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American Morning

Ghailani Acquitted on 284 Counts; FDA's Stern Warning to Companies that Make Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverages; Tiger Woods Bares His Soul in Latest Edition of "Newsweek"; Murkowski Claims 'Miracle" Win; New GMs Market Debut; House Freshmen Pick Their Leaders

Aired November 18, 2010 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It's Murkowski's moment in the nation's final race to be called the senator from Alaska declaring victory this morning beating back not only fellow Republican, Joe Miller, but the tea party, Sarah Palin as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS (on-camera): Good morning, thanks so much for being with us on this Thursday, the 18th of November. I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. It's interesting because she's declaring victory, but her competitor, Joe Miller --

ROBERTS: He's not declaring defeat now.

CHETRY: Yes. He's saying we may be still doing some counting and counting, but we'll have more on her win in just a moment.

First though, the other top stories this morning, Gitmo detainee, Ahmed Ghailani, a suspect in the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania acquitted on 284 counts. In fact, the jury in New York only found him guilty of one count yesterday of conspiracy. The Obama administration taking a beating this morning for its decision to put Ghailani on trial in civilian court.

ROBERTS: General Motors, the new darling on Wall Street this morning. It's going public with its first public stock offering since bankruptcy. Investors can't seem to get enough, but what's in it for the taxpayers who bailed out the auto giant?

CHETRY: Also, the FDA, stern warnings this morning to the makers of Four Loko and other beverages just like it. They say to get the caffeine out of the alcohol business or they're going to start seizing the products. Today, we're going to get details on a new study that also suggests energy drinks without the alcohol content can still be a gateway to alcoholism.

ROBERTS: And Tiger Woods baring his soul in an article in "Newsweek" manage saying he's not the same man he was a year ago, admitting he's no longer the invincible Tiger. We'll tell you what else he said in just a moment. CHETRY: I want to start the hour with a very special story. A story you'll see only on CNN -- 33 rescued Chilean miners and five of the men who saved them are now bound for Hollywood this morning.

ROBERTS: They've been invited to attend Saturday night's taping of CNN Heroes, and all-star tribute. We've got some new pictures and their guests arriving at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport. They left Santiago, Chile, late last night. Everyone's going to get a whirlwind trip of southern California.

Gary Tuchman is with them. He's traveling with them, he'll be reporting for us all day long.

CHETRY: They were waiting to get on their connecting flight to Los Angeles, about four hours and change to Atlanta. We'll be covering their special journey throughout the day.

ROBERTS: Of course, you can catch "CNN Heroes" on Thanksgiving night. Nearly two million of you voted, and soon we'll find out who the next CNN hero is. Tunes on thanksgiving, as Anderson Cooper hosts "CNN Heroes, an all-star tribute."

CHETRY: To politics, and the people have written. Senator Lisa Murkowski says she's going to back to Washington. Last night she declared victory over fellow Republican and Tea Party favored Joe Miller. Although it's not official yet, it looks like Murkowski will be the first successful write-in candidate for senator since 1954 when Strom Thurmond was able to do it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI, (R) ALASKA: I want to thank all Alaskans for helps us make history. It is truly, truly, truly remarkable. And we will look back on this. We will look back on this and say what a race this has been. What a summer this was. And now, where we are today.

Ted's motto was to hell with politics, let's just do what's right for Alaska, and that's what we did. That's what we did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Right now, the tally shows that Murkowski leads by more than 10,000 votes, but Joe Miller is not backing down, and he is contesting more than 8,000 of those votes. Shannon Travis joins us live from Washington this morning. If you do the math and he's contesting 8,000, she still wins. So why is he still fighting?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's still fighting and he feels possibly there was fraud in this election. He feels that possibly there's some military ballots, Kiran, that might not have gone out that needed to be mailed out but weren't mailed out. He wants to make sure, his campaign says, that no one was disenfranchised.

I've been following this from the very beginning and I don't want it to be lost on the viewers that this is a dramatic development in this race. She would be the second person to be the second winner like this. This is a major, major development.

CHETRY: As you said, she is declaring victory. And Joe Miller is leaving it open for the possibility of calling for a recount. The way they put it, there's only one percent difference between the two candidates and they want to, perhaps, make a recount happen. What are you hearing from his camp about how they're really feeling about his chances?

TRAVIS: Well, they are feeling -- Joe Miller said yesterday in a cable news interview that he's feeling less cautiously optimistic, but optimistic that possibly they'll gain some ground if they continue to get more votes that are out there.

And there are only a few, a handful that are left. We have a statement from them. I'm going to read it. This is from a statement attributed to Joe Miller. Quote, "After all the absentee ballots are in and we further review the procedures and the results, we may ask for a recount.

Less than one percent of the vote now separates my and Lisa Murkowski's total. If there is a recount and a consistent standard is applied to all the ballots, who knows what the difference would be?"

Now, what he means there by a consistent standard, you know, Kiran, that in the voting when I was there last week, the division of elections was looking at some ballots that might have misspelled "Murkowski" by a letter here or there, or might have said a variation of her name. And some of those ballots were credited to the senator.

So what Joe Miller is saying here, in the statement, what he said all along, is that he wants a consistent standard. He wants it to be only Lisa Murkowski spelled perfectly correctly, and those vote are the only ones that apply.

He's saying, possibly, if this consistent standard is followed. A court saying, then possibly he'll have to gain some ground.

CHETRY: That would have to go to the courts, right. They decided early on if the intent was clear that it was Lisa Murkowski despite perhaps a few spelling errors it would count?

TRAVIS: That's right, the Alaska division of elections decided that, but a court hasn't yet. That's what Joe Miller wants the courts to weigh in on.

A lot of folks that I spoke with last week said, hey, there was ample, ample precedence in Alaska for the division of elections evaluating voter intent. In elections in the past, they've done the same thing. So he had a steep hill to climb just to get a judge to throw out thousands of votes.

CHETRY: That's right, for Lisa Murkowski, she says she's the winner. Thank you, Shannon. We're going to be speaking to her about her historic campaign and how she plans to make peace with her party when she runs to Capitol Hill. ROBERTS: Pretty soon, college kids won't be able to get that wide awake drunk feeling from a can anymore. The FDA is slamming drinks like Four Lolo as a public health concern. The agency also imposing a two-week deadline in the makers of seven different alcoholic energy drinks. They must get the caffeine out of them or stop selling them.

Also today, a warning about energy drinks without alcohol. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, live from the CNN center. Now, we've heard about all about the combination of alcohol and caffeine. What's the problem with caffeine alone?

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, this is a little bit of a twist and it's a little different. Researchers looked at 1,000 college seniors and asked them how often do you drink drinks like Red Bull, the kinds without alcohol? What they found, the college seniors who drank one or more energy drink a week were twice as likely to have a problem with alcohol dependence.

Again, these energy drinks don't have alcohol, but there seems to be some connection with developing or having an alcohol dependence if you drank a lot of them.

ROBERTS: Do they have any idea what the association is?

COHEN: You know, John, it's kind of the chicken-egg thing. They don't know which came first were the kid southeast exhausted they had to drink the energy drinks to perk them up. Or maybe it's because kids mix these things. And so if you're drinking alcohol you also drink energy drinks because you like them together. It's not clear what's going on here.

ROBERTS: When you caulk about the caffeinated drinks, how much caffeine is in them?

COHEN: You know what's sad, John, you can't tell from the can. You would think they have to label it, but, in fact, they don't.

But the Center for Science and Public Interest which is a public interest group, they did their own research. Here's what they found. They sent the drinks to a lab, and they found while a can of Coke might have somewhere along the line of 34 milligrams of caffeine for 12 ounces, a red bull, for eight ounces, for less, have 80 milligrams.

It kind of makes you wonder if a kid is used to having a can of coke and then a Red Bull and there's way more caffeine, they don't know that because it's not on the label. You would imagine they're feeling it.

ROBERTS: It's about the same as a shot of espresso but far less than drip coffee. Elizabeth Cohen this morning with the new warnings, thanks.

CHETRY: Drip coffee is like 120 milligrams.

ROBERTS: I think 120, 180, depending on the size. CHETRY: A quick programming note, we're going to be talking to the CEO of one of the makers of Juice, that's one of the drinks that has the caffeine and alcohol.

Meanwhile, right now we're going to head back to Gary Tuchman with the 33 miners who just landed in Atlanta after a long flight from Chile. They're headed to L.A. Hey, Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran, these miners just cleared customs and they and their wives and girlfriends are getting ready to board the plane.

You have the 33 miners. You have five rescuers. You have their spouses, their girlfriends, their mothers, fathers, children. And you also have people who are just boarding the flight to Los Angeles. It's an amazing scene because the civilians who are expected to have a normal takeoff are just astounded to come to Atlanta airport and see these heroes.

The miners were underground for 70 days. It's remarkable. You see the people boarding the flight to Los Angeles are saying oh, my gosh, the miners from Chile. You really don't have this much happiness at airports bright and early.

They're boarding the flight early. It leaves at 7:30 eastern time. These miners, their spouses, their children are touring Los Angeles. We're going take them all over southern California to attend the tribute. We're proud and happy to be part of this extravaganza, many of them, the first time they've left the nation of Chile.

ROBERTS: Going to be a great time. No better person to have along on the trip than you, Gary. Thanks for that, Gary Tuchman this morning.

Also new this morning, no aggressive pat-downs for children. You may remember passengers were all riled up about this. Now the Transportation Security Administration says children 12 years of age and under who require screening will instead face less intrusive hand searches from screeners.

CHETRY: As many as 40 engines on airbus super jumbos need to be replaced. They have faulty parts and risk of oil leaks like the engine on that Qantas flight that exploded in midair. Qantas, fly these airbus A38s powered by Rolls Royce engines. They've now been ground for two weeks.

ROBERTS: Far from ground zero in New York, controversy over plans to build a mosque in an Islamic center in a suburb of Nashville. A judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order on construction. Some residents filed the suit claiming, they didn't have enough time to object to the project before a permit was issued.

CHETRY: And Pacific Gas and Electric now planning to buy more homes in Hinkley, California, that have been affected by a spreading toxic plume of chrome me yum. The town of Hinkley was made famous by the film of "Erin Brokovich." ROBERTS: So far in the season, the Miami Heat's big three has played pretty small, but last night they were as good as advertised. Chris Bosh led the way with a season high 35 points as the Heat blew out the Phoenix Suns 121-96. LeBron James scored 20 minutes. Dwayne Wade had 17. I wonder if there was a lot of fist bumping and touching and hugging.

CHETRY: A new study shows that's actually a good indicator of whether the team is going to be successful.

ROBERTS: The more you touch, the more you win.

(WEATHER BREAK)

CHETRY: Coming up, mini cars but a massive pileup. So much for life in the fast lane at this go-cart track. I guess it was too slippery.

ROBERTS: General Motors returning to life as a public company, but will the gamble pay off? We're "Minding your Business" this morning.

CHETRY: Also, Senator Lisa Murkowski, she's claiming victory in Alaska after launching a write-in campaign that angered many in her own party. Well, now, it looks like she's the winner. What's next as she heads back to Washington? She joins us live from Anchorage in just a moment. It's 15 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Seventeen minutes now after the hour. New developments this morning. It looks like the last undecided Senate race may be over. Lisa Murkowski declared victory in the long Alaska Senate race last night calling it a, quote, "miracle win."

CHETRY: Yes, Murkowski kept going after she lost the GOP primary to Tea Party-backed Joe Miller, also backed by former Governor Sarah Palin. But Miller is not giving up yet. And he says he may actually request a recount.

Meanwhile, as we said, Senator Murkowski says she is the rightful winner. And she joins us this morning live from Anchorage, Alaska.

Thanks so much for being with us this morning, Senator.

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R), ALASKA: Great to be with you. Thank you.

CHETRY: Congratulations on what must probably seem like quite a long road especially for you. It's interesting, though, that Joe Miller is saying he might still call for a recount. He is not conceding this morning. What are your thoughts on whether or not this is going to drag out even longer?

MURKOWSKI: Well, the numbers are what the numbers are. And we are clearly, clearly ahead. Well over 10,000 votes. I'm -- you just can't convince me that a recount is going to change the outcome of this. There are challenge ballots that the Miller camp has -- can set aside throughout this write-in counting process. But even if, even if every one of those ballots were thrown out, I would still be ahead in the numbers by several thousand votes. So the numbers are just not adding up.

CHETRY: But, Senator, he's saying -- it appears, though, that he's saying that if a consistent standard is applied, seeming to indicate that, if people didn't spell your name right, which the Alaska election board said was OK, then those ballots would be kicked out. Do you think that that's just not a possibility at this point?

MURKOWSKI: And he keeps talking about a consistent standard. What, in fact, people did, was they filled in that oval and they wrote in my name. Some of the ballots that he challenged were if there was a comma between "Lisa" and "Murkowski" or somebody in a fit of enthusiasm put a little heart over the "I" instead of dotting the "I" he's calling that into question. The name is spelled perfectly. And so, you know, even if, even if we were to go with his standard where it has to be spelled perfectly, we still win. The numbers just don't add up for Mr. Miller. And I think he's going to recognize that shortly.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Senator, if your declaration holds and you do return to Washington in January, I'm curious as to what your relationship with the Republican leadership is going to be like, because they were against you in the general election. And at one point during your campaign, you told our Drew Griffin that you're going back in a different capacity if you win. What's the different capacity? Would you be more willing to challenge the party line?

MURKOWSKI: Well -- I, as you know, as you state, I was not my party's nominee. I went outside the box. I went outside and took a different path. Clearly, a harder path. But clearly one that is more grassroots. When you're running a write-in campaign, you're getting a coalition of Alaskans that come together to support you. It is absolutely unprecedented. When I return to Washington, it will be all Alaskans that I will be representing. For it is Republicans and Democrats and independents and greens and AIPs that have put me there. I am not there at the -- with the assistance, if you will, of either the national Republican Party or my state Republican Party.

CHETRY: That is interesting. Will that affect how you vote and what issues you choose to bring to the forefront, if you can, as a committee chair?

MURKOWSKI: You know, I am still a Republican. In Alaska, the way that our election laws work, I did not choose to be an independent, say, for instance, as Joe Lieberman did when he made his run. I am still a Republican. I am still conferencing with the Republicans. I retain my seniority that I have built as a Republican. But my mandate, if you will, from the people of Alaska, from all Alaskans, urban and rural, and again, all different political stripes and flavors is one to represent all of us. And that will be my task. That will be my challenge.

ROBERTS: One quick question, Senator, about Sarah Palin. I know that you haven't been the biggest fan of hers. She told Barbara Walters earlier this week that she may indeed run for president in 2012. And she thinks that she can beat President Barack Obama if she did. Your thoughts on her potential candidacy? Would you support her?

MURKOWSKI: Well, she is clearly setting her sights on that higher office. I have been very, very focused on what's going on in Alaska. Will continue to do that. I have, in the past, said that Sarah Palin would not be my candidate. I'm still looking to see who is going to emerge in the Republican field of candidates. And I think that that remains to be seen. But there's been a lot of assumptions that, well, because two women are from Alaska we should be friends and supporters automatically. We are -- we're two very different women and are choosing two very different paths.

CHETRY: But would it be a safe assumption that if it was between Sarah Palin and President Barack Obama , that you would support the GOP nominee? That would be Sarah Palin?

MURKOWSKI: Well, you know, we have a long ways to go before we hit 2012 and before we have to make decisions like that. I'm still waiting, along with the rest of the country, to see what evolves from this process.

ROBERTS: Senator Lisa Murkowski, thanks for being with us this morning. And we'll see where this goes.

MURKOWSKI: Thank you.

ROBERTS: It will be interesting to continue to watch. Appreciate your time.

CHETRY: Thanks, Senator.

MURKOWSKI: Nice to be with you. Thank you.

ROBERTS: Still to come this morning, bringing the new. More than 80 GOP rookies joining the establishment in the House and being welcomed into the fold this morning. We're going to talk with one of their new leaders just ahead.

And convincing our allies to stay the course in Afghanistan. Can the commander of U.S. forces keep our allies on the same page? We have an exclusive interview with General David Petraeus ahead. You don't want to miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-six minutes after the hour. And here are some of the stories that got us talking in the newsroom before we went on the air today.

A horse is a horse, of course, of course. And this one's become an Internet horse. Check it out. We're talking horsepower. Not only under the hood, but in the back seat?

CHETRY: Oh.

ROBERTS: It was captured by a family on their way to a Kansas Wal- Mart. Yes, the horse is apparently named "Rascal." And according to its owner performs tricks across the street and goes to Wal-Mart, too.

CHETRY: All right, that's a stretch. It's a little pony. It looks like one of those miniature ponies.

ROBERTS: It's a horse.

CHETRY: It's a little miniature pony.

ROBERTS: It still qualifies as a horse in the back seat. Come on, don't spoil it.

CHETRY: And like a dog, they love to stick their head out of the window and feel the breeze.

Well, it looks like this next Santa had a little too much eggnog. Surveillance video shows him making his way through the building's parking garage. Get this -- look at this. Poor guy. Or maybe he couldn't see because of the beard.

Oh, OK, no. Ouch. He falls on his face first. He had to park far. Gets back on his feet, and then you probably have to use your imagination to guess what he does next. All we know is this Santa's lucky that he didn't end up in the slammer.

ROBERTS: Wow.

CHETRY: Wait, what did he just do? Was he --

ROBERTS: It's a little fuzzy. Can anybody tell? I'm not sure what he did. What is it with Santas and booze? I don't get it.

A housewife no more. Eva Longoria filed for divorce from her husband of three years, NBA star Tony Parker. The actress telling "Extra" host and friend Mario Lopez that she found hundreds of text messages from another woman on Parker's phone. And I guess it's become more common now in today's instant social media network. She tweeted yesterday that the two love each other and they pray for each other's happiness, but they're not going to stay together.

CHETRY: Wow, from ugly breakups to a massive mini pileup. Once the first driver loses it on his go-cart turn, it's all over. One after the other they keep -- good thing they have the helmets on. Wow. Talk about whiplash. Thirty-plus in this pileup. And while we're counting almost 100,000 views so far on the web.

ROBERTS: Mini pileup with massive outcome. Wow.

General Motors set to reclaim its spot in the Wall Street ticker. The company expected to raise billions of dollars this morning. So how did this company that you bailed out turn it all around? We'll tell you.

CHETRY: Also, Tiger Woods writing an article for "Newsweek" saying he's no longer invincible and not the same man he was a year ago. Baring his soul a little bit. We'll have more on what he said coming up. Twenty-eight minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

CHETRY: 31 minutes past the hour. Time to look at our top stories. If you plan to fly during the holiday season, you're probably already knowing that you have to be prepared for a more aggressive pat down. Well, TSA chief John Pistole told a senate committee that he went through the enhanced security procedure himself before ordering it at airports nationwide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And your impression?

JOHN PISTOLE, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: That it is thorough.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand that. But your impression beyond the fact that it was thorough?

PISTOLE: Well, the whole purpose was to -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does it make you uncomfortable? What was your impression as a person?

PISTOLE: Yes. It was more invasive than what I was used to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, did it make you feel uncomfortable, he said yes. But he still gave it the go-ahead. Pistole says the new measures are needed to stay ahead of the terrorists' threat.

ROBERTS: I can tell you from experience you haven't been patted down until you've been patted down by Britain's Special Air Services. That's a pat down.

Police in Namibia found a suspicious piece of luggage being loaded into a plane bound for Germany. Police say the suitcase contained an object with a detonator and a running clock. Officials say it's not clear if the object could have been ignited. The incident comes just as Germany stepped up security measures after intelligence pointed to planned terror attack in the country.

CHETRY: Also "Harry Potter" fans now counting the hours until the new film debuts tonight at midnight. Somehow though the first 36 minutes of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 1" leaked online Monday. Warner Brothers is now trying to figure out the source of the leak, probably the work of the slivery (ph).

ROBERTS: And nearly three decades after it left the U.S. market. Italian automaker, Fiat, is back, trying to rev up small car sales. Fiat is unveiling two new subcompact car models today in Los Angeles. The Fiat 500 Hatchback will cost $5,000 less than the Mini Cooper when it goes on sale in the United States next month.

CHETRY: Well nearly two years after GM was racing towards utter collapse, the Detroit lawmaker is now revving up to make its return to Wall Street this morning. In fact, shares of the automaker will begin trading in just an hour. The stock sale will cut the government stake in GM by more than half. There you see it, the government owned, at one point, 61 percent and now owns 33 percent.

ROBERTS: Our Christine Romans joins us now with more on this. You know, some car manufacturer's, Ford stock, for example, was a really good buy when it was done because it has gone up. What are we expecting GM's stock to do?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We're expecting that stock to be $33 at the IPO price. We don't know if it will go up 10 percent, 20 percent. That will suggest a good morning but in two hours when the opening bell rings, it won't be a bell, it's going to be the horn of a Chevy Camaro. So you can see the hype machine is at work over this very big IPO. It would be one of the biggest IPOs ever.

And certainly the biggest IPO this year. What does it mean for you? A company that has been derided as government motors because your money was needed to bail this company out. Well, the $50 billion government bailout now will be paid back to the tune of $20 billion raised in the IPO. Not all of that is going to the Treasury. Not all of that is going to pay you back and taxpayers back. But about $12 billion or so will go back directly to the Treasury.

And the Treasury Department will sell its remaining stake over the next few years. It cannot sale any shares over the next six months or so as this company gets going.

Now, here's what's happened over the past couple of years. A big turnaround of this company when the Obama administration, of course, decided to take it over to keep it alive. In 2008, it was losing $1,190 for every car that rolled of the assembly line. I mean, obviously, that can't go on. This company was hemorrhaging money. This year, it made $1,000. It is making $1,000 in the third quarter for every car that is rolling off the assembly line. If you just look at the U.S., the cars that it is selling, creating in the U.S. and making about $3,000 per car there. So clearly, a turnaround there.

How did that happen? It wasn't without an awful lot of pain and an awful lot of your money. I want to keep repeating. They had to get rid of four iconic brands, Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer and Saab. And they slashed their workforce in 2008, this was a company worldwide that had $280,000 employees. Today it just has about 208,000 employees worldwide.

Now the Center for Automotive Research however says if the Obama administration did not step in and save this company when it was on the brink in the depth of the financial crisis, a million jobs would have been lost. This company would have imploded all of the suppliers, all of the dealerships, everything you can imagine. So a lot of jobs lost. But this is a victory for the Obama administration. At the time people were saying, wait, you're using bank bailout money to bail out auto makers? What is our focus here? This company can't compete. The company has made it. Now it has to prove it can compete on a global scale, you know, Ford did not take bailouts. Ford has had a nice turnaround. All of these American automakers still have a lot to do but they're out there.

ROBERTS: Well, we got a very big wake up call. We'll see if they stay awake. Christine, thanks.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.

ROBERTS: Well, President Obama has got his work cut out for him this weekend at the NATO summit convincing our allies to stay the course in Afghanistan.

CHETRY: It's not going to be easy, not with recent comments by Afghan President Hamid Karzai calling for fewer U.S. troops in the country and an end to nighttime raids there. Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon this morning. You had a chance to speak exclusively to General Petraeus, Barbara. And a lot of the talk is when the troops will come home. What did he have to say about that?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it really is topic number one, at least, here for the Obama administration, when will U.S. troops start heading home from Afghanistan? Now, number one, General Petraeus told me he believes he is making progress against the Taliban insurgency, and that that will lead him to be able to recommend a troop withdrawal.

Have a listen to exactly what he had to say on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (on camera): When you say it will take place and it will begin in July 2011, are you absolutely saying at this point you will be able to send U.S. troops home? Or you're just going to reposition them in a part of the country where they may be needed more?

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, ISAF: Well, we'll have to see. And I can't address every possible hypothetical that all the different journalists might want me to entertain. But the fact is, I think we'll probably do some of both. I think we will probably reinvest some of our forces. That's what we've been doing so far.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Reinvest. That's a nice bureaucratic word for sending troops to another area of Afghanistan where they still may be needed in combat. So some coming home. Some being repositioned, sent to other areas. This is what General Petraeus will brief at this weekend's NATO summit. He will say that there is progress. He will talk about the December review under way for the White House. But the fundamental question remains, is this real progress? Is it enduring progress? Have they really made a dent in the insurgency? Or is this really just, you know, it's cold, it's winter in Afghanistan, the insurgents have gone to ground and they'll be back in the spring.

John, Kiran.

ROBERTS: All right. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, thanks so much for that. Good job with General Petraeus.

Still to come this morning, bringing the freshmen into the fold. The GOP making room at the table for the rookies. The new blood and the new ideas. One of the new faces, South Dakota's Kristi Noem joins us, coming up next.

CHETRY: Also Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Yankees Stadium in New York, two storied baseball stadiums, well, they're hosting college football game this weekend. They had to get quite a makeover to do it. Wait until you see how they get the goalpost to stay upright in chi-town.

39 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

ROBERTS: Coming up now at 42 minutes after the hour, GOP rookies won more than 80 House seats on election night. Many of them were backed by the Tea Party. And Republicans are making room at the table for them this morning. They created two new leadership roles for the rookies. Republicans Tim Scott of South Carolina and Kristi Noem of South Dakota were selected as liaisons between the new class and the House leadership.

Congresswoman-elect Kristi Noem joins us now live from Capitol Hill.

Congresswoman, good to see you this morning. Thanks so much. And congratulations on your victory.

KRISTI NOEM, CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: Thank you, John. I appreciate that. It's good to be here.

ROBERTS: So it's unusual for a freshman to come into Congress and be given a leadership role. What do you think you bring to the table as a leader?

NOEM: Well, you know, back home in South Dakota I filled leadership positions in my state legislature. But also the small business experience that I have is going to be extremely valuable. I think politicians and people who are representing their districts want people who really know when you pass policies and legislation what the impacts are on real people back home, trying to keep their doors open.

ROBERTS: As we mentioned at the top here, many members of the freshmen class are either tea partiers or were supported in some way by the tea party. What do you think their influence is going to be in Congress over the next couple of years?

NOEM: Well, we've got a very large freshmen class. It's historic in its size. So there are people who are extremely diverse in their backgrounds and their viewpoints. I think that we're going to see a conservative group of people come together, focused on some real ideals that are going to be extremely important. Broad-based policies such as not spending money we don't have.

Getting our budget balanced at the federal level. Creating jobs in our economy. Getting that back on track. That's going to be the priorities of the freshmen class. They want to make sure that they have people sitting at the table at the leadership team that is going to deliver that message and put their foot down.

ROBERTS: What's your relationship, congresswoman, with the Tea Party. You say that you're not a tea partier per se. And you're not sure you're going to join the Tea Party caucus. So what kind of relationship will you have with the Tea Party?

NOEM: Well, I've got a good relationship with the tea party group, especially little the ones in South Dakota that I've spoken to and certainly hold to the some of the same values that they talked about as well. We all agree that a smaller, more limited government is better. That we need those balanced budgets. That we need to make responsible decisions.

So I think labels have been utilized a lot throughout this election process to divide people. And at this point in time, we really need people to come together, be their own person, come with their own suggestions, and really solve the problems that we have facing this country.

ROBERTS: You came to Congress to say to not be a part of Washington, but to change Washington. And so many people before you have said the same thing and haven't been able to do it. What makes you different?

NOEM: Well, what makes me different is that 10 months ago I would never have said I was running for Congress. So I truly was sitting at home talking with my family and realized I had been raising my kids to not complain about something but to do something about it when they didn't like it. And I had to take that same advice myself. I was upset with the way this country was going, what this administration was doing and decided that maybe I needed to step up and fill in that role.

So I've been running businesses, raising my kids on a ranch in South Dakota with my husband, Brian (ph). I have real life perspective that I'm going to apply that here, do what I can do to get some results and live in South Dakota to make sure that people back there know that I'm still one of them and I'm still Kristin Noem.

ROBERTS: Your first priority, congresswoman is going to be - you said, is going to be a deficit reduction, trying to keep the debt under control.

What's the first thing that you would cut?

NOEM: Well, I think what we need to do is put everything on the table and have discussions about it. I think our departments' budgets have continued to grow throughout this recession when the rest of us at home were cutting out coupons trying to make our ends meet. I think that that's exactly what the government needs to do.

So we need to go back to 2008 spending levels before these bailouts, before all the process came where that increased spending happened. And then we need to go back and look at all of our programs and start making and fighting efficiencies and see if they're worthwhile in serving their purpose.

ROBERTS: I understand that, that you that need to look at everything. But is there one particular thing that drives you crazy that you think that if you had the opportunity you'd cut it tomorrow?

NOEM: Well, I think that we've got a lot of those situations out there. And what we need to do as a freshmen class and as a leadership team is to sit down and identify those that we're going after first.

ROBERTS: Right. You know, one of the other questions that people have, this new Congress, is it going to be able to cooperate? Will people reach across party lines? The indications thus far have not been good. You have a pretty good track record there in South Dakota as a state legislature of reaching across party lines.

What difference do you think you can make in the next two years to reach across party lines and forge bipartisan agreements on things?

NOEM: Well, back in South Dakota my service in the state legislature, I sponsored bills will people from both parties. I was an assistant majority leader but still able to work with the other party to get some good legislation passed for the state of South Dakota. That's why we see such a good business environment there. That's why we have a balanced government. I think that's important, the things that the federal government can learn, as well.

So, I can offer that. I know how to do that. I think that we've seen a real openness by the Republican leadership to include people and bring them to the table. And that's what we're looking forward to with the Democratic Party as well, that they'll be willing to sit down and help be part of the solution.

ROBERTS: Do you buy this argument that gridlock is good?

NOEM: Well, it depends on the policies that are being pursued. But now that we have new leadership in the House that really is trying to do some things that would get our economy back on track, now we need to get some things accomplished.

ROBERTS: All right. Well, let's see if we can do it. Your lips to God's ears.

Congresswoman Kristi Noem, thanks for joining us this morning. Really appreciate it.

NOEM: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Good luck to you over the next couple of years. We'll be watching.

NOEM: Thank you. Thank you.

ROBERTS: Forty-seven minutes after the hour. We'll be right back.

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CHETRY: Fifty-one minutes past the hour. We get a check, this morning, of the weather headlines across the country.

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ROBERTS: Coming up, the FDA getting tough with companies that sell those caffeinated alcohol drinks, facing a deadline to change or else. One of the CEOs behind those beverages joins us live.

CHETRY: Also, making a marriage work. Why wealthier couples may have a better chance of going the distance in the first place. We're going to talk about the changing ways people view marriage. Coming up.

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CHETRY: Well, a couple of interesting venues for college football this weekend. Northwestern and Illinois will be battling it out at Wrigley Field, home of the baseball's Chicago Cubs. A little bit of a snug fit for football. One of the goal posts actually had to be attached to the right field wall. Notre Dame and Army kickoff Saturday night, and that'll be in Yankee Stadium. It's the first time the teams have played football in the Bronx since 1969.

ROBERTS: That'll be an interesting couple of places to play football this weekend.

Tiger Woods, the world's number two golfer, writing a first-person account of his struggles in the latest edition of "Newsweek" magazine. He says the physical pain from that car accident has long healed, but the pain in my soul is more complex and unsettling. It's been far more difficult, he says, to ease and to understand but this much is obvious now: my life was out of balance. My priorities were out of order. I can never truly repair the damage that I've done, especially to my family, but I can keep trying. What endures in the record books are the achievements won through competition. What endures in our actual lives is the love of our family and the respect of others. I know now that some things can and must change with time and effort. I'm not the same man I was a year ago and that's a good thing.

CHETRY: All right. Tiger Woods, writing in "Newsweek."

Still ahead, we're going to have your top stories. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back. Fifty-seven minutes past the hour.

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