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American Morning
American and Afghan Forces Continue Afghanistan Offensive; McCain May Face Stiff Primary Competition; McCain Faces Re-election Challenge; Know the Rules on Credit Card Act; Gun Trail from U.S. to Mexico
Aired February 15, 2010 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks very much for joining us on this Monday, the 15th of February, day after Valentine's Day. Did you have a good one?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we had a nice one. How about you?
ROBERTS: Actually, yes, it was good. You know, little quick. Little quicker than I would've wanted it to be, but it was nice. I'm John Roberts. Good morning.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here are the morning's top stories.
A major U.S. operation in Afghanistan. Thousands of Marines moving into the hot bed of Taliban violence, day three of the largest attack since the start of the war marked by an apology from the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, after two missiles killed 12 civilians. In a moment, we'll take you live to Afghanistan for the latest.
ROBERTS: Storm warnings and advisories in effect for large sections of the Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, same thing for Tennessee and Kentucky. Freezing rain, sleet and snow slamming the deep south. For the second time in days, hundreds of flights already canceled in several cities, though. Maybe, they pulled the trigger a little early in Atlanta where it's just rain right now. Our Rob Marciano is standing by in the Extreme Weather Center with all the details for us this morning.
CHETRY: And on the gun thrill from the U.S. to Mexico. Weapons sold here responsible for killing police officers and innocent people over the border as drug gangs fight a bloody turf war. Our Ed Lavandera rides along with an ATF agent in Houston.
ROBERTS: We begin this morning though with developing news out of Afghanistan, where 15,000 U.S. and NATO forces have launched a major operation against Taliban fighters in Helmand province. Exclusive video from a CNN team embedded with the U.S. Marines shows Marines moving into Marjah.
So far, they have not encountered any serious resistance, but the area is a deadly minefield. The military says the Taliban has planted a massive amount of improvised explosive devices, more than expected. The first big test of a new surge strategy against the enemy takes place in a region that produces more opium than anywhere in the world.
And our Frederik Pleitgen is live from Kabul for us this morning in Afghanistan. It appears, Frederik, from reports that we're getting out of Helmand that the Afghan offensive is making some progress.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly what Afghan and NATO officials are telling us, John. They say so far they believe they've actually taken control of most of the area they were looking to take control of.
However, they do say there are still scattered Taliban fighters out there, some speaking of several hundred possibly up there still holed up in civilian compounds ready to take pot shots at U.S. and NATO forces as well.
NATO forces have discovered tons of explosives. As you just said, this was a bomb-making factory, this entire area. Let's have a look at how this operation unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: It started with a massive air assault, thousands of mostly British and American troops, as well as Afghan soldiers, landing deep in Taliban territory. But the insurgents had prepared and riddled the area with homemade bombs and land mines.
MAJ. GEN. GORDON MESSENGER, BRITISH MILITARY SPOKESMAN: The IED is the biggest threat to our troops. And it's something which these guys are living with minute by minute.
PLEITGEN: Still, NATO says the Taliban have been putting up less of a fight than expected. Dozens of insurgents have already been killed.
MAJ. GEN. NICK CARTER, NATO COMMANDER FOR SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN: It would appear we caught the insurgents on the hop. It appears to be completely dislocated. And a very impressive operation so far.
PLEITGEN: But hundreds of fighters could still be in the area, waiting to strike back. So far, the force, led by the Marines, has seized tons of explosives, weapons and ammunition.
Marjah is a swath of agricultural land in Helmand province. Under Taliban control for years, it became a breeding ground for insurgents and poppy production has flourished, with drug money funding the insurgency.
Now day three of the operation, the Marines say they are still facing scattered pockets of resistance as they expand their control over the area. The goal is to get an Afghan administration in place as fast as possible to provide services to the people of Marjah and convince them to turn their backs on the Taliban.
GEN. STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES-AFGHANISTAN: President Karzai approved the conduct of this operation. He gave us some very specific guidance, and that guidance was to continue to protect the people of Afghanistan. And so this operation has been done with that in mind.
PLEITGEN: While the fighting may be over within a few days, whether the government only the coming months will show whether the Afghan government can actually hold on to the territory that was under Taliban control for so long.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: And, John, NATO says they have an entire Afghan civil administration waiting to be inserted into that area. You're talking about thousands of civil servants ready to take over, to provide services to the people.
You're also talking about well over 1,000 police officers and about 2,000 army soldiers that will have to stay in that area for a considerable time to make sure the Taliban don't come back. John?
ROBERTS: So, Frederik, in terms of the timing here, the civil administration that they have, as you said, waiting in the wings, when might they begin to go in?
PLEITGEN: Almost immediately. You know, the State Department calls this hot stabilization. There are also State Department who are officials waiting to go in there. They want to do this right after combat operations start, and in some cases while even combat operations are still going on.
NATO has been telling us they believe the bulk of the fighting could be over in the next coming days. We're already hearing that there's not very much fighting going on right now.
Immediately after that, they want that civil administration in place to give those people those services as fast as possible. One NATO official told me in the end it's about this, making sure those people realize their own government, the Afghan government, is better for them than the government of the Taliban. John?
ROBERTS: Frederik Pleitgen for us this morning in Kabul. Fred thanks so much.
And stay with us, because in less than 30 minutes time we'll break down the mission of Afghanistan and discuss the challenges the coalition forces are facing with General George Joulwan, the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, and our own Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joins us as well.
CHETRY: And we're following a developing story out of Belgium this morning, two commuter trains plowed into each other head on in a suburb of Brussels. The local mayor says 20 people were killed, at least. The accident happened during rush hour, forcing Euro-Star to suspend service between London and Brussels.
Wounded passengers had to be shuttled to a nearby sports center to get medical attention. There is now word yet on what caused the crash, but it was snowing at the time, and there is said to be snow right now and visibility low. Back here in the U.S., the winter weather turning dangerous, and there's more snow and ice on the way this morning. In Kansas, icy conditions caused several pileups yesterday, one involving around 30 vehicles. There, you see the unbelievable pictures. State officials a say they had to shut down portions of two interstates for several hours.
ROBERTS: South of Pittsburgh, heavy snowfall caused the roof to collapse in an ice skating rink. Luckily, no one was hurt in that mishap.
Right now, another storm bringing freezing rain, sleet and snow to the south is making morning commutes treacherous. Storm advisories are in effect in multiple states, including Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. Hundreds of flights have already been canceled in several southern cities, including Atlanta.
(WEATHER BREAK)
ROBERTS: Six months after three American hikers were jailed for entering into Iran, their mothers are appealing this morning to the country's president as a father.
In a letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad they write, "You, too, are a parent, Mr. President. Surely you understand the depth of our distress and the hopelessness we feel." The women go on to ask for compassion and say their children's release would "restore our faith in human kindness."
CHETRY: Police say they believe two teens shot inside of a California church may have been targeted. Witnesses say three men in hooded sweatshirts walked in, scanned the congregation, and one opened fire. The teens are expected to survive. The gunman is still on the run.
ROBERTS: A Valentine's Day spectacular in West Palm Beach, Florida, had nothing to do with the heart. Watch this through -- couples got to watch a 30-story building crumble to the ground. The structure had been badly damaged by successive hurricanes. The implosion drew thousands of spectators. One city official described the demolition as "an A-plus."
CHETRY: There you go.
Mardi Gras is just one big Super bowl after-party in the big easy. Saints' quarterback Drew Brees reigned as king of the Bacchus parade yesterday. The float was stocked with 10,000 gold and black foam footballs to throw into the crowd.
One crew member said it almost matched the emotion of the first parade after hurricane Katrina.
ROBERTS: Want to make sure you don't accidentally throw the Super bowl trophy to the crowd.
CHETRY: No, leave the Lombardi trophy there. (LAUGHTER)
An unprecedented war of words taking place between vice president Joe Biden and his predecessor. The two men tangled on dueling networks over terror, security, and more. We'll hear the remarkable exchange.
ROBERTS: And battling lethal Mexican drug cartels in America's streets, Ed Lavandera riding shotgun with an ATF agent. We'll bring you that story coming right up. It's nine minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: That is your veritable blast from the past.
(LAUGHTER)
It's 11 minutes after the hour. That means it's time for a quick check of what's new this morning.
High school students in Utah are buzzing over a plan to ditch the 12th grade to save the state money. The lawmaker who proposed the idea says it could trim as much as $60 million from Utah's $700 billion budget deficit.
The plan, as you might imagine, faces strong opposition and the lawmaker has since toned down the idea, suggesting instead that senior year could be optional for high school kids.
CHETRY: Sounds like a brilliant plan.
More than a dozen people were hurt after massive waves knocked them over at a weekend surfing competition in California, Maverick Beach. It was really an unexpected wave here. Some people suffered broken bones in their arms and legs.
The estimated six-foot waves doused hundreds of spectators standing on the sea wall. Police say it is fortunate that no one was swept out to sea.
And still reeling from the biggest recall in its history, Toyota is reportedly considering some new incentives to try to get customers back into the showrooms, including adding $1,000 to the current $1,000 loyalty bonus for returning Toyota customers, and the other options include a free maintenance program and also extending the warranty on the vehicles to ten years.
Well, it was a battle of the titans over terrorism. Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice President Dick Cheney trading some jabs across the Sunday morning airwaves. The two men clashed on everything from the likelihood of another 9/11 to how the Obama administration is handling and has handled the failed Christmas day bomb plot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DICK CHENEY, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: The thing I learned from watching that process unfold, though, was that the administration really wasn't equipped to deal with the aftermath of an attempted attack against the United States in the sense that they didn't know what to do with the guy.
JOE BIDEN, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: He's entitled to his own opinions. He's not entitled to rewrite history. He's not entitled to his own facts. The Christmas day bomber was treated the exact way that he suggested that the shoe bomber was treated, absolutely the same way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The two men did agree on one thing, the former vice president praised the current surge in Afghanistan.
ROBERTS: It's not just the vice presidents of past and present airing their differences. Senator John McCain is trading jabs with former Republican Congressman J.C. Hayworth, who today will announce he is running for the Senate seat McCain has held for more than two decades. Here is our Casey Wian with that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Nice to meet you here. Turn around here and look at that jerk right there.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A CNN photographer takes a ribbing from Senator John McCain at a ribbon cutting ceremony Phoenix. McCain is spending a lot of time in his home state, preparing for what looks like a tough primary fight against conservative Republican J.D. Hayworth, a six-term former U.S. congressman.
MCCAIN: I'm tenacious, I fight, and I love a good campaign.
WIAN: The primary is more than six months away, but McCain is already spending an entire week campaigning here in Arizona. He's clearly taking his challenger seriously.
MCCAIN: Actually, I started campaigning on November 4th, right after I didn't succeed in the presidential campaign.
WIAN: Hayworth says McCain is too liberal on government spending and illegal immigration.
WIAN (on camera): Why do you see yourself as the conservative alternative to John McCain?
J.D. HAYWORTH, FORMER CONGRESSMAN: Well, in Arizona, this has come from the fact that John -- and, look, we all think the world of John. John's place in history is secure. But John no longer represents the common sense conservative philosophy that most Arizonans share.
WIAN: Hayworth has ventured into a Republican committee meeting in a Phoenix suburb that has been a big stronghold for John McCain in elections past. It's voters like these that Hayworth is going to need to capture a seat in the Senate that McCain has held for nearly a quarter of a century.
HAYWORTH: I will stand four square against amnesty of any form.
WIAN (voice-over): Hayworth and McCain both lost their last elections to Democrats. Analysts say McCain has since moved to the right on several national issues.
(on camera): Is he doing it just for political purposes?
DAN NOWICKI, POLITICAL REPORTER, "ARIZONA REPUBLIC": Well, I think it's safe to say that McCain coming out of the presidential race was concerned about his possible re-election. I think he was kind of expecting a challenge from the right, so he definitely did shift to the right.
WIAN: McCain's campaign staff is already up and running full speed. They've secured endorsements from two darlings of the tea party movement, including his former presidential campaign running mate Sarah Palin, and newly-elected Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who's been making robo calls for McCain.
VOICE OF SEN. SCOTT BROWN (R), MASSACHUSETTS: I want to encourage you to continue to support John.
WIAN: So what do the polls say? Well, the Hayworth campaign took a poll last month and found that McCain had a pretty sizeable 16 percent lead among likely voters in the Republican primary. But if you look at those numbers a little closer, among voters who had an actual opinion of each candidate, McCain's lead shrunk to four percent, and that is a statistical dead heat.
Casey Wian, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: It's going to be an interesting election year.
ROBERTS: It will be. No question about that.
CHETRY: Well, still ahead, the run of retirements in the House. Dozens calling it quits on both sides of the aisle, so what's going on? The growing anti-incumbent sentiment could be troublesome, especially for Democrats.
ROBERTS: And a historic weekend for the Americans in Vancouver. Apolo Ohno becoming the most decorated male in winter game history. But it took a mishap to push him over the top. We'll show you all the action, coming up right up.
Seventeen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour. That means it's time for "Minding Your Business." Gerri Willis is with us this morning talking about some changes. You're "Minding Your Business" when it comes to our credit cards.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right. Well, the cards act goes into effect next Monday. Big changes coming for you if you use credit cards and, of course, most of us do.
Let's take a look at the changes to when your due date is and how they can charge you. OK. First of all, you're going to get that bill at the same time each month. Guess what, not everybody did.
They can't give you midday cut-offs, which is almost impossible to manage as a consumer. No due dates on the weekends or on holidays. That was another problem consumers had. If your due date was on a big holiday, you might miss it inadvertently and then no double cycle billing. That's a very big deal for people out there facing two bills in just one month.
So, what else are you going to watch out for? Well, guess what? Credit card issuers say they're going to lose about $50 billion because of this legislation. And, guess what? They're going to recoup it.
There's no restrictions on fees. We're going to get some new fees out there. Already we're seeing major credit card issuers testing annual fees in the marketplace to see just how much they can charge. That's going to be a big deal. So what does that mean? You've got to read the mail coming from your card issuer because they will have to notify you if they're putting annual fees into place or any other kind of fee.
But let me tell you. I think you're going to see a lot. We've already seen interest rates go higher, limits go lower. And of course, your minimums go up as well. So, in some ways, this card act really cuts two ways.
Finally, your credit card bill is going to look a little different. It's going to be a little more expansive. It's going to explain things a little better. It will tell you the time you have to pay off the balance if you pay the minimum.
So let's say you have $9,000 in credit card debt. If you only make the minimum payment, how many years will you be on the hook for that debt? What people don't realize is that how to become debt free in 10 years. I'll give you a toll free number for a credit counselor. So the idea here, a lot more disclosure for consumers out there with this credit card act.
I have to tell you guys, watch out for more fees. You're really going to get them. These credit card issuers are trying to make up the difference, the money that they're losing.
ROBERTS: Any idea what these fees might be?
WILLIS: Annual fees.
ROBERTS: No, no, but in terms of dollars?
WILLIS: Well, you know, typically $50, $60 are being tested in the marketplace right now. But it's all about what people are willing to accept.
And I want to make a bit here. If you don't like what your credit card issuer is doing to you, you can get rid of your credit card and get a new one and really negotiate on some of the stuff. You don't have to stand for it and get a card that actually works for you. And bottom line, you're best off if you pay off that debt.
CHETRY: Very true. That's the bottom line. You know, just try not to carry it. And unfortunately, many people are.
ROBERTS: In terms of getting a new card, too, if you have a lot of credit card -- a lot of debt on one card, you're carrying a fairly substantial balance, can you transfer that to another card? How do you get rid of that card?
WILLIS: You can always roll over your debt to another card. You want to be careful because there are often fees for doing that.
CHETRY: Right.
WILLIS: So you want to see if that's a percentage of your total balance, what that percentage might be. Watch out for that. But you can always find cards that have lower interest rates, introductory, teaser fees.
ROBERTS: Yes.
WILLIS: My advice to you if you're going to roll over that debt, make sure you can pay off that debt in that introductory period. Because after that, the interest rate can jack right up and then you'll be in the same boat all over again.
ROBERTS: Gerri Willis with some great tips this morning "Minding Your Business." Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Coming up on the Most News in the Morning, battling deadly Mexican drug cartels on American streets with guns bought in America. And guess what? It's all legal. Find out how they do it. Ed Lavandera has got our special series this morning "The Gun Trail" coming right up.
Twenty-three minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Twenty- five minutes past the hour. Your top stories only five minutes away. But first, an "A.M. Original," something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
As the drugs flow north from Mexico, guns are heading south from the U.S. Cartels are paying well for them, and authorities here are trying to make sure that people with blood on their hands pay the price.
Our Ed Lavandera rode along with an ATF agent on the gun trail. He joins us live from Dallas this morning with more. What did you find when you rode along with that ATF agent?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, you know, as we've been doing stories along the border with the Mexican drug cartels as well, we've heard that phrase over and over again; drugs flow north, guns flow south. We thought we wanted to get a closer idea and a better idea of just exactly how that works. And a case out of Houston, Texas, exemplifies that very well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, ATF AGENT: The number of firearms that somebody has purchased --
LAVANDERA (voice-over): We're driving the streets of Houston with an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, ATF. We can't tell you who he is because he's the midst of the biggest case he's ever worked, battling lethal Mexican drug cartels on American streets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I started seeing them popping up in Mexico and then further down into Guatemala is where it really opened our eyes about OK, we're on to something that's pretty big here.
LAVANDERA: What they found was a trail from Houston to Guatemala, littered with almost 340 guns purchased by so-called straw buyers, 23 Houston area residents, all of them with squeaky clean records and legally allowed to buy guns. Investigators say almost 100 of those guns have since turned up at crime scenes south of the border, in the hands of the drug cartel.
DEWEY WEBB, ATF, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: They're fighting each other for turf in Mexico and, unfortunately, many law enforcement and civilians are being killed in that fight.
LAVANDERA: The man in this undercover photo shared exclusively with CNN is John Phillip (ph) Hernandez. Investigators say he was at the center of the elaborate straw purchasing scheme.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He doesn't stand out in a crowd, a regular eye in his 20s.
LAVANDERA: According to ATF investigators, Hernandez recruited a crew of 23 people to purchase firearms for the drug cartels at gun shops across Houston.
(on camera): Court documents show Hernandez bought six weapons and ammunition at this gun shop. One of those weapons was later connected to the kidnapping and murder of a Mexican businessman.
(voice-over): Hernandez also admitted to buying weapons used in the infamous 2007 Acapulco massacre where seven people, including four police officers were slaughtered by a dozen armed drug traffickers.
WEBB: Has very long-range capabilities.
LAVANDERA: ATF special agent in charge, Dewey Webb, showed us some of the group's favorite hardware.
WEBB: There's probably over a dozen different versions of each of these weapons on the markets today.
LAVANDERA (on camera): According to court documents, Hernandez purchased four weapons here at this shop. We spoke with the owner. He didn't want to go on camera. And he told us a few weeks after that, Hernandez returned flashing $20,000 in cash and ready to buy 20 more weapons. The owner says he rejected the sale.
(voice-over): Investigators say the cartels paid Hernandez $100 to $200 each time they bought a firearm.
WEBB: People that are buying drugs in the United States have just as much blood on their hands as the people pulling the trigger in Mexico.
LAVANDERA: John Phillip (ph) Hernandez is now serving an eight- year prison sentence after pleading guilty. But this ATF agent says as one ring is broken up, new rings can quickly emerge on Houston's streets on the gun trail from America to Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And, Kiran, it was amazing that these ATF agents had told me that as they were investigating, they had different teams of ATF agents investigating various parts of this group. It wasn't until they all came together and compared notes that they realized how big of an operation that was unfolding before them there in the city of Houston.
CHETRY: And, Ed, once Hernandez got the guns, how did he get them south of the border into Mexico?
LAVANDERA: Well, this is interesting. I asked them, do you consider a guy like Hernandez a member of the Mexican drug cartels? They said, look, no. What he would actually do, according to ATF agents, is take the guns, deliver them to another person, who would then give him the money and then this other person who he probably didn't really know that much about, would then be in charge of transporting the guns south of the border.
CHETRY: It's amazing. It's amazing what they'll think of, right?
LAVANDERA: Absolutely.
CHETRY: Good story this morning. Ed Lavandera for us, thanks so much.
Thirty minutes past the hour. It means it's time for your top stories.
Secretary of state Hillary Clinton asking what does Iran have to hide? She called for Iran to pay greater costs for dangerous policies at the World Islamic Forum in Qatar. Clinton's comments come after Iran announced that it stepped up production of highly enriched uranium, a key ingredient for a nuclear weapon.
ROBERTS: The snow and ice not finished with the south. The winter storm is bringing in more freezing rain, sleet and snow to the deep south for the second time in five days this is morning. Already hundreds of flights have been canceled today out of Atlanta. Slick conditions in Kansas caused at least two massive pile-ups on interstate highways, one involving at least 30 cars and trucks.
CHETRY: Also, we're following a developing story out of Belgium this morning, two commuter trains collided head-on during a rush hour happening in a Brussels suburb. At least 10 people were killed and 11 others hurt. That number has been updated. Earlier, the local mayor had said at least 20 people were killed. Reports say the wounded are being treated at a sports center near the scene of the accident. This crash happened at 8:30 am local time. The trains were packed with people on their way to work.
ROBERTS: In Afghanistan, a crucial test for President Obama's surge strategy. 15,000 Afghan and NATO troops are taking on the Taliban in the town of Marjah, it's a southern stronghold known for heroin and bomb making. The good news, Afghanistan's defense spokesman says the progress is being made on all fronts. The bad news, a deadly mistake killed a dozen civilians.
Here for the "A.M. Breakdown" this morning, former NATO Supreme Allied commander General George Joulwan and our own Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is here with us this morning. General, let's start with you. As we said, this is the biggest attack since the war began in 2001, a crucial test of this new strategy. How do you measure success there?
GEN. GEORGE JOULWAN, FMR. NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Well, from every report I'm getting, it's going quite well. I believe the initial entry has been successful. They still have a lot of clearing to do. They're running into a lot of mines. But the key, John, is going to be what happens now.
The intent of all of this is to really stop the momentum of the Taliban, which I think is the main objective of this offensive. But then what happens with the host nation government, the Afghan police and military, government officials, NGOs, all of those that have been involved in the planning of this operation, that's going to take weeks, if not months. But that's going to be the true test.
ROBERTS: In terms of the fighting, Barbara, we talked to Frederik Pleitgen just a little while ago. He's in Kabul this morning and he was suggesting that the fighting, reports are that it's going quite well. That it may be over, the main offensive at least, within a few days' time.
Does that suggest that maybe to some degree the Taliban are just melting into the general population? And what would that mean for the long term?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this has always been the Taliban strategy. When U.S. troops come into their area, they fight a little and then they melt away. They move somewhere else, to go somewhere else and fight another day.
I don't think that is unexpected. I think that's clearly happening. And what General Joulwan was saying, I mean, if you ask U.S. Marines to take a piece of territory. That's easy for them. They can do it. They're some of the best in the world. It's holding it. It's getting the Afghans to come in and hold that and really establish long-term security.
ROBERTS: General, do you have faith that this civilian administration, which is both Afghan and international, which may start going in within the next few days, will be able to hold that area, establish some sort of governance, provide services for people, try to win them back to say the Taliban is not the organization to throw your lot in with, you want to be with the Afghan government?
JOULWAN: The jury is still out on that. What is different about this operation, in my opinion - and many of us have been advocating this for some time is that the civil agencies, the Afghan government, all of these agencies were involved in the planning for this.
They didn't wait for the initial entry to take place and then weeks or months later start saying what are we going to do now? So, I think there's a higher probability of success. And by the way, on the last comment, what I understand is, their cooperation with the Pakistan government.
So, as these Taliban try to get back into Pakistan, there may be an opportunity to really do some damage as they try to cross the border.
So, I think it's a well thought-out plan. We'll just have to wait and see what the Afghans do before we start talking about success.
ROBERTS: And Barbara, the name of this operation is "Mushtarak," which in the local Dari language means together. And U.S. forces are making a point of saying, hey, we've got more Afghan forces fighting alongside us than we do U.S. and NATO forces. How important is it for the Afghan population to see that their own military is fighting this battle?
STARR: You know, this is what it's all about, putting an Afghan face on the operation, especially when you see these incidents of civilian casualties. There's a lot of resentment with local people about these types of incidents and the sense that - they know the Americans are there to help. They're still an outside force. They're still not Afghans. They want to see their own government really provide their security.
But before anybody chalks this all up to success, a couple of quick points. We still, days in to this, do not know how many American troops have been wounded. That information is not coming from the Pentagon. And as you and I discussed, Kandahar, the true heartland of the Taliban, still lies ahead and nobody has figured out what to do about that.
ROBERTS: General, Barbara mentioned these civilian casualties, a couple of rockets went astray over the weekend, killing, hitting a house and killing 12 people. General McChrystal was very quick to apologize to President Karzai. We've seen in the past that civilian casualties can really turn sentiments against the U.S. military and NATO. How do you think this particular incident will play into the operation there?
JOULWAN: Well, I think what McChrystal has done with Karzai is extremely important. It's also done at the local level as well. What's important here is that we're not just kicking in doors by U.S. forces and dropping bombs. It's the Afghan face on this. The military, the police are in the town now and that's what they're seeing. And they're explaining what occurred with this air and rocket that went off.
All of that, I think is going to help in this issue of civilian casualties. It's hard to avoid them in any war. It's hard to avoid your own casualties. I hope we wouldn't overreact to this. We wouldn't want to lose anyone, but this is a war. And I think it's going to be very important we not overreact to what's going on, on the ground. I think it's going to be very important that we focus on the longer term, which is going to be weeks or months from now.
ROBERTS: General, always great to get your perspective on things. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. Barbara Starr as well, appreciate it.
CHETRY: Well, still ahead, he is supposed to be fighting to free American missionaries held in Haiti. But now a legal adviser is wanted for human trafficking and having ties with child sex ring. Coming up in our 8:00 hour, Karl Penhaul with newest developments from the Dominican Republic.
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CHETRY: 40 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the most news in the morning. There's a slue of lawmakers retiring and the midterm elections could be the perfect storm for Republicans to make a bigger dent in the Democratic majority. 31 seats in the House will be up for grabs, 13 belong to Democrats and 18 to the GOP. But anti-incumbent sentiment is the real wild card, and that's bad news for the Democrats. Brianna Keilar explains.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From Democratic congressman Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island.
REP. PATRICK KENNEDY (D), RHODE ISLAND: My life is taking a new direction and I will not be a candidate for re-election this year.
KEILAR: To Republican Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida.
REP LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (R), FLORIDA: I will not seek A 10th term in the United States congress this November.
KEILAR: The list of lawmakers calling it quits to the end of the year is growing. Last week alone, Kennedy and Diaz-Balart as well as Democrat Diane Watson of California and Republican Vernon Ellers of Michigan announced they would retire rather than run for re-election, adding the number of representatives making bids for state-wide office rather than defending their offices. And so far you've got 31 open seats come the November elections.
Also, more retirements are expected in the weeks and months to come. While there are more House Republicans than Democrats retiring, the current political climate appears to favor the GOP.
AMY WALTER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "THE HOTLINE": The democrats are certainly much more negatively impacted. And even Democrats privately will admit that they're sure there are more retirements to come, more retirements of members who sit in vulnerable districts.
KEILAR: There are different reasons for each retirement, but one thing is for sure. There's an anti-incumbent mood across the country right now.
WALTER: There's a real sense among voters that Congress is broken.
KEILAR: And that spells trouble for the Democrats since they run Washington.
WALTER: When voters are frustrated about government, they blame the people who run government. And in this case it's democrats.
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KEILAR: In the House, they would need to pick up 40 seats in November, a very difficult feat but election prognosticators are not ruling it out. And of course, these retirements really play into the equation since they're harder to defend, lacking that name recognition and also the fund-raising dollars that incumbents provide, Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, in which seats are considered safe for the various parties. How many retirements are we likely to see here, Brianna? Because this can continue.
KEILAR: It's going to continue. And you should expect many more. You really want to keep an eye on Congress. Because only five states filing deadlines for candidates have passed so far. So expect the number of retirements to really grow in the weeks and months ahead.
CHETRY: Brianna Keilar this morning for us in Washington. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Well, we're at 43 minutes after the hour now. Snow forecast again in the deep south. Rob is going to have this morning's travel forecast. He's coming up right after the break. A whole lot of flights canceled out of Atlanta this morning. But did they pull the trigger too quickly? We'll find out from Rob. Stay with us.
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ROBERTS: Good morning, Atlanta, where we got some rain right now and 38 degrees. Later on today the temperature will start to go down a little bit. The rain will begin to change to snow, the high around 36. But it looks like Atlanta kind of right on the cusp there of the bad weather that's coming in.
Our Rob Marciano is at the Weather Center in Atlanta. He is tracking it all, and Rob, I was looking on the Delta website and all the flights between Atlanta and New York, 6:40 to 10:40, have been canceled. Did they pull the trigger a little too quickly there, do you think?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, well, maybe so, but I think, over the long run, they'll tell you that the more often that they pull the trigger and they do these preemptive attacks in canceling flights, they end up saving money in the long run. But today, certainly they may be going, oh, maybe we should have waited on that one.
Either way, the storm is a tricky situation, at least where the South is concerned. A little bit warmer now than it was yesterday, so lesser chances for seeing accumulating snow across parts of Georgia, but, still, better chances of snow across the South than across the Winter Olympics, which has been really odd this year, for sure.
All right, this coma-shaped signature on the radar scope, that is classic for a maturing cyclone, and it's rolling across the Ohio River Valley here, and we're looking for a significant snowfall in parts of the Tennessee and Ohio Valleys. But down to the South, some of this is turning over to snow across parts of Georgia and down into parts of Alabama, but it probably wouldn't be accumulating.
But at Chattanooga to up to Knoxville, we've seen snow this morning. Tupelo, Mississippi, yesterday saw some snow and there were some snow across parts of Arkansas. Five to 10 inches possible today across parts of the Ohio River Valley, including Cincinnati, Covington and in through Columbus, so for Ohio, that's a fairly decent snowfall.
Three to six across parts of Eastern Pennsylvania into New York City later on tonight, and D.C. may be getting an inch or two of wet snow, but that should be about it. The rain/snow line pretty much right around the I-95 corridor, maybe just a little bit farther to the north, and the bigger story will be the cold Arctic air that drives in behind this. All right, I want to give you an update on the gentleman we profiled on Friday, Todd Lodwick, a Nordic combined skier competing yesterday in the Olympics, gunning for a - a medal. He came in fourth.
I think I may have slowed him down in his training when I - when I profiled him a couple of weeks ago. But Johnny Spillane, his teammate, also of Steamboat Springs, came in second with a silver, and that is the first-ever Nordic combined medal for the U.S. So they'll come back in about a week and a half for the team and larger hill events, and maybe Todd will fair - fair a little bit better.
It was an exciting race to watch and a history-making event for the U.S.
CHETRY: We're saying, it (ph) - it's not an easy sport.
MARCIANO: No. Definitely not. I didn't help matters, for sure.
ROBERTS: They sure make it look easy, though, don't they, Rob?
MARCIANO: That's what world-class athletes do. I mean, they do things that we can't and they do them well and they - they make them look incredibly easy for sure.
ROBERTS: Yes. It's kind of like, oh, I could do that. No, I can't.
MARCIANO: I know (ph).
ROBERTS: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you guys.
ROBERTS: Team USA off to a fantastic start at the Vancouver Olympics. One skater is already making history, and so far America has more medals than any other country.
CHETRY: That's right. And if you missed all the Olympic action this weekend, our Alex Thomas has a wrap and also a look at what's on tap for today.
ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, John and Kiran.
The opening weekend of these 2010 Vancouver Olympics has been a historic one for America, and it was short track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno who got the ball rolling on Saturday. He came second in the men's 1500 meters, and that was Apolo's sixth Olympic medal, making him the most successful even male Winter Olympian in American sporting history. He still has his strongest event, the 500 meters, to come, so it could break the record of the legendary Bonnie Blair.
Not to be outdone, Johnny Spillane claimed a silver medal in the men's Nordic combined 10 kilometer race on Sunday, and though it was just second place, it was the first medal America has ever won in the event. The United States' first gold of these Olympics was won by 23- year-old freestyle skier Hannah Kearney. She claimed the ladies' moguls final title after piping (ph) Canada's Jen Heil to first place. Another American, Shannon Bahrke, took the bronze medal there.
It means that after the opening weekend of these Olympics, America is top of the medal standings with six, one gold, two silver and three bronze, two ahead of Germany.
The bad weather's been quite a talking point here in Vancouver. It's meant the delay of the ladies super combined Alpine skiing event. It's good news, though, for Lindsey Vonn, who's looking good for winning medals in possibly five events and has been struggling to recover from an injury to her shin.
First stop, though, is the men's downhill race later on Monday, and Bode Miller goes for gold for the United States in that one.
John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks for much for that.
They have real problem with the weather in Vancouver, and it's always that way in el Nino years too.
CHETRY: I know, and they can't - they can't sort of get - catch a break. First they didn't have enough snow, and now it's bad weather that's delaying some of the events.
ROBERTS: Yes. Well, that's Vancouver, that's for sure.
This morning's top stories just minutes away, including a major offensive, maybe the biggest since 9/11, going on right now in Southern Afghanistan. A major test for troops, the Afghan government and President Obama's war strategy.
We'll talk about what's at stake live from Kabul this morning.
CHETRY: Also, at three minutes after the hour, the battle of the VPs - Joe Biden saying Dick Cheney is trying to re-write history, and Cheney saying the current White House hasn't learned from it.
ROBERTS: And at six minutes after the hour, Director Kevin Smith kicked off a flight for being too fat. Why one airline may be wishing it didn't mess with a guy who has 1.7 million Twitter followers.
Those stories and more coming your way at the top of the hour.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's now six minutes to the top of the hour. That means it's time for your "A.M. House Call".
It was almost a month ago when the U.S. military paged Dr. Sanjay Gupta for help with a little girl who was injured in the collapse of a building in Haiti. Today he has an update on her incredible recovery and the hard reality that still lies ahead for her.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): January 18th, we got a call, "Come quickly." A 12-year-old girl broken by the rubble, cement embedded in her brain. The U.S. military asked me to help.
That was the last time I saw Kimberly - until today.
We received word that Kimberly is alive, doing well, and in fact ready to go home.
GUPTA (on camera): Now, we expected her father to actually come here and meet us for this reunion, but we're told he didn't have enough money to - to get transportation to come down to this port. So instead the rescue worker who helped rescue Kimberly is going to come and - and collect her and take her back to her father.
GUPTA (voice-over): Kimberly was healed, and it was so good to see that smile. Aboard the word class "USS Comfort", just a typical 12-year-old showing off all the new toys that she's received.
GUPTA (on camera): One thing that's sort of surprising is that Kimberly really didn't know, up until just now, that she was on a ship. It's such a big place that she actually thought she had been transferred to the United States.
So she's actually about to see the water outside for the first time and recognize where she's been for the last several weeks.
GUPTA (voice-over): Kimberly knows just moments from now she'll be reunited with her father.
The truth is, I wish I could end the story right here, but that would be unfair to Kimberly and thousands more like her.
GUPTA (on camera): You know, this is - this is part of what happens here in Haiti. You know, Kimberly is obviously doing well medically, but now this is really about the rest of her life and - and what's going to happen to her, how she recovers from all of this.
They used to have a home, now they don't. He used to have a job, now he doesn't.
GUPTA (voice-over): What you're looking at is her new home. Her recovery room. Confusion sets in, her eyes shift with the tragic realization. You see, because she's been in the hospital the last month, she doesn't even remember the quake - the quake that she now learns took away her home, her sister, her mother.
Her dad, also confused. He asks me what to do next. No medications were sent with Kimberly. And the instructions? They're in English, which he can't read.
GUPTA (on camera): It says you need certain medications, ciprofloxacin and clindamycin. Are you going to be able to get these medications?
GUPTA (voice-over): Without money, he says there's no way. In this case, we point him to the direction of a free clinic, but what about all these other people?
This was a remarkable day for Kimberly, full of moments like this. But the image I'm left with is this one, a young girl with a brain operation, struggling to recover in a place, in a country so devastated.
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GUPTA: Well, John and Kiran, it is a tough story to tell, no question about it. And we all want the - the story to end well, a - a happy ending, so to speak, but this is the brutal honesty of what's happening here in Haiti. And as Kimberly continues to recover slowly, and recovers physically and emotionally, we will continue to tell her story as well.
John and Kiran, back to you.
ROBERTS: Sanjay Gupta for us this morning from Port-au-Prince. Sanjay, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Shocking, though. I mean, he - he couldn't even pick her up because he had no means to get there, her father, and then he couldn't read the instructions on how to care for her after or know if he could get the medications. It's truly unbelievable.
ROBERTS: It's - it's terrible, and that is just the narrowest slice of what's happening in Haiti, too. So it's - it's going to go on for years, particularly all of those young people who've had amputations as a result. Caring for them over the course of decades is going to be so tough.
CHETRY: It is, if they survive it, because there's a lot of postoperative care that goes with those as well.
Well, we will continue of course to cover that story. Meanwhile, we're going to take a quick break and your top stories coming up in 90 seconds.
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