes to the rescue of a police officer in trouble. She says she just couldn't stand by and do nothing.

Now we want to know what you think. Would you do the same thing, save an officer in trouble, or do you think she took too big of a risk? Just go to our blog at CNN.com/Heidi. We'll read some of the responses coming up in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

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COLLINS: The nation's housing crisis -- millions of Americans have lost their homes and millions more are now at risk. But only four homeowners in 100 are getting help from their banks and the federal foreclosure program. Now those banks are feeling new pressure to step up.

CNN national political correspondent Jessica Yellin takes a closer look.

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YELLIN: Daisy Vidal thought she was one of the lucky ones. On a trial basis she was offered a more affordable mortgage thanks to the Obama administration's Homeowner Relief Program. So why is she still living in limbo.

DAISY VIDAL, HOMEOWNER: I feel frustrated because for me it's very difficult.

YELLIN: After three months of steady payments, her mortgage company was supposed to decide if it would make her temporary mortgage permanent. But instead for six months the company kept asking for more documents without making any decision. She worried she'd lose her house.

VIDAL: I worried so much, when I hear a lot of people losing their houses.

YELLIN: She's not alone. So far lenders are failing miserably at offering permanent new mortgages under the president's program. The Treasury Department expected 50 to 75 percent of homeowners in the trial phase of the program would get permanent mortgages.

Instead through November, the lenders made offers to a measly 4.3 percent of eligible homeowners. That's just over 31,000 people.

Some in Congress say it's time to put the screws to the banks.

REP. EMANUEL CLEAVER, (D) MISSOURI: We forced the lion to lie with the lamb. But if we look closely, when the lion gets up, the lamb is missing, and we are saying "Here kitty, kitty."

YELLIN: The administration insists it's angry too. Herb Allison is a top Treasury Department official.

HERB ALLISON, ASST. TREASURY SECRETARY: We were going to move to the point where we're disciplining the banks if they don't perform better than they are today.

YELLIN: The banks, which received bailout money, insist they're doing what they can to keep up with overwhelming demand.

JACK SHACKETT, BANK OF AMERICA: Our goal is to keep as many customers in their homes as possible. We understand the urgency of our solutions.

YELLIN: After CNN's inquiry, Saxon, the company that holds Vidal's mortgage, determined she did not qualify for a permanent mortgage under the president's program. Still, they're offering her a mortgage on their own. They add they have launched a number of proactive initiatives to help other homeowners who were having difficulties with President Obama's mortgage program.

(On camera): Treasury secretary Geithner points out that 75,000 Americans have gotten at least temporary new mortgages through the program and on average they have seen their monthly payments reduced $550 a month. Still Treasury is stepping up its pressure on the banks, even sending what they're calling S.W.A.T. teams into the lenders to speed the process along.

Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.

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