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American Morning

Don't "Touch My Junk"; "Lame Duck" Congress Convenes; Push For Social Security Payment; A Disaster-Proof City

Aired November 15, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to Monday, it's November 15th. I'm Carol Costello, in for Kiran this morning.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm John Roberts. Thanks so much for being with us.

An awful lot to talk about this morning, let's get you right to it.

Air travelers had enough of the airport body scanners and the invasive pat downs. One California man refused both this weekend. Never made it onboard his plane, never made it through security, but he did secretly record his confrontation with TSA screeners. And we have the tape.

COSTELLO: It's juicy, too. Congress back from its break, the lame duck session gets under way today and there is a lot on the agenda, like extending those tax cuts and funding the government so it can keep operating -- you know, stuff like that. But how much can we really expect from a lame duck Congress?

ROBERTS: And Sarah Palin, can she see the 2012 presidential race from her house? Her reality TV show launched last night. Did it signal the start of her run for the White House?

COSTELLO: But, first, it's getting ugly at America's airports and the head of homeland security is now pleading this morning with air travelers to have more patience. The latest incident John Tyner's confrontation with TSA officials in San Diego this weekend all captured on his cell phone camera.

ROBERTS: He's a 31-year-old software engineer from California. He was going on a hunting trip with his father-in-law on Saturday when he refused to submit to a body scan at San Diego's international airport. With Tyner's cell phone recorder secretly rolling TSA agents took him aside and attempted to pat him down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TSA AGENT: Come on over here.

JOHN TYNER, PASSENGER: All right.

TSA AGENT: Do you have anything in your pockets?

TYNER: I don't think so. They had me take it all out.

TSA AGENT: No belt, no nothing?

TYNER: No belt. No nothing.

TSA AGENT: Do you have any external or internal implants that I need to be aware of?

TYNER: No.

TSA AGENT: We are going to be doing a standard pat down on you today, using my hands going like this --

TYNER: All right.

TSA AGENT: Also, we are going to do a groin check. That means I'm going to place my hand on your hip, the other hand on your inner thigh. Slowly go up, slide down.

TYNER: OK.

TSA AGENT: Two times in the front, two times in the back.

TYNER: All right.

TSA AGENT: And if you would like a private screening, we can make that available for you also.

TYNER: We can do that but if you touch my junk I'm going to have you arrested.

TSA AGENT: Actually, we are going to have a supervisor here because of your statement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: So, the screeners called in a higher ranking TSA officer to deal with Tyner. But things only got worse from there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TSA OFFICER: If you're not comfortable with that, we can escort you back out and you don't have to fly today.

TYNER: OK. I don't understand how a sexual assault can be made a condition of my flying.

TSA OFFICER: This is not considered a sexual assault.

TYNER: It would be if you weren't the government.

TSA OFFICER: This is considered an administrative search and we are authorized to do it. You have submitted yourself to it by coming through the checkpoint.

TYNER: If you enjoy being touched by other people that's fine. I'd like only my wife and maybe my doctor to touch me there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I'm sure you're thinking, I'm with you, Mr. Tyner. At one point on the tape, a TSA agent tells Tyner, quote, "Upon buying the ticket, you gave up a lot of your rights." Of course, Tyner never made it on the plane.

In the meantime, Homeland Security chief, Janet Napolitano, is stepping in to the fray, if you open up your "USA Today" paper, she's written an opinion piece that defends pat downs and scanners and asking air travelers -- she is asking air travelers, as in you, to be patient and cooperative with screeners.

ROBERTS: Tyner, meanwhile, says he was told he is facing a $10,000 fine and a civil suit for not completing the security check. Coming up in about seven minutes, we're going to talk about all of this with the TSA administrator, John Pistole, as well as growing opposition to the use of these scanners.

Even Sully Sullenberger, you know, from the famous US Airways flight in the Hudson. He's weighing in, saying, why are they screening pilots? That doesn't make any sense.

COSTELLO: Yes, they say if you're going through that machine, the radiation is hurting you. But like a study, like Johns Hopkins did a study and said there's no health risk. So, it's just becoming this big huge thing now.

ROBERTS: Well, you know, the government also told us that air at Ground Zero was safe. So, and maybe these things are safe. But people are skeptical.

COSTELLO: Well, your conversation with Mr. Postal (ph) will be very interesting. That's all I have to say.

ROBERTS: Pistole.

COSTELLO: Pistole.

ROBERTS: Mr. Postal runs the post office.

COSTELLO: Maybe you didn't realize they were gone, but Congress is back in session this morning. And if you're hoping to see your elected officials rolling up their sleeves and taking on the tough issues, you might need to lower your expectations.

ROBERTS: This is a lame duck session. A lot of lawmakers already have one foot out the door.

And Dana Bash live on Capitol Hill this morning -- where the incoming crop of freshmen members of Congress just arrived on the buses that you see departing behind you.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just arrived. You can probably -- exactly, I was just going to say you can probably see them departing there.

ROBERTS: Oh, so excited.

BASH: One bus just showed up. A sixth bus, that's how many buses came because that is how large this freshman class is. Need six buses to bring them to the Capitol here. This is the first time they're going to arrive at the Capitol for what will a very long day of orientation.

John, they are going to learn everything from how you cast a vote, to how you set up an office, to the ethics rules, for example, that they need to abide by when they are members of Congress. That's what they are going to be doing all day. But they are already looking ahead to when they're actually sworn in in January.

I talked to several of them about the fact that -- especially for Republicans, there are very high expectations that they can follow through on their campaign promises.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't come in in a month or two -- and I want to make sure the people in my district know this, too, you can't come in and in a month or two solve all of the world's problems, but we have to be vigilant, we have to begin that process.

BASH: The expectations are pretty high.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Expectations are very high. And I think it's important to stress to people that we're going to work as hard as we can, but this is a long process. This takes time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was a Tea Party-endorsed candidate and so they have gotten behind conservative Republicans and expect us to govern differently. And if they don't -- if we don't, then you may see the rise of an independent third party. But I think they are going to give us a chance.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BASH: Now, that congressman -- congressman-elect, I should say, Duncan, he said that he is going to try to, in his words, lead by example by giving back 10 percent of the money allocated to him to use for his staff, that means hiring staff, running his office. Other members elect said they might do the same.

You asked earlier, John, what that is going to be used for, where it's going to go, I can tell you those members are going to try to make sure that it is not spent, that it is saved by this government -- John.

COSTELLO: Sounds good savings, huh? Now, Dana, I know that this group of Congress people have not been sworn in yet, but, you know, we still have the old ones in office until January. There's a lame duck session that starts today. What should we expect? BASH: There is such a long list on the agenda for the lame duck Congress. They had a lot that they did not get done over the past year, actually two years. But of that long list, we don't expect -- talking to Democratic and Republican sources -- that they are going to get a lot done. They're going to do the basic things like keeping the government running.

But they are probably going to have a lot of focus on one of the most politically tough decisions that they are going to make because there are such differences, that is over how and whether to extend those Bush tax cuts. Carol and John, those expire at the end of the year.

Believe it or not, I'm hearing from some Republicans, it is entirely possible if they don't come together, that they might try (ph) until next year and try to do it retroactively when Republicans have more members and more power.

COSTELLO: What a surprise. It would be so nice if they could work together, just in this last session, come up with a compromise, and get it going and not like drag it into next year.

BASH: One can only hope. We'll see.

ROBERTS: All right. Dana Bash for us this morning outside the Capitol building -- Dana, thanks so much.

BASH: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Former president George W. Bush says he did not take his eye off the ball in the war on terrorism by failing to focus on Afghanistan. In an interview that aired last night on CNN, the former president told our Candy Crowley that he ordered troops to withdraw to overthrow Saddam Hussein in Iraq assuming that our allies would pick up the slack in Afghanistan -- allies who he claims had no stomach for war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: What happened in Afghanistan was that our NATO allies turned out -- some of them -- turned out not to be willing to fight. And therefore, our assumption that we had ample troops -- U.S. and NATO troops -- turned out to be not true assumption. And so, we adjusted. And I completely disagree with the take eye off the ball. I found that to be empty political rhetoric.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: President Bush was also asked about his handling of the failing economy in his final year in the White House. "STATE OF THE UNION" host, Candy Crowley, joins us live at 8:30 Eastern with that part of her interview with the former president.

COSTELLO: Let's head to Atlanta now and check in with Rob Marciano. People in Minnesota are asking for a reprieve.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, they get a little snow over the weekend, in some case, up to a foot both in Minnesota and Iowa. And that has moved into Canada. To replace it to the east, we got a little rain today, all the way from the Northeast back flew the Southeast -- the Southeast is where you see the heaviest amount.

Just light rain across the Northern Appalachians but you'll get your heavier rain tomorrow. All rolling along this stationary boundary from, say, Louisiana up through Maine, and that will be the unsettled area of weather here over the next two to three days.

A little bit of light showers, maybe a sprinkle across New York, but the heavier rains are certainly across parts of the Southeast. And the ground was saturated, this might cause some flooding issues. But it's been pretty dry. So, although a bit gloomy down across New Orleans, we could use the rain.

John and Carol, back up to you.

ROBERTS: Yes. And you're getting rain there in Atlanta as well. And it's been a little dry for the last few months. So, that's a good thing.

MARCIANO: Yes, we'll take it here in Atlanta as well. So, not always a bad thing.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Rob.

COSTELLO: Next on the Most News in the Morning: more and more Americans are just saying no to the TSA's new airport screening procedures. We will talk to the head of the agency, John Pistole -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

ROBERTS: Well, a growing pilot and passenger revolt over full body scans at airports across the country. Unions are telling pilots to avoid the; passengers refusing to pass through them.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is urging -- patience, patience, patience.

So, what's the TSA is going to do about all of this if anything?

Joining me now to talk about that and other security issues, John Pistole. He's the TSA administrator. He's in Washington this morning.

John, thanks for joining us. You got a lot of people, including pilots unions, who are very much opposed to these body scanners. They say they are invasive. There is a radiation risk.

What do you say in response?

JOHN PISTOLE, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: Well, John, I think it really comes down to two things: one, security on one hand, and partnerships on the other hand. And so, the question is: how do we best address those issues that people have raised, while providing the best possible security.

We know that everybody on every flight wants to ensure that everybody around them has been properly screened so there's not a group of box cutters or liquid explosives or underwear bombs or shoe bombs or whatever it may be. So, we have to find that area that we can provide the best possible security to address those issues.

ROBERTS: But a point that opponents of the body scanners make is, if you're looking for underwear bombs, the current advanced imaging technology would not have discovered the type of bomb that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had secreted in his underwear.

PISTOLE: Well, I think reasonable people may disagree on that. But the experts say that yes, that type of device would be identified in an advanced imaging technology machine, and our tests have shown that to be the case. Obviously, you have to rely on the expertise of the security officer, who is reviewing that image.

We're also looking at automated target recognition, basically the next generation of that where there's basically a stick figure that looks at algorithms and then puts a box, if you will, on that part of the body that may be -- need an additional security screening.

ROBERTS: And Sully Sullenberger has fired the latest volley in this, now saying, I don't understand what the purpose of screening pilots is. And some people at home might ask, you know, the biggest weapon that a pilot could possibly have if they wanted -- if he or she wanted to commit an act of terror is in their hands, it's the aircraft. So, why are we even screening pilots?

PISTOLE: Well, that's obviously been an issue for a while, John, and trying to use an intelligence-driven, risk-based approach. We had some good conversations last week with pilot groups and we're continuing that this week. And I believe we have -- are finding a good way forward on that, as we try to manage risk as to the security we need to apply to those groups for those very reasons.

ROBERTS: Does it make sense to you to screen a pilot for weapons if, again, they've got the biggest weapon they could possibly have in their hands.

PISTOLE: Well, obviously they are an entrusted group in so many different ways, and so, it makes sense to do some type of different type of screening which we will explore, and I think have a way forward here in the near future. ROBERTS: So, things will change when it comes to pilots, will they?

PISTOLE: Well, I don't want to broadcast anything prematurely, but I think there are options that we are looking at that will make sense.

ROBERTS: All right. That's very interesting. What about this fellow over the weekend in San Diego, John Tyner. Didn't want to go through the body scanning machine, and then, when he was subjected to a pat down, he was uncomfortable with the level of pat down that he was going to be subject to, and then he was escorted out of the airport and then told that he might face a $10,000 fine. What's your take on that, sir?

PISTOLE: Well, obviously everybody has their own perspectives about their personal screening, and again, it gets back to the issue of what are we doing to ensure everybody else on that flight that people have been properly screened. So, if Abdulmutallab on 12/25 had said, well, look, I don't want you doing a pat down on me because of my beliefs or whatever it may be, so that's something we have to balance.

All trying to be sensitive to individuals' issues and concerns, privacy and things. And also, the bottom line of ensuring that everybody gets on that flight has been properly screened.

ROBERTS: I understand that part, but what about this threat, though, of a $10,000 fine and potential, you know, civil litigation because he didn't go through the screening process?

PISTOLE: Well, there are a number of different possibilities there. The bottom line is if somebody does not go through proper security screening, then they're not going to get on the flight.

ROBERTS: Right.

PISTOLE: So, that's what it comes down to.

ROBERTS: You know, one of the other things that people talk about in terms of airport security, and they say that this is always the best prevention, and that is good intelligence. You are expanding to see something, say something program. What can you tell us about that at this point?

PISTOLE: So, trying to become the best possible risk-based intelligence driven organization. Meaning, that we are part of the continuum for the U.S. government working with state and local police and airlines and airport authorities, and our partners worldwide to be informed by the intelligence just as we were with the recent cargo threats that the Saudi intelligence developed that information on.

The better informed we can be, the better screening from a risk- based perspective we can perform, and so, it really comes down to what steps can we take that before anybody ever gets to the airport, whether it's through the joint terrorism task forces that the FBI, in my 26 years' experience there, every significant investigation was based on the cooperation of the American people, people who were willing to step forward and say OK, I've seen something.

I want to say something because something's not right. So, how can we work together as far as a partnership between the U.S. government and state and locals and the traveling public and all of those other as I mentioned.

ROBERTS: All right. Well, obviously, airline security is an important thing for a lot of people, but they do want to maintain their privacy, and so, obviously, this is an issue that we're going to be talking about for some time to come. And we also look forward to whatever news you have to make in the next little while on the pilot screenings. John Pistole from the TSA, good to talk to you this morning. Thanks.

PISTOLE: Thank you, John.

ROBERTS: Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, if Democrats get their way, millions of you could be getting a $250 check in the mail. We'll tell you why. It's 18 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Coming up now, 22 minutes after the hour. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business," and she's here now. Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. I think you're going to be hearing more and more about a $250 check to American seniors. Democrats likely to be pushing for this in the lame duck session of Congress. Why? Because seniors are not getting a cost of living increase in their Social Security check, and so, there's a push of foot to get more money to seniors. What would it look like? It would look like about $14 billion in new spending to try to bridge the gap for seniors who, for two years in a row now, have not had a cost of living increase.

$250 checks per senior citizen, that would be 58 million people, another $14 billion. Here's the issue. You're going to have trouble pushing something like this through in the Senate in particular because, frankly, many Republicans were elected on the idea that we've got to stop spending money that we don't have. You've also got a lot of people talking about the debt crisis. The fact that this country has been spending far more money than it has for several years now, and this is a problem going forward.

There's something interesting happening here, Carol and John, on the one hand, you're talking about new spending to try to relieve the pain, real pain from people because the economy is still weak. On the other hand, you're talking about the fact we have to get our fiscal house in order, and in fact, maybe do some serious belt tightening to prevent a debt crisis down the road.

On our weekend show, Ali and I asked Diane Swonk how important it was, just how important the debt crisis issue is for America. This is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANE SWONK, CHIEF ECONOMIST: A debt crisis may be sooner rather than later as Niall Ferguson put it and Rudy Penner who I just saw who's on the commission quoted him and saying "it could just take a bit of bad news on, otherwise, a slow news day to cause a crisis in financial markets in the next two to three years."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: In the next two to three years. That's what really got our attention, because so much in Washington is talking about election cycles and you push the big hard questions further down the road. Further out, spend more money here, spend more money there. We'll worry about it later on. She's talking about some really serious implications in the near-term if we don't get our house in order.

COSTELLO: But the real problem is, you know, to get our house in order, you're going to have to either raise some people's taxes now or later on something else, and no politician has the political will to do that at this moment because we have an angry electorate and taxes are an emotional issue when they'll probably be voted out of there.

ROMANS: John King had said it really, really well when he said both parties have already moved back into their ideological bunkers.

ROBERTS: Oh, yes.

ROMANS: And they haven't come out again. And so, real progress is not something that you can see in the near-term here, and that's one of the reasons why Diane Swonk is so fired up about how we got some tough choices to make even if it seems to be business as usual.

ROBERTS: Remember ten years ago, we were talking about retiring the debt by 2015, and how things were going to change because we had no debt. And what we're going to do with T-bills?

ROMANS: Never say never.

ROBERTS: I think now you can say never.

ROMANS: Yes. Never count out Washington for giving a nice curveball, right?

ROBERTS: Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: Sure.

COSTELLO: Next this morning, going green. Everybody is doing it to save the earth, right? Or are they. Deb Feyerick with a look at why some people are really turning to actually -- Deb Feyerick is going to take a look at why some people are really turning to eco- solutions. Why are they really doing it? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-eight minutes after the hour. What exactly is motivating Americans to go green? You know, despite what they tell you it might not be the thought of saving the earth.

COSTELLO: Some people actually do it for rewards like saving the earth, but others, they're apparently just trying to impress their neighbors. Deb Feyerick is here. Really?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, really, actually. It's also about people do want to do good, but without that pressure, that basic simple human behavior of being praised and rewarded and thanked for doing such a good job, people may not want to go green. That's why it is so important.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): When Cherry Hill, New Jersey decided to expand its recycling program, the whole town got into the act.

MAYOR BERNIE PLATT, CHERY HILL, NJ: We explain to the public that we could cut the carbon footprint of the community down. And of course, the coupons were some of an incentive, too.

FEYERICK: That's right. The recycle program rewards people with coupons to use at local stores. A new line of thinking to help the planet by offering incentives like saving money to get everyone to go green.

FEYERICK (on-camera): The mayor says this recycling program saves the town half a million dollar a year, money that would, otherwise, be spent dumping all this trash into landfills.

FEYERICK (voice-over): But while that helps the environment, Melissa Tinkelman says that's not exactly what neighbors are talking about.

MELISSA TINKELMAN, CHERRY HILL, NJ: The only thing I've ever heard people really talk about is what coupons they're getting when they cash in their points because that's the best part of the program.

FEYERICK: Surprising? Not anymore says environmental branding expert, Hank Stewart.

HANK STEWART, THE GREEN TEAM: Seventeen years ago, the motivations were probably a little more altruistic than they are today. People today, first and foremost, want a personal benefit.

FEYERICK: For some, that's saving the planet for their kids' generation. For others, it's about social status. New research from the University of Minnesota showing people think being eco-friendly will boost their social standing, driving the right car, buying the right products, to keep with the Jones'. We want to impress our peers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's almost a little bit of a competition going on in some of our neighborhoods.

FEYERICK: Competition which is lowering the carbon footprint. In Boston, the local power distributor, the National Grid, sends personalized energy reports to customers comparing how much energy they use compared to their neighbors in similar homes.

BILL ROWAN, NATIONAL GRID CUSTOMER: This is one of the programmable thermostats.

FEYERICK: Bill Rowan says he's obsessed with the comparison reports and has overhauled his home to reduce usage. It's down 14 percent from last year. But Rowan says it's not about impressing is neighbors.

ROWAN: I like to compare myself to myself, you know, that I want to improve on my own record.

FEYERICK: The key to living green may no longer be about tapping into what you can do for the environment but what being environmentally friendly can do for you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: It's not just happening in Boston. The energy reports were created by a company called O-Power, and O-Power has teamed up with almost 40 utility companies, so soon these reports are going to be available to five million homes in the United States.

And when you think about it, they are saving 1.5 to 3.5 percent of energy, that make as huge difference when you think of all of the people even cutting back their consumption just a little.

ROBERTS: I love the guy who is in competition with himself. That is the competitive spirit.

FEYERICK: The one thing going to the recycling plant, I cannot believe how much garbage. It's overwhelming what we are just throwing out. And so it's good that people are making an effort to recycle, because, boy --

COSTELLO: For whatever reason.

FEYERICK: It doesn't matter. Coupons, you're doing a good job.

ROBERTS: And if I may say so, you make that safety vest work. Thank you.

COSTELLO: It's 31 minutes past the hour, time for this morning's top stories.

The new kids on the block are rolling up to Capitol Hill right about now. We're talking about the nation's newest congressmen going through orientation on Capitol Hill. They'll take office at the beginning of next year. Most of the incoming rookies are Republicans who campaigned on small government and cutting the deficit.

ROBERTS: GM is unveiling a new fuel efficient version of the Buick Lacrosse. Don't call at hybrid. It's the Lacrosse E-Assist. It's expected to get 37 miles per gallon. General Motors is looking to avoid problems with its Malibu hybrid. I thought they were supposed to be attractive.

COSTELLO: Whatever. I don't understand it. He may be the most famous pilot in the country, now Sully Sullenberg is joining the opposition to the airport body scans because he thinks they pose a radiation risk. He may not have to deal with the procedure much longer. The head of the TSA is planning changes when it comes to pilot security screening.

ROBERTS: John Pistole wouldn't tell us this morning but some new stuff is coming.

George W. Bush admits he is no expert when it comes to economics, but he thinks he kept America from sliding into a depression, not just a recession. The former president appeared on CNN last night going one on one with our host of "STATE OF THE UNION," Candy Crowley. Candy joins us this morning live from Coral Gables, Florida.

Candy, let's play a portion of the interview as he responds to a question about the economic bailout that he initiated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I wasn't a very good economic prognosticator. I did know we were in deep trouble. A lot of people said, well, the economy, we wouldn't have seen a depression. But when you're the president you don't have the luxury of being -- talking about the theoretical.

I'm not trying to pass the blame on anybody, but I think it is very difficult for a president or an administration to see the size and scope of a downturn. Economics is the an inexact science. We did see a problem coming.

My job at that point was to make a decision whether or not we're going to risk a complete economic collapse and I chose not to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Candy, he was told by his advisers that the economy was in deep trouble, but unfortunately the way he reacted to it got him in deep trouble with his own party.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Exactly. And we talked a little about how the fact that it was the Republicans who ran against all this excessive TARP bailout. Remember, the first time he tried to get that through Capitol Hill when we were told the economy was almost on collapse he had trouble with the Republicans. He had to send Ben Bernanke now and then the Fed chairman, Hank Paulson, his Treasury Secretary to say, no, we're not kidding. The economy is on the cusp of a total breakdown here.

So he had to sort of drive it through. Republicans still hold him responsible for bailing out the banks. But as you heard, he's not making apologies, I had to make that decision. It was a good decision. I stand by it as he does most of the other major decisions about war and security that he made during his very tumultuous eight years. CROWLEY: You had fun when you sat down not only with the former president but his younger brother Jeb and you posited the question about the family legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: One question for you and one for you. Who do you think was the better president, 41 or 43?

JEB BUSH, FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: That's a 15-yard penalty, loss of down.

(LAUGHTER)

GEORGE BUSH: It's 41.

CROWLEY: You're safe going with the dad.

JEB BUSH: Absolutely.

GEORGE BUSH: Particularly with the mother.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Who do you want to have more angry at you, your brother or mom and dad?

(LAUGHTER)

CROWLEY: Exactly. Always go for picking mom and dad over the brother.

They were fun together. They had just been at a golf game together, a foursome. When I asked Jeb Bush a question about what he might do, and what he might not do. He said I thought we were going to talk about the book. I said we are going to talk about the book.

He said -- and his brother mentioned something in the book, and Jeb said well, I don't remember that. And turns out Jeb Bush hasn't read the book. So I said how are we going to talk about this? He said well, I bought 40 copies.

And literally while we were there Jeb Bush said George, come over, sign these books because he was passing them out to friends. Buy 40 but had not read it yet.

ROBERTS: Good when your brother is not only the author but the former president. Candy, thanks for joining us this morning. Great job with that, thanks.

Be sure to watch Candy Crowley and then Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. eastern. And then Wednesday at 9:00 eastern we're going to hear from mom and dad. George Bush senior and former first lady Barbara Bush join "LARRY KING LIVE." That's Wednesday, 9:00 p.m. eastern.

COSTELLO: And up next Sarah Palin and the great outdoors. Her new reality show debuted last night. Could it be a launching pad for her 2012 presidential campaign. We're going to dive deep into that one. It's 36 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(CROSSTALK) The self-proclaimed "momma grizzly" was in good company during the premier of her TLC reality show "Sarah Palin's Alaska."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, (R) FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: I love watching these momma bears. What I see in that is what a mom would do, too, anything and everything laying down her life for her kids.

Let's get the fish before the bear gets the fish. Piper, don't. A bear's coming towards us. We're going to back up. Look at his claws. Yes, I'm looking around to Todd going are you feeling what I'm feeling? It could think we're its lunch instead of the tiny salmon. Of all times we're snagged on a rock.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: It's a revealing look at the Palin family, but could it also serve as a spring board to her 2012 presidential bid? Joining us is Brian Stelter, media reporter for the "New York Times," and Shushannah Walshe, "Daily Beast" writer and coauthor of "Sarah from Alaska." Welcome to you both. I assume you both watched the show.

SHUSHANNAH WALSHE, "THE DAILY BEAST": We did.

COSTELLO: Let's start with you. Was it apolitical, was at look at the Palins' life?

BRIAN STELTER, "NEW YORK TIMES" MEDIA REPORTER: It's primarily a look inside this family, essentially a family reality show t way that TLC is known for having family reality shows. But it has this political veneer. It's a nature series for the political voyeur.

COSTELLO: You think it's kind of -- is this a big campaign ad, let's go one step farther.

WALSHE: I really think it is. You see almost every candidate when they come out they have a bio ad. This is an eight-week campaign ad produced by TLC and Discovery. And it's a magnificent, beautiful program.

And I think we see Sarah Palin in a different light that we've seen a very long time. She's softer. I think she can be more appealing politically.

COSTELLO: Wouldn't most politicians die for this?

WALSHE: I think so. It's not just the exposure which she has anyway, but just how beautiful it is, how it reaches so many people, people that are not politically attune, people that are.

And I think that this is the Palin we haven't seen in a long time, a Sarah Palin that I haven't seen since before the campaign. I didn't even know who she was before that but through her book we researched this person. We haven't seen her in this light since then. And this is a true side of her.

COSTELLO: Well, let me ask you about the ethics of this. Not all politicians, I mean, can you imagine Nancy Pelosi getting her own reality show?

STELTER: I can't imagine any other politician, frankly. I think Sarah Palin is one of a kind in this respect. It's also one of a kind she has a FOX News deal. So she has two ways really to prepare herself if she decides to run for 2012.

She has this political outlet or this journalistic outlet at FOX where she can talk about politics, then she has this I guess this family outlet on TLC where she can almost share her family values.

For TLC, I don't think they're losing any sleep over the ethics of this. They don't pretend to practice journalism. But they do see this as a way to define themselves about being about families, especially red state families.

COSTELLO: It's interesting they have like five blogs, and one of them is called "Splaska." And it's to conduct a "nonpolitical, political conversation about the show," whatever the hell that is. What is that? I mean, politics are going to slip in because let's face it, she's in the political arena.

WALSHE: Absolutely. Mark Burnett told me this is apolitical. We've seen from the first episode that when she's talking about Joe McGinniss she equates the 14-foot fence to border security. That's the first episode. It's definitely there's going to be politics. They show her whole life, that's part of it.

COSTELLO: So let's say she does consider a run. Let's say she does run for president in 2012. I can see Democrats playing this ad from the 2008 campaign on "Celebrity." Let's roll it.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's the biggest celebrity in the world. But is he ready to lead?

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COSTELLO: OK. So, the Republicans much-maligned President Obama, you know, he wasn't president then, but for being too much after celebrity, and that's all he had. He wasn't prepared for the job. He's just this big kind of movie star person. How can Sarah Palin fight against the same kind of thing is she runs?

WALSHE: That's interesting. Sarah Palin is a much bigger celebrity than candidate Obama, President Obama ever was. And I think that they will try this attack, but it didn't work with candidate Obama and I can't imagine it will work with her now.

COSTELLO: So have we come to the point in this country where it doesn't matter if you can do the job, it only matters how famous you are and how likable you are and if you can put a successful reality TV show on the air? I'm being a cynic here.

STELTER: She did time this out to premier literally two years before there's an election. You could look at the other way and say she is a long time to present herself this way as, you know, the leader of this family on a TV show, then she has two years to prepare herself as a political figure.

I can't imagine she would have allowed this show to premier say, in the middle of an election campaign.

WALSHE: And Brian brought up a good point I think is show is image rehab. Americans can see her in a different light, not the polarizing figure we've seen since the 2008 campaign and during the 2008 campaign.

STELTER: It was about a daughter and this boyfriend on the side. That was not a good image during the campaign. This is a family united together having fun in the wilderness.

WALSHE: Right.

COSTELLO: Well, thank you both. It's an interesting conversation.

WALSHE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: I'm sure we'll continue for many months. Brian and Shushannah, thank you.

STELTER: Thanks.

WALSHE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: John.

ROBERTS: Thanks Carol.

Still to come this morning, a stormy start to the work week in the south; Rob Marciano has got this morning's travel forecast coming up right after the break.

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ROBERTS: Forty-eight minutes after the hour. Lots of rain in the south and of course inevitably that will move its way up to the north.

Rob Marciano in the Weather Center in Atlanta. Good morning, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning guys. Yes, that's the way this is going to roll. As everything that's down south is going to ride this stationary front that's just going to, well, be stationary at least for the next couple of days and the moisture will roll along it and that's where we're going to some of that rainfall.

Here is what we expect to see over the next 48 hours. Most of the heavy rain that's going to be across the south; but some of this will eventually get towards the northeast. The bulk of your rain will fall tomorrow into tomorrow night and even into Wednesday as this kind of slowly chugs along. It slowly moved across parts of the upper Midwest, a separate system but it brought a lot of snow to Minnesota, over a foot in spots including Iowa.

So, that early in the season that caused a lot of traffic accidents and a lot of power outages as well. Because some of that heavy wet snow weighing down some of the tree limbs.

If you are traveling today, Boston and New York, the City Metro, 30 to 60 minute delays. Right now we do have a 30 minute delay at Philadelphia, a little bit of fog from across parts of Jersey down into Philadelphia this morning. That will burn off later today on.

Atlanta will see some rain delays because of -- well, because of rain. And Denver will see some snow showers maybe some slight delays there.

Here are some of the rain across the northeast, I-95 Corregidor, a very, very light, maybe a sprinkler or a quick shower. That should be about it today. This is where the heavy stuff is and yes it's rolling towards the northeast but look for heavy rain to moderate rain across New Orleans in through Hattiesburg, back through Montgomery.

Probably not going to be a flooding issue, maybe some minor street flooding but the ground is pretty dry here. We're looking at severe drought conditions in some spots so we'll take the rain anywhere we can get it. Most of it is going to be away from the areas that really need it most including Memphis and parts of southern Indiana. But some of those spots will get some much needed rainfall.

64 degrees expected in Dallas today; 70 in Houston; it will be 63 in D.C. and 55 kind of a blah icky day at times in New York City. And tomorrow will be even more blah with more rain ahead in your way.

That's a quick check on weather. John and Carol back up to you.

COSTELLO: I like that weather terminology, a blah icky day.

ROBERTS: That's just the way we like it up here. Blah and icky.

MARCIANO: In layman's term.

ROBERTS: Thanks Rob.

COSTELLO: Thanks Rob.

MARCIANO: All right, guys.

COSTELLO: Still to come, a Japanese city leveled by an earthquake 15 years ago now rebuilt. It's being hailed as the world's first disaster-proof town. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is there. We'll head live in Japan -- next.

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

Government leaders from around the globe will be in Kobe, Japan this week for a meeting of the World Health Organization. And with over half the earth's population now living in urban areas the human race will be facing a lot of health challenges in the decades to come, challenges that officials in Kobe are stepping up to meet.

Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us this morning from Kobe which I guess you could say, doc, is the closest thing to a disaster proof city just about anywhere in the world.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes and for good reason, John, because they had a big earthquake here in 1995, and a lot of lessons were learned at that time. Obviously we spend a lot of time talking about Haiti this year, talking about the reconstruction, how exactly is that going to progress.

Well, they can look to Kobe to try and get some clues. Here's what we found.

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GUPTA (on camera): So would you even know what to do if you found yourself in the middle of that? What we're experiencing here is a 6.9 magnitude earthquake. What they'll tell you to do is go in the corner of a room, structure the most sound, stay away from glass as much as possible, also cover your hands, cover your face, get under the table if you have to, just something to protect yourself.

Of course all of this is just the simulation. And that's what you need to do as an individual. But given that so many people live in urban centers all across the world, how do you recover and rebuild after something like that?

That's exactly the question they were asking themselves in Kobe, Japan, in 1995 a 6.9 magnitude earthquake, just like that one 20 seconds in length; 200,000 buildings gone, 5,000 lives lost. There's a lot of work to do to try and rebuild this place.

Well, Kobe did it. In less than ten years and now they serve as a model for the rest of the world. A lot of lessons have been learned. For example, don't put all your disaster resources in one particular area. Also try and engage the survivors of an earthquake as much as possible in the rebuilding process.

And finally, hospitals. They have to be able to stay open and functioning even after an earthquake. Of course, there are the buildings, the awful images like this one. Remember, 200,000 went down. This was one of them. Take a look at what it looks like now. This is the same building rebuilt just quickly after the earthquake.

What did they do specifically? They used materials here to try and isolate the building from the ground and the shaking that accompanies an earthquake. They also used metal plates to allow the building to move as well as materials that sort of allow this building to sway if the ground is shaking

It's by no means perfect. And if you ask Kobe officials, they'll say about 80 percent of the city is now rebuilt. There are some problems though. Narrow thoroughfares like this will be tough to navigate in an earthquake. These buildings could come down into the streets, making rescues that more difficult.

But the balance, it's always there, trying to maintain what Japan has been for hundreds of years in the middle of all this reconstruction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Gupta: There is no question, John, that it's sort of human nature to wait for some sort of disaster or tragedy to unfold before anybody does anything about it. Pre-planning, that's really what they are talking a lot about here, trying to prevent the worst consequences of a natural disaster and the health effects of a natural disaster as well.

Look, John. You're probably thinking as a lot of people are Japan is not Haiti. That's absolutely true. But there are lessons to be learned. Six months after the earthquake in Kobe they had a definitive plan to carry out over 10 years. They engaged the survivors of the earthquake to be a part of the reconstruction. Those things aren't country centric. It's just about preplanning and moving things forward -- John.

ROBERTS: Let me ask you about that room that you were in Sanjay. You were taking the time, your shaking there to describe what you should do if you're in a situation like that. But what was it like being in that room, how difficult was it to stay standing up?

GUPTA: It was interesting because the way that room was actually set up, I didn't know when it was going to start shaking either. It was not a definitive time. You know, it's startling all of a sudden to be sort of jostled around like that. I can tell you even after the earthquake in Haiti when we were there, there was dozens of aftershocks and I still every time I feel a little tremor at all it makes me a little nervous.

It was quite startling I think to be in there. Obviously just a simulation but startling nonetheless.

ROBERTS: Good stuff, Doc. Thanks for joining us this morning. Good to see you.

COSTELLO: Fifty-seven past the hour. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Roberts: That's going to wrap it up for us. Thanks so much for joining us. We'll talk to you again tomorrow, bright and early.

COSTELLO: Take it away Kyra. Have a great day.