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Top Taliban Commander Captured; Battling the Taliban; Alabama University Shootings

Aired February 16, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Time for your top-of-the-hour reset now.

I'm Tony Harris in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is 10:00 in the evening in Pakistan, where a senior Taliban figure is facing questions now from Pakistani and U.S. intelligence agents.

It is 11:00 in Huntsville, Alabama, where new details are emerging today about a professor accused of gunning down six colleagues.

It is 9:00 p.m. in Dubai, where international arrest warrants have been issued for 11 people. They are accused of assassinating a founding member of Hamas.

Let's do this -- let's get started.

Talk about a major blow to the Taliban. Their number two man, top military commander, close associate of Osama bin Laden, captured and being questioned in Pakistan.

Now live to CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, across the border in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul.

Boy, Frederik, first of all, who is this man? And then again, tell us why he is considered such a significant capture.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Mullah Baradar, Tony, is pretty much the second in command of the Taliban, second only to Mullah Omar himself, and certainly known as a close associate of Mullah Omar. It's known that he is also apparently one of the founding members of the Taliban.

And what's really significant about him is that he is also the one who divulged the military strategy of the Taliban and is keeping up that military strategy in Afghanistan right now. So, certainly, this is someone who holds a lot of sway. He also holds a lot of sway within the Taliban.

He was the head of the Taliban's leadership council, so certainly this is a man who not only knows everything about their military structure, he is also a close associate of bin Laden. Some believe he might be able to offer clues as to the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.

And he's also someone who is very, very close to Mullah Omar, and certainly someone who Mullah Omar apparently had regular contact with. So, certainly, this is something that's being hailed by the U.S. intelligence community as a very, very big blow to the Taliban and a very big breakthrough for the U.S. in that region of the world -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes.

And Frederik, as you know, there is a major offensive under way in Helmand province right now. I'm just sort of curious here, could this man's capture take some of the steam out of the Taliban resistance in Marjah?

PLEITGEN: Well, that's very hard to say. You know, one of the things that Afghan and NATO commanders have been telling us is that they believe that the fighters that are still holed up there in Marjah are probably pretty much cut off from the outside world, so it's highly doubtful that they'll know very much about all of this.

However, it could very well be that this is a big blow to them as well, to their morale as well, if, in fact, they have heard about this. I mean, we have been hearing reports from the battlefield that, apparently, the resistance has become more disorganized today. But on the other hand, we have to see that this offensive is now going into its fourth day, and, of course, the U.S. Marines, the British forces have been making gains in that time.

So it's really not clear what this does to all of that. However, U.S. officials are pretty certain that, at least in the short term, this could really lead to major problems in the Taliban's military strategy in Afghanistan. Of course, that could be possibly be very, very positive for the U.S. here in this country -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes.

Our Frederik Pleitgen for us in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Frederik, appreciate it. Thank you.

You know, the Obama administration views this as the most significant Taliban capture since the 9/11 attacks.

Speaking to CNN's Anderson Cooper, our national security analyst, Peter Bergen, explained why it is such a huge deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Arguably more important than Mullah Omar from a military point of view, because Mullah Omar really is more of a religious figure than an operational commander of the Taliban. This guy also is the number two political figure in the Taliban.

The fact that he was discovered in Karachi is very significant. Karachi is the largest city in Pakistan. It's a long way from where the war is being fought. It indicates that Pakistani intelligence services and CIA cooperating very closely on a very high-value target.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(NEWSBREAK)

HARRIS: In southern Afghanistan, the biggest military operation against the Taliban since the U.S. invasion in 2001. Fifteen thousand NATO and Afghan forces are pushing forward in one of the terror group's major strongholds.

CNN's Atia Abawi is with troops in Helmand province, and she joins us on the phone.

What can you tell us, Atia, about the operation?

ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, what I can tell you is that the day started off with an eerie calm. The Marines that I'm embedded with (INAUDIBLE) Alpha Company, were able to go to one of their main objectives, and that was a police station in the center of the city. They were able to capture without meeting any resistance.

But then, a few hours later, that's when the sporadic gunfire began. Again, a lull, but then we started hearing gunshots coming from all over the city -- north, south, east and west, an engagement that lasted about 15 minutes.

The theme (ph) of the Taliban today has been to actually step down on their fighting until later in the afternoon. And what was unusual, Tony, today was, in the last several days, the last few days of the fighting here in Marjah, Operation Mosharak, the Taliban waited until the sun rose before they started their attacks. And once the sun set, their attacks started to cease.

But tonight, we started seeing gunfire coming from different areas of the city, attacking U.S. positions, including RPG attacks. That's rocket-propelled grenades attacks, one even hitting the U.S. position -- close to the U.S. position that we're located in. A large fire brewing from that, a smoke rising up into the city.

So, obviously, although today started off with a calm, it ended with a big bang. And again, throughout the night we do expect some sort of a Taliban reaction coming in as Taliban fighting really, really unusual, especially as we've been carrying (ph) it for the last few days, to see them fighting in the dark -- Tony.

HARRIS: Atia, one more quick one for you. How difficult, how slow-going is this operation because of the threat posed by IEDs?

ABAWI: You know, Tony, it is going slower than expected, but slowly, but surely, the U.S. Marines, the U.S. forces are making some headway in moving throughout the city. We're seeing more and more Marines in different areas of the city. And that's why we -- the success (ph), when we were looking around, when CNN was walking around the city, you saw more and more U.S. Marines, we saw more of their vehicles in different areas. And this could have been why the Taliban decided not to fire in the early morning hours, because they may have been assessing the movement of the Marines, of the troops, in the city of Marjah at the moment.

And once that assessment is made, many of the Marines do believe -- the commanders on the ground do believe that the Taliban will continue their attacks, and they will continue to do larger attacks. And even the commanding general, Brigadier General Larry Nicholson, made a visit to this U.S. position and various other positions in the city of Marjah, and he even said that they can't anticipate exactly how the Taliban will proceed, but they do expect the fighting to continue for some time -- Tony.

HARRIS: CNN's Atia Abawi for us with U.S. troops in Marjah, Afghanistan.

Atia, appreciate it. Thank you.

And new details emerging about the life of a university professor arrested for shooting six colleagues. We travel to her hometown.

First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. When nature gives you snow, we make it our "Random Moment of the Day."

An Ohio man has built his own backyard luge track. You've got to be on your back.

What is that? That's not -- OK.

Dick Bowshier says he constructs the track every year for his grandkids.

Do you see any grandkids around?

Dick hoses down the course every night to make sure it's nice and icy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK BOWSHIER: I'm out here at sometimes 10:30, 11:00, hosing this down with water, because that's ice. That's what really makes it fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. Our man Dick says his sled can hit 20 miles an hour.

Now, that's a "Random Moment" just because. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, how old are you?

BOWSHIER: Sixty-four.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sixty-four?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: You know, just days after the deadly shootings at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, new revelations about the biology professor charged with murder.

Here's CNN's Brooke Baldwin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the days since the fatal shooting at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, new revelations into Amy Bishop Anderson's past. Her husband confirmed to CNN that, in 1993, the couple was questioned in a case involving a pipe bomb targeting one of Dr. Bishop's colleagues, Dr. Paul Rosenberg, a professor at Harvard Medical School.

A former lab partner at the time remembers her being questioned.

SYLVIA FLUCKIGER, FORMER LAB PARTNER: Police interviewed her. She told me about it. I really wondered if she may have had, you know, some more knowledge, although I'm not accusing her of anything.

BALDWIN: Jim Anderson told me, "The ATF gathered a dozen subjects. There were never suspects, never anyone charged, never anyone arrested. Five years later we got a letter from the ATF, you're in the clear."

That's not the only part of Amy Bishop's past that's come to light since the Alabama shootings. Police also revealed she shot and killed her younger brother when she was 19 in an incident in which a shotgun was fired twice.

This is the Braintree home where the 1986 shooting happened. You see the bay window up there? That was Amy's bedroom and according to this Massachusetts state police report that's where she was first unloading the family shotgun when it first went off.

According to police, she ran down the stairs into the kitchen where she accidentally shot her brother. She then took off out the home's back door and the last two words she told police she heard her brother say, "Oh God."

Now, 23 years later, the current Braintree police chief is raising questions.

CHIEF PAUL FRAZIER, BRAINTREE, MASS. POLICE DEPT.: I don't want to use the word cover-up. I don't know what the thought process was of the police chief at the time. I believe it reflects poorly on the department at that time.

BALDWIN: Chief Frazier says Amy Bishop was arrested but released in the midst of the booking process. The man who was police chief at the time denies making the call.

JOHN POLO, FORMER BRAINTREE, MASS. POLICE CHIEF: Reports were made, reports were submitted. Where they are, I don't know. Cover- up? That is really a new word for me.

BALDWIN: Adding to the questions the 23-year-old Braintree police report is now missing and at the time, Amy Bishop's mother served on the Braintree police personnel board. We tried talking to Judy Baker in her suburban Boston home. She didn't come to the door but she picked up the phone.

The 69-year-old mother told me, through tears, "We're very distraught. Please leave us alone."

Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Now another murder case. This one unfolding like an international spy thriller.

Authorities in Dubai try to track down an 11-member hit squad accused killing a founding member of Hamas' military wing.

Live now to Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem.

And Paula, you've been following this case for some time now. So, what do you know about the suspects, first of all? And then maybe you can detail the plot a bit.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, we've been given the footage of the security camera from Dubai police, so this basically tracks many of these 11 alleged suspects from when they arrived at this Dubai hotel where the Hamas member was assassinated, Albuston Rotana (ph), in Dubai. And also, it tracks from when Mahmoud al-Mabhouh -- this is the man who was killed -- came from Syria to Dubai and then left the airport.

We do believe, according to the police, that he was tailed from that moment on. He then went to the hotel. He was then checking in.

He was then tailed by two people apparently dressed up as though they were about to go and play tennis, in the lift as well, going to his room, checking which room he was checking into, and then he was tailed when he left the hotel. But just a couple of hours, when he came back, it's believed by the police, there were already some of those alleged killers in the room itself.

He went in at about 8:25 p.m. local time. His body was not discovered until the next morning.

So, what we now have from the Dubai police is 11 faces. They have said that they have the names of all these people. They have given us the names.

Six, apparently, British nationals, one French, one German, three Irish, but already we've heard from the Irish authorities that the passport they believe they were traveling on were fake. And, in fact, we also know that here in Israel, about four people woke up this morning, saw their names in the Israeli newspapers, because their names had been used. So they're a bit bemused by the whole thing, obviously shell-shocked, because the international media is calling them up to find out if they're involved.

So, at this point it doesn't look like they have the name of any of those suspects, just the pictures, and at this point still no arrests -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Let's leave it there for now. All right.

Paula Hancocks for us.

Paula, appreciate it. Thank you.

You know, winter has been pretty intense for a lot of people this year. What's behind that? Our severe weather team is going to give us all some answers.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Checking our top stories now.

A major blow to the Taliban. One of their top guys, a military commander, reportedly has been captured in Pakistan. A senior official with the Obama administration tells CNN it is the most significant Taliban capture since 9/11. The commander is considered the Taliban's number two man just behind Mullah Omar.

President Obama is talking up jobs this morning in Maryland, mainly in the field of energy. At a labor union training facility in Lanham last hour, he said the U.S. needs to invest in safe, clean nuclear power. He announced loan guarantees for two reactors to be built near Augusta, Georgia.

Rescuers are having to wait for the weather to clear a bit on Mount St. Helens. They are hoping to reach a climber who fell 1,500 feet into the crater yesterday. At one point, rescuers say they thought they saw him moving, but nothing recently.

We will get another check of the top stories in 20 minutes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Iran's President Ahmadinejad has been speaking out again on the threat of sanctions over Iran's nuclear program. We're going to get the latest for you from our Iran Desk.

We're back in a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: New defiance today from Iran. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to be threatening retaliation if his country is hit with stronger sanctions. The U.S. and other western nations are pushing for crippling sanctions over Iran's nuclear program. Ivan Watson is following these developments from CNN's Iran Desk.

And Ivan, what specifically is the Iranian president saying here?

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Tony, I just got off the phone with a spokesman for the International Atomic Energy Agency. He confirmed that a letter was sent to the head of the IAEA.

According to The Associated Press, this letter came from the U.S., France and Russia, all Security Council members, saying, "If Iran goes ahead with uranium enrichment" -- as it began last week -- "it would raise fresh concerns about Iran's nuclear intentions."

Now, today, in a two-hour press conference, Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he defended the decision to go ahead and begin enriching uranium to a level of 20 percent.

Take a listen to what he had to say, Tony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (through translator): We told them six months ago they have their conditions for us. They set conditions for us. Why didn't you simply give us this fuel? If you are concerned about production, our 20 percent production, which is again a new lie, why didn't they give us the fuel without conditions based on that? But they didn't give us the fuel, OK, no problem, we can produce it on our own.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: That was the line that Ahmadinejad was giving. He's defiant in saying if you guys don't make a deal with it, we will go ahead and enrich uranium on our own -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK, Ivan Watson for us. The latest from the Iran desk. Ivan, appreciate it. Thank you.

And back to our lead story now, the capture of the Taliban's number two man, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. His arrest in Pakistan being described as a turning point in the U.S.-led war against the militants. Let's get you live now to CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

Barbara, good to see you. Why is this guy, remind us again, so important?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Tony, Baradar, by all accounts, number two in the Taliban organization, has had contact with both Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, the figurehead of the Taliban, so he may have information to offer about the whereabouts of both of those men.

Very interesting. He was captured in Karachi. Pakistan's largest city. And we have reported on CNN since December, actually, the U.S. intelligence community has been looking at reports that Mullah Omar himself might be in Karachi.

There are increasing reports that many of the top targets, if you will, the people the U.S. would like to get its hands on, have moved from that border regions into the cities because they've been pressured out of the border region by action, military action in those region. U.S. drones and other Pakistani military actions.

So all of this adds up to a lot of potential unsettled movement amongst key Taliban and al Qaeda leaders. And that's when the U.S. can take some advantage, move in, and try and capture some of them, Tony.

HARRIS: Well, Barbara, talk a bit, if you would, about the process of interrogation here -- sticky, sticky. What kind of rules might be in place now?

STARR: Sticky in the least.

HARRIS: Yes.

STARR: That -- that's a very diplomatic way of putting it. By all accounts, he is under interrogation by both Pakistani and U.S. intelligence officials. Let's -- let's be very clear, the Pakistanis may have interrogation rules that the U.S. does not. Physical coercion, torture, if you will. They will try and get any information out of him that they can.

But, Tony, what you started out with at the top, a game changer. That remains to be seen. Is this really turning a corner in the war on terror? Clearly, the U.S. and the Pakistanis will want to say that it is. That this is a great success. A success it is. But will this man have information to offer that really changes what is happening on the ground? That remains to be seen, Tony.

HARRIS: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us. Barbara, good to see you. Thank you.

STARR: Thank you.

HARRIS: Have Toyota owners starting overwhelming their dealers yet? Our Poppy Harlow is going to take us live to a dealer in Brooklyn to get some answers. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Hey, look, a pretty good day so far with stocks. We'll get to that in a moment. But at this time we like to direct your attention to cnnmoney.com for the fantastic work being done there by our Money team. So if you want the latest financial news and analysis, cnnmoney.com. The lead story there, "stocks surge to start the week."

A pretty good rally shaping up so far. It looks like the pharmaceutical company, Merck, is reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings and that's fueling the market rally that you can see here. The Dow up 115 points. Looking good. A bit off of session highs, but, still, in positive territory. Positive triple-digit territory. And the Nasdaq is up 21 points.

Federal safety investigators report a spike in complaints about Toyota problems following the massive recalls. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it received nine new complaints of fatal accidents caused by sudden acceleration since January 27th. The complaints involve 13 fatalities. That's in addition to the 17 complaints between 2000 and 2009 involving 21 deaths. The agency says it's normal for reports of problems to surge after a recall.

Toyota dealerships around the country are working to make the necessary repairs on the recalled vehicles. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow is at Bay Ridge Toyota. That's in Brooklyn. So walk us through the process.

And, Poppy, I've got to tell you, we've had a service manager from the Toyota dealership in the Atlanta area with us on the set last week, and he told us his technicians were mostly taking naps because people weren't turning the cars in. What's your situation where you are there in Brooklyn?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: They are turning them in now. I wish I could show you, but there's just a host of cars out there waiting behind me even on this snowy day here in New York. The fix is in at this dealership. It's a big, big dealership here in New York, Tony. They say, by the end of today, they will have fixed 1,000 of those recalled Toyotas.

One of them that just got fixed is Gary's. He's here with us now.

It's interesting, we were talking about Toyota before. What's your overall feeling now? You've been a Toyota customer for years. What's your take now?

GARY ROGER, TOYOTA CUSTOMER: Well, I'm still going to be a Toyota customer, because they're handling this business very well as far as I could tell.

HARLOW: They fixed your car. I want to show you, Tony, what they did to Gary's car.

HARRIS: Yes, yes.

HARLOW: This is all they did. They put this little piece in his accelerator pedal. We're going to show you how to do that. But it's all fixed now, so we'll let you go on your way. But thanks you for talking to us about Toyota. We appreciate it.

HARRIS: Nice. Nice. HARLOW: Good luck with everything.

And let's show you the fix, Tony, because Marvin over here, he's been working tirelessly and we've been bothering him all day trying to get him to show us what he's doing.

HARRIS: Come on, Marvin.

HARLOW: But, Marvin, let's take a look here. This is the fix. This is what we're talking about for most of the recalled cars.

MARVIN MORRIS, TOYOTA MASTER TECHNICIAN: Yes. Correct.

HARLOW: Show us how it works.

MORRIS: What it is, is Toyota's provided us with these selected shims. And what they do is we put them in place as a (INAUDIBLE) to reduce the amount of friction caused to a pedal applications, OK?

HARLOW: Right.

MORRIS: Also we have another addition to the recall is that we go ahead and we install a new tibia pad here. And what that does is it reduces the distance between the accelerator pedal and the carpet itself. And I also have examples here of

HARLOW: This is another fix.

HARRIS: Yes, Poppy, good point.

HARLOW: A different recall, Tony. But it's with the accelerator pedal.

MORRIS: Correct. Yes. What I have here is the original accelerator pedal and a new revised version. It's a much shorter pedal to reduce any contact between the pedal and the floor carpeting.

HARLOW: So it doesn't get stuck under the floor mat.

MORRIS: Correct.

HARLOW: Marvin, thank you. We'll let you get back to work.

But, Tony, as you can see here, they're doing a lot of work and they sell thousands of Toyotas. They've got thousands more to fix. But they're staying open until 11:00, 12:00 at night trying to get all these customers in, Tony.

HARRIS: Right. Hey, Poppy, are you getting of those Prius cars in there with the braking issues?

HARLOW: Right. Yes, they are. It's a totally different recall, but, again, something Toyota is dealing with. This is the Prius.

This is how they fix the Prius. I think it's very interesting. This is a laptop and they hook it up with this cord right to the brake there. This laptop is what assesses the problem. It takes about 45 minutes to update the software to fix that break. Mike Ianelli here. He's the general manager of this Toyota.

We were here two weeks ago with the recall. You couldn't go on camera with us then. Now you can talk to us. How's it going? Are you coping? Is business OK?

MICHAEL IANELLI, GENERAL MANAGER, BAY RIDGE TOYOTA: It's going. We're seeing a large volume of cars coming in. We've done almost 1,000 recalls by the end of business today. And it's a little bit overwhelming. We've had to put on some more employees. We're extending our hours till 11:00 at night. We're doing the best we possibly can.

HARLOW: Yes, you've got to keep your customers. Thank you for letting us be here.

Tony, I'll send it back to you. But I will say, we'll hear more from Toyota tomorrow. The president of Toyota, he's going to hold a press conference in Japan and take a lot of those questions that folks have.

Tony.

HARRIS: That's good stuff, Poppy, appreciate it. Thank you. Good seeing you.

Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

U.S. officials say the Taliban's top military leader has been arrested in Karachi, Pakistan. The Associated Press quotes a Pakistani officer as saying Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is talking to interrogators. The Obama administration calls it the most significant capture since the 9/11 attacks. The Taliban says the arrest didn't happen.

Congressman John Murtha remembered today in his hometown. Mourners gathered this morning in Johnstown, PA, for Murtha's funeral. Among them, former President Bill Clinton. Murtha died just over a week ago from complications after gallbladder surgery.

Politicians calling it quits. Upset victories. The political mood across the country seems to be one of frustration.

And a new CNN poll is making news along those lines. Oh, let's get to this. Our national political correspondent, Jessica Yellin, live from Washington.

Jess, what's the news here?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, the latest polling is an historic low for Congress. We asked the question, do most members of Congress deserve to be re-elected? Only 34 percent of Americans said yes in our poll, 63 percent said no.

Now, I know we all already understand that we're deeply frustrated. There's deep frustrations with Congress in the country, but that is the lowest number CNN has found since we started asking that particular question in 1991.

Now let's take it the next step down the road. Does your member of Congress deserve to be re-elected? Fifty-one percent, a bare majority, say yes, 44 percent say no. This is significant, Tony, because usually people dislike Congress in the abstract, but really like their own member. Again, an incredibly low number for wanting your own member to be re-elected. The outrage with Congress clearly is really now unprecedented in that polling.

HARRIS: Yes. So like my guy, don't like yours. I know. All right, so

YELLIN: And now I don't like my guy that much anymore either is showing.

HARRIS: Exactly. So, Jess, which party is hurt more by this -- this mood. This sort of anti-incumbent mood sweeping the country?

YELLIN: This right now is advantage no one. Look at this poll number.

HARRIS: Well, that's good to hear, yes.

YELLIN: Well, who deserves most to be re-elected? Congressional Democrats? Congressional Republicans? Exact even scoring there. Yes, 41 percent, no, 56 percent. What that says to us is that there is rabid anti-incumbent spirit out there in the country

HARRIS: Right.

YELLIN: That is attached to neither party. Folks are just angry with the people in office and they want a change.

Now, back in 2006 we asked this question, and that's when we started, Republicans were far less popular.

HARRIS: Right.

YELLIN: So it's gotten worst for Democrats, but basically, if you're in office, you're an endangered species these days.

HARRIS: Right. I mean, come on, you're not able to get anything done, so blame them all.

All right, Jessica Yellin for us. Jessica, appreciate it. Thank you. Appreciate it.

YELLIN: Good to see you.

HARRIS: New film emerges of John F. Kennedy on the day of his assassination. We will show you why it's a hot topic right now, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Boy, here's a look at what's hot on the web right now. What you're talking about at cnn.com.

Some new video -- look at this -- from the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. It shows the late president and first lady arriving at Love Field in Dallas on November 22, 1963. The video released by the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas. Look at this. Pretty extraordinary, huh? The curator calls it the best home movie of the Kennedy arrival known to exist.

On Twitter right now, one of the top trending topics is Mardi Gras. Live pictures for you. Come on! Those folks in New Orleans just having a grand time. Fat Tuesday. I'm sorry, did I get you with that? Sorry about that. Fat Tuesday celebrations culminating here. The fun, as you know, ends at midnight.

And the top Google search is our top story. The capture of the Taliban's number two man. U.S. officials say he was found in Karachi, Pakistan. He was captured during a joint Pakistan/CIA operation. The Taliban says it just didn't happen.

Rebuilding your credit and are you entitled to a home buyers tax credit. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis gathers "The Help Desk" team for some tips on managing your money.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: It's time now for "The Help Desk," where we get you answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, John Simons is the senior personal finance editor at "Black Enterprise" magazine. Jacquette Timmons is a financial adviser and author.

OK, guys, roll up your shirt sleeves, let's get to work.

Chris asks, "can you please give me a step by step way to rebuild my credit? I was just discharged from personal bankruptcy" -- Jacquette.

JACQUETTE TIMMONS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR: The first thing to do is to begin paying your utility bills on time and then get a secured credit card. And you can go to perhaps bankrate.com to get a listing of that. But he also needs to re-evaluate what led to the bankruptcy.

WILLIS: Right. Great idea. Reevaluate your spending -- reevaluate your spending patterns.

Next question, "can I get the $6,000 tax credit for the condo I purchased with my IRA money on December 30, 2009? My condo has since been rented."

John, what do you make of that?

JOHN SIMONS, SR. PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR, "BLACK ENTERPRISE": Well, first of all, the tax credit is $6,500 and it's for people who are buying their primary home. It sounds like this woman, this person, is renting out the home. It's not their primary residence. So the answer is no.

WILLIS: The answer is no, and it's really complicated because it depends on when you buy that home what rules apply. The devil's in the details.

Guys, thank you so much for your help.

"The Help Desk" is all about getting you answers. Send me an e- mail to gerri@cnn.com. We might just answer it right here next week. You can also pick up the latest issue of "Money" magazine on newsstands now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Our CNN Fact Check Team investigates a suspected terrorist on trial. What is the best way to do it, in a military or a civilian court? Now, earlier this week, Vice President Biden claimed that military courts were not as successful at keeping terrorists behind bars. Was he right on that score?

Joining me now CNN executive producer Suzanne Simons. What are the facts on this, Suzanne?

SUZANNE SIMONS, CNN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Yes. Well, if you look at the numbers, let's just flush it out by numbers --

HARRIS: OK.

SIMONS: In civilian court there have been 174 convictions, plus about 24 convictions, but on far lesser crimes. Now if you'll look at the military court convictions, there were only three. So just by the numbers it looks like, yes.

Now, Joe Biden came out the other day and said, however, out of those three military convictions, two of those guys are now walking free on the streets. How effective is that, right? Is that true?

HARRIS: Right. Right. Is it?

SIMONS: It is true. If you -- you might remember, according to the Department of Defense, David Hicks was convicted back in 2007 of providing material support to terrorism. He was released. His sentence was actually not more than nine months.

HARRIS: Got you.

SIMONS: Two other guys, Salim Hamdan, convicted in 2008, also of providing material support to terrorism, he was sentenced to 66 months. However, the judge said, we're going to take those 61 months that you've been sitting in jail and give you credit for that, too. So he's now out.

HARRIS: Right. That's right. That's right.

SIMONS: Actually, we believe -- some intelligence sources believe he's back in Yemen, of all places to be. HARRIS: Oh, boy.

SIMONS: And then Ali Hamza al-Bahul was sentenced in November of 2008 to life in prison, according to the Department of Defense, and he is the only one of those three military convictions who's still in jail.

HARRIS: Can I ask you a question? Is this online -- all the work being done by the fact check team, is it online somewhere where folks can access it?

SIMONS: You know what, starting on Monday we're launching -- I mean I hope everyone tunes in to cnn.com, because not only is it great for finding anything, but all of the fact checks are going to be on cnn.com as well.

HARRIS: That is awesome.

SIMONS: Go check them out. If you hear somebody say something and you don't think it's quite right, you think you --

HARRIS: Right, right.

SIMONS: You know, you let us know. There's an e-mail address that will be on there as well and we want to hear from you.

HARRIS: That's terrific. All right, thank you.

Haiti, five weeks after the big quake, a CNN I-Reporter shows us what she's doing to help the victims. We're back in a moment.

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HARRIS: Haiti's earthquake five weeks ago today is testing victims' patient and relief workers' stamina. CNN I-Reporter Chris Moro (ph) has been working with the San Diego based group, Rescue Task Force. Here's what she's seeing and doing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STANLEY VINCENT: We are here in the middle of Tent City, just down below the hill of (INAUDIBLE). We're going down to the inside of the tent. And Port-au-Prince has always been a city flanked by ghettos from side to side because everything has been centralized in Port-au-Prince. But life has been different anyway decades ago. I can remember when I was growing up in this country. I mean, it was always a poor country, but people had hope.

DARRYL HALL, RESCUE TASK FORCE: Right now we're loading up the gator with generators, ladder, electrical wire, lights, connectors. We're going to go down there and put these generators at all the stations that the guys wired up previously today and chain them to the trees, fire them up, lights on.

DR. SCOT RICE: One momma delivered triplets in her tent and they've been nice enough and kind enough to deliver formula, because the mom's not eating enough herself to produce enough milk to keep these babies alive. We're managing as well as can be expected. We're managing unbelievably well with the leadership we have. We have generators. The local people here actually go out and we give them money and they go out and stand in line for -- for all the gas and the diesel that we need. So it's a partnership between us and the community. They trust us to help them and we trust them to help us.

HILARIE CRANMER, HARVARD HUMANITARIAN INITIATIVE (voice-over): We have 225 patients here today. There are -- we can anticipate about 300 patients. We not only take care of the patients, but their family members, and we provide a settlement camp called Family Center by the American Red Cross, which is right next door, to give them food, water, and start establishing their livelihoods and repatriation to homes again.

DR. MICHAEL FINEGAN: This morning we're having a graduation exercise for about 200, over 200 Haitian leaders who have come forth to want to serve their people, to reduce the emotional scarring of their children and to strengthen the leadership so that they can act as models for their community of 30-plus thousand people in the camp. Exhibiting hope and optimism and perseverance and a discipline to assist the people in a selfless manner, in addressing problems. The very skills that they will need to make this camp a community that is safe, that protects the women and the children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: That is one heck of an I-Report. Thank you so much. Haiti, five weeks after the quake.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Tony.