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American Morning
Fires Destroy 700 Homes in Texas; The Schultz Plan; White House Trying To Save Postal Service; Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz Out; Oil Industry Pushes For More Drilling For Jobs; A 9/11 Widow Discusses her Husband's Battle with Cancer; U.S. Likely to Leave 3,000 Troops in Iraq; Dick Cheney Interviewed; One-on-One with Dick Cheney; I Saw My Hand on the Ground; Madonna Hates Hydrangeas
Aired September 07, 2011 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. Fast- moving flames, firefighters stretched thin, wildfires growing by the second in Texas and running over hundreds of homes. We have new pictures of the inferno from the ground, air and space.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: And a blueprint to put Americans back to work. I'm Ali Velshi. This morning, we are learning new details about the president's plan and how much it's going to cost on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. It's Wednesday, September 7th. Christina and Carol are off today. We have Alina with us.
Good to see you.
CHO: Good to see you.
VELSHI: It's a busy morning.
CHO: It is a busy morning.
And we're watching the situation in Texas very, very closely, so we want to begin with that. Those raging wildfires sweeping across the Lone Star state. Right now, the flames sending thousands running for their lives. They have now killed four people.
Hundreds of firefighters on the front lines, dousing the fires, about 30 percent contained. Starting new ones, too. Hoping to get rid of the bone-dry brush that goes up in an instant.
This is what is left of a ranch in Austin, Texas. Take a look at that -- just a pile of twisted metal and ash. The Texas Forest Service says more than 700 homes have been burned in just the past two days.
The largest fire is in Bastrop County, about 30,000 acres and only a fraction of it contained -- even though the winds have slowed down a bit.
Our Jim Spellman is in the thick of it. He joins us now.
Jim, good morning. What's the latest from where you are?
JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alina.
The sun has just come up here. And you can see this heavy haze of smoke here coming off of the fire a mile or so over my shoulder. Overnight, firefighters are out working. The sun is up now. They'll be trying to assess what kind of progress they made, and what kind of containment they have on this fire.
Yesterday was a good day condition wise. It was cooler. Winds were low. It's going to be a little warmer, but rains are going to will remain low, so they will try to do everything they can like you said to get rid of all that brush, that fuel that's around the active fire and more homes and things like that and try to protect that from the air. They'll be hitting it with helicopters, dousing with water and airplanes with fire retardant, trying to get ahead of it.
Yesterday, unfortunately, two people discovered dead in this fire. Governor Perry has activated a Texas task force 1. That's an urban search and rescue team to get into the damaged area. They'll go home to home, try to find out if there's anybody else in there that needs help.
One of the other fires on the other side of Austin, residents yesterday were allowed to go back to home for a lot of these people, just heartbreaking when they go back and see what's left of their home.
CNN's David Mattingly tagged along with one of the women as she went back. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE BIELINSKI, FIRE VICTIM: And that's my house.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right here?
BIELINSKI: Yes.
MATTINGLY: Oh, I'm sorry. Are you all right? You're shaking.
BIELINSKI: I'm OK. I am the luckiest person in the world. My family is safe. Now, I need to check on my neighbors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SPELLMAN: So, about more than 500 homes have been destroyed here in this Bastrop fire. When people are allowed to go back in, we're going to see that same story play out over and over, Alina.
CHO: All right. Jim Spellman, live for us in Bastrop County, Texas -- Jim, thank you very much.
VELSHI: Wildfires in Texas visible from space. Cameras on the International Space Station captured these huge plumes of smoke over in Texas. You can see them. Some of the trails are spreading over hundreds of miles.
Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center.
Rob, this has been going on, Jim was saying, 295 days where there hasn't been a day without fire in Texas.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's truly remarkable. And, you know, over 100,000 acres burned in the last week. And that's when most of the damage is done.
VELSHI: Yes.
MARCIANO: Over the past nine months, we have had 1,000 homes lost to these fires but 700 of those homes were lost just in the past week.
And just to give you an idea of how frantic it can be to evacuate and try to escape these flames. This video was shot on Monday in Bastrop state park just outside of the city itself. You see just how quickly these flames are moving along the ground, reaching out to the grass, getting through the shrubs and then getting up into the pine trees where it literally just explodes from some of the dry timber and some of the oils that are left over in some of those, you know, high country pines. So, remarkable stuff there.
And that, by the way, not nearly as ferocious as were the winds on Sunday. So, it gives you an idea of how badly it must have been. This shot. There you go.
There's Austin. The fire itself, about 20, 30 miles south and east of Austin. And you can see that plume of smoke and ash being strewn up into the lower parts of the atmosphere, high pressure and control, so things are kind of sinking and not being able to be dispersed.
But if you live south and east of that fire, you're getting some serious bad air quality. Same deal with Houston where the fires are burning north of town. Temperatures today are going to be in the low to mid-90s, a little bit warmer than yesterday but still below what they have seen in the past couple of days. No rain really in sight. As a matter of fact, the bulk of the rain obviously is with what's left over of Lee and that's getting up into the Northeast where they'll see a little bit of flooding today.
A little bit of news out of National Hurricane Center. This disturbance just south in the southern Gulf of Mexico has been bumped up now to 60 percent of seeing it develop and hurricane aircraft is going to fly into this thing today and check it out. We don't really know where it's going to go.
Katia, we do know where Katia is going to go. Category 1 storm guys and the track remains the same. It's going to scoot out to sea, but big waves and rip tides continue to roll into the eastern beaches of the Northeast -- Alina.
VELSHI: You left our friends in the Pacific Northwest out.
MARCIANO: The heat.
VELSHI: I notice you're not even including it on your maps any more. Texas and Southeast and the Northeast.
MARCIANO: Well, no, we do. We'll do in the 9:00 hour. These are strict laws, man.
VELSHI: They are still sleeping, anyway. It doesn't matter.
MARCIANO: Record breaking heat across Portland and Seattle. I used to live out there. Alina is from there, too.
CHO: That's right. See? You know Rob Marciano and I go way back?
VELSHI: Look at that.
CHO: Yes, Portland, Oregon.
VELSHI: Thank you for including Portland and Seattle in your weather report today, Rob.
MARCIANO: You're welcome.
CHO: Man, oh, man.
MARCIANO: He's been very busy with this.
CHO: You have been very busy. Rob, I thought you did -- listen, I think Rob does a spectacular job.
VELSHI: I do, too. I have never seen him in Portland or Seattle.
CHO: He was there.
We are learning new details this morning of President Obama's jobs plan. Democratic sources tell our chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin that it calls for about $300 billion in tax breaks and extension of unemployment benefits and other spending, which could include funds for laid off teachers and first responders making it hard, our Jessica Yellin reports, for Republicans to vote against the plan.
That $300 billion price tag, by the way, will be offset by equal amount of budget cuts.
VELSHI: And, of course, CNN will have live coverage of the President Obama's speech Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
I should also mention, Republicans are not going to offer a formal response. Now, Republican candidates may have something to say about it. Mitt Romney has already started. When it comes to creating jobs and turning around the economy, Mitt Romney insists that President Obama, quote, "doesn't have a clue."
The former Massachusetts governor unveiled his own 59-point. He claims will create 11 million jobs in the first four years of a Romney presidency and he could not resist taking a shot at President Obama when he unveiled it yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: President Obama's strategy is a pay phone strategy and we're in a smartphone world. And so, we're going to have to change -- what he is doing is taking quarters and stuffing them into the payphone and thinking -- can't figure out why it's not working. It's not connected any more, Mr. President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: The highlights of Romney's job plan are to waive President Obama's health care reforms, cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, and boost domestic energy production. But there are 59 points so you can download it to your Kindle actually if like to read it.
CHO: Yes, which I know you'll do later, right?
VELSHI: Well, I was a huge fan of people putting real plans out. I would. This is -- I thrive on this stuff rather than these generalities. Until now in the campaign -- and in fairness to Jon Huntsman put out a jobs plan last week. Until now, it's been just talk. People telling me they're going to create all these jobs, show me how you're going to do it.
CHO: And he says he's going to put into place 10 points of the 59 points first day in office.
VELSHI: Right, first day in office.
CHO: Yes. That's right.
Also new this morning, a fourth person has died as a result of the shooting rampage that happened at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City, Nevada. Police say 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion opened fire on a group of uninformed Nevada National Guardsmen before killing himself. The suspect's family said he had a history of mental problems.
VELSHI: In India, at least nine people were killed and more than 60 others wounded when a bomb exploded outside the Delhi high court building. Authorities say the bomb was hidden in a brief case, it went off as people were lining up outside to have their cases heard. It's the second explosion there in four months.
CHO: And a judge in Italy has just adjourned Amanda Knox's murder appeal until September 23rd. This after a forensic expert testified that DNA evidence on the murder weapon used to kill Knox's former roommate could not be blood. Prosecutors asked the judge for DNA tests and permission to call more witnesses. But those requests so far have been denied.
VELSHI: OK. Coming up next, which is kind of why I was prodding Rob for a Pacific Northwest weather report. The CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, is joining us. He's here in studio in AMERICAN MORNING. He's been here. He's been watching the show.
We're going to ask him why he's telling his rich friends to stop making campaign contributions to elected officials until something solid gets done.
CHOI: Can't wait for that.
Plus, the president has a plan to help save the Postal Service. But is it enough to keep the agency running or will it shut down?
VELSHI: And keep your shoes on. Change is coming to airport security. It's welcome news for passengers and their feet.
It's nine minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
My next guest knows how to brew a cup of joe. But these days, Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, is more concerned about waking up our elected officials in Washington. He is calling on fellow leaders in industry to hit those politicians where it hurts, in the wallet.
Howard Schultz, a pleasure to have you this morning. Thank you for being with us.
HOWARD SCHULTZ, CEO, STARBUCKS: Thanks.
VELSHI: You know, when you first started this, I wondered where it was going to go. But you're getting some traction in convincing people not just corporate leaders, but sort of people who are like minded, who don't sort of stake out extreme positions in politics, to say, we sort of send you to Washington to get this done -- one way or the other.
SCHULTZ: I think that people all over the country can sense that there is something wrong in Washington and when we look at what happened with the debt debacle and we look at the fracturing of confidence that exists in America and now around the world, as a result of the leadership in Washington, we have to ask ourselves a question and that is: are these people really there and representing the values and the direction of the country that we think is best for us?
Last night, we had 100,000 people across the country on a telephone conference call.
VELSHI: This was an online call that you were part of?
SCHULTZ: Yes, 100,000 people.
VELSHI: Yes.
SCHULTZ: It's not just 140 CEOs that have signed. We are getting thousands of people who are trying to say, listen, we are better than this. There is a fracturing of trust and confidence. There is a crisis in America.
It's not -- it's no longer a situation we can just sit by and allow Washington --
VELSHI: But you're taking a moderate position.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
VELSHI: When, in fact, typically corporations have backed positions to lobby for something that is a special interest.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
VELSHI: I mean, can you get to a point where you compete with that? There is still more CEOs working to keep that gridlock that we got in Washington going.
SCHULTZ: Well, the point is this. That what we are watching is a situation in which ideology is the rule of the day.
VELSHI: Yes.
SCHULTZ: And what I'm saying, and I think a lot of people are feeling, is this is more about citizenship than partisanship than any other time in our history. And as a result of that, we need Congress and the administration to reach a long-term deal and we have to have a laser focus on job creation and growing the economy in America.
And what I feel is this is not that hard. However, if people continue to look at every situation through lens of re-election and ideology, we won't get to a deal that is good for the country. I'm saying enough is enough. There are like-minded people across the country, Democrats and Republicans, who feel the way I do. We are better than this. Give us access to the American dream and stop leaving us behind.
VELSHI: Who's more to blame? Or who's the most limited? Maybe you can call it parties, but what is it? Why are we at this place in our history that is so intractable?
SCHULTZ: We're at this place because we're in a situation where the lens in which elected officials look at every issue is polling, re-election, and raising money to get reelected.
VELSHI: So, short of not having a whole bunch of people who are not getting reelected again, not running for office again, which would be fantastic, one whole Congress never running again. What do you do? How do you change that?
SCHULTZ: I think that there is such a large group of Americans who have been quiet.
VELSHI: Yes.
SCHULTZ: And I think the vocal people who have been loud are on the extremes of both sides. And what I'm asking is a very simple question. Let's have our elected officials put their feet in the shoes of Americans who are unemployed, who can't make the payment on their house, who can't get access to credit.
VELSHI: Right.
SCHULTZ: A fracturing of consumer confidence and recognize this is a sense of urgency that we need. Please do your job. You took an oath of office for all of America.
VELSHI: Right.
SCHULTZ: Not ideology, not one constituency over another. Represent the country, and I think we deserve better.
VELSHI: You know, we have 14 million officially unemployed. We have all of these people we call 99ners who have exhausted their benefits. They're voiceless. For all intents and purposes, they don't have a lobby. We are not catering to the middle of America. We're not catering to those most disenfranchised. The bottom line is, how -- where do you go from here? You clearly got some support.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
VELSHI: But how do you take this to another level and say govern for all of America, not your specific constituency that will reelect you?
SCHULTZ: Well, I think right now, after last night, over a hundred thousand people on the call, what I recognize more than ever before is that there is a ground swell of people who, like you say, are not being heard.
VELSHI: Yes.
SCHULTZ: And what we need to do is business leaders just not wait for Washington. What we need to do right now is reinvest our company's revenue into the economy and create jobs, and I think we can.
VELSHI: Yes.
SCHULTZ: But I also think that Washington has a significant responsibility to demonstrate real citizenship and real leadership.
VELSHI: Let me -- because you're a businessman and because you've, you know, you thrown down the gauntlet and you put a line in the sand, I want to read what you have written. You said what you want to happen is you want to transparent comprehensive bipartisan debt and deficit package that honestly and fairly sets America on a path to long-term financial health and security. I can't see that there's anybody who would disagree with that.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
VELSHI: But what's the measure of success? At what point do you pull back? Because, ultimately, you will hurt candidates who you believe are good.
SCHULTZ: Yes. But let me say something in addition to that. The Washington is talking about a $14 trillion deficit. That's not the true number.
VELSHI: Right.
SCHULTZ: The true number is $47 trillion because of the obligations we have for the future.
VELSHI: Right.
SCHULTZ: We are in a collision course with time here, and people need to understand it. And Washington needs to do their jobs. And what we need right now is that super committee, as well as the administration, to understand what is at stake. And I'm saying -- I believe this, that this is a critical moment in the history of the country. And we need people to understand how serious it is, and we need results.
VELSHI: And do you feel that there is traction here? Do you feel that you're getting --
SCHULTZ: I think, you know, a hundred thousand people last night is a huge number, given the fact that we announced this call four days ago. But we're going to be relentless in pursuing our collective responsibility to send a powerful message to Washington, and, from my perspective, I'm going to do all I can with like-minded public CEOs to create jobs in America.
VELSHI: I know this isn't your intention, but people are already saying are you going to run for something? Has this the feel of a campaign?
SCHULTZ: The only campaign I'm running for is for the future of the country. I'm just a CEO that runs a coffee company. That's not my interest.
VELSHI: My last question to you. What is it that's going to make you -- I often say you're one of the most famous and most successful small business people in this country. You went through failure before you went through success.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
VELSHI: You started small. You saw that growth. You've struggled as a large company with growth. What is it that makes people like you and at an earlier stage than you hire people? What can the president say? SCHULTZ: Well, with a trillion dollars sitting on the balance sheets of public companies in America today and over a trillion dollars sitting overseas that does not come back to the U.S., the reason that that money is idly sitting dormant is because of the issue of uncertainty in America, and Washington needs to provide an understanding of where the country is going and give the consumer confidence to spend. And I think this is not that hard.
This is what I keep saying. If the people in the room have one thing in common and that is let's come together in a partisan way to solve problems, this is not that hard. America needs innovation. We need transformation, but we need leadership that is like minded and representing all of the country, not one specific ideology.
VELSHI: Howard Schultz, good to talk to you. Good luck on the continued campaign. If you can get people to be bipartisan, I think you'll have the whole country on your side.
SCHULTZ: Thank you very much.
VELSHI: All right. Alina.
CHO: All right, Ali. And get us some Starbucks cards, will you? Thank you very much.
The administration is working on plans to save the postal service from defaulting on this month's 5.5 billion benefits payment by giving it an extra three months to pay up, but the agency warns that reprieve is not enough. Earlier, Ali spoke to postmaster general, Patrick Donahoe, about the changes the agency wants to make so that it's, once again, profitable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: How much money does the post office lose just for being the post office?
PATRICK DONAHOE, U.S. POSTMASTER GENERAL: Well, right now, our operating loss is about $2 billion. We've got a plan in place that requesting help from Congress to eliminate the six to five-day delivery. That'll save us $3 billion. We're also making some internal changes in our networks that'll save us about five billion. Our goal is to get profitable over the next three years, pay down our debt, and get our finances stabilized going forward.
America's mailing habits have changed. We still do a great job with advertising mail, people use us for that. They use us for packages. That's where we'll be focusing going forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Donahoe also mentioned the agency would like to close up to 3,700 post offices, and eliminate nearly 12,000 positions.
Coming up, the big-time CEO who says she was fired by phone. It's 22 minutes after the hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Twenty-six minutes after the hour. "Minding Your Business" this morning.
U.S. markets are down for the third -- or were down yesterday for the third straight day, and since the beginning of the year, the Dow is down nearly four percent. The NASDAQ down about seven percent. The S&P 500, which probably looks like some of the things you've got in your 401(k) or your IRA down nearly 7.5 percent, so far, this year.
Right now, U.S. stock futures for the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 are all trading higher ahead of the opening bell. Lots of volatility in the markets, though, as we've been seeing for the past few weeks.
Italy is at the center stage today in the European debt crisis. Its parliament will vote on a new budget this afternoon. Thousands of workers hit the streets yesterday in protest of the new austerity measures that are part of the budget proposal.
Yahoo! CEO, Carol Bartz, is out. She announced in an e-mail to employees last night that was fired over the phone by the chairman of the board. CFO, Tim Morse, will take over. Yahoo! has been struggling under Bartz. The company stocks spiked seven percent in the after hours trading on news of her departure.
The oil industry getting into the jobs debate. Today, industry leaders making a pitch for more drilling, saying it could add 1.4 million new jobs to the economy and increase domestic energy production by almost 50 percent. This is something big oil has lobbied for before. It's likely to face staunch opposition from environmentalists and lawmakers.
AMERICAN MORNING is back right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI (voice-over): Ten years after the Twin Towers fell, first responders are still getting sick, even dying. One firefighter's widow thinks she knows what killed her husband, and she's speaking out on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI (on-camera): Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Ali Velshi. Carol and Christine have the morning off.
CHO: Good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Alina Cho. A lot going on this morning. Here are your top stories.
Out of control wildfires racing across Texas, now killing four people and destroying at least 700 homes in just the past two days. The Texas Forest Service said it has responded to 181 separate fires in just the past week. A fourth person has died in a mass shooting at an IHOP in Carson City, Nevada. Three of the dead were members of the Nevada National Guard and another was a female civilian. Seven others were wounded. Police say the gunman was 32-year-old Eduardo Sencion. He also killed himself.
And Democratic sources telling CNN that President Obama's jobs plan will includes $300 billion in tax breaks, incentives, and other spending. But the costs will apparently be offset by an equal amount of budget cuts. The president unveils his plan tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. eastern. CNN will have live coverage beginning at 6:00.
VELSHI: An hour ago, we talked about the story. It's hard to watch but it's so important and, in fact, so inspirational. A decade ago Randy Wiebicke was one of thousands of first responders who were exposed to toxic dust ground zero.
CHO: That's right. The New York City firefighter died earlier this year, leaving behind three children and a widow who believes that dust ultimately killed him. Deb Feyerick joins us this morning. So Deb, I have to say, Ali mentioned this, it's so hard to watch but she is incredibly brave and incredibly graceful, I must.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. She is Randy's voice now. She is the one who is going to carry on his message. He died of a type of a blood cancer that hits people 20 years old. You heard Dr. Sanjay Gupta mention these cancer clubs, young guys who lives have dramatically changed after 9/11. Well, there are still many wrestling with illness and impending loss.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Randy Wiebicke was like many U.S. firefighters who answered the call on 9/11. The difference -- he died ten years later.
MADELINE WIEBICKE, 9/11 WIDOW: I was with him and talked to him and let him know it was OK to go, that I would take care of the kids. He slipped away just very peacefully.
FEYERICK: His wife Madeline was full of hope when we met them both last summer. Never did she believe 10 years after the attacks she, too, would become a 9/11 widow.
WIEBICKE: Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that.
FEYERICK: Randy Wiebicke was stationed near ground zero and smoldering degree. In 2009 he was diagnosed with a blood cancer usually affecting people 20 years older. The fire department considers Randy's death in the line of duty.
WIEBICKE: These guys were down there breathing, eating, sleeping in that dust. There's no doubt in my mind that is where the cancer came from.
FEYERICK: A year ago, randy took a calculated risk, undergoing an experimental stem cell transplant. WIEBICKE: Randy was just so strong and so healthy and so larger than life that, you know, we felt he would make it through it.
FEYERICK: But the viruses that subsequently attacked his weak immune system were too many and too aggressive to overcome.
(on camera) What was it like for you and randy in the end?
WIEBICKE: We actually had special, beautiful times together, even in the hospital. We would just hug each other and talk about our children.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Katie, Mariana, and Danny, the oldest of the three.
WIEBICKE: He was so strong and so positive and so good. I think 92 percent of their funds go directly to research.
FEYERICK: Since Randy's death in March, Madeline has started a new and different future, step by step.
WIEBICKE: And I think Randy would just want -- he wanted everybody to help each other. So that's why we are here now.
FEYERICK: She has raised $30,000 for the multiple myeloma research foundation to help other first responders suffering from the same cancer as Randy. She walks every day to stay strong, healthy, and positive.
WIEBICKE: So this is a little powder room.
FEYERICK: And she is building a new kitchen, just as she and Randy always planned.
(on camera) Do you feel any residual anger?
WIEBICKE: I don't, I don't feel angry. I feel sad. I feel sad that people are still dying from it.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Sad, too, because it's all so new.
WIEBICKE: I wish he could still be here.
FEYERICK: Madeline is trying to live the lessons randy taught as he lay dying. That is to live a simpler life, help others more, and, perhaps most of all, forgive.
(on camera) What does the future hold for you, do you think?
WIEBICKE: I'm grateful that I had Randy as a best friend for 27 years. I've made a choice. I'm going to be happy. He always wanted me happy. He never held me back from anything. He was always really proud. So he would want that now.
(END VIDEOTAPE) FEYERICK: And a recent study about the New York Fire Department found the cancer risk is 19 percent higher in those who had been at ground zero whereas normally for a firefighter it's about 10 percent higher than the average, somebody like you or me. It also appears it's happening at younger ages. As for Madeline, she understands she did have 10 extra years with randy. It's never enough time but it's time to say good-bye and time to prepare and she had a blessing that so many other did not have.
CHO: So it's a blessing and a curse.
FEYERICK: It's mixed.
CHO: It's hard to say. No easy way to say good-bye to somebody.
VELSHI: When she said I've made a choice to be happy, that's incredible.
FEYERICK: It's incredible. And that's the strength that I think many 9/11 families have had to draw on, because you go around once, and it is a choice. And clearly if you could turn the clock back, people would want that. But to go on to be happy, to see positive, to learn lessons even from somebody on their death bed, that is what gets people through these crises.
CHO: I think it's very, very big of her to say I'm not angry.
VELSHI: I'm sad.
CHO: I'm sad, not angry. It would be so easy in the situation to just be so angry and blame people, blame what happened. And she's not that way, and that is extraordinary to me.
VELSHI: It's a remarkable story.
FEYERICK: And the point you can't forget, they are still dying. There are still casualties.
VELSHI: You can see the full investigation of the health fallout from 9/11 plus some rare, never-before-seen footage of the aftermath of the disaster. Dr. Sanjay Gupta's documentary, "Terror in the Dust" airs tonight at 11:00 p.m. eastern.
Still to come this morning, a one-on-one with Dick Cheney. Our Wolf Vlitzer sits down with the former vice president to talk about his greatest regret as vice president. We have the interview after the break.
CHO: Wait until you hear what he says.
And new information this morning about the future of U.S. troops in Iraq. Will the Obama administration break its promise and leave thousands of troops there? We are live from the Pentagon with some answers after the break. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. It's 37 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Thank you for joining us.
VELSHI: It's a pleasure to be back.
CHO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
The U.S. may keep 3,000 troops in Iraq past the deadline to have everybody out.
VELSHI: Which is supposed to be the end of the year. A senior Pentagon official tells CNN the administration has talked about leaving a small force there beginning next year. But the Pentagon is stressing no final decisions have been made.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With regards to what our presence will look beyond that, that is going to be the subject of negotiations with the Iraqis. As I said, I can't give you a number or tell you what the number looks like. It has to be part of the negotiations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: That's Secretary Leon Panetta. Barbara Starr joins us now live from the Pentagon. Barbara, is this a real change of direction if it's true? I mean, I know we are supposed to have all of the troops out by the end of the year, but looking at Iraq some people thought some might have to stay.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Ali, I think that has been the case all along. Listen for a minute -- let's start with what the president of the United States said about all of this as recently as last August. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Consistent with our agreement with the Iraqi government, all U.S. troops will leave by the end of next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: What is the reality? We are talking about 3,000 troops staying, even though the president said all of them are getting out. That was never really the case. The bottom line is the United States and Iraq were always planning to sit down and have the talks they are having right now about how many U.S. troops might stay after the end of the year.
The Iraqis have long agreed they may need help with some certain things like finding terrorists, fighting the Iranian backed militias, military training, all kinds of things. How many U.S. troops would it take to do that? By all accounts now, Panetta is looking at an option as few as 3,000 troops staying. But here is the interesting part. Now he is getting criticism for that because many are saying that's not enough. Not only should some troops stay but a lot more than 3,000. Senator John McCain and other senators in Congress saying 3,000 is too few and it would risk the gains that the U.S. has made in Iraq.
So the bottom line now is these discussions are ongoing. They are going to come to a decision about how many troops will stay. If you thought military involvement in Iraq was going to end at the end of this year, not so fast.
VELSHI: OK, well, this will become yet another issue to talk about as the months go on. But it's an interesting development if it's true.
CHO: It most certainly is. Barbara Starr, thank you from the Pentagon.
VELSHI: Well, eight years after the invasion of Iraq, former vice president Dick Cheney is still absolutely certain that the Bush administration made the right call.
CHO: That's right. In a wide ranging interview with our Wolf Blitzer, Cheney talked about Iraq, Afghanistan, and the war on terror. And in classic Cheney fashion, he was about as apologetic as ever.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Your biggest regret as it relates to your time in office.
DICK CHENEY, (R) FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: You have to go back. That covers 40 years.
BLITZER: No, the eight years you were vice president.
CHENEY: Well, I think as a general proposition on the big decisions, I think we got it right. I worked for George Bush, proud to have worked for him. I think a lot of the most controversial things we did that people didn't like and criticized us for, things like the terrorist surveillance program or enhanced interrogation techniques, were things that allowed us to save lives.
And the net result, the value of our policies is best evaluated in terms of the fact that after 9/11, there were no further mass casualty attacks against the United States, that we stopped every single prospective attack on the U.S. for the last seven and a half years that we were there. I think that speaks well to our policy.
BLITZER: It certainly does, but you're a hung. I make mistakes all the time. You must have made some mistakes as vice president of the United States.
CHENEY: Well, I made mistakes that I talk about in the book.
BLITZER: Give me an instance. CHENEY: I got kicked out of Yale twice.
BLITZER: I'm talking about vice president. We all make mistakes when we are in college.
CHENEY: Wolf, what I find in this whole operation is people want you to admit.
BLITZER: What is wrong with that? If you made a mistake, what is wrong with that?
CHENEY: But what they want is they don't want an admission of a mistake. They want you to say you did something wrong and that they disagreed with. It's all about politics and I'm --
BLITZER: There is nothing wrong with that.
CHENEY: Wolf, I wrote what I believe. I wrote my experiences. I talk, for example, about things I got wrong in the Bush one administration, disagreed, for example with the idea of going to Congress to get authorization to go into Kuwait. The president overrode me. He was right, I was wrong. I mean, there are examples like that.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: It was the first president --
CHENEY: I thought -- I thought wage price controls was a serious mistake. I was an integral part of wage price control to enforce that.
BLITZER: But during the eight years of the second Bush administration, no mistakes?
CHENEY: I have said all I'm going to say about it, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right.
CHENEY: I'm proud of the policies we put in place. I think they did the job we intended for them to do. And I'm not inclined to make any mea culpas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Well, that's a -- I love Wolf. It's momentS like that I --
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: I was just going to say --
VELSHI: -- that I -- I love the value of Wolf because he just wasn't -- he wasn't emotional. He didn't get -- he just wanted to ask and he couldn't get an answer out of him.
CHO: Well, that Wolf will not give up and good for him.
VELSHI: No.
CHO: He kept asking but yes, that is right. Cheney --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: He was not going to say that he made any mistakes in eight years of his vice presidency.
CHO: Oh come on.
VELSHI: And anybody who knows Dick Cheney probably shouldn't be surprised with his ability to -- to stick to his message.
CHO: Well, he added, too, I did make some mistakes. Sure read my book.
VELSHI: Yes, now that's true. That's one way to find out.
CHO: But by the way Dick Cheney --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: And if you'd like to.
CHO: Yes, exactly, if you'd like to, Dick Cheney's memoir "In My Time" is now in book stores.
VELSHI: All right. Still to come this morning is the fight desperate fight in Texas as that wildfire or the wildfires continue to spread across the state.
CHO: And new high-resolution images showing a few small steps for man on the moon. We'll explain.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. Forty-six minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. A lot going on this morning. Here is what you need to know to start your day.
Firefighters say it's like Dante's Inferno, 181 separate fires now burning across Texas. Four people have died and 700 homes have gone up in flames in just the past couple of days.
As President Obama puts the finishing touches on his job speech to Congress tomorrow night, we are learning that his plan to put America back to work includes $300 billion in tax breaks and spending cuts.
An explosion outside the Delhi high court in India killing at least nine people, injuring 60 others. Authorities say the bomb was inside a briefcase and it was placed where people lined up to have their cases heard. It's the second such bombing at the high court since May.
Imagine going through airport security without taking your shoes off. It may soon be possible. The Department of Homeland Security says new technology will allow them to drop the shoe removal requirement. No word, though, on when that will happen just yet.
NASA releasing new high-definition photos that shows tracks on the moon from several Apollo missions. They came from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter which launched back in 2009.
You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING will be back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
She saw her own hand lying on the ground. A grandmother who had a horrific accident with a power saw.
VELSHI: I didn't see this one coming.
Somehow, this story does have a happy ending, I'm told, because of a surgery that really has stunned the medical community.
Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with us right now. This sounds fascinating.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is. And you know it's -- there are good stories that have happy endings here. Because you know the marvels of medical technology sometimes exactly as you guys said, she was using a power saw. She had an accident and essentially cut her own hand off using this power saw, a pretty clean- cut.
I think we have an x-ray to show you this. And -- and take it, it's just an x-ray, obviously. The bottom sort of cut off there, quite literally and figuratively there. But you could see -- she noticed this just to give you an idea of how much shock she was in.
She -- she didn't notice it was her hand until she saw her wedding ring which you can see there on the x-ray.
CHO: Oh my God.
GUPTA: On the hand. And she said that was my hand on the ground. But then what happened next is important.
VELSHI: Wow.
GUPTA: She was able to get to the hospital where doctors actually specialize in this exact kind of thing. Micro surgery being able to re-implant in this case the hand but they do feet and they can do fingers. And she -- and she moved along quickly. Really quick, take a look at this animation. One of the big things that is actually reattaching these tendons to try and give her some range of motion. They use the anchors like you see there and put the tendon through and lock that all in place. Again, that tendon was cut along with arteries and veins and nerves.
CHO: Is this new technology? I mean --
(CROSSTALK)
GUPTA: Well, it's interesting so much of the technology, there you can see at the end there this is sort of the finished product.
VELSHI: Wow.
GUPTA: And you can see -- see some of the soft tissue swelling. And you can see there --
CHO: It works just fine?
GUPTA: And so within -- so here is the -- the operation took about eight hours. About 12 hours after that she was able to start moving her fingers.
VELSHI: Wow.
CHO: That's incredible.
GUPTA: It really is. And it speaks to not only the surgical technique which is not new necessarily but improving constantly but also that she moved quickly.
VELSHI: Yes.
GUPTA: And her family moved quickly.
CHO: Right.
GUPTA: You need to do this type of operation within 12 hours or so to be able to get that sort of function.
VELSHI: You -- you were talking about the soft tissue swelling and this is one thing that I -- I'm starting to understand about any kind of reconstructive surgery or reattachment. The science of it, the mechanics can be engineered but the -- the symptoms sometimes go on for a long time.
Is she back to normal? Does that swelling come down?
GUPTA: The swelling is -- is still going to be there and it'll -- it'll take her some time to get back to normal.
CHO: She said she was a grandmother?
GUPTA: She's a grandmother. I don't know exactly how old she is but -- but the -- about two years of rehab they say she's going to need.
VELSHI: Ok. CHO: Wow.
GUPTA: And then she should get back. And there's plenty of stories where people are back to doing the things that they did. She may have some numbness, may not be exactly the same as before but -- and obviously the scarring. But -- but -- but you know, it is pretty remarkable to deal with arteries, veins, nerves, tendon, obviously the skin, the soft tissue and the muscles, all of that.
VELSHI: That's incredible.
CHO: I've never heard of this happening. I mean, I'm sure it has.
GUPTA: We talk so much nowadays about doing hand transplants and face transplants and things like that.
CHO: Right.
VELSHI: That's right, yes.
GUPTA: But this is much more common.
CHO: Really?
GUPTA: If someone were to actually -- yes because you have these sorts of accidental injuries and this can be -- it's a bit of an option --
VELSHI: What should you do, what should you -- if that ever happened to you, some limb comes or digit gets unattached.
GUPTA: Right.
VELSHI: Do you freeze it? Do you call 911?
GUPTA: The lay wisdom probably works here. You don't freeze it but you keep it cool. You don't want to freeze the end of the tissues. Put it in an ice cooler. Get to the hospital as quickly as possible. Let them know you're coming. They're usually at the operating starting to prepare, to be ready for this. They may even start operating on the hand or the digit before they start operating on you to get the tissue all ready --
CHO: But get there fast.
GUPTA: But you want to move quickly.
VELSHI: What a fascinating story.
GUPTA: And a good ending as you say.
VELSHI: I like that.
CHO: Yes. We like that.
GUPTA: Every now and then.
VELSHI: Great to see you.
CHO: Still to come this morning, note to fans. Madonna hates hydrangeas. That's a type of a flower, by the way, and now the whole world knows it. We will tell you why.
VELSHI: This is great.
CHO: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. 54 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: I love this story. Welcome back. Even the biggest Madonna fans like my friend Alina. You probably didn't know about this. Madonna hates hydrangeas.
CHO: I had no idea but guess what? Now, the whole world knows after Madonna's reaction to a fan's gift was caught on an open mike and it's gone viral.
Here is Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's enough to make a hydrangea wilt, insulted by Madonna in videos that have gone viral. There Madonna is at the Venice Film Festival when a fan among the press people gives her a flower.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're my princess. Thank you so much. I love you.
MOOS: But after Madonna tells him thank you, some say she rolls her eyes. Out comes the truth, barely picked up on an open mike. "I absolutely loathe hydrangeas. He obviously doesn't know that."
MOOS: Hydrangeas of the world unite. Geez, Madonna, what did hydrangeas ever do to you? The b word flew at Madonna; the one that rhymes with witch. We went to Flowers of the World in Manhattan to see why anyone would hate hydrangeas.
ANDREA VOTE, FLOWERS OF THE WORLD: A lot of people think it's their grandmother's flower.
MOOS: On top of that, hydrangea grow in people's yards.
(on camera): So that makes it more lowly?
VOTE: Yes, like I see it in other people's yards. It couldn't be that great of a flower.
MOOS (voice-over): But these hydrangea are from the Netherlands and cost $20 or $30 a stem. Could Madonna's loathing turn hydrangea into the new broccoli? GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do not like broccoli and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli.
MOOS: At least Madonna doesn't have to eat hydrangea. Madonna may run through fields of lilies. She's even accepted humble daisies and clutched them like a smitten schoolgirl. In the videos that have gone viral, hydrangea get no respect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madonna, where is the flowers that I gave you.
MADONNA: Oh, my assistant took them.
MOOS: Madonna's spokesperson says she's entitled to like any flower she wants and she didn't want to hurt the feelings of the hydrangeas of the world -- maybe. But her attitude was similar to that of the hoity-toity editor in "The Devil Wears Prada."
MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS: Do I smell freesias?
ANNE HATHAWAY, ACTRESS: What?
MOOS (on camera): Do I smell hydrangea?
HATHAWAY: No, I specifically told them that --
STREEP: If I see freesias anywhere, I will be very disappointed.
MOOS: If I see hydrangea anywhere, I'm going to be very disappointed.
(voice-over): But from the hydrangea's point of view, Madonna stinks.
Uf1: It's an unscented flower.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN --
MADONNA: Thank you.
MOOS: -- New York.
MADONNA: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: I love the old "my assistant took them" reply.
VELSHI: I think that was just -- I mean look, people, let us just say she's entitled to like or dislike anything she wants but it was weird that her reaction was that fast and there was a mike in front of her.
CHO: We know that every mike is hot as we like to say.
VELSHI: Anybody gives me flowers, I will gladly take them. Hydrangeas included.
CHO: Me too. Thanks for joining us today.
VELSHI: We're going to hand the rose over to Kyra Phillips. She's taking over right now in the "CNN NEWSROOM." Good morning Kyra.
