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American Morning
Under Attack in Afghanistan; They're Back in the U.S.; Bickering Over the Stimulus Bill; Don't Fall For This Scam; Our Accelerator Is Stuck
Aired February 18, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning once again. It's Thursday, February 18th.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And you are?
SIDNER: I'm Sara Sidner, in for Kiran Chetry. Sorry. I forgot my name.
ROBERTS: Good to have you here this morning. Good to have you here.
Good morning. I'm John Roberts -- same old shlump who's here every day.
Here are the big stories that we'll be telling you about coming up in the next 15 minutes.
They're back in the United States. Eight of the 10 American missionaries who were charged with kidnapping in Haiti arrived in Miami over night. We're at the airport, at their church, and Haiti this morning covering this story. And what about the other two members of the church group who are still behind bars in Haiti this morning?
SIDNER: All right. Get used to this: first, take off your shoes, and now, stick your hands out. Be ready for a new kind of screening at the airport. The TSA now swabbing for explosives. How this was a direct result of the close-call in Christmas Day?
ROBERTS: And it was the deadly crash that prompted Toyota to recall millions of vehicles because of problems with the floor mats holding down the accelerator. But the victims' families say the floor mats are only partially to blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was evidence of heavy application of breaking. So, I think, at the beginning, you know, he's kind of fighting the car's lurching, kind of like a bull, and finally those breaks fail entirely, that throttles wide open, that car takes off like a rocket.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: And our Deb Feyerick is going to have more on the crash that changed everything for Toyota -- coming right up.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
ROBERTS: First, though, we start off the hour with breaking news. We have been covering the U.S. and NATO offensive in the southwestern part of Afghanistan in Helmand Province, specifically in the town of Marjah over the last few days. Thousands of Marines are in there trying to break the back of the Taliban in that area.
Our Atia Abawi is embedded with American and NATO and Afghan forces in that part of the country and she has recently come under fire. She joins us now via satellite phone from the region.
Atia, how was the situation where you are? What's happening?
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): John, I got to tell you, on day sixth of the operation, it started off here with quiet and sporadic gun fire. We were able to go various U.S. positions we're embedded with Unit 1/6 Alpha Company. And it had been very quiet until just 10 minutes ago and it has been an ongoing attack from the Taliban attacking the U.S. position that we're actually located in right now. Small arm fires are coming from various parts of the position.
The U.S. Marines are fighting back using mortar fire. I see the snipers ready as well. And we see rifle fire and machine guns coming from various U.S. positions, but the Taliban are relentless. They are still attacking. I can still hear the crackle of their AK-47s coming towards this direction of the U.S. position that we're located in, coming from all parts of the city, and the U.S. Marines are fighting back.
As for the insurgents themselves, they don't have enough training to fight as the U.S. Marines are doing. And right now, we're waiting for more mortar fire and we'll hearing coming in as well -- John.
ROBERTS: So, Atia, what's your sense there of how many Taliban fighters are left in the city of Marjah to fight back against the American and NATO offensive? We had heard a couple days ago that things were going pretty well and that the fighting may end within a couple three days of that period, and now, it looks like that assessment may have been premature?
ABAWI: John, if I could be completely honest with you, it seems that many of the people who are saying that the battle in Marjah is almost over, usually the people in Kabul or someone in another area of the country. Those in the city, the Marines themselves, the commanders on the ground, know that the battle is nowhere near over right now.
We may have -- we may see (INAUDIBLE) but the battle continues. And they expect it to get worse with the Taliban. Although they have killed several (INAUDIBLE) Taliban throughout the city of Marjah, they are still coming out in full force. They know they can't come out in big groups because of the Marine weaponry. They know that they'd be targeted.
So, what they do is they come out in squad type numbers. They attack positions (INAUDIBLE) warfare that they are using, because (AUDIO BREAK) represent in that way -- and still the number one threat of the moment is IEDs, that's improvised explosive devices that (AUDIO BREAK).
And today, at the position that I'm standing in right now, small arm fires or AK-47s are going back (INAUDIBLE). And it's not necessarily working but they are definitely making their presence known -- John.
ROBERTS: Atia, you are cutting out just a little bit. Obviously, you are in an area where it's probably difficult to get a signal. I'm sure that you're taking cover there, but during what you were saying just a moment ago, we heard a couple of fairly blast. Are the Marines just using small arms fire now or with those rockets or with those mortars that we heard being used?
ABAWI: Those were mortars being used. The U.S. Marines are fighting back with mortars, pinpointing the location where the fire is coming from by the Taliban. The one thing that does stand in the way and that is to make sure that they are just hitting the Taliban.
Civilian casualties, obviously, a big issue when it comes to Afghanistan in this eight-year war. It has been an issue in the past with civilian air strikes, using the support of the Afghan people. But one thing that the Marines have been very cautious -- at least the company that I'm with, is to make sure that they are targeting an area that may have civilians, because with the Taliban (INAUDIBLE) citizens (AUDIO BREAK) have been issued by the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal is that NATO forces cannot go in an area where the NATO forces believe the civilians might be in.
So, the Taliban is using the civilians as human shields (AUDIO BREAK).
ROBERTS: And we appear to have lost Atia there -
ABAWI: (INAUDIBLE)
ROBERTS: Oh, she's back a little bit. No, we appeared to have lost her.
Atia Abawi with some real-time coverage there at the battle of Marjah, what she was saying at the very end there, Sara, was that, according to American commanders in recent days, the Taliban had begun using women and children as human shields. So, they were going to take on the Taliban on the counter-fire there.
They have to be very careful, because, of course, right at the beginning of the operation, there was that incident where a couple of American rockets went astray, hit a house and killed 12 civilians. So, the forces there are being very, very careful not to take civilian casualties.
SIDNER: It's difficult thing.
ROBERTS: Wow. Pretty exciting stuff there from Atia. Stay safe.
SIDNER: New developments overnight in other stop story.
Eight of the 10 American missionaries arrested in Haiti are back in the U.S. this morning. They arrived in Miami overnight but still could go back to face child kidnapping charges. Two more remain in jail and in supporters' prayers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC THOMPSON, WIFE RELEASED FROM JAIL IN HAITI: Obviously, I am happy about my wife coming home, and excited that they all -- most of them are coming home but, again, there are two that are still there that we are still praying for to come home.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Have you been able to talk to them?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: We are all over this developing story this morning. John Zarrella is live at Miami International Airport, and John Vause is in Haiti with a look at what will happen to the two Americans who were kept behind bars.
First, let's go to John Zarrella who was there when the missionaries landed in Miami overnight -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Sara. Well, you know, you got to believe that they probably got their first good night sleep, those eight Americans, in the past two-plus weeks since they were jailed in Haiti, and they got the sleep right here at hotel behind me at Miami International Airport.
The plane from Haiti, the military aircraft, that flew them in arrived here last night at about 11:30 p.m. And along with dozens of military personnel who were also on the flight coming home, the eight Americans deplaned and headed to the United States Customs enclosure here at the airport where they spent the next hour-plus clearing customs, getting their documents in order and etcetera.
And then rather than coming out the normal exit from U.S. Customs, where everyone comes out, they were allowed to go out a side exit which takes them in an elevator that then leads them to the airport hotel lobby. So, in that lobby, they were captured by video cameras. But none of them had any expression. They were pretty much expressionless -- obviously, very, very exhausted as they move to the other elevators that brought them up to their rooms, and none of them spoke to any of the members of the media.
Now, the attorney representing Jim Allen, also one of those eight, said that his client was just glad to be back home, and he hoped that now, the story's attention would return to what it should be, he said, the people of Haiti. He also added that there would be a homecoming celebration of sorts in Amarillo, Texas, later this afternoon, which is where his client, Jim Allen, is from.
Now, it was yesterday afternoon, late in the afternoon when the judge in Haiti cleared the way for the release from jail of those eight Americans. They were taken immediately to the airport where they boarded that C-130 aircraft and then they made the 2 1/2 hour flight back here to Miami International Airport.
And, again, Sara, they spent the night here at the airport. Most of them we believe will be on their way back to Idaho at some point today. But it is unclear if all of them have actually boarded planes and left Miami yet -- Sara.
SIDNER: All right. Thank you -- John Zarrella there in Miami.
Let's now bring in John Vause who is in Haiti where two missionaries are still in jail.
So, the question is: what now for these remaining two -- John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, Laura Silsby and Carissa Coulter remain in that Haitian jail today because the judge, without setting bail, wants to ask them some more questions. He's particularly interested in what both women were doing in Haiti on a prior trip. Before the earthquake, that trip took place last year. He wants to establish if there was any criminal intent.
The other eight missionaries were let go because there was no criminal intent. Interviews with the parents, which were carried out by judge, indicate that they voluntarily gave up their children.
Now, lawyers of these two women say this should only take a couple of days and then they're convinced that their two clients will be granted unconditional bail as well. But judging how long it took just to get bail granted for the eight missionaries, that made them a little overly optimistic.
On the other end of the scale, the judge actually has two months. If you're going to bet on this, it will probably take about a week or so before there is a decision on bail for the two remaining missionaries, Sara.
SIDNER: All right. Thank you -- John Vause there in Haiti, in Port-au-Prince.
ROBERTS: We're 10 1/2 minutes after the hour.
Now, stimulus politics, the Democrats are slamming Republicans for hypocrisy for denouncing the stimulus plan while eagerly accepting funds, and they've got the pictures to prove it. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most politics in the morning. Democrats are marking the stimulus program's one-year anniversary with a new name for Republicans: "hypocrites." The White House is leading the charge, accusing House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of reaping stimulus rewards in his home district while telling the media the program hasn't helped the economy at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I don't know what message Eric Cantor delivers when he tells you in Washington that it hasn't but then tells his constituents, "Gee, I hope we get this grant to build high-speed rail in the district and create jobs." In Alabama, we call that hypocrisy, and in Washington, we call that "par for the course."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: There's plenty more partisan bickering over the $787 billion bill yesterday. Now, of course, is estimated to cost taxpayers $862 billion over the next 10 years.
And Jim Acosta has got what they're saying about it. He joins us now live from Washington.
Good morning, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
Just because the stimulus is one-year-old doesn't mean that Democrats and Republicans have stopped fighting over the program. After spending weeks on its heels over the stimulus, the White House is trying to play some offense.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): One year out and the president and his cabinet were in campaign mode.
RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: This bold program's first year has made a crucial difference to our struggling economy.
ACOSTA: They even brought in some Republican muscle.
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I was one of the first governors to come out and to support the Recovery Act and the stimulus money and put politics aside.
ACOSTA: But putting politics aside is not what the White House has in mind. Democratic Party officials have e-blasted Obama campaign supporters, touting the stimulus as a job creator.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are those -- let's face it -- across the aisle who have tried to score political points by attacking what we did, even as many of them show up at ribbon-cutting ceremonies for projects in their districts. ACOSTA: And the president is pointing fingers at Republicans who opposed the stimulus then supported elements of the program. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor voted no, but last April, he spoke in favor of a stimulus high-speed rail project in his Virginia district.
CANTOR: The estimates of job creations are 85,000 to 160,000- some jobs for the commonwealth, most of that in this area. That should be, in my opinion, the focus of what the stimulus bill should have been.
ACOSTA: Cantor is one of the targets in the new DNC web video on stimulus hypocrisy.
CANTOR: I do think it's fair to say the stimulus is a flop.
ACOSTA: A Cantor spokesman responded to CNN in asking "if you support 1 percent of a bill and oppose 99 percent, are you expected to vote for it?"
Here is a photo of Republican Congressman Phil Greengy, holding a stimulus check for a sidewalk project in his Georgia district, Greengy also opposed the stimulus.
PHIL GREENGY: We call this (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bill on the Republican side of the House.
ACOSTA: In this letter from Republican Congressman Paul Ryan is one of several from GOP lawmakers, asking for stimulus money for their districts.
PAUL RYAN: Happy anniversary.
ACOSTA: The Republican Senate Campaign Committee has its own stimulus anniversary ad, showing a familiar looking but faux search engine, the name domain "Doggle," the first of the recovery act as an epic failure.
The one year anniversary of the stimulus.
ACOSTA: Stimulus critics argue the program has fallen short of Administration promises at a huge cost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The point of the stimulus was to help prevent another Great Depression.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stimulus and the bailout, all the spending in Washington it's created a great debt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now a spokesman for Congressman Ryan told us there was constant Republican quote "does not believe a flawed policy should get in the way of doing his job for constituents in his district." House minority John Bainer, House minority whip Eric Cantor, Congressman Greengy and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, we should report, all declined interviews on this subject. Their aids tell us law makers were travelling in their districts, John and were unavailable for comment.
ROBERTS: Photographers are pesky things, aren't Jim?
ACOSTA: They are stubborn things, sort of like facts.
ROBERTS: All right, thanks, Jim Acosta for us this morning, Jim thanks.
ACOSTA: You bet.
SIDNER: All right coming up, don't fall for debt relief scams. Which too-good-to-be true programs are run by con artist, Gerri Willis, "Minding Your Business", next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIDNER: That sound will definitely wake you up in the morning. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Time for Minding Your Business.
One of the richest women in the world, "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowlings is being sued for plagiarism. The estate of the late author Adrian Jacobs, accusing Rowlings of stealing ideas in large portions of the plot of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, from Jacob's book the adventures of "Willy The Wizard" the agent representing the Jacobs estates says this could be a billion dollar case.
ROBERTS: Wow, J.K. Rowlings, what rags to riches story.
SIDNER: I know it's a great story.
ROBERTS: In a single mom living on welfare and writes a book, and the kapow.
Gerri Willis "Minding Your Business" this morning. She joins us now, doesn't have any billion dollar ideas for you. Get rich schemes.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN SENIOR FINANCIAL EDITOR: No.
ROBERTS: Still has some great tips for you, GOOD morning.
WILLIS: Good morning, I will tell you how to save money, so how about that?
ROBERTS: There you go.
WILLIS: Later this morning the Attorney General in Minnesota is going to announce law suits against seven or more debt settlement companies. So we are going to be watching that and I thought it would be a great opportunity to warn you about debt settlement companies because you see they're advertising everywhere, and I mean everywhere.
A debt settlement company has big promises that they will help you get your debt reduced with creditors. So they will call your credit card companies, negotiate a lower payment, some of the balances will be forgiven, it all sounds really, really good, but in reality what they are doing is having you pay that money into a third-party account and then they slowly, very slowly, get to paying off your bill.
The problem is they are taking out lots of fees, maybe 20 percent of your debt in the meantime and charging you a monthly fee for this as well. So you really want to be careful with these companies. Bottom line, you could probably fix this problem yourself for a lot less money by negotiating directly with your creditors, and don't, for goodness sakes, stop paying your credit cards because your credit will go down over time. So you get stung twice.
And use credit counselors that are approved. ftc.gov, that's the website of the Federal Trade Commission, actually has a list of approved counselors who can help you for free, and yes, I am saying free instead of paying something to a debt settlement company?
SIDNER: And I think one of the problems is people see the ads and you think I will just pick up the phone, what's the problem, this will really help, I'm really stressed about this. you don't want to. Many people have a lot of credit cards, they don't want to call each number and try to fight with them over this -- so.
WILLIS: You know I got to tell you that these companies, these credit counselors, what I have seen them do that is so fantastic, they will get in the middle for you, and they will get your interest rate reduced on credit cards, and that way, you can pay it off yourself and save your credit score, get out of debt, that's what we are looking for.
ROBERTS: Gerri Willis "Minding Your Business" for us this morning, thank you so much.
WILLIS: Yes, my pleasure.
ROBERTS: Well the crash that changed everything for Toyota, it's shedding the light on the problem of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles. The floor mat was to blame for this horrific crash but the attorney that's representing the family's interest, says, not so fast. We've got this story coming right up. 23 minutes after the hour. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: New developments regarding Toyota's ongoing troubles to tell you about. The government plans to open a formal investigation today into potential power steering issues in 2009, 2010 model Corollas. The auto maker says it received less than 100 complaints from drivers who felt like they had lost control at high speeds, so far though, no plans for a recall.
SIDNER: And Toyota's growing list o problems really came after a California highway patrol officer and his family were killed when their car took off at speeds of more than 100 miles per hour.
ROBERTS: Our Deborah Feyerick is live in Los Angeles this morning with an "AM Original" for us. And Deb this was just such a tragic, tragic incident. The police say that the problem was a floor mat that got jammed under the accelerator, but the attorney who is representing the family that was killed not totally convinced of that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, that's exactly right. They said there was a lot going on in that car, and you know that 911 call changed Toyota's image, and sent the car a giant scrambling to recall millions of vehicles.
We do warn you that this 911 call is pretty difficult to listen to.
FEYERICK (voice-over): The 911 call lasted just 17 seconds.
CHRIS LASTRELLA: We are going North on 125.
911 OPERATOR: Mm Hmm.
LASTRELLA: And our accelerator is stuck.
FEYERICK: August 28th, 2009, California highway patrol officer Mark Saylor was driving his 13-year-old daughter, Mahala to a soccer match in San Diego County, his wife, Cleofy, a genetic researcher was next to him in the passenger seat. Her brother Chris Lastrella behind Mark was talking to a 911 operator, describing what would be the family's final moments.
LASTRELLA: We're going a 120 -
MISSION GORGE: We're in trouble. We can't - there's no brakes.
911 OPERATOR: Okay.
LASTRELLA: Mission Gorge - end freeway half mile.
911 OPERATOR: Okay and you don't have the ability to, like, turn the vehicle off or anything?
LASTRELLA: We're approaching the intersection. Hold on. Pray. Pray.
FEYERICK (on camera): Witnesses say the car appeared to have problems, it pulled over the side of the road, and it seemed to be surging as if it ran out of gas.
Moments later witnesses say it shot past at over 100 miles an hour. By the time it reached the end of this freeway, investigators say Mark Saylor had run out of time and options.
FEYERICK (voice-over): The car slammed into the back of another vehicle, continuing straight through the intersection, and hitting this embankment. Witnesses say the car went airborne, rolling over several times before landing in this dry river bed and bursting into flames. The family died instantly, and leaving behind relatives like cousin Joe Audal, asking why. JOSEPH AUDAL, VICTIM'S COUSIN: It's absolutely devastating for everybody. It's hard for my aunt to really even go on with her life.
FEYERICK: Mark Saylor knew these roads. He had been a highway patrol officer for 20 years, colleagues say if anybody could have stopped a runaway car, it was their friend?
OFFICER HOHN CONCEPCION, FRIEND OF MARK SAYLOR: He was great on the brake and the accelerator. He knew how to control a car very well, and I am sure he did everything in his power to bring the car under control.
FEYERICK: The car did not belong to the Saylor. It was a loaner that received that morning while their own car was being serviced. According to the sheriff's report, the man who had driven the same loaner had told the dealership about a serious problem with the car. Family attorney Tim Pestotnik.
TIM PESTOTNIK, FAMILY ATTORNEY: And that consumer brought it back to the dealership and told them that the accelerator was stuck, and the car was used three days later with our clients who were all killed unfortunately in the same car.
FEYERICK: Detectives later discovered the rubber floor mat in the Lexus Sedan was the wrong size, meant for an SUV. A vice president of the dealership told investigators they, quote, "do not mix and match the all weather mats."
The company declined to talk to us pending its own investigation. Even so lawyers for the Saylor and Estrella families believed the floor mat is only partially to blame.
JOHN GOMEZ, FAMILY ATTORNEY: We know that there is evidence of heavy application of breaking. So I think at the beginning, you know, he is kind of fighting the car's learching, kind of like a bull, and finally those brakes fail entirely and that throttles wide open that car takes off like a rocket.
FEYERICK: Friend John Concepcion gave a eulogy at the funeral. Describing Saylor as a religious man of great faith and strong opinion who fell in love with his wife at first sight.
CONCEPCION: You know he was very persistent. He knew what he wanted and knew that at that time this was one of he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
FEYERICK: The couple doted on daughter Mahala, Mark coaching her soccer team.
OFFICER MIKE MAY, FRIEND OF MARK SAYLOR: His main focus was obviously on his daughter who was growing up. Real good kid, real loving, and real curious you know, wanting to know about everything.
FEYERICK: The head of Toyota expressed sympathy for the deaths, now the family hopes the millions of recalls prompted by this tragedy will help save others. AUDAL: They are in a good place right now.
FEYERICK (on camera): Do you really believe that?
AUDAL: Absolutely. They are heroes and angels.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: As a result of the crash, Toyota redesigned the pedal and floor mats of millions of recalled vehicles, and in some of them installed a break override system. And lawyers say if that system had been in the car that Mark had been driving, he and his family would be alive today. John, Sara?
SIDNER: Thank you very much for that.
ROBERTS: It's 30 minutes after the hour, and checking our top stories now.
Violence erupting in Afghanistan this morning. U.S. and NATO forces taking on Taliban militants in the town of Marja. Our Asia Abawi is embedded with the troops. We spoke to her just a few minutes ago. She told us the marines were firing back with mortars, which we heard in the background during her report.
SIDNER: And a mentally ill man described as having an infatuation with Vice President Joe Biden was able to slip past security and come within feet of the vice president at the winter Olympics opening ceremonies. The Canadians stress the vice president was never in danger.
ROBERTS: And prepare for a new level of security screening at the airport. TSA screeners will soon start randomly swabbing passengers hands at checkpoints at airport gates to test them for traces of explosives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: When there is a positive reading, what will happen is the passenger will be pulled aside and there will be a secondary screening, and they will be asked questions and there may be a hard pat down and things of that sort to make sure that they are not trying to bring something like an explosive on the aircraft.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The TSA launched the program after the Christmas day bombing attempt on a Northwest Airlines flight. Sara?
SIDNER: Thank you, John.
Amid new threat from Beijing, President Obama will sit down with the Dalai Lama at the White House this morning. China urged the administration to cancel the meeting, warning it would damage already- tense relations between the two countries, so is it worth the risk? Join us here from Washington, Kelley Currie, former special coordinator for Tibetan issues at the State Department, and with us here Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting firm. Let's start with Ian. The Dalai Lama's visit enraged China, but this is not new. Why should the Obama administration sort of back off of making this a big public event?
IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT, EURASIA GROUP: They should not back off from making a public event, they said they will go ahead with it. And the fact that the Chinese took an assertive stance makes it clear that the Chinese are not expecting Obama to change his view. This is for domestic Chinese consumption.
When you talk to Chinese officials privately, they make it clear a lot of the issues they blustered about, that's not what is going on here, there are much deeper structural issues between the U.S. and China right now.
SIDNER: Let's talk about some of the issues. There is a lot of debt that China holds when it comes to the U.S., and their significance has grown. Basically, what do you think about the meeting, and it is going to change things at all between U.S. and the China relations?
KELLEY CURRIE, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT COORDINATOR FOR TIBETAN ISSUES: It's up to President Obama and how he and his team of Asia advisers in the White House decided to move forward U.S.-China relationship.
They decided for the past year that they would try to reach out to China on all sorts of issues and not meet with the Dalai Lama last fall, and that did not get them cooperation on key issues they were hoping to get from the Chinese.
If they see this as the beginning of a course correction and looking at the relationship with a little more clarity then this could be the beginning of a fresh start and a more realistic U.S.-China policy.
SIDNER: OK. Ian, to you, let's talk about the debt that China now holds, $1 trillion, and we are talking huge numbers here, also a lot of issues, North Korea and a lot of different issues there.
Will the U.S. and China -- well, she is saying maybe it's up to President Obama, but is it a tightrope Obama has to walk because of all of the surrounding issues?
BREMMER: I certainly agree with the point that President Obama has not been consistent on the issue of the Dalai Lama, but let's not fool ourselves that this is what is actually driving U.S. and China policy. It's like me wearing a lucky tie to work and it's raining and me thinking it's the tie is what's causing the rain.
There's a reason why China is behaving differently. They have taken unprecedented hard lines on not just the Tibet, Dalai Lama issue, but also on Taiwanese arm sales. Why is that? One reason is because the Chinese are coming out of this economic recession, doing much better than anybody else out there and seeing they don't want to be as reliant on the United States. They will focus on a different agenda.
Secondly, nationalism in China that they have to be responsive to in China is growing. We see that when they have to respond in the earthquake and get in the rubble because there is a problem, and we see it in the way they are taking on the United States. Those are structural issues.
SIDNER: Let me ask you, Kelley, you were talking about the significance of China that has grown after the financial downturn here in the west. What about the Dalai Lama, himself? Is he a relevant figure that should be discussed in the political forum?
CURRIE: Well, I do believe he is. Tibet is one of China's three core interest issues falling under the area of national sovereignty. The Chinese think the Dalai Lama is the problem, but he really is the solution. And the sooner they start to realize that, the sooner they can start to come to some more fundamental solutions to the problems in Tibet.
SIDNER: All right, we will have to hold it there. Thank you so much for joining us here this morning.
After meeting with President Obama, by the way, we should let you know this -- the Dalai Lama sits down with Larry King for an exclusive interview airing Monday at 9:00 p.m. eastern, right here on CNN. John?
ROBERTS: Sara, thank you so much.
It was a terrific day for American athletes at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. What about Lindsey Vonn, the very first gold medal in the women's downhill for the United States. But what about Shaun White, how did he ever get so good at the sport? We have a very interesting interview with him coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: The United States this morning back on top and dominating in total medals at the Winter Olympics. The U.S. now has 14. That compares with Germany's 10, France has got seven, and a team USA has also set a new record. The six medals yesterday that they took home are the most the U.S. has ever earned at a single Olympics.
SIDNER: And this morning America is looking to snowboarder Shaun White to bring home even more medals. Yesterday he won gold in the men's half pike. Our Mark McKay is in Vancouver and got a chance to meet with the action sports rock star, a great interview.
MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Sara, Shaun White dazzled again at the Olympic Games -- two gold medals, not bad for an Olympian that grew up not by a mountain, but instead by the sea.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MCKAY: How does a kid from the sunny beaches of San Diego become the most famous snowboarder in the world?
SHAUN WHITE, 2006 SNOWBOARDING GOLD MEDAL: I went under the wave right off the bat, and got washed for a good couple minutes, and got air and went under the wash. As I came out the board hit me in the face, and I thought I don't ever want to do this again.
MCKAY: How did he become so good living more than three hours from the closest ski resort?
WHITE: I would cram months of snow play in one day, two days. It's super expensive to eat, and so my mom would cook up burritos in the room. And the fire alarm would go off and we even tried to rig it with the shower cap around the fire alarm, and it would always go off.
MCKAY: If you haven't guessed by now, Shaun White is not your typical snowboarder, and yet he has become the prototypical one, winning virtually every competition in the sport at some point in a career that started with he was seven.
WHITE: I would win the event and would not even get the award because it was in a bar.
MCKAY: He may have been ahead of his time, but since winning Olympic gold in 2006, times have most certainly changed, and so have the bars.
WHITE: I am walking through the crowd, and there is Elton John and Tom Cruise and all these crazy people, and this is wild. Everybody seemed to know my name.
MCKAY: He used his name to move the once outsider status of snowboarding into the mainstream. He is dubbed "The Flying Tomato."
WHITE: Heinz did call, and it was like, no. And it was like my own personality in what I have been doing with these companies, so I think I have been able to keep all the credibility that way.
MCKAY: Two gold Olympic medals, that would give you street cred. John and Sara, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: He is just an incredible athlete.
MCKAY: Incredible, and funny, having a good time. That's what it's all about, having a good time.
ROBERTS: Those moves he was throwing down. It sounds so stupid when I say that.
(LAUGHTER)
After in practice, slamming his chin on the half pike. MCKAY: You have you to get over the fear, I guess, and he has done it marvelously.
ROBERTS: Congratulations Shaun, and also congratulation to Lindsey Vonn who put in a stellar performance yesterday.
Rob Marciano has the forecast as soon as we come back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIDNER: It looks like a beautiful morning there in Charleston, South Carolina; sunny, 36 degrees but is going to be a high of 51. Not bad.
ROBERTS: Can I say hi to my daughter this morning? She is in college.
SIDNER: Ok, all right, let's toss it over now to Rob Marciano who's in the Extreme Weather Center for us over there. More cold coming this way? What is going on?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A little bit. Weather doesn't want to end.
Good morning Sara. Hi John again. Looking at the northwest flow over the Great Lakes, so a little bit of lake-effects snow today not as much off of Lake Erie, that lake mostly frozen over, so that kind of put the cabash on things but the winds are going to be whipping around.
So D.C. and New York metros and Philly and if you are traveling, you'll see some delays there. Snow and freezing drizzle on Pittsburgh in Cleveland. Also some snow in Salt Lake and there will be some fog out west so unusually warm temperatures for San Francisco and that will bring in the fog this time of the year.
And cold across the southeast, but warming up just a hair, just a touch, just a smidge before the next Arctic blast comes through. 60 in Dallas, I'm trying to warm up just a little bit; 62 degrees in San Francisco; that certainly is warm.
All right, the cold in the southeast will move out in the next couple of days and warm up briefly over the weekend. But the next Arctic blast lines up for the beginning of next week.
A couple of things for you. First, all the snow across parts of D.C., all that snow weighing down on the cherry trees caused some damage across Tala Basin (ph). So that's kind of sad; some branches as much as six inches wide or in diameter snapped off there. So that'll tell you how heavy that snow was.
All right, let's go from there to outer space. It's kind of a fun shot here, I showed this earlier in the program. A new view, Andromeda, our closest galaxy, 2.5 million light years away. And this is seen from the new space, sky napping spacecraft called Wise, it has sent over a quarter million pictures back so fare. And we're getting a new view of our closest neighbor there, Andromeda. Cool stuff.
Almost like it's drawn by an artist; billions and billions of stars, as Carl Sagan (ph) would say from my alma mater.
ROBERTS: Billions and billions of stars -- it's right next door, Rob.
MARCIANO: Let's take a road trip, 2.5 million light years, maybe it will still be there when we get there.
SIDNER: I'm in. Shot gun.
ROBERTS: Take a cup of sugar over to the neighbor's. Why not? Rob thanks so much.
SIDNER: Thank you Rob.
MARCIANO: See you guys.
ROBERTS: All right.
So we're asking the question this morning. You know, you've run into some people that are like dour and sad and they look like they are going through life and they hate it and then there were those sunny optimists.
Do people who are optimistic actually live longer? The scientific research is in and we'll tell you about that coming up. Its 49 minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: Just coming up on eight minutes to the top of the hour. Time to check in with Kyra Phillips, and she's in the "CNN NEWSROOM" this morning for a look at what's ahead in the next hour. And you know you're known to find good outrage stories. You got one this morning for us?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, this is one. I'm curious, have you called 911 throughout your lives or had to for any reason -- Sara, John?
SIDNER: I haven't.
ROBERTS: No.
SIDNER: I've never had to call.
ROBERTS: Never.
PHILLIPS: No.
ROBERTS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Ok, well, you guys are lucky. Well, this guy wasn't so lucky. You know, we've heard all the nightmare stories about being put on hold, not being taken seriously by an operator, having to wait for a while until we get someone to understand what our needs are. Well, this guy wasn't so lucky. It actually happened in Pittsburgh, he had been calling 911, we're told, more than ten times -- and this is his fiancee, right here. Apparently, he had stomach pains, he called 911 and said, "I feel like I'm about to die, I can't move, I need your help." More than 10 times, we've actually got the 911 calls. Well, here is the deal.
Finally, when the ambulance drivers do get to where he is, they say to him, "Come out to us, we're not coming to you." So what happened here? Why did this system fail this man because he died?
And now the question is, should these ambulance drivers be fired? You guys we're actually going to have the head of public safety on. And we're going to ask him those questions, what they're going to do about it, if they're going to change their policy and if these drivers are going to be held accountable.
I mean, frankly, what everybody is saying is not only is this outrageous, but there is no excuse for what happened. And that this guy didn't have to die.
ROBERTS: But, what was his condition? What killed him?
PHILLIPS: Well, it was stomach pain. It was something going on internally. They still don't know. They still have to do an autopsy.
ROBERTS: Wow.
PHILLIPS: But he was in so much pain he could not move. And all they had to do was get out of the truck, walk over -- there was a little bridge that sort of led -- you could see his house was sort of in a bizarre type of area and go to him.
But they didn't.
ROBERTS: Wow.
PHILLIPS: They said come to us. He didn't come. He said he couldn't even move, get out of the house and they left and he died...
ROBERTS: All right.
SIDNER: That's unusual. All right.
PHILLIPS: ... 50 years old.
ROBERTS: Unbelievable, looking forward to hearing more on that.
PHILLIPS: Right.
ROBERTS: Kyra Phillips is coming up in the "CNN NEWSROOM." It is about six minutes time. Kyra, we will see you then.
Time now for your "AM House Call", stories about your health. Some of the new 2010 SmartPhones are getting high marks for things like performance and features but they're getting a failing grade for safety. The environmental working group says they leaked the highest legal levels of radiation.
Some of the worst offenders, here's the list: Motorola's Droid, for me here the Blackberry Bold 9700, and LG's Chocolate Touch. Before you upgrade, check the full list at EWG.org.
SIDNER: Everything I have is old, so I think I'm safe on that one.
But new research shows that people who take Ibuprofen regularly may reduce their risk of developing Parkinson's disease. The study from the American Academy of Neurology found regular ibuprofen use cuts a person's risk by 40 percent and the result were just saying regardless of a person's age, weather or not they smoke and their daily caffeine intake.
ROBERTS: Here is the story that we told you about just before the break. If you are a grumpy person, you could be putting yourself at risk for heart problems. Researchers at Columbia University looked at ten years of data and found a link between heart health and attitude.
They say people with an upbeat attitude are 22 percent less likely to develop heart disease. Of course, you also need to be eating right and exercising as well, and, typically, people who exercise get that endorphin release which makes them sunny and optimistic. Maybe they come hand in hand here.
SIDNER: Must be. Thank you John.
Best in Show, Sadie the Scottie; we'll follow this top dog as she barks her way from interview to interview.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIDNER: It's seven minutes past the hour, and it's time for The Moost News in the Morning". You'll get what I mean in a second. Wall Street's going to the dogs this morning.
ROBERTS: Fresh out from her "Best in Show" win, Sadie the Scottish terrier will help ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange today. That'll be interesting to watch.
Our Jeanne Moos was hot on the tail of the toast of the town.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With a brush and a shake, the terrier takes Manhattan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sadie, Sadie, Sadie.
MOOS: Great scott, it's the hottie scotty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sadie the Scotty.
MOOS: She barked her way from interview to interview. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are the baddest girl in the United States of America. Yes you are. Say, "Yes I am". Bad girl.
MOOS: Ready for her close-up except when the camera closing in freaked her out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She has great (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's got a great bark too.
MOOS: The toast of the town ran around in a two-van motorcade, followed by flashes, she posed patiently for pictures, accepted endless treats. Her favorite dish?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chicken hot dogs.
MOOS: I heard it's organic chicken hot dogs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are organic.
MOOS: Gabriel Rangel (ph) is Sadie's handler, lives with him in California like a normal dog in a house with three kids, and now here she was riding up and down skyscrapers in elevators.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like the dog is playing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The dog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will have Sadie up on the table --
MOOS: Before her appearance on "Inside Edition", there was the obligatory photo-op, and "Best in Show" shown getting fed off a silver platter though her manners were no match for these Labradors. We award the lab "Best in Show" on YouTube. Sadie dropped her chicken, and the lab did not drop a thing.
What is next for Sadie?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to work -- going to be a mama.
MOOS: As for who's going to be the dad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She loves her friend, and it's a Chihuahua.
MOOS: Is it a romance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think so.
MOOS: Are we going to have a mixed breed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we're not going to have any mixed breeds.
MOOS: The number one Scotty and the number one Chihuahua Tad, are doomed to forbidden love.
I hear you have a secret meeting with Donald Trump? Actually, it's just another photo-op. If you want Sadie's hair to trump Donald let her brush it before the bow wow pow wow on Trump Tower's 26th floor.
No relation to Sadie, she won over 100 competitions before winning at Westminster. That's enough to give a regular dog an inferiority complex.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: That's one cute Scotty.
SIDNER: It is.
ROBERTS: And between her and the Chihuahua, it's the Montagues and the Capulets; it's a Romeo and Juliet thing.
SIDNER: Could be a love triangle. We'll find out more about that in the future.
ROBERTS: Yes. Keep following the story.
Continue the conversation by the way on today's stories. Go to our blog, at cnn.com/amfix.
That is going to wrap it up for us. Sara, great to have you here. We'll see you back again tomorrow.
SIDNER: Thank you very much.
And we'll see you back again tomorrow morning.
Here is "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips -- Kyra.
