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American Morning
New Terror Threat: Saudi Officials Warn Europe; The Hunt for Osama bin Laden; Kentucky Senate Race Gets Ugly; Obamas Try to Energize Ohio; Jump-Starting the Economy; What Lurks Beneath; The Life of a Gun; Blood Test to Flag Concussions?; Calling Attention to Global Warming
Aired October 18, 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: Good Monday morning to you. It's the 18th of October. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We want to get you caught up on stories that happened while you were sleeping.
Two major terror stories developing right now. Europe is on high alert this morning after Saudi officials say that al Qaeda is targeting the continent, especially the country of France.
ROBERTS: Also, there is new information about where Osama bin Laden may be hiding. And according to a NATO official, it's not in a cave, and it's not too far from where the U.S. military lost him nine years ago.
CHETRY: And a privacy breach at Facebook. Tens of millions of users of the social networking site reportedly affected by this. We're going to tell you who may have gotten information about you and your Facebook friends in a moment.
ROBERTS: Up first, a CNN security watch. Two major terror stories on the radar this morning. First, target Europe.
France on high alert right now after Saudi officials specifically named that country in a new terror threat from al Qaeda. And there's also new information on where Osama bin Laden may be hiding. A senior NATO official spoke to our Barbara Starr about the hunt for the terror leader and his number two and says it may not be very far apart.
We have correspondents on two continents this morning to bring you the latest on both terror stories. Nic Robertson live for us in London today. And Barbara Starr inside Afghanistan this morning.
First, let's go to Nic with more on how Europe is responding to this latest threat. Good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Well, the French are saying that this threat that they've been tipped off by the Saudis is active or about to be active. They say that the threat level right now is very real, that France remains vigilant. But perhaps significantly they're not increasing their terror threat level, which is at the second highest level heightened red. The top level is scarlet. They're not ramping up their threat level to that highest level at the moment.
But if we look at what's happened in France recently, two times the Eiffel Tower has been evacuated under suspicion of terror threats. But the interior minister over the weekend saying that these tips coming from Saudi Arabia are of concern that France is on top of this threat. They say that France has foiled two such terror threats in the past year and half. Sixty-one people in jail on terror-related charges, John.
ROBERTS: Nic Robertson for us in London this morning. Nic, thanks.
CHETRY: And now, more on the hunt for Osama bin Laden this morning. A high-level NATO official gave our Barbara Starr some new information this morning on where he's hiding and pointed to northwest Pakistan. She's live for us this morning inside of Afghanistan with new details.
Hello, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John, Kiran. I did speak to a very senior NATO official with firsthand knowledge of the latest information, the latest assessment that the alliance has. And he says, look, Osama bin Laden, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri (ph), number two, they're not living in a cave anywhere. The feeling here is that both of them are across the border in northwest Pakistan, that they are not far apart from each other. They're not together. That would be a security risk for them, but they may not have drifted too far apart.
He says ask me to draw a circle in the map and here's what I'd tell you. That Osama bin Laden may at some point have ranged as far as very north in the federal territory, the tribal area of Pakistan up near the Chinese border. But there's a good bet, if you will, that he's in a place called the Kurram Valley -- rugged, square miles, a very rugged territory inhabited by very fierce, tribal elements. And, of course, what's so interesting is the Kurram Valley is right across the border from Tora Bora where Osama bin Laden fled Afghanistan back in 2001 -- Kiran, John.
CHETRY: So if we do find, capture, or kill bin Laden, what is the feeling there in Afghanistan among military leaders? How big of an impact will it actually make in the fight against al Qaeda?
STARR: Well, you know, when you're here in Afghanistan, nobody even really talks about bin Laden unless you ask someone what the latest information is. Here, there is a feeling that right now the equation is this. They have to step up military attacks, which the alliance led by the U.S. has been doing. More air strikes, more ground attacks, pressure the Taliban and the insurgents to come to the negotiating table, the peace table with the Afghan government. That that is the only way to resolve this and that they have to step up the ability of the Afghan government to deal with this problem in this country.
There is declining support in many NATO capitals, in the United States amongst the citizens, for the war, a lot of weary people nine years in. They have to get the Afghan government to take charge here. That's going to be the way U.S. and NATO troops can finally go home -- Kiran, John.
CHETRY: All right. Barbara Starr for us this morning in Afghanistan. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Barbara, thanks.
Also new this morning, a privacy breach at Facebook that's impacting tens of millions of users. The "Wall Street Journal" reports that most of the popular apps on the social networking site have been transmitting profile names to advertising and Internet tracking companies. And in some cases according to the report, the names of a user's friends are being transmitted. The spokesman for Facebook tells us immediate steps are being taken to correct the problem and there's no evidence that any personal information was misused, at least not at this point.
CHETRY: All right. We'll keep tracking that for you.
In the meantime, about a dozen of the rescued Chilean miners returned to the scene of their long ordeal Sunday. They had a private mass gathering at the mouth of the San Jose mine along with family members. The miners are not talking. One of them says they've made a pact to keep quiet amid reports of a pending book deal.
ROBERTS: Jury selection begins today in the trial of an illegal immigrant from El Salvador accused of killing Washington intern Chandra Levy. Ingmar Guandique faces murder charges. Former California Congressman Gary Condit is expected to testify. You'll remember he was romantically linked to Levy in 2001 and was once considered a suspect when she disappeared.
CHETRY: Well, war of words in Kentucky. The Senate debate between Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Rand Paul turns into a name-calling session. We're going to hear a little bit of the fireworks just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Eight minutes after the hour. Let's get a quick check of the morning's weather headlines. Rob Marciano in New Orleans for us. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Fairly quiet weather across much of the eastern half of the country with just a few showers out and about. But for the most part, all the action is out west.
Take a look at the national map and give you an idea where you might run into some trouble spots. Really just along that little stationary boundary, slicing across the midsection and maybe some breezy conditions across the northeast. Continued dry across the deep south has been unusually dry and into drought conditions for places like Memphis and Little Rock and even further south towards the gulf coast. Seventy-nine in St. Louis. It will be 85 degrees in Dallas and 63 degrees in New York.
Do want to touch on the big international headline. This is Megi. At one point it was a super typhoon with winds of 180 miles an hour slamming into the Philippines late last night, downgraded to the equivalent of a Cat Four hurricane with 140 miles an hour winds and now reemerging into the South China Sea for the most part. And there's your forecast track heading off towards the west.
We are also watching something down in the southwestern Caribbean. Still hurricane season here, and that, of course, it's always a worry for folks who live in New Orleans. And the other reason, the main reason that we are here, John and Kiran, is that coming up on Wednesday, that's the six-month day from when that explosion happened out there, the Macondo well, and we're doing a little Gulf of Mexico oil spill update. Take a little report card on what's going on down here and we'll have reports throughout the week. The first one coming up in just a few minutes.
CHETRY: All right. We look forward to checking in, Rob, and just seeing if life has returned to normal in any way, shape, or form for many living along the coast. Thanks so much.
ROBERTS: Well, to politics now. Don't expect John McCain's daughter Meghan to be sitting down for tea with Delaware's Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell any time soon. She appeared on ABC's "This Week," and on it Meghan McCain ripped into O'Donnell saying that the Tea Party favorite is just unqualified to be a senator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGHAN MCCAIN, AUTHOR, "DIRTY SEXY POLITICS": Christine O'Donnell is making a mockery of running for public office. She has no real history, no real success in any kind of business. And what that sends to my generation is one day you can just wake up and run for Senate no matter how lack of experience you have. And it scares me for a lot of reasons. And I just know in my group of friends, it just turns people off because she's seen as a nut job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Whoa, fighting words.
In the battle for the U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky was never a love fest. But in last night's debate between Democrat Jack Conway and Republican Rand Paul, it turned into a bitter name-calling session. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY SENATE CANDIDATE: We have serious problems in our country. We have to have a serious discussion and he's descended into the gutter to attack my Christian beliefs.
Jack, you should be ashamed of yourself. You should apologize. Have you no decency? Have you no shame?
JACK CONWAY (D), KENTUCKY SENATE CANDIDATE: He still hasn't answered the two fundamental questions. Why did he join a group that was known for mocking Christianity and Christ? Why did he join it? It's apparent from Mr. Green in today's paper that he joined it, that they reveled in sacrilege. And values matter. When is it ever appropriate to tie up a woman and ask her to kneel before a false God that you call Aqua Buddha (ph)?
PAUL: You know how do we tell when you're lying? When your lips are moving.
CONWAY: Have the guts to stay by your positions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Despite the back and forth, there was some talk of the issues there. A little bit of talk. For instance, on health care, Paul said he would get rid of the new health care law. Well, Conway said it needs to be fixed.
CHETRY: All right. Well, with only 15 days left now until the crucial midterm elections, President Obama and the first lady teamed up in Ohio for their first joint campaign stop since 2008. And our Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House this morning with more on how things turned out there on the campaign trail this weekend. They're really still trying to energize voters to get out there next month. We talk a lot about the enthusiasm gap between the two parties.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They really are trying, John and Kiran. I mean, you saw them out there for the first time since 2008 campaigning together. It was really they teased each other. They were very playful, kind of a husband/wife couple act, if you will. But they did get very serious about trying to motivate voters. They are turning specifically to Ohio State to young voters, to black and Hispanic voters. Quite frankly people who normally would not come out for the midterm elections and they focused on issues that they thought they would be interested in. So the cost of education, health care reform, veterans' benefits, these types of things. And they both urged this audience to be patient to allow the Obama administration's policies to come to fruition and at the same time still remain involved. Here's how they put it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In two weeks, you've got the chance to say once again, yes, we can. Now, look, let's be honest. This is a difficult election. This is hard. And it's hard because we've been through an incredibly difficult time as a nation.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We're here to restore that dream for all of our people. That is the change we're fighting for. That's what's at stake. That has been the change Barack has fought for for so many years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: You're going to hear the president today focus on education as well as creating jobs. That's what this week is all about. But there's also going to be a major campaign blitz. We're going to see the president on the road for the next couple of weeks.
And here's what his schedule is looking like. This is to help out those incumbent Democrats whose races look they're in trouble. He is going to start off on Wednesday in Portland, Oregon. He is going to then move to Seattle, Washington. On Thursday, he'll be in Seattle, Washington, move to San Francisco, California. Friday, he's going to hit Los Angeles and then on to Las Vegas and Nevada. And then finally on Saturday, Minneapolis, Minnesota, back to Washington.
This is going to be an all-out campaign blitz for the next couple of weeks to try at the very least to see if they can save some of those incumbent Democrats in those states where it seems like they're most vulnerable -- John, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning at the White House. Thanks.
ROBERTS: Well, we're just two weeks away from the midterm elections and less than two weeks away from your favorite national holiday, Halloween. Christine Romans coming up next with the best places to trick-or-treat in America.
Stay with us. Fourteen minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Seventeen minutes after the hour. Christine Romans here, "Minding Your Business" this morning.
No talk of domesticated foul this morning in relation to the Fed, but they're going to do something to try to get the economy going.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: To juice the economy.
ROBERTS: There you go.
ROMANS: They're going to try to juice the economy -
ROBERTS: Sounds - rhymes with -
ROMANS: Yes. Exactly.
Look -
CHETRY: It sounds a lot like stimulus. ROMANS: It sounds like stimulus, but do not call it stimulus, folks, because the Fed is looking for new ways to try to reinvigorate the economy. The Fed actually lowering its forecast for growth this year and next.
How do we know this? Because we saw the minutes of the September 21st Fed meeting and it looks like there's a vigorous debate going on in there about just how to get this economy jump started.
How would they do it? Well, you know, usually the Fed eases to jump start the economy, and it does that by lowering interest rates. But interest rates are already rock bottom, already near zero. So the Fed would have to do something like buy more assets, maybe long-term Treasury securities, print money, essentially, shoving money into the economy, getting the money going so that we can have more money available for - you know, for the economy to breathe again. The economy is growing. Don't get me wrong. But it's not growing as quickly as the Fed wanted. So the Fed is looking at new ways to try to get things going to stimulate the economy.
So we'll know - I think we'll know at the next meeting what they plan to do, if anything.
ROBERTS: What's really troubling is what's happening with the dollar. But that's a - a topic for another discussion.
If you've got some news about Halloween?
ROMANS: I do. I - I wanted to - I wanted to bring you the important big picture news at the Fed, but I also wanted to tell you that for the next couple of weeks, Zillow, the people who study real estate, are going to be laying out the best places to go get your candy.
They looked at all of their mortgage and foreclosure data and have put together the best places to go trick-or-treating, and topping the list, Seattle, Washington. That is the number one city in this country.
Now, it's not just home prices. Zillow has all of this - all of this data at their - at their fingertips, and not just home prices. It's also where they think you can get the most candy, based on their models, the best walkability of neighborhoods, and also, best crime - worst - the best safety, least crime. And over the next couple of weeks Zillow's going to be laying out some other places, neighborhoods in different cities.
But Seattle, San Francisco, Portland, San Jose and Denver. I guess if you live out west, folks -
CHETRY: So this was supposed to be in the West Coast.
ROMANS: I know. If you live out west, that - those are the best places to go trick-or-treating. But they're going to be analyzing it even more minutely as we go on.
CHETRY: What are you going to - Christine has three boys this year. So did you pick out the theme for the family?
ROMANS: They all want to be goats - which is actually ghosts. They can't say "S." So -
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) -
ROMANS: I've been saying how am I going to get a goat costume? And then I realized. I want to be a 'pooky ghost. That's what he wants to be.
CHETRY: That's hilarious.
ROBERTS: What are you doing?
CHETRY: We're - my daughter picked it, the 4-year-old. We're all Toy Story theme. So my son's Woody, my husband's Buzz, my daughter and I are going to be twin Jessies.
ROBERTS: Excellent.
ROMANS: That's great -
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) a horse somewhere.
ROMANS: Where are you going to get those costumes?
CHETRY: We already got them online.
ROMANS: Oh, nice. All right. A 'pooky ghost.
CHETRY: That sounds fun.
ROMANS: What are you going to be, John?
ROBERTS: Grumpy, as usual.
ROMANS: Grumpy anchorman.
ROMANS: Thanks, Christine.
CHETRY: Well, still ahead, we're going to be checking in with Carol Costello. The life of a gun, how guns end up in the hands of criminals and what law enforcement officials are doing to try to get them back, get them off the streets.
Carol Costello has an "A.M. Original" just ahead.
It's 20 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-four minutes after the hour now.
It's been three months now since the last drop of crude oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and it's still not clear just how much damage was actually done by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. CHETRY: Rob Marciano is live in New Orleans this morning with an "A.M. Original", something you'll see only on AMERICAN MORNING. So how are they trying to track this and determine the long-term impact of the oil spill, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's ongoing. And, you know, what's happening this week are a couple of big dates, like you mentioned. It's been three months now since they capped that well, since the - the oil has finally stopped spewing after 80-something days of pouring thousands and thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
And, coming up this week, it'll be six months from the date of the explosion where 11 men were killed and countless critters have died and countless more, no doubt, will die in the future.
Well, we start this week because it's time for a check-up, and we're going to begin with a look at the beaches - the beaches hit hardest, and those are the ones on the Northern Gulf of Mexico coast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pick stuff up with these gloves.
MARCIANO (voice-over): It was last spring when the oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill made landfall in Florida. That's when we met Dr. Richard Snyder, collecting surf and sand samples on Pensacola Beach.
Now, nearly a half year later, we walk these same beaches again.
DR. RICHARD SNYDER, BIOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA: Is that tar?
MARCIANO (on camera): Yes. Look at that.
SNYDER: And we got a big lump of -
MARCIANO (voice-over): And the oil refuses to leave.
SNYDER: But the reality is that the oil's still there. There was such a large quantity of this material that came out that - tat it just isn't going to go away overnight. Six months, and we still got it.
MARCIANO: So his team of researchers continue taking samples, looking for lingering signs of oil and sea life, like these tiny shellfish, and digging deep into the sand for hidden layers of oil.
AUSTIN DIXON, RESEARCHER: We'll go there.
MARCIANO (on camera): That's it?
DIXON: Yes. Hammer it down. MARCIANO (voice-over): Austin Dixon shows me how to collect a core sample, which requires more manual labor than I prefer.
MARCIANO (on camera): In June I learned cleaning tar off the top of the sand is hard enough.
This requires the touch of a surgeon.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Removing oily tar deep in the sand manually is nearly impossible. So Perdido Key is pulling out the heavy machinery. This modified snow blower/farming sifter is called a Sand Shark, and it could clean up to a mile of eight-foot wide beach per day.
MARCIANO (on camera): On this beach, they're going to about six inches to clean the sand. But you can see here in the layers, well below the 6-inch mark, is a layer of thick, heavy tar.
The question is, do you bring in that heavy equipment to go even deeper? Well, environmentalists are saying you may be doing more damage than good.
JUDY HANER, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF ALABAMA: We now have oil being cleaned up on our shores, and what we have is machinery actually out there, really disrupting the shoreline, disrupting the sand surface. Is the cure really worse than the symptom?
MARCIANO (voice-over): Conservationist Judy Haner is concerned about big trucks plowing through sensitive sandy habitat.
MARCIANO (on camera): Well, how do we go about getting the stuff that's one, two feet down?
HANER: Do we want to get the stuff that's one, two 2 feet down? I think that's what we really need to have a strong conversation about.
MARCIANO (voice-over): The problem is oil that's away from oxygen and sunlight will remain in the sand for years, even decades.
Early results from the sand core samples show very few chemicals harmful to humans. But oil compounds that get into the sea life and into the food chain is the bigger issue.
MARCIANO (on camera): So no longer is it a matter of what you can see scares you, it's a matter of what you can't see that scares you?
SNYDER: That's exactly right. It's mostly the material that we can't see.
MARCIANO (voice-over): What's certain is realizing the full impact of this oil spill will take far longer than the three months it took to cap the leaking well.
(END VIDEOTAPE) MARCIANO: Well, when it comes to the marine life, it'll be at least six months until we have a grasp of what the fish populations of this oil generation will be like. And as far as the beaches are concerned, well, in Alabama, also very hard-hit by the oil, this week they plan to go down to two feet with those Land Sharks and try to get at that layer of oil.
You now, it was Hurricane Alex, oddly enough, that brought that layer in and covered it up with sand. And the only way for Mother Nature really to take care of this in a quick way is for another hurricane to come through and scrape that oil off the beach, and we don't see that really happening likely this year. And so it will be at least six months, and they want to get that oil out of here before the tourist season starts.
Of course the other big issue is wildlife. We'll tackle that tomorrow and then go into the sensitive wetlands and see just how much oil is left there and what they're doing about it to - to clean it up - John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: What about the costs of, Rob, of digging down two feet to get all that oil out? That can't be cheap.
MARCIANO: You know, it's not cheap. It compacts the sand, and you're burning a whole lot of fuel. So there are certainly drawbacks to that.
But, you know, when you - when you talk about the bread and butter of the communities across the Northern Gulf Coast with those pristine white beaches, you're talking about an economy that - that is massive when it comes to tourism. So, at this point, the cost outweigh the - or the benefits outweigh the costs - John.
CHETRY: All right. Good stuff, Rob. We look forward to your report tomorrow, as well. Thanks so much.
And we're crossing the half hour right now. Time for a look at our top stories.
There's a new terror threat. Europe is on alert this morning after Saudi officials put out a warning that al Qaeda wants to target France. Police in France arrested a dozen people for suspected terror ties earlier this month, and the U.S. has already warned Americans to be careful when traveling in Europe, based on intelligence from a German citizen who was captured in Afghanistan.
ROBERTS: New information this morning on the location of Osama Bin Laden. A high-level NATO official spoke to our Barbara Starr in Afghanistan. He said Bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, are believed to be hiding close to each other in houses in Northwest Pakistan and that they may be under the protection of some members of Pakistani intelligence.
CHETRY: And a privacy breech at Facebook impacting tens of millions of users of the social networking site. "Wall Street Journal" investigation found that even if your Facebook account is set up to be completely private, your details could still be accessed by advertisers. Now, according to the report, at least ten of the most popular apps and games on Facebook have been transmitting data to numerous third-party advertisers.
Facebook says that steps are now being taken to correct the privacy breach. And there is no evidence any personal information was misused.
ROBERTS: Well, it'll probably come as no surprise that we are the most armed country in the world. And few things divide America more than the gun control debate. So far, nothing we've done has been able to stop some weapons from getting into the wrong hands. And finding them is more than a full-time job.
Our Carol Costello is live in Washington for us this morning with a look at the life of a gun in this A.M. original.
Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
The ATF is the federal agency responsible for tracing firearms used in crimes. With over 340,000 traces performed just last year, that's a whole lot of work -- especially when each trace has to be done by using paper records and microfilm and telephones. There are no shortcuts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): It all looks so "The Office." But what goes on behind these nondescript cubicles at the ATF's tracing center in the tiny town of Martinsburg, West Virginia --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got special scanning machines.
COSTELLO: -- can save a life or solve a violent crime.
Chief Charlie Houser --
CHARLIE HOUSER, ATF: Most investigators get to work on 10 or 20 investigations per year. I'm involved in 350,000 every year.
COSTELLO: That's almost 1,000 investigations involving a gun used in a crime every day.
The goal here is to help local, state, and international police track the life of a gun, and how it ends up in the hands of a criminal. For example, last year, the ATF helped Ohio police trace more than 10,000 guns. It helped California investigators track more than 32,000 guns. And the list goes on.
(on camera): So, tell me what you're doing here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, right now, I'm working on a subpoena for a trial we have coming up in North Carolina. This is regarding a case where a person got a gun who probably shouldn't have received a gun. And it's my job to go testify to the history of that gun.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Investigators do that by scouring the tracing center's huge data bank.
HOUSER: There could be five dealers on this thing.
COSTELLO: With its list of guns previously used in crimes and gun registration records from firearms dealers. If that makes it sound easy, it's not.
(on camera): Can't you just look at the serial number and say, "Oh, I know where that gun came from"?
HOUSER: No, you can't.
COSTELLO: Not simple as that?
HOUSER: It's not as simple as that. Serial numbers are not necessarily unique.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Or they've been altered or removed. And keep in mind, most guns change hands at least once before they're used in a crime.
HOUSER: What is he? He's just a witness in the chain of distribution, nothing more than that. He may be useful depending on how close he is to handing that gun over to the suspect.
COSTELLO: But that person is still an important clue for detectives to find out how that gun ended up in the hands of a criminal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And despite all of this, the ATF has a pretty impressive track record, tracing the life of a gun accurately in 65 percent of the cases.
But keep in mind, John, that these are registered guns. If a gun is unregistered, it's pretty hard to trace -- although they claim they can do that, too.
ROBERTS: No question about that.
Carol Costello this morning -- Carol, great story. Thanks so much.
And coming up in our next hour, we're going to talk to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg about guns that end up on city streets from other states. It's something that's been an enormous concern for him and he'll be talking about it this morning.
CHETRY: Yes, we look forward to hearing from him.
Also ahead, we're going to be speaking with Eric Larsen. He made it to the North, South Poles, and the summit of Mount Everest all in the same year. He wants to bring attention to the plight of the poles. Global warming is making big some unfortunately big changes in the way that these ecosystems operate. And he's going to be joining us from the base camp of Mount Everest to talk more about his journeys.
It's 34 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Thirty-seven minutes after the hour.
New research may make it possible some day to diagnose mild concussions quickly and easily. Researchers in the Army say they've developed a blood test that can detect if someone has suffered a mild, traumatic brain injury.
Joining me now to talk about it from Washington is Colonel Dallas Hack. He's medical doctor and director of the Army's Combat Casualty Care Research Program.
Colonel Hack, great to talk to you this morning.
So, this, as I understand it, is similar to the blood test that looks for a biological markers following a heart attack. How does this work?
COL. DALLAS HACK, MEDICAL DOCTOR AND DIRECTOR, U.S. ARMY COMBAT CASUALTY CARE RESEARCH PROGRAM: Very similar to that. To the heart attack one. When the brain cells are damaged, they spill their contents into the fluid around the brain. And that then gets into the bloodstream. And we can now measure those in the bloodstream.
ROBERTS: So, there are certain proteins, then, that you're looking for. How sensitive is this test? Let's say that somebody has a very mild traumatic brain injury, sort of minor-level concussion. Can that be detected?
HACK: Well, all of that work still needs to be differentiated. How soon it is and how mild it is. We have found these in patients who actually go to the hospital but have proven mild brain injury. And now, we need to take it to the other limits. But we've been fairly excited with these results so far.
ROBERTS: Now, what about the window of effectiveness? How soon after a bump in the head or a blow to the head might you be able to detect this? And what's the outer limits? Let's say that you hit something within the past week, would it still detect it?
HACK: Well, the test we are working on now, we have somewhere between two hours and 48 hours is where we've been able to see this. And we are doing more research to see where the limits are from there. And we are working on other proteins that will give us longer term results.
ROBERTS: Wow. So, what's the practical application of this in the military, then? HACK: In particular, for a troop that's exposed to a blast injury, for instance, we then can take them to a battalion aid station and do a blood test and know whether they actually have brain damage and whether we can send them on another patrol or not.
ROBERTS: And what's particularly exciting about this, too, and we've seen this in the past, research -- cutting-edge medical research that's done in the military, particularly on the brain, translates to the private sector, as well. My understanding is that Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, was visiting with the Army chief of staff, General Peter Chiarelli, last week?
HACK: Right. And so, I mean, we've been working closely with the NFL because the problems are somewhat similar, especially in the mild brain injury area.
ROBERTS: So, this might be applicable. You could have an on- field test or at least a rapid test back in the locker room that, you know, we saw a couple of pretty bad collisions over the weekend in football games. If a player was taken off the field, you might be able to, within a couple of hours, give them this blood test and know whether or not they're fit to come back at least for the following week's game?
HACK: That is one of the options on this. Yes.
ROBERTS: Right. But you wouldn't be able to do it in the same game, though, I take it. It wouldn't be fast enough.
HACK: Well, as I said, we need to do more research on that.
ROBERTS: OK. And what about, you know, applications all the way down the line? To the youngest players -- you know, some of these kids 7, 8 years old who are getting involved in football. Would it be applicable there, as well?
HACK: That is possible. I think that's important work we need to look at all of that -- you know, is the young player or the baby or whatever have the same kind of proteins we need more work. But it is a -- it is a new field and we think we've got some progress to push on here.
ROBERTS: Now, some brain experts have looked at your research -- are looking at it with a bit of a skeptical eye saying, you know, from what we know might be a little too early to be as excited about all this as the Army is. What do you say to that?
HACK: I mean, all new science takes a while to verify. So, we are doing larger trials. We are still -- we still have a major 1,200- patient trial to do before we submit this for approval to the Food and Drug Administration. There's a lot more work to do. I understand. It takes a while to show the limits of this are.
ROBERTS: But in terms of your clinical trials, what have you discovered so far about its effectiveness, about its accuracy? HACK: It's been 100 percent accurate so far in the mild brain injury patients, as well as the more moderate and severe brain injury patients.
ROBERTS: Wow. You mentioned, Colonel, the FDA approval process. How long do you think it might take before this is approved by the FDA and in general use across the country?
HACK: We are trying to see how quickly we can get this large trial done. We expect within a couple of years, we will have the full trial done and application made to the FDA. And then they will work from there.
ROBERTS: Well, it's all very intriguing. And we look forward to some positive results.
Colonel Dallas Hack, thanks so much for being with us this morning. Great to talk to you, and good luck.
HACK: It's for the troops.
ROBERTS: All right.
CHETRY: All right. Very promising.
ROBERTS: For the troops, not only in the military, but all the way down the line as well. Football troops, just young kids who might fall and bump their heads.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: It'd be great if you have a diagnostic test like that.
CHETRY: Amazing. Amazing stuff. So, good luck to them as they try -- as he said -- to expand the studies. Meanwhile, it's 42 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano is going to be joining. He's in New Orleans today, doing a follow-up on the Gulf oil spill, how much progress has been made. He's also going to give us a look at our national weather forecast.
And then we're going to check in with Eric Larsen. He made it to the North and South Poles and the top of Mount Everest all in one year's time, trying to bring attention and document the way that global warming has affected some of these last great frozen places in our country -- in our world.
Forty-two minutes past the hour.
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ROBERTS: Good morning, New Orleans, and thanks to our friends at WWL. That's Bastian (ph) of broadcast journalism there in New Orleans for the live shot this morning. Beautiful picture of downtown with the bridge in the background (INAUDIBLE) where actually 60 degrees there right now. Later on today, it's going to be hot, high of 84. Though, there wasn't a whole lot of other detail on the weather. So, maybe, we can get that from somewhere else.
CHETRY: That's right. That's our Rob Marciano's job. Forty- five minutes past the hour right now. We get a check of the morning's headlines.
And Rob is in New Orleans for us this morning. Hey, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, guys. Yes. As we mentioned earlier, we're doing a Gulf Coast check-up on the oil spill. So, we're here in New Orleans. It's been a beautiful in the last couple of days. Matter of fact, much of the Deep South has enjoyed a magnificent fall. That, unfortunately, has yielded some very dry conditions and a lot of the area is in a bit of a drought. So, we could use some rain, but it's not going to be happening here, at least, in the near future.
Where is it raining? It's in the Midwest. Take a look at the radar scope, and we'll show you where that action is. Not a terrible storm system rolling across this area, but certainly some light rain from Minneapolis to Chicago, stretching across into Detroit. Areas where you'll run into some delays because of airport issues and maybe some weather issues with that are places like Chicago and Denver, maybe some rain and low clouds in those two spots.
Breezy in the New York area. So, maybe some delays at the LaGuardia as they switched up the configuration there, and San Francisco, some low clouds also. As far as the rest of the country, some rain and higher elevation snow is expected across the southwest, and then, yes, a fire danger across the southeast as the dry spell continues there. 85, Dallas, 81, Atlanta, that is a hair above average. So still, feeling a little bit more like summer than the middle of fall.
It is still hurricane season. We managed to dodge Paula, but will we dodge this thing? We got a medium chance of becoming a tropical depression or tropical storm here in the next 48 hours. The National Hurricane Center watching this carefully, little disturbance there just east of Honduras and Nicaragua. And this is the hot spot for development this time of year. We're trying to get through the month of October.
And once we do, we'll be, It think, smooth sailing. Not so, though, for the Philippines. This is typhoon Meghi, which at one point was a super typhoon with winds of 180 miles an hour making landfall last night. My goodness, we'll be getting reports out of the area of the Northern Philippines here in the next 24 hours and see what kind of damage it did, but it was a powerful storm now heading into the South China Sea with 145-mile-an-hour winds.
That's the strongest storm of the season so far globally, guys. And it was a beast with huge, huge winds. U.S., as you know, has been very, very lucky with an incredible active Atlantic hurricane season but nothing making direct landfall as far as hurricane is concerned across the U.S. And as I look at those pictures, that satellite picture, I'm increasingly thankful as we get closer to Thanksgiving Day.
CHETRY: Yes. It looks like it made a direct hit on the Philippines.
MARCIANO: Yes, squarely, and that eye was well-defined. And I'm a little bit nervous to see some of the video that will be coming out of there.
ROBERTS: Yes, they got slammed. OK. Rob, thanks very much. We'll look forward to that video.
This morning's top stories just minutes away now, including he's got a roof over his head and protection from the people. New information this morning from a senior NATO official on where Osama Bin Laden may be hiding.
CHETRY: And, it's being called Obama 2.0. Details of the president's plan for his next two years in office in a new poll that suggests it's too late for many who voted for change in 2008.
Also, guns that cross borders and kill. States with last laws, the air city streets, Mayor Bloomberg on what needs to be done to stop the flow across state lines. Those stories and much more at the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: Fifty-two minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Our next guest is a polar adventurer who spent the past 15 years of his life traveling to some of the most remote places on earth. In fact, he actually sent the first ever tweet from the North Pole on Earth Day. Friday, Eric Larsen reached the top of Mt. Everest achieving his goal of becoming the first person to visit both the north and south poles as well as the top of the world's tallest mountain in a single year.
Eric says that he launched the save the poles expedition to focus attention on global warming and to document firsthand the changes that have taken place in some of these places. He joins us this morning via satellite phone from his base camp on Everest. Eric, thanks so much for joining us.
VOICE OF ERIC LARSEN, REACHED THE MT. EVEREST: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
CHETRY: We see the sign, hello CNN, Everest base camp. First of all, congratulations. What a feat to be able to actually make the summit of Everest this time of year. I'm sure that was quite difficult. How has it been for you as you have gone on these three adventures this year?
LARSEN: I've spent about six months of the last year living in a tent. But I will say it's been an amazing experience. I've seen some things that most people will probably never ever be able to see and really telling the story of the last great frozen places on the planet.
CHETRY: Yes. And you talk about how you wanted to document some of the changes that have become more and more evident over the past decades when it comes to global warming. Let's start with Everest. What did you find? Any differences?
LARSEN: Incredible differences here. If you talk to any of the locals traveling up the Khumbu glacier, they just talk about how much the glacier has retreated (ph) as well as just kind of fog and the ice (INAUDIBLE) and how much the ice has decreased. And also on our summit day, I was near the south summit looking out across the vast expanse of the Khumbu Valley, and all around, you could see evidence of where glaciers had been not where they are.
CHETRY: That's astounding. You know, these were the places that we sort of think of as untouchable when it comes to staying the way that they always have been. North and South Poles, as well, what were the most noticeable things on each of those journeys when you went there to document? What changes have taken place?
LARSEN: The North Pole -- the North Pole has experienced dramatic changes. I did an expedition in 2006. And just in those several years since I'd last been there, the ice was noticeably thinner and because it's thinner, it's more rough and kind of fractured. Lots of open water. And also the weather patterns are very sporadic. Winds shifting very randomly instead of kind of general specific weather patterns.
CHETRY: You know, when we talk about this, and I mean, it's such a huge issue, many people care about it, young people in particular are seeming to be more energized about trying to save the environment, trying to make sure that we don't lose some of these places, but what can people sitting at home do if they say, OK, global warming. There are concerns, but what can I do about it?
LARSEN: Yes. I thought the same thing when I started planning this expedition. North Pole, South Pole on Everest, in one way that seems impossible. I think what I promote is individual action and national legislation. I have a philosophy beginning with one step in accomplishing big goals. The problem in global warming is a huge thing.
LARSEN: Just by climbing Mt. Everest or going to the North or South Pole, and so, individual things, all these little things add up. Conservation is a big thing. Using less energy-efficient appliances, things like that and on an individual level. But also the national government promote legislation that's going to reduce carbon emissions.
CHETRY: How do you, you know, when you talked about national action in terms of politics, I mean, it's such a politically-charged issue. We have new polling that shows there's been a bit of a shift in terms of whether people agree that global warming is a proven fact. We saw climate gate. We saw a lot of back and forth about cap and trade legislation. I mean, do you see us taking, perhaps some steps backward in people wanting to move on this issue?
LARSEN: Unfortunately, yes, I do. I feel like the debate has circled back to where it was in maybe 2005 and 2006. The important thing, I think, is not to make this issue a -- I mean it's a political issue, but not to make it political. We need to focus on energy efficiency, on creating new renewable energy, creating jobs. And these are good for our economy, good for businesses. It doesn't have to be a political issue. We can protect our environment, stop global warming, and still be smart about our economy and our country.
CHETRY: All right. We want to thank you for joining us from base camp, taking the time out of your day to bring us this firsthand account of what it was like for you. We also encourage people to check out your website. It's savethepoles.com. Eric Larsen, thanks so much for joining us this morning and good luck.
LARSEN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Top stories are coming your way right after the break. Stay with us.
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