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Battlefield Backstory; Major Offensive in Marjah; Enduring War in Afghanistan

Aired February 12, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, those -- they've got a fancy name, haven't they? Assault breach vehicles.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

HOLMES: They also shoot out what's called a line charge. They just shoot it out the front of the vehicle. It's got a whole bunch of little explosives on it, and detonate that. And they use them in the minefields to detonate the bigger explosives and stuff like that.

And I've got a couple of photos, actually, that I actually took in Iraq that shows you some of the other inventions that they have come up with. This is day one I got up to Baghdad. And you can see there -- I went up with the Marines -- you see that gunner up at the top. No protection. And they started getting sniped on.

Michael, the director, let's have a look at the next one.

And what happened was soldiers start scavenging bits of other Humvees. And you see the little turret? These are homemade.

VELSHI: Oh, no kidding? They just build that on to --

HOLMES: They build it themselves, yes.

VELSHI: -- somebody machined something and put it on?

HOLMES: That's right. There was one guy in a machine shop who actually worked out how to do that.

One other thing I was showing the guys at Back/Story and they thought it was interesting. Do you see the thing sticking out the front there?

VELSHI: Yes.

HOLMES: That's also an invention done in the field. It's called a Rhino, and it normally sits upright, and when they go out into the field, they lower it down. That's because a lot of the IEDs had infrared beams going across the road to trigger them.

VELSHI: Oh, so this triggers it ahead of the vehicle?

HOLMES: And it can be a millisecond, or a fraction of a second, but it's enough.

VELSHI: Right. It's better than your tire or the front of your vehicle triggering it and blowing it up.

HOLMES: Absolutely. To save lives.

But one more bit of video -- we're stealing a lot of time. We've got three minutes of video.

I just thought this was hilarious. It was sort of one of the padding room floor moments.

Atia, of course, lovely gal. She's out there with the Marines. This one Marine decided he wanted to chat her up. I mean, he had one of the worst lines -- talking about from front lines to worst lines.

VELSHI: So this was the pre-Valentine's edition of Back/Story.

HOLMES: This is it. And she gets him. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE CPL. SCOTT RIVERA, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Let's start with a simple question. What's your name?

ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Atia Abawi.

RIVERA: Atia Abawi.

What's your sign?

ABAWI: Leo.

RIVERA: Oh, really?

ABAWI: I like long walks on the beach.

RIVERA: Oh, yes? Do you like Tauruses?

(LAUGHTER)

RIVERA: I'm just kidding.

ABAWI: What's your name?

RIVERA: Scott.

ABAWI: Scott?

RIVERA: Yes.

ABAWI: What's your last name?

RIVERA: Rivera.

ABAWI: Rivera. And what's your rank? RIVERA: Lance Corporal.

ABAWI: Because you're going be on CNN.

RIVERA: No, don't do that. Don't do that.

Hi, mom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: What's your sign? He asked her, "What's your sign?"

HOLMES: Yes. I love the way she got him though. He's all there confident and everything, and she's like, you're going to be on TV.

VELSHI: She is excellent. She is well suited to being out in the rough.

HOLMES: She is. Good stuff there.

VELSHI: Good to see you, my friend.

HOLMES: Good to see you too.

VELSHI: All right. Happy Valentine's Day. Don't use those kinds of lines.

HOLMES: I'm not. What is your sign?

VELSHI: All right.

Well, if you want see more of Michael and the Back/Story team, check out CNN.com/backstory.

It's just past 2:00 in the afternoon here on the East Coast.

Let the games begin. The Winter Olympics kick off tonight in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Fifty-five hundred athletes going for the gold. Seventy nations taking part in the opening ceremonies.

We are live there.

Here in the United States, we would be happy to give Vancouver some of the snow that we are getting. A big southern storm is on the move. It's already dumped snow from Louisiana to Alabama, from Texas before that. Who's next?

In Haiti, a show of strength, resilience and pride. People coming together to mark the one-year anniversary of the deadly quake. Our Sanjay Gupta is there, and he will join us live very shortly to give us an up-to-date view of what is happening on the ground.

Now, U.S. Marines and Afghan troops, international forces are gearing up for what is likely the largest NATO offensive of the Afghan War. It's focused on the city of Marjah. Eighty thousand people live there.

It is the last Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province. And we are hearing that troops are dropping leaflets now warning civilians not to shelter the Taliban ahead of this coming offensive.

Frederik Pleitgen is in Kabul. He joins me now.

Frederik, what is the latest that you have?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, what has been going on here in southern Afghanistan is that, as you said, the troops have been dropping those leaflets, not only telling the people in Marjah not to shelter the Taliban, but also over the past couple of days telling them to, if possible, stay inside as this operation unfolds. Also, what has been going on in the past couple of days is that the U.S. Marines and British troops have been taking key roads leading in and out of the Marjah area to try and prevent the Taliban from getting out of that area.

Now, next to the Marines, of course, the British are going to be a substantial part of this major offensive. And what has been going on in the past couple of days is that a British commander has been gearing his troops up for that offensive.

Let's listen in to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. COL. NICK LOCK, COMMANDER, ROYAL WELSH BATTLE GROUP: And this mission is a historic mission. We are really at a point, a tipping point, in the future of the campaign. And I am absolutely convinced of the necessity for this mission, because by doing this and clearing this particular area, we will ensure that we have government of Afghanistan influence right the way through central Helmand.

Now, we are going into an area which has been under Taliban control...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Now, Ali, that really sums up what this operation here is all about. It's about getting the Taliban out of that major stronghold in Marjah, bringing in the Afghan government, and essentially showing the civilians there on the ground that their government is a better alternative than the Taliban.

Certainly, what we are hearing from the Marines on the ground is that they believe that this is going to be a very difficult operation. As I said, Marjah was a town that for a long time, has been under Taliban control, and we have been talking about this the last couple of days, Ali. The way the U.S. has been advertising this offensive that is coming up now, it is something to warn civilians, but it also, of course, has tipped off the Taliban, and they have had time to rig the surrounding area and the town itself with improvised explosive devices that are so dangerous for American military personnel on the ground there -- Ali. VELSHI: Yes, Fred, that's the tradeoff here. The NATO offensive has been publicized with the idea, as you said, of drawing the Taliban out, but publicizing it ahead of time lets the opponents know exactly what's going on.

These pictures that you are showing us, Fred, are given to us by the Department of Defense. They've been taken, in many cases, during the last 48 hours.

There is a massive publicity offensive going on right here there. This is not a secret attack. This not a secret offensive, Fred.

PLEITGEN: No, it certainly isn't. It's certainly something that the U.S. has been going on for a very long time.

It's been saying that it wants to conduct this offensive against this Taliban stronghold for a very long time, and so certainly the people who have wanted to get out of the Marjah area -- and we have talked to some of those people -- they have been able to do that. But NATO, ISAF and the U.S. has been asking the people of that town to stay put, not to leave.

They say they want to get this operation over with as fast as possible, minimize civilian casualties as they do so. But, of course, one of the tradeoffs that you have when you do that, especially when you're looking at a place like Marjah, which is very large, where you're likely to see urban combat, also, it's very hard to minimize casualties and at the same time protect your own force, especially when you are taking fire from a house. How do you know which house to retaliate against?

How do you shield the civilians and at the same time protect your own soldiers and Marines on the ground there, Ali? It's pretty difficult.

VELSHI: OK. Stay with CNN on this.

Fred, Atia and others will be covering this, Operation Enduring Freedom, this particular offensive going on in Marjah. We're going to stay on top of this. It is imminent.

The Pentagon's name for the war is Operation Enduring Freedom. The word seems to be "enduring." This has been ongoing since October of 2001, but Afghanistan, the Taliban, Osama bin Laden, this is long before 2001, and these were the top concerns of U.S. leaders in that part of the world long before that.

William Cohen was a Republican, but he was the defense secretary for a Democratic president.

Sound familiar? We have a Republican who is a defense secretary for a Democratic president right now.

William Cohen served President Clinton, and the issues that play in 2010 were high on his radar. He joins me now from Washington.

Secretary Cohen, thank you for being with us. It's good to talk to you again.

WILLIAM COHEN, FMR. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Good to be with you, Ali.

VELSHI: This war in Afghanistan, it's taken many forms. And back in your day, we were still sort of less conventional. It was sort of missiles from afar type of war, and it's now become sort of a mix of high-tech warfare with more conventional warfare. And now we're talking about an offensive that sounds very much like D-Day. This is about as conventional warfare as it gets.

What's your perspective on this?

COHEN: Well, as your program has indicated, this is going to be very difficult. You are fighting in terrain that is treacherous to begin with. You have an urban setting, so to speak, in terms of civilians being marshaled inside. The Taliban is likely to make sure that they do stay close to them so that they will maximize the -- we will maximize the killing by keeping them all grouped together, and they will use that as part of the propaganda.

So this is very difficult, the counterinsurgency warfare that is taking place. And it's something that, of course, Secretary Gates is now, in shaping the budget, and what they call the QDR, the Quadrennial Defense Review, is saying we need to win the wars we are currently engaged in and we need to focus on those wars that are likely to take place in the reasonably foreseeable future; namely, counterterrorism and counterinsurgency. And so you're seeing now the marshaling of aircraft, but also on-the-ground type of urban capability which is going to result in a good deal of bloodshed.

VELSHI: Obviously, for military, for defense secretaries, for people like that, this is a continuing effort, but this does, to some of us, have a different feel. This operation under way now -- you may have heard Frederik Pleitgen in his piece listening to a British soldier talking to his troops and saying this is a tipping point.

Is that likely the case?

COHEN: Well, I think it's a tipping point for this particular battle. Whether or not it's going to rout the Taliban for an indefinite period of time remains to be seen.

That is one of the challenges for the NATO forces, ISAF forces and the U.S. And there are many who challenge this, for example.

The notion that we can just clear the Taliban out, and then you can really modernize the Afghan army, that's going to be a challenge in itself, because many of them are illiterate. It's going to take a longer time than any of us have anticipated, and so the notion that by next year we will start to downsize I think is unrealistic. And so, it's going to be longer and tougher, but we are in it, and you have to win it when you're in it.

VELSHI: Well, we're in it. It's taking lives and it's taking a lot of money at a very difficult time.

William Cohen, stay right there.

When we come back, we're going to have a conversation on whether we are executing this the right way and what his advice might be.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: OK. I'm back with former defense secretary William Cohen, joining me. We were talking about this new offensive that is under way, or about to be under way in Afghanistan.

Secretary Cohen, let's talk a little bit about the fact that we're in this tough economic time. As you told me a moment ago, there are people who think that this is the right thing to do, this is a tipping point, this new offensive of Afghanistan, the adding of troops that President Obama has committed to Afghanistan. There are others who think it's not and it's a tougher situation to solve than some would have you believe.

But the bottom line is, how much do the budgetary constraints impose on the decisions about what the right thing to do or not to do is?

COHEN: Well, you focus on the key issue. General Omar Bradley used to say that amateurs study strategy, but the experts study budgets. And when you look at the budgets, then you determine what you are able to carry out.

And what Secretary Gates has done, in proposing this budget, a total of $708 billion -- we're talking about three-quarters of a trillion dollars that is going to be spent on defense. And so if you look at the numbers and how they are shaped, more money is going to the Marines and to the Army, because the secretary and the Joint Chiefs are convinced that that is where the battles are likely to take place -- on the ground, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism.

There's no peer competitor right now; namely, a Soviet Union or a China. So, that's where the focus is and that's where the money is going.

Now, having said that, there are still some shortfalls in terms of the programs that are currently under way, what is identified as requirements, or noted requirements. They are not being fully funded, and so you're going to have a budget crunch of some $140 billion or $150 billion by year 2014.

So, we're fighting the wars right now, looking at these types of missions, but long term, we're going to have to figure out whether or not we can afford to maintain the overall budget that we've had in the past. We'll likely see this level off and maybe even slightly decline in the years to come.

VELSHI: Now, in full disclosure, you are a recipient of government defense funding, but both Secretary Gates and the president do not support things like more spending on the Joint Strike Fighter. We're changing our priorities, so there's still a lot of money, defense spending still eats up more money every year, and that could be because we're involved in all of these wars -- it probably is. But there's definitely a shift in the way we spend this money.

What do you think of that shift?

COHEN: Well, as I said, I think the secretary of defense has identified the proper balance that he is actually trying to rebalance the budgets right now and rebalance the strategy.

As far as my -- I don't receive defense money as such, and my firm only represents -- 20 percent of our business is defense, 80 percent is non-defense. But in any event, I think coming back to where the money is going to go, a special operations command.

Senator Nunn and I, back in 1987, we, in fact, helped create the special operations command over the objection of the Pentagon because we were convinced that is where the wars were going to be fought with utilizing these Special Forces. That's where more money is now being applied.

I think it's the right strategy in order to deal with what we think are the -- when I say "we," most of us who study this think the types of offense we're going to have to wage in the future, counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, hybrid types of war whereby states may support this type of guerrilla activity. So, I think overall, he's doing the right thing, and those defense contractors will adjust to it. They will start to fund whatever the Defense Department requires.

VELSHI: You know, there are always disputes about where that money should be spent. You were a Republican defense secretary, in a Democratic administration, like we have now. It almost seems like the dispute between Democrats and Republicans on defense spending is less severe or less pronounced than it is in other areas of politics right now with the partisan paralysis going on in Washington. It almost seems like there's more agreement on defense than other areas.

COHEN: I would hope so, because that's the one area where we ought not to have much disagreement.

When it comes to national security, there shouldn't be a Republican or a Democratic strategy, or requirement. It should be an American policy. And that's why I think it's critically important that we try to minimize, if not eliminate, disagreements over how we defend this country not only internationally, but here domestically as well. That's the one area that I think non-partisanship is called for.

VELSHI: The last time I talked to you, Secretary, you were talking about a book that you had written. You know, we're coming up to Valentine's Day. I thought it's kind of important to note that you have a romantic relationship with your co-author.

COHEN: Indeed, I do. And I would be amiss if I didn't say to my wife, Happy Valentine's Day, because it's special for us. We were married on St. Valentine's Day, and I think that was by design so my wife would always know that I would not forget it in the future.

VELSHI: Excellent plan.

COHEN: So Happy Valentine's Day.

VELSHI: And our best wishes to her.

Great to see you again.

Former secretary of defense William Cohen.

All right. Out of the darkness, one man is lighting up the night for thousands of people across Kenya. This CNN Hero of the week when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: Imagine being plunged into utter darkness every evening. That is what happens when the sun sets in rural Kenya, where more than 27 million people live without power.

But our CNN Hero of the week is trying to bring some light into their lives. Meet Evans Wadongo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVANS WADONGO, CNN HERO: I have problems with my eyesight due to prolonged exposure to smoke. And I had to use firewood to study during my childhood.

I grew up in a small village in the western part of Kenya. These families are so poor, they don't have electricity. It's only kerosene and firewood that they use for lighting, cooking.

It's very, very frustrating. I couldn't compete effectively with other kids who have access to lighting.

A lot of other kids just drop out of school. So they remain poor for the rest of their life.

My name is Evans Wadongo.

When I made the first lantern, I thought I must find a way of using solar light to light up the homes. I was so overwhelmed. I knew the impact that the lantern would have in the rural communities.

The amount of money that every household uses to buy kerosene every day, if they can just save that money, they can be able to buy food.

Good morning.

All along I've been skipping at least two meals a day so that I can construct the lamps, but I want to do more. It gives me satisfaction that I'm lifting people out of poverty. I just feel like it's right. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: All right. To watch Evans Wadongo build his solar lanterns, or to nominate someone who you think is changing the world, go to CNN.com/heroes. You can also follow our heroes on Facebook and Twitter.

Getting a check of the top stories now.

In Haiti, a national day of mourning. It's been one month since the earthquake that left 217,000 people dead. So, today, thousands of survivors are gathering in Port-au-Prince, singing and praying for the victims.

We're going to speak to Sanjay Gupta there in just a few moments.

Two former Blackwater employees say the company charged the U.S. government for prostitutes and strippers, billing it as moral welfare recreation. They filed a lawsuit against the security firm, accusing it of fraudulent activity in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in Louisiana during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The company, now known as Xe, denies the claim.

And snow in the Deep South. Parts of the Sun Belt are shivering through a powerful winter storm. Hundreds of flights are grounded. Emergency crews are gearing up in Mississippi, Alabama, and right here in Georgia.

And with that, we're going to visit Chad Myers in just a moment for an update on where that weather is. You'll see it in a moment right here in Atlanta. The snow is coming down hard.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VELSHI: We're going to come back in just a minute. Stay with us.

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: CNN is committed to continuing to cover the story of Haiti after the earthquake. This is a month since that earthquake. It's a day of mourning in Haiti. Let's go to Sanjay Gupta who's live in Port-au-Prince, he's been there the whole time.

About things are looking at, looking like right now one month later and these appear to be live pictures that we were just showing you or pictures of a celebration. I mean, weird to call it that, Sanjay, a commemoration really of a month since the earthquake. How much have things changed? How much better are they than they were a month ago?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it is interesting, if it is a day of mourning as what they are calling it officially. But Ali, I felt the same way that you did, because in some ways it had a much more festive feel than I would have thought. There were prayer services that would spontaneously break out into song and dance and in some ways, Ali, it shows the spirit of the people down here. This one-month anniversary for them I think in many ways marks a time where they want to move on. They want to start the rebuilding and reconstruction process.

Ali, we talked about this last a little bit last hour, but I think the single biggest concern on most peoples' minds here in Haiti, because they have lived through this before is the rainy season and the hurricane season which follows shortly thereafter. There were hurricanes last year that devastated this country and then obviously the earthquake. They are really praying, hoping they don't have some of those terrible storms again this year.

From a medical standpoint, things have gotten better, Ali to your question and your point, but the immediate phase of things, the heroic phase of things is coming to a close, but the long-term care that is going to be necessary is just now starting to develop. I think it is not nearly where it should be as of yet, Ali.

VELSHI: What do we need for long-term care in Haiti? Is it infrastructure? Is it supplies? You were telling me last hour that the supplies you need for long-term care medications are different from what you need for urgent care. When you look at this thing, what needs to happen to make Haiti viable again?

GUPTA: Let me give you a specific example and this may illustrate it for you. A patient leaves one of these public hospitals over here after a pretty big operation, an amputation let's say. They are given a slip of paper that has their discharge instructions just like you would see at any other hospital. Those discharge instructions first of all are written in English which most people can't read. They tell them to pick up medications, which they can't get. They tell them to change their dressings which they can't do, because they don't have the supplies. That just gives you an example on an individual level of how in the best intentions, things simply can't happen.

So what needs to happen is that things need to become much more specific to Haiti in terms of the language, in terms of pharmacies that can provide these medications and in terms of mobile units which can help perform some of these dressing changes. Ultimately Ali, what's going to happen, I've seen this many times before is that a lot of the international aid that we are reporting on for some time is going to start to dry up. So the infrastructure that you speak of needs to be developed to be able to handle some of the simplest concerns, otherwise these patients just aren't going to get the care that they need. When it comes to rainy season, they got to find the right location incidentally as well for these tent cities or structures that are even more sturdier than tents that aren't going to be in sort of the eye of the storm when these hurricanes or big storms come through.

VELSHI: Yes, and Chad was telling us just yesterday about how Haiti really is in the crossroads of hurricanes. It is always a danger spot. Sanjay, thanks very much for bringing us up to speed on this. It is a month later. The problems have changed, but the problems continue in Haiti, but boy the spirit of the people there, it is heartening to at least see that.

Sanjay, good to see you. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, our chief medical correspondent.

When we come back, we're going to Ben Jealous. He is the head of the NAACP. There he is standing by. It's the 101st birthday, the 101 anniversary of the NAACP. How has the mission changed? How much is still necessary and what remains to be done when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: The latest shuttle mission to the international space station is in full swing right now. Spacewalkers Bob Vanken (ph) and Nicolas Patrick completed a six hour spacewalk early this morning. They got an extra room in the space station set up. They are expected to open the hatch on that room tonight. This is the first of three spacewalks in this mission.

Well the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, known as the NAACP was founded on this day back in 1909, 101 years ago. It is the nation's oldest and largest and most widely recognized grass roots-based civil rights organization. There are more than half a million members and supporters throughout the United States and worldwide. The mission of the organization is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic quality of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination.

I am joined now by Benjamin Jealous. He's the president of the NAACP. Ben, happy anniversary to the organization. I guess the question on my mind this week, you were at the White House.

You were meeting with President Obama with a number of other black leaders talking specifically about the economy and jobs. We have seen that unemployment for African-Americans is not only 50 percent greater than it is for the national average, it is actually getting worse. It is trending the wrong direction. What did you say to the president? What could you say to the president and what did he say back?

BENJAMIN JEALOUS, PRESIDENT, NAACP: You know, we talked about ways to make sure that, as the tide rises and all boats come up, right now for black people in the country, our boat feels a bit stuck. Right now, it is the -- we have got to get the Senate, especially the Republicans to let a jobs bill, a real robust, meaningful jobs bill go through and so we talked about ways that we can work to get that done.

VELSHI: What could happen? What could a jobs bill have, because I think this conversation is important to blacks and to whites and everybody else in this country. If there is something the government can do, if there's a bill that can be passed, if there's a methodology that the government can use to spend the dollar that result in jobs, I think everybody's ears are open to that, so what is the thing that can happen? I know you had some specifics for the president that could really help create jobs. JEALOUS: Sure. You know, we need to have tax breaks for small businesses that go out and take a risk and add a job in this economy. We need to make sure that people who have not had a job in a long time can get the training that they need to get into a place where there is growth. We need to make sure that jobs are created not just in rural places, but in cities, too. Right now, there is a big transportation bill that is pending and quite frankly, it's building a lot of roads through pine trees when it should be building trains that can serve cities. So we got right down to it and we have great hope that the Senate will do the right thing.

VELSHI: You were talking specifically with the president advisers. Is this president -- I am asking you possibly a rhetorical question -- but in your mission with the NAACP, do you get a better hearing? Do you feel that this president is better attuned to the particular concerns that the NAACP has about jobs for African- Americans?

JEALOUS: You know, I think that all working people should really take great solace in the fact that we have a president who comes from a working family and a president who started out walking door-to-door in Chicago as a young person and helping people who were out of work find jobs and he gets it in his heart, in his soul. He is working extremely hard. We are facing a huge barrier both from the Senate, especially the -- and from southern governors who have come out whether it is health care, whether it was the jobs portions of the stimulus bill and just said, no, no, no. And it is not enough to say, no, no, no when people are suffering, suffering, suffering. This president is doing a great job. We need the Senate to do a great job, too. VELSHI: What happens to the NAACP over the next decade? How does this role change?

JEALOUS: Well, you know, at the start of this century, what is clear is that we, people in this country of all colors, we are just 5 percent of the world's population, but we are 25 percent of the world's prisoners. We have a school-to-prison pipeline in this country that we've got to crush. Right in the middle of it is the jobs crisis, but at the front end, it means that we have to make sure that all kids in this country can go to a good school and at the back end it means that we got to have a justice system that works for all of us in this country. Those are the three areas where we are really focused right now -- schools, working with the health crisis and ensuring that we have a justice system that works for all of us.

VELSHI: Dr. Benjamin Jealous, again our best wishes on the anniversary of the NAACP, thanks for joining me today.

JEALOUS: Thank you so much.

VELSHI: And in Chappaqua, former President Bill Clinton is back home after leaving hospital. He had surgery yesterday to unblock an artery. Doctors say he did not have a heart attack and there is no damage. You'll remember back in 2004 the former president had a quadruple bypass. In Utah, you have probably never heard this guy's name, but you've probably tossed around his most famous creation, Walter Fredrick Morrison is the inventor of the Frisbee and he has died at age 90. Two hundred million Frisbees have been sold since Morrison licensed them first in 1957.

And in Haiti, it has been one month now since the devastating earthquake there. Thousands of Haitians gathered in the capital for a memorial. The quake killed more than 212,000 people according to the government, injured 300,000 more and left more than a million people homeless. We're hearing that the bottleneck on getting aid out is easing but Haiti is getting hit by a rainy season in the coming weeks.

When we come back, we're going to tell you all about something that I'm sure you're interested in. I certainly am, a preview to the opening ceremonies of the Olympics tonight and the next 17 days of fun. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VELSHI: I want to go out to Mark McKay. He's covering the Vancouver winter Olympic games that are starting tonight, kick off ceremony is tonight. He is going to tell us all about it. We've got some news coming out of there right now. We've got 15 categories of sports, 86 gold medals up for grabs, 25 MR. S. medals in 2006 and the temperature there 44 degrees Fahrenheit, a little dodgy with respect to the snow which isn't there. It's right here.

Mark, I want to ask you first though, we are getting some news about an accident, a luge accident. What do you know about that?

MARK MCKAY, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: What we know is over the past 20 minutes, Ali, a 21-year-old luge competitor from the Republic of Georgia, his name (INAUDIBLE) during his final training run crashed out. He crashed on to the luge track. CPR was given to the 21-year- old Olympian on the course. He was then sent to the hospital. Some are saying with life-threatening injuries, so a story that we will be continuing to follow here at the Vancouver games of a 21-year-old luge competitor here at the Olympics, he's already been sent to the hospital with what some are saying life-threatening injuries.

VELSHI: And this is as far as we know, this is a practice run obviously, because nothing else is happening there yet. We haven't kicked off yet. Interesting to hear of an accident before that's actually happened. Kickoff is in a few hours from now, the opening ceremonies. What are we expecting to see both at the opening ceremony and over the next few days?

MCKAY: This will be very unique, Ali, as the opening ceremony for a winter's games, winter games for the first time will be held indoors at the 60,000-seat VC place right on Cole (ph) harbor as we sit right in front of it here as well. It's going to be a spectacular opening ceremony. We don't know much about it. It is always kept under wraps, Ali whether it's a summer or winter games. We don't know where the cauldron will be lit. We don't know who will be lighting the cauldron. There have been a few names bandied about, but we'll find out over the coming hours.

VELSHI: Let's talk a little about who some of the names we expect to see as prominent over the next couple of weeks.

MCKAY: Well, Lindsey Vonn, she has already made news here at the Vancouver Olympics and the opening ceremony hasn't gotten under way. She arrived with a badly bruised right shin, an injury that she suffered in training in Austria before coming to the Vancouver games. She was in excruciating pain mid week. She was able at least put a ski boot on and do a free run, not down the official downhill Olympic course yesterday. She says she feels much better.

Ali, she is hoping to get back onto the track or t the course this afternoon, but weather will have to dictate that. They have already cancelled the men's downhill training up at Whistler.

A couple of names to watch, how about the winner of "Dancing with the Stars." You know him from the last Olympics, Apollo Anton Ohno (ph). He is making his third winter Olympic appearance and he's still a medal contender in short track speed skating. This is a guy if he wins one medal here in Vancouver, he will become the most decorated MR. S. male athlete in winter Olympic history. It is really a homecoming for him. He first learned to skate here in the Pacific northwest.

And another guy Ali that we will be watching for is a guy who burst onto the scene in Torino, Shaun White, the defending half pipe snowboarding champion. You know the blazing red hair, the radiant smile. Shaun will certainly be somebody that he'll be favored to win gold again, but this time Ali, don't call him the flying tomato. He'd rather not hear that nickname.

VELSHI: Shaun all right listen, Mark, we will be watching Shaun. Mark, you notice we are getting a lot more snow. You are getting none over there, but Chad tells me you guys will get enough particularly in Whistler. We will stay in touch with you, Mark McKay is in Vancouver for us with the winter Olympics.

For those of you who think the government knows too much about you already, a whole lot of TSA employees, the ones who check you out at the airport are about to get access to a lot more secret information. Kate Bolduan has that story when we come back.

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VELSHI: Hi. All this week, we are -- well not just this week, we've got a security desk going in Washington looking at security issues in this country, your safety and how money is spent on it. Kate Bolduan is staffing it right now. She is there with a story of TSA officials, the people who check you out when you go through the airport, some changes in the information that they now have access to. What have you got, Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, some potentially big changes, Ali. What we are hearing is that thousands, thousands of airport security workers are set to get enhanced intelligence clearance, secret clearance to be exact. This is an effort for TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, an effort for it to be able to better track, improve their ability to track and detect and potentially stop any potential terrorists. In all, we are talking about, this is 10,000 TSA workers that are gaining this new access to classified information, but it is not exactly the people that you and I most encounter at the airports, not the checkpoint screeners.

It's their bosses. What we are talking about is people, managers, supervisors and those behavior detection officers that have been deployed in various airports. The TSA spokesperson, she spoke with our security desk a little earlier today, telling us providing clearances and corresponding intelligence information to the front line workforce empowers our employees to better execute their mission at the checkpoint and in other areas of the transportation environment.

What TSA says it really, this really does when you boil it down is give the officers the ability to pinpoint and track anomalies in the system and in the airport and also gives them the ability to connect potential dots. You know Ali, because we were working together that night, connecting potential dots is the -- in other areas of the intelligence community was a problem that the Obama administration says was their failing in stopping or in detecting earlier the Christmas day attempted attack. That is one thing that they say they are looking to improve here. It is going to take two years, TSA says to really get all of these 10,000 people cleared, but they say they are working on it right now.

VELSHI: Yes, as you remember from the night of the Christmas bombing, one of the issues is that it is who has the information, but there is such a great volume of information that what happens is sometimes people's names are on a list or information is there, but you just can't get that information to enough people. You can't get it through the databases in a consumable way.

BOLDUAN: Well, to be quite honest, we've asked TSA, what kind of information does this secret clearance allow. Of course, they not going to be giving that to us, but they said it's really going to allow them to better communicate amongst their people and give people the information in context in a real time daily basis to know what they're looking for, to improve their daily jobs. We can only hope that's of course what we want in our airports is more safety.

VELSHI: All right. Kate, thanks so much for that. Kate Bolduan on the security desk in Washington.

When we come back, we're going to remember a true pioneer, the funeral of a Tuskegee airman. Stay with us.

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VELSHI: It's time for the XYZ event. I want to take a moment to remember Lieutenant Colonel Lee A. Archer, Jr., whose funeral begins in just a few moments in Arlington national cemetery. Here he is back in World War II, one of the first Tuskegee airmen, the first African- American military aviators in the United States armed forces. He downed at least four German planes, three of them in a single day. He flew 169 combat missions at a time when most pilots were flying 50. He should have come home to a hero's welcome right? Wrong.

Mr. Archer says when he arrived back in America in 1945, the first thing he saw was a sign reading colored troops to the right, white troops to the left and that's just a taste of what the Tuskegee airmen faced, discrimination, segregation, the myth that black men lack courage and patriotism. The Tuskegee airmen were courageous. They were patriotic and they literally flew beyond any bounds the world tried to set for them. Lieutenant Colonel Lee A. Arthur (ph) Jr., a warrior, a pioneer, a Tuskegee airmen. He was 90.

I am Ali Velshi. I'll see you right back here Monday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, 10:00 a.m. Pacific. Here's "RICK'S LIST."