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American Morning
Major Taliban Commander Captured; Hiker Trapped on Mount St. Helens; Complaints About Toyota Cars Spike; Toyota's Culture Clash: Crisis Blamed on Corporate Secrecy; How to Save on Taxes; El Nino Returns; How Legal Guns Go Bad
Aired February 16, 2010 - 07:00 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 on this Tuesday, February 16. Thanks for joining us in the Most News in the Morning. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
First, a major blow to the Taliban. It's top military commander and a close associate of Osama Bin Laden is said to be in U.S. custody -- or in the custody of U.S. and Pakistani. Intelligence officials say that interrogations are underway. We're live in Afghanistan with why his arrest matters.
ROBERTS: Right now there's a man trapped in the mouth of Mount St. Helens, a volcano that's still active. Rescue crews in Washington state are waiting for the sun to come up and for the winds to die down so that they can go back up to the crater and try to get the fellow out.
We'll tell you exactly how it happened and how they hope to get him out coming right up.
CHETRY: We're also on the gun trail this morning. Many gun control advocates say it starts here in Georgia where gun laws are weak. How do store owners know if the gun is in good hands and whether it will stay in those hands? Our Ed Lavandera takes a look at how they could end up in you street thousands of miles away.
ROBERTS: First this morning, it's being called the most important event in the war against the Taliban in years. Senior administration officials tell CNN the terror group's top leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was captured several days ago in Karachi, Pakistan and is now talking.
Our national security analyst Peter Bergen calls the catch, quote "a huge deal."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: This guy also is the number-two political figure in the Taliban. In terms of the information about the southern Afghanistan operations in the Taliban, this guy is potentially a goldmine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Frederik Pleitgen is live in Kabul for us this morning. Fred, good to talk to you this morning. First of all, what do they hope to learn from Baradar?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Well, I mean, first of all, there's the fact that he has known Usama bin Laden for a very long time. So he could certainly deliver clues as to where Usama bin Laden might be.
Also the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, this guy is also a friend of Omar and could give clues to where Mullah Omar is. It really is the whole superstructure, the whole military structure of the Taliban that this guy was the head of.
So there's certainly a lot of information to be had about military strategy of the Taliban, how they infiltrate Afghanistan from Pakistan, their plots against the U.S., how they want to carry out these plots against the U.S.
And then of course there's always the fact that capturing this guy is really a demoralizing blow to the Taliban here in Afghanistan and certainly something that could give a lot of boost to the U.S. effort here in this country, John.
ROBERTS: Frederik, whenever we hear about the Taliban we always hear about tribal territories near Afghanistan, maybe the city of Quetta, Peshawar. He was captured in the biggest city in Pakistan, in Karachi. Why is it significant that he was captured there?
PLEITGEN: Well, there's a lot of significance on many different levels. First of all, it seems to indicate that top Taliban leaders are no longer in those tribal territories because it might be too dangerous for them and are then moving to these big cities like Karachi.
But on the other hand, though, the thing that's really significant about this, John, is that he was captured apparently in a combined operation of the CIA and the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI.
Now for a long time the CIA has been accusing the ISI of sheltering Taliban leaders, of giving them support, in effect also helping them. so certainly this is something that seems to indicate that maybe for the first time the ISI is getting serious about helping the U.S. find these senior Taliban leaders on their territory, John.
ROBERTS: And when it comes to interrogation, Frederik, how is it that he's expected to be handled there in Pakistan?
PLEITGEN: Well, it's no secret that the Pakistanis do have some very rough interrogation methods. You're talking about things like beatings and also other things. Of course the U.S. does not torture by nature, so certainly this is something that is of concern. One of the things, however, that we do have to see is that what the Pakistanis are saying is that apparently all these interrogations and questionings are happening together with the CIA and the Pakistanis.
So certainly it appears as though U.S. officers could hold some sway as to how these interrogations take place and thus also what information they get, how credible that information is, and how well that information can then later be used, John.
ROBERTS: All right, inevitably that information, you know, whatever they get from him may only be realized when we hear of major operations underway. Frederick Pleitgen, for us this morning. Fred, thanks so much.
CHETRY: It's four minutes past the hour. And right now a man is trapped in the mouth of an active volcano. Rescue crews in Washington State are going to try to go back again this morning to reach the hiker who fell into Mount t. Helens during a climb.
His partner says the man was literally over the lip of the crater and didn't know that the only thing under him was snow until it gave way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHIEF TOM MCDOWELL, NORTH COUNTRY EMS: I think somebody was taking a picture of him when the -- it was a large one, it gave way, he disappeared over the edge.
CHETRY: A 1,500-foot fall into the mouth of an active volcano.
MCDOWELL: It was pretty much snow free, lots of boulders, lots of rocks.
CHETRY: And the hiker was no longer dressed for the cold.
MCDOWELL: By the time you climb to the top of the mountain, you get pretty warm. So I understood they took off jackets and stuff to cool down.
CHETRY: A 911 call sparked a massive search effort. And within an hour a helicopter pilot could see the 52-year-old man on a snow bank and got within 50 feet. The sheriff's department says that the pilot thought he could see his head moving and that a fellow climber thought he heard a rescue whistle blowing.
Another helicopter crew went in later and so no movement. There were attempts to reach the man from above and below. Rescue crews were able to put a medic on the crater floor. The plan -- climb up to the hiker.
But it was getting dark, and conditions were getting worse. It began raining, and it was too windy. Also, rocks were falling near the hiker, so they got their guy out of there. There was nothing left that crews could do for the hiker for now. MCDOWELL: Going to have to let the snow settle down because the avalanche danger is pretty bad. It's a nasty place to try and go. It's -- you know, if we have to do it, we'll do it.
CHETRY: Thousands of people climb to the crater's rim every year, although a warning on the U.S. Forest Service web site says it's "unstable and can be hazardous at any time."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Well, that hiker has reportedly climbed Mount St. Helens before, 65 times. The Coast Guard, though, says it has lowered survival equipment into the crater in the meantime near the area. They're not sure if it reached the hiker. But again, as we said, they will try again at sunrise today when it gets lighter and the winds die down to rescue him.
ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning at six minutes after the hour. In just a few hours' time President Obama is expected to announce plans to break ground on construction of the first new nuclear reactors in nearly 30 years.
Federal loan guarantees will pave the way for two nuclear reactors to be built at a Georgia power plant. The White House says the nuclear initiatives are a sign that the president is willing to work with Republicans on solutions to our energy challenges.
CHETRY: Also, New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg is hospitalized after taking a fall at his home. A spokesman says that the 86-year-old senator was taken to the hospital last night as a precaution and that he is doing well. Lautenberg just returned from a trip to Haiti with a congressional delegation.
ROBERTS: Some scary moments for former presidential candidate Mitt Romney on a flight out of Vancouver. A spokesman says Romney was threatened by a passenger who became "physically violent" on an Air Canada flight on Monday. A separate report says the man tried to strike Romney.
Apparently the man was sitting in front of Romney's wife and put his seat back before takeoff. When Romney asked him to put it back upright, the man reportedly became violent. The plane then returned to the gate. Police removed the passenger. Romney has been in Vancouver for the Olympic Games.
CHETRY: Dangerous driving conditions causing a 40-car pileup on Interstate 71 in Ohio. It took several hours yesterday for the lanes to reopen. Officials also had to dig out dozens of vehicles. There were no injuries reported.
(WEATHER BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, he's one of the few members of Congress that voters seem to like, so why is he calling it quits? We're talking live to Indiana's outgoing Democrat Senator Evan Bayh coming up in about 15 minutes. CHETRY: Also, how legal guns, legal guns get into the wrong hands. Our Ed Lavandara is on the gun trail, the start of the so- called iron pipeline up the east coast of United States.
It's nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 11 minutes after the hour. That means it's time for a quick check of what's new this morning.
You're watching us at the airport right now? You are at the gate? Listen up, about to get on a flight that's either United or Southwest? OK, here's good news for you. The department of transportation says on average almost 80 percent of flights were on time last year, especially for those two big carriers.
By the way, they're still calling a flight "on time" even if it's up to 15 minutes. And of course all of you who are frequent travelers know that they've extended the total length of the flight on your schedule to make up for any delays they might encounter trying to get off the ground or in holding patterns.
CHETRY: Right, now it's, what, four hours for a trip to D.C. to New York? You could almost drive it faster.
(LAUGHTER)
You could almost drive their fast.
ROBERTS: Yes, the 9:30 shuttle scheduled to get in at 12:30. So there's a little bit of leeway. Kidding. It's not that bad.
CHETRY: No, but give it a few years.
More trouble for Toyota this morning. A government agency says there's been a spike in consumer complaints. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it's now investigating a total of 34 Toyota complaints that allege fatalities since 2000.
Complaints about the Toyota Prius also spiking by over 1,000 in just over a week. The Prius, you might remember, was recalled for its braking system.
Meanwhile, Toyota is doing damage control, saying that it's fixed half a million vehicles that were recalled for sticky gas pedals. And this public relations disaster is forcing other Japanese companies to lower the veil of corporate secrecy.
Our Kyung Lah live in Tokyo with this morning with an "A.M." original, something you'll see only on "AMERICAN MORNING." And this is something that they promised to do, but are we seeing the changes this quickly, Kyung?
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're seeing it slowly. Both outside and within Japan there are all these calls for corporate culture to change. There's all this soul-searching happening on this side of the Pacific because we're seeing Toyota, what worked and what didn't work when we're dealing with corporate Japan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: Under Toshido Edda's (ph) conservative exterior is a radical plan -- open up corporate Japan. Edda (ph) is a crisis management consultant teaching these senior executives of a food manufacturer how to deal with a scandal. No better example of how not to act, says Edda (ph), than Toyota, who followed in lockstep the secretive rules of corporate Japan, a corporate culture that closes off amid challenges instead of opening up.
When safety problems with Toyota's cars started to emerge, Toyota closed ranks, alleges Joan Claybrook, a former administrator with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
JOAN CLAYBROOK, FORMER NHTSA ADMINISTRATOR: I think that there's too much secrecy, that there's -- that Toyota was allowed to get away with withholding information with not being transparent and forthcoming with the Department of Transportation.
And as a result we've had people die and be injured, and I'm sure there are going to be more.
LAH: Japan scholar Jeffrey Kingston says Toyota was following the rules of corporate Japan, not the consumer-driven U.S., and that gap is the problem.
PROF. JEFFREY KINGSTON, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: I think in Japan there has been a greater movement toward more transparency, more accountability, and better communication. But it's a slow movement. And I think that this case highlights how much farther they have to go.
LAH: Back at Toshido Edda's (ph) the management class, questions about how to deal with the corporate crisis. The answer -- be speedy, don't hide, don't lie -- simple rules, and a radical change for Japan, incorporated.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: Now here's what analysts say you're going to want to watch for to really know if Toyota as a corporate culture has changed. Next week there are the congressional hearings.
If the president, Akio Toyoda, shows up to those Congressional hearings, Kiran, that's really going to be a sign for the American consumer that Toyota has indeed learned its lesson and is on its way to change. Kiran?
CHETRY: Meanwhile, still a long road ahead especially with the spike in consumer complaints that we've been seeing, as well. So a lot of challenges for the automaker. Kyung Lah for us this morning from Tokyo, thank you. ROBERTS: Coming up in just about 30 minutes on the Most News in the Morning, El Nino is back. The weather system behind the lack of snow in Vancouver, the mudslides in California, and the snow down in the Deep South. What's next? Our Jacqui Jeras has got some answers coming up for us.
CHETRY: Also the statistics are pretty striking. One out of 12 people who suffer a stroke will suffer another one soon after. But can that second stroke be prevented? Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on this in today's "A.M. House Call." He's going to be joining us in just a couple of minutes.
It's 16 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Nineteen minutes after the hour. And that means it's time for "Minding Your Business." Gerri Willis is here this morning and she's in for Christine Romans talking about taxes. I remember an accountant once told me that you can avoid taxes which is legal or you can evade taxes which is illegal, and you've got some ways on avoiding taxes this morning.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes. We're going to stay on the legal side today.
ROBERTS: Yes. Always.
WILLIS: But there are some great ways to save some money this year. Let's start with the first-time homebuyer tax credit.
It was increased last year to 10 percent of the cost of your house to a maximum of $8,000. And yes, that is bigger than the original tax credit. Plus it's refundable, meaning you'll get the money even if you don't owe taxes. To be eligible, you must buy a house by April 30th and close by June 30, both of this year.
Also, authorize (ph) you should know about is the credit can be used by long-term homebuyers buying a new principal residence. It's also important to know that the new law also requires stricter proof of purchase in order to safeguard against fraud. You have to send in a copy of your settlement sheet so you won't be able to file that return electronically. That's going to slow down your refund.
Homeowners can also get tax credits for making energy-efficient improvements to their homes. The new law increases the credit to 30 percent of all qualifying improvements and raises the maximum you can get to 1,500 bucks for improvements.
Here's what you can do. Add insulation, install energy-efficient windows, energy-efficient heating and air conditioning systems, solar, water heaters. This is not a complete list. It's just some of the stuff list you can do.
Finally, you can also claim donations to provide earthquake relief to Haiti as charitable contributions. If you made cash and not property contributions by text message, check credit card or debit card after January 11th and before March 1st. All of these donations, of course, have to be made to a qualified private 501(c)(3). And guess what? Your phone bill is adequate proof of your text donation, so that's how you prove you did it.
ROBERTS: All right.
CHETRY: There you go.
WILLIS: A lot of stuff.
CHETRY: Right.
WILLIS: We had to pack it in.
CHETRY: And just -- I mean, there's a lot out there. This year it's a little bit different. So you can't just file your same return from last year.
WILLIS: And remember that credit reduces your tax obligation dollar for dollar. It's not like a deduction which just reduces your income.
ROBERTS: Right. Some great ways to avoid taxes this morning.
WILLIS: Legal ways.
ROBERTS: Remember, stay on the avoidance side of the fence. Don't go over to the evasion side of the fence. Gerri, thanks so much.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
CHETRY: Bronzer, hair gel, and sweat. We're not exactly sure what it's going to smell like, but get this, "Jersey Shore" star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino is hoping to cash in on his 15 minutes of fame by launching his own fragrance. And the cologne is going to be called "Sitch." "The Situation" says that it should be hitting store shelves in a couple of months. Bet you can't wait. Hopefully they make it into an aftershave balm, as well.
ROBERTS: Wow.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: What do you think it's going to smell like?
CHETRY: I don't -- very strong, whatever it is.
ROBERTS: Yes.
Senator Evan Bayh from Indiana who said yesterday that he is not going to run for a third term in Congress is our guest coming right up. We'll ask him why he's getting out and what the effect is going to be on the 2010 elections. Some people saying it could be bad.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. One thing missing at the Winter Olympic games so far, at least when you're talking about Cypress Mountain, right near Vancouver, is snow. The reason for the unusually warm weather in Vancouver -- El Nino.
CHETRY: That's right. After an absence of four years, the weather system El Nino back with a vengeance and bringing with it warm air and rain from the South Pacific. And it's also the strongest El Nino in more than 12 years, and it's causing some problems not just up north.
ROBERTS: Yes. In California, it's caused torrential rains and some deadly mudslides. In the Deep South, record snowfall from Texas to Georgia. Some southern towns getting more snow than they've had in 37 years. As our Jacqui Jeras tells us now, it looks like there is more strange weather to come.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Groundhog Day, 2007, the second deadliest tornado day in Florida's history. An overnight super-cell tornado rips a 71-mile path of destruction through Lady Lake in Lake Mac. Twenty-one people were killed and 76 others injured. It was a strong El Nino year and the most recent El Nino-related tornado outbreak in the Sunshine State.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a path that the tornado had taken. It completely leveled this mobile home park.
JERAS: 1997 and '98 was the pinnacle of severe weather El Nino season in Florida producing 43 tornadoes. Seven of those were powerful F-3s or stronger, a rare occurrence outside of the plains. One of them damaged hundreds of homes in Winter Garden.
The storm of the century hit on March 12th through the 13th, 1993. El Nino brought numerous tornadoes to northern Florida, and intense winds created a storm surge up to 12 feet on the western coast.
Fast forward to 2010. Experts say El Nino conditions are ripe once again and could potentially spawn 15 to 20 Florida tornadoes between now and April. So what happens during El Nino conditions that Florida gets so many deadly tornadoes?
Warmer than average waters in the Eastern Pacific drive a subtropical jet stream across the southern tier of the United States. These fast winds in the upper atmosphere help direct more frequent storm systems from west to east. Due to the warmer and wetter climate in the southeast, there's a greater chance of clashing air masses to converge here and cause rotating thunderstorms. Alabama, Georgia, and north Florida all see increases of severe weather in El Nino seasons, but it's twice as likely in central and southern Florida. And El Nino tornadoes usually happen at night when people are sleeping and less likely to hear warnings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Our Jacqui Jeras this morning with the latest on El Nino and a lot more to come before it's all done.
Time now, 27 minutes after the hour for an "A.M. Original," something that you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.
All this week, we're on the gun trail, taking a look at how legal guns could get into the wrong hands. And today, our Ed Lavandera is on the front line, a state at the start of the so-called iron pipeline. A pipeline that could end on your street.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kayton Smith says you'd be surprised the stories gun buyers reveal.
KAYTON SMITH: What made you decide to buy a firearm?'
BUYER: Do you want to know the truth?
SMITH: Yes.
BUYER: Left New York owing someone a lot of money and eventually they are going to find me.
SMITH: OK.
BUYER: Better safe than sorry.
SMITH: OK.
LAVANDERA: The buyer is a legal Russian immigrant. After calling the FBI's instant background check system, the sale is put on hold while the Feds look deeper into his background.
SMITH: OK, so they've got you on delay right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you pull the trigger back, it fires --
LAVANDERA: Kayton Smith and Ricky Duffy run the gun shop in Savannah, Georgia. We spent a day with them watching dozens of customers come through the gun shop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, buddy. See you later.
LAVANDERA: According to federal statistics, Georgia is the number-one state for exported guns used in crimes across the country. Gun safety advocates say that's created what's known as the iron pipeline of illegal guns flowing north from places like Savannah, Georgia, often up Interstate 95 into northeastern states with stricter gun laws. These states pumped almost 5,000 guns into this criminal pipeline in 2008. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a pattern that we've seen emerging where traffickers tend to buy guns in states with weak gun laws, where it's easy for them, and bring them back to states like Massachusetts that have tougher gun laws and resell these illegal guns on the street for a nice profit.
LAVANDERA: The first step, customers fill out a form declaring they're buying the gun, not someone else. Then Kayton Smith calls for an instant background check. The buyer is either approved, delayed, or denied.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.
LAVANDERA: That puts Smith and Duffy's gun shop on the front lines in the battle against straw purchasers, people who pretend to buy guns for themselves then pass them on to someone who can't lawfully own a firearm.
Kayton Smith estimates the shop has sold about 4,000 guns in the last three years. In that same time, FBI background checks have denied sales to 83 people at his shop.
(on camera): Do you feel like you're under a lot of pressure to make sure that doesn't happen?
RICKY DUFFY, OWNER, THE GUN SHOP: Sure. We don't want to do anything wrong. We want the bad guys to get caught. We don't want to sell any guns to bad guys ever.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): And about the Russian immigrant whose gun purchase was delayed by the FBI, a few days later the handgun sale was approved. And that's enough for Ricky Duffy. He feels confident the gun is in good hands.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And Ricky Duffy says over and over again that really the key to making this all work since they are essentially on the front lines, these gun shop owners and dealers across the country, is to have a good working relationship with ATF investigators. And the moment they sniff out someone who's suspicious coming into their stores to let the ATF investigators come check that out. But they do admit that they feel that there are one to two percent of gun dealers across the country who don't do that and give the rest of them a bad name. John.
ROBERTS: Ed Lavandera for us this morning with that report. Ed, thanks so much. Great story.
Tomorrow, we go from the frontline right to the end of the line. The city streets. Are laws at the local level making it harder for the criminals or the legal and responsible gun owners? We'll find out, we'll be asking that question.
It's half past the hour. That means it's time for this morning's top stories. More than 2,700 Florida homeowners can expect a nice- sized check in the mail. The $6,000 checks are part of a $16.9 million settlement with Countrywide Financial Corporation. In 2008 a lawsuit alleged countrywide put borrowers into mortgages that they couldn't afford or loans with rates and penalties that were just misleading.
CHETRY: Authorities in Belgium say that they're still working this morning to identify the remains of those killed when a rush-hour commuter train slammed into an oncoming train. 18 people were killed. A number of train operators in Belgium are on strike right now, and they complain they're not getting enough information about the crash.
ROBERTS: A dramatic video of a landslide. Have a look at this, sweeping through a southern Italian town. The flow of mud damaged buildings, cut power to the area. The entire hillside moving there. About 200 residents had to be evacuated. No reports thankfully of any injuries, though. Officials say the landslide was most likely the result of heavy rains in the Calabria region.
Well, first he was a very popular Democratic governor in a red state, then a very popular two-term senator in D.C. but now Indiana Democrat Senator Evan Bayh says he's done with Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: I love working for the people of Indiana, but I do not love Congress. There's much too much bipartisanship and not enough progress. To much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving. Even at a time of enormous national challenge, the people's business is not getting done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Is it really so bad inside the beltway that it's worth leaving office? Is that the best decision? The best person to ask is Senator Bayh himself. He joins us now live from Capitol Hill.
Senator, great to talk to you this morning. Thanks for joining us.
BAYH: Good to be with you.
ROBERTS: You said that you love public service but you don't like Congress. What's your assessment? Is Congress in its current iteration broken?
BAYH: We've got a lot of good people in Congress, but they are trapped in a dysfunctional system. We need some real reform here because as I said in the clip the public's business is just not getting done. And at a time of desperate need for our country.
So we got to vote out the ideologues who are unwilling to accept half a loaf rather than none, and we've got to vote out the partisans who care more about their political fortunes than the country. Ultimately, that's going to be what happens to get this system moving in a better direction. CHETRY: You said, OK, you need real reform. Do you think you can effect change better from the outside rather than from the inside?
BAYH: The decision -- it may be shocking today, you know, that someone in public office would actually decide to voluntarily step down, but I reached a conclusion that if I could help to create jobs by growing a business or help educate our children in a university or college or help a philanthropy or charity I would be getting more done to help people in their daily lives than Congress is currently doing.
And so for me I've always been about helping people, and I think that I can do more for that in the private sector right now than remaining in Congress.
ROBERTS: Obviously, senator, you can directly help some people if you're in the private sector or you're working for a charity. But isn't, you know, the greatest public service being there in an esteemed body like the Senate where you're creating laws that affect not just people on the local level but people from across the country?
And you say vote out the ideologues, vote out the partisans, but they're typically the ones with the strongest base of support. Aren't they the ones who are likely to get re-elected?
BAYH: Yes, and that's part of the problem. I mean, ultimately the American people ourselves need to decide that we care more about practical solutions and progress than we do about brain-dead ideology and partisan wrangling. That's what needs to happen. And you know, I just simply reached the conclusion that for me at this time I could do more to help people and make a better contribution to our society because Congress is just not working real well right now.
CHETRY: Well, you're taking a lot of heat for your decision today. In fact, I'm sure you've read some of the papers. But some of the harshest criticism came from a senior columnist of the "Daily Beast" by the name of Lee Siegel who wrote, "the times demand leaders, fighters, principled tacticians and creative conceptualizers, Bayh's response? In that case, "I'm out of here."
How do you respond to the critics who say, basically you left your party when they needed you most?
BAYH: I haven't left my party. On the contrary, I'm going to do what I believe I can do to help the American people. Create jobs, educate our kids, working in the charitable sector, those kind of things. That's more than Congress is getting done right now. So each of us has to make our personal decisions in that regard and I'll take my criticism along with everybody else, but I have not left my party.
We're going to have a strong candidate in the state of Indiana that has a good chance of winning. I'm a proud Democrat, and as a matter of fact, my message to my fellow party members is, look, let's make common cause with independents and moderate Republicans to move this country forward.
Let's not get stuck for some on the far, far left who say it's all or nothing and are unwilling to settle for some progress because they can't get it all. That's the kind of practical approach that will enable us as democrats to lead this country and to deliver for the American people.
And I'm going to continue to do my part as a private citizen to make that happen. It might come as a surprise to that individual, but I believe that you can make a contribution, a major contribution to society in many ways other than just being in the United States Congress.
ROBERTS: Senator...
BAYH: If Congress is the only way to make a contribution, god help us.
ROBERTS: Obviously, there are plenty of ways to make a contribution. But as we said earlier, that's one of the most esteemed ways of making a contribution. But let me come back to what you said about -- obviously you're not leaving your party. But there are complaints that you're leaving your party in the lurch at the very least.
That the -- the "Cook Political Report," which you know is a highly respected report, has taken your Senate seat from lean Democratic in 2010 and now put it in the lean Republican column. And senator, you said that you're going to have a strong candidate, nobody knows who the candidate is going to be at this point. And they've got very little time for people to come forward do the paperwork, to put their names in, otherwise it will be appointed by the local Democratic apparatus.
So how can you say you've got a strong candidate and what about this idea that you're hurting the party by leaving now?
BAYH: Well, you've asked several good questions there. First, Charlie Cook is a very astute observer. He's a good friend of mine. But I would encourage him to take a closer look at the race in Indiana because I do think we have a strong chance of being successful this fall.
We've got several congressmen who are considering this race, some other substantial figures who are considering this race. The Republican Party has a five-way primary, five way. I mean, they're going to be very divided before this is over. We have a chance to focus on the fall campaign. I think our candidate will actually start off with a monetary advantage.
Indiana's a challenging state. But if we nominate the right person, I think we've got a real shot. The party hasn't been left in the lurch. We have a real shot of winning this election and having a good senator follow me in the United States Senate. And I'm going to help that individual very vigorously. CHETRY: You know, it's interesting. Because a lot of people are disappointed at your departure because you were considered a moderate, a centrist, someone willing to move forward with bipartisan legislation. There are some independent analysts like Jennifer Donahue who says basically you made it really difficult -- not you, but the atmosphere in Washington has made it very difficult for moderates or independents to have a voice.
Did you consider that when you left, that perhaps a moderate is leaving and as you talked about yourself, the ideologues are the ones left?
BAYH: Well, that has been on my mind. And we do need independents and moderates ultimately to lead us to the practical solutions the American public seeks. But that's just -- under the current rules, it's very difficult to achieve that. That's why I'm saying we need a couple of things. Reform the institution so that it will work better and promote those kind of results, practical solutions, and secondly, if people are just pursuing narrow tactical political advantage, vote them out.
If people are being rigidly ideological and unwilling to accept reasonable compromises, votes them out. That ultimately is how we'll get the progress we need. Keep the good people who are trapped in the dysfunctional system and vote out the people who are leading to this gridlock that is not delivering for our country. That's what needs to be done.
ROBERTS: Senator Evan Bayh, you've always been a respected member of Congress, respected as governor, as well. We certainly wish you well in your future endeavors. Thanks for being with us this morning.
BAYH: Thank you for having me. Good luck.
CHETRY: Let me take a quick break. It's 39 minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. 42 minutes past the hour now. A big fish is in the net, and it appears that the Taliban's top military commander is talking to interrogators. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was reportedly captured in Pakistan. He's said to be directing Taliban operations in southern Afghanistan.
You're looking at exclusive video right now where Marines, U.S. Marines and Afghan forces are making a big push to seize the city of Marjah from insurgents. And joining us now from Helmand province to talk more about the situation there, Lindy Cameron, head of the multinational provincial reconstruction team. She's been on the ground in Afghanistan for three months. Lindy, thanks for being with us this morning.
LINDY CAMERON, HEAD OF MULTINATIONAL PROVINCIAL RECONSTRUCTION TEAM: Thank you. CHETRY: So officials were able to meet with the city's tribal elders, and they offered their assistance to the Americans and the Afghan government. That's something that "The New York Times" called striking. You're now working on the rebuilding side of things. You also had a chance to meet with the elders. What do you think about the prospects for a functioning civilian government in place sometime soon?
CAMERON: Well, I have to say we -- I think we've got a pretty good prospect of provincial government here in Helmand province and of course, the whole aim of this security operation was to put the Afghan government back in charge in the (INAUDIBLE) district, including Marjah. Part of the way we tried to do that and basically with the Afghan government leading is ensuring that there's buy-in from the local elders but also that the Afghan government has a really good plan for what it's going to do once the security phase of the operation is over.
CHETRY: And part of what that plan will be at least according to General Stanley McChrystal is that there's a "government in a box," waiting on the sidelines, ready to enter and control Marjah. It may sound strange to some people. What is a government in a box? Explain that.
CAMERON: Well, I think government in a box is a really good metaphor for the find of plan that the governor (INAUDIBLE) has lined up to deliver here in the district. He'll be launching that later there week. Essentially, what he's done is to make sure that he's in the process of recruiting the civil servants he needs to send back in to (INAUDIBLE) district in Marjah to deliver all the services that we expect people will want.
And in fact that people talked about wanting at that site, education, health, justice, and indeed security. He's got people lined up. He's able to pay them better rates to make sure they want to work there. And he's got the training center which he opened a couple of days ago to train them to send them back in. He's going to be launching the plan on Thursday, and there he'll describe the kind of challenges he thinks he'll face and the kind of solutions he got.
CHETRY: And one of the things you just mentioned is security. And it's certainly a key point and it's been a big challenge. I mean, we've seen situations in Afghanistan basically where U.S. and NATO forces have been able to clear areas, they've been able to establish some security. Then there's only a few police, a few people left behind to keep that security there. A few soldiers.
And then the Taliban comes back in and they have to return and start the process all over again. The Marines have dubbed this "mowing the grass." How do you make sure that that doesn't happen again, that this is a stable enough place and the security is such that the Taliban cannot come back?
CAMERON: Well, I think the key element, as you refer to, is the police. And that's why there are now two training centers here in Helmand. One in Camp Leatherneck and one here in Lashkar Gah to increase the number of police that are being trained here in Helmand to go back into places like (INAUDIBLE) and Marjah, in order to deliver that kind of security.
Clearly improving the quality of police is a really long-term issue, and I won't pretend that it's going to happen overnight. But I think we've put the steps where the Afghan government is able to deliver a larger number of police. And for example, we've also got the Afghan civil order police here for a period of time to support the immediate aftermath of the operation to ensure that that kind of security is delivered. It's no doubt it's one of the top demands Afghan people have.
CHETRY: And how confident are you in your Afghan partners? There's been a lot of questions both about President Karzai's leadership but also questions about Afghanistan in general. The prospects of a loyalty to a national government as opposed to tribal loyalties.
CAMERON: Well, I have to say I've seen a really effective corporation here in the last few weeks between the provincial government and the national government, in order to deliver the kind of effect at district level they want to.
Mister (INAUDIBLE), the minister for local government, has been dying with nearly 40 officials and ministers to help ensure that each of the line ministries has got the kind of capacity they need.
We're really lucky here in Helmand. Governor (INAUDIBLE) does a fantastic job, and I think he and his team are well positioned to deliver that kind of effect.
CHETRY: All right. Lindy Cameron, head of the Multinational Provincial Reconstruction team. A lot of challenges ahead but it sounds like you're very optimistic. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
CAMERON: Thank you very much indeed.
ROBERTS: Forty-six minutes now after the hour. Rob Marciano is going to have this morning's travel forecast coming up right after the break.
And at 10 minutes' time, it's time for an "AM House Call." Today we're talking about preventing stroke, the third leading cause of death in America. And a new report says more and more Americans are suffering from strokes a second time.
We're "Paging Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta" on the "Most News in the Morning." Stay with us.
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CHETRY: Tower cam this morning. Shot -- a little bit windy there. Shaking around in St. Louis this morning. Cloudy, 23 degrees, a little later, some snow, and 32 degrees. ROBERTS: Lots of snow for a lot of people this morning. Let's gets a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano at the weather center in Atlanta.
Hey, Rob.
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ROBERTS: Looking for to it. Rob, thanks so much. This morning's top story is just minutes away now, including captured. The Taliban's top military commander in custody this morning. A man who was close to Osama bin Laden before 9/11, and he is said to be talking.
CHETRY: Also ahead at 15 minutes past the hour, a hiker trapped inside Mt. St. Helen's. Extreme weather driving rescue teams away. How he got there and how crews plan to try to go back at it today to get him out.
ROBERTS: And at half past the hour, are we ready for a cyber shock wave? A mock attack on the government. We'll put our cyber security to the test today. We're going to talk with two of the key players involved in today's drill. Former CIA director General Michael Hayden and former Homeland Security adviser Fran Townsend.
Those stories and more coming your way at the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." It is now 54 minutes past the hour. It means it's time for your "AM House Call." Nearly 800,000 Americans will have a stroke this year alone and of those I in 12 will have another stroke soon after the first one.
But is there a way to prevent that? We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning. He's live in the CNN center in Atlanta.
Good morning, Sanjay. Good to see you. So you have a stroke. What determines whether or not you're vulnerable for getting another one soon after one?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting they looked at a lot of different numbers here and lots of different risk factors trying to figure out what puts you at risk. But first of all, you're absolutely right. About 8 percent of people who have a stroke are likely to have a secondary stroke within a year.
Those are some new numbers there. And about 1 in 4 people who have that stroke will die of some cause within a year as well. So lots of emphasis, lots of interest in trying to prevent those strokes.
This was a study of about 10,000 people in South Carolina looking -- again looking at all sorts of different measurements, and what they found was it really came down to a few different things. One is people simply weren't getting adequate care after that first stroke, for example, not filling their medications, and secondarily, people still don't seem to recognize the early symptoms of stroke. About 60 percent of people, in fact, don't know that a stroke is happening or recognize it in somebody else.
So let me quickly, Kiran, share this mnemonic with you. It's called FAST. F-A-S-T. F is for face, you want to look for someone to smile, and make sure they aren't having a droop on one of their face or the other. Their arms, have them simply raise their arms, make sure they're not drifting, their arms falling, that shows some signs of weakness.
Have them speak. Have them simply say, "My name is," and that make sure their speech is not altered. And then time is really of the essence, Kiran. We talked about this before. Getting someone to a hospital quickly if they're in -- if they're starting to develop signs of strokes. Makes all the difference in terms of preventing that stroke from going on. To be a more neurologically devastating problem.
So, FAST is a good mnemonic to remember there, Kiran.
CHETRY: Of course, you know, we're talking about the health of individuals here and you want everybody to be as healthy as possible, but also when you take a look at the cost the CDC says, I believe that the strokes -- that strokes cost the U.S. health care system some $74 billion every year and that they're largely preventable. So what can we do to change some of those numbers?
GUPTA: About 80 percent of these secondary strokes are preventable. And that's a -- that's a large number and it's good news in a way. If you look at it that way. On the other hand, we have started to see more strokes and see those strokes in younger people as well.
You know, it's worth looking at the risk factors overall when it comes to stroke. You've seen a list like this before, I'm sure. But take a look, you know, blood pressure, greater than 140/90, cholesterol that's too high, the overweight smokes, diabetic, you're not exercising and having a family history.
Some of these things you can control. Some you can't, obviously. But if you have three of these risk factors, it greatly increases your likelihood of developing a stroke and a secondary stroke as well. Trying to control these as best as possible. Get regular checkups and make sure to exercise as much as possible. That really probably has a ripple effect on all these different risk factors.
So it's not easy. I'm not trying to make it sound like it is, Kiran. But if you look at the numbers and look at the likelihood of having those secondary strokes, this could make a big difference.
CHETRY: Yes, and it could be worth your while when you look at the consequences, for sure.
Sanjay, always great to see you. Thanks.
GUPTA: You got it. Thanks. You too.
CHETRY: John?
ROBERTS: Coming up in 58 minutes after the hour, the top stories coming your way in just 90 seconds. Stay with us.
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