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American Morning
Bill Clinton Rushed to Hospital; Spending Lots of Money on Valentine's Day; Hope in Haiti Orphanage
Aired February 12, 2010 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Friday, February 12th. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes sitting in this week for John Roberts.
Here are some of the big stories that we'll be breaking down in the next 15 minutes. Former President Clinton expected to walk out of a hospital today after he walked in to have an artery unblocked yesterday. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to join us live from Haiti in just a moment to talk about the procedure and whether there's a lesson in here for all of us.
CHETRY: Also, thousands of Haitian children are in orphanages, and the conditions in so many of them are just simply terrible. They have no means to provide real schooling or even basic medical care, but our Anderson Cooper shows us one orphanage trying to get it right.
HOLMES: And we are not used to seeing this in the south but we have a big old storm about to hit us hard there -- rain, sleet, ice, snow from Texas to Georgia. Some places could get eight inches of snow.
A lot of people need to fly to or through Atlanta. You need to check request your airline. If you're on Delta it's not going to be good news. They've canceled hundreds of flights, 800 in fact. Air- Tran still looking good now, Kiran. Our Rob Marciano has a full forecast coming up.
CHETRY: We begin though with news about former President Bill Clinton's heart condition. The chief cardiologist saying that the prognosis is excellent after President Clinton had two stents placed in one of his coronary arteries yesterday.
In fact, he's expected to be able to leave the hospital today and possibly back in his office on Monday.
HOLMES: Can you believe that? Here's new video, though, we're getting in of the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leaving New York Presbyterian hospital last night. She had a trip planned for the Persian Gulf. That's going to be pushed back a day. She's still going to head out tomorrow, we're told.
CHETRY: We have a team of correspondents covering this story this morning, reporters who follow the former president and his health for years. Dr. Sanjay Gupta standing by in Haiti, "STATE OF THE UNION" host Candy Crowley live in Washington.
But first we'll to Jason Carroll with the latest on the former president's condition. He's live right now from New York Presbyterian hospital. Good morning, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Kiran. Calls coming in from President Obama as well as former President Bush. As for former President Clinton, he is doing well. Doctors say just a few hours after his surgery, he was up. He was walking around and speaking to his family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told him he could be back in the office on Monday.
CARROLL: Encouraging news for the former president. Despite feeling discomfort in his chest, doctors say no sign of a heart attack. No indication a hectic schedule was to blame.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was not a result of either his lifestyle or his diet, which have been excellent.
CARROLL: In a one-hour procedure Thursday, doctors inserted two stents to increase blood flow around the heart. And in classic Bill Clinton fashion, doctors say he had a phone in hand on a conference call while being wheeled into surgery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think he has any intention of slowing him down.
CARROLL: Clinton had quadruple heart bypass surgery in 2004, something he described as a mystical experience that changed his life.
BILL CLINTON: I had 90 percent blockage in two of my arteries, 70 percent in two others. I was lucky.
CARROLL: In 2005, the former president successfully had scar tissue removed that had built up from that bypass surgery. Since then, he's said to exercise daily and stick mostly to a healthy diet.
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: He really got his act together. He's lost weight. He's fit. He works out. He takes care of himself. He follows all his doctor's instructions.
CARROLL: But friends say he's ignored requests to take it easy and trim his schedule. Clinton complained of exhaustion after grueling road trips during his wife's 2008 presidential campaign. He's jetted around the world on diplomatic missions, most recently making two trips to Haiti where he was tapped by the U.N. to oversee aid and reconstruction efforts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon actually sent a note to former President Clinton wishing him well and thanking him for his work in Haiti. And it looks like the former president, Kiran, might be work at that pretty soon. Doctors say he should be released later on today and could be back at work by Monday. Kiran?
CHETRY: Certainly some good news after giving many people quite a scare. Jason Carroll for us this morning. Thanks.
HOLMES: Actually, every year over 1 million people in America go through the same procedure that was performed on the former president. It's known as angioplasty. It's been around for some three decades.
Let's bring in our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He joins us now live from where he's reporting at Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Sanjay, I know you saw the former president. He was on a trip there not too long ago. He's always going. Sometimes he always looks tired just because of his schedule.
But did you notice anything about him, even talk to him about anything that could have led you to believe that maybe something like this was coming?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, really not at all. He was here in Haiti not that long ago. I walked around with him. Being here in Haiti is obviously tough conditions I think for anybody. He was walking down the long tarmac and walking around general hospital, a big public hospital, and doing interviews. And he seemed in good condition.
To be fair, I wasn't looking for any particular problems, but he didn't have shortness of breath or anything really obvious.
As you know, T.J., it's been reported he had his bypass operation back in 2004 and then obviously six years later had this problem, apparently some chest discomfort over the last few days.
But I think it's safe to say over the last six years for the most part he's done well keeping that very active travel schedule that he has. I really wanted to figure out exactly how he was doing when I was interviewing him last year, and I asked him about it. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: I have to ask you, how are you feeling? I was there outside the hospital when you had your heart surgery. Are you back 100 percent?
CLINTON: I think so. It's interesting. In some ways I'm stronger than I was before my surgery, and by conventional measures I'm healthier. I still got about ten pounds to lose that I gained in the campaign last year working for Hillary, but otherwise, I think I'm fine.
The one thing I noticed is my balance is better when I'm doing balance drills. But the one thing I noticed is what a friend of mine referred to as raw country strength. I don't know if I've recovered -- like I can't hit a golf ball as far even though I can lift more weights.
GUPTA: How far are you hitting a golf ball?
CLINTON: Not as far as I used to. I rarely hit it 300 yards anymore. I used to do it all the time.
GUPTA: Is that right?
CLINTON: It could be just aging, but I think the surgery kind of discombobulated my internal coordination a little bit. And I have to work on it. I've been working too hard the last year and a half than to do more than just maintain my weight and maintain my level of fitness. I think if I did a few I different things I could maybe get it back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: He was pretty candid about how he was feeling. Again, with regard to his heart, said he was feeling pretty well at that point.
Really quick, T.J., we're talking about stents here. For the most part, not to in any way belittle the procedure, but it is plumbing. I don't know if you're looking at an animation there, T.J., but when do you a bypass, you're essentially bypassing blockages in the blood vessels of the heart. When a stent you're putting in the scaffolding into the blood vessels and opening them back up. Those stents stay in. It simply allows more blood to get to the heart. That's what helps take care of the chest discomfort he was having, T.J.
HOLMES: We were able to look at that graphic as you were describing it. It's something else to think of something that we all think seems so complicated to us. But like you said, it is a simple matter of plumbing, a mechanical issue like a cardiologist told us a little earlier.
Sanjay, we appreciate you. We'll talk to you again soon.
CHETRY: As we've been talking about this quadruple bypass surgery that the forearm president underwent in 2004, it didn't keep him down for long.
HOLMES: Not at all. Until this week, though, the earthquake in Haiti had the president operating at a pretty frantic pace as always you could say.
Joining us from Washington is the host from CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" Candy Crowley, who has covered Bill Clinton a time or two. Candy, good morning to you.
CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, CNN "STATE OF THE UNION": Good morning.
HOLMES: We talked to a cardiologist a little while ago who actually said she believed Bill Clinton would be more stressed out if he had to sit down, if he had to sit on a couch and do nothing. Do you believe that?
CROWLEY: I absolutely believe that. In fact, so do the doctors around him who have seen him. This is just not a man who is going to sit still. People have different sort of approaches. They have different metabolism, whatever it is, different energy levels, and his is very high.
I remember when I covered him in '92 in his first bid for the presidency, and a successful bid for the presidency, we would walk into a hotel. It would be 1:00 in the morning and there would be people there. He would talk to every single one of them.
It would be maybe 2:00 before we got up to our various hotel rooms. And then we'd be back out at 5:00. I mean, that's pretty heavy duty.
He's a hard worker. He likes it. There are people who thrive on work and who, as one put it yesterday, if you told him to go sit in the rocker would be so stressed out. And he's one of those people.
So it's a good thing his doctors think it doesn't have anything to do with slowing down. His friends have always since the bypass surgery been saying, you need to slow down, you need to slow down. But that's sort of like that friend concern, because the doctors, as far as we can tell, are not all that concerned about the schedule that he keeps.
And, again, that's a good thing, because I'm not sure he could slow himself down.
CHETRY: The interesting thing thought is when we talk about the workload he has, and is there a happy medium when you go from -- I understand he's not going to sit in his rocker at Chappaqua, but there is mounting medical evidence that getting enough rest or enough sleep is actually quite important especially for cardiovascular health.
We talk about his renowned long work hours. Do you think that maybe he would listen just like he does about changing his diet and perhaps exercise to getting more sleep?
CROWLEY: I'm sure he would if they told him that simply because, by every account, he has been since the 2004 bypass -- he has done everything the doctors told him to do. So I'm sure if they said you're not getting enough sleep, he would certainly try to do that.
I must say I think it's sort of against the natural rhythm of Bill Clinton, which is he is a night owl. And I can relate. And so he -- you know, to midnight, 1:00, 2:00. But then so many things happen early in the morning, say, this program. So there are things that you just have to do. So I think that's why he tends to get less sleep.
He also is one of those people that doesn't seem to need a lot of sleep, but obviously as you grow older you do need more. So yes, I do think if the doctors said to him get more sleep, he'd do that. I have no idea whether they've told him to. HOLMES: Our Candy Crowley, who's getting less sleep herself these days with her new show "STATE OF THE UNION."
CROWLEY: I'm not complaining.
HOLMES: I know you're not. Good to see you, Candy, we'll talk to you again soon. And you can be sure to watch her on "STATE OF THE UNION" this Sunday morning, every Sunday morning beginning at 9:00 a.m. eastern here on CNN.
CHETRY: First it was the northeast getting pounded, now the deep south bracing for snow, including Atlanta. T.J., of course has a horse in this race because you are trying to get home for your weekend show, but hundreds of flights canceled, up to eight inches expected in some places. So Rob Marciano coming along with the travel forecast.
HOLMES: Also one Colorado town known for producing mountains of snow and Olympic sized talent. We're taking you there, talking to an athlete reaching for gold in one of the game's extreme sports. It's 10 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 14 minutes past the hour, and that means it's time for a quick check of what's new this morning.
Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy says he's not running for reelection. In a video to constituents the Democrat said his life is, quote, "taking a new direction." Kennedy is currently serving his eighth term in office. He's the youngest of the late Senator Ted Kennedy's three children.
HOLMES: Astronauts from the space shuttle Endeavour wrapped up six-and-a-half hours of space walking this morning. We have video to show you. It was the first of three space walks to finish construction on the International Space Station's tranquility model. The hatch to the new $50 billion wing is scheduled to open tonight giving astronauts a panoramic view of the universe.
CHETRY: Pretty cool.
Well, big trouble down south, a winter storm system could dump up to eight inches of snow across parts of Georgia. You see the radar picture right there.
It kicked off yesterday in Texas, and the Dallas-Ft. Worth area getting nearly a foot of snow. That's the most the area has seen in 40 years. Right now more than 700 flights have been canceled into and out of Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Sorry.
HOLMES: That's fine. Delta canceled a lot of flights. They canceled hundreds. My airline hasn't canceled just yet a lot.
(WEATHER BREAK)
CHETRY: See that? ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Your show needs you tomorrow. You have to be on the air tomorrow morning, and there's no excuses as far as I'm concerned. If you left at 9:00 and you walked, you could even hitchhike. It's not cheating.
HOLMES: The advice is to walk. Thanks, Rob.
CHETRY: Probably you'll get there faster.
MARCIANO: I'm just trying to help.
HOLMES: All right.
CHETRY: Rob, thank you.
HOLMES: Appreciate you, Rob.
And we do want to pass along. We have been following and watching what happened with President Clinton just yesterday. He walked into the hospital. Well, he's already walked out.
Yes, that procedure we're telling you about that angioplasty to open up some area in that heart of his, well, he has already walked out of the hospital. We have been told. So they said he was up and around, moving around two hours after the procedure already yesterday. And as tough as it sounds, when you think about anything dealing with the heart, any kind of procedure it's so serious.
CHETRY: Right.
HOLMES: It is but still is this fairly routine and mechanical and already he is out of the hospital this morning. So we don't know if he'll get much rest. We'll probably see him back out there working sometime soon. But President Clinton has left the hospital.
CHETRY: Right. Good news. We're going to continue to follow that story and many more. We're taking a quick break at 17 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We do know Valentine's Day just a couple of days away. Love is in the air most places at least.
CHETRY: That's right. There's a new Reuters/Ipsos poll saying that 21 percent of adults say they'd rather spend February 14th with their pets instead of their partners.
HOLMES: Yes, break-ups are coming soon. Sounds like a lot of people maybe need some help getting in the mood. A lot of people around this time they like to use music to help them get in the mood. But these songs may be, they kind of made us laugh more so than anything. We've got a billboard list of top 50 songs about sex.
CHETRY: That's right. And Olivia Newton-John's "Let's Get Physical" was number one. I mean, I have to laugh. It reminds me of my mother's aerobics class when I was little. You know what I mean? It's the headbands.
HOLMES: I don't actually know.
CHETRY: Back in the '80s, that was really popular. You had on the leotard. And guys like that weren't there. And there was a bunch of women bopping around. That guy wasn't there either.
HOLMES: Rod Stewart is the next one. "Tonight's the Night." Hear this one. "Nothing says sexy lyrics. "Stay away from my window, disconnect the telephone lines. Relax, baby, draw the blinds. That line is in there. I thought I could just speed right through that.
CHETRY: All right. So this doesn't seem sexy to us, so we picked our faves. Here we go. Ready.
HOLMES: All right.
CHETRY: Go ahead, play it.
HOLMES: Waiting for it. We should just tell people probably about this song. Where is it? That's yours?
CHETRY: This is UB40's remake of "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You" Elvis.
HOLMES: Oh, goodness.
CHETRY: You love that, right?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Is that your sexiest? That's your sexiest song?
CHETRY: I think it's called "Falling in Love Again" but that's OK.
HOLMES: Oh, but the Elvis version. Oh.
The next one. This one is a sexy song. You can't do anything about this one. Prince -- that's Stephanie's song.
ELAM: We're mixed right there. Where did you get it?
HOLMES: That is not Stevie Wonder.
CHETRY: What's happened this morning?
ELAM: But I was going to agree with T.J. I'm going to agree with T.J. that that is one sexy song right there.
HOLMES: Right.
ELAM: Mine is "As" by Stevie Wonder. And that was actually the first song at my wedding. It's the first song I danced with my husband. So there. We're all mixed up but it is Stevie Wonder, my song. It's not Prince. Stevie Wonder and Prince, I'm sure they know each other. I'm sure they're really cool.
HOLMES: Yes.
ELAM: And they're fine with us mixing up the images of those two great --
CHETRY: Oh, oh, the copyright infringement bureau is on the phone.
HOLMES: All right.
ELAM: Yes.
HOLMES: Our business is not music. So we need to mind our business now.
ELAM: Yes.
HOLMES: Good morning to you, Stephanie Elam.
ELAM: I think we're staying with this whole theme of Valentine's Day.
HOLMES: OK.
CHETRY: OK.
ELAM: Since a lot of people probably need to get on it today, since it is on Sunday. So let's talk a little bit about office romances. I won't ask you two if you ever had any. I'll leave that alone.
But nearly 40 percent of people say they have dated a co-worker. And this is according to Career Builder's survey of more than 5,000 workers. And if you take a look at that number, more than 30 percent -- get this -- more than 30 percent ended up marrying someone that they work with.
CHETRY: Yes, I met my hubby at work.
ELAM: We know somebody --
CHETRY: I met my hubby at work --
ELAM: Yes.
CHETRY: -- years and years and years ago.
ELAM: Years ago, not here but, yes, you did do that. And nearly 70 percent of people aren't keeping it a secret either. They're like, look, we're in love. What are you going to say? They're fine with it. They're OK with their bosses knowing about it. But interestingly enough, five percent say they've had to quit because of a bad break-up with someone that they work with. So that's the downside of dating within your work pool.
Now, of course, when you look at that, spending is another thing you have to think about. And when it comes to this Valentine's Day, people are going to be spending less on their loved ones around the country. This according to a National Retail Federation. In 2010, people are expected to spend $63.34 on each other whereas last year we spent $67.22 on each other. Now, who do you guys think spends more, men or women?
CHETRY: I think men do.
HOLMES: It should be men.
ELAM: Yes, solely men, by like double. As a matter of fact, men spend $135, a little bit over that. Women spend about 72 bucks for their loved ones on that day. Total spending for Valentine's Day expected to reach over $14 billion. However, florists, this is the worst scenario for them because Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday.
HOLMES: Sunday.
ELAM: And so that causes some problems. But FedEx is actually doing something to help out. They're going to work with pro flowers and they're going to deliver overnight. The flowers will arrive on Sunday. That's nice for all those people who are procrastinating.
CHETRY: That sounds good.
ELAM: I'll be on a plane with my husband. That counts, right?
CHETRY: Exactly. That's very romantic.
ELAM: Yes.
CHETRY: Love is in the air.
ELAM: Love is in the air literally.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) the holiday. See you, Steph.
It's 24 minutes past the hour. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. The future for tens of thousands of orphaned children in Haiti was bleak before last month's earthquake. Now orphanages are overflowing. Many are barely fit to live in. But Anderson Cooper shows us an orphanage outside the capital that is a beacon of light for some of the most vulnerable children.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Mercy and Sharing Orphanage outside Port-au-Prince, the goal is not to get kids adopted in America. It's to make sure they have a good life here in Haiti. Raphaelle Chenet is the administrator of the orphanage.
(on camera): I think a lot of people in the United States kind of think, well, the best thing for kids is to have them adopted internationally. But in a place like this, I mean, you care for them --
RAPHAELLE CHENET, MERCY AND SHARING ORPHANAGE: Oh, no, we try to be -- we take care of them. We send them to school. And our goal is to have them go to high school and after that go to college. We're keeping the children here. And they are Haitian. Let them grow here and know their own country and become, you know, VIPs of Haiti. That's our goal.
COOPER: All right. Yes, you want to be VIP?
(voice-over): There are 106 children here. All of them were abandoned before the earthquake.
(on camera): Did it just families can't afford to keep them?
CHENET: I think most of them it's because of financial reasons.
COOPER: Yes.
CHENET: Yes, because you have to understand Haitians are good mothers. And women, the Haitian women, we are usually good mothers. And they think that if the child might have a better chance if somebody else takes care of them.
COOPER: Right.
CHENET: I can tell you that, you know, here we do our best. They eat three times a day. They have snacks morning and afternoon. And we send them to school. And we have five doctors that work here. We have a pediatrician and we have -- we have five therapists. And so, they work with the handicapped children.
COOPER (voice-over): Seventy percent of the children here have a mental or physical disability. This is one of the few orphanages set up to care for them.
CHENET: Her name is Lisa.
COOPER: This is little girl was found in the streets a year ago. She's gained weight but rarely smiles and hasn't ever spoken. But for many of the other disabled kids, there is joy and laughter. This little boy named Stevie just took his first steps.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he's a happy kid.
COOPER: The orphanage even accepts children who are terminally ill. (on camera): Bonjour.
CHENET: Some of them, you know, they were born with liver problems, heart problems. Some of them stay alive after more than five, six years. We do our best to keep them alive.
COOPER: But you said you have three kids who died last month?
CHENET: Last month.
COOPER (voice-over): Considering all they've been through, it's remarkable how outgoing and curious the kids are.
(on camera): Ah, very good.
JEFF SWOPE, MISSIONARY IN HAITI: These kids get in your heart and they won't ever leave.
COOPER (voice-over): Jeff Swope is a second generation missionary in Haiti.
SWOPE: I've been involved with Haiti all my life, and once Haiti gets you it gets you.
COOPER: He helped build this orphanage and visits frequently with his wife, Terry, and daughter, Kelsey. Unlike the 10 American missionaries charged with kidnapping who are allegedly in some cases trying to get parents to give up their kids, Jeff says he would never dream of taking a child away from his parents.
SWOPE: I think someone with good intentions could do harm because truly if a child has parents even depending on their living conditions we don't want to take them ever from their parents. So sometimes I think sometimes what Americans think are better intentions for a Haitian really aren't better intentions for those kids because those kids still love their parents. They still love their country. And we've got to look at that first.
KELSEY SWOPE, MISSIONARY IN HAITI: That's what we're trying to do, just raise young ladies and gentlemen to be able to help their country. Because if we take them all away, you know, who is going to help out down here?
COOPER: Running a quality orphanage however isn't cheap. The money comes solely from donations in the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're trying to give them a better life and make them good citizens. We have to rebuild Haiti. I think that, you know, if the international community were to help, help give them an education, give them a better life.
COOPER: Once the Haitian government gives approval, the Mercy and Sharing Orphanage plans to accept 100 new kids orphaned by the earthquake. They have enough room in their orphanage and, more importantly, they have plenty of room left in their hearts.
Anderson Cooper, CNN, Williamson, Haiti.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And coming up Sunday, you can join us as CNN's Christiane Amanpour talks exclusively with Angelina Jolie about what she found during her visit to Haiti. From fears about outbreaks of disease and child trafficking to concerns for those left injured or homeless by the earthquake disaster. It's on "Amanpour," this Sunday 2:00 Eastern this time.
Meanwhile, right now is the bottom of the hour. It's time to check your top stories. First, former President Clinton walked into the hospital yesterday. Already walked out this morning. He's on his way home. Just left the hospital. He had two stents placed in a blocked artery. He was admitted after complaining of pressure in his chest yesterday. You may remember back in 2004 he did have quadruple bypass surgery.
Turn to Texas now. People there are really on edge after a string of church fires. Two more fires now that authorities are saying are arson. That brings now the total of churches that have been deliberately torched to 10. Authorities believe one person or group is responsible. So far, nothing really clearly connecting these churches, which are all of different denominations.
Also, Toyota going one step further after releasing a commercial aimed at restoring trust to its vehicles. The company announcing today it will disclose any flaw in their cars even if those flaws do not warrant a full recall. The company says it's taking this step to restore its credibility.
CHETRY: Well, it's been 31 years since Iran's Islamic Revolution. That's when the country's western-backed monarchy fell and Iran became an Islamic state. Yesterday we saw a huge pro- government rally taking place in Tehran but we also this. There were some disturbing videos posted online yesterday showing clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters.
In one bit of video you see a shirtless man, he's being pulled around by his neck, thrown to the ground and you can see hit over and over again as the video continues. Today we're talking about what these protests and what the violence in Iran means for the country's future. Here, for the "AM Breakdown," Jason Shams. He is a contributor for the "Daily Beast," who has lived in Iran for several years and Maziar Bahari, a "Newsweek" correspondent who was actually jailed for four months in Iran last year.
Thanks to both of you for being with us this morning. I'd like to get your perspectives on this opposition movement taking place in Iran and the reports that protesters were far outnumbered by the security forces there. What was your take on the rally yesterday, Jason?
JASON SHAMS, CONTRIBUTOR, "THE DAILY BEAST": You can't say that they were outnumbered because of the situation there. People would hide their green symbols. There was no way to determine who's who yesterday. What is -- what we know is that there were lots of people out on the streets. A mixture of people bussed in from the provinces in support of the state demonstration as well as people from Tehran who come out regularly for the demonstrations of the B movement.
CHETRY: One of the reasons it was hard to figure out is because of the crackdown on the media, social networking as well as others. You work for "Newsweek," Maziar. You were actually jailed because of your reporting for "Newsweek." How effective is the government at being able to clamp down on access to information in Iran?
MAZIAR BAHARI, "NEWSWEEK" CORRESPONDENT: Well, yesterday they showed that they were somehow successful. They managed to arrest about 20 journalists in the last two months. There are 65 Iranian journalists right now in jail. And Iran has the highest number of journalists in jail. They managed to shut down social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.
But I think the government will be foolish if they think that they have succeed. It was maybe a tactical game that they managed to contain the demonstrations yesterday. But in one month's time there will be another round of demonstrations and the next month.
CHETRY: You said there are 65 journalists in prison. Why were you taken and how are you ultimately released four months later.
BAHARI: Well, I was taken because of my reporting for "Newsweek," because the government's new conspiracy theory is that the western media is behind all the turbulence in Iran. And they wanted to teach a lesson to others by arresting me. And I was released because of the international pressure. And I am part of a campaign right now to release the 65 journalists.
They're not all in that prison. They're in prisons all around Iran. And I think and I'm hoping that the western government and especially the government of the United States pay more attention to human rights in Iran. It was really disappointing to see that the American government did not talk about the situation in Iran. Did not talk about the human rights in Iran. And it just reacted to what Ahmadinejad said about nuclear program.
CHETRY: And Jason, I want to ask you about that as well because it was interesting the White House sort of shrugged off the statements that Ahmadinejad made yesterday when he talked about Iran being a nuclear state, talking about their enrichment capabilities.
This is what White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. He says many things and many of them turn out to be untrue. Is this a missed opportunity in terms of the United States' dealings with Iran?
SHAMS: I don't see it that way because what's happened -- what's happening is that President Ahmadinejad has come out and he said many false things in the past. So nobody can really determine if this is -- if Iran has had any major progress with the nuclear program at this point.
The people who should say that are the people at the IAEA and the nuclear analysts in the field over there and, from what I'm hearing is that Iran has serious issues with this nuclear program and they -- there have been no real breakthroughs. There have been no breakthroughs at this moment. It was more, I think, a ploy to divert attention from what was happening on the streets of Tehran yesterday to the nuclear issue. And it was successful to an extent.
CHETRY: And what's your view, Maziar, about the nuclear program, whether or not it's all talk and whether or not the United Nations needs to pay closer attention and move forward with sanctions?
BAHARI: Well, I think the United Nations and the United States and other western countries, they have to impose smart sanctions. But in order to carry out smart sanctions, you need smart people with smart strategies and who really spend time and energy on this. And in the past, we haven't seen that.
In the past we have seen that the United States and western countries, they have imposed sanctions that sound good but it doesn't go anywhere. I think there are certain -- I was really happy about the sanctions against the revolutionary guards last week. But my problem with the American government's policy in regards to Iran is that it's very reactive.
It has to be a little bit more proactive. I think that the president and the secretary of state missed a great opportunity two days ago, before the anniversary, to send a message both to the Iranian people saying that we support your peaceful request, we support your peaceful movement. And they could have condemned the violence by the government and also against the government.
And I hope that the president repeat his message to the Iranian people which he sent last year in March for the Iranian new year. It was very effective.
CHETRY: Well, all right. Maziar Bahari as well as Jason Shams, thanks to both of you for being with us this morning.
SHAMS: Thank you.
CHETRY: T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Well, coming up, sure, she can handle the likes of, you know, General Stanley McChrystal. She can handle the lights of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Can she handle the likes of Dale Ernhart (ph), Jr., Ryan Newman, Mark Martin? Yes, Barbara Starr goes from the Pentagon to the pit. It's 38 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. It's all about Danica at the Daytona this weekend. Danica Patrick will make her debut at NASCAR tomorrow in the nationwide series which is like AAA level of Nascar.
HOLMES: Yes, it's just a little -- just one step down. CHETRY: All right. Well, Patrick was the first woman to ever lead a lap at the Indy 3500 and she finished third last year. Not too shabby.
HOLMES: Not too bad. This is a different car. Those are the open wheel more technical cars. These are the big heavy stock cars.
CHETRY: That's right.
HOLMES: We'll see if she can handle these. It's been kind of a roller coaster week for fellows our there. We had the Super Bowl last Sunday. Got the Daytona this coming Sunday. But it's also Valentine's day, fellas. Don't know exactly how you're going to get your woman to sit in front of the TV for four or five hours to watch the race maybe. Well, Tim McGraw, you a fan?
CHETRY: Yes, of course.
HOLMES: Well, tell your ladies that. Tim McGraw is actually playing before the race. So maybe they'll sit down and pay attention to that.
CHETRY: That's right. And for a lot of couples there's nothing more romantic than going to one of the Nascar races.
HOLMES: I love races.
CHETRY: What works, you know. Dovetails perfectly together.
HOLMES: Keeping it Nascar.
CHETRY: The season opening Daytona 500, by the way, is Nascar's Super Bowl. And you know it's funny because it's the one sport where the Super Bowl comes first.
HOLMES: It's the biggest race of the year. And we have a new Nascar fan we want to introduce you to. Well, actually, you already know her, Barbara Starr. She made the most out of an accidental pit stop to get up to speed on the Nascar experience.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (on camera): One thing you notice right away, Nascar is loud. This is my first time. What's going on? What's that all about?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is -- the cars are heading out for practice.
STARR: Where's the softness in the Nascar world in terms of the recession? Where is it hitting you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw it -- we see it at some of our tracks, some of the places geographically where the country is hit the worst. That also translates into probably fewer ticket sales in those places.
It's not over. I mean, all of us as Americans and as a sport have still a long way to go. But it's getting better.
STARR: OK. I am standing here in the garage area next to Jimmie Johnson, the -- you know, master of Nascar and I'm about to do my first interview ever with a Nascar driver.
I wanted to ask you is what's your biggest concern about the race right now and how is the car looking to you?
JIMMIE JOHNSON: We just crashed this one, so we got to get a new car.
STARR: OK. So I did it. I asked a Nascar driver how it's going and he told me it isn't going so well today but he's still going to make the race.
(voice-over): Even at Daytona, a familiar logo. The U.S. Army. Driver Ryan Newman won the race two years ago and, oh, yes, he has an engineering degree from Purdue University.
(on camera): And how did the car feel to you?
RYAN NEWMAN: It was good. The car felt really good. The U.S. Army Chevrolet was pretty good in straightaway speed as well as in the corner.
STARR: What is it about representing the U.S. Army? What's different here?
NEWMAN: I'm representing people. It's an honor to represent people that are not just people. They're people that are fighting for our freedom or have fought for our freedom or will fight for our freedom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Unlike the corporate sponsors here, the U.S. Army we found has a different goal in mind. They hope to recruit some new soldiers from some of Nascar's 75 million fans. T.J., Kiran.
HOLMES: All right. And thanks to our Barbara Starr.
A live picture here. We're showing you this because this is the -- the Clinton home, and we just saw a home (ph) -- cars go into this home. This is -- we've been waiting for Bill Clinton to leave the hospital. We know he left a short time ago and we believe he is home now.
I think we do have that video we can turn around right quick. But, again, the president, as we know, had an angioplasty procedure to open up a blocked artery. Of course he had that bypass surgery some -- what? Five, six years ago now. And this is...
CHETRY: And there's the video.
HOLMES: This is the video we were just telling you about that we just saw these vehicles go in. So we believe now that the president is back home, and we believe that he's probably working. Supposed to be resting.
CHETRY: Basically, they had to pull the cell phone out of his hand when they were wheeling him into the -- into the procedure room.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: We did talk to a -- a cardiologist earlier in the show who said that basically -- I mean, this is of course serious because it's -- you know, you're dealing with the heart. But the bottom line, you don't even really need a stitch. You just sort of get a band-aid afterwards to put in the (INAUDIBLE).
HOLMES: And again, they called it mechanical and our Sanjay Gupta, he didn't want to downplay it at all. Yes, it's serious but, at the same time, he's saying it is. It's mechanical. It happens.
It doesn't have anything to do with his diet or anything to do with his schedule, even. Sometimes it just happens when you have those bypasses.
CHETRY: All right.
Well, we're going to take a quick break and we're going to be back live in just a moment.
It's 46 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hello. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Tonight, the world comes to Vancouver. 2010 Olympic Winter Games kick off with the traditional opening ceremonies. More than 70 countries will participate. The first time the opening and closing ceremonies being held indoors.
The first gold medals will be awarded some time tomorrow.
CHETRY: Yes, and one Rocky Mountain town has the market corner on Olympians. It's a breeding ground for success. One of those stories belongs to an athlete who's reaching for gold in an extreme sport.
Here's Rob Marciano.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why do mine look so different? Are these training wheels?
TODD LODWICK, FIVE-TIME OLYMPIAN: I just look better on my skis.
MARCIANO: Yes. That you do. No doubt about that.
MARCIANO (voice-over): More than just a natural, Todd Lodwick is a five-time Olympian. No other U.S. skier can say that. LODWICK: You know, I think the difference between my first Olympic games at 17 and my fifth Olympic games at 33 is that I'm a more mature athlete. I think that's why these Winter Games are going to be so much fun and so important to me.
MARCIANO: But first, a quick cross country ski lesson.
MARCIANO (on camera): Well let's -- let's give it a go.
LODWICK: For you, it's basically just like walking, walking with a pair of skis on.
MARCIANO: OK.
LODWICK: You're just going to walk. That's it.
MARCIANO: And then what's the skating thing that you do?
LODWICK: And the skating thing is kind of just like this. See?
MARCIANO: I just went 20 yards. Not very stylish, and I'm completely out of breath. You go how long? How long are your races?
LODWICK: About 6 and a half miles, and they last about 25 minutes.
MARCIANO (voice-over): But that is just the half of Nordic combined. There's also ski jumping, a completely different deal.
LODWICK: To go 55 miles an hour through the air, drop 20 stories and land safely with just ski equipment on, I want to say it's one of the most extreme sports there is.
MARCIANO (on camera): It looks pretty extreme to me.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Embracing the extreme has a lot to do with where Todd's from -- Steamboat Springs, Colorado, which boasts more Olympic athletes than any other town in the United States. 1984 giant slalom gold medalist Deb Armstrong starts training them young.
MARCIANO (on camera): How does Steamboat become such a factory for -- for Olympians?
DEB ARMSTRONG, STEAMBOAT WINTER SPORTS CLUB: It's just a unique place. There's no question. I don't know if there's a place in the world that quite matches up with what steamboat has here.
You know, we've got Howelsen Hill, which is right in the heart of town, and it's an institution that started back in 1914 or something like that.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Todd's been jumping and skiing in Howelsen since he was 4 years old. Now, he has a 4-year-old daughter of his own. She'll be watching as Todd tries to win big in what he says will more than likely be his last Olympics. LODWICK: You know, the -- the number one question I get from my daughter when I go away on these trips to compete is if I'm going to bring any trophies back.
MARCIANO (on camera): She just wants the hardware.
LODWICK: She just wants to have the trophies. So I'm going to do my best not to disappoint her.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Do not disappoint that 4 year old. No pressure.
You know, this is a sport that's normally dominated by the Europeans, which is probably why you may never have heard of it. It's an odd combination, one of the oldest Olympic sports out there. The U.S. has never won a medal in this.
CHETRY: What is it called again?
MARCIANO: Nordic Combined. All right? And Sunday is when they have their first round of -- of competition, in the last half of the Olympics, but the U.S. has never medaled in this, and this is their -- their best chance with Todd and the entire team, actually, so it's going to be an exciting Olympics for these guys.
CHETRY: It's pretty amazing.
HOLMES: He -- he's done how many?
MARCIANO: This is his fifth. No other person has said that. And just, to me, to cross-country skiing, you know, OK, you're in great shape, but then to jump off a hill like that and travel the length of a football field is just -- is just insane to me. But they start them young, and that's the key. You have to be comfortable with being in the air at a young age.
CHETRY: Right.
MARCIANO: And that's -- you notice I didn't get on the ski hill.
CHETRY: Before -- Right. Before you know enough to be scared, you're already doing it.
MARCIANO: Exactly. (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: Well, good luck to him.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Rob.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
CHETRY: Right now it's 52 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-five minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
The fashion world is mourning the apparent suicide of cutting edge designer Alexander McQueen who was found dead at his home in London yesterday. From gowns to shoes, his designs push the envelope and were loved by everyone from Lady Gaga to First Lady Michelle Obama.
Here's Randi Kaye with a look at a remarkable life that ended in tragedy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On fashion designer Alexander McQueen's Twitter page just last week, a tweet announcing his mother's death. It reads, "I'm letting my followers know my mother passed away yesterday. Rest in peace, Mum." A minute later, another tweet, "But life must go on." Especially haunting, now that eight days later, Alexander McQueen is dead.
Style expert Mary Alice Stephenson knew McQueen well.
MARY ALICE STEPHENSON, STYLE EXPERT: He -- he said that his biggest fear was that he would die before his -- his mother, Joyce, died and, you know, he died a week after she died.
KAYE: His body was found at his London apartment. Police say the death is not suspicious.
KAYE (on camera): It appears McQueen committed suicide, according to various media reports, including "The New York Times" and "The London Times."
If that's true, why would a fashion designer at the top of his game take his life? He was only 40.
KAYE (voice-over): Psychologist Karen Binder Brynes never treated McQueen but says he sounded depressed.
KAREN BINDER BRYNES, PSYCHOLOGIST: And the fact that his mother died a week ago and that he was so distraught about it as he was twittering to people suggests to me that there mind have been a correlation between, you know, his tragic death and the death of his mother.
KAYE: And just days ago, another tweet, "Sunday evening. Been an awful week. I have to somehow pull myself together."
McQueen, who was born Lee Alexander McQueen, also may have been mourning the loss of his mentor and close friend, stylist Isabella Blow. She took her life by drinking weed killer three years ago. This was McQueen at her funeral.
For years, McQueen stunned the fashion world with his outlandish designs. A few years ago, he told CNN he liked to create clothing that made a statement. He had a reputation as the hooligan of the fashion world.
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, ICONIC FASHION DESIGNER: You know, I -- I think fashion is the future, not as (ph) the past.
STEPHENSON: He liked to take things and twist them up and turn them upside down and stand them on their head. He would take things like trash, you know, birds, feather -- feathers, kaleidoscope prints and, you know, create clothes with them.
KAYE: Among McQueen's fans, singer Lady Gaga, model Kate Moss and actress Sarah Jessica Parker, seen here with McQueen in 2006.
STEPHENSON: He was not afraid to show what haunted him and take those fears and work that out through the clothes that he created.
KAYE: Lee Alexander McQueen. He lived and appears to have died on his own terms.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Oh it -- it is a shame to see a life cut short with so much more left, it seems.
So our top stories still coming your way in about 90 seconds. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
