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American Morning

Looking for the Next Justice; E.R. in a Metal Box; Gas Prices on the Rise; Stopping Loose Nukes

Aired April 12, 2010 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning, and thanks so much for joining us on the Most News in the Morning on this Monday, the 12 of April. I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: 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, and unprecedented summit about to begin in Washington. President Obama and the leaders from 46 other countries are set to meet over the next two days with one goal in mind. That is, securing the world's nuclear weapons. And in a moment, we'll take you live to the White House with new details on today's nuclear security summit.

ROBERTS: Republicans rallying the troops this weekend in the Big Easy as they try to get past a crisis in leadership and focus on future goals: taking back Congress and the White House. A live report for you, coming straight away.

CHETRY: And return to Russia. An adopted 7-year-old boy literally sent packing by his adoptive American mother, put on a plane back to Moscow. Russia says it's now putting American adoptions on hold. It's a decision that could affect hundreds of families this morning. We're going to take a look at both sides to this, and what it could mean for children and couples who want to be parents.

And of the course, the AMfix blog is up and running. Join the conversation right now. We want to hear from you whenever's on your mind. Just go to cnn.com/amfix, and we'll be reading your comments throughout the morning.

ROBERTS: But first, Washington is under a blanket of heavy security this morning as President Obama welcomes kings, presidents, and prime ministers from 46 different countries. This week's gathering is the biggest on American soil since the close of World War II, and the goal, make sure nuclear weapons don't fall into the wrong hands.

Our Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House for us this morning. Suzanne, the president, he said that he wants to get rid of nuclear weapons all together. Is that even possible to think about?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He certainly is trying, John. I have to tell you, the whole thing about the security in the city here. I worked late last night. I overnight at a hotel right near the White House. Woke this morning, there were concrete barriers outside of my hotel. There are barricades lined up along the streets. It is very, very tight outside of the White House but even more so outside of the convention center not far from here.

But as we mentioned, this summit is all about nuclear security, and we heard from President Obama as well as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton saying, look, the threat now is not the threat of nuclear war, it is the threat of nuclear terrorism. The idea that you could have loose nukes or nuclear materials in the hands of terrorists like al Qaeda or criminal gangs and that they would use it to attack the United States or other countries.

This is the eminent threat. This is something that President Obama made very clear trying to get a sense of urgency with these other leaders that this is very important to address now. I want you to take a listen to what he said just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The single biggest threat to U.S. security for short term, medium term, and long term would be the possibility of a terrorist organization obtaining a nuclear weapon. This is something that could have changed the security landscape of this country around the world for years to come. If there was ever a debt (ph) nation in New York City or London or Johannesburg, the ramifications economically, politically, and security prospective would be devastated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: John, it's not something new. We heard this from President Clinton. We also heard it from President Bush, the idea of terrorist getting a hold of these nuclear materials, these nuclear weapons, how dangerous it is, but what we're hearing from President Obama is that he really does want to create a sense of urgency here to make leaders, move these leaders, motivate them to do something at this time -- John.

ROBERTS: So, what are his goals for the summit then?

MALVEAUX: Very specific and very targeted here. They're not dealing with broad things. What they want is within four years, they want to secure what they are saying are these vulnerable nuclear materials around the globe. They want cooperation from other leaders.

So, what we expect in the next 24 to 48 hours, an endorsement of President Obama's to try to make that happen within four years. A recognition that nuclear terrorism is a serious threat, and of course, some action plans from each one of these leaders from these countries, what are they going to do about it within their own borders to try to make sure that those materials are not smuggled out of their countries and get in the hands of terrorists.

ROBERTS: All right. We'll be watching all of that that all day long here on CNN. Suzanne Malveaux for us at the White House this morning. Thanks so much.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

CHETRY: Republicans making a big pitch for party unity this morning. Some of the GOP's biggest names fired up the baseball at leadership conference took place in New Orleans over the weekend, and it gave us an indication, an early indication of that of who could be at the top of the ticket in 2012. Jim Acosta is following that live for us in Washington.

So, is it more about 2012 or is it more about this mid-term elections where a lot of Republican leaders have been saying that, you know, now is their time to possibly even take back Congress?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right Kiran. The message coming out at New Orleans over these past few days is that 2010 is definitely the mission this year. They want to make sure that they can take back the Congress, and this was really a conference about getting back on script after some unscripted moments within the Republican Party. RNC chairman, Michael Steele was very much behind closed doors for much of this conference trying to shore up support among some of those members.

Some of those members, as you know, have been voicing a lot of concerns, a few of them have been calling for Chairman Steele to step down because of some recent controversies, but over the weekend, Steele came out. He showed his face. He offered up an apology about some of those distractions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL STEELE, RNC CHAIRMAN: I'm the first here to admit I've made mistakes. And it's been incumbent on me to take responsibility, shoulder that burden, make the necessary changes, and move on. We've all had to do that from time to time. But the one mistake, the one mistake we cannot make this November is to lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And with so much controversy surrounding Steele these days, a lot of Republicans are looking to another member of their party, Mississippi's governor, Haley Barbour, a former chairman of the RNC. He was also working the crowds in some ways, because he's thought of as a presidential contender in 2012. And the former governor said this is no time for distractions. This is no time for members within the party to be focusing on those distractions, because it presents a split that might be exploited, he says, by the Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. HALEY BARBOUR, (R) MISSISSIPPI: The Democrats' fondest hope is to see TEA party or other conservatives split off and have a third party to split the conservative vote. I'll tell you, Barack Obama has worn out three sets of kneepads down on his knees praying for the conservative vote to be split in 2010. And we can't let that happen. We can't let that happen. We've got to stay unified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: There is more unity coming out of this conference within the GOP, but there is no unity when it comes to picking a choice for 2012. They held a straw poll as they do at many of these conferences and essentially found out that the person who did not show up at this conference, former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, was the winner of the straw poll down there. He just barely edged out Ron Paul, who is often a favorite of these straw polls because so many of his supporters are so very good at working these rooms and getting out the vote in the straw polls.

So, Mitt Romney edging out Ron Paul there, and you know, another thing that came out of this convention as you said, Kiran, is pretty much a unified message that they really want to focus on these mid- term elections coming up this fall. They really think they have an excellent chance of taking back the Congress. Obviously, something that haven't done since 1994. It would be a huge tidal wave, but they think they can do it.

CHETRY: All right. It will be interesting to see. Thanks, Jim. By the way, we're going to be talking with Congressman Ron Paul coming up in just a little while. We'll get his opinion on the fact that he did almost beat Mitt Romney just by a single vote.

Also, breaking news out of Italy right now, a train derailment killing at least seven people and injuring 25 others, a landslide triggering the accident near the northern city of Bolzano. It's about a two-hour drive north of Venice near the Austrian border. Rescuers are on the scene right now. If we get new details and pictures, we'll, of course, bring them to you this morning.

ROBERTS: These stories new this morning, West Virginia governor, Joe Manchin, is calling for a moment of silence at 3:30 this afternoon in memory of victims of last week's deadly mine explosion. The tribute will mark one week since 29 miners died at Massey Energy's upper big branch mine in Montcoal. Dangerous levels of toxic gas are still preventing crews from recovering the last of the miners. Investigators have yet to determine the exact cause of that blast.

CHETRY: Poland, a nation in mourning this morning. Thousands gathered in front of the presidential palace in Warszawa, Sunday, to pay final respects to the Polish leaders who were killed in a plane crash. President elect, Kaczynski, his first lady, and more than 90 others were killed when their plane went down in heavy fog in Western Russia happened over the weekend. Investigators are now focused on pilot error as a possible cause.

ROBERTS: And Phil Mickelson wins his third green jacket at Augusta National. Tiger Woods finished the Masters fourth yesterday, five shots back. It was ease the left ease most emotional win. Phil's wife, Amy and his mom, Mary, both battling breast cancer and both were right there behind the green at 18th to cheer their man home.

CHETRY: It was such an exciting masters as well. I thought about you, because I know how much you love golf, but he almost eagled three times in a row in the round on Saturday, I think it was. It was exciting golf.

ROBERTS: It was. You know, Mickelson has a history of falling apart in the final moments. He kind of got over that when he won his first Masters tournament. Great to see him win. It was a really good win for him.

CHETRY: It was. It was. That's for sure. Let's check in now with Rob Marciano. He's got a look at the headlines. They had gorgeous weather in Augusta, and the rest of the country not too shabby either.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not too shabby. I mean, gorgeous weather really the entire week. We had a little bit of rain early Friday, just kind of knocked down some of the extreme pollen that we're experiencing and multiple story lines this year at Augusta, recommend great to be there (ph) for sure. Gorgeous weather continues across much of the eastern third of the country. So, hope you enjoyed your weekend.

The map, we'll highlight more in the way of dry weather, east in the Mississippi. Pretty strong storm system developing out west, and that will be affecting everybody as we go through the week, but right now, western third getting hammered. Traveling to Los Angeles to San Francisco, Seattle rain and wind will be in your forecast, travel delays expected there and some wind in Denver. Daytime highs will be comfortable, in the 60s and lower 70s. We'll talk more about the pollen in some cases guys. It's as high as it's been in about a decade. So, if you're suffering, you're not alone. We'll see you in about 30 minutes.

ROBERTS: All right. So many people are suffering this time of year. Rob, thanks so much.

Still to come in the Most News in the Morning, a worker at Toyota risks his job sending a letter to the company's president warning about possible safety problems. Hear how the company responded, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back. Fourteen minutes past the hour right now. Long before the massive recalls back when Toyota enjoyed a spotless reputation for safety, a group of assembly line workers in Japan started growing concern.

ROBERTS: They didn't really like the way that their company was changing, so they wrote a warning letter to their CEO. Deb Feyerick has seen that letter and spoke to one of the workers who crafted it, and it looks like these employees, Deb, saw exactly what was coming down the line?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They did. Not only did they see what was coming, but they also tried to warn their bosses, and their bosses just didn't do anything about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): For 45 years today, Wakasuki (ph) worked the assembly line at the Motomachi Factory in Toyota City, Japan. He took pride in his work, pressing metal to shape the outside of cars, believing it was for the good of society.

TRANSLATOR: It was a good life I had.

FEYERICK: Bu in the last decade as demand for small fuel efficient cars skyrocketed, Wakasuki (ph) and the small union represented began to fear the company was dangerously cutting corners and compromising safety. So, they took a risk.

FEYERICK (on-camera): Four years ago, the men wrote this letter voicing serious concerns about what they saw as Toyota moved to cut cost outsource critical design work, limit car testing on new models, and hire more workers they believed were less qualified.

TADAO WAKATSUKI, RETIRED TOYOTA WORKER (through translator): Workers without skill become in charge of making cars. As a result, naturally, the quality had to be compromised. We were very anxious of the danger.

FEYERICK (voice-over): From 2000 to 2005, the number of Toyota recalls had been rising steadily. The letter warned the company could face a serious crisis if it failed to act. The company's reply --

WAKATSUKI (through translator): We do not reply. That's it.

FEYERICK: Toyota now acknowledges the letter and says it strictly adheres to all Japanese and U.S. labor laws and regulations.

And this February, company president Akio Toyoda admitted priorities got confused. Competition to be first along with consumer demand outpaced quality control.

AKIO TOYODA, PRESIDENT, TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION: I fear the face at which we have grown may have been too quick.

FEYERICK: Toyoda set the gold standard for its lean manufacturing model, minimizing cost, maximizing efficiency. But economic research specialist Cliff Waldman says the company forgot a key goal.

CLIFF WALDMAN, MANUFACTURERS ALLIANCE: They overemphasized the efficiency and rapid growth without the goals of careful new product development, efficient information sharing.

FEYERICK (on camera): That information sharing or lack of it would come to haunt Toyota. Executives in the U.S., seemingly kept in the dark during Toyota's major car recall in more than 30 European countries last September, just before similar recalls hit the U.S.

STEVE ST. ANGELO, CHIEF QUALITY OFFICER, TOYOTA N.A.: We're not perfect and we -- we didn't share the experience that we had in Europe. We didn't know about it in North America. FEYERICK (voice-over): In March, Steve St. Angelo was named Chief Quality Officer for North America, to ensure U.S. based engineers have a greater say in warning and fixing potential defects.

Still, veteran Toyota worker Wakatsuki, who is now retired, is skeptical, saying his former bosses hide rather than deal with problems.

WAKATSUKI (through translator): They would avoid announcing defects as recalls, if they can. They would call it service campaign or anything else to fix the problem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Now, clearly, the focus for Toyota now is making things right. The company seemed to ignore -- ignored a key assets, and that is that they forgot to listen to the voices of their own loyal employees -- John.

CHETRY: And it's interesting, because you -- you're talking about this note or memo, and it voiced a group of concerned workers on the assembly line, and last week you were telling us about a memo from one of executives as well.

FEYERICK: Exactly right. There -- there seemed to be all of these sort of drops in the bucket, but right now the -- the bucket is very close to sort of spilling over. There's just so much going on.

So, Toyota is looking, though (ph), now, we're going to fix it. They know they've got a problem now, and they're -- you have to keep in mind, there are almost 140 lawsuits against this company right now. So, make or break.

CHETRY: Wow.

Deb Feyerick for us this morning. Thank you.

ROBERTS: Well, coming up on the Most News in the Morning, the Senate back from recess. Job number one for them, debate on extending unemployment benefits.

Our Christine Romans is here with an early look. Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And make or break for hundreds of thousands of people who are getting unemployment extensions for their benefits. Is this emergency spending that will be continued?

This is the Democrat's top order of business when they return today, the business in the Senate. We'll tell you whether your job was checked and your tax payer dollars are on the line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Coming up now on 21 and a half minutes after the hour. Christine Romans joins us, "Minding Your Business" this morning, talking about the extension of unemployment benefits and debate in the Senate, perhaps this week.

ROMANS: That's right. So the Democrats and the Republicans left for their -- for their vacation, for the Easter, and they did not extend unemployment benefits, and for the advocates who want more unemployment benefits for people, another extension, they're very concerned.

This has left some 212,000 people out in the cold last week. That's how many people lost their benefits because Congress went home for -- for the break without acting, and they say, overall, advocates for -- for the unemployed say there are a million people who are at risk of losing their benefits just in April unless Congress does something.

Now, the House passed something, the Senate didn't because there were some Republican -- one Republican senator, in particular Tom Coburn, who said we got to find a way to pay for it. We -- I'm happy to do this. Let's find a way to pay for it.

The cost of the extension is some $9 billion. So where is that money going to come from?

The whole -- whole issue here has been this was originally -- the extensions were emergency spending under the stimulus. How long are we going to keep going on with emergency extensions, emergency extensions, and -- and some Republicans really want to start finding a way to pay for this.

CHETRY: You have a "Romans Numeral" for us that has to do with this issue?

ROMANS: I do. It has to do with the issue of two different things happening to this economy. All these people out of work, and then we've also got all these people making money.

Thirteen thousand nine hundred forty-four. This is a -- this is a number to show you how well the stock market has done. At the same time, we're talking about a record number of people getting extended unemployment benefits.

If you put $10,000 in the stock market last year, it's now almost $14,000. Stock market has gone up and up and up and up. At the same time, we're talking about people who are desperate to survive on unemployment benefits.

It underscores, I think -- stocks are actually expected to open higher again today. Their 18-month highs. It shows you these two speeds -- two speeds in this economy right now. We're talking about, you know, on the one level people really trying to get their unemployment benefits, on the other level, somebody out there is -- is making money.

ROBERTS: Although I saw something over the weekend that much of the rise in the -- the stock markets is based on a very low volume of trading or a lower volume of trading than normal, and that's giving some people pause as to whether or not this rally -- ROMANS: These recent gains in the market. Yes. Yes. Although there are a lot of people who say that this market has gone so just gang busters that it needs to have a nice little pull back, and there are others who say you're crazy if you don't think it's going to hit 14,000.

Take your pick.

ROBERTS: All right. Thanks.

ROMANS: Sure.

ROBERTS: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning.

And coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, a seven-year- old boy sent back to Russia alone with just a note. Now, the search is on for his adoptive family here in the United States who said they had to do it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Coming up on 27 minutes after the hour. Your stop stories just three minutes away now.

We're following a developing story, one that could leave hundreds of children and potential parents in limbo. Russia says it is not allowing any more Americans to adopt children from that country after one mother from Tennessee disowned her 7-year-old son and sent him back to Moscow, put on a plane alone -- a one-way ticket, a 10 hour flight.

The boys' adoptive grandmother says he terrorized the family, even threatened to burn down the house.

Martin Savidge is following the story for us this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It began when this 7-year-old little boy stepped off the plane in Moscow Thursday, alone, with a note from his adoptive American mom saying she was returning him because he was mentally unstable and violent.

Russians were outraged. The country's foreign minister even threatened to suspend all adoptions to the U.S., and the media flocked here to the small town of Shelbyville, Tennessee, looking for the family that sent the kid back, only that family doesn't want to be found.

We'd like to get the family's side of the story, because, right now, they don't look too good in the headlines.

SAVIDGE (on camera): So what we've been trying to do is track down the Hansen family with former addresses that they have. They're listed in at least four different states, and there are a lot of listings also here in Tennessee. This is one of them, 2441Q. It's Murfreesboro, Tennesse, but it's not a home. It's a post office box.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Another address we had for them turned out to be a vacant lot.

And we aren't the only ones looking for Torry and Nancy Hansen here, so are the Russians. Reporter Evgeny Popov is one.

EVGENY POPOV, REPORTER: We need to get more -- to get more attention on American (INAUDIBLE) on the story because it's not the first story with adopted tragic -- tragic story with adopted children from Russia.

SAVIDGE: You see, that's why the Russians are so upset by this case. Russian authorities say since the mid-1990s, at least a dozen children adopted from Russia have died at the hands of their American families.

SAVIDGE (on camera): But in this case, the family says the Russian child was threatening them. In a phone call to CNN, Nancy Hansen, the boy's adoptive grandmother, described him as violent and psychotic --

SAVIDGE (voice-over): -- that he had a hit list of people he wanted to hurt. Number one on that list, his American mom, who Nancy says the boy threatened to kill for her house.

The last straw, last week, when they caught him in the act of trying to start a fire in the home. Nancy said she was afraid he was going to burn the house down and kill everyone in it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: And this, by the way, is another address for the Hansen family. We've knocked on the door for two days, nobody's responded.

Nancy Hansen did say in the phone call to CNN that she believes honestly that putting that little boy on a plane, sending him back to Russia all by himself, was the very best thing for their family and for the little boy.

Meanwhile, the attorney representing the Hansen family and the local law enforcement are expected to get together sometime this week to talk about this case -- John.

ROBERTS: Oh my (ph), they're certainly getting a lot of disagreement as to whether or not that was the best thing for the child. But any truth to the Russian claims that a half a dozen adopted Russian kids have died in America since the mid-1990s?

SAVIDGE: We did some digging on that, and it turns out that it appears that the Russians are right. We found at least half a dozen cases with indications of more in which Russian children adopted by American families have died, apparently at the hands of those American adoptive parents. The most recent case took place actually in August of last year. It was in Pennsylvania. A 7-year-old Russian boy died, authorities say, due to abuse and malnutrition. His adoptive American parents are currently in custody awaiting trial for his death -- John.

ROBERTS: All right. Martin Savidge for us this morning in Shelbyville, Tennessee -- Martin, thanks so much.

Coming up at 8:30 Eastern, we're going to be talking with Michael Kirby. He is a State Department official about the welfare of this boy and so many other children in the same situation. Does Russia need to be more transparent? Do parents need to be more careful?

CHETRY: And you can just imagine how heartbreaking it is. I mean, what happens when adoptive parents change their minds because they find that they are unable to properly raise or control the kids that they get? Now, a new program could help keep these families together -- an "AC 360" special tonight, at 10:00 Eastern.

We also want to know what you think about this adoption controversy. Join the conversation on our live blog right now, CNN.com/amFIX.

ROBERTS: Top stories for you right now as we cross the half hour.

Right now, President Obama and leaders from 46 different countries are getting ready to attend a two-day nuclear security summit in Washington. They will address what the president calls the biggest threat to the United States, keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists in rogue nations, like Iran and North Korea. This week's gathering comes one week after President Obama and his Russian counterpart agreed to cut the number of nuclear weapons in both countries by about a third.

We're getting a first hint of who the Republicans may want to run for president in 2012. Mitt Romney beat Texas Congressman Ron Paul by one vote in a weekend's straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans. Sarah Palin came in third.

Ron Paul joins us this morning, at 7:10 Eastern, to talk more about that.

And CNN has obtained a warning letter written four years ago by Toyota assembly line workers in Japan and sent to their CEO. It points out how corner cutting and outsourcing were compromising safety. The letter also predicts the crisis facing the company today, but it was ignored. Toyota acknowledges it received the letter, quote, "We are not perfect" -- Kiran.

CHETRY: John, thanks.

Well, a new challenge for a busy administration: Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens announcing that he is going to retire at the end of his term. His departure, of course, gives President Obama another chance at shaping the high court's direction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And while we cannot replace Justice Stevens' experience or wisdom, I will seek someone in the coming weeks with similar qualities. It will also be someone who, like Justice Stevens, knows that in a democracy, powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: So, who will it be and how could the president's pick influence the midterm elections?

Joining me now to discuss all of this: CNN senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.

Welcome. Good to see you.

We also have with us, A.B. Stoddard, associate editor and columnist with "The Hill."

Great to see you as well, A.B.

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR AND COLUMNIST, "THE HILL": Thank you.

CHETRY: So, let me start with Jeffrey.

He sure is going to run down some of the picks. Let's start with many are saying is the frontrunner, although in these things, you never know -- Elena Kagan. She's the first female solicitor general. She's also the former dean of Harvard Law School. And her name was also in the running for Souter's seat. Sotomayor got that one.

But, what do you think about her and her chances?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: She is younger than the other candidates. She's 49 years old. She was just confirmed by the Senate last year to be solicitor general. She has a reputation as someone who can get competing ideological factions along. She seems very much in line with Obama's moderate Democratic politics. I think she's going to be the choice.

CHETRY: You do. So, you think that she is.

TOOBIN: I think she's going to be.

CHETRY: One of interesting things, A.B., is that she was never a judge -- meaning, that she really has no record to attack. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

STODDARD: The administration sees this as a very appealing aspect of her candidacy because, really, the liberal left has no idea what she thinks and nor does the conservative right. They won't be able to box her in because of her past decisions. And I think they think -- see this as sort of the easiest pick.

CHETRY: All right. Let's go to another one that's been getting talked about a lot, and that is Diane Wood. She's also supposedly on the short list. She's a former colleague of President Obama. They actually taught constitutional law together. Some say that this is the favorite pick for people on the left.

TOOBIN: You know, I think the ideological distinctions are probably less than meets the eye. But she does have a longer paper trail. She's also older. She's going to be 59 years old. And presidents care a lot about age in Supreme Court nominees because the longer they serve, the longer their influence lasts on the court.

Yes, she's from Chicago. Yes, she is a former colleague. I just think, for whatever reason, perhaps unfairly, she looks like a much tougher confirmation fight than either Kagan or someone like Merrick Garland.

CHETRY: Well, let me ask you about that, A.B. Given the political climate and the timing being so close to the midterm elections, will the president get resistance no matter who he chooses?

STODDARD: That really depends. Someone like Kagan who doesn't have a long record to pick over, will be much tougher for Republicans to fight. Someone like Wood is much easier. The anti-abortions will come out very energized against her pro-choice record. And that's -- that's going to be a problem. They're very energized.

The Republicans say they don't want to filibuster and put up a big fight, but they will be under tremendous pressure from their own pressure groups, their own conservative interest groups, and any time that you can raise abortion in a Supreme Court battle like this, that side is going to do it, and the Republicans will have to respond. That's why someone like Kagan is just easier for the administration to get through much faster.

TOOBIN: You know, John Paul Stevens was confirmed 98-to- nothing. We have -- we have seen the last of those kind of confirmations. There is no question there will be a lot of votes against any Obama nominee, but I think a filibuster is very unlikely.

CHETRY: Let's talk about the third person on the short list that sort of many judicial analysts say is a possibility, Judge Merrick Garland. And we'll show his picture here. He's seen as the most acceptable to Republicans? Tell us more about his background.

TOOBIN: Well, you know, he is a former Justice Department official. He supervised the Oklahoma City bombing cases in the Clinton administration. He's been a judge for a long time now, for 13 years.

CHETRY: How old is he?

TOOBIN: He is 57 -- born in 1952. So, he's 57, 58. Again, very solid, unexciting record, but not someone who the left or the right would probably get very excited about.

CHETRY: You know, it's also interesting because there's a lot of focus on gender and ethnicity that came up during Sonia Sotomayor's nomination.

Do you think that background, A.B., in terms of where you're from and also, your racial and gender makeup, factor big into this particular pick?

STODDARD: I think they always do with the liberal left of the Democratic Party. I do think there's not the pressure this time to nominate a woman as there was last time. Obviously, Justice Sotomayor is now on the court and I don't think -- I think that that gives someone, like Garland, a better chance at coming on board.

The other thing that keeps -- the other question people keep talking about is the court of appeals and why they're not -- the administration should move away from picking those who are serving there. And that's why it gives Kagan, I think, a better shot at this point.

TOOBIN: You know, the whole idea that there should be only one or two women, I just think that's a real obsolete concern. It's like religion, too. John Paul Stevens is the only Protestant on the court. Again, I think those are kind of antique concerns.

The Canadian Supreme Court has half women. I don't see why in the legal profession, in America, that is almost half women, you know, the idea that two or three should be considered some sort of maximum.

CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll have to wait and see. But a great conversation this morning.

Jeffrey Toobin, as well as A.B. Stoddard -- thanks for being with us, both of you -- John.

ROBERTS: Coming up next on the Most News in the Morning, bringing the emergency room to front lines. We'll show you a new armored vehicle that's saving American lives in Afghanistan.

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

It is the MASH unit at the modern battlefield. An E.R. crammed into a metal box that with the Marines is right there on the front lines every step of the way.

ROBERTS: They are giving military doctors a priceless head start on saving lives, that's so-called "golden hour." But they do not come cheap.

Our Chris Lawrence has got more on these new medical marvels from Kabul this morning.

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CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An armored emergency room doesn't have to wait for the wounded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Critically injured patient, let's go.

LAWRENCE: It rolls right up to the front line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the mobile trauma bank. It's the frontline of medical defense for the Marine Corps, and we basically take a patient who would probably die without immediate life giving care. We stop bleeding. We secure an airway. We keep them alive long enough to get them into the O.R.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They always talk about that golden hour, you have that hour here. If you get help within the first hour, you're pretty much good to go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unfortunately, in theater, it's not always feasible to get a patient to the hospital within one hour.

Especially if you're dealing with things like weather getting involved. If you can't get the air asset in, you need something to hold the patients over until you can get that helicopter. So, our job is to keep them alive for longer than the golden hour, and extend that golden hour to hour and a half, two hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are, you know, by far, probably, the greatest mental asset that keeps marines like myself and my buddies who go out on these convoys, and, you know, if we end up getting hit, you know, knowing that, hey, it's going to be OK.

LAWRENCE (on camera): But all of that means nothing if wounded troops can't in a very short time frame get to that next level of care like the surgeons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We get somebody here alive, 98 percent of them will leave here alive.

LAWRENCE: A collection of tents and trailers is being replaced by a new concrete hospital. And the doctors are already prepping for the big offensive against the Taliban come June.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know the exact date of when that's going to occur. But -- we've already made changes in the way we receive casualties. We increased the number of trauma teams that we have.

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ROBERTS: It's Chris Lawrence reporting from Kabul for us this morning. Those things are so important, you know? You go to war and you see people who are wounded and there's just such, you know, such an amount of time to get the helicopters in there, evacuate them out, take them to the hospital. If you got something right there on front lines to narrow that window down. The chances of survival are so much higher.

CHETRY: And that was amazing, the stat he gave, 98 percent who come here alive leave here alive. And that's a huge difference.

ROBERTS: Big difference from the past. No question about that.

Forty-four minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano has got this morning's travel forecast right after the break.

CHETRY: Also coming up in 10 minutes, a sandwich without bread? Does that mean it's still a sandwich? Jeanne Moos aims to fight out as KFC unveils its new bun-less offering.

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ROBERTS: Good morning, New York City. Nice shot of the Hudson River, the George Washington Bridge and beyond. Forty-seven degrees and clear right now. Later on today, beautiful day in the big city, 64 degrees and sunny.

CHETRY: Forty-seven minutes past the hour right now. Let's get a check on this morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center this morning. No complaints from this department today.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I would think not, from here either, guys, east of the Rockies everything looks just lovely. A great weekend for a lot of folks. Bit of a mess out west. We'll talk more about that in a second, but that may help things as we go through the next couple of days because the dry beautiful weather in the past couple of days have really cranked up the pollen levels. Check out some of this video coming in across parts of the southeast. This is tree pollen -- I mean it's snowing pollen for crying out loud.

The pollen counts well into the hundreds, if not in some cases, thousands and the forecast on the right in this map. Extreme pollen counts expected for much of the nation over the next few days. We're starting to see them drop out west, because of the rainfall here and higher elevation snow. San Francisco all the way down to San Diego, this is a pretty strong storm for this time of year, also some showers across parts of Florida and that's kind of coupled with the strong southerly jet stream, by the way.

A lot of moisture going to be slamming into the jet stream and the folks in Haiti recovery effort that survival effort is going to endure some heavy, heavy here rain over the next several days. Sixty- eight degrees for high temperature here in Chicago, 81 degrees expected in Dallas, and 66 degrees in New York City. Pollen levels so high over the past few days even in Augusta. I think Tiger was wearing sunglasses not because he wanted to look cool or shade himself from the media but trying to shield himself from the pollen that flying around Augusta, but nonetheless, it was beautiful to watch on TV, no doubt about that. John and Kiran, back up to you.

ROBERTS: So much moisture over the winter, Rob, that all of those trees and plants very healthy and --

CHETRY: Oh, yes. ROBERTS: The urge to spread the rotes, (ph) I guess.

CHETRY: We were shoveling the snow in the winter. Now, we're shoveling the pollen in the Spring. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right, guys.

ROBERTS: Costing you more to fill up your gas tank. Prices at the pump have jumped 3.8 cents in the past 3 weeks, and according to the National Lundberg Survey, a gallon of regular gasoline is now going to cost you $2.85 a gallon.

CHETRY: Also this morning's top stories just minutes away, President Obama hosting officials from close to 50 nations to discuss how to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. We're live at the White House.

ROBERTS: Five minutes after, Phil Mickelson stealing the spotlight from Tiger Woods in Augusta, but did Tiger win back fans and, perhaps, a few sponsors? We'll take a look at who was watching and who was cheering.

CHETRY: And at 10 after, he beat out Sarah Palin and was nearly the GOP's choice for the next president in the straw poll over the weekend. Ron Paul joins us to talk about whether Republicans have an identity crisis, whether he's the man to lead the party in 2012. Those stories and much more at the top of the hour.

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CHETRY: Some of the humor room (ph) this morning. It's 53 minutes past the hour. Let's face it, some things just go together. Peaches and cream, ham and cheese.

ROBERTS: And here's another one, sandwiches and bread. Jeanne Moos tells us that's about to change today in the world of fast food.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Be hold the bunless wonder.

Ready?

UNKNOWN MALE: Ready.

MOOS: Let's go.

Now you get a taste of it.

UNKNOWN MALE: It's good.

UNKNOWN MALE: It's bun; I don't miss the bun.

MOOS: The missing bun, KFC's double down is the talk of the sandwich world, a slab of chicken, special sauce, cheese, bacon and cheese, more sauce, and chicken.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: There's no bread. It's a sandwich without the bread.

MOOS: Even as it was being tested in a couple of markets

UNKNOWN FEMALE: A double down sandwich combo.

MOOS: It became legendary on the web.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: That's so disgusting.

MOOS: Dissected even serenaded.

UNKNOWN MALE: N-A-S-T-Y. You ain't got no alibi. You nasty.

MOOS: The nastiest part is that it's a salt bun, 1380 milligrams.

MOOS (on-camera): I'm about halfway through my daily salt requirement right here.

MOOS (voice-over): Tell that to the guys who's eyes widened with pleasure at the first bite.

there's a lot of salt stuck better.

UNKNOWN MALE: Hey, even better.

MOOS: What kind of diet you're on?

UNKNOWN MALE: The kind you don't want to eat every day. I eat lunch you have to take a picture over and send it to my girlfriend.

MOOS: Imagine sending her this, though, it is only 540 calories similar to a Big Mac but with more salt than fat, 32 grams, and it comes in a 460-calorie grilled version.

UNKNOWN KID: I need a dollar for one.

MOOS: It'll cost $5 when KFC starts selling them on Monday.

UNKNOWN KID: Oh my God, try it.

MOOS: Almost everyone who tried it liked it.

UNKNOWN MALE: That's pretty righteous right there. That's awesome.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: Chicken overload.

MOOS: Chicken overload?

Will the double down challenge the very definition of --

UNKNOWN MALE: Sandwich. MOOS: Two or more slices of bread with a filling between them. Still, if you don't like carbs --

UNKNOWN FEMALE: This is the best idea that I've ever seen ever.

MOOS: On the web, the double down is being imitated.

UNKNOWN MALE: A piece of French toast in between two pancakes.

UNKNOWN MALE: Two pieces of fish and some instant Ramen.

UNKNOWN MALE: This is two steaks with a fried egg on top of a bed of hash browns.

MOOS: As to the fate of the bun --

UNKNOWN MALE: Who cares about the bun?

UNKNOWN KID: They bore me.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: No bun, because bun, I mean bun. You know, I'm bun.

MOOS: Remember, when it used to be meat that was missing?

UNKNOWN MALE: Where's the beef?

MOOS: Where's the bun? But not even KFC can make all buns obsolete.

Jeanne Moos, CNN --

UNKNOWN MALE: Hey, where's the beef?

MOOS: Where's the bun?

New York.

UNKNOWN MALE: No bun.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: So, what do you think?

CHETRY: It looks pretty good.

ROBERTS: I could prefer just straight grilled chicken as opposed to fried.

CHETRY: You can do the grilled version, only what? 460 calories. There you go.

ROBERTS: The salt is a big problem. Got to work on the salt. Top stories coming your way right after the break. Stay with us.

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