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American Morning
Toyota Hybrid Global Recall; Taliban Leader Killed?; Experts Say Toyota's Problem Unknown; Toyota Not Sure What's Wrong With Pedals. Dow Closes Below 10,000. Army Recruits' Weapons Training
Aired February 09, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It is Tuesday, February 9th. Glad you're with us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in for John Roberts this week. Here are some of the big stories we're going to be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
The Taliban says their leader in Pakistan has died. US officials say Hakimullah Mehsud was wounded in a drone attack last month. He's been taken for medical treatment when he died.
We are live in Pakistan with the still developing story.
CHETRY: And it seems nothing is going right for Toyota these days. Overnight, the world's largest auto maker announced a global recall of its hybrid models, including the popular Prius. In a moment we'll take you live to Tokyo for details on the fix. HOLMES: And we have seen him hit the ground running at the beginning of basic training, we talked to his family, and today in our in-depth special series, "A Soldier's Story", training for the battlefield.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL MCLAIN, ARMY RECRUIT: Dang, what did I get myself into? Like I got three years of this coming up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, stay (ph)! Did you not pay attention to class?
MCLAIN: Yes, Drill Sergeant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, fire! Yes.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: I hate this...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And coming up, our Jason Carroll following our recruit, Will McLain, through the weapons test that could save his life.
But that developing story we have this morning, a story that's making many folks nervous, taking a toll on Toyota's reputation. The once mighty automaker is announcing a global recall of four 2010 hybrids, including its Prius.
Kyung Lah live in Tokyo for us.
Break this recall down. Why this recall? Why are we seeing it now?
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The reason you're seeing it right now, T.J., is that Toyota says because of the number of complaints, because of an established pattern with this brake, but primarily because they could not look their customers in the eye and say that this wouldn't lead to accidents down the road. That's why they issued the recall.
U.S. Department of Transportation just telling us, within the last hour, that they have now been notified there will be a recall in the United States. If you are a driver of a Toyota vehicle, certainly by now, you're getting a sense of deja vu.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): This document made it official. The safety recall is on. Toyota filing papers notifying Japan's government of its recall. The affected models: the 2010 Prius and three other hybrids, due to a braking glitch.
"Take the right steps to maintain safety," warned Japan's government. Hours later, Toyota's top man announced the recall was global, affecting some 400,000 cars. Akio Toyoda, whose grandfather founded the company, made this promise, speaking in English to his customers around the world.
AKIO TOYODA, TOYOTA PRESIDENT: Together, we will do everything in our power to regain the confidence of our customers.
LAH: The problem, says Toyota, is with the antilock brakes. Hit ice or uneven surfaces and the brakes appear to fail for a fraction of a second. Toyota says a software fix corrects the problem in 40 minutes, hooked up to a dealership computer.
For about two weeks, amid Toyota's recall of more than 8 million cars for sticky accelerators and faulty floor mats, the company's president was out of the public eye. Now, he's out in front, saying he's personally tested the Prius and felt the braking problem himself. Toyoda says the company is not failure-proof and he was making the Prius recall announcement to send a message to customers in his own words.
"It is about time," says Japan expert Jeff Kingston.
JEFF KINGSTON, DIRECTOR OF ASIAN STUDIES AT TEMPLE UNIV.: Up until now, it's ban total disaster. One can only hope they'll do better in crisis management from here on. I think that he has shown that he is shaken by events and hopefully, he'll be learning from them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: So, there is a fix for the 2010 Prius. But right now, there is not a fix for the Lexus HS 250h or the Prius plug-in. Toyota saying, at this point, they're going to suspend sales of those models, T.J., until they come up with a fix -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. And overall, we know Toyota is the company that is responsible, but on a -- I guess -- more concentrated level or smaller level, I mean, is anybody being taken to task for this, anybody losing their job?
LAH: Well, certainly that question was asked of the president in the press conference today. Toyota's president asked, "Who is going to be accountable for this?" But what he did was he responded by saying, we have got to focus on the fix. We have a big task ahead. They've got to take care of the customers.
And certainly, that's an understatement, millions of people being affected by a Toyota recall around the world.
HOLMES: All right. Kyung Lah for us this morning live -- thank you so much.
And so, with all of this now, on top of millions of vehicles Toyota has already recalled because of uncontrolled acceleration, Toyota said it has the fix for our problems, but our Special Investigations Unit has been asking some questions. Coming up: if you drive a Toyota, you're going to want to hear what the experts told our Drew Griffin.
CHETRY: All right.
And also now to Pakistan, where Taliban sources say that the group's leader in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, is dead. Now, U.S. officials had confirmed that Mehsud was wounded in a drone attack last month. That is something that the Taliban had initially denied.
But CNN's Reza Sayah is getting new information for this morning on this. He is live from Islamabad.
And, Reza, it's important to point out that Mehsud was believed to be linked to the attack on the CIA base in Afghanistan back on December 30th that left seven dead.
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kiran. And that's what really got Washington's attention. Up until that videotape surfaced, he was seen as a militant that really focused his attention on attacks on Pakistani soil, but that was an instance, some evidence, that he did have connections to the insurgency in Afghanistan.
But the big development today in Pakistan, Taliban sources, for the first time, acknowledging that their leader, Hakimullah Mehsud, has been killed. Of course, last week, a U.S. intelligence official is telling CNN that he was killed.
The Taliban sources, up until today, had denied it. But three sources today telling CNN Hakimullah Mehsud was injured in a U.S. drone strike in mid-January and his health was deteriorating, so much so that he was being transported to get medical treatment at the southern port city of Karachi. But according to the Taliban sources, he did not make it and he passed away en route about 2:00 a.m. this morning.
Now, the Pakistani military has yet to confirm this information. They say these are Taliban sources and they need their own sources to verify this.
The top spokesperson for the Taliban in Pakistan has not verified this information either. This is a spokesman who went through great trouble just three weeks ago to try to convince everyone that Mehsud was alive by producing two audiotapes purportedly with his voice.
But the headline today in Pakistan, Taliban sources confirming that Mehsud has passed away.
CHETRY: And so, what kind of impact does that have on the Taliban in Pakistan?
SAYAH: Well, this is certainly a major setback. Hakimullah Mehsud, after taking over for the previous Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in August, had established a reputation as being a brutal and merciless Taliban leader. A wave of brutal suicide attacks were conducted under him.
The Taliban in Pakistan have shown a remarkable ability to regroup after losing a leader and continue fighting. Now, it's an open question if they'll be able to do it again after the loss of Hakimullah Mehsud. But this is certainly considered a big setback for them -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Reza Sayah for us in Islamabad today -- thank you.
HOLMES: We will turn now back to a big story here in the U.S. We're going for round two now of snowmageddon. Rob is keeping an eye on things for us.
A second round is on the way.
CHETRY: Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Luckily, most sequels are disappointing. At least that's what we're hoping with this storm. It shouldn't have the snow totals that the last one did, but it will have a different setup and it will affect a lot more people.
Let's go to the radar scope and show you how wide the expanse of moisture is. Once again, from the Canadian border all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, it turns from snow to rain right around the Kentucky/Tennessee border. So, o north of there, it's all snow.
We'll see it pile up today in places like Chicago, Detroit, back through Indianapolis, Cincinnati. And we're seeing major delays in Chicago and Cincinnati if you're traveling through those two hub cities this morning.
Six to 12 inches expected in the Midwest, the Ohio River, western Great Lakes. And 10 to 20 inches along the I-95 corridor. I think that will be the most we would see with this.
The bigger story may very well be the winds that will wrap around the back side of this system as it develops overnight tonight and in through tomorrow. Blizzard conditions are quite likely across parts of the coast, sections of New Jersey, Long Island, and even out through Cape Cod.
We'll talk much more about this snowmageddon part two in about 30 minutes.
CHETRY: You put it really well. The sequels are most often very disappointing. So, perhaps, that will be the case here.
MARCIANO: See you, guys.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Rob.
CHETRY: Better than screaming, drifting, blowing!
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Yes, I do. I really do.
HOLMES: All right.
Well, no doubt that you may have been glued to your TV for the weather forecast in the coming days, or in the past few days and the coming days because of round two. But it's Sunday's Super Bowl...
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: ... that actually brought in record numbers. Record- breaking numbers, more than 106 million viewers tuned in. This is the most watched TV telecast in history.
Do you know what the one before this was?
HOLMES: I always heard "M*A*S*H." I was never into that show. But I get it.
CHETRY: That was a -- I learned how to play that theme song on my clarinet. It was the first thing I could play.
HOLMES: We learn so much about you every morning.
CHETRY: That was back in 1983, by the way. I was a child prodigy, I was only 8 months old when I was playing the clarinet.
Anyway, in the next half hour, we'll be joined by two of the nation's biggest Saints fans.
HOLMES: Those guys are great.
CHETRY: They don't just love politics. They love the New Orleans Saints. Who dat? Well, it's James Carville and Mary Matalin. They're going to be joining us about why the Super Bowl victory means so much to their city four-and-a-half years after Hurricane Katrina.
HOLMES: They had their little gear on. We saw them yesterday.
CHETRY: Oh, yes.
HOLMES: So, I wonder if they cried. They probably did.
A lot of people were shedding tears after the team won instead of lost. But it's a great story. It's a great story for New Orleans.
Not so great story for Toyota. We are keeping up with their new problem now, of course, with the Prius being recalled and other hybrids.
But do you remember that other problem with the pedal that they said they have a repair for? Well, a CNN exclusive now for you. Drew Griffin in our Special Investigations Unit says not so fast on that fix. That's coming up.
It's 10 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Toyota is under the microscope once again today. The auto giant is announcing a global recall of more than 400,000 hybrids due to brake problems. That's after millions of recalls because of sudden acceleration.
Toyota's executives say they have that problem of the gas pedal acceleration -- they had that under control. But plenty of experts tell us not so much.
Our Special Investigations Unit is digging deeper on this story.
We want to bring in our Drew Griffin in Atlanta, who's been looking into this.
Drew, this is kind of some scary stuff. They say they had this problem worked out.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: Yes, it is. You know, we look at the numbers and they just weren't adding up. A lot of people saying they weren't adding up.
So, we went to these experts literally across the world, T.J., and this is what the consensus is: Toyota is trying to solve this crisis before it solves the problem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (voice-over): It was a hastily called news conference, an apology at 9:00 Friday night near Tokyo. The president of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, saying he's sorry for the global recall but declaring, "Believe me, Toyota's cars are safe."
On the company's Web site, a clear explanation for the sudden acceleration problems, stuck floor mats, sticky gas pedals, and a fix. It's all mechanical, the company says, and it's solved. But is it?
SEAN KANE, SAFETY RESEARCH STRATEGIES: I would say unequivocally that Toyota's explanations do not account for the share of unintended acceleration complaints that we've examined.
GRIFFIN: CNN talked with four leading experts in the field of sudden acceleration, car safety, and automotive recalls. Despite Toyota's statements, these experts independently conclude something very different. Toyota does not know what is causing the sudden acceleration in its cars, and therefore, doesn't really know how to fix them.
Why? Sean Kane with Safety Research Strategies, an automotive safety consulting firm that has tracked the sudden acceleration complaints literally for years now, says: follow the data.
KANE: We're seeing thousands of complaints from consumers that report very consistent types of problems across a number of years, makes, and models. We're seeing long duration on highway events. We're seeing short duration in parking lot events. There's a series of patterns that are emerging that cannot be explained.
GRIFFIN: Kane says electronics are the likely culprit -- interference with the car's computer systems.
Toyota insists that's just not true. In a statement to CNN, the company says, "After many years of exhaustive testing by us and by other organizations, we have found no evidence of an electronic problem in our electronic throttle control systems that could have led to unwanted acceleration."
Inside the electronics lab at the University of Maryland's Clark School of Engineering, Professor Mike Pecht specializes in laboratory- controlled interference testing.
PROF. MICHAEL PECHT, DEPT. OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, UNIV. OF MARYLAND: They need to continuously be testing these products. You just can't test one day and say, oh, there's the product -- unless they can make sure that there's been no other changes and that's very difficult today.
GRIFFIN: And that, he says, may be the heart of Toyota's problem.
(on camera): Professor, I realize you're trying to be careful and maybe reluctant to say some things, but floor mats don't seem to be the problem. A mechanical fix in the gas pedal doesn't seem to be the problem. In fact, the problem seems to be that Toyota, at this point in time, does not know the problem, and therefore, does not know how to fix it.
PECHT: I think that, I think that the evidence is pointing that way. I think the evidence is pointing that way, absolutely.
GRIFFIN: So any fix is not a fix.
PECHT: So they're in a little bit of a quandary. If they announce that the electronics is a problem, they're going to probably be in a lot of trouble because nobody is going to want to drive the car. So I think at this stage they don't want to announce there's any electronics problem.
GRIFFIN (voice over): In a statement to us a Toyota spokesperson said, quote, it's very easy to look from outside in and say, no, there is no problem with the pedal. But this is the problem and we are fixing it. In fact, Toyota says two days ago, NHTSA said it will take a fresh look into the general issue of electromagnetic interference in the auto industry as a whole, not just related to Toyota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: So Toyota leaving the door open for possible electronic interference in the future but again, T.J., they say they've got this problem solved. It's mechanical, and we can fix it.
HOLMES: Help us understand the logic. I guess it's bad enough to come out and say you have to do a recall but I guess it would be worse if you have to come out and say, yes, something's wrong with the car and we don't know what it is. But it seems like in some of these reportings, some of these experts, they don't even know what the problem is. What is Toyota's motivation in doing it this way if they really don't know what the problem is?
GRIFFIN: Yes. Keep in mind, T.J., these are engineers. So they're not involved in crisis management situations. But, they say, look, either Toyota is not the company that its customers thought it was or that Toyota is not listening to its own engineers in getting to the root of this problem. They truly believe that Toyota, they don't know what the problem is and Toyota doesn't know what the problem is. But of course to say that publicly, would really, really hurt sales beyond what they're already being hurt right now.
HOLMES: What are we possibly pointing to? We keep talking about electronics here and some of the experts. Nobody seems to exactly know what -- I mean, what else could it be? What other options are on the table?
GRIFFIN: That's just it. There are so many moving parts to these cars literally and it's so dependent on computers and the interference can come from anywhere. You heard the professor talk about multiple testing you need to do under certain conditions. Here's the best analogy I heard, T.J. your computer, your laptop, is going on the fritz. What do you and I do? We turn it off. We reboot it. It comes back up and it's working again. Do we know what was wrong? No idea what was wrong. The problem with Toyota is you can't reboot a car while driving it down the road.
HOLMES: That is exactly the point. That is such a good analogy to make there. You cannot be rolling down the street in a laptop trying to reboot. Drew Griffin for us this morning. Thank you so much. Appreciate your reporting as always with our special investigations unit. We are tracking everything for you that you need to know about your Toyota, find out if your car is one of those that have been recalled and what you need to do about it. All the answers on the website, just head to cnn.com/toyota.
CHETRY: Still ahead U.S. stocks plunging on some jitters. The Dow closes down below 10,000. Will it be another rollercoaster day today? Christine Romans "Minding Your Business". 18 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's time for "Minding Your Business." How about this one. The world's tallest skyscraper in Dubai, remember the big deal when they opened this thing? Now it's shut down after just a month. They closed the observation deck. It's off limits to the public. It's 2700 feet high and it cost $1.5 billion to build. An electrical problem they say could be to blame.
HOLMES: Just reboot it.
CHETRY: Darned electricity. Can't reboot a tower, either.
HOLMES: Well, what's your favorite color, ladies? Well, I was talking to you.
CHETRY: Red and pink.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Red and black.
HOLMES: Red and black. Very nice, Christine. Most CEOs pick the same...
CHETRY: We could go gambling and pick roulette. She always picks black. I always pick red.
ROMANS: This is a study here showing which color CEOs like. Magenta, "USA Today" actually tested 900 CEOs using a new test from career path supposed to determine your personality traits based on your favorite color. They were three times more likely to favor magenta over the rest of the public. They didn't like red, didn't like yellow. The paper says this shows the typical executive is more sensitive and private than the typical person. I did not know, I had to look up magenta, I had to ask.
CHETRY: Now you're sure you'll never be a CEO. Congratulations.
HOLMES: Well, they just identified it. They didn't say the name of it. So, if I saw it I might like it.
CHETRY: Well Christine is wearing a version of magenta today.
HOLMES: Purplish red.
ROMANS: More plum, I think.
CHETRY: It could pass for magenta. I know why she likes black, though. She wants to see the stock market in the black.
ROMANS: I was surprised that CEOs wouldn't want to be in the black and see black. Magenta surprised me. Maybe they sit in a magenta office as they slash your credit card limits and raise your credit card interest rates, right?
HOLMES: Makes them feel good. We got one more here. This one is out of Arizona. A new maid service. I'll let you take this one.
CHETRY: Because, you don't want to read about this. Here we go. After your mirror is fogged they wipe them clean. It's a new male maid service in Arizona for 50 bucks an hour they'll clean your home in nothing but a jock strap.
I don't know if many ladies want this. Christine, come on. Help me out here. That's Nate, he was a swimmer and a dancer, so he says he is used to the exposure. Do you want some dude wandering around your house in a jock strap cleaning your mirrors?
ROMANS: No.
CHETRY: I don't think so.
HOLMES: Would you just be happy to have any guy running around your house cleaning? Does it matter what he is wearing?
CHETRY: That is a good point. That is a very good point.
HOLMES: Good morning.
ROMANS: Good morning. Let me try to reclaim the sanity here and tell you about the stock market. Futures are pointing higher. So, maybe there could be a little bit of a rebound today. But, yesterday was a tough day for the stock market. The Dow closing below 10,000 for the first time in three months down about 1 percent.
Why do we care about the Dow and 10,000? It is a psychologically, it's a round number, we watch it. It has been doing some round trips around there. But it's the first close below there in three months. Financial stocks leading the way. There's just still some ongoing concern about the durability and just how strong the American economic recovery is going to be and how long it's going to last.
We've known about those doubts for some time. And also, don't forget the stock market did great last year so there are some analysts who are saying the Dow needs to maybe have a 10% correction and that would take us down to about 9653.
So, worries about the health of the U.S. Economy. There is also something we've been talking about here a couple of times, you guys. The European debt concerns. You heard us talk last week about the P.I.G.S. Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain. These are countries that, you know, the watchers, the debt watchers are watching very, very closely because they want to see if they'll be able to make all the payments on their debt, if they'll be able to keep their fiscal houses in order. There is still some concern about the stability of -- financial stability in the EU right now, the European Union.
CHETRY: All right. Christine Romans for us this morning. The other color is black. Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: And you're wearing it.
CHETRY: I know. And you're wearing magenta. Still ahead we're going to be talking with Jenny Sanford. She was thrust into the national spotlight after word of her husband's infidelities while he was governor became public. We're going to talk about her new book "Staying True" how she held it all together during one of the most challenging times of her life. 25 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twenty-seven minutes past the hour. That means time for an "A.M. Original," something you'll only see right here on AMERICAN MORNING. We've been following the story of a new Army recruit by the name of Will McLain.
CHETRY: Yes, and so far we've seen the California teen's first days of basic training. We also talked to his family back home. And today it is the critical weapons training that Will is going to need to survive on the battle field. Out Jason Carroll is here with the latest in our in-depth series "A Soldier's Story." You know, at the beginning of this series, we just sort of wanted to go from beginning to end, see what it's like from the time a young man decides to enlist or woman. And what it's like for them. The unbelievable changes they go through in the process.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we wanted to chronicle every chapter and weapons training is one of those important chapters. You know, for privates like Will McLain, the stress is not just about passing a weapons test. It's also about coming closer to learning whether or not he will be deployed to fight a war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLDIERS: I need a burst. I need a burst.
CARROLL (voice-over): It's one of the last hurdles to overcome before completing basic training. Weapons qualification. Before Will McLain enlisted, he showed me how to handle a shotgun back in his hometown of Rosamond, California. But shooting for recreation is nothing compared to this. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look. Safe. Did you not pay attention in class?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, sergeant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, fire.
CARROLL: Where hitting bull's eyes are just as important as avoiding sniper fire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sniper. I hate this.
CARROLL: Will's shooting scores earned him a rating of marksman but fell short of the score needed for sharpshooter...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get up.
CARROLL: ... or expert.
(on camera): Were there any points through the basic training where you thought, I don't know if I can do this?
WILL MCLAIN, U.S. ARMY RECRUIT: I wasn't well aware -- I didn't know if I could do it. It was more, like, dang, what did I get myself into? Like I've got three years of this coming up. But to realize that, you know, you can make it through it, it's kind of good to feel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Being vigilant is key.
CARROLL (voice-over): Exercises to be as realistic as possible, some take place at night. Or during the day in a mock Iraqi village where they practice urban warfare training.
(on camera): While the company does its field training, this is where they sleep, this is where they eat. It's called a sea hut. These are Will's items over here. That's his pile marked number two. Over here you've got a fire. Two soldiers are responsible for keeping an eye on it every single hour. Again, this is where the company can get in from the cold and take a break.
(voice-over): Will's company has about five more weeks of training before they learn what their next step will be.
DRILL SGT. JOSEPH RIX, U.S. ARMY: I guess deployment is different for every person. So every now and then, you know, we'll sit down and talk to them and answer some of their questions.
CARROLL (on camera): What are most of the -- what are the type of questions you usually get from them? What are they asking?
RIX: Most questions are, where am I going, drill sergeant? You know? And we won't know that until a few weeks before they leave. But that honestly right there, they all want to know, where am I going?
MCLAIN: I think about it a lot, you know. Like if I get deployed, it's part of my job. I'm not worried about it.
CARROLL: Do you still think about home, or are you so focused on training --
MCLAIN: You do. Everybody thinks about it once in a while. Especially when you're laying down in your bunk at night, the last thoughts before you go to sleep, my family, wondering what they're up to and how they're doing. You always get that thought.
But at the same time you have to realize, for me, I'm 18. I'm going out into the world. I got to realize this is what I need to do. It'll be a good start for me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And when we shot that story last week Will was still in basic training. He's completed basic training and now begins his specialized training to be a combat engineer. Those are the soldiers who do everything from disarming roadside bombs to building bridges.
Again, his specialized training should take just about another five weeks. Then he gets his orders for deployment.
CHETRY: OK, and where he goes, still totally up in the air.
CARROLL: Still a mystery, but you can see it's weighing heavily on their minds.
CHETRY: Absolutely. Jason Carroll, thanks so much.
CARROLL: All right.
HOLMES: And much more on this special series, "A Soldier's Story" online. Read Will's blogs about his experiences in boot camp and see his exclusive photos at our blog, CNN.com/amfix.
CHETRY: We're crossing the half hour right now. It's time to check our top stories. After denying it for weeks, the Taliban is now confirming their leader in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud is dead. U.S. officials say Mehsud was wounded in a drone attack last month.
The Taliban sources initially denied that but now say that he was on his way to a medical treatment facility when he died. Mehsud is believed to have ordered the bombing attack that killed seven CIA employees in Afghanistan in December.
HOLMES: Funeral arrangements are pending this morning for Pennsylvania's Democratic Congressman John Murtha. An outspoken critic of the Iraq war, the decorated marine died yesterday from complications following gallbladder surgery. He was 77 years old. Murtha was the first Vietnam vet to be elected to Congress back in 1974.
CHETRY: Many are asking this morning how is this man still alive? Pulled from the rubble in Haiti after nearly a month, he was severely dehydrated, malnourished, and confused, but alive. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MIKE CONNELLY, PROJECT MEDISHARE: He was emaciated, obviously he hadn't eaten for quite some time. He had open wounds that were festering on both of his feet.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: But you believe it? You believe it to be true? This would be the longest survivor so far of this earthquake?
CONNELLY: Yes, yes. I mean, there's no reason for me to doubt it. That's what the bystanders have relayed to us. And the patient was so incredibly weak and frail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Sanjay will be live with us from Port-au-Prince in about 20 minutes with more on the extraordinary rescue, how this man seemed to defy all the odds and survive 27 days possibly trapped in the rubble.
Well, it's 33 minutes past the hour right now. When South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford came clean about his affair and admitted he wasn't hiking the Appalachian Trail, he did it alone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNY SANFORD, FIRST LADY OF SOUTH CAROLINA: I've been unfaithful to my wife. I developed a relationship with a, which started as a dear, dear friend from Argentina. To Jenny, anybody who has observed her over the last 20 years of my life knows how closely she has stood by my side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: His wife of 20 years and mother of their four sons was not at his side. Jenny Sanford filed for divorce this past December, and she's talking about the whole ordeal in her new memoir "Staying True." South Carolina's first lady Jenny Sanford joins us now. Thanks for being here.
SANFORD: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: As we were all watching that press conference play out on national TV, you were actually holed up with some of your closest girlfriends in the world at your house watching this.
SANFORD: Yes.
CHETRY: What was going through your mind as you were watching your husband?
SANFORD: What was going through my mind? You know, it was a little bit of shock, a lot of sadness. You know, I was watching the implosion of a marriage, a career, a family. And watching it unfold on national television, not something you ever expect or would like to have happen.
CHETRY: You knew about the affair, though, before he went public obviously. Many of us were curious about the fact that when you were contacted, where is Mark Sanford, because at the time he was the governor of South Carolina and just went MIA, you said you actually weren't sure. Why was that?
SANFORD: Because I had actually asked him to leave the house and not contact the boys or myself for a period of a month, hoping that he would wake up and realize what he was about to lose if he were to go see his mistress. And, you know, he chose to see her anyway.
But because of that I hadn't spoken with him in about ten days when the reporter called and I frankly didn't know where he was.
CHETRY: After that press conference, this was interesting, you released a statement saying, quote, "I remain willing to forgive Mark completely for his indiscretions, to welcome him back in time if he continues to work toward reconciliation with a true spirit of humility and repentance."
Now, a lot of us heard that and just said how do you have it in you? How can you forgive somebody who betrayed you so completely and so publicly?
SANFORD: You know, one, for the sake of our children and our family, I was hopeful still we could keep the family intact. But even now since I've made the decision to divorce, I still believe in forgiveness. I believe that everybody is good, you know, in their core they are good. I still believe Mark's a good person.
But he lost sight of the values that matter. He lost sight of his moral compass. And, you know, it's not incumbent upon me to not forgive him. I should forgive him. I should let the lord take care of fixing him.
CHETRY: But do you then say because you said if he worked toward reconciliation with humility and repentance, did he not do that?
SANFORD: You know, the decision to divorce is a process. And so with each step along the way that chance of reconciliation became more difficult. And so when he came back from Argentina I was willing to work toward the marriage. But the challenges were great. And, no, he didn't have the right spirit.
CHETRY: What about when he said "I'm trying to fall back in love with my wife again"? That was a shocking statement.
SANFORD: Right, right.
CHETRY: Did you know that over time you were growing apart and that perhaps that love wasn't there?
SANFORD: You know, I think marriage is a commitment. And no marriage lasts a long time, 20 years in our case, without a lot of ups and downs. So we were, we definitely had a period in the last few years where things didn't feel so close but this was still a shock to me.
CHETRY: It's interesting, because so many people have read your book, and there have been some criticisms actually aimed at you. Ruth Marcus in "The Washington Post" wrote "So the disturbing question about Jenny Sanford remains why would a woman so obviously smart, well educated, successful, and attractive allow herself to be treated badly for so long?
Sanford's situation may be uniquely public, but she was certainly not alone in allowing herself to be undervalued, indeed, in undervaluing herself." Do you believe you undervalued yourself throughout this marriage with Mark?
SANFORD: No, in no way, shape, or form. Your sense of self- worth doesn't come from how, the gifts a spouse gives you. Much has been made for example of the fact that he gave me a picture of a half a bike. And then you know the next birthday gave me another picture of half a bike.
The guy is frugal to the core but I didn't take that personally at all because he was sweet in his own way.
CHETRY: What about -- you're right. Material things are material things. But what about the fact that he was so quick to leave, wasn't there. He said I've taken, I've watched cows being born. I don't need to be at a Lamaze class, sort of the most vulnerable and touching point of a woman's life when you're delivering a baby and right after to not have your husband not be there, how did that sit with you?
SANFORD: The challenge in marriage is to get to understand another person. And Mark Sanford is a quirky guy, but that doesn't make him a bad guy. This is a guy raised on a farm, and the notion of being in a Lamaze class, he went to one class and he couldn't take it anymore. But again, I didn't take that personally.
CHETRY: Do you think you'll find love again?
SANFORD: We'll see. Yes. I'm certainly open to it.
CHETRY: Well, thank you for spending time with us and talking about your book. We appreciate it.
SANFORD: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: Nice to talk you to, Jenny Sanford, this morning. T.J.?
HOLMES: Well, James Carville and Mary Matalin, speechless.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here is the great thing about New Orleans. There's going to be a party for your team whether you won or lost. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one of the things you love about New Orleans. We know how to throw a party. Doggone it, any excuse to do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Any excuse. This is as good an excuse as any, right? Forget Mardi Gras. They're already breaking out celebrating the win, the humungous win for the Saints. Could it get any better?
HOLMES: I don't know if it could. We have two big Saints fans joining us. Schools are closing today at 1:00. They are essentially shutting down the city. Nobody is working. Everybody will go out to see the parade starting at the Superdome at 5:00 central time.
A pair of CNN political contributors, husband and wife, members of the "who-dat nation," James Carville and Mary Matalin, joining us this morning with the big old smiles on their faces, still.
You know what, guys, I'll ask more of a serious question if you will, and we'll let you celebrate here. But everything that's happened since Katrina to that city, and presidents have gone down and committed to giving money and all kinds of things, is this victory the best thing to happen to that city since that storm?
JAMES CARVILLE, CO-CHAIRMAN, 2013 SUPER BOWL COMMITTEE: Yes.
MARY MATALIN CO-CHAIRWOMAN, 2013 SUPER BOWL COMMITTEE: Yes. But a lot has been happening since the storm, a lot of rebuilding from scratch, a lot of citizens getting it done.
And the fans, the city has been serious contributors to the team, and the team credits the fans for a lot of their victories. So this is a victory for the whole city. And it was really -- it's a turning point on the rebuilding, but the rebuilding has really come a long way.
CARVILLE: We've made terrific progress down here. We had a terrific mayor's race. Our school's scores our up like 24 percent. We've reformed our almost entire political system top to bottom. The levees are stronger than they have ever been.
The Saints are obviously the biggest thing that's happened here, but there are a lot of great things that have gone on in New Orleans, I promise you.
CHETRY: You got on the Super bowl committee there and that was exciting. James, you've been a lifelong Saints fan. This is the first time they've actually won the big game. Did you ever think this was going to happen this season?
CARVILLE: No. Tracy Porter from Louisiana, not far from my hometown, picked off the Manning pass. It just went through my mind, oh, my god, we might win this thing. And I remember, as I said, that young marine sitting in Oceanside, California watching the first play in the history of the Saints, John Gillam went 99 yards for the touchdown, and the next 44 years it didn't turn out like a lot of us wished, but it was made up for on Sunday night in Miami.
HOLMES: Mary, tell us, I know you have some time, you all knock heads, and James might get a little annoying when it comes to political stuff, but you're an equally big saints fan.
MATALIN: A little?
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Yes. You're an equally big Saints fan, but how is he to deal with during this time, during what the Saints were going through leading up to the Super bowl? Just how difficult was he to deal with?
MATALIN: He's -- on his one to 10 scale about of 14 and he still is but I had faith through the whole thing. But every game was special, but every single game. The Skins, the Vikings, every game was thrilling. And this one was no different. I was sitting with the sisters and some nuns and they predicted an interception.
So we are just -- I was waiting for the whole game for the interception. And I was going with them. I don't sit with him at the games. We go to our separate places.
CHETRY: Oh that's hilarious. You don't sit by each other for the Super Bowl?
CARVILLE: You know, I don't like for people - and we were fortunate enough to be sitting in a box -- and I don't like to talk during the games. I don't like people to talk to me. I just get in a zone and I'm very, very nervous and uptight just as -- I knew how much this meant to our city.
I knew how much it meant to these football players. This was just was way more than a game to me. And Mary sits with the nuns and they sit down there and they pray and I sit there and I fret. I don't know.
CHETRY: I can't imagine who has more fun, Mary with the nuns or you by yourself stressing.
Well, it's all over now.
CARVILLE: Yes.
CHETRY: And now you're getting ready for the parade.
HOLMES: Well, guys, really. Congratulations...
CARVILLE: Yes.
HOLMES: ...and a lot of people say this would have been a victory no matter if they won the Super Bowl or not.
MATALIN: That's right.
HOLMES: Really, I can't say congratulations enough.
CARVILLE: Right.
HOLMES: This is a big story that everybody in the country can feel good about.
MATALIN: We're all "Who Dats" now. "Who dat."
CARVILLE: Well, sometimes good things happen to good people. It just happened this time.
HOLMES: Well, thanks so much, guys. Good to see you this morning.
CARVILLE: You bet.
HOLMES: We'll see you I'm sure at the parade if you all happen to be standing next to each other. And maybe they'll hang out at the parade together.
CHETRY: Oh, yes and maybe they could actually meet up for the parade. But they have a long day ahead of them. The parade isn't until 5:00 p.m. people are going to be lining up on schools around, he said Tulane (ph) University...
HOLMES: Right.
CHETRY: ...canceling classes. So rock on.
HOLMES: Come on, do it officially. Everybody was going to skip anyway weren't they?
CHETRY: Yes, absolutely. I'm sure.
Well, speaking of having to worry about some things being closed down we have a major snowstorm not in New Orleans. They don't have to worry about anything...
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: But here in the mid-Atlantic and on the East Coast there are some worries ahead. Airports already canceling flights, they are getting ready for round two; Rob Marciano tracking it all for us.
It's 47 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Yes, we have a developing situation with the weather. It seemed like we've had that situation going for several days now.
Rob Marciano keeping an eye on another wave -- another storm coming through going to be bringing inches or feet of snow?
MARCIANO: This one could bring a foot. I don't think it'll bring two.
HOLMES: All right.
MARCIANO: So we'll stick with inches just to kind of keep things on a more positive note. The sequel of "Snowmageddon" part two, it won't live up to it's -- the mother storm in the way of snow totals but the amount of people, probably about twice as much. I think about half of the snow totals but twice the number of people and probably twice the amount of wind as well.
So it's going to be a major storm, no doubt about that and likely we'll see blizzard conditions with this.
We are seeing a major snowstorm take shape right now across parts of the Midwest, Chicago, back through the Ohio River Valley. And some of the snowfall will be heavy at times.
We had two-hour delays at Chicago O'Hare, 30-minute delays at this hour and they are likely shutting down some flights there and certainly canceling -- just call ahead. Call your airline if you are traveling anywhere east of the Mississippi today.
All right, down to the south that's where your moisture tap is. So it has a bit of a tropical moisture feed but it's not the same situation that you've got a lot of moisture, just running into cold air to the northeast.
We've got more of a classic nor'easter setting up in that the mother low is back through here. It'll transfer this energy to kind of the baby low look out towards the Delmarva and the Carolina coast line and now we'll start to crank things up.
We do expect to see six to 12 inches of snowfall across the Midwest before it begins to tapers off later on today. Still about 10 to 20, anywhere from D.C. through Long Island but I think it maybe, I think 20 is the top we're going to see there. So that's a bit of a saving grace.
I can't believe we're actually saying that considering any other year 10 to 20 we'd be blowing the roof off.
So that is still possible but I think the bigger situation would be blowing snow and blizzard conditions especially tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night and even in through Thursday morning.
When the snow is done the winds will be blowing 20, 30, 40 miles an hour. And we'll get blowing and drifting snow so it will be a two- day event and it will include folks in the northeast that weren't included in the last one; namely, the big Apple.
So, guys, get prepared. You're going to get a little taste of this one as far as the winter weather is concerned. So you have that to look forward to, my friends. CHETRY: All right. Well, I know a lot of people are going to be booking some hotel rooms and nervous about the drive. We don't do well with the snow up here. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: Oh you guys are tougher than that. Come on.
CHETRY: Rob, thanks so much.
MARCIANO: See you guys.
HOLMES: Thanks.
CHETRY: Well, 50 minutes past the hour right now and we're going to be checking in with Sanjay Gupta, this miracle in Haiti...
HOLMES: Yes.
CHETRY: ...27 days after the earthquake struck they found a survivor. How did he make it alive for so long? A medical miracle. Sanjay joins us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
You know nearly four weeks after the earthquake in Haiti word of an amazing rescue; 28-year-old man by the name of Evan Muncie pulled from the rubble where he may have been buried since the quake hit.
HOLMES: He was emaciated and severely dehydrated but alive. So how in the world is this possible? Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, live for us in Port-au-Prince.
Sanjay, it seems so unlikely and improbable, so quite frankly are doctors buying the story? Do they believe that he has been there since the 12th, since the earthquake hit?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this is one of those things that very few people in the world have ever seen. So it's hard to say, you know, a patient, a man in this case who had been trapped for that long exactly what he would look like, exactly what his lab values would be, all that. Nobody really knows the answer to those questions.
Right now they're still in the process of investigating. But T.J. to your question, yes, what they tell me is they really don't have much reason to doubt this.
What happened was we got a tip that this had happened, that a man had been pulled out of the rubble after nearly four weeks. He was taken to a first aid clinic and then eventually brought to a larger field house but we saw him over there. You may be looking at some of those images now.
His brother told me that he thinks he's lost about, this man Evan lost about 30 pounds over this four-week period. Said that -- the man said that he remembered someone bringing him water; he described it as someone in a white coat bringing water but he may have been hallucinating at the time that he was speaking in the hospital. He still thought he was trapped. He didn't realize that in fact he had been rescued.
But I asked the same questions that you're asking of the doctor. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MICHAEL CONNELLY, U. OF MIAMI, PROJECT MEDISHARE: He was emaciated. It was obvious he hadn't had anything to drink or eat in quite some time. He had open wounds that were festering on both of his feet.
GUPTA: But you believe it. I mean you believe to be true? This would be the longest survivor so far of this earthquake?
CONNELLY: Yes, yes. And there's no reason for me to doubt it. That's what the bystanders relate to us. And Evan, the patient was so incredibly weak and frail when he came in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: That was Dr. Michael Connelly who was the first doctor to care for him.
As you look at some of these images, you know, a couple things to keep in mind. He had no significant crush injury which is something we've talked about in the past where one of the limbs or part of the body gets crushed and that may have been very helpful in his survival. But again, I think to the point, he must have had water at some point. There is really no way he could have survived for this long, clearly, without some access to water.
HOLMES: All right. Sanjay, an amazing story. We appreciate you bringing that us to. A lot of questions we have for them but no matter what, somebody else pulled out alive, that's always a story to give some good hope. Thanks so much Sanjay. We'll see you soon.
It's 57 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And that's going to do it for us. Thanks so much for being with us on this Tuesday morning. Brace yourselves if you live on the East Coast because the snow is coming.
Meanwhile continue the conversation on today's stories by heading to our blog, cnn.com/amfix.
HOLMES: And what a treat for me. How rare. I could just hang out, anchor up here with you on AMERICAN MORNING and I also now get to hand this thing over to my regular co-anchor, my dear friend, Betty Nguyen, in the "CNN NEWSROOM".
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: T.J., I feel like I haven't seen you in forever except for on TV of course.
HOLMES: It's been a while.
NGUYEN: You two have a great day.