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Tornado Hits Near Charlotte, North Carolina; Obama Meets Karzai

Aired March 28, 2010 - 18:32   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news: President Barack Obama surprises troops and the world, showing up in the Afghan war zone just days after he won a landmark health care bill. At this hour, the president is returning home on Air Force One. It was his first trip to Afghanistan as president.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

The secret journey began in the middle of the night with the president leaving Camp David and flying out. Soon after touching down, he met with Afghan leader, Hamid Karzai. And then met with military officials at Bagram Air Base and spoke to a crowd of 2,000 U.S. and allied troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If this region slides backwards, if the Taliban retakes this country and al Qaeda can operate with impunity, then more American lives will be at stake. The Afghan people will lose their chance at progress and prosperity. And the world will be significantly less secure.

And as long as I'm your commander-in-chief, I'm not going to let that happen. That's why you are here. I've made a promise to all of you who serve -- I will never send you into harm's way unless it's absolutely necessary.

I anguish in thinking about the sacrifices that so many of you make. That's why I promise I will never send you out unless it is necessary, but that's only part of the promise, because the other part of the promise is that when it is absolutely necessary, you will be backed up by a clear mission and the right strategy, and you will have the support to finish the job, to get the job done. And I'm confident all of you are going to get the job done right here in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. Back to the president and that breaking news in just a moment, but we have some other breaking news concerning the weather. We want to get straight away to our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras.

We have a tornado on the ground, Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right and this is in Charlotte, North Carolina. It's not in the city center but it's about seven miles to the northwest of there. Local law enforcement as well as trained spotters have both seen this tornado.

Here's that area that we're talking about right here. If you know where Paw Creek is, that's the location of the tornado. It's moving to the north and east, around 40 miles per hour. If you live in Croft as well as Huntersville, you need to be taking cover immediately. This is a very dangerous situation in a very populated area. This is within that perimeter area of the interstates in the Charlotte area.

We are making calls and trying to find out if there's any damage or any injuries. As we continue to follow this story, we'll bring you more information -- Don.

LEMON: Jacqui, thank you. We'll get back to you in just a little bit.

Meantime, back to our other news. President Barack Obama's meeting with President Hamid Karzai lasted about half an hour at the presidential palace in Kabul.

And our Atia Abawi was in Kabul. Atia is joining us now.

Atia, tell us what went on during this meeting?

ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, let's talk about the significance here.

First, President Obama -- first trip to Afghanistan since he's been sworn into office. President Obama avoided coming to Afghanistan, even though it was a big part of his foreign policy issue during the campaign in 2008. 2009 was an incredible year here in Afghanistan. It was a year with the presidential campaign and presidential campaign that was marred with allegations of fraud.

President Obama seeming to try to distance himself from President Hamid Karzai. There were tensions between his administration as well as Karzai's administration. But, today, obviously, a significant day because President Obama did come to Afghanistan, especially after he's already promised to increase the U.S. troop level by 30,000 additional troops.

And today's visit actually solidifies the fact that the U.S. administration is now acknowledging really that President Hamid Karzai is the president of Afghanistan, that he did win those elections in 2009, and he will be the president of Afghanistan for the next five years. And both men obviously knowing that neither of them can be successful without each other's help -- Don.

LEMON: So, Atia, what does this trip mean to the Obama/Karzai relationship, if anything?

ABAWI: Well, it's a big deal right now when it comes to the Obama/Karzai relationship. It was very well-known that there were tensions between both President Obama's administration as well as President Karzai's administration. People on both sides are basically jabbing the other side with comments here and there, remarks here and there. In fact, there are people within the Afghan government implying that they don't need the U.S. government's help in certain events.

But today, obviously, the two of the men together, side by side, a photo-op in Afghanistan. They did meet in Washington last spring, early summer. But this is a big, big step. President Obama coming to the presidential palace, a place that President Bush in the past had come to at least twice, meeting with President Karzai. And, in fact, having a press conference with both Afghan and international media.

Today's trip by President Obama, obviously, is a very short trip because of security reasons. And many people are actually questioning why he couldn't stay longer -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Atia Abawi, thank you very much for that.

And after meeting in private, the two presidents spoke with reporters. President Karzai began with some words of thanks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: I suffice at welcoming President Barack Obama to Afghanistan with pleasure and, once again, expressing my gratitude to the American people for giving Afghanistan the taxpayers' money for the rebuilding and reestablishing better institutions in Afghanistan.

OBAMA: I want to send a strong message that the partnership between the United States and Afghanistan is going to continue. We have seen already progress with respect to the military campaign against extremism in the region. But we also want to continue to make progress on the civilian process of ensuring the agricultural production, energy production, good governance, rule of law, anti- corruption efforts -- all these things resulting in an Afghanistan that is more prosperous, more secure, independent; is not subject to meddling by its neighbors; a transition will be able to occur so that more and more security efforts are made by the Afghans.

And so, we very much appreciate the partnership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. Let's get some perspective on this and go right away to our man at the White House, Dan Lothian, standing by.

Dan, the president is coming off perhaps his most successful week in office after the health care victory he had last weekend. So, why visit Afghanistan now? What's behind the timing here?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right -- a very big week for the president last week, and then, now, making this trip.

We're told that this is something that the president wanted to do for some time but no specifics as to why he chose this weekend. However, senior administration officials say that this is a critical time in Afghanistan. The U.S. recently is wrapping up this offensive, Marjah offensive, where they were going after the Taliban. The U.S. believes that it was a very effective operation. And now, they're focusing on a big push into Kandahar City.

And U.S. officials want to make sure that they have a good partner there on the ground in Hamid Karzai, someone who will fight corruption, someone who will go after the drug financing of the insurgency. So, they want to make sure that he will help the U.S. troops fight extremism there in Afghanistan.

But in addition to that, the president said specifically the reason he wanted to go there is to say "thank you" to the troops for their sacrifice and he promised a commitment to make sure that he'd provide all that he can so they can get the job done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Much has happened to our country and to the world since 9/11. But I'm confident that so long as brave men and women like you, Americans who are willing to serve selflessly, half a world away, on behalf of their fellow citizens and the dreams of people they've never met -- so long as there are folks like you, then I'm confident that our nation will endure and hope will overcome fear. And I am confident that better days lie ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Now, in summarizing the meetings, U.S. officials who were traveling with the president told pool reporters there that they were very productive and useful, and that they tried to set the stage for what's next. Of course, as you know, the president did invite Hamid Karzai to come here to Washington in May -- Don.

LEMON: Hey, can we talk about some of the polls on what Americans' attitude -- I think we've done some polls, Dan, on the attitude toward the Afghan war. Does it still rank -- is it high up there?

LOTHIAN: Well, as you know, there has been a lot of opposition to the war in Afghanistan. But amazingly, it does appear that Americans are growing more optimistic about the war in Afghanistan. For the first time, opposition to the war is dropping below 50 percent.

In fact, the latest CNN/Opinion Research poll shows 48 percent of Americans favor the war in Afghanistan, 49 percent oppose it. And as to whether or not they approve of how Mr. Obama is handling the war in Afghanistan, 55 percent now, that compares to just 51 percent in January, 42 percent in October.

LEMON: And we can bet all of this, though -- and I know that this was planned to come on the heels, Dan, of the health care vote. All of this is to bump up the president's, I guess, favorability rating or how people feel he's doing his job. And there are some people saying maybe he feels like after this health care vote, that he's gotten his mojo back or he's getting his mojo back.

Have you heard that?

LOTHIAN: I have not heard that. But -- I mean, certainly, you know, the administration has always pointed out that while this may not have been in the front burner or on the front burner, it's not something that you see on the front pages of the newspaper each day or leading the newscast, that this administration has been focused on Afghanistan while at the same time dealing with health care and other domestic issues here as well. And they always like to point out that the president has to be able to, you know, walk and chew gum at the same time.

LEMON: Dan Lothian, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

And make sure you stick around, the viewer I'm talking to. We'll have much, much more on President Obama's visit to Afghanistan. Our guests will discuss the significance of this trip. And we'll have an update on exactly how many U.S. troops are there and how many more are expected as part of the president's surge strategy.

And there's severe weather across the Southeast tonight, including a tornado warning right now in Charlotte, North Carolina. You saw our Jacqui Jeras during our breaking news. We're also hearing that there are some reports of damage. Jacqui is checking on it.

You're looking at a live picture there from Carolina. We'll get back to that and update you on that situation.

Also, weigh in on your stories. I'm on Twitter now looking at some of your comments. Go to the social networking sites.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: As we told you at the top of the show, there are some breaking news when it concerns the weather. We want to get straight away to Jacqui Jeras following tornados -- Jacqui.

JERAS: Yes, that tornado warning is still in effect. So, a tornado very likely still on the ground being tracked by local law enforcement, as well as trained storm spotters. This is just to the north and east of Charlotte right now. And you can see on radar that little hook or this little area in here. And that's the spot we're concerned of.

The most recent report where the tornado was located was near Croft. Some other areas that are in the path include the Charlotte Motor Speedway, if you know that area, Davidson, Concord, Kannapolis, Landis, Mt. Ulla, China Grove, Woodleaf, Spencer, Salisbury, Rockwell, Granite Quarry, Gold Hill, Faith, Craven and Cleveland.

So, we're starting to get some reports as well of some damage in northwestern parts of Mecklenburg County. Some sheds are being reported around some poles -- this is from the National Weather Service reporting this -- as well as a roof off of a building and power lines down. We did get a tower cam here out of Charlotte. This is a view of the downtown area. You can see those low-hanging clouds. Downtown is OK now. The storm is to the north and east of you.

But a tornado watch is still in effect for downtown Charlotte -- which means conditions are favorable for more of these storms to develop in the upcoming hours. So, a dangerous situation continuing.

It looks like they just extended that warning to go a little farther to the north and east, including you in Lexington, Thomasville and High Point.

So, that storm was showing some signs of weakening a little bit, but now we're starting to see the red come back in there. So, we'll continue to monitor this situation. But a tornado very well could be on the ground right now, still at this point moving towards the Kannapolis area. This is North Carolina.

LEMON: All right, Jacqui Jeras, we'll check back with you. And viewers, make sure you stay tuned. Jacqui has some good information. She's working this tornado that we're hearing about in North Carolina.

JERAS: Right. And if you see it or you have any damage, you know, go ahead and send me a tweet, or get on my Facebook page. We're having a hard time getting information. We are hearing that law enforcement is very busy, as well as local affiliates there.

LEMON: I'll just put that on Twitter for you --

JERAS: Yes, thank you.

LEMON: -- as you were doing that because I knew you couldn't do it yourself.

All right. Thank you very much, Jacqui. We definitely check back.

We want to get back to our breaking news now. We're talking about Afghanistan. President Barack Obama is on his way back from the war zone right now.

And so, with us from Washington to talk about this is CNN security contributor, Frances Townsend.

Good to see you.

She is a former homeland security adviser to President Bush.

Also with us is syndicated columnist and Pentagon consultant Robert Maginnis.

Good to see you as well.

Fran, I'll start with you. The president said that this war remains absolutely essential to him. So give us the big picture here. What -- why this visit at this time? FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: You know, Don, it's interesting. For one thing, it's been 14 months into this presidency. Given the blood and treasure that the United States is committed to Afghanistan, it's a little surprising that it took this long.

Now, I think it's understandable in some respects given that the president has been very consumed with his domestic agenda. You were talking to Dan about the passage of the health care bill. But he went, and I think it was a very -- a very important boost to the troops.

It also, let's be honest, the administration's success in Afghanistan with their foreign policy is very much tied to President Karzai. We know that the administration has been very uncomfortable because of election fraud.

And after all, the burden now, given the U.S. commitment, is on Karzai, to do this part in this. He's got to show that he can secure his own borders, his own territory, protect his own people, deliver basic services without corruption and drug trafficking. And so, he -- President Karzai has got a tremendous burden on him.

LEMON: And --

TOWNSEND: And I think -- I think we have -- we have to understand that President Obama was over there to make sure that President Karzai understands what's expected of him in return for our commitment.

LEMON: There are some who question whether or not we should -- the U.S. should trust Karzai or rely on Karzai, Robert Maginnis.

Do you think that we should rely on Karzai? You heard Fran mentioned, saying that it's absolutely essential to this process.

ROBERT MAGINNIS, PENTAGON CONSULTANT: This is his second term, Don, and he hasn't been terribly productive at this point. I do believe the president said to Karzai, today, the clock is ticking. You know, as you recall back at West Point on December the 1st, he told the world that, you know, his intent is to begin to withdraw our forces in July of 2011. So, there's a little over a year left before Karzai has to get his program in order.

Now, I will acknowledge that the new strategy, which has already been launched with Marjah, and it appeared to have been fairly successful. But the problem has been, you know, trying to get that civilian infrastructure, the local government to function so that it can create jobs and provide services. That's very slow, and that is critical to the president's long-term strategy in that area.

LEMON: Fran, the terror threat in Afghanistan for terrorists. What's the bottom line there? Still a big threat to the U.S. and the rest of the world?

TOWNSEND: It is. And, Don, as we've heard the administration talk about it, I think it's correct to say this is not -- the terrorism threat is not just an Afghanistan problem. The president talked about Afghanistan today, but he mentioned and he acknowledged the fact that it's very much also tied to our strategy within the region and specifically in Pakistan.

The Pakistan -- senior Pakistani officials, including General Kayani, the army chief of staff in Pakistan, were in Washington last week discussing the security situation. They re-launched an effort in South Waziristan.

The notion of this working on both sides of the border is absolutely crucial to a successful regional strategy that protects the security interest of the United States.

LEMON: So, Robert, you know, during the president's speech, he talked to the troops about -- he knows some of them have to do three, four, I think he said, deployments over there and that it was hard on their families back home and that he was concerned about -- he anguished over the decision to send them back.

Sort of two questions here. What kind of stories do you think he was hearing, if any, from the troops there? And is this indication -- any indication of how long they might possibly be there?

MAGINNIS: Well, Don, you're right. Nine years at war almost. Some of these young people have been over there two, three times, not counting their combat tours in Iraq. The stress on the force, which is an all-volunteer force, is incredibly high. And, in fact, our suicide rate alone in the Army was the worst of any year this past year. So, the president understands that.

I applaud the president for going over there and encouraging the troops. The stories he heard were probably some pretty heart-rending accounts of, you know, mom and the kids back home miss me, I haven't seen a birthday or a wedding anniversary in many years. So, the president, as commander-in-chief, has to be incredibly concerned about overtaxing the force that, of course, depends upon the goodwill of the American people to send their sons and daughters into harm way.

And so, I think that he feels that burden and he promised in that speech today, "Look, I'm not going to send you unless it's absolutely important." And I think they needed to hear that.

LEMON: Yes, that's a good way to end this. So, thank you very much, Robert Maginnis and Fran Townsend. Always good to see you both of you. Have a great rest of your weekend.

TOWNSEND: Thanks, Don.

MAGINNIS: Thank you.

LEMON: Let's talk now about the controversy surrounding the Catholic Church. It made its way into the Pontiff's home Sunday service. We'll tell you what Pope Benedict had to say about the waning public opinion of the church in the wake of the latest child sex abuse scandal. And what was once a steel mill town is becoming a part of the green energy sector, believe it or not. We'll tell you how the winds of change are blowing in Pennsylvania.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is our breaking news story. Look at that. You're seeing it as we are. That is Carolina.

I want to bring in our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras because she's been covering this.

Jacqui, what are we looking at? You told us about a tornado. This was bright, just what, not more than five minutes ago? It was sunny, right?

JERAS: Yes -- well, it wasn't sunny, but we had calmer conditions in downtown Charlotte. There you can see -- OK, this is the Greensboro camera. All right.

And there is a storm, if we show you here on the radar, if we could do maybe a split screen here. Here you can see the Greensboro area. So, I'm wondering, you know, if this is the storm just to the north of there that we're looking at. There is some rain that's just -- which is pushing through that area right now. That's really not ominous.

This storm does not have a warning on it, north of Greensboro, and it is heading northeast. So, that's moving away from the city. But you can see we got a couple other storms which are lined up and those are all poised to move through that city. So we'll continue to monitor that situation.

The tornado warning also continues for Mecklenburg County. The storm now, the one that did produce a tornado, we do have reports of some damage. Power lines down. Some sheds wrapped around poles -- that's what the National Weather Service is reporting -- but not necessarily in downtown Charlotte, per se. This was about seven miles northwest of the city center.

The storm, itself, looks like it's trying to ramp itself back up again -- just to north now of the Kannapolis area. This is moving near Enochville, northwest of Concord, Woodleaf, Spencer, Salisbury, Rockwell, Gold Hill, Faith and Craven also in the line of this storm. The Weather Service is now reporting.

This is a Doppler radar-indicated-tornado. So, that tells us that these storm spotters are probably not seeing something on the ground. But when I start seeing pictures like this one out of the Greensboro area, that tells me that these are very high precipitation type of tornadoes. So there's a lot of rain associated with them. And sometimes you can't see those tornadoes because they do become so wrapped in rain.

So with those warnings out there, you really need to take them very seriously. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there. You need to get the lowest level of your home, away from doors and windows. So, when we got reports of things actually touching down, that is certainly a serious sign.

Charlotte downtown, you're not under a warning right now, but the watch remains in effect. That's the thing we have to remind ourselves this time of year as we start getting into spring, the difference between a watch and warning. And a watch means that conditions are favorable for a tornado to occur. That means you need to watch out and be on alert, and make sure you know your severe weather plan.

When we get a warning like we have just northeast of town, that means that either Doppler radar is indicating strong rotation or one has been spotted.

LEMON: And, Jacqui, these are -- these are high-populated areas that you're seeing this activity in, right?

JERAS: Well, you know, yes. This is -- this is pretty populated in this area right now. Here's the next storm that's starting to move through Charlotte. So, you can see that one is going to start to intensify a little bit, too. You know, the main city center is probably right within this area, but out towards Concord and up towards Kannapolis, yes -- I mean, thousands of people still live within this area.

LEMON: What about some flooding? Any flooding threat? And I'm just checking some of your twitters here.

JERAS: Well, maybe some urban flooding. Sure. I mean, you get these big downpours, especially like the one that we were seeing up there. It looks like maybe we lost that shot that's up toward Greensboro.

Yes. I mean, you're going to start to see some ponding on the streets. And with the warnings out there, you don't want to be out driving anyway.

LEMON: OK. Thank you, Jacqui. Jacqui, stand by.

Do we have pictures of the tower cam, if we can put that up? Jacqui Jeras is following breaking news for you. Just look at those pictures.

Just moments ago, the shot on the left was much, much clearer and you could see how quickly those clouds are rolling in there. And Jacqui is talking about the one on the right, Jacqui, you said was Greensboro?

JERAS: Yes. That's Greensboro. And I want to make it clear that Greensboro, you're under a watch, you're not a warning right now. But you can see that heavy rain continues to come down on the north side of town. It does have stronger thunderstorms. And there are more storms to your southwest that could be coming through. So, if those sirens do go off in the next hour or so, you certainly want to go ahead and take shelter.

LEMON: OK. Jacqui, thank you.

We want you to be safe. Stand by, Jacqui Jeras. I'm going to ask our viewers to stand by as well because people need to get out of the way, get out of harm's way in case something is happening in their area.

So, we're going to join you with some breaking news in just a little bit, just on the other side of the break, update you on that.

Also, the situation, the president visiting Afghanistan, the troops there. Much, much more news straight ahead right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: We're following breaking news here on CNN. If you're in the Charlotte, North Carolina, area, you need to pay close attention because, according to our Jacqui Jeras, there's been an active tornado in the area spotted there. And there are some warnings going on and watches as well. Jacqui is checking the information for you now. These are live tower cams from North Carolina. and you see there the dark clouds are hovering. They are looming. We're following it on CNN. Stay tuned. Our meteorologists working it for you.

In the meantime, we want to talk about the winds of change. They are blowing in one Pennsylvania town. Workers are leaving the steel and automotive industries for the clean energy sector.

CNN's Joe Johns takes us on a tour of a windmill blade factory generating green jobs. It's our "Building Up America" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This used to be steel country USA with its towering pollution machines. Now, new jobs in the clean energy sector putting people back to work, going green all at the same time.

The U.S. subsidiary of a company based in Spain, Gamesa USA, is manufacturing enormous windmill blades at this Pennsylvania plant, shipping them all over the U.S.

Ron Sanders is the plant manager.

(on camera): How many of these do you guys make a week?

RON SANDERS, PLANT MANAGER, GAMESA USA: We're moving back up to produce more, at 11 blades per week.

JOHNS (voice-over): Sanders got a break from the recession by coming here to work. He used to work for an automotive supply plant that fell on hard times.

SANDERS: I've been in automotive for almost 30 years. As the industry declined, I found myself having to leave the employer that I was working for at the time.

JOHNS: Ed Barnett had jobs at three different steel plants before it all dried up. He's grateful to be working here.

ED BARNETT, WIND TUBRINE BUILDER, GAMESA USA: Most of the guys that work here like the idea of it being green. We like the idea of this cleaning our environment up. A lot of people here are, you know, like that idea.

JOHNS: Creating green jobs is something the president talks a lot about, but to tell the truth, the U.S. lags behind Western Europe in windmill production and use. So in the end, the real job may be standing up the windmill industry in the U.S. so it can create more jobs, more energy and compete in the global market.

Joe Johns, CNN, Evansburg, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A Christian militia group raided on several fronts by the feds. The "Detroit News" reports at least seven arrests in three states, Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana. Members described themselves as Christian soldiers preparing to battle the antichrist. It's not clear what they're accused of. FBI, Homeland Security and the Joint Terrorism Task Force had a hand in the raids.

Celebrating Palm Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI urged Christians today not to be intimidated by the chatter of public opinion. The pope has been the target of withering criticism over reports linking him to a German priest convicted of child abuse. The "New York Times" says Benedict, while head of the Munich archdiocese, was told the priest was returning to his duties despite treated for pedophilia.

Former First Lady Barbara Bush is undergoing what a spokeswoman calls routine tests in a Texas hospital. Ms. Bush was admitted to Methodist Hospital in Houston yesterday. She reportedly hasn't been feeling well for about a week now. A spokeswoman for her husband says Ms. Bush is expected to leave the hospital in a day or two.

A radical approach to treating radicals. Could the key to defeating al Qaeda lie behind?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The White House admits it's still unclear when the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility will be closed. What to do with the inmates at Gitmo has been a dilemma since it opened. It seems incredible, but one solution may be found in a Libyan president.

CNN's Nic Robertson goes where no journalist has ever ventured to go for this exclusive story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind these walls, Moammar Gadhafi's son has brokered a peace with hardened jihadi fighters who once waged war on his father in Bosnia, Afghanistan, and beyond.

It is the middle of the night. We're about to become the first journalists to enter the Abu Salem Prison. As we go in, it is almost surreal. It feels like anything but a jail.

We arrive during family visits. Life for the prisoners is so relaxed, wives can spend the night. Many children are conceived here. An easy-going strategy the regime has relied upon to win the prisoners over.

SAIF AL ISLAM, SON OF LIBYAN LEADER: They can stay with their wives, you know, see their families. Sometimes they go to their homes and go back to jail with treatment, you know, drink, food, visits, books, TV, radio.

Saif al Islam, Al Jazeera, CNN.

ROBERTSON (on camera): You give them a lot.

ISLAM: Yes. It's not Guantanamo here. No.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): But these creature comforts would not be enough to earn the trust needed to bring about the peace agreement Saif al Islam sought, which he turned to Banotman, one-time ally of Osama bin Laden.

Secretly, he was brought back to Libya, promised he wouldn't be arrested. And so became Saif al Islam's go between with the prisoners.

When Benotman first walked in to Abu Salem jail, his former brothers-in-arms were shocked.

NOMAN BENOTMAN, FORMER LIBYAN JIHADIST: Were surprised. When they entered the room, (INAUDIBLE) started to -- just, try to focus, zoom, is it real? I'm seeing the same person, you know? It was a shock for them. They insist that I should be arrested with them. Yes.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Black humor aside, Benotman's job was deadly serious.

BENOTMAN: They I was there to help them, and it's just the first meeting of many to come.

ROBERTSON: He kept careful notes of the meetings, which he has given exclusively to CNN. They are scrawled on Libyan internal security note paper. Some details are too sensitive to tell, so he blacked them out.

BENOTMAN: There were a lot of obstacles and problems and, oh, my, you wouldn't believe it.

ROBERTSON: Nine months into the negotiations, al Qaeda's leadership is so worried. They try to derail the peace process, posting this al Qaeda video on the Internet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED AL QAEDA MEMBER (through translation): We announce a great step forward toward a holy victory, a group of jihadists from the Islamic fighting group in Libya are integrating with al Qaeda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: It wasn't true, but Benotman saw the danger in this propaganda, and risked his own safety by sending an open, defiant letter to al Qaeda's leaders.

BENOTMAN: I questioned their idea of jihad, direct, you know. This is crazy. It's not Islamic. It's against the understanding.

ROBERTSON: His risk would leave him vulnerable to attack. But after two and a half years, it paid off. More than a simple peace agreement, the Libyan jihadists issued their manifesto, more than 400 pages of complex religious arguments that challenge point by point the very justifications al Qaeda uses to recruit young men to violence.

TEREK DURMAN, FORMER LIBYAN JIHADIST: (through translation): I have over 20 years' experience in the Libyan Islamic fighting group.

ROBERTSON: This prisoner, Terek Durman, was picked up in Jordan where he was a commander running a cell. He'd previously fought in Afghanistan, hidden out in Sudan and Yemen.

DURMAN (ph) (through translation): We came to the conclusion that trying to establish the Islamic state by using violence and fighting was not the way forward. To start with, we looked at Sharia law. There's just no evidence in the Koran or sayings of the prophet that what we were doing was right.

ROBERTSON: Durman and others prisoners want to win over young Islam radicals to their new peaceful code. On page 203, the code quite boldly states, "Jihad has ethics and morality because it's for the sake of Allah. This means that killing of women, children, old people, Christian priests and businessmen is wrong."

HAZEM AL AGDAL, FORMER LIBYAN JIHADIST (through translation): This code will be of interest in everybody in the Islamic world. We're an experiment, of course, but we hope what we have done could be duplicated all over the Muslim world.

ROBERTSON: The impact of the code is already being felt. CNN has learned that the British security service, MI5, is handing it out to radical Islamists in Britain. And an American group will use it to combat extremism in the United States.

Saif al Islam wants the message of peace to spread wherever al Qaeda gets recruits, Africa, the Middle East, even the United States. And that's where Benotman is heading.

BENOTMAN: I believe radicalization is not part of Islam. It's very dangerous. I'm going to fight radicalization through a process called de-radicalization. If someone decides to be my enemy, this is his problem and has to face the consequences. It's as simple as that.

ROBERTSON: But the first real test for this new deal will be back in Libya. Just a few weeks after our prison visit, the men we met inside were released, their reward for writing the recantation theorists, depart from violence to peace.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Unbelievable. CNN's Nic Robertson, his exclusive reporting there.

He's the question. Are there lessons to be learned from Libya's handling of these extremists?

There's Nic Robertson right there, going to join us in a few minutes with more on how Libya won the hearts and minds of these hardened fighters and what the U.S. might be able to learn from their experience.

Great reporting, Nic. We'll see you on the other side of the break.

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LEMON: So we told you about Nic Robertson's exclusive look at how Libya reforms jihadists. Is Libya on to something that could work in other countries?

Nic Robertson joins us now from London with more on the story.

Nic, thank you so much for joining us. Even you, I think, were surprised by some of the reporting, what you uncovered once you started on to this story. ROBERTSON: Yes. It is surprising, because these -- the Libyan government and this group fought a really intense war. and even though the Libyan government doesn't like to accept it, back in the 1990s, a lot of the prisoners in this group were murdered inside jail. So there has been a huge trust deficit there, if you will. This group was trying to kill Moammar Gadhafi, trying to kill his son, Saif al Islam. So the very fact that they would get together and talk about it and then come up with something that is so radically different to all these groups that have been aligned and close to al Qaeda in the past is huge.

Some of these guys involved in writing this document are really respected on the insides of al Qaeda and the Taliban. These guys have clout and weight. So what they say really carries for something.

LEMON: So the question is, will this make a difference then for -- when it comes to U.S. foreign policy or just fighting the war on terror overseas in Afghanistan, in Iraq? Could something like this make a difference in those efforts?

ROBERTSON: Well, you know, there's one Muslim group in the United States that we mentioned in the story there. They are trying to create a web site so that they can -- they can stop young Muslims in the United States turning radical and trying to go and join al Qaeda. One of the things these want to do is put out this -- this text because it is a religious text. Because when al Qaeda goes to fight and gees up its people to go and fight, it is done on a religious pretext. Here you have these real strong Islamists who have come up with another religious understanding of how to get what you want, not through fighting, but through political means. So by using that, it is going to be powerful. And we're seeing it have an impact in Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia, all places were al Qaeda is trying to build up a strength and following in the north of Africa.

And for the Libyans, it is important. You look at the young men from the Middle East going to fight U.S. troops in Iraq, a big percentage of them were Libyans, Libyans and Saudis. So the Libyans have their own internal problem. So this deals with that problem, too.

LEMON: Nic Robertson, again, great reporting. Thank you very much we appreciate you joining us tonight.

President Obama trying to rally the troops in Afghanistan, but this time, he did it in person.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We did not choose this war. This was not an act of America wanting to expand its influence, of us wanting to meddle in somebody else's business. We were attacked viciously on 9/11.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We will go live to Afghanistan after a big surprise visit by the commander in chief. I want to give you some live pictures now. This is our breaking story tonight on CNN. Weather news from North Carolina, reports of tornado, a tornado touching down. We want to talk to our Jacqui Jeras, our meteorologist. She is tracking the story now for you. Details moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(CNN EDGE OF DISCOVERY)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We are following several developing stories here, really breaking news. This is -- looking at video live from Carolina now, from the Carolinas, I should say, because there is some severe weather going on there.

Our Jacqui Jeras is on top of this story.

Jacqui, we'll talk about the president's surprise visit to Afghanistan in a bit.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: OK.

LEMON: But first, let's go to you. What is going on with you? is there a tornado on the ground? Has one been spotted?

JERAS: Right now, we just have radar-indicated tornadoes out there, but they have a history of producing some damage. In western Mecklenburg County, It sounds like it was relatively rural potentially and some sheds and power lines were knocked down. We haven't heard anything about injuries yet but this continues to be a developing situation. and that was the tornado that moved northwest of Charlotte.

Now the current status on this storm is right here, so the tornado warning, which was in effect for Roland County, which includes Salisbury, is going to expire at the top of the hour. You have a minute, 30, left on this one. But now extended over here into Davidson County and that includes you in Lexington. So this is the area I'm most concerned about. Strong rotation being indicated on Doppler radar. Has a history of doing so, so we are going to continue to monitor that storm.

The other thing that we are concerned about is the storm continues to push up toward the north and east. This could hold together and move right through High Point and into the Greensboro area.

I want to show you a couple of tower cams, give you a tour of what's been going on. Here is the Charlotte area. Your warnings are done, Charlotte, but you are still under a watch, which means conditions are favorable for more tornados to occur. We will continue to watch things for you there.

Now we're going to take you to Greensboro, which is north. You're not under a warning now, but that storm moving through Lexington, could make your way, maybe in another 30 minutes or so. You can see the winds are strong. So a lot of shaking continuing to go on.

Let's show on the map to get you better perspective. This is Greensboro. You have one storm over here, but it's this one, down here, we are going to be watching for you.

Now into South Carolina, Greenville, this time around, you're under a severe thunderstorm warning. And these storms have been producing some large hail, about quarter-size hail. You certainly don't want to be outside.

And something to keep in mind, by the way, too, is that our warning criteria this year has changed for severe thunderstorm warning so it's been up. So the storm has to be a little stronger before the National Weather Service will issue a warning on them. So you really need to take these seriously, you don't want to be outside in this.

And this is Greenville. I know, you can see those wet streets and the pavement and there you can see some of those low-hanging clouds, I'm not sure but I thought I might have just seen a lightning strike back there off into the distance. So, severe thunderstorm warning for Greenville, South Carolina.

So we'll continue to track this tornado as we get any damage reports or any ground truth, meaning actual tornado on the ground but once it pops down at any given time, we'll break in and continue to bring that information.

Of course, I'm trying to tweet, so Jacqui Jeras is my handle, per se, on there so send me your tweets and I'll send them out to you.

LEMON: Yes, I got -- and I think that you're included on this. She says she's on the phone with her sister in the Charlotte area, the storm is moving north toward the Piedmont triad area now, so watch out Greensboro.

So there you go, just what you're saying there and that's coming -- that's from Jess Jeff. Thank you for sending me that.

Jacqui, we'll check back with you. Thank you very much.

JERAS: OK.