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American Morning

President Obama in Indonesia Today; Connecticut Man Heading to Death Row; Former President George W. Bush in His Own Words; Tea Partier to GOP Leadership; Will America Plug in: Test-Driving the Volt and Leaf; The Other Afghan Offensive; Secrets to Good Health

Aired November 09, 2010 - 07:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

And good morning to you. Once again, it's Tuesday, November 9th. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm John Roberts. Here are this morning's top stories.

The man behind one of the most horrific crimes in the past decade now heading to death row. More on one family's night at terror in their Connecticut home and the end of a long nightmare for the sole survivor.

CHETRY: Former President George W. Bush in his own words. Nearly two years after leaving the White House, the former president is speaking out, giving a series of interviews. Yesterday, he spoke with Matt Lauer. This morning, we're going to hear what he calls the worst moment of his presidency.

ROBERTS: And a man who added three years to the life of people in one city is sharing his tips for healthy living. Tips that he got from the oldest people in the world. And you may be on the list for his next wellness makeover. It's a segment that literally could add years to your life later on this hour.

CHETRY: First, though, we start with the third time a charm this morning. After canceling two previous trips, President Obama is now in Indonesia. We just heard him speak live a moment ago with that country's president. It's the place where he spent four years of his childhood, and it's the second stop on the president's ten-day trip to Asia. He arrived in Jakarta earlier this morning.

He just wrapped up his news conference and his brief two-day visit may be cut short because of that ash cloud from Mt. Merapi, which has been erupting over the past week or more.

Our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, joins us now on the phone from Jakarta. We had a chance to listen to the president's speech.

What was notable to you, Ed? ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, I think, you know, what's interesting right now, the president is getting questioned about his own personal connection to Indonesia. He spent four years here as a boy starting at the age of six, and he was commenting on how the landscape has completely changed. There were dirt roads, et cetera, when he was here in the early '70s.

And he's reflecting a little bit on the personal, something he doesn't do very often, because obviously this is the most populous majority Muslim country in the world. And his time here as a boy has helped fuel some of this skepticism about whether he was really born in the United States and raised questions about whether he's Muslim or not.

And the president, you know, has obviously struggled with dealing with those questions, which he's called silly, because he's not Muslim, he's Christian. And so he doesn't always talk about that personal side.

So I think he's balancing that with the heavy substance of, look, the U.S. trying to expand trade ties with Indonesia, also trying to work together on counterterrorism. There have been terror attacks here and Bali and elsewhere. Obviously it's something the two countries are working on closely.

And I think more broadly when you talk to senior White House officials, they say what the president wants to do here on this visit is really highlight the fact that this is a country that's protecting its Muslim identity while also engaging with the west, not pulling back and actually engaging on issues like the economy and climate change.

And that's far different of course than the other countries here in Asia and the Mideast. And it's a contrast to China since this is a democracy. And if you notice, all the big countries the president's visiting from India to Indonesia, South Korea next and then ending it in Japan, all democracies around China, a not so subtle hint that we've got other allies in this region, Kiran.

CHETRY: And also, just practically speaking about the president's trip, I know they were looking forward to in Indonesia. He's supposed to give a big speech at the university in Jakarta. This volcano about 375 miles away, it's been erupting. It could cut the president's trip short. What is the latest on that?

HENRY: Yes, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told us a short time ago, it looks like we're going to be leaving a few hours early. The president was going to be here in less than 24 hours anyway, but he'll maybe have to cancel a couple of events here.

The bottom line is you have experts saying this volcanic ash can be destructive to jet engines. And the last thing they want to do is put Air Force One in an unsafe situation as well as the press plane here that we're going to be on. And there are other planes that are part of the official U.S. delegation. And so we're going to probably leave here a little bit early. And it's sort of a strange circumstance because you'll remember this is now the third time the president has tried to come to Indonesia just this year. The first time was canceled because of the health care debate in Washington, then the Gulf oil spill was overshadowing things. Now the third one, he finally got here, but cutting it short, Kiran.

CHETRY: Ed Henry traveling with the president in Indonesia today. Thanks so much, Ed. John?

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: As we watch the president in Southeast Asia, former President Bush is back in the spotlight nearly two years after leaving office. He's written a book. It's called "Decision Points." It comes out today. And in it he writes about everything from waterboarding to the war on terror to Kanye West.

Last night the former president sat down with NBC's Matt Lauer, and he spoke about the now infamous photo of him taken aboard Air Force One as he surveyed the damage from hurricane Katrina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yes. Huge mistake.

MATT LAUER, NBC NEWS: And it made you look so out of touch.

BUSH: Detached. And uncaring. No question about it.

LAUER: Whose fault was it?

BUSH: It's always my fault. I should have touched down in Baton Rouge, met with the governor, walked out and said I hear you. We know, we understand, and we're going to help the state and help the local governments with as much resources as need, and then got back on up to Washington. And I did not do that and paid a price for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The president also touched on what he called the worst moment of his presidency when Kanye West said he didn't care about black people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAUER: You say you told Laura at the time it was the worst moment of your presidency.

BUSH: Yes.

LAUER: I wonder if some people are going to read that and they might give you some heat for that. And the reason is this --

BUSH: Don't care. LAUER: Here's the reason. You're not saying the worst moment in your presidency was watching the misery in Louisiana, you're saying when someone insulted you because of it.

BUSH: And I also make it clear that the misery in Louisiana affected me deeply, as well. There's a lot of tough moments in the book. And it was a disgusting moment pure and simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Chief political correspondent Candy Crowley is also sitting down with the former president. You can see her special edition of "STATE OF THE UNION " Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern.

CHETRY: Also new this morning, a jury saying the man must die for the brutal Connecticut home invasion and murder, a case that drew national attention for how shocking and disgusting it was. Steven Hayes convicted of murdering a mother and her two daughters and setting the house on fire before attempting to flee. Hayes also forced Jennifer Hawk Petit to go to a bank to withdraw money before she was killed.

ROBERTS: Some new restrictions on air travel are in effect in the wake of the Yemen bomb plot. Passengers can no longer travel with toner cartridges weighing more than a pound. And high-risk cargo is banned from passenger planes and will be subject to additional screening.

In Michigan, a state attorney general is out of a job this morning. In his blog Andrew Cheval called University of Michigan student president Chris Armstrong racist and a liar who threatened a radical homosexual agenda. Cheval's attorney claims his client was exercising free speech.

ROBERTS: Fears of inflation sent the price of gold and other precious metals soaring yesterday. Gold hit an all-time high closing at $1,403 an ounce. Investors worrying that the Fed's $600 billion monetary stimulus will devalue the dollar.

CHETRY: Here's a stat that should wake you up. According to AAA, two out of five drivers admit to falling asleep behind the wheel. More than a quarter say they've had trouble staying awake while driving in the last month.

ROBERTS: And passengers who are flying on Air Tran, Delta, and Virgin America will have Wi-Fi in the sky this holiday season for, listen to this, free. Google is partnering with the airlines to offer wireless Internet free of charge on all domestic flights between November 20th and January 2nd. And isn't that a nice holiday treat?

CHETRY: Yes, get a lot more done.

(WEATHER BREAK)

ROBERTS: Well, he's back, Conan O'Brien returning to the air more than nine months after being booted from "The Tonight Show." His new late night show kicked off on our sister network TBS. O'Brien started the show by revisiting the months after he lost his job at NBC. And as you'll see, he was visited by a familiar face.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Don't do it, Conan!

CONAN O'BRIEN, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: Larry King?

KING: I'm your guardian angel.

O'BRIEN: But you're not dead.

KING: Never mind that. I have two words for you, basic cable.

O'BRIEN: Basic cable?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Conan, I think you'll find our terms very attractive.

O'BRIEN: I think we have a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, Conan's new show is a lot like his last. He kind of monologued. There you see Seth Rogen. And also he jammed a little bit -- there is Andy Richter, too -- and he jammed a little bit with White Stripes front man Jack White. They were rocking it.

One new feature, an oversized moon. Conan or his side kick can move across the sky with the remote control. See that? And who said there wasn't cool tricks in basic cable?

By the way, you can watch Conan's new show tonight on TBS at 11:00 eastern. Tonight's guests include Tom Hanks, Jack McBrayer, and musical guest Soundgarden.

ROBERTS: It can now be said that Conan O'Brien hangs the moon.

It's Clinton versus Kardashian, why the secretary of state says the Kardashians aren't exactly the best ambassadors for the United States.

CHETRY: And in what could be Sarah Palin's first move toward 2012, taking on a major policy issue, the Fed's move to quote "print money out of thin air." It's ten minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: It's 13 minutes after the hour. Time now for our Political Ticker.

And Hillary Clinton is no fan of the Kardashians. The secretary of state brought them up during an interview with Australian radio, using them as an example how trash TV in the United States affects how the rest of the world sees us. She said if you look at American TV, you think we all went around wrestling and wearing bikinis.

CHETRY: So she went after the Kardashians rather that the "Jersey Shore."

All right, Sarah Palin taking on the Fed's plan to print money out of thin air, as she said. She told Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to cease and desist with the $600 billion bond-buying program designed to boost the economy. She made the comment at a trade association conference in Phoenix. The speech, meanwhile, creating buzz that she's paving the way for a 2012 presidential run.

ROBERTS: And the Republicans set to take control of the House in January. They're busy figuring out who is going to get powerful and influential leadership roles and whether any newly elected Tea Party candidates are going to be a part of that group.

Our Brianna Keilar is live in Washington this morning. And there's one Tea Party member in particular who may be in for a leadership position.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And she is a freshman. This is Christy Nome of South Dakota we're talking about. And one of the big issues here for Republicans is when you have all of these new freshman members and many of them are lined with the Tea Party, how do you make sure you keep them happy, you make sure they feel, unlike the voters who put them in their positions, how do you make them feel they have a seat at the table?

Well, it seems according to sources, to actually give them one. So what Republican leaders are looking at is creating this new leadership position, and sources are telling us that Christy Nome of South Dakota, who you just saw a picture of her. She's seen as a very charismatic, promising candidate, that she's interested in this position. And so at this point, though, even though sources tell us that she has the backing of some Republican leaders, read Republican establishment, folks who have been there for a while, it would have to be the freshman class of Republicans who would elect her to be in that position, John.

ROBERTS: And a lot of backroom dealing going on with the Democrats, as well, but because they're in the minority now, not as many leadership roles as there were to go around and it's created a fight between two very prominent Democrats.

KEILAR: That's right, Steny Hoyer who's currently the number two Democrat, and Jim Clyburn, currently the number three, as Democrats move to the minority. There's one less leadership position, and so this is an interparty squabble that's going on right now. Both sides saying that they're shoring up the votes, that they're going to be successful here. But there's only one spot. So it's shaping up to be a bit of potentially, even a bloodbath ahead of leadership elections.

Yesterday, Steny Hoyer tweeted making it official that he's going to be running. Now, this isn't anything new. We knew that he was going to be running. This is really his way of trying to raise his profile. And there's this one-upmanship going on. And it's so intriguing here because Steny Hoyer sort of represents one part of the Democratic Party. He's considered more of a moderate. He's had a lot of alliances with Blue Dog Democrats, many of whom lost their seats in this last election. And then on the other hand, you have Jim Clyburn who is the most prominent African-American in Congress. He represents more of the -- that's actually Eric Cantor -- Jim Clyburn is a different guy. But he represents also the more liberal wing. So you've kind of got this infighting among these two parts of the Democratic Party, John. And we are waiting to see how that plays out hoping to get some more details today.

ROBERTS: Go ahead.

CHETRY: And they still haven't settled for sure on Nancy Pelosi as their leader, right?

KEILAR: No, and, you know, we're checking to see whether she has support or if there's any vocal support against her. There is from one congressman Heath Shuler who has suggested that he is going to challenge her. But we're sort of waiting to see exactly how all of that shapes out. At this point, there doesn't appear to be at this point any sort of large tide against her. And she said that she's been checking with the Democrats to see if they support her. But at this point, her hat is in the ring. She is planning to run for minority leader. And at this point officially, she's uncontested.

CHETRY: All right. Brianna Keilar for us this morning. Thanks so much.

Well, it was just one letter, one letter is all it took to solve a "Wheel of Fortune" puzzle. After the break, the stunner that shocked even Pat Sajak.

ROBERTS: And the future of the American auto industry may depend on it. But are you ready to plug in. We test drive the Chevy Volt coming up.

It's 18 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-one minutes now after the hour. And time for some of the stories that got us talking in the news room this morning.

Pat Sajak himself called it the most amazing solve that he has seen in the history of "Wheel of Fortune." One letter is all Caitlin Burke needed to solve the puzzle. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAITLIN BURKE, "WHEEL OF FORTUNE" CONTESTANT: "L."

PAT SAJAK, HOST, "WHEEL OF FORTUNE": One "L."

BURKE: Can I solve?

SAJAK: What's that? BURKE: Can I solve?

SAJAK: OK.

BURKE: It is a prize puzzle.

SAJAK: Yes.

BURKE: I've got a good feeling about this.

SAJAK: That's right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Not bad. You heard the crowd chuckle thinking, what? She's going to solve it on one letter? Now she's laughing all the way to the Caribbean.

CHETRY: Yes, and she did that with a good feeling about that one.

Well, now we'd like to introduce you to the angry French Canadian. Here it is.

Four guys from Montreal created this behemoth baguette. Basically it is the greasiest sandwich ever. It's made of steamed hot dogs. They added bacon -- you have to do that, of course -- french fries with cheese and gravy, and they topped it all off with maple syrup. Talk about an artery clogger, this tips the scales at 5,343 calories and it has 207 grams of fat.

ROBERTS: But it has absolutely the world's perfect food inside of it, of course, because french fries with cheese and gravy? Protein (ph).

An unusual experiment, especially for a professor of nutrition. Mark Haub spent two months on a convenience store junk food diet, Twinkies, brownies and other sweets, limiting himself though to less than 1,800 calories a day. The result -- he's going to pork out, right? No. He lost 27 pounds. His body fat went down eight percent, basically eating carbohydrates and sugar. Haub says it proves his theory that weight loss is not about what you eat, it's how much you eat. It's all about calorie counting.

CHETRY: You cut him open, though, there's just Twinkies in there. So that can't be good for you.

Well, here's 45,000 people running over the Verrazano Bridge in under two minutes. The people who run New York's public transportation, the MTA, released this pretty cool time lapse video of the start of the New York marathon. Those are not cars. Those are all the people running down there. If only they could do that to the traffic around here.

ROBERTS: If only they could do that to my running. I'd love to be able to run that fast. That will be great.

CHETRY: Well, coming up, evidence of salmonella at an Ohio egg farm leads to the recall of 288,000 eggs. Here we are. We thought we had gone through this and solved this. Well, it's a new one. Details just ahead.

Twenty-three minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-six minutes after the hour. The Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leaf, the auto industry is hoping the cars you have to plug in are finally affordable enough and cool enough for the mainstream to finally drive. Both cars are hitting showrooms. They should be out there in the next few weeks or so.

CNN Money's Peter Valdes-Dapena got to drive both of them, and he joins us now with his own take of the two vehicles and whether they are worth your investment.

First of all, let's take a look at the Chevy Volt and let's run down the statistics for you. You drove this, by the way, we should say from Washington, D.C. to New York City. It's an electric/gas combo, although the gas motor only powers the generator to charge the battery backup. Range, 40 miles on the battery alone. You can get an extra 300 miles more if you run up the gas engine. Priced about $33,500 after maximum tax credit. So what was it like to drive?

PETER VALDES-DAPENA, SENIOR WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Actually, it was a really good car. And that's what pleased me. I've driven prototypes of this car before, so I was familiar with the technology. What I wanted to see was what kind of a car the Volt and Leaf (ph) end up, ultimately end up being. It was very pleasant to drive at almost luxury-like ride quality. Very comfortable, super quiet, even when the gasoline engine kicked on to generate electricity after that first 30 to 40 miles, it was still just super quite on the roadway. I think it's actually a car that most people would enjoy driving.

ROBERTS: The cockpit is pretty interesting.

VALDES-DAPENA: Yes.

ROBERTS: It's very space age.

VALDES-DAPENA: Very high-tech. I want to remind you, you know, it's always bad to say a car is like an appliance, but in this case, it's like one of those fancy Italian coffeemakers with, you know, little buttons. It's something you want to show off to your friends.

ROBERTS: Now, what about performance? You know, is this the sort of thing where if you get it on the highway, you put down the accelerator to pass somebody and you just -- it's basically just going to go -- as you try to get around them, or does it actually have some snap to it?

VALDES-DAPENA: It's decent. GM puts the official (INAUDIBLE) 60 at 8.8 seconds. My experience when I was going, every time I went up a hill, I jammed on the gas to see what kind of power this thing has. And it's OK. This is not a thrill ride. It's not a Tesla Roadster (ph). ROBERTS: Is there a certain golf cart --

VALDES-DAPENA: No, definitely --

ROBERTS: No, it's better.

VALDES-DAPENA: Definitely not a golf cart. It's up there with your typical family sedan like a Toyota Camry. It accelerates decent.

ROBERTS: OK. We should say that the difference again between this and, say, the Prius from Toyota is that that's got a gasoline-powered assist that actually drives the car. This car is always driven by an electric motor. You just have the gas-assisted charging.

VALDES-DAPENA: Right. Now some people are going to be picky about this. At high speeds 70 miles an hour and more, the gasoline engine can actually rotate the electric motors a little bit providing a little bit of assistance that way, but just a little bit. The difference with the Prius is it's primarily -- the Prius is still primarily an internal combustion car with assistance from the electric motors. This switches that around. It's almost 100 percent electric.

ROBERTS: Let's take a look at the Nissan Leaf. Now this is an all- electric car. Let's put up the stats on that. So all electric.

VALDES-DAPENA: Right.

ROBERTS: It's got a range, maximum range of 100 miles, priced $24,280 after the tax credits, more economical. What's the drive like here?

VALDES-DAPENA: It's actually a little bit more fun than the Lead. It's a little peppier around town. It's a little smaller and lighter --

ROBERTS: You mean than the Volt?

VALDES-DAPENA: Excuse me, thank you, than the Volt. The difference is, this one isn't carrying around a gasoline engine as well as the battery.

ROBERTS: It's a little lighter.

VALDES-DAPENA: So it's a little bit lighter weight and more peppy. The downside is you do get that roughly 100-mile range in city driving, probably less on the highway, less if you use the air- conditioner. So there's a practicality cost there.

ROBERTS: So do you get range anxiety when you drive something like that?

VALDES-DAPENA: You certainly can. And I have driven a lot of electric cars. I remember driving a Ford electric car a while ago where I was the fifth or sixth journalist to drive it that day, and we were sweating getting back to the garage.

ROBERTS: Hoping to make it over. VALDES-DAPENA: And it's just a natural part of things. Now, people who -- and when you get in the Leaf, they give you a lot of information about how much range you have and how far you can get. So you're always aware of it so you won't be caught by surprise.

ROBERTS: Economical though. Let's put the statistics on that. Cost analysis based on $3 a gallon gasoline, 25 mile per gallon car, costs you 12 cents a mile to operate. The electric car, two cents a mile. That's pretty good.

So where's all this going? You know, when gas was heading north of $4 a gallon a couple of years ago, people were -- everything was being thrown into electric cars or hybrids or alternative energy sources. Will we see a lot more of these on the road in 10 years? Or will it always be a niche market?

PETER VALDES-DAPENA, SENIOR WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: It's not always going to be a niche market, but it is going to be a much longer, slower process than most people think. My son is eight years old. I think when he goes to buy his first car, I bet you money it'll have a gasoline engine in it. It's because the fact of the matter is, gasoline is just convenient. It's easy to use, it takes you five minutes to fill up, you can drive hundreds of miles on it.

We still need more work to do on the batteries in electric cars to make them cheaper, the charging to make them faster to charge. But those will come and eventually we will be seeing electric cars gradually becoming more and more and more common on America's roads over the coming decades.

ROBERTS: Peter Valdes-Dapena, I envy you. I'd love to go out and drive these things. Thanks very much for stopping by. Appreciate it.

CHETRY: All right. We're crossing the half hour right now. Time for a look at our top stories this morning.

Indonesia's latest stop on President Obama's 10-day tour of Asia. It's a place that he spent a part of his childhood. The president just held a joint news conference with Indonesia's president. And he's scheduled to give a major speech at the University of Indonesia tonight. The visit, though, could be cut short because of the eruption from the Mt. Merapi volcano.

ROBERTS: New research tops the health benefits of 100 percent fruit juice. A national study found it's a good source of key vitamins and nutrients that many Americans just are not getting enough of. The researchers recommend 100 percent fruit juice as part of an overall balanced diet.

CHETRY: Well, more eggs are being recalled now after evidence of Salmonella was found at an Ohio farm. The nation's largest egg seller and distributor Cal-Maine Foods is recalling 288,000 eggs purchased from Ohio fresh eggs. The company says that they were distributed and sold in Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Well, all this week we're taking a look at the military presence in Afghanistan and beyond that. The other Afghan offensive as it's being called. Helping the Afghan people build better lives. And this morning in part two of her series, CNN's Jill Dougherty looks at U.S.- sponsored programs that's given some Afghans the power to break with the past. Jill joins us now with more, especially concerning the women in Afghanistan.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. That's our subject today. And you know, the stereotype that we often have of Afghan women is that they're oppressed, invisible, unable to contribute to society. And it is true, I saw it there, and you know, on the streets of even the big cities you can see women wearing the burkas, those are the cloaks that cover them from head to foot.

But on our trip, we also met several women who broke that mold even under the most difficult circumstances.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY (voice-over): A shocking sight for Afghans, women renovating a building. For women like Salma, working outside the home is almost impossible.

SALMA, PAINTING APPRENTICE (through translator): I need to work. My husband cannot work. I was taking in laundry for students, washing it at home, then I heard about this program.

DOUGHERTY: It's called cash for work. An American-sponsored program to help these women, most of them widows, survive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Their family members are desperate. But if we can give them a job, put the food on the table, their kids wouldn't join the insurgencies.

DOUGHERTY: At this hospital in Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan, women learn the basics of construction work.

(on camera): The women start out as unskilled workers and they earn $5 a day and then they can become skilled workers and they actually earn $9 a day, that is as much as men earn for the same job, which is very rare here in Afghanistan.

(voice-over): 18-year-old Shakila uses the pay to support her family.

(on camera): Was it difficult for you to think about doing a man's job?

SHAKILA, PAINTING APPRENTICE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): It's not a problem for me. If a man can do it, why can't a woman?

DOUGHERTY (on camera): This is men's work in Afghanistan for the most part. And so when they started this program, there actually was a bit of nervousness about women doing a man's job.

RODNEY STUBINA, USAID: It's (INAUDIBLE) OK for women to do that kind of work here. We couldn't have them do this on the construction site outside.

DOUGHERTY: Across Afghanistan, women are in the background, hidden behind burkas they wear on the street but empowerment projects are being replicated across the country by the U.S.. Getting women into the workforce is a major initiative as it seeks to build up Afghanistan.

Like this program for female journalists in Herat. Lida Ahmady says that's her dream, but first she has to convince her husband.

LIDA AHMADY, JOURNALISM STUDENT: Things in my life. For example, I will be a good mother for my child. I will be a good wife for you. And also, I would be a good journalist. He say, OK, I will see.

DOUGHERTY: Back in Jalalabad, Salma sees a glimmer of hope for her future. She's already found some new painting jobs, which she does when men aren't present.

SALMA (through translator): I'm proud about me and I'm doing something for my family. I'm very happy I can work like man and go outside of my home, that I can work and get money for my family.

DOUGHERTY: And she's training her 14-year-old daughter to work with her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY: And you know, one big concern that many women have right now is what will happen if the Taliban are brought back into the government through that process of reconciliation? The government says those men would have to first accept the constitution and the women's rights that are contained in it. But some women fear that peace could come at the price of women's freedom even the limited freedom that they have right now.

CHETRY: You know, and that's one of the concerns with the drawdown of U.S. forces. What happens when they're not there to hold the line? And you know, Taliban fighters and local tribal elements are able to exert more influences. Is there a fear there?

DOUGHERTY: There is. And also, you know, these programs are supposed to last for a long time after American troops begin that draw down. But that's the question. There are a lot of programs all over the country, but can they really be pooled together in some type of net that will have the critical mass, you know, to bring women into education and give them better lives? And that's a really huge challenge.

ROBERTS: Jill Dougherty, great to see you this morning. Thanks.

And tomorrow in part three of her series, Jill takes us inside the heavily fortified U.S. embassy complex in Kabul. It's "A Day in the Life" of U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry. Make sure you're here for that. It's going to be great.

He added three years to the life of one town by sharing the secrets of good health from the oldest people in the world. Now Dan Buettner is here to tell us which cities are next. Are you on the list for a wellness makeover?

CHETRY: Also, how long before we see this bit of trickery tried, perhaps, in the NFL? It's a trick play by a Texas middle school team that's gone viral. Now we're going to hear from the quarterback and the coach that pulled it off, just ahead.

It's 37 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

ROBERTS: 40 minutes after the hour. McDonald's on the brain. McDonald's in their bellies, a new poll showing that we are still a fast food nation. Two thirds of patients polled at a Yale nutrition survey said they fed their kids McDonald's in the past week. 15 percent of pre-schoolers are already so aware of McDonald's that they ask for it every single day.

Marketing works. Happy Meals probably have a lot to do with that. And soon they may be illegal in the city of San Francisco. City leaders will vote today on a Happy Meal ban. Under the ordnance, McDonald's and other chains would have until December of next year to make kids meals healthier, or else they'll have to lose the toys. Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Thanks, John.

Well, 41 minutes past the hour, our next guest knows a lot about healthy living. He learned from the oldest people in the world. Dan Buettner set out across the globe to talk to them and bring lessons for a healthy lifestyle back to the United States. In his book, "Blue Zone," he's already made over one particular town in Minnesota adding three years to the life expectancy there.

And Dan Buettner joins us now with an exclusive announcement about his next longevity makeover. I'll have to hold because first I want people - Welcome, by the way.

DAN BUETTNER, AUTHOR "BLUE ZONE": Thank you.

CHETRY: I want people to know a little bit about these blue zones, and these are places around the world where people live 10 to 12 years longer on average than the average American.

BUETTNER: Yes, it was an eight-year "National Geographic" project that identified, geographically confirmed demographic areas where people are living 10 years longer or they have a fraction of the rate of cardiovascular disease.

My team of scientists, our goal was to (INAUDIBLE) exactly what they're doing in order to give a prescriptive for Americans. But the problem is you can tell people all day long what's good for you, it's actually getting people to do it. That's the trick and that's what we tried to do with this project.

CHETRY: Right. So it's interesting, because in places - a couple of the blue zones, Sardinia, for example, in Italy, Okinawa, Japan, a neat peninsula called the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. I mean, they just - whatever it made them healthy was just folded into their lifestyle in that particular area.

BUETTNER: Yes. You can't ask a centenarian how they got to be 100? That's like asking a tall person how they got to be 100. What it really boils down is their environment. They were nudged into the right eating, the right level of physical activity, the right level of socialability. It was never a diet. It was never an exercise program. None of these centenarians pumped iron or did marathons.

CHETRY: It's very interesting. So what lessons did you take away from the blue zone vitality project that you put to work in this one particular town? What about 18,000 people in Minnesota, Albert Lea?

BUETTNER: Yes, if you look at the public health initiatives throughout the world, which we did, you find the only thing that really works is behavioral economics. Not trying to get people to change their behaviors but change their environment. Set it up so that healthy option is the easy option.

And another way to think about it is, you don't look for the silver bullet, you look for the silver buck shot. So 50 or so small things that make it more walkable and bikeable, make it harder for kids to eat junk food, make it easier for people to connect.

CHETRY: So you did this project in Albert Lea, Minnesota, and you got some startling results from it. We just want to show a couple on the screen. So you dropped health care costs in this town, or in this city by 48 percent, nearly cut it in half. People calling out sick from work down 20 percent, people's weight loss three pounds, but you say on average it was how much?

BUETTNER: So if you add it up, 10,000 pounds of weight loss a year.

CHETRY: Of weight loss. And their life expectancy also jumped by three years. What was the trick? What changes did you put into place in Albert Lea, Minnesota?

BUETTNER: OK. So there were seven schools. And one of the things we got them to change was just simply prohibiting eating food in hall ways and classrooms. And that alone cuts eight hours of junk food eating out of a kid's daily diet and will lower their BMI, their body fat by 11 percent, just by doing that.

We put in 1.7 miles of sidewalks. But instead of saying put these sidewalks in, we brought in experts to help work with the city planners to figure out the natural pedestrian route. And we did farmers markets. We got people to cluster in groups of five and become friends with other active people because we know who you hang out with has a huge impact on your health behaviors.

CHETRY: Yes, your friend gets you to go to the gym, right? With this buddy system, it's easier.

BUETTNER: You know, if your three best friends are obese, there's 150 percent chance that you'll be overweight. So if you get people connecting with people's idea of activity as bowling or walking, that behavior's going to be contagious too.

CHETRY: That's very interesting. So now you're going to choose your next cities to get this makeover. You're announcing them today on our show.

Who are the lucky winners?

BUETTNER: Well, we teamed up with a huge well-being company called Health Ways. They know how to make populations healthy. And we send it out to 55 cities in America responded to an RFP (ph). We narrowed it to three. And today we're announcing, we're actually going into Los Angeles, specifically the cities of Redondo, Hermosa, and Manhattan Beach. And that's our next blue zone, our next vitality city.

CHETRY: It's interesting you picked these. You said there were others -- Asheville, North Carolina; a group of cities in Central Florida. But you went with these. You thought it might ultimately be the best suited. I (INAUDIBLE) automatically think of Southern California as being a place where people are healthy. They have a lot of sunlight, they have water access.

It's not always the case?

BUETTNER: Well, if you look at the statistics, they're not unlike the rest of America. About 60 percent are overweight or obese. And, of course, if you go right along the ocean you see very healthy people. But if you go in a few blocks, they're just like people in Minnesota or New York. They're not that much different.

Also we're really attracted to the fact this is a community that really wants this. The mayors, the city manager, the superintendent, the beach city's health district -- a public agency-- they all really wanted us to come in. And we believe we're just unleashing internal will. So that stacks the deck in favor of success.

CHETRY: All right. Well, it'll be interesting to see how it turns out, if they can mirror the success of Albert Lee, Minnesota.

Dan Buettner, and you have another new book called, "Thrive," and this is secrets from the world's happiest people. That's out right now, as well.

Thanks so much for joining us this morning.

BUETTNER: Oh, it was a delight to see you.

CHETRY: Thanks. John.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had to get a little rough with security in India. Find out why the man who battles the press on a daily basis was sticking up for reporters.

And another chilly start to the day for much of the East Coast. Rob's got this morning's travel forecast right after the break. It's 47 minutes after the hour.

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ROBERTS: Pretty picture this morning, looking across Central Park from Columbus Circle, and you can see the reservoir there. It's 43 degrees, mixture of cloud and sunshine right now. Later on today, it's going to be mostly cloudy, the high of 55. It's supposed to warm up toward the end of the week into the low 60s.

CHETRY: Beautiful shot of all the trees turning color. It's so nice. Well, speaking of trees, a first for America's national Christmas tree. Here it is. It's destined to decorate the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. Think it's big enough?

For the first time it's coming from Wyoming and a CNN iReport producer Rachel Ate (ph) was on hand to capture it for us. About 80 trees altogether will be taken by truck to the Capitol to adorn dozens of offices. That thing's so long we still haven't seen the top.

ROBERTS: And it looks like they cut done every tree on the hillside just to find the right one, too. No trees besides that one. Look at. There you go.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: Coming up, if you thought up the most outrageous trick play on the football field, would you ever think of this? A little side arm snap as the quarterback counts off a penalty. Oh, just kidding. The remarkable play drawn up by a Texas middle school team. We'll hear from the coach and the quarterback just ahead.

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ROBERTS: Four minutes now to the top of the hour.

Trick play drawn up by a Texas middle school team has football fans across America talking. The so-called penalty play was executed to perfection by Driscoll Middle School quarterback Jason Garza, who walked, then ran past the confused defense for a 67-yard game-tying touchdown.

Earlier, on AMERICAN MORNING we asked Garza and the coach who devised the play what they were thinking as it came off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON GARZA, QUARTERBACK, DRISCOLL MIDDLE SCHOOL: It was just a rush of adrenaline. I think I said that right. It was fun. I had a blast doing it. I didn't think I was going to get very far but it turned out to be a touchdown.

JOHN DE LOS SANTOS, ASST. COACH, DRISCOLL MIDDLE SCHOOL: In practicing the play, we even said there's going to be two results to the play. Either Jason's going to get hit really hard by a linebacker or a safety, or he's going to get a first down or touchdown. And for us, thank goodness, it was the latter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Look at, just walking through the linebackers. He's thinking all the time, I'm going to get killed. I'm going to get killed and then off he goes. Video of the trick play which was posted on YouTube has gone viral getting nearly 170,000 hits and a thousand comments, as well.

CHETRY: Most of them supportive of the team.

ROBERTS: A lot of people questioning the legality of the play. Wondering if the refs got it right or if the refs got it wrong.

CHETRY: It's interesting though because the coach told us they asked before the game, these are some of our trick plays. Are these legal?

ROBERTS: Yes, tipped them off to say watch for a funny play. They got away with it.

Top stories after a quick break. Stay with us.

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