Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Faisal Shahzad Sentencing Today; Swipe and Save on Credit Cards; How to Stop a Bully; Medical Breakthrough for Treating Brain Cancer

Aired October 05, 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: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, light at the end of the tunnel, new hope that 33 trapped Chilean miners could be rescued in days.

Paid less per swipe -- the changes coming your way after the feds sue the credit card companies.

And magic bullet -- Dr. Sanjay Gupta on a breakthrough brain cancer vaccine on The Most News in the Morning.

Good morning, thanks so much for being with us on this Tuesday the 5th of October. I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. A look at the top stories now.

We want to get you caught up on what happened overnight, new developments on the deadly drone attack that took place in Pakistan. We now know the target and it may have a direct link to the terror alert we heard about in Europe. We're live in Pakistan with the latest.

ROBERTS: Sentencing day for Time Square bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad. He faces life in prison for allegedly trying to set off a powerful car bomb in the heart of New York City. A live report from the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan just ahead.

CHETRY: Also, operation rail safe -- U.S. authorities reportedly stepping up security along Amtrak routes this week. Homeland Security officials they say they've been planning the security exercise for some time. They say it is not connected to the terror threat in Europe.

ROBERTS: Up first this Tuesday morning, new developments in a deadly drone attack in Pakistan. Possible links to the new terror threat in Europe.

Pakistani intelligence is now confirming that five Germans were among the eight suspected militants killed in that strike. It happened in the north Waziristan section of Pakistan yesterday. The other three were also foreigners.

And they may all be the result of Al Qaeda's efforts to train terrorists who already have western passports to go home and attack. Frederik Pleitgen is live for us in Islamabad. What's the latest from there, Fred? What do we know about this plot?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have two Pakistani intelligence officials telling us, in fact, that five Germans were indeed among those killed in that drone strike. Right now we're still treating that information carefully because, John, as you know, when there is a drone strike in many cases, it's difficult to determine who was in a building. It often takes DNA evidence to actually determine who was inside such a building.

The Pakistani military itself really doesn't have a presence in that area, which is exactly why it's been so lawless. However, it is something that the Pakistani authorities are looking into is whether or not if these were, in fact, Germans, it might be connected to that terror plot which we know originated from Germans who traveled abroad to Pakistan.

And the other thing we do know that the U.S. has stepped up drone strikes here in Pakistan, especially in that area, at least in part due to that terror plot that was originating in Europe with those Germans involved.

So there are some links that appear to be there. We're still chasing that story down and we'll obviously give you the latest when we hear more, John.

ROBERTS: Fred, terror experts have been warning for years about the possibility of nationals being trained in Pakistan or even Afghanistan and sent home to carry out acts of terror.

Couple of things here -- do we know how many people might be being trained in those areas of Pakistan? And why Germans?

PLEITGEN: Well, the one thing about the Germans that apparently there is a mosque in Hamburg which has been frequented by people sent into jihad. It is something that has quite a history. It's been a big thorn in the side of the Germans for a long time.

But you're absolutely right, those so-called people with so- called clean passports have been a big concern for officials, people who don't arouse suspicion when they go back home. And certainly there's various intelligence sources that tell us it could be several dozen of these people who are in that area and then moving across the border into Afghanistan also moving back to western countries with the jihad training that they've received in that area is a very big concern, John.

ROBERTS: Fred Pleitgen for us this morning with the latest on that. Thanks so much.

CHETRY: Also new this morning, a Bell, California, councilman has resigned facing criminal charges following a salary scandal that allegedly bilked city taxpayers out of millions of dollars. It's a story we've been following closely here on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Now Luis Ortega is one of the city council officials, including the mayor, arrested last month, accused of paying themselves six- figure salaries and benefit packages.

ROBERTS: The port of Houston remains this morning closed because of an electrical tower leaning over the ship channel. The country's second largest port has been closed since Sunday when a vessel pushing barges crashed into the 300-foot-tall tower.

Coast Guard officials say the power lines are hanging too low for ships to pass and at least 30 ships are waiting for the channel to be clear. A real backup of traffic there.

CHETRY: Probably loads of cargo sitting idle there.

We're getting new developments this morning from Chile where efforts to rescue 33 trapped miners are actually going ahead of schedule. Officials now say they think they'll be able to bring the miners back to the surface as early as next week.

Joining us on the phone from Chile is CNN's Patrick Oppman. This is way ahead of schedule. They were saying they thought it may take into November for them to rescue them. What's changed?

PATRICK OPPMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Good morning, Kiran. And rescuers are tantalizingly close to rescuing these 33 trapped men after 60 days of their imprisonment in the mine underground.

They've said the drill bit could reach them as early as the next few days. They're only about 500 feet. The plan b drill of the three drills at work here trying to free these men is only about 500 feet away from them. There could be a breakthrough within days for them.

Officials were asked yesterday how soon they could get these men to the surface. It's about -- the Chilean president said it's his preference that the men would be out as early as next week. Officials said that their timeline is still looking around the second half of the month, but they're trying to rescue them as quickly as possible, of course.

Even though the drill bit is expected to breakthrough in a matter of days, getting to the surface will be an ordeal in and of itself. They'll have to prepare, that 2,400 foot hole. Then they'll lower two rescuers down to the men who will begin the process of bringing the men up by rescue capsule to the surface.

What they've said so far to us is that the healthiest men, the men in the best shape will be able to travel the quickest, will go first and then the men who need a little bit more help, may not be feeling well, psychologically may have had some breakdowns, will then be transferred toward the end.

They haven't said, yet, the list, the order of the men and how they'll get to the surface, so very, very close to rescuing these men. Still just not quite there, though.

CHETRY: All right Patrick Oppmann for us this morning. At least some good news in the midst of all of that. And they've been working hard, a laborious process to eventually free them.

ROBERTS: You see that rescue almost like a bullet, that cage going in that pipe. You think what would it like being in that cage coming up 2,300 feet after being under ground for as long as they have been?

CHETRY: My stomach started to turn when they had to figure out the order based on health. Could you imagine seeing everyone go?

ROBERTS: And is some of those miners were overweight and they've lost weight, obviously, but can they fit inside that cage? That's a question yet to be answered.

Some shocking moments during a Ukrainian circus performance that were captured on camera by a CNN iReporter. A lion tamer in the ring was suddenly mauled by two lions. Circus workers quickly tried to hose down the big cats. Doug Shepard was there with his family. He told HLN's "PRIME NEWS" that there wasn't much to protect the crowd from attacking animals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG SHEPHERD, FILMED LION ATTACK: And it's a one-ring circus with about, you know, 1,000 people, 1,500 people around. And then the gate that goes in and out of the ring is held up by aluminum with some netting. And throughout the video, you see it open and closed for people to come in and out. And there's nothing between that, the lions, and all the kids and moms. It's mainly moms and kids in the audience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Well, the lion trainer underwent emergency surgery and is said to be in stable condition.

CHETRY: Police are investigating the cause of a nighttime explosion that took place at a magnesium plant in Venice, Illinois. People in the surrounding area were forced to leave their homes for a couple of hours. There were no reports of injuries and they're still trying to determine a cause this morning.

ROBERTS: Well, after a beautiful summer, the weather has literally gone, you know where, in the last few days in the northeast.

(WEATHER BREAK)

ROBERTS: Still to come this morning, new credit card changes could impact the wallet of almost every American. From perks to discounts, how you could soon save just by choosing one credit card over another.

CHETRY: Also, an experimental vaccine for people with brain tumors, one that appears to help patients live longer. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been following the progress of the research. It's ten minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Well, if prosecutors have their ways, Faisal Shahzad will spend the rest of his life in prison for his failed attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York's time square. Shahzad is scheduled to be sentenced in just a few hours time. Our Deb Feyerick is live outside the courthouse. How long is he going away for, Deb?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. And prosecutors say that Faisal Shahzad showed no remorse, in fact, he spoke about great pride about what he had done. He had watched real time videos of feeds of time square trying to determine the busiest times and locations which would cause maximum damage if that bomb actually detonated.

Now the sentencing memo that we've had a chance to read through really details this plot, how he parked the car, lit the fuse, then walked away listening to hear whether, in fact, there was an explosion, how he was armed with a semiautomatic rifle, which he planned to use if he were stopped by police as he was walking away from this vehicle.

If successful, this memo says he was actually planning a second attack within a two-week period. Now, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, John, recreated the bomb. They rebuilt the bomb based on the device itself, but also details provided by Shahzad. Their conclusion is that the effects would simply have been devastating. And clearly, they're not just talking physical, but also psychologically the impact that it would have had on that area and on this city.

Shahzad has already pleaded guilty 10 counts. He is facing a maximum life prison term. He says the reason he did it, well, U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the drone strikes. That was his reason for doing it. He says he would do it again and again and again and that he'd been thinking about doing this for some 10 years after 9/11. He wanted to join his brothers in jihad.

Prosecutors say he was given every chance. He went to the university here. He married, he worked, he had children, and he turned his back on all of that. Now he is spending -- now he is facing a very long prison term -- John.

ROBERTS: Deb Feyerick for us this morning outside the federal court house in Lower Manhattan and, of course, we'll be checking with Deb throughout the morning to see what the eventual outcome of this is going to be.

CHETRY: All right. We'll be following it.

Meantime, putting more money in your pocket. It's the goal of a new agreement reached between two credit card companies and the Department of Justice. One credit card company, however, not onboard. Christine Romans joins us with details. She's "Minding Your Business" in just a moment.

Sixteen minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Nineteen minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Christine Romans is here with us this morning with some news about credit cards.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. When you use your credit card, you know about the interest rates. You know about the late fees. You know about all these things that you pay for the privilege of using your credit card. There's something called swipe fees. This is what the merchant pays for the privilege of you using your credit card and allowing that money to flow so freely so can you buy goods. And yet --

CHETRY: That's a big point of contention with the New York cab drivers. They don't like you using the credit card --

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, though you have cash.

ROMANS: Right. Because they have to pay -- when you go and buy a $3 greeting card, you can pay up to 15 -- your merchants pay up to 15 cents to the credit card company for that privilege of you to make that purchase.

So yesterday, the attorney general cracking down. He wants you to be able to see how much money your merchant, your small business or big business is paying to the credit card companies. That might be money that's passed on to you, $35 billion in fees a year.

How much is $35 billion? That's more than we spend on say fresh vegetables or books. Things like that. It's an awful lot of money. That's what merchants pay so that they can have that ease of using the credit card and it does makes thing easy. And there's no question about it.

So let's take a look at what they want to do this. Take a look at the merchant fee. That airplane, that's meant to show you. This is one of those high rewards credit cards. For rewards credit card, a merchant might pay five percent of your purchase back to the credit card company. But for a more nuts and bolts not a lot of miles or anything attached to it, it might be two percent. The merchants want to be able and will be able to tell you. They'll be able -- I know -- well, that little fuzzy --

CHETRY: I thought that you meant if you're flying it costs five percent and if you're purchasing a small little kitty, it's only two percent.

ROMANS: No, what they want to -- the attorney general wants you to be able to see so that you know what you're paying for and how much more your merchant is paying because you might, if you choose to use the cheaper card or cash, you might get something like a discount. You might get something like free gift wrap. You might get a little bit of a perk, free delivery perhaps. So this will give consumers more choices.

Visa and Mastercard say, yes, we'll go along with this. American Express is fighting it. American Express says we don't think the merchants are going to pass the savings on to consumers. We think they're just going to keep it for themselves.

ROBERTS: And the New York cab drivers say to me the other day when I went to swipe my credit card, whatever happened to cash is king?

CHETRY: I know, they don't like it.

ROMANS: But they did. A study showed that people give bigger tips when it's on a credit card because they don't --

CHETRY: People --

ROBERTS: Yes.

ROMANS: Otherwise it is round up to their salary and you don't give very much to cabbies. When it's on credit card, you just --

ROBERTS: Whatever you're going to peel off a bill, it's always a little easier.

CHETRY: Plus they get to use the suggested tip.

ROMANS: Precisely.

CHETRY: There you go.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: Higher. The projection is always too high for me, but whatever.

CHETRY: Come on. Thanks, Christine.

Well, statistics say that one in three kids in America are bullies or victims of bullies. So how do we stop kids who bully? And how do you protect children who are victims? We're going to talk solutions when Carol Costello joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Coming up now at 25 minutes after the hour. Your top stories just minutes away. But first, an "A.M. Original," something that you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING.

If you have children, chances are that one of them is either a bully or a victim of a bully.

CHETRY: That sounds pretty depressing, but the problem of bullying has become so pervasive because it's pretty complicated. What do you define as bullying? How do you discipline a bully? And do you go after the parents? How do you teach your kids to protect themselves?

We have a lot of questions about this, which is why we've been focusing on it this week on AMERICAN MORNING. Carol Costello joins us today looking for solutions to a problem faced by millions of every day Americans.

Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are no easy answers, unfortunately. What we decided after yesterday's story, which was so very moving, we needed to do a story of how can you protect your kid against a bully? And how can you effectively stop a bully? I mean, should you charge the bully with a crime? Should you charge the bully's parents with a crime? And how do you step in and help your kid who is being bullied without making it worse for him or her at school? Hopefully, I can provide some answers for you this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE AND FEMALE: I can make a difference.

COSTELLO (voice-over): At Oklahoma City's Western Heights High School, students are pledging to protect the bullied. It's especially important to Suzan Le. She knows how bullying feels.

(on camera): Is it worse with words, do you think?

SUZAN LE: , OKLAHOMA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I think it is because when I was little, like, people always said I was like really ugly. And it -- I never knew it affected me so much. And like, people would ask if I was a boy or a girl. And I was hurt. And I never wanted that to happen. And like, it lowered my self-esteem really bad. And I never wanted to go to school.

COSTELLO: So I see it hurts you. I see it hurts you so much. But you know you're beautiful, right? Yes.

(voice-over): It's the kind of pain that affects so many children. One in three kids are bullied or bully every year. So how do you stop it?

RACHEL SIMMONS, AUTHOR, "ODD GIRL OUT": We have to take it seriously. We have to have rules --

COSTELLO: Rachel Simmons wrote "Odd Girl Out." She's an expert on bullying.

SIMMONS: The way an adult intervenes is just as important as the fact that they're intervening at all.

COSTELLO: A good first step, calm down.

SIMMONS: Don't communicate with anyone, another child or the school until you are calm and able to have a respectful conversation. Because it's very easy to get marginalized as the crazy parent in a school.

COSTELLO: Next, document how your child is being bullied. And then ask your child what he or she wants you to do.

SIMMONS: Remember, you are not the one who has to walk back into that school for eight hours a day. And you may want to do solution A. But if you do that solution, your child may be mercilessly retaliated against.

COSTELLO: Simmons says bullies are often popular, socially skilled kids who can enlist an army of bullies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kids being bullied don't always tell you about it.

COSTELLO: Marisa Velasco who is also participating in Western Heights anti-bullying campaign knows exactly what Simmons is talking about. In junior high school, she was a bully. Why?

MARISA VELASCO, OKLAHOMA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I don't really know if there was really a reason. It was just an easy target, I guess.

COSTELLO (on camera): Is it because other kids were making fun of those kids too?

VELASCO: Yes, there was a lot. There were others also bullying.

COSTELLO: So sort of like a mob mentality.

VELASCO: Yes.

COSTELLO: When you were calling people names, did it make you feel better?

VELASCO: It's not that it made me feel better. I knew they felt worse.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Which brings us to how bullies ought to be stopped. Don't humiliate them.

SIMMONS: If you humiliate a bully publicly, you are much more likely to see retaliation. If you sit down with the child and say this is what I'm seeing, it's not acceptable, I know you're capable of more, and if it happens again, these are the consequences.

COSTELLO: Suzan Le and Marisa Velasco certainly know the consequences. They're hoping to make this school year bully free.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Wouldn't that be nice? Making the school year bully-free? What about criminalizing bullying? A lot of people say you should charge the kid or charge the parents.

Well, according to our experts or most of the experts I talked with, if you charge a kid with a crime for bullying, it doesn't necessarily set an example for other kids. Because kids look at examples and say, that will never happen to me. It doesn't really resonate with them. So it's not going to do anything. It's not going to teach the bully to behave properly. It's not going to teach future bullies to behave properly because many times kids don't even know that they're bullying or that their bullying hurts another person. They have no idea and their parents don't have any idea that they're bullying. ROBERTS: Isn't bullying just an expression of insecurity?

COSTELLO: No, it's not. That's one of the big miss around bullying. Most of the kids who bully are very confident kids. They're very secure. They have adults wrapped around their little finger. They're socially skilled, so they get away with it. It's all about power. And if you look at our wider culture, bullies win. Bullying works. It's about power. It's not about insecurity. It's about gaining power.

CHETRY: So that's interesting because you talk about wanting to -- I mean, we, as you know, a country talk about wanting to equip our children with life skills. So if we make a bully-free zone or if we make an unrealistic world and then may hop out of the real one (INAUDIBLE), what happens?

COSTELLO: Well, there's a limit to how much you bully, right? There's teasing which I guess happens, and it's OK because it does teach your kid to be tougher. But there's a difference between teasing, being mean every once in a while to another person and consistent behavior, bad behavior toward another person. Bullying is persistent behavior over time.

ROBERTS: And you can see the effects with Susan, the young woman you talked to right at the top of your piece. She's just still to this day devastated by the memories of what happened.

COSTELLO: And she's doing great. She's like going to go to college. She's a senior now and she's still so affected by this kind of behavior. So, it's a tough problem. But, it really starts at home. I mean, parents really have to sit down and explain to their kids how words hurt. How writing something nasty on the internet about another person hurts them.

In fact, the young woman that I talk with, Marissa, who was a bully. She was a bully. She didn't know why she bullied, she just did it, right?

CHETRY: I wonder, though, if deep down inside some of it is well, if they're picking on so-and-so, at least they're not picking on me. I mean, that's a set reality as well.

COSTELLO: She turned around when she was bullied. She said, "oh, now I get it." And the only thing that will really stop bullying in schools if kids stand up for other kids.

CHETRY: Right.

ROBERTS: They walk a mile in my shoes. Carol, great piece this morning.

CHETRY: Thanks, Carol.

Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, we're going to find out what happens when the bully won't back down. How parents are turning to martial arts to help bully proof their kids. ROBERTS: If they could beat up the bully, you got an edge. Bullying not only in our schools but now on-line. How do we stop it? Don't miss an "AC 360" special report tonight at 10:00 Eastern on CNN.

CHETRY: You can also find coverage of CNN and Time Warner's efforts to stop bullying, and get involved. If your schools try to stop bullies by holding special events, send us an iReport, go to cnn.com/bullying.

ROBERTS: Crossing the half hour. Here's this morning's top stories. Federal law enforcement stepping up security patrols along Amtrak routes this week. It's part of an exercise called Operation Rail Safe. Homeland Security officials say it was planned for some time, is not connected to the terror threat in Europe.

However, earlier when we spoke with CNN national contributor Fran Townsend. She said although it is a yearly exercise, it takes on new meaning given the current threat.

CHETRY: Well, in just a few hours Faisal Shahzad will be sentenced in New York federal court. The 30-year-old Pakistani-American faces life in prison for his failed plot to set up a car bomb in New York's Times Square back in May.

ROBERTS: And Delaware Senate Republican nominee Christine O'Donnell is launching her first television ad of the general election. And she is trying to assure voters that she is not a witch. In the ad, O'Donnell says "I'm nothing you've heard. I'm you." Some Republicans have criticized O'Donnell for waiting this long to start airing ads, especially since she has raised more than $2 million since her upset victory last month.

CHETRY: Well, one state critical to the ultimate control of Congress is West Virginia. As we mentioned this morning, we're one month out, and right now the contest to fill the long-time seat of the late Democrat Robert Byrd is considered a toss-up.

ROBERTS: Our Dana Bash is live in Morgantown, West Virginia. And, you know, this was supposed to be a shoo-in for the popular Democratic Governor Joe Manchin, why is it suddenly a toss-up?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Joe Manchin is one of the most popular governors in the country, John and Kiran. Democrat or Republican and being popular as a politician is a pretty big feat right now, especially a Democrat in this conservative state. The problem that he has in his run for the Senate is his party in Washington is not so well liked.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin in Milton's Pumpkin day parade, and it's obvious voters really like him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okie dokie. Boy, everybody's out, huh?

BASH: But do they want to send Manchin to Washington as their senator? A stunning number say no.

DAVID RIDEL, WEST VIRGINIA VOTER: I think he's doing a great job here and I voted for him both times he's ran here in West Virginia. But going to Washington, that scares me to death.

BASH: Frustration with Democrats in Washington is making the popular governor's race for Senate surprisingly competitive.

(on camera): They like you as governor and they're not sure they want you, a Democrat, to be the one they send to Washington, D.C. because they're so mad at Washington, D.C..

GOV. JOE MANCHIN (D), SENATE CANDIDATE: The Democrats in Washington are in control, so absolutely it resonates to that. The bottom line is that people don't want governments on their back and they want them out of their pocket.

BASH: How much is the president as they are dragging you down and making this race competitive for you for the Senate?

MANCHIN: I think it is - it has made a big difference in my race. It truly has made a difference in my race.

BASH: In what way?

MANCHIN: President Obama's not on the ballot.

BASH (voice-over): His Republican opponent is trying to convince voters otherwise.

JOHN RAESE (R), SENATE CANDIDATE: I'm John Raese and I approve of this message because I won't be a rubber stamp.

BASH (on camera): Luckily for you this fits on a bumper sticker.

RAESE: Absolutely. No rubber stamps, that says it all.

BASH (voice-over): John Raese is a wealthy GOP businessman who has run and lost three statewide races.

RAESE: I always kid the tea party they're a little bit left of me.

BASH: Now he says people are more receptive to their anti-government views. He wants to abolish the Departments of Education, Energy and the IRS and wants to end minimum wage.

RAESE: Because minimum wage is something that Franklin Delano Roosevelt put in during the depression. It didn't work during the depression. It certainly hasn't worked now.

BASH: Manchin argues that Raese is out of step with West Virginia. Still the governor now is trying to distance himself from his own Democratic Party. Take health care reform. Earlier this year, Manchin said he supported it. Now he wants to repeal all but a handful of provisions like no discrimination for pre-existing conditions. MANCHIN: That's a pretty good start. Why don't you start with that. Repeal the rest of it. Start with what you agree on.

BASH: And the stimulus bill.

(on camera): Had you been in Washington then, a senator, would you vote against it?

MANCHIN: You know what? The expansion of that, that's not who I am.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now, for the record, the federal government gave the state of West Virginia about $1.5 billion. And the governor did not take it all and said he would allocate what he did take judiciously. Now whether this popular governor can separate himself enough from a president who I can tell you is very unpopular here, that's an open question, but John and Kiran, Republicans do think that he is beatable. They think that they can move this seat in the Senate from the Democratic to the Republican column.

And we know that because they're putting their money where their mouth is. They have said that they're going to spend $3 million on this race here in West Virginia. That is a lot of cash. It goes very far in campaigns and politics in this state. John and Kiran?

CHETRY: All right. Dana Bash for us this morning. Thanks so much.

Well, as we've been talking about. Just one month now until the midterms. Democrats making some gains, but still quite a bit big disadvantage. Coming up, we're going to be talking to former Republican Congressman Tom Davis. And former Democratic congressman Martin Frost. 28 days out. How do both parties try to maximize their wins in this midterm?

It's 37 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: 40 minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back to the most politics in the morning. We're just a month out until the midterm elections and there are signs that the Democrats still swimming upstream as the party in power could, though, be gaining some ground on the GOP.

There's a new "Washington Post" ABC News poll out this morning shows the GOP with a six-point edge in a generic congressional race. The Democrats are making gains with voters. And joining us now from Washington, former Republican Congressman Tom Davis and former Democratic Congressman Martin Frost.

Thanks to both of you for being with us this morning.

FORMER REP. MARTIN FROST (D), TEXAS: Sure. Good to be here.

CHETRY: Let me ask you, Congressman Frost, first. What do you think about the narrowing of the gap? Is this a good sign? Or is there a long way to go for Democrats?

FROST: Of course, it's a good sign, the six percent gap that the "Washington Post" showed is about half of what it was several weeks ago. So this is getting closer, the elections always get closer as you come to the event. Democrats are going uphill. We understand that. This is not a good year for the Democrats, but the Republicans have got to take 43 seats back to win the House.

They are 39 seats down right now. We're going to take three or four seats away from them. This is a series of contests, one-on-one across the country and Democrats running good races, the question is whether it'll be enough or not.

CHETRY: And Congressman Davis, you think though that the Republicans will ultimately gain control of the House, right?

FORMER REP. TOM DAVIS (R), VIRGINIA: I do. Six points is pretty substantial at this point for the out party, the Democrats, controlling the House, the Senate, and the presidency, basically going to be the object of voter anger this year. And if history shows anything, it's a pretty high tide.

But as martin says, you still have 435 House races to run, you've got 30-some-odd Senate races to run. Individual races do matter but a six-point generic even cutting that to a three-point generic would dictate Republican control of the House.

CHETRY: But as you said, Congressman Frost, it is also about these individual races.

FROST: That's right.

CHETRY: You still have to run on the local issues and in many of these districts, the number one concern is the economy and jobs, if you're advising the Democrats, what message do they get out there. What do they need to make sure they hit home with their viewers, with their voters in order to get votes?

FROST: Well, they have to say a couple of things. One, they have to say, remind voters that we were on the verge of going into a depression two years ago. And while not everything the Democrats did was perfect, we at least managed to dodge that bullet. We're headed back in the right direction.

Secondly, they need to talk about what they've done in their particular districts. They need to draw a sharp contrast between the particular Republicans. Some of the Republican candidates are not that strong and they need to work right until the end.

And what - I'm a former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, what I told them is don't spend all your money on television. Save some of your money back for get out the vote for election day activities, a lot of these races are going to be very close. When we lost the House in 1994, we lost a number of races by 1,000, by 500 votes, can't let that happen again this time. CHETRY: And that's where the enthusiasm of the voters, of the potential and likely voters comes in. And that seems to be in your favor, Congressman Davis, at least in your party's favor. How do you make sure you still ride that wave? Don't alienate independents in the process?

DAVIS: Yes, our base is going to be out there. They're angry with what's going on in Washington. Frankly, they were dispirited in the last two election cycles. Democrats at this point seems to be the ones that are dispirited. Somehow, the Democrats have to get those surge of voters that elected Obama, get them energized and of course, that's difficult to do in the last month. And independents seem to be trending toward the Republicans this time. They really don't like either party. But the only way they can put a check on the Obama administration as opposed to giving him a blank check is to vote for the Republicans.

FROST: What I have told Democratic candidates also is don't forget what the Republicans have been saying. Some of the Republican leaders, some of the Republican candidates have come out for privatization of social security and Medicare. Run with that issue. That's a good issue, seniors vote in off-year elections in high numbers and also talk about what you've done to bring jobs to your district.

This - well, these races are determined on local factors. Things are moving back in our direction whether it's going to be enough by election day, it remains to be seen. But this is not over. This race is yet to be determined.

CHETRY: Right. And Congressman Davis, he brings up an interesting issue though which is sort of a thread in the needle. I mean, overall, people don't want the government to spend a lot of money, but then when you bring it home locally and say but that means we are going to have to possibly cut your unemployment benefits or possibly cut the social services your family needs, how do you make sure that you're still sticking with the right messages?

DAVIS: Well, voters don't like Republicans. They fired us in '06 and '08. We've got to remember that. But what they're doing is they're concerned about the direction and the spending, perhaps the tax increases coming. And so they're casting their protest vote for the Republicans. Right now the Democrats are dispirited, and until they can get their base rejuvenated at this point, looks like a long night.

FROST: I believe we're coming back. We've got a little time yet, let's watch the next couple of weeks.

CHETRY: 28 days, we'll certainly be watching and covering all of it.

Congressman Tom Davis, Congressman Martin Frost, great to get your perspectives this morning. Thanks.

DAVIS: Thank you.

FROST: Thank you. CHETRY: John.

ROBERTS: Storms in the northeast, Kiran. Plus we're watching, ut-oh, a tropical disturbance in the Caribbean. Rob Marciano tracking it all and he's coming up next. 45 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: It's 54 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. It's time for you AM House Call, stories about your health this morning. An experimental vaccine could help people with the most aggressive type of brain cancer live longer.

ROBERTS: Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been following this trial, meeting with doctors and patients involved. He joins us now from Atlanta.

This really has been sort of I guess you might call it a the "Holy Grail" of treating cancer is getting a patient's own immune system to try to attack the tumor.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. And with this particular type of brain cancer, called Glioblastoma, it's been particularly important because we've really made hardly any progress with this tumor for so long. It is the deadliest. It is also the most common form of brain cancer. About 10,000 cases a year. It's the type of tumor that affected Senator Ted Kennedy.

But you're absolutely right. What are the new strategies? One of them is to use the body's own immune system. We've been following this along for two years.

Take a look at what we found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard you also volunteered to do a spinal tap today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Karen Vaneman. She's bracing for another painful procedure. You see, she's got cancer. Brain cancer, a killer tumor called glioblastoma.

(on camera): Glioblastoma -- glioblastoma multiforme GBM, this is -- this typically thought of as the worst type of tumor. Why?

DR. ALLAN FRIEDMAN, DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR, PRESTON ROBERT TISCH BRAIN TUMOR CENTER: Oh, because left untreated, the patient succumbs to the disease very quickly.

GUPTA (voice-over): Even with aggressive treatment, average survival is barely a year.

VANEMAN: Oh good to meet you.

GUPTA (on camera): How are you?

VANEMAN: I'm fine. Thank you.

GUPTA: Are you ok today?

(voice-over): But here at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center Karen found hope, an experimental vaccine. The vaccine has a futuristic name. It's called CDX-110. It uses the body's own immune system to attack tumor cells. It won't work on every GBM patient, just the 40 percent or so whose tumors make one particular protein.

In those patients it goes off like a smart bomb. Now, Karen gets a shot, a painful one, every month. But look at the results. We were able to pay her another visit, a full year later. Remember, most patients don't even live that long.

VANEMAN: It's been about a year and a half. As long as the vaccine works, then I'll be getting the monthly shots. And when it doesn't work, then I'm in trouble.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: It's just so heartbreaking to hear the stories because the prognosis is so grim. But where does this leave the patient, the new vaccine?

GUPTA: Well, you know, right now part of the reason I wanted to tell you about this is because the early results have been so promising. But not available for wide use yet, it's still in clinical trials.

The way it works, it's fascinating again, is that cancer cells, particularly this type of cancer, have a special little marker on their surface. And it's that marker that's unique to cancer and it's what the body is trained to attack. So it's sort of attacking the cancer almost like it would attack a foreign body. And that's what you're training the body to do. Hopefully within the next couple of years it's going to go through another trial, make sure it's actually what they think it is. And then become more widely available.

ROBERTS: Remarkable progress, at least in the one particular area.

Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Doc, thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thanks, guys.

ROBERTS: Top stories are coming your way right after the break. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)