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American Morning
Approval for the Afghanistan War Down; Jindal Asks GOP to Support Health Reform; Insurance Reform Help; When Co Workers Kill
Aired October 07, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, coming up at the top of the hour, right now. Welcome, once again, to AMERICAN MORNING on this Wednesday, October 7th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
Here are the big stories that we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes.
The fight for Afghanistan is raging on eight years after the trigger on this fight was pulled. The Taliban now is growing stronger; the Afghan government growing weaker and more controversial.
When it comes to a strategy, President Obama, Congress and military leaders are scrambling to get on the same page. In a moment -- the realities of this war from Afghanistan.
CHETRY: And a potential 2012 candidate for president is calling for common ground on health care. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is asking the GOP to work with President Obama. The Senate Finance Committee could vote on a compromise health care bill today.
So, we'll ask Governor Jindal what his solution is for making health care more affordable, or his ideas different than what's already out there.
ROBERTS: And bullying and threats in the office. The numbers show they're on the rise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY BARTON, PRESIDENT & CEO, THE AMERICAN COLLEGE: What you and I experienced as children in the school yard has migrated its way now into Corporate America. We are seeing more people that are acting as jerks. They are bullies. They are yelling and ranting and raving.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So, how can you keep yourself safe while you're on the clock? Plus, why some states are letting people keep guns in their cars when they go to work. All of that ahead in our series "When Co- Workers Kill."
But, first, this morning, eight years ago today, the war in Afghanistan was launched. And right now, it's at a crucial point. This has been the deadliest year for coalition forces and the Taliban no longer on the run but now trying to run the show.
So, how in the world did we get to this point?
Here is our Atia Abawi from Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, it's been eight years since the first U.S. boots hit the ground in Afghanistan and the situation is nowhere near where the Afghan and the international community expected it to be. You have a resurgent Taliban, you have a government that's not recognized by all of the people, and you have military commanders on the ground stating that they have insufficient troop levels to this day to complete the mission here.
But there have been improvements. For example, here in the capital of Kabul, you will see women walking by themselves, going to the store, going to work, and getting an education. But Afghans will tell you although their lives have improved since 2001, it has reversed since 2005, and their situation has deteriorated drastically -- John, Kiran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Atia Abawi for us -- thank you.
And the support for the war in Afghanistan is also down. The latest Associated Press/GfK poll is showing 40 percent of the country supports the fight. That's down four points in just a month. And in that same poll, for the first time since President Obama took the oath of office, his numbers have actually gone up.
President Obama is meeting with his national security team today, and that's on the heels of a big Afghan strategy session with lawmakers from both parties.
ROBERTS: Earlier here on AMERICAN MORNING, we talked with two lawmakers who were in the room to get their take on it, Republican Congressman Peter Hoekstra and Democratic Congressman Ike Skelton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETER HOEKSTRA (R), RANKING MEMBER, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: As the president listened to the leadership on a bipartisan basis, I think what he saw is that there were a range of opinions going, you know, from follow the recommendations of your general, General Stan McChrystal, to others who outlined different strategies. I think what the president now needs to do, he needs to take the time so that he's comfortable with the decision that he is -- that he needs to make, what he then needs to do is to make sure that he leads and leads boldly.
REP. IKE SKELTON (D), CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I can think of no incident where holding back forces and reducing forces or limiting your forces led to a successful mission, led to victory. And I really think that the president is going to have to listen to General McChrystal. He is his man and he is his pick. You see this is a matter of national security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Wow. So, you know, there is a lot of opinions out there about this.
At the bottom of the hour, "Washington Post" military reporter Greg Jaffe is going to be joining us. He is just back from Afghanistan. How does the back and forth over what to do in Afghanistan affect the actual mission on the ground, the soldiers that are there and their commanders? We're going to talk to him about that --coming up in just a few minutes.
ROBERTS: As far as the economy goes, payrolls are still getting leaner and the unemployment rate marches ever higher. It's the highest in 26 years now. And right now, the administration is considering a number of measures to get Americans back to work. Just don't call it a stimulus.
CHETRY: That's right.
Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning and she joins us now with more on this.
So, they have to do something.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
CHETRY: I mean, as you talked about before, a lot of concerns about the number of people unemployed but also the length of time between trying to find a new job.
ROMANS: And calling it a stimulus has so much baggage, you know? I mean, people are still arguing about this stimulus and whether the second stimulus, whether it has worked.
So, this is more an expansion of safety -- the safety net and that's how they're kind of pitching it. We have 10 percent. We could have 10 percent of the labor force out of work next year.
I mean, that's something that's very, very difficult to deal with from a policy perspective. You really don't want to see the fabric of your society coming unglued when people can't support their families, they can't -- they can't get money to be a -- to be a normal functioning part of the economy.
So, here's what the White House is considering: another stimulus that's not a stimulus but expansion of some of these things like a tax credit, flexibility for small businesses. This could bring Republicans on board. Tax credits, at least tax credits flexibility for small business. Extending jobless and health benefits -- we've got a lot of things in the stimulus that was passed in February that people are asking to continue on. Temporary loans for states -- they would be voluntary. So states who didn't want to take part in more borrowed money to try to juice their economies wouldn't have to. But if you have loans available for states, it would help firefighters and teachers and police officers who might end up being laid off sometime next year.
And extending that $8,000 home buyer tax credit. This is some -- that the industry has been pushing for hard. Even some people have said that they'd like to see it expanded to $15,000. So...
ROBERTS: Do we have any kind -- do we have any kind of figure on how much this will all cost?
ROMANS: I don't have a figure for how much all this will cost. It's not free. It will cost a lot.
And that's why some who have bailout fatigue would say, "Look, enough with the bailouts and the stimuli. Let's just let this economy try to recover on its own."
But at 10 percent unemployment, you start -- you start to have real problems. And we've heard Alan Greenspan, the Fed chief, say that when you have people who are out of work for six months or longer, you start to erode their skills and erode the quality of the labor market permanently.
So, o there are some concerns -- big picture concerns about how long we've had people out of work, and that's just what's happening in this labor market. I don't mean to be a skeptic, too, but 2010, there's a midterm election coming up, so, you know, maybe you want to keep unemployment checks flowing to a lot of people as long as possible.
ROBERTS: All right. Christine Romans this morning -- thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: Sure.
CHETRY: All right. Also new this morning, is the NFL ready for Rush Limbaugh? The conservative talk radio host says he's part of a group trying to buy the NFL St. Louis Rams. Limbaugh is teaming up with St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts to bid for a controlling interest in the team.
"Forbes" magazine estimates that the Rams' franchise is worth $929 million.
ROBERTS: Elizabeth Taylor is preparing to have an operation to repair what she calls "a leaky heart valve." Taylor who is 77 actually scooped the press, announcing it on her Twitter page. She told followers the procedure would not involve open heart surgery. Taylor has had numerous health problems over the years but says she expects a fast and full recovery.
CHETRY: The "Hammer" is hanging up his dancing shoes. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay announcing last night that he has to drop out of the "Dancing with the Stars" competition because of stress fractures in both feet. When the injured DeLay appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," he was brought out in a wheel barrow wearing Velcro support shoes. DeLay told Kimmel it's not cool for a boy from Texas to break his feet dancing.
ROBERTS: It's also not cool for a boy from Texas to be wearing those shoes.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: You would think he would find maybe orthotic cowboy boots.
CHETRY: That's right. Gel inserts.
ROBERTS: Yes.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is reining in again on the health care debate. He had an op-ed on Monday in "The New York Times" in which he said that -- "The Washington Post" rather, I'm sorry, in which he laid out 10 potential suggestions for health care reform and said it's time for Republicans to lead. Governor Jindal joins us coming right up.
Nine minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
ROBERTS: Well, there's only one thing you can say about that shot. It's not because it's the shot of the Capitol building; it's because the weather is pretty rotten there in Washington today. Mostly cloudy, 65 degrees right now. Later on today, showers, wind, might be some airport delays, and a high of 72 degrees.
Well, welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
A potential presidential candidate says it's time for the Republicans to step up with ideas on health care. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal wrote an op-ed with 10 of his ideas, many in line with the bill that could up for a vote today in the Senate Finance Committee.
Joining us now from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is Governor Bobby Jindal.
Governor, great to see you this morning. Thanks for coming on.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: John, thank you for having me. Good morning.
ROBERTS: Let me quote a little bit from the op-ed that you had in "The Washington Post" on Monday. You said, quote, "Hope for meaningful reform need not be lost. Only two things need to happen. First, Democrat have to give up on their grand experiment and get serious about bipartisan solutions. Second, Republicans have to join the battle of ideas."
Governor, where have the Republicans been up until now?
JINDAL: Well, I think, the Republicans have done a great job articulating the country's opposition to massive tax increase, government takeover of health care. Look, the American people don't want this 1,000-page bill that has $900 billion in new spending and new taxes. But now is the perfect time for Republicans to say to the Democrats, "Look, we're willing to work together on things like legal reform, on things like portability of insurance, things like transparency of pricing and outcomes on the Internet; things like affordability of insurance across state lines, and across jobs, coverage of pre-existing conditions."
I think there are real bipartisan reforms that could lower the cost of health care, make it more accessible. We can actually move forward -- if we'll put aside the massive tax increases, the massive new government spending, there's a lot of very good bipartisan work we can get done.
ROBERTS: Is it politically prudent though to start coming up with ideas. You know, the Republicans have sort of let the Democrats own this idea of health care reform -- looking back at 1993, when it really sunk their fortunes in the 1994 midterm election. And there are some people who are saying, "Hey, don't come up with any ideas, just keep hammering the Democrats for what they are doing wrong."
JINDAL: John, that's a great point. You know, a lot of Republican strategists don't think that this is a Republican issue and I think that's exactly wrong. I spent most of my adult life working in health care as a health secretary in Louisiana, an assistant secretary at the federal Department of Health, helping to run as an executive director of the Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.
I think conservative principles and ideas work, and I think it's important for us to suggest conservative approaches to resolving an issue, and I think the American people are rightly worried about. Look, Americans like -- if they have health care today, they like their coverage but they're worried about it becoming increasingly expensive and there are millions of Americans that don't have access.
I think there are productive solutions that conservatives can offer. It's not enough just to point out why we're opposed to the other side. I think we've done well and I think we've got good reasons to be worried about the tax and spending increases, but now is the time to show how our ideas can actually move the country forward.
ROBERTS: So, you're drawing a little bit of fire on some of the ideas that you're putting out there. And I'd like -- I'd like to highlight a couple in particular. You have this idea of covering young adults, and I guess, most insurance companies, when a child gets to a certain age, they are no longer eligible to be covered by their parents' health care insurance. You are saying that they should be permitted to stay on the parents' insurance.
How do you convince insurance companies to do that?
JINDAL: Well look, insurance companies have to be in the business of spreading risk over large populations, that's why we buy insurance. Today too often insurance is about segregating risk. That's not good for customers -- that's not good for health care spending or coverage. Why is health insurance so expensive, so hard to get when you need it the most.
This reform would actually lower premiums because young adults are generally pretty healthy. A lot of times they can't afford coverage because it's so expensive on the individual market. This reform would expand coverage but it would also lower premiums because you're adding a relatively healthy pool into the insurance coverage. But this goes to a fundamental point, we've got to change our relationship with insurance companies, it needs to be spreading risk over large populations. That's why I'm also for covering pre-existing conditions, not everybody is for that but you don't just need insurance when you're healthy. You need it when you need it. And that's why it's important that we reform insurance. It should be about covering risk across large population.
ROBERTS: One of the people that's against your idea of covering pre - existing conditions is Michael Canon from the Cato Institute who in response to your op-ed on Monday wrote this piece for Politiko in which he said quote "require coverage of pre-existing conditions? That's code for federal price controls on health insurance". What do you say to that argument?
JINDAL: Well, I don't agree with that. And I certainly am against this idea in the massive bills in the Congress to get the government to run and control our health care. Look, you can do things like reinsurance, high risk pools and others to make sure you don't have people only buying insurance when they get sick. But it is absolutely true, one of the problems with the insurance industry, the insurance coverage today, one of the reasons so many Americans are frustrated is that if you do have a sick child, if you have had a condition you lose your job, it can be nearly impossible too expensive to buy coverage. We have to fix that. We have to show that you can address the very real concerns of Americans looking for affordable health care without expanding Medicaid dramatically, without creating new government programs. This is a common sense reform that would work.
ROBERTS: There's one other criticism of your proposals out there and this one was actually in "The Washington Post" itself which is where your op-ed appeared pointing out nine of the ten ideas that you put forward are already in the process in some form or another. You actually alluded to the fact that they are in there. But here's what "The Washington Post" say quote "The health insurance exchanges, that's the government's idea, make the voluntary purchasing pools look silly and small. It's a bit hard to quote lead on health care reform when your brand new proposals are about to be passed by the other party." So are you really putting out anything that's new governor general?
JINDAL: Well two things. One, I'm glad you bought that up. One, it's not true when you look at the ideas we proposed like tort reform, yes the democratic proposal talks about demonstration projects but why not do this in a meaningful way could save, it literally cost defensive medicine costs up to $100 billion a year. I talk about refundable tax credits. The democratic proposals talk about a massive expansion - a large expansion of Medicaid since the program was created. So it's simply not true that they are actually embracing all these ideas.
The second point is this. That's great, you know, if they are willing to drop the 1,000-page bill, willing to drop the hundreds of billions of dollars in tax increases, of spending increases, the Medicare cuts, they're willing to drop us out of the idea of new government programs I think there may be good ideas. But looking at a 1,000 pages I would hope there are a few good ideas. My point is let's find common ground. These shouldn't be Republican ideas, it's not about credit, let's call them democratic bipartisan ideas, let's just get them done but to get done we have to stop this massive government experiments, this massive overhaul that's being proposed by both the House and the Senate. Let's focus on common sense, bipartisan reforms that will work.
ROBERTS: Well the discussions continue, Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, good to talk to you. Thanks for coming on.
JINDAL: Thank you, John. I appreciate it.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: Still ahead we're going to be talking about a growing problem in Chicago, violence among young people there, 40 kids killed in violence this year alone. One family caught in the crossfire. We're putting a face on the growing problem just ahead. It's 19 after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Twenty- one past the hour right now. Attorney General Eric Holder, as well as, the Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be in Chicago today and they're going to try to address the crisis of youth violence. 40 kids have been killed in the city since the beginning of the year. 40 children.
ROBERTS: And the victims of the surging violence are often too poor to move, too scared to speak up about it. Our Gary Tuchman spoke with a young mother and her son who are living that reality.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This 6-year-old was shot and almost killed. Martrell Stevens is partly paralyzed. His mother learned the hard way there is no minimum age for being a gunshot victim in this neighborhood on Chicago's south side.
LAKEESHA RUCKER, MARTRELL STEVENS'S MOTHER: He was hit in the side and it exit out his back. Missed his heart by one inch and missed his spine by one inche, punctured a hole through his lungs.
TUCHMAN: Martrell was shot in May 2008 while sleeping in the back seat of his mother's car. The gun man's target was someone near the car. He is still on the loose. You think people know who it was?
RUCKER: Yes.
TUCHMAN: Are you sure about that?
RUCKER: Positive.
TUCHMAN: No one's talking?
RUCKER: No one.
TUCHMAN: No one wants to snitch.
RUCKER: No.
TUCHMAN: Even more stunning, Martrell's mother says she regularly sees the man and is scared of him. You ride past the man who you believe shot your little baby.
RUCKER: Every day.
TUCHMAN: That's incredible.
RUCKER: It hurts.
TUCHMAN: But what has kept this mom happy is her son's progress. Martrell describes himself as a fast wheelchair rider. And he can get around himself with his walker. He's now in first grade at a public school that specializes in special needs children.
Tell me what happened. It's a secret? Ok. How come it's a secret?
MARTRELL STEVENS: Because.
TUCHMAN: Can you whisper to me what happened?
STEVENS: Got shot.
TUCHMAN: You got shot? Did you go to the hospital? OK, but how do you feel today?
STEVENS: Good.
TUCHMAN: A highlight for Martrell and his family when he graduated from kindergarten and got what his mom hopes is the first of many diplomas. Tekita Gordan is Martel's first grade teacher.
TEKITA GORDAN, MARTRELL STEVENS'S TEACHER: Everybody has their niche but he is definitely one that I don't want your help, I've got it. That's his line, I've got it. I've got it.
TUCHMAN: Martrell's mom dreams he will have a bright future.
RUCKER: I know my son is going to be able to walk again. The doctors, they aren't telling me anything. They are unable to tell what's going to happen in the long run.
TUCHMAN: You're confident.
MRS. STEVENS: Very confident.
TUCHMAN: But she worries everyday about the safety of all three of her children. She's a janitor and has another dream about the day she can afford to move her family into a safer neighborhood. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Chicago.
(END OF VIDE TAPE)
ROBERTS: And stay with CNN because Anderson Cooper is live in Chicago tonight. He's digging deeper on the city surge in violence. "AC 360," 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Well, we've been talking Afghan strategy all morning -- all week, really. What is the best way forward in Afghanistan? We're going to speak to a reporter who has been on the ground there, he just returned. Greg Jaffy with Washington Post. He's going to be joining us in just a moment, 24 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. All this week we've been investigating the threat of violence at work. So far we've looked at how to recognize the warning signs and what to do if it happens.
CHETRY: And now today we have practical steps to keep you safe. Our Alina Cho is here with part three of our series "When Co workers Kill." This is the week that the lab technician at Yale University is in court after the murder of Annie Le who was killed there.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. That's one of the more dramatic cases. But workplace violence happens more often than you may think. You know many people don't know this but there's actually a government mandate that says employers must keep a safe working environment. But what does that mean? And how do you even enforce that? The truth is many don't and threats are on the rise at work. So, what can you do to protect yourself?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPERATOR: 911.
CHO: In just the past few years, a factory worker in Kentucky goes on a shooting rampage, killing five co-workers before killing himself. A transit worker guns down two co-workers in San Diego. And in Connecticut, police accuse a lab technician of strangling a Yale University student and fellow employee. These fatal incidents get the most attention. But workplace violence, threats and assaults, can happen to anyone.
LARRY BARTON, PRESIDENT, THE AMERICAN COLLEGE: You what you and I experienced as children in the school yard have migrated its way now to corporate America. We are seeing more people that are acting as jerks, they are bullies, and they are yelling and ranting and raving.
CHO: So how do you protect yourself? Experts say diffuse the situation before the problem escalates. Their advice, lesson one, let the angry co-worker vent.
BARTON: Sometimes just giving them the dignity of allowing them to talk for a couple of minutes can have a profound impact on all of a sudden it gets back to normal.
CHO: Sometimes it doesn't. Lesson two, speak up.
BARTON: If they feel that they are being intimidated or they are frightened they need to verbalize that and need to know that somehow the company's going to step up.
CHO: Tell a supervisor or the HR department. And if you feel the threat is imminent go directly to police. Experts say some workers are lulled into a false sense of security at work. Lesson three, have a plan.
BARTON: If I had to suddenly run out of here, how would I do that? Know how to notify someone, know where you would hide. Know where the dead ends are.
CHO: But some feel this just isn't enough. Like J.R. Cardenas, who brings his gun to work following a so-called parking lot law that took effect last week in Arizona. One of nearly a dozen states that allows licensed gun owners to bring a firearm to work as long as it's locked in their vehicle.
J.R. CARDENAS, BRINGS GUN TO WORK: If I was to come to work and feel threatened and I see somebody coming in to try to harm another person. And on top of that going ballistic on other people of course I am going to use my gun and I am going to protect myself and the safety of others.
CHO: Cardenas works at an amusement park.
CARDENAS: My concern is that we're heading into the OK Corral. Having weapons at work and actually empowering people to do that I think is a very dangerous proposition.
CHO: Which brings us to what experts say is the most important lesson -- use your intuition. If you feel something's wrong, it probably is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: That's absolutely right -- 2 million American workers are victims of workplace violence each year, really incredible. In fact, the number of threats and assaults are skyrocketing, up 30 percent in just the past year.
And experts say the bad economy is contributing. People are feeling more stress and in some cases they are taking it out on co- workers.
What's interesting is the experts say you look at cases like Columbine, Virginia Tech -- the people who survived were the people who acted quickly, moved quickly. They didn't think, overanalyze, say who is that person with the gun? They moved and they survived as a result. So something else to take away from this.
ROBERTS: All right, Alina Cho, thanks very much for that, wrapping up our series.
And we want to know what you think. Do you feel safe at work? Have you had to deal with an aggressive co-worker? Tell us about it. Read more about our series "When co-workers kill." Just head to our blog at CNN.com/amfix.
CHETRY: And we check our top stories now. Hazmat teams summoned to the Seattle Times for the second time in two days. The fired department says a suspicious envelope containing white powder and a letter found Tuesday.
At the Newspapers' offices, a similar envelope with white powder and threatening note was also discovered there Monday. The FBI is investigating right now saying the powder was not harmful.
ROBERTS: Flying during the holiday season just got a little more expensive, many of the major airlines adding $10 surcharges each way on the busiest holiday travel days. The fees are now in place around Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, even into next year at Easter time.
So far discount airlines, Southwest and Jet Blue, appear to be holding off on those surcharges.
CHETRY: And protests in Turkey turning violent. Rioters throwing fire bombs at ATM after ATM, smashing windows in banks and shops. Police firing back warning shots, water canons and tear gas.
What is the target of the rage? About a half mile away officials from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are holding their annual meetings.
Now the debate over the strategy in Afghanistan. The general in charge says he needs 40,000 more troops to win the war. The president is set to meet later today with his national security team after sitting down yesterday with congressional leaders from both parties.
And while some think a measured debate is the right approach, others insist that the time for action is now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: It's pretty clear that the time is not on our side. I'm very convinced that General McChrystal's analysis is not only correct but should be employed as quickly as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So how is the debate over troop levels playing out with military leaders and with the soldiers on the ground? Joining me now is Greg Jaffe, a military reporter for "The Washington Post" who just returned from a three-week trip to Afghanistan. He joins us from our Washington bureau.
Greg, good to talk to you.
GREG JAFFE, MILITARY REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Thanks very much.
CHETRY: So is this debate in Washington mirroring what's going on on the ground in Afghanistan in terms of soldiers and commanders wanting to know and wanting a decision to be made about whether or not they are getting more troops or not?
JAFFE: You know, I think for the average soldier it doesn't matter. They are worried what they are going to be doing in the next two or three hours.
For the commanders, I think it makes a little bit of a difference. I'll give you one example. Where I was in Nuristan province, they wanted to close one of the combat outposts there, combat outpost Keating that got hit a few days ago. They were planning to close that for months.
I think one of the reasons they didn't close it was they were waiting for some resolution on this strategy debate. I think they were going to close it anyway, but they were thinking hey, let's wait until we know what we've got, we know how many troops we're going to get.
And so they put it off. It got hit very hard on Saturday and we had eight U.S. deaths.
CHETRY: You're talking about the Taliban militants that stormed that Kamdesh outpost. And by all accounts they say that this was in the planning process for days. Our Barbara Starr told us as well they were sort of in the process of figuring out whether they were going to close it.
So when something that tragic happens, does that put more pressure on Washington and the administration to speed up a decision?
JAFFE: I don't know if it puts more pressure. Certainly -- it certainly, I think people realize that they need to move quickly. But it's a huge commitment that they are pondering, and it's a lot of lives, a lot of money. And it's a long-term commitment, so I can understand partially the desire to move slowly.
JAFFE: And General McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has been taking some heat lately actually for publicly talking about that, about saying that if we want to win this mission we do need 40,000 troops.
And it was interesting because Secretary Gates mentioned giving advice to the president is helpful but it should be candid but should be done privately as well, sort of a public smack down of General McChrystal talking about the need for more troops.
But the interesting thing is what does it tell us about the level of discussion and debate that goes on and how candid generals and commanders can really be when it comes to what they think they need to win the military battle?
JAFFE: I think internally they can be completely candid. I have no doubt that McChrystal has been very, very candid. Actually in his public statements he has been very, very candid. Not just London speech, but in other public interviews he's given. So my sense is that there is a good back and forth there.
I think there are also, though, the Obama administration, they want him to work through the chain of command. I think they don't want what happened in the latter days of the Bush administration where you had one general in General Petraeus who was the dominant voice on Iraq policy.
I think that's the way the Bush administration wanted that relationship to work and that's why General Petraeus assumed that role.
But I think in the background a lot of this is the Obama administration doesn't want that kind of dynamic going on. To put it bluntly, they probably don't want another Dave Petraeus. They want McChrystal to be one voice in a larger team.
CHETRY: The other thing is the realities on the ground are that more troops equal more people dying, more U.S. troops dying. How does the president balance that element of what's turning into an increasingly more unpopular war with the American public?
JAFFE: It's a tough sale.
I think troop deaths -- people will tolerate troop deaths as long as they feel there is progress. If there are troop deaths to no end, then I think people start to get upset.
So I think you can increase troop numbers -- you are absolutely right, you're going to have more casualties, you're going to have more fatalities.
The trick for the Obama administration and the generals on the ground is to prove that those casualties are coming to a good end. In other words, we're making more progress even though we're suffering more attacks, we're suffering more violence, if that makes sense.
JAFFE: Yes. It's not easy. I think a lot of people say the reason this debate has been going son because there's no great decision to be made. You know, no matter what is chosen, it's going to pose major, major challenges moving forward, and that's why it's a debate that has continued to go on.
But it was great to get your perspective on the ground there after your return from Afghanistan.
Greg Jaffe, by the way, he also authored the book "The Fourth Star." Thanks you so much for joining us this morning.
JAFFE: Thanks very much.
ROBERTS: Coming up now on 38 minutes after the hour.
President Obama, his approval ratings are heading up, but they're still an awful lot of anger in this country. What's going on? We're going to be joined in a couple of minutes by comedian David Allen Grier. He's got a brand new book out called "Barack Like Me," and he'll give us his unique perspective. Stay with us.
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JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": You are the president of America. When your plate gets too full, you get up and get a bigger plate, mister. I know you have a lot on your desk plate.
(LAUGHTER)
But as a thin man who smokes, you may not understand the concept. All that stuff you've been putting on your plate, it's (EXPLETIVE DELETED) chow time, brother.
(LAUGHTER)
That's how you get things off your plate.
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ROBERTS: During last year's election our next guest had a whole lot to say about the possibility of America electing its first African-American president. And now that we're nine months in, we wanted to see how he thinks that President Obama is doing so far.
CHETRY: You can bet he has an opinion on that. He also has a new book called "Barack Like Me." Joining us here in the studio, comedian and author David Allen Grier. It's great to see you this morning. Thanks for coming back to talk to us.
DAVID ALAN GRIER, AUTHOR, "BARACK LIKE ME": Thank you.
CHETRY: I remember laughing watching your show "Chocolate News," you had a skit about somebody voting for Barack Obama and kept saying thank you, you voted for John McCain. Are you sure you want to do this, you know he's black, right? And there were a lot of questions on whether he would win and whether there would be voting irregularities. Here we are nine months out. What do you think?
GRIER: First of all, it seems like it was five years ago. I mean, you know, nine months ago, mostly what I talk about in the book is that period leading up to his election. And I was addicted to the election coverage. I watched it day and night. Everybody did. It was so exciting.
Is this country ready? What happens if we do elect a black president? What happens if we don't? What happens if we don't know? All this possibility was there.
And that's really what I talk about in the book, in a humorous way leading up to his election and the inauguration, going to the inauguration and my experience there, which was my political Woodstock.
ROBERTS: He came in with such high approval ratings and then started throughout the summer dropping down, down, down to 50 percent. They just recently in this latest Associated Press poll started coming back up again to 56 percent.
What do you make of the drop and now what appears to be a rebound?
GRIER: You know, I don't pay a lot of attention to that, like a long term stock investment, because we all know the challenges that he inherited are monumental. And to expect him to solve, cure all those things in nine months is impossible.
So I continue to support him, but I kind of am waiting to look in the long-run.
CHETRY: It's funny a lot of people said at the beginning that the media and especially the entertainment industry were rooting for Barack Obama to win.
Now they are the ones that are front and center poking fun at him. We saw John Stewart. "Saturday Night Live" did a skit. And of course, as you know, they had a huge impact on setting what people thought about Sarah Palin and others during the election.
Do you think there is a danger in that people are criticizing him about not doing too much and whether or not that makes him less popular?
GRIER: No, because I think every president in the history of this country has been poked fun of. That's what we do as social critics. The president is always made fun of.
And I think it's taken people a while to get a beat on Barack Obama. He's not that leader that's going to give you easy stuff, like tripping down the stairs, vomiting in foreign dignitary's laps, that kind of stuff. So you kind of have to find a more nuanced in to his cabinet and where that humor is. So it comes with the territory, of course.
ROBERTS: There's a lot of fun out there, but there is also a lot of anger out there. You probably heard what Jimmy Carter said, that he thought that among the extreme elements that are criticizing President Obama, he believes that there is certainly more than an element of racism about it.
We talked to Boyce Watkins, an African-American professor at Syracuse University, who thought it was emblematic of a greater problem of lingering racism in this country.
What happened to this idea of the beginnings of a post-racial America when Barack Obama was elected?
DAVID ALAN GRIER, AUTHOR, "BARACK LIKE ME": Well, this is the beginnings of a post-racial America. But that doesn't mean by his election that every bigoted thought, every racist belief will be magically erased. This country made a huge step forward, but that dialogue continues. And it's a national dialogue, and it's a dialogue that we will go through together as a country.
You know, not everyone who is against him is a racist. I don't believe that. There are some people there, you know, yes, the person carrying the sign "Go back to Kenya," perhaps he has a problem.
But I don't know about everybody else.
CHETRY: But what about the president's own response. I mean, he has said, "No, I don't think that's the case. I don't think racism is a part of this." Do you think he's stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to addressing on whether or not there are racial elements to his -- to criticisms of himself?
GRIER: Here's what I think, I think his answer on -- I think it was the David Letterman show when he was asked directly, what do you think about this, these racial elements to the protests against you? He said, you know, "I was African-American, I was black when I ran for president." Which I thought was a perfect answer.
I mean, he has bigger problems to deal with. He can't, in my opinion, sit there and respond to every little racial slight. I mean, there's a lot bigger things to tackle.
ROBERTS: Yes, he's got that big desk plate.
GRIER: Exactly, full of stuff, man. Come on. There's the war, the economy, me, he's got to read my book.
ROBERTS: He does.
GRIER: And so he's got a lot.
ROBERTS: All right, well, "Barack Like Me" is the new book by the way by David Alan Grier. It's great to see you this morning. Thanks so much for dropping by.
GRIER: Thanks for having me.
CHETRY: It's good to have you with us.
All right, still ahead we have Rob Marciano, he's out there. He's hunting sharks, fishing for answers actually off the coast of Virginia. He's going to join us with more coming up.
Forty-seven minutes past the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. We're 50 minutes past the hour right now.
Our Rob Marciano often goes on the road as we know and he reports live for us here in AMERICAN MORNING. Well, today he was at sea.
ROBERTS: He was. Yes. He went out there on the hunt for sharks. Not really hunting for them though; that was just sort of tagging them and then throwing them back in the water. The reason why, a lot of sharks were seen off of the East Coast of America over the course of the summer including a couple of great whites off of Cape Cod. And he's out there with researchers trying to figure out why there are so many there this year.
And Rob, what are you finding? What's going on?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's a -- I guess it's a lot like people where if you want to find out why people act the way they do you follow the money.
Well, when it comes to why sharks acts they do and where they are, you follow the prey.
As you mentioned, we hooked up with this research team, the only continuous shark monitoring program in the country. They don't usually run into great white sharks but nonetheless yesterday's trip was pretty interesting.
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MARCIANO (voice-over): Sunrise in October along the mid-Atlantic coast. It's the last trip to find sharks before the winter storms set in. The ocean's most feared predators are migrating to deeper waters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 15.4.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's our depth here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in about 58 feet.
MARCIANO: Virginia Institute of Marine scientists are fishing for answers. TRACEY SUTTON, VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE: That's sort of we're trying do is to understand the changes in abundance of sharks and also try to understand if there's any differences in their behavior.
MARCIANO: And recently the sharks seem to be acting differently. Five great white sharks spotted off the coast of Cape Cod. Tracey Sutton thinks he knows why.
SUTTON: It might be a reflection of changes in their prey, so seal abundance increases and the white sharks will generally follow their prey.
MARCIANO: An equally aggressive bull shark apparently killed a man while he was swimming off the North Carolina coast less than a month ago. But Sutton's job is to find out where the sharks go, how many and why.
So his team goes fishing. Baiting hooks...
SUTTON: Are you ready?
MARCIANO: ...and long lining. The baited hooks hang for four hours, then they reel them in. Not all sharks are big. Some aren't even sharks. Check out this huge sting ray.
SUTTON: Grab that tail.
MARCIANO: The sharks get measured, tagged and immediately released so they can be tracked in the future.
(on camera): This is the seventh day that they pulled out of the water out of seven animals, that's only the second repeat species, a huge variety. They are even impressed by that I guess they're thinking it's fall this is seemingly the highway for migrating fish.
Now, they think they got a shark at the end of this line. Let's check it out.
(voice-over): This one is the largest catch of the day. Sutton wrestles the dusky to the deck, eventually subduing the animal so it can be recorded and released.
Soon after another shark is caught, pinned on the deck. Its razor-like teeth reminding us these predators are dangerous, near the top of the ocean's food chain.
But Sutton puts things in perspective. And people shouldn't be scared of sharks.
SUTTON: No, no, no. We tend to encroach on their environment so we're a much bigger threat to sharks than they are to us.
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MARCIANO: A lot of people focus on these stats that the U.S. is the number one reporter of unprovoked shark attacks in the world. Last year we had 41.
But you know, you increase the number of people that live near the water, you increase the number of people in the water, you increase the chances of sharks and people coming into contact. And when there is an attack of some sort usually it's a mistake. And fatalities are pretty, pretty rare.
Yesterday we were out there, we wanted to go to deeper waters but a storm started coming in we are feeling it today. And you are probably feeling it across the North east as well.
Wind advisories are up, there will be and there already are travel delays at the airport; over an hour at LaGuardia, we're seeing them at Philly and the other New York metropolitan airports. So be aware of that if you are traveling today.
Kiran and John, you know I want to wrestle one of the sharks, I wanted to. By the way, if you are attacked by a shark, you do want to punch it in the nose. If that doesn't work, gouge the eyes and hit the gills, just in case.
ROBERTS: Yes, or stay out of the water altogether. All right, Rob thanks so much.
Fifty-four minutes now after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Would you change jobs and move just to get your kids in a certain elementary school?
CHETRY: In our special "Latino in America" series, our Thelma Gutierrez shows you a little school with some big goals, the quest to make every child truly bilingual in English and Spanish. And wait until you see who's on the waiting list.
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THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, we're about to meet the Dixons, a family of four who are so determined to get their kids into a rare academic program they moved, changed jobs and commute up and down the mountain for this unique opportunity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me get my stuff.
GUTIERREZ: They live in the foothills on horse property. The Dixons could have sent their kids to any school in the country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Spanish was huge.
GUTIERREZ: Instead, they chose Jefferson Elementary, a small, weathered school in Lindsay, California; a farm town where the population is 80 percent Latino.
This is what you gave everything up for.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. We're very happy with the decision.
GUTIERREZ: They did it for the Spanish so that Amos, the fourth- grade fourth-grader, and Roz, the first-grader, would become proficient in the language.
The students who are sitting at this table didn't speak a word of Spanish before they started kindergarten. But now they're in first grade and 70 percent of their day is spent learning in Spanish.
It's a concept called dual immersion. The program which parents have the option to choose begins in kindergarten. The goal: fluency in Spanish and English by sixth grade.
Studies show that over time dual immersion students do as well as and even outperform students taught in one language.
JOE DIXON: We want our children to be educated, highly educated. We consider learning another language being bi-cultural, being bi- literate to be a highly educated person.
GUTIERREZ;: When you first started coming to school here did you speak Spanish?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
GUTIERREZ: How long did it take you?
The Dixons who both doctorates in education and now work for the school district say children are most receptive to learning languages before age 7.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A second language is going to help but also the comfort with different cultures.
GUTIERREZ: That's what Amos, Ezekiel, Diana, Abigail and 200 other English speakers who are in this program have learned first-hand on the play ground.
School superintendent Janet Kliegl, started the program 11 years ago. Now, there's a waiting list to get in.
JANET KLIEGL, SUPERINTENDENT, LINDSAY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: In fact Mexican children bring their culture to this country and it's not something I'm afraid of. I think we get richer as we learn about more people and learn about more cultures.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUTIERREZ: Some parents might worry that dual immersion could hold a student like Amos behind. After all most of his instruction is in another language. How did he score against the rest of the students in California at language arts? He's on the top third percentile and in math got a perfect score -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Thelma Gutierrez reporting.
There are theories that language comes from the same area of your brain as music and math does as well. So the more languages you learn the more proficient you are in all those things.
What a fascinating concept.
Coming up, October 21st and 22nd, by the way, CNN is presenting "LATINO IN AMERICA." A comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing America, reshaping politics, business, schools, churches, and neighborhoods.
CHETRY: Also, continue the conversation on all the stories you've seen today on AMERICAN MORNING. Go to our blog, CNN.com/amfix. And that's going to do it for us. Thanks for being with us today. Hope to see you back here tomorrow .
ROBERTS: The news continues, though, with Heidi Collins in the CNN NEWSROOM.
