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American Morning

The Afghan Offensive; Haiti Legal Adviser Faces Charges; Haiti Legal Adviser; Stimulus Appliance Trade; Drug and Gun Cartel

Aired February 15, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and thanks for joining us on the Most News in the Morning on this Monday, the 15th of February. I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.

Here are the big stories we're going to be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.

First, American and NATO forces are launching a major new offensive against the Taliban. It's the largest push in Afghanistan since the start of the war, but a deadly mistake could undermine the mission to win over the Afghan people. In a moment, we'll take you live to the nation.

ROBERTS: The legal adviser for the 10 Americans being held in Haiti is facing his own charges of human trafficking in El Salvador and human smuggling charges in the United States. Authorities say Jorge Torres Puello is a wanted man. Karl Penhaul has the latest on what this means for those American missionaries.

CHETRY: And the U.S. is feeding a bloody turf war in Mexico by selling guns and buying drugs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People buying drugs in America have just as much blood on their hands as the people pulling the trigger in Mexico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Our Ed Lavandera rides along with an ATF agent in Houston who is looking for the middlemen between drug lords and gun shops.

We begin, though, in southern Afghanistan where this morning, 15,000 NATO troops are leading the charge to uproot and take out the Taliban. Military officials are saying that Taliban resistance so far has been relatively light, but they also warn that hundreds of enemy fighters could still be hiding out in the Helmand Province.

Our Frederik Pleitgen is live in Kabul. It sounds like NATO, Frederik, is making progress here on this mission?

FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's certainly what they are saying. What they're saying, Kiran, is that they do control most of the area that they set out on this offensive to control. Now, what they're also saying is that they are still encountering some scattered resistance from Taliban fighters in that area. They are worried about the fact that these Taliban fighters might, at some point, regroup and actually launch attacks against these NATO forces. All of this, of course, kicked off on the weekend.

So, let's look at how it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (voice-over): It started with a massive air assault. Thousands of mostly British and American troops as well Afghan soldiers are 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 IEDs are the biggest threat to our troops and it's something which guys have been with, you know, 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 that we caught the insurgents on the hop. It appears to be completely dislocated -- and a very impressive operation so far.

PLEITGEN: 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 cultivation has flourished -- with drug money funding the insurgency.

Now, on 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, the U.S. says 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: Now, Kiran, one of the things that is, of course, key to this operation, what NATO has always said, is they want to hit the Taliban hard. At the same time, they want to protect civilians.

And, of course, they did have one incident yesterday where a rocket from a U.S. rocket launcher went astray, hitting the wrong compound and killing 12 civilians there. The U.S. has already apologized to the Afghan government for that incident, calling it regrettable mistake -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Frederik Pleitgen for us this morning in Kabul, Afghanistan -- thank you.

ROBERTS: It was the present colliding with the past, Vice President Joe Biden and former Vice President Dick Cheney squared off yesterday and what amounted to a debate over terror and security. Cheney said the Obama administration was, quote, "dead wrong" when it came to Iraq and al Qaeda. For his part, Biden said the former vice president cannot rewrite history without it being challenged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

RICHARD CHENEY, FMR. U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I think, in fact, the situation with respect to al Qaeda to say that, you know, that was a big attack that we had on 9/11, but it's not likely again, I just think that's dead wrong. I think the biggest strategic threat the United States faces today is the possibility of another 9/11 with the nuclear weapon or a biological agent of some kind and I think al Qaeda is out there, even as we meet, trying to figure out how to do that.

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think the vice -- the former vice president, Dick Cheney, listens. The president of the United States said in the State of the Union, we're at war with al Qaeda. They are, in fact, not able to do anything remotely like they were in the past. They are on the run.

I don't know where Dick Cheney has been. Look, it's one thing, again, to criticize. It's another thing to sort of rewrite history.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

ROBERTS: And former Vice President Cheney taking a possession that does place him on the same side as President Obama, saying that it is time to reconsider the military's "don't ask, don't tell policy" because in his words, quote, "society has moved on."

In about 30 minutes time, we're going to talk about all of this with Chris Cillizza. He's the White House reporter for the "Washington Post." And Nate Silver, founder of FiveThirtyEight.com, an independent election analysis site.

CHETRY: Well, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking, what does Iran have to hide? She called for Iran to pay greater costs for accelerating its nuclear program. She made the comments at the World Islamic Forum in Qatar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Iran leaves the international community little choice but to impose greater costs for its provocative steps. Together, we are encouraging Iran to reconsider its dangerous policy decisions. We are now working actively with our regional and international partners in the context of our dual track approach, to prepare and implement new measures to convince Iran to change its course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Secretary Clinton also updated the world on her husband's condition. Former President Clinton is expected to return to work today after a procedure to put stents in an artery last Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: He is in great shape. All is well, or I would not be here this evening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Clinton, by the way, left the hospital Friday morning. He spent the weekend resting at his home in Chappaqua, New York.

ROBERTS: Also new this morning, Director Kevin Smith is waging a Twitter war after Southwest Airlines kicked him off the plane for being too fat. Smith says the pilot on his flight from Oakland to Burbank deemed him a security risk.

Smith has purchased two tickets in accordance with the airline's customer of size policy. But then he stood by for an earlier flight that only had one seat. He eventually took yet another flight home.

Southwest apologized on Twitter after Smith unleashed a tirade for his 1.7 million followers on Twitter to read.

CHETRY: Well, two former Olympians were hurt after a vice presidential motorcade they were riding in got into an accident in Vancouver. A van in Vice President Biden's motorcade hit another, injuring champion figure skater Peggy Fleming and gold medal bobsledder Vonetta Flowers. The spokesman for the vice president said that both women were taken to the hospital as a precaution.

ROBERTS: And icy conditions around Kansas City yesterday caused several pileups, one involving about 30 vehicles. No serious injuries or death were reported, but dozens of people were taken to the hospital. When you take a look at that, it's no wonder. State officials say they had to shut portions of two interstates for several hours.

And across the south this morning, more snow and ice could make your commute extremely dangerous -- if not this morning, later on today, at the least. Storm advisories are in effect at multiple states, including Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.

CHETRY: They looked like Matchbox cars, don't they? Just piled --

ROBERTS: Piled up against each other.

CHETRY: -- and slammed into each other.

Yes. Well, Rob Marciano is tracking all of this for us.

It's 8 1/2 minutes past the hour right now.

And we're looking ahead to see whether or not we're going to get more snow, more sleet in many parts of the country.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, including the northeast, still reeling from last week's two blizzards.

Let's go to the radar and show you where snow and rain is affecting folks, especially down to the south that's mixing in with some sleet as far south as southern Alabama. And that's where you see the pink.

Not a widespread snow event for Georgia, that's a good news, even though Delta and AirTran preemptively cancelled a bunch of flights this morning. So, certainly, call ahead if you are traveling through Atlanta.

And the winter advisor is up for parts of Tennessee. It's snowing last week in Chattanooga and in Knoxville. Five to 10 inches of snow expected across parts of the Ohio Valley -- maybe a little bit more than in spots. That's pretty decent snow event for Ohio.

And then three to six inches expected in the east. And that includes New York City. The snow arrives at the Big Apple tonight and last through tomorrow. So, tomorrow morning, at this time, folks enjoying the rush hour in and out of New York City will be dealing with some snow. Likely not enough to cancel school, fortunately for the kids, but enough to cause some headaches.

Let's talk more in about 30 minutes. John and Kiran, back up to you.

ROBERTS: Looking forward to it, Rob. Thanks so much.

Well, a strange new twist in that case for those missionaries in Haiti. The legal adviser is facing his own charges for being linked to a sex ring. We'll uncover that story. We got Karl Penhaul in the case for us this morning.

Ten minutes after the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twelve and a half minutes after the hour.

There is serious trouble ahead for the legal adviser trying to help 10 Americans being held in Haiti on kidnapping charges. It turns out that Jorge Torres Puello is facing his own human trafficking allegations, accused of putting women to work as prostitutes in El Salvador, and he's a wanted man in two countries.

Our Karl Penhaul now with new developments from the Dominican Republic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The mother of Jorge Torres Puello argues with U.S. agents who are hunting her fugitive son.

Torres Puello is legal adviser to the American missionaries jailed in Haiti on child kidnapping charges, but he is himself wanted on six trafficking charges in El Salvador. He also now admits he's wanted on alien smuggling charges in the U.S.

An international arrest warrant was issued for his alias. In a phone interview arranged by his mother, Torres Puello admitted he was the man El Salvadorian authorities were looking for, but denied the charges.

SOLEDAD PUELLO, MOTHER OF FUGITIVE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

PENHAUL: "It's the same person, but in the case of my son, you have to ask yourself who led him into problems," she says.

Torres Puello showed up at a court in Haiti last week, saying he had to come to hire a team of attorneys to defend the Baptist missionaries. In a phone interview at the weekend, he said he had no prior links to any of the Americans and had never met them before they were arrested.

PUELLO: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

PENHAUL: "My son found out about the missionaries on the Internet. He contacted the church and offered to be their adviser for free," she says.

Also at the house, Torres Puello's stepfather, Franco Cerminara, who said the arrested American's families have so far wired around $40,000 to Torres Puello to pay expense and legal fees. He showed this receipt for $10,000 advance, apparently signed by one of the Haitian attorneys. Cerminara said he did not know exactly what prompted his stepson to offer his services.

FRANCO CERMINARA, STEP-FATHER OF FUGITIVE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) PENHAUL: "He must have had his reasons. Maybe he wanted to clean up his image and show the authorities he was not just bad, but could do something good," he said.

On the phone, Torres Puello said he had done 12 months in a U.S. prison. He said he was held 18 months in a Canadian jail when U.S. authorities launched a failed bid to have him extradited on alien smuggling charges.

U.S. authorities were not immediately available to confirm his story.

A Haitian judge is expected to rule as early as Monday on whether the 10 American missionaries can be freed on bail. It's unclear whether allegations against their legal adviser, Torres Puello, will influence that decision.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, Karl.

Still ahead, we know that cash for clunkers, of course, now perhaps another way to cash in, courtesy of the stimulus if you are willing to trade up appliances for more energy efficient ones. Our Gerri Willis is going to be along "Minding Your Business" with details. It's 15 minutes past the hour

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Eighteen minutes past the hour, that means it's time for "Minding Your Business."

NBA commissioner David Stern says the league is swimming in red. In fact he expects the NBA to lose $4 million, this season. That's double its annual losses over the last four years. Stern is also warning NBA players to be prepared to take major pay cuts in the next collective bargaining agreement.

ROBERTS: While the NBA's all star weekend though was a big hit, 108,000 people attended last night's all-star game at Cowboy's Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The largest crowd ever for a basketball game. They saw the East beat the West 141 to 139. Nice close game.

CHETRY: Yes it was, well Gerri Willis is "Minding Your Business." this morning. She joins us now with more on Cash for Appliances yet another way to cash in on the stimulus.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCIAL EDITOR: You have to. You want some money from the stimulus? I will tell you how to get it. You remember cash for clunkers, now we are talking cash for appliances. If you need to upgrade a refrigerator maybe a washer or a dryer. You name it, if you can get that energy efficient appliance at Energy star appliance then you can get a big fat rebate from the Federal government.

Now the good news here you don't need the old trade in appliance to get this money. And the rebates, well, they're all different by state. You can you get anywhere $50 to $250 per appliance.

Now I want to talk to you guys, and this is a little bit more about all the money you get from free sources. A great website, dfire.org, you can go there and you can find out by State they have a clickable map by state and you can find out what is in your area. For example, right here in New York, ConEd will give you a rebate at $200 to $600 for a new furnace if it's energy efficient.

There are state loan programs, state rebates sales tax incentives so talk about double-dipping? Some folks are going to be able to triple, quadruple dip and get more and more money to help them pay for the energy efficient appliances.

ROBERTS: Yes, it's a good deal though particularly for the appliances companies. They make most things that are showing it --

WILLIS: Well yes, they are doing a few things to help us out. For example, some retailers will take away the old appliances, let's say you have a fridge that is sucking up all kinds of energy. You get a new one, an energy efficient one. Sear and Lows will come in take that appliance away, bring in the new one. And even dispose of the old one in a green way, a good way, and provide you some kind of paperwork to show you that they did the right thing.

CHETRY: Also make sure it's fully stocked at all times, and that's a wonderful incentive.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIS: I am all for that.

CHETRY: All right, don't go that far.

WILLIS: I am all for stocking the refrigerators.

CHETRY: Gerri Willis for us this morning, thanks.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

ROBERTS: Thank you.

CHETRY: Well still ahead, the dueling Vice President has made for quite a scene this Sunday morning talk show -

ROBERTS: Yes, it did.

CHETRY: You had Joe Biden out there rebutting some of the controversial things that Former Vice President, Dick Cheney, was saying about terror trials and about whether or not this administration is tough on terror. We are going to hear from both of them. Get some analysis from two good political minds coming up. ROBERTS: And in India, police are beefing up security looking for the attackers behind the bombing of a popular tourist destination. There is some thought that it was connected to the 2008 attacks in Mumbai. Our Sara Sidner is on the case for us this morning, 21 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: It's coming up on 24 minutes after the hour, that means your top stories are six minutes away. But first an "AM" Original. Something that you'll only see on America Morning. As drugs and violence flung North from Mexico, guns are heading South from the United States.

CHETRY: Yes, cartels are paying well for them. And authorities here are trying to make sure that people with blood on their hands pay for it. Our Ed Lavandera rode along with an ATF agent on a gun trail and Ed joins us live from Dallas this morning. Hi Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Kiran and John.

You know we've talked a lot about in our coverage of the Mexican drug cartels and the violence south of the border, that guns bought here in the U.S. end up in these gun battles on the streets of Mexico. We wanted to take a closer look at exactly how that happens, and one particular case out of Houston symbolizes what is happening on these streets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Firearms that somebody's purchased.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): We are driving the streets of Houston with an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco and Firearms, ATF. We cannot tell you who he is because he is in the biggest case he's ever worked, battling the lethal Mexican drug cartel on the American streets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started seeing them popping up in Mexico and then further down into Guatemala where we have really opened up our eyes, they were onto something 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 guns have since turned up at crime scenes south of the border in the hands of drug cartel.

DEWEY WEBB, ATF, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: They are fighting each other for turf in Mexico, and unfortunately, many law enforcement and civilians are being killed in that fight.

LAVANDERA: The men in the undercover photo shared exclusively with CNN is John Phil Hernandez. Investigators say that he was at the center of the elaborate straw purchasing scheme. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He doesn't stand out in the crowd, regular guy in his mid 20s.

LAVANDERA: According to the ATF investigators, Hernandez recruited a crew of 23 people to purchase firearms for the drug cartel at gun shops across Houston.

(on camera): Court document show Hernandez bought 6 weapons and ammunition and this gun shot. 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 a very long range capabilities.

LAVANDERA: ATF special agent in charge Dewey Webb showed us some of the group's favorite hardware.

WEBB: There is probably a dozen versions of these on the markets today.

LAVANDERA (on camera): According to court documents Hernandez purchased four weapons here at this shop. We spoke with the owner of the shop and he did not 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 Hernandez is now serving an 8 year prison sentence after pleading guilty. But this ATF agent says has one ring is broken up new rings can quickly emerge on Houston streets from the gun trail from America to Mexico.

(on camera): And these ATF agents told us there was kind of an unbelievable oh my goodness moments if you will, as it turns out that a lot of these ATF agents in the Houston office were working different parts of this investigation looking into different parts of this large group of people and it wasn't until they all came together and compared notes that they realized just how widespread this one particular operation was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Just amazing. Ed Lavandera for us this morning, thanks, and keeps watching.

Tomorrow the gun trail takes us to Savannah, Georgia, a key route according to the ATF on the so called "Iron Pipeline" from Canada all the way down to Mexico. How gun smugglers are taking advantage of the state's weaker gun laws. And why shop owners say they are not part of the problem.

ROBERTS: Coming up on the half hour now, and checking our top stories. The morning rush hour turning deadly in Hal, a suburb southwest of Brussels when two commuter trains collided head on. Officials say ten people were killed. Earlier reports put the death toll at 20.

The crash also forced Euro star to cancel the high speed train service between London and Brussel.

CHETRY: Well it has been 200 days since three American hikers were captured in Iran. 90 minutes after their families were released. And in a new letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, appealing to him as a father to show compassion for their children. Relatives say that Josh Batal, Shane Baler, and Sara Shard were hiking in Iran - Iraq's Northern Kurdistan region in July when they accidently crossed the border. Iran though insists they are spies and says they will stand trial.

ROBERTS: And later on this morning, Former Republican Congressman J.D. Heyworth will officially announce that he is running for John McCain's senate seat. Heyworth calls himself quote "the consistent conservative" and he says he plans to challenge McCain's positions on health care, the national debt, and legal immigration. The Arizona primary is in August.

Horrific memories of Mumbai's terror attacks were brought to life again over the weekend after a bombing killed at least 9 people and injured dozens more in Western India.

A restaurant popular with foreigners in the city of Pima was ripped apart by the blast. It comes just as the Indo-Pakistan peace talks were set to resume this week. Our Sara Sidner is live in New Delhi for us this morning.

And what authorities are they saying, Sarah, about a possible connection between this bombing in Puna and the 2008 Mumbai attacks?

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well John, Indian authorities at this point are saying that there are some suspicious circumstances that may possibly link the two. But they are very firm again in saying the Indian police in Puna that basically they have not ruled out any group at this point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER (voice-over): Police carry out a body after the weekend bombing in India's eight largest city. The incident raising many questions about who was responsible for the terror attack. Among the dead at the popular German bakery, foreign nationals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was under one of the tables.

SIDNER: It happened in Pune, a three-hour drive from Mumbai. This is India's first strike since the attack on Mumbai in 2008.

P. CHIDAMBARAM, INDIA HOME MINISTER: This area is under the attack of terrorists. The police cannot give 24/7 protection to every restaurant.

SIDNER: Indian authorities said they're investigating all angles and did not want to speculate, but a senior Indian official noted a link to Lashkar e-Taiba, the militant Pakistani group accused in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The officials said information shows David Hedley, the American terror suspect accused of aiding the group, surveyed the international known area close to the restaurant before he was arrested by the FBI in Chicago last year.

Hedley's alleged job for Lashkar was to survey sites the group wanted to attack, including Jewish centers and places frequented by foreigners. The bakery was a popular sport for foreigners and Indians alike. It is also located close to Habod house, the same kind of Jewish center attacked in Mumbai.

SIDNER (on camera): India's home minister sternly warned everyone, including the media, not to jump to conclusions. The blast comes less than 24 hours after India and Pakistan announced two countries would hold talks later this month, the first time since the 2008 attacks. One political party said the government should cancel the talks.

ARUN JAITLEY, BJP SPOKESPERSON: Terror and talks cannot coexist. When terror threatens, then not talking is also a legitimate diplomatic option.

SIDNER: Investigators haven't ruled out the involvement of Indian militant groups.

In the meantime, doctors, investigators, and victims' families are trying to deal with the aftermath of the blast that rattled the nerves of more than one nation. The blast prompted the United States and Britain to warn its citizens about the potential dangers of traveling in India.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Now, as you might imagine, Indian authorities have heightened the security level anywhere basically where people gather in large groups. They heightened the security there including the airports, refineries, and even sporting venues.

ROBERTS: Sara Sidner for us this morning with the latest on that. Sara, thank you so much.

CHETRY: Still ahead, we will hear more from the dueling vice presidents. Joe Biden and Dick Cheney battling terror and national security. We will get some analysis coming up.

It's 32 minutes past the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. It's 35 minutes past the hour right now.

It was a Sunday morning smack down that would have made Vince McMahon proud. Vice President Joe Biden tangling with his predecessor Dick Cheney on three network talk shows. A major point of contention, how and where to try terror 9/11 terror suspects.

After first announcing plans to hold a criminal trial in New York City, strong opposition forced the White House to consider a new venue and now even considering the possibility of tribunal military trials.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHENEY: I think we have to treat it as a war. This is a strategic threat to the United States. I think that's why we were successful for seven and a half years in avoiding a further major attack against the United States. And I do get nervous and very upset when that's the dominant approach.

BIDEN: I don't think the former vice president Dick Cheney listens. The president of the United States said at the state of the union we are at war with al Qaeda. And by the way, we are pursuing the war with a vigor like it's never been seen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Joining us from Washington we have Chris Cillizza with us, "Washington Post" White House reporter. Hi, Chris, good to see you this morning. And also here with us we have Nate Silver, founder of fivethirtyeight.com, an independent election analysis site. Nate, good to see you as well.

Chris, let me start with you. We take a look at the latest polling, and a majority approves of the president's fighting of terror. Then when you look a little bit closer, only 39 percent favor 9/11 suspects being tried in civilian court.

How big of a vulnerability in your opinion is this issue for the White House?

CHRIS CILLIZZA, "WASHINGTON POST" WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: There is no reason, no administration, president or politician likes to announce they are going to do something and then go back on it. The reason you do so is because it's clear public opinion is against you.

If you look at this more broadly, I think this is a fight the White House wants to pick. In the "Washington Post" ABC poll, the president got mediocre ratings on domestic issues -- the economy, healthcare. People are very undecided about whether they approved of how he was handling those issues.

On terrorism and national security, 59 percent approved and 39 percent disapproved. That's pretty strong. It's not bad territory for him to fight on given the problems that he is having on the domestic side politically.

CHETRY: Just to set up those comments a little bit, Nate -- Cheney made the comments on ABC this week, and then according to the "Washington Post," the White House deployed Joe Biden to rebut the former VP's comments.

On the one hand Cheney is a very influential conservative, but on the other he is one of the least popular American figures in modern time. Why does the White House care what Cheney says?

NATE SILVER, FOUNDER, FIVETHIRTYEIGHT.COM: Because Cheney can make the arguments others Republicans don't want to make. He is there attack dog. Ironically, that's what Joe Biden was supposed to have been but he has been muzzled so far.

I think Chris is right, in the big picture they would rather debate this on the economy or healthcare or the economy where the numbers are a lot worse for them.

CHETRY: Let's switch gears and talk about the balance of power in Congress. Chris we're going to take a look right now. There are 13 open seats for House Democrats in November, and 18 open seats for Republicans in November, and analysts expect the numbers will grow.

Chris, many say the anti-incumbent sentiment bodes for the GOP even though there are more GOP seats open. What do you think?

CILLIZZA: All retirements are not created equal, and I think it's hard for people to grasp that. They look at the numbers and say 18 on the Republican side and 13 on the Democrat side, retirements are in favor of the Democrats.

No necessarily, because they are losing people in Arkansas, and Tennessee, and Kansas, and these are going to be seats hard to fill. That said, the average of the last three elections, the average number of retirements is 34. I think we will go significantly higher than that.

In 1994, when the Republicans took over the House, it was 49. We could approach that number. I don't think it will go as high as 65, which is what it was in 1992, the really last anti-incumbent year that we saw out there.

CHETRY: And when anyone party has control, you usually see a switch, or a recalibrating in the mid-term elections. How concerned should the White House be on the numbers?

SILVER: On a scale of one to 10, about an 8.5.

CHETRY: Really? Why?

SILVER: Even in a good year where the president is popular usually the party in power loses some seats in the first midterm. But when you have unemployment at 9.7 percent, and health care, which has been bungled and is at 35 percent popularity, you don't have to go too deep here to realize they have fundamental problems in getting their message out to the people.

CHETRY: It seems what's working in their favor is that House Republicans and Senate Republicans are not necessarily any more popular, Chris?

CILLIZZA: I think, Kiran, they are benefiting a little bit -- I think Republicans are benefiting from the other guy phenomenon, which is if you don't like the party in power, and Democrats are in power in every place in Washington, the presidency, the House, and the Senate, you are probably willing to give the other guy a chance even if you don't know that much about the other guy or you don't like the other guy all that much. I think that's what is happening.

Republican numbers are not getting that much better. The president's numbers are sinking down. The Republican numbers are rising a little bit. But I don't think the American people are sold on the Republican Party.

That said, I don't think you should conclude that means Republicans won't pick up seats, because, Nate's right, history is on their side.

CHETRY: And the other thing that's interesting, Nate, before you go, is the notion of maybe it won't change party affiliation, but it might change for conservatives. Take a look at John McCain getting a challenge from J.D. Hayworth saying "I'm the real conservative. It's time to get rid of John McCain."

SILVER: Right, or in Nevada you will have a tea party candidate running as a third party against Harry Reid, and Harry Reid probably can't get 50 percent of the vote, but maybe he can get 44, 45 and that's all you need sometimes in a three party election.

So there are little things that might help cut the number down some, but fundamentally, 9.7 percent unemployment, the president's approval rating is under 50 percent in most polling now, and that usually bodes poorly for the incumbent party.

CHETRY: Thanks to both of you this morning. John.

ROBERTS: Another storm in the south. In anticipation the airlines cancelled hundreds of flights, but so far no snow, just rain. Travel in the south will be a big problem today. Our Rob Marciano is tracking the extreme weather across the country and joins us in a moment.

It's coming up on 18 minutes to the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Good morning Atlanta, where it's cloudy and 36 degrees right now. Later today the temperature will stay about the same, but a little bit of rain and snow will be moving in. And already the weather down there causing a lot of problems, but pretty much because of anticipation -- the airlines thought it would be worse than it actually is right now. Our Rob Marciano is tracking the weather across the country. No question today, Rob, some people are going to get hit pretty badly, but maybe not there in Atlanta?

MARCIANO: Yes, you know Delta and AirTran canceled a bunch of flights preemptively last night in anticipation of seeing a little bit of wet snow this morning. And as you know in Atlanta and especially at that busy airport all it takes is just a smidge and we're not going to getting that.

So that's good news if you are traveling through Atlanta or -- but I don't think they're going to reinstate those flights. So the trigger was already pulled and they may be second guessing themselves just a little bit. But although it's a tough call, snow down in the south and certainly it's been a crazy winter but this is a pretty intense storm system that's rolling through the Ohio River Valley the trailing edge of which is turning a little bit of mixed precip to the back end; it has enough cold air so we have seen some snow in Alabama.

And the radar at least just north of the Florida panhandle trying to pick up, mixing in a little bit of snow or at least sleet in there.

I think most of the action though will be further north, north of Chattanooga, where right now it was snowing earlier this morning and snowing in Knoxville. Five to ten inches of snow expected in places like Cincinnati up to Columbus.

Sliding the map a little bit farther towards the east we're looking at three to six inches across eastern Pennsylvania and there was snow is expected to arrive in New York City tonight down in Philadelphia. Notice that D.C. is out of the snow advisories. You might see just an inch or two but that should be about it.

I think the bigger story with this system, it's not going to have a tremendous amount of wind but it will bring in a decent amount of cold air. So the cold pattern continues east of the Mississippi especially. We've been in for the entire month of February and it looks like it will last through the rest of the month.

So January, fairly mild for some folks and February certainly evening the scales just a little bit as the winter tries to wrap up.

John and Kiran back up to you.

ROBERTS: Rob thanks so much.

CHETRY: All right, right now we're going to check in with Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM" for a look of what's ahead in the next hour. Good morning, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Ok for a little fun, I've got a question for both of you.

I think I know Kiran's answer, a family tradition for ailment, sickness, any kind of unique cure that you learned from grandma or anybody? CHETRY: Let's see. We put Vick's everywhere you know what I mean, on the bottom of the feet all over your neck --

ROBERTS: Polish, polish up to nose.

CHETRY: Oh yes, I like to do this.

ROBERTS: Vicks at the bottom of the feet.

PHILLIPS: Yes you do that --

CHETRY: -- but I like to put a little Neosporin in my nostrils before I travel and I don't get sick on the plane.

PHILLIPS: Yes, that's right. I remember that, that's what's I going to say. John you don't have anything, you didn't learn anything from grandma or grandpa?

ROBERTS: You know, there was an old formulation of cough medicine from Canada, the name of which escapes me but it basically tastes like you're drinking a pine tree and it's --the pine tree combined with ammonia, like floor cleaner almost. It's the worst stuff in the world, I'll get to name it in a second but it works. It works.

CHETRY: It's called Pinesol.

ROBERTS: And it tastes like Pinesol.

PHILLIPS: Pinesol, so you smell Pinesol that will cure anything.

It's like big fat Greek wedding. Windex fixes everything how about cheese, that's what we're talking about today. A little fromage --

ROBERTS: I know what you're talking about.

PHILLIPS: -- or Olympic favorite, you know what I'm talking about? That's right, Lindsey Vonn, so she's had this bad shin. So apparently this Austrian cheese, I guess the Germans call it Cork, the Austrians call it (INAUDIBLE) it sure looks like a soft cream cheese. But this is her cure to her bad shin. We're going to investigate it.

CHETRY: And does she eat it or she places it on her shin? Does she eat it or puts it on her shin?

PHILLIPS: Ok. She takes it Kiran and rubs it all over her shin. Apparently, you know, it works kind of like an ice pack. I don't know, mind over matter, it could be the placebo effect.

ROBERTS: It is the famous Jean de Fromage (ph).

CHETRY: You know also working --

PHILLIPS: I'd rather have it in cheesecake.

ROBERTS: Yes me too.

CHETRY: Yes I hear you. Also working in her favor, though is they actually have to -- didn't they have to delay her event, and so maybe time which is said to heal all wounds as well.

ROBERTS: Right.

CHETRY: Could help the cheese along.

ROBERTS: I'd rather have it with --

PHILLIPS: There you go. I think I'm going with your philosophy -- Kiran.

ROBERTS: I'd rather have it with a nice glass of (INAUDIBLE).

CHETRY: All right.

PHILLIPS: There you go.

CHETRY: That's a cure for anything, pretty much. Kyra thanks so much. We'll see you in about ten minutes.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

CHETRY: Meantime, last month in Haiti, you may remember this, the U.S. military asked Sanjay Gupta to help them with a brain surgery, a little girl who got a fragment of cement in her skull. Well, Sanjay makes and emotional follow-up visit to see how she's doing today.

Forty-nine minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to The Most News in the Morning.

It was almost a month ago when the U.S. military paged Dr. Gupta. They needed his help with a little girl who was injured in the rubble in Haiti.

ROBERTS: Well, today he's got an update on her incredible recovery and the hard reality that still lies ahead for her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 and doing well and in fact, ready to go home.

(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 get transportation to come down to this port. So instead, the rescue worker who helped rescue Kimberly is going to come and collect her and take her back to her father.

(voice-over): Kimberly was healed. And it was so good to see that smile. Aboard the world class "USS Comfort" just a typical 12- year-old showing off all the new toys that she's received.

(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 has been transferred to the United States because she's actually about to see the water outside for the first time and recognize that where she's been for the last several of weeks.

(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.

(on camera): You know, this is -- this is part of what happens here in Haiti. You know, Kimberly obviously is doing well medically, but now this is really about the rest of her life and what's going to happen to her and how she recovers from all of this. They used to have a home and now they don't, he used to have a job, now he doesn't.

(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 for 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 asked me what to do next. No medications were sent with Kimberly. And the instructions, they're in English, which he can't read.

(on camera): It says you need certain medications. Ciprofloxacin and clindamycin (ph), are you going to be able to get these medications?

(voice-over): Without money, he says there is 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 am left with is this one, a young girl with a brain operation, struggling to recover in a place, in a country so devastated.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Well, John and Kiran, it is a tough story to tell and no question about it. And all want the story to end well, a happy ending so to speak, but this is the brutal honesty of what's happening here in Haiti and as Kimberly continues to recovers slowly, but recovers physically and emotionally we'll continue to tell her story as well.

John and Kiran back to you.

ROBERTS: So tough there, it's going to be so tough for so long to come as well.

CHETRY: Challenges are just --they seem insurmountable. We hope for the best for her. But just as Sanjay said, to not even know what medications, just to be sent off without even the follow-up treatment, they can't, you know, they can't take care of everybody.

ROBERTS: Yes, that's where the aid agencies have to step in, and so many of them are doing a great job but the need is still great as well. Another great report from Sanjay Gupta this morning.

It's coming on four minutes to the top of the hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: I remember the name of the cough syrup, the original Buckley's Mixture.

CHETRY: There you go.

ROBERTS: Their famous advertisement said it tastes awful but works.

CHETRY: And a lot of people I know swear by it as well.

ROBERTS: You kind of hold your nose when you take it.

Some people eat just about everything, which brings us around to the "Moost News in the Morning". Do you agree everything tastes better wrapped in bacon, even bacon?

CHETRY: Of course. Well, Jeanne Moos shows us the latest viral hit that takes gluttony to a whole new level.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you are eating stop, instead feast your eyes, a Sloppy Joe on a glazed Krispy Kreme, gravy pizza.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My personal favorite I think is the hotdog encased in French fries. My fantasy is about that one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This one is brilliant. It's a pizza, and the crust is made out of hamburger meat. Isn't that genius.

MOOS: These are the two geniuses dreamed up the Web site, "This is why you are fat".

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where dreams with some heart attacks.

MOOS: Chocolate covered bacon, anybody, or maybe you prefer a pink sandwich.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's four packages of cream cheese 00 strawberry cream cheese around a loaf of bread.

MOOS: Manhattan couple Jessica Amison and Richard Blakely are looking for your deliciously gross submissions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it doesn't make us go, ooh, in the first five minutes, there's a (INAUDIBLE) on it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The (INAUDIBLE) of this Web site I think could be summed up in the pizza burger.

MOOS: It's a bacon cheeseburger slapped between two pizzas. Connoisseurs even put it to music. Fried stuff on a stick is popular from deep fried tootsie rolls to deep fried white castle cheeseburgers, and bacon is big.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bacon, meatloaf, mac and cheese.

MOOS: Bacon doughnuts, bacon ice cream, bacon chocolate chip cookies, bacon flavored spread called Bacon A's, that Jon Stewart recently used as a dip for pancakes and sausage on a stick.

When "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" did a bit making fund of ever more layered tacos wrapped in pizza.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's not a taco town taco until we roll it up in a blueberry pancake. Dip it in batter and deep fry it until it's golden brown.

MOOS: Someone took SNL's recipe and actually made it.

And then there was the delicacy copied from Weird Al Yankovic. Even we are capable of using a Twinkie as a bun for a wiener and drizzling it with cheez whiz.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't eat this.

MOOS: He's a vegetarian but Twinkie Wiener Sandwich wasn't so bad. Is this story making you hungry?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a fair statement.

MOOS: I hear your stomach growling. I heard that. One man's groan is another man's growl.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Yummy.

ROBERTS: I think we should revise the everything tastes better wrapped in bacon, even bacon, and everything tastes better with cheese whiz. CHETRY: That's very true as well. All right. Well, that's going to do it for us. Thanks so much for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

ROBERTS: The news continues here on CNN with Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM." Good morning Kyra.