the details in a live report just ahead. congress is back and there's a whole lot to do like getting a deal done on tax cuts and keep the government running. >> it came with a price, a 750,000 ransom was reportedly

paid. although the family isn't really stay seeing, david mckenzie is following developments from nairobi. they just got some tragic news too. >> that's right, carol, good morning. behind me is the british high commissioner's residence here in nairobi. and late last night the chandlers came here, it was a euphoric moment for them, their friends, their family, for being in the pirate custody for over a year as you said and now released safely to new yoairobi onward to england. it was news they kept all the time. saying we learned that paul's father died in late july and we need to come to terms for that. they asked for privacy and said they need to be left alone until they head to england. so very tragic news in light of them just being freed by those

somali pirates. >> there were reports that pirates had sought $7 million in ransom for the chandlers to be released. what did it take to eventually free them? >> reporter: well, this was a very many pits and stops. during that some point, family members managed to give the money. this is not a rich money. they got together, you know, a few hundred thousand dollars, a lot of money to most people and sent those to the somali pirates, but they reneged on the deal double-crossing the chandlers. but then the community kicked in, put pressure on the pirates. we heard that somalis living in england especially contributed money and contributed pressure saying this is an embarrassment to somalia. so in the end the $750,000, a high price to pay, but no price is high enough to get your loved ones home. >> you can't argue about that. i wonder what the british

government is saying about the ransom payments because it refused to pay any money the to free this couple. >> reporter: well, that's right, carol. the british government has been pretty strident and, you know, predictable about this throughout this ordeal. they said they do not pay ransom to any kidnappers in any situation because it might lead people to try and take more people ransom. but, you know, this was a slightly different case. this was a private couple. they were on their dream vacation around the world in a yacht. not a big shipping cargo company that had insurance, just a private, you know, ordinary couple. so certainly to get them home, the only thing that would've worked is ransom. and that's what they paid. but certainly somali pirates still exist in somalia, off the coast of somalia, and they'll take more people unless something is done. >> you could say the somali pirates won, right? it's a sad thung. former president george w.

bush says his administration did not mishandle the war on terrorism by failing to focus on afghanistan. in an interview that aired last night on cnn, the former president told candy crowley that he ordered u.s. troops to overthrow saddam hussein in iraq assuming our allies would pick up the slack in afghanistan. allies who he claims had no stomach for war. >> what happened in afghanistan was that our nato allies -- some of them -- turned out not bei willing to fight. and my assumption that we had ample troops, u.s. and nato troops turned out to be a not true assumption. and so we adjusted. and i completely disagree with the take eye off the ball. i found that to be empty political rhetoric. >> candy crowley joins us at 7:30 this morning, she asked president bush about the handling of the economy in his final year in the white house and what he has to say about it just might surprise you. things are getting very

tense at airline security check points across the country, and that would be an understatement. get this, a confrontation between a california man and tsa officials in san diego has gone viral this morning. 31-year-old software engineer john tiner was going on a hunting trip with his father-in-law on saturday, he refused the full-body scan, then he turned his cell phone video camera on recording this exchange with security agents. >> come on over here. >> all right. >> do you have anything in your pockets? >> i don't think so, they had me take it all out. no bet, no nothing. >> do you have any external or internal implants i need to be aware of. >> no. >> we're going to be doing a standard pat down using my hands going like this. >> all right. >> also, we're going to be doing a groin check. that means i'm going to place my hand on your hip, slowly go up and slide down. i'm going to do that two times in the front, two times in the back. >> all right. >> if you'd like a private

screening, we can make that available for you also. >> we can do that out here, but if you touch my junk, i'm going to have you arrested. >> security is everyone -- >> we're going to supervise you here because of your state. >> tiner, of course, never made it to that hunting trip. tsa agents didn't like his response. supervisors were called in and he's now facing a $10,000 fine and a possible civil suit. i understand his pain, but you've got to remember the underwear bomber. and he refused to go through the big x-ray check that shows you naked. >> didn't want to go through the body scanner. opted for the security check and didn't like that. there's a lot of controversy with these things. >> and once you go through security, you can't get a halfway security check. >> you can't say, thanks, i'm going to leave without threatening you. >> you're not getting on the plane. unless they do the whole check, you're not getting on. so he was out of there.

story is just beginning, huh? the head of homeland security is pleading with air travelers for patience this morning. i don't think mr. tiner's listening, though. all right. let's do a quick pat down of the nation's weather. we'll get some headlines. rob marciano in the extreme weather center for us. >> it's a good thing you're in atlanta, because john would pat you down this morning. >> you're not getting anywhere near my junk, i'll tell you that. >> a little early for that. >> we'll show you what happened in minneapolis, minnesota. here's the video to get you in the mood for the holidays. pat it down, baby. no complaints from frosty, that's for sure. kare, thanks for that video. the kids were out there, school wasn't canceled -- tens of thousands of people without power because it was a heavy, wet snow that brought down trees

and power lines and about 400 accidents, a couple fatal. a foot of snow. here's some of the snowfall tallies across minnesota and iowa. and there's another chunk of snow coming across the midwest later on this week. northeast not too bad right now. a little fog in jersey. and this system developing across the gulf coast will bring rain across the southeast and the northeast, as well. there'll be a few travel delays because of weather. we'll talk about those later on. because of weather, probably not because of security. >> we won't touch your junk this morning -- >> thank you. okay. time to throw a lifeline to super bowl. pull us out of this one. still to come, congress returns to work after the midterm elections with a laundry list to get done. how much will they really accomplish? a documentary, just a great big political ad. we'll take a look at sarah palin's new reality tv show. in 1968, as whaling continued worldwide,

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they're back. a new session of congress begins this morning. and there's a lot to do. >> you may hear the faint sounds of quacking in the hall ways. because a lot of lawmakers have

one foot out the door. dana bash this morning. a long weekend for you, dana. what can we expect from this lame duck session of congress over the next six weeks? >> you know, it has a very, very long to do list. in fact, you can see the items scrolling i think on the wall there. but the reality in talking to gop and democratic sources, john and carol, that not a lot of this is going to get done. even ratifying the start treaty. what we can expect congress to do is its basic function, fund the government and probably fix medicare payments to doctors so they won't go up. perhaps a few more things. but the issue that's going to take up the most oxygen is figuring out whether and how they can compromise on extending bush tax cuts that expire at the end of the year. >> it's going to be pretty lame. except maybe for that tax cut discussion. i know you're following the incoming freshmen leaders who are in town for orientation. at what point will they become really cynical? >> i don't know.

maybe five or ten minutes from now. they were fresh face as you could imagine, bright-eyed. they rolled in yesterday to learn congress 101, basic things like how you set up an office. or how do you actually cast a vote. but for the 80 or so republicans who were just elected, they're already thinking about what's important to them, which is how to make good on their campaign promises. things like smaller government and less spending. some i talked to tried to manage expectations. others said we really have to deliver fast. >> you can't come in a month or two and i want to make sure people in my district know this too. you can't come in a month or two and solve all the world's problems. >> the expectations are pretty high. >> expectations are very high. and i think it's important the to stress to people that we're going to work as hard as we can, but this is a long process, this takes time. >> i was a tea party-endorsed candidate. so they've gotten behind conservative republicans and expect us to govern differently, and if we don't, you may see the

rise of an independent third party, but i think they're going to give us a chance. >> that congressman-elect you saw there, jeff duncan in particular told me he's already decided to give back at least 10% of the operating budget that's going to be allotted to him to run his office. he says that's something he can do right off the bat to lead by example. >> if he gives it back, what are they going to use it for? >> you know what? that is a great question. it would be nice to say that they're going to add or take it away from the deficit, but -- we'll find that out. >> okay. all right. dana bash this morning, thanks. and i know it was a real long weekend for you. thanks for getting up early for us. we're going to talk to two of the newly elected members of congress. can the two sides work together? what do they hope to accomplish? and how long before they become cynical? >> i know. >> we'll ask them this morning. >> i hope things really are different. but i don't know. >> i'd like to think every two years we hope things are different.

we're hoping again today. also still to come this morning, former president bill clinton has a new movie role in "hangover 2." so what's that about? we'll tell you. 6:14 eastern.

good morning. here are the stories that got us talking in the newsroom this morning. they're directing me to another camera. >> this one right here. >> oh, there it is. sorry about that. it's early. anyway, these are the stories that have us talking in the newsroom this morning. we're talking about bill clinton. he's going to star in "hangover

2," since mel gibson couldn't do it, bill clinton steps in to fill the gap. >> well, remember, mike tyson was in the first -- >> i don't think bill clinton will have the same sort of role. i guess they taped it in thailand. we're not really sure what exactly his role will be specifically in "hangover 2," but hopefully it won't involve drinking. >> interesting. well, there's something else that happened over the weekend. at sports stadiums, you know how you can do this with your phone? you can have a little light going on it. people had to use their cell phones as flashlights because the lights went out at the new meadowlands stadium last night. officials trying to find out what caused the outage during the cowboys/giants game. the fans did stay calm, but ultimately it was the cowboys who turned the lights out on the giants for good. >> can you imagine how scary that would be? the lights going off in a stadium. some of the players say they just sat down on the bench. one of them put his helmet on in

case something was incoming, but some of the players were frightened by this. >> well, it's a new stadium. they've discovered they've got a problem with the lighting. >> i have to hand it to the fans for staying calm, because i would have freaked out. you don't know what's going on. and a big football stadium full of people and the lights go off for no reason. how often does that happen in the nfl? >> you'd think the worst immediately? >> yeah, i'm a cynical news person. i'd be like incoming. airlines, let's talk about airlines again. not security pat down checks this time, but let's talk about baggage fees. the top 20 airlines collected nearly $1.7 billion during the first half of the year. so who made the most off your bags? >> oh, guess. it would probably be the largest airline. >> yeah, that would be delta. they made $500 million in luggage charges. >> so they're not about to go away any time soon.

>> america and u.s. airways weren't that far behind. if you have a problem failing classes, go to west virginia. the west potomac high school is using incompletes to show students are missing work. they can still get a failing grade, but that will only happen if they don't complete assignments in the following months. he hopes the change will encourage students to learning the material instead of simply moving on. you don't want a failing grade? here's a place where it's difficult to do it. >> aren't there two schools of thought? some people think you should do away with grades altogether because they're meaningless in this environment. everyone gets an "a," why award an "a?" >> the best thing a school can do is prepare students for college. >> does that have anything to do with grades? don't you have to teach kids to fail? >> regardless of what comes out of my mouth, somebody will jump on it. let me say with the idea that if you can adequately prepare a student for a four-year college after high school, you've done a

great job. >> chicken. we've got ducks, we've got chickens, lame chickens and ducks. >> coming up, freshmen congressmen arrive on capitol hill. we're going to talk to two of the freshmen congressmen and ask them how they plan to break the gridlock in washington. this chrtmas, be svy. right now, get g appliance savings at sears. like 20% off all keore appliances.

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♪ it's coming up on 25 minutes

after the hour. the class of 2010 in washington this weekend. and ready to shakes things up. among the new faces, democrat terry sule. and reed from washington. great to see you this morning. thanks so much for getting up with us. as a matter of a little background here, you are an attorney specializing in finance. reed, you ran the family's roofing business. i want to start by asking you. why did you want to go to congress? >> well, i thought that i had something to offer my home district. the number one issue is job creation. and so i spent the last 15 years of my life working in economic development and finance. i also have a strong -- growing up in this district, a real passion for the people in this district. really want to make sure this future is on solid ground. a mixture of my pass and feeling

like i had something to offer in the areas of economic and finance and helping to create jobs. >> reed, what's your story? >> well, i spent my entire life in the business world. and jobs is really -- jobs are job one for this new congress. and so having created hundreds of jobs in my own career, i have a little bit to say about it. and i'm looking forward to getting to work and helping -- helping the american public and the folks of my district get back to work. >> all right. so jobs are your first priority. what do you think the first priority in congress is going to be in this lame-duck session, in the new session beginning in january? >> it has to be turning this economy around. i think that jobs across the board is the number one issue that folks are facing. and especially in my district where there's double-digit unemployment. trying to create economic opportunities on day one will be our challenge. >> and reid, you know, if you look at the republican side of

the equation, looks like obviously jobs are a priority, but they've got a couple other pieces of business to get to first, tax cuts being one of them. >> well, we'll see what happens on the tax cuts on the lame duck session first. there might be work to be done there after the session starts in january. but in talking with some of my peers last night and yesterday, it's pretty clear to me that this new republican congress is concerned about jobs and the economy and we're going to stay focused on that like a laser. >> what about the issue of earmarks? will you seek earmarks for your home district? >> i'm going to be governed by my what my home district's needs are. and frankly, looking at the poorest district in the state of alabama, the needs are definitely jobs and roads and bridges and other opportunities. i mean, i think that our classrooms are understaffed. and we have to work hard on education, as well. so this district is about jobs, education, and health care.

>> so if it takes earmarks to create some of those jobs, would you seek them? >> well, i do what i can do to bring home the bacon. >> so you would seek earmarks then? is that a yes or a no? >> oh, i didn't hear what you said, i'm sorry. >> so you will seek earmarks? >> i'll seek to provide the best opportunities for the seventh congressional district. >> reid, what about you? >> i'm going to support the moratorium on earmarks, john. i just really believe it's part of the problem we have in the political world. i come into this whole process never having served in any public office before, a little bit cynical myself. >> that's the same with terri. >> and i'm a bit cynical of the process for earmarks. so i'm going to support a no earmark policy. and hopefully we can create a little better transparency in our legislation going forward. >> yeah. terri, where do you come down on the cynical issue? are you cynical at all about the way congress has been doing business?

and how long before you potentially become cynical, as well? can you maintain that fresh ideology? the fresh, you know, ideals coming into congress? >> well, the folks in the seventh congressional district elected me because they wanted a fresh, new face, someone non-associated with washington, not a washington insider, and so perhaps could provide a fresh new perspective on how to do business in washington. and so, frankly, i'm just going to stick my nose down, roll up my sleeves and do the best i can to make sure their agenda is addressed in congress. >> and reid, finish us off here because we started with terri. big question to whether or not republicans and democrats will be able to work together in the next two years. what do you think? >> well, i think in the house we have a real opportunity here because the american people spoke so loudly. we'll see whether the -- i'm more concerned about whether the house and senate can work together. i would welcome terri into miss office at any time. she wants to do the best for her

district, i want the best for mine. i think it's time we roll up our sleeves and work for the american people. >> from your lips to god's ears. good to talk to you this morning. >> thank you very much, john. >> i hope they get together. that was refreshing, wasn't it? good to hear. >> come on, get together. have coffee. starting this morning. >> starting this morning, i bet they will. it's 30 minutes past the hour. time for a check on this morning's top stories. they're exhausted, excited to be alive. paul and rachel chandler freed after being held hostage for more than a year by somali pirates. the retired british couple taken by pirates last year. chandlers going back to britain today. six people are dead, 15 more injured at the hotel. authorities say it looks like yesterday's blast was caused by a natural accumulation of gas from a swampy area under the hotel. and the obama administration reportedly drawing up plans to

end combat missions in afghanistan by 2014. the "new york times" reporting the plan includes transferring security in some areas to afghanistan forces over the next 18 to 24 months. the four-year plan will reportedly be presented at a nato summit later this week. it is billed as an insider's look at alaska with a far off glance at russia with former alaskan governor sarah palin as your guide. it debuted last night on tlc. here's a sample in case you missed it. >> i always wanted to be a rock climber, sarah. >> rock climber or rock star? >> alaska, america's last frontier. >> you can see russia from here, almost. >> see this gate is not just for trig, it's for no boys go upstairs. >> that's pretty funny. but some say funny or not, sarah palin is turning on the frontier

charm just in time to get the leg up on the 2012 presidential campaign. i know jim acosta was watching. he had his beer and his feet kicked up. >> oh, yeah. >> you were watching sarah palin's alaska. so i'm asking -- >> i was. >> see, i'm asking your expert opinion. did we -- >> sitting there watching. >> that's right. >> did you see a different side of sarah palin? or only the sarah palin we see on the campaign trail? >> i think the big question with this reality show, john and carol, is whether she can see the 2012 presidential election from her house. that might be what all of this is about. this is a revealing look at the palin family. "sarah palin's alaska" debuted last night on the learning channel. you do get to see governor palin and you get to hear from the first dude as he called. this is really about the palin family taking in the great outdoors. not a whole lot of politics going on here. you do hear a little bit about the journalist who moved in next

door to the palin family to observe them for a book he's working on. but mainly this is the palins taking in what is really some stunning scenery, quite frankly. that is when the former governor is not on her blackberry. here's a clip. >> i guess i have to leave my blackberry here, huh? oh, boohoo. >> my mom is super busy. she is addicted to the blackberry. she's like -- hang on, i'll be there in a second. >> explains all those tweets and posts to her facebook page. the timing of this is pretty conspicuous because this runs eight weeks, which takes us into the middle of january when we'll hear about top republicans throwing their hat into the ring for the 2012 race. >> do we think the show is going to help her out? a recent poll shows while she's very popular in republican circles, she's still a pretty divisive figure across the country. >> last night, there was not a

whole lot of news that was made. and that's probably the goal here. and you're right -- i mean according to some recent polls, she's still not viewed very favorably by the american people. take a look at some polls that are just recently come out. the "ap" did a poll on her fa r favor favorability. among republicans, this is why this is so important, 79% of republicans view her favorably, 17% unfavorably. why is that important? because if she's running for the gop nomination, it's republican votes that count. that's why there's a lot of political observers who think she is going to run for president, and she will be very formidable, especially in those early primaries. iowa, south carolina, those are states that might be tailor-made for her. >> it's always good to be popular in the republican party

if you want to run to be the party's nominee. >> absolutely. >> thanks so much. congress returning for a lame-duck session. and among the things it has to take on, tax cuts, for upper middle and middle class. 35 minutes after the hour. i love winter. with my subaru forester and its all-wheel drive... ... handling even the toughest conditions... is just another day at the beach.

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massive tax cuts set to expire in six weeks. everyone wants to keep the tax cuts for the middle class. and some are hinting at a possible compromise on the upper income tax cuts. what would this all cost to maintain tax rates as they are now? and how would washington pay for it? our christine romans is here minding your business. >> good morning, john. in a perfect world, we'd all have lower taxes. we wouldn't be fighting over middle class income tax cuts or higher -- but we don't live in a perfect world. let's take a look at what it would cost us. for the upper income tax cuts, 46 days before these expire for people who make $250,000 or more. one to two year extension would be about $70 billion to $140 billion. a permanent extension would be $700 billion over ten years. many are thinking that for middle-class americans, there will be some sort of compromise, a short-term extension of those cuts, but what about the upper-income tax cuts? will they be extended? let's take a look at how much it would cost to extend the middle class tax cuts, $383 billion for

a short-term patch, a one or two-year extension, but $3 trillion over ten years. so to extend all of these things, it would be just about $4 trillion over ten years. for the upper end, you'd have to find a way to offset it. there are rules in congress. you'd have to find a way to make up that money. that's where you think the fight will come in. >> you know, when you look at it, $383 billion a year, versus what our deficits have been running over the last couple of years, $1.3 trillion to $1.5 trillion, it doesn't seem that much compared to the deficits we're running. >> well, we're -- >> why is there such a cry about maintaining these tax cuts? >> we're going in the wrong direction. if you look at the deficit commission and how they're trying to cut it by $4 trillion over ten years, just an extension of these would be $4 trillion. this is a big chunk of money that the government is -- is basically giving back to taxpayers, we have to find a way to pay for. it's going to be a fight and

you're going to see it starting here. and it looks as though there'll be a short-term extension for everyone. most budget analysts are expecting a short-term extension for everyone. >> two ways to pay for it. you borrow more money or cut spending. let's bring in carol now at the big vista wall. and she's got a look at how much money you could be saving and potentially spending if these tax cuts either expire or are extended. >> we wanted to break down the numbers and answer the questions. those tax cuts, should they expire for everyone or just the rich? and if that's the case, is that fair? you'll find out it depends on your perspective. so what if you're married with two kids and you make $70,000 per year. right now, you pay $2,300 in taxes. if the bush tax cuts expire, you'll pay $4,900. that's $2,600 more per year, put it another way, that's $7 per day. put it another way, that's roughly three gallons of gas. if you're married with two kids

and make $325,000 a year, you now pay $63,000 in taxes. and if the tax cuts expire, you pay $71,000 extra. that's $20 a day, two movie tickets and a small popcorn. just for fun i wanted to break it out even more. what if you made $5 million a year? you pay $1.3 million in taxes, if the tax cuts expire, you'll pay $1.6 million, that's $276,000 more. break it down, that's $757 per day, which would be a 32-gig ipad with wi-fi. that sounds insane, doesn't it? i'm going to walk back over here and talk to you guys about it. that sounds unbelievably insane. but if you make $5 million a year. >> how much are you making a day. >> a week, you make $70,000 a

week. >> so $10,000 per day. >> so is that $757 a day really that much to you? >> and then there's this other deeper conversation about what kinds of spending injects money into the economy more quickly. is it a rich person, a middle class person, or the lower end where food stamps, for example, get money right into the economy immediately. many say people have such a slim margin they're living on, that money goes directly to the economy. how do tax cuts juice the economy? you don't want to take away the tax cuts at a time -- >> isn't the bottom line, i mean, if you let these expire, that's the fastest way to pay down the deficit. people say why don't we cut government programs, right? but that takes a long time. you can't just cut a government program. so the fastest way to decrease the deficit would be to let those tax cuts expire. >> there's the fastest way and there's the political way. those are two different things. >> good to see you this morning,

christine. 44 minutes after the hour. still to come this morning, we'll do another weather pat down with rob marciano. oh, and providing a safe haven for nazis, say what? new revelations that the united states helped -- actually helped members of hitler's party start new lives in the united states after world war ii. we'll break down that for you after a break. it never gets dry. can your moisturizer do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno. okay, now here's our holiday gift list. aww, not the mall. well, i'll do the shopping... if you do the shipping. shipping's a hassle. i'll go to the mall. hey. hi. you know, holiday shipping's easy with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. yea, i know. oh, you're good. good luck!

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let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines with rob marciano. how are we looking today, rob? >> not too shabby. maybe a sprinkle and some fog this morning, up through boston and philly. rain on the radar, but it's very, very light. some light showers, that's all you're going to deal with today. but again, low-level moisture and especially in jersey, a little bit of fog this morning. down across parts of the big easy. new orleans through baton rouge, and much of the southeast. this is the developing low pressure that's tapping into substantial gulf moisture. it's already been raining for a good chunk of the last 18 hours in the southeast. that will continue throughout the day as this wave of low pressure makes its way up this front which will hang around for a day or two. and this will get up towards the new york city area, as well. a little bit of snow, more snow, and colder air moving behind the system. 30 to 60 minute delays in boston

and new york. the rain in atlanta will slow you down, as well. 57 in new york, 58 in atlanta, and 71 in new orleans. much colder in places like iceland. check out these shots. love it. northern lights, there you go. a couple of shots from an i-reporter out there. we'll take them. not a huge solar storm, but just enough when you're that far north this time of year to see the northern horizon light up like angels dancing in the sky. quite a sight. hope to see more of those shots as we go throughout the winter. >> like angels dancing in the sky. that's poetic. >> that's the only way i know how to describe it. if you see them in person, it's much like that. >> that's awesome. you know what i forgot. we were doing that tax story. like should the bush tax cuts expire for everyone or the middle class. i forgot to drive you to our blog, cnn.com/amfix. please comment and we'll read them later on. this morning's top stories,

a traveler who refuses to undergo a body scan and a pat down. tsa agents were called in. wait until you hear what the traveler is told about his rights. >> he didn't have any. in his own words, george bush defending the way he handled the war in iraq and afghanistan. much more at the top of the hour. medicare prescription drun called the humana walmart-. it's a new plan that covers both brand ans and has the lowest-pricednatioy of only $14.80 per month and in-store copays as . when you could save over, you can focus on the things . ♪ go to walmart.com for details.

as volatile as markets have been lately, having the security of a strong financial partner certainly lets you breathe easier. for more than 140 years, pacific life has helped millions of americans build a secure financial future wouldn't it be nice to take a deep breath and relax? ask a financial professional about pacific life. the power to help you succeed. secret government report says american intelligence officials went out of their way to help former nazis and their collaborators after world war ii. america, which prided itself on

ameri being a safe haven for the prosecuted became a safe haven for the prosecutors, as well. congratulations. >> thank you very much. >> this report was done in the doj's office of special investigations, was commissioned in 1999. who is it commissioned by? what was the purpose? and what was hoped would happen with this report? >> well, this was the brain child of a senior official at the justice department at that time in 1999, mark richard, who had overseen a lot of the nazi-hunting efforts for decades after the office was created. and he thought this was a critical part of the justice department's history and there needed to be a comprehensive historical look at both the successes and some of the failures of the department. >> right. and the intent of this report was to make it public? >> absolutely, yes. he saw this as a document that the public had a right to see and a need to see.

>> yet, that hasn't happened? the justice department has been sitting on it for four years, why? >> that's right. well, mark richard finished the document along with the author judith fagan, and since 2006 was trying to get the report published, get the final sign-off from the justice department and got for the most part blank stares and unwillingness to do that. and in fact, he passed away sadly last year, and until his dying days was telling people that it was one of his -- he would tell them his bucket list essentially. one of his three wishes was to see this report published and that never happened. >> let's tell people why this report is so fascinating. in it, there are amazing disclosures, including the fact that one official at the department of justice kept a piece of dr. joseph mangola's scalp in his drawer. what was that about? >> well, beginning in the

mid-1980s, there were reports he might have been still alive. of course, this was the angel of death, probably the most infamous fugitive from the war. and this set off a furious effort within the justice department's nazi-hunting unit, to determine just what happened to him, where he ended up, whether he was still alive. it turned out there was an intense forensic examination by the justice department's investigators. they used dental records, they took them back to germany, they were using phone books in munich. with the help of the brazilians, they found and examined letters and diaries from mangola who had made it to brazil. but they were still not absolutely certain that the person in brazil was mangola and they turned over a piece of forensic evidence, a piece of his scalp, in the days before dna. and it remained in this desk

drawer until -- until the late '80s they were able to work the forensic experts to establish this was mangola. >> what about this idea that we started off the segment with that the united states served as a safe haven for some nazis? this was the cia involved here? >> this was the cia. i mean, there had been parts of this story out there before. the idea that the intelligence community in particular was -- was willing to take on former nazi and nazi collaborators for their scientific and military intelligence value. in fact, some of them were critical to the development of the space and rocket. today created the safe haven for former persecutors. whether you can say they're ever

former is debatable. and you had cia officers and to some extent justice department officials actively working to conceal their identities. >> wow. >> to fool immigration officials, to concoct cover stories. to deal with the questions what if this person is ever confronted? it was in the words of the report, it was a collaboration. >> my goodness. there are just some stunning things that are revealed in this report. again, another great story from you, eric, and we'll see if there's more pressure now on the department of justice to release this report, to make it public. eric, great to talk to you this morning. thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me. tar ♪ ♪ in a canvas-covered wagon stuffed... ♪ [ male announcer ] while the world's been waiting on the electric car, maybe the whole time, the electric car has been waiting for this... the wattstation from ge. it's going to change the way we get to where we all want to go. ♪ i didn't think much of it till i took it apart ♪

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good monday morning to you, it's the 15th of november, and thanks for joining us on american morning. i'm john roberts. >> and i'm carol costello. happy monday, everyone. here are this morning's top stories. free at last after more than

a year in the hands of somali pirates, a british couple is finally going home. we'll tell you how they got out alive and what they're looking forward to now. a live report for you just ahead. former president george bush denying he took his eye off the ball when we invaded iraq. he's blaming some of his nato allies and he's defending the way he handled the economy when it collapsed. the one-on-one with canadidy crowley coming up. debt-free in three. meet a family who was $88,000 in debt and got out of it in three years. we'll tell you how they did it. and break down how you can do it too. but first, it's getting ugly in america's airports. and the head of homeland security is pleading this morning with air travelers to be more patient. the latest incident, john tiner's confrontation in san diego over the weekend. all of it captured on his cell phone camera. 31-year-old software engineer from california was going on a hunting trip with his father-in-law on saturday. when he refused to submit to a

body scan at san diego's international airport. tyner's cell phone recorder secretly rolling, they attempted to pat him down. >> do you have anything in your pockets? >> i don't think so, they had me take it out. >> no belt, no nothing. >> no belt, no nothing. >> do you have any external or internal implants i need to know of. >> no. >> we're going to be doing the standard pat down using my hands going like this. also we're going to be doing a groin check. i'm going to place my hand on your hip, the other hand on your inner thigh and slowly go up and slide down. i'll do that two times in the front, two times in the back. >> all right. >> if you like a private screening, we can make that available for you. >> we can do that out here, but if you touch my junk, i'm going to have you arrested. >> actually -- we're going to have a supervisor here because of your state.

>> things just escalated there. that's when screeners called in a higher-ranking officer to deal with tyner and here's what unfolded. >> you're not comfortable with that, we can escort you back out and you don't have to fly today. >> okay. i don't understand how sexual assault being made -- >> this is not considered a sexual assault. >> it would be if you weren't the government. >> this is considered an administrative search, and we are authorized to do it. you have submitted yourself to it by coming through the check point. >> that's fine, i'd like only my wife and maybe my doctor to touch me there. >> at one point, a tsa agent tells tyner, " upon buying the ticket you gave up a lot of your rights." janet napolitano is stepping into the fray. written a piece in "usa today" defending pat downs and scanners and asking air travelers to be more passionate with screeners.

tyner is facing a civil suit for not completing the security check. at 8:10 eastern, we're going to talk with john pistole about all this. >> they're caught in the middle. >> they're told what to do. >> and they're responsible for your safety in the air. i can understand mr. tyner's point, as well. more trouble for qantas airways this morning. a qantas plane with 199 people onboard was headed to sidney when an electrical problem forced the plane to return to sidney. engineers are inspecting the plane, a boeing 747, spent about two hours in the air before landing safely in sidney. earlier this month, qantas grounded the fleet of airbus a-380 super jumbo jets after part of the engine blew out in flight. former president george w. bush said his administration did not mishandle the war on terrorism by focusing on iraq

instead of afghanistan. in an interview that aired last night on cnn, the former president went one-on-one state of the union host candy crowley. he claims he ordered u.s. troops to overthrow saddam hussein in iraq. assuming our allies would pick up the slack in afghanistan. allies, he claims, who had no stomach for war. >> what happened in afghanistan was that our nato allies turned out -- some of them turned out not to be willing to fight. and therefore my -- our assumption that we had ample troops, u.s. and nato troops turned out to be a not true assumption. and so we adjusted. and i -- i completely disagree with the take eye off the ball. i found that to be empty political rhetoric. >> he was also asked about the collapsing of his financial economy in his final year in the white house. candy crowley joins us at 7:30

with that part of the interview. all of your favorite politicians. a new session of congress begins this morning. and if you're hoping to see your elected officials rolling up their sleeves, don't hold your breath. this would be a lame-duck session. and a lot of lawmakers have their foot out the door. dana bash live in washington. okay, so maybe that was a little cynical. enlighten us, dan that. >> cynicism -- you've been in washington too long. stay up in new york for a little while, carol. the lame duck congress does include scores of people defeated in november. you can see the items on the list there in the graphics. but congressional sources in both parties say not a lot of that's going to get done. we do expect congress to perform the basic function, which is to keep the government running. and of course, there'll be intense debate over whether there's a compromise on extending the bush-era tax cuts

that, of course, expire at the end of the year, carol. >> we know that you're following incoming freshmen leaders. they won't take part in the fun until january. so what are they telling you about, you know, maybe a spirit of bipartisanship and how they're going to get things done in washington, et cetera, et cetera? >> well, you know, it's a fascinating new class. about half of the newly elected members have never served in government before. they're ranchers and farmers, one incoming freshman tells me he feels like he's drinking from a fire hose trying to learn the nuts and bolts. but they're looking at ethics rules, how to follow them, how to cast a vote. but what they're really looking at is ahead to january and how they can deliver on promises they made, especially the republicans that ran as tea party candidates. listen to two of them i spoke with. >> we have to make sure that we set the expectations for what we're going to be able to accomplish, realizing we have the republicans controlling one house with the democrats and the

white house controlled by the other party. >> i think we have to pass something that reduces the debt, reduces the deficit, and has lower spending. we have to keep those promises. >> now, these incoming republican freshmen i talked to were keenly aware how quickly things changed just from two years ago when there's a new democratic majority. now they know they can be thrown out as fast as they were brought in. a lot of people i talked to, carol, will really focus on health care. they say they know they don't have the votes for an appeal, but they're going to try to derail that law by cutting off funding to implement it. >> we'll be watching. dana bash live in washington this morning. also new this morning, president obama's chief political adviser has his new marching orders. david axelrod ran the president's 2008 campaign. a deadly gas explosion at a popular tourist resort in mexico. six people were killed, and at

least 15 others injured including two americans in the blast at the playa del carmen hotel in cancun. likely due to a build-up of natural gas that somehow ignited. fans lit up the sky with their cell phones at the 12-minute long blackout at the new stadium last night. officials aren't saying what caused the power outage during the game. giants went on to get the upset win by the way. u.s. customs authorities seizing more than 3 tons of marijuana near the texas/mexico border. the pot was discovered in a tanker trailer wrapped in about 500 bricks. officials estimate the street value, $5.3 million. you won't be seeing four loko on new york store shelves for much longer. the company is stopping shipments to new york on friday. stores will have until the second week of december to clear out their shelves. that popular drink now banned in four states.

and oh boy, that's a whole lot of snow. that's a lot of snow for even minnesota at this time of the year. the storm that began late friday dumped nearly a foot of snow this weekend in minneapolis. may not stick around long, though. thank goodness. warmer temperatures are expected this week. you know, rob. they deserve like 70 degrees after that. >> but unfortunately, we're going in the wrong direction as far as the time of the year, carol. they got about a foot of snow. the ground was warm, so a lot of it's melted. here's some of the totals. including places like iowa. it shouldn't be much and shouldn't last too long. that's the beauty of getting snow this time of year. the other issue is, what they had was a lot of heavy snow on top of trees. as those limbs come down, it creates another round of problems. light showers across parts of the northeast. you see it on the radar scope. i don't think we're going to see much, but maybe sprinkles or a

quick, light shower. heavier, more substantial rains across the southeast, baton rouge, new orleans, montgomery, alabama. getting into atlanta, this is a wave that will be bringing a decent amount of moisture into an area that could use it. that will spread to the northeast along this front as we go on through the rest of the week. another cold shot of air through the rockies. we'll go over more details a little bit later on in the program. john and carol. back up to you. >> and maybe a personal investigation of the snowfall in the rockies might be a good idea, rob, what do you think? >> i'm always up for that. we're going to be pitching that shortly. >> we'll see you soon, rob. coming up, our first look at sarah palin's new reality tv show. could it be a calling card for the 2012 presidential campaign? and free at last, after more than a year held captive by somali pirates, a retired british couple on their way home. we'll tell you how this came to be. it's ten minutes after the hour.

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it's 14 minutes now after the hour. and after being held for more than a year by somali pirates. a british couple is making the long journey home. they were kidnapped in october of last year. >> a $750,000 ransom was reportedly paid. the couple spent the first night of freedom in new yoairobnairob. david, i want to start with the ransom. because if it was me or my family members, i'd do anything i could to pay it. but by paying these pirates, these kidnappers $750,000, that's incentive for them to just keep doing it over and over, isn't it?

>> reporter: well, that's right, carol. the british government has said throughout this ordeal of 388 days that paul and rachel chandler were held captive by somali pirates. saying they would not help with this situation. they would give support, but that is their policy. and the long standing policy not to give any money to people who have kidnapped their citizens. and certainly that is shared by many security analysts who say that any ransom paid is, in fact, just getting people to go out and kidnap more citizens off the waters of africa. but if you're the family of paul and rachel chandler of this couple, you'd probably do anything you could to get them here and they certainly did paying a lot of money, their own money, mortgaging their houses to try to get paul and rachel chandler back to freedom. >> not only that, they initially paid what? more than $400,000, and then the

kidnappers wanted more, which is why they kept this couple so long until they got more. and only when they were satisfied that there was no more money to get did they let the couple go. >> reporter: well, that's right. these things are very tricky. you're talking about an ordinary family living in england who are trying to deal with somali pirates who are used to dealing with major shipping companies with insurance wings and security analysts to help them out. this was just a family trying to get their family members free. there were a lot of false starts to this. when they tried to push the pirates to release paul and rachel chandler, they sent in a few hundred thousand as you mentioned. but then they pulled a fast one on them and and didn't accept that amount and asked for more money. it wasn't until rely that clan of the pirates, the people who aren't pirates, just ordinary somalis banded together and tried to get more money and put

pressure -- it wasn't just money, it was pressure and political pressure from the government and from ordinary somalis living overseas in the u.s. and the uk to say this is an embarrassment. we need to let this couple go. they're innocent. they're not some big shipping company. and so now they're here at the high commissioner's residence waiting for their flight home to england. >> david mckenzie, thanks so much. we're going to talk more about this with kaj larsen at about 7:40 eastern time. and he's going to get into how the british government tried to rescue this couple but couldn't. there were a lot of, in fact, embarrassing gaffes, which was the basic reason they couldn't rescue this couple. it's a big problem, what do you do? >> there's a lot of shipping companies asking that question too. still to come, a family goes from $88,000 in debt to debt-free in just three years. we'll tell you how they did it, plus their advice to families

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it's 21 minutes after the hour now. and here's some of the stories that got us talking in the newsroom this morning. if you're addicted to chocolate, you better start saving your money. the price of cocoa is expected to skyrocket. >> just in time for christmas. >> no, it's a little beyond christmas. this is kind of the next 20 years. >> oh. >> maybe a little tiny price rise before christmas, but we're talking long-term. what kind of prices? your favorite chocolate candy bar could end up costing you by 2020 $11. >> really? $11. it'll keep you thinner. one of those situations that's hard to imagine, a 1,600-pound bull jumped into the crowd and started bucking and

kicking at a rodeo in canada. it's kind of payback time for the bull, don't you think? it was very angry. one woman was taken to the hospital. we don't believe her injuries were that serious. two other people were injured. of course, as everything is, it was captured on amateur video, which is why we had these pictures to show you. in the original, mike tyson made a memorable appearance, but in "the hangover 2," it's bill clinton getting a chance to shine. he taped his cameo appearance on saturday in thailand. mel gibson was the one who was originally expected to steal the show. that plan was nixed, though, because of his attitude, i guess. >> his attitude. his anger issues. >> attitude issues. you can catch the president's scene when the film is released this spring it's coming up. >> we were talking about this in the break. would any politician actually turn down the chance to appear in a movie or a sitcom or appear in a reality tv show? >> i think there are some who

would. >> who? >> mitch mcconnell probably would, harry reid, nancy pelosi. >> would anybody ask them to be in a sitcom or reality tv show? no offense. >> that we don't know the answer to. >> just curious. a veterans day promotion is offering a free ak-47 assault rifle to anyone who buys a truck. a florida truck deal is hoping it will fire up sales. get it? fire up. the voucher is worth $400. the promotion runs through the end of the month in case you're interested. and if you don't want the ak-47 and do want the truck, you can get cash back instead. no students failed any classes at one virginia high school this fall. west potomac high is using incompletes instead of fs to show students are missing work. they can get a failing grade, but only if they don't complete the assignments they missed in the following months. they're really giving them a nice little bit of leeway here. >> i don't understand. what's that teaching them about

life? because you fail in life sometime. you fail. you get an "f" sometimes in life, even though it's not a grade. and so they're never going to be -- >> but the trick is to learn from the failures. and maybe if they give them an opportunity to learn from their incompletes, that will serve them better going forward than an "f" would. if you get an "f" in high school or college, it stays with you for a long time. >> it means you haven't studied or worked hard. that's just me, though. we should talk about this on our blog. coming up, sarah palin's reality. her new cable tv show debuts on prime time. some are calling it a giant political ad. a preview of 2012. jim acosta sat back with a beer and watched it last night. and candy crowley goes one-on-one with george w. bush on his handling of the economy and the war on terrorism weechlt got th

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♪ >> that is the opening to "sarah palin's alaska" where life is an adventure. the reality show featuring the entire palin clan made the cable tv debut last night on tlc. here's some more.

>> i've always wanted to be a rock climber, sarah. >> rock climber or rock star? alaska, america's last frontier. you can see russia from here, almost. >> see this gate is not just for trig, it's for no boys go upstairs. >> she's pretty funny, you've got to admit. but some say she's turning on the frontier charm just in time to get a leg up in the 2012 presidential campaign. jim acosta live in washington. and i know you were watching last night were your big fuzzy slippers and big mug of beer. what did you think? >> what is this about the big fuzzy slippers, carol? did you catch me wearing them around the office? is that what it is? in my bathrobe? no. >> one has an elephant on it and the other has a donkey head. >> that's exactly right. very good point. well, carol, the big question is, can sarah palin see 1600 pennsylvania avenue from her house? because that's what a lot of people suspect is going on here

with this reality show, which debuted, as you mentioned on tlc last night. you get to see the whole sarah palin family, clan there. not just the former governor, but the first dude. 9-year-old piper turns out to be the big star of the first show. there's not a whole lot for political junekies to sink thei teeth into. mainly this is about the palin family taking in the great outdoors, which includes a mama grizzly. >> i love watching these mama bears. they've got a nature, yeah, that human kind can learn from. she's trying to show her cubs nobody's going to do it for ya. you get out there and do it yourself, guys. >> yes, the roar of piper there.

a real life mama grizzly as sarah palin likes to refer to herself. but the timing of all of this, carol, is very conspicuous because the show runs about eight weeks, takes us into the middle of january, that's where we'll start to see top republicans running for president throwing their hat into the ring. and what better way to roll out your presidential campaign than a reality tv show? >> well, we know she's the polarizing figure. so will this make independents like her? >> well, you know, that -- yeah, that might be the magic of the show. i mean, there are some recent poll numbers that show that she's still not very popular with the american people. take a look at this latest "ap" poll recently. only 46% of americans have a favorable view, 49% have an unfavorable view. so she certainly has work cut out for her when it comes to convincing the american people she can be president. but let's look at this other poll, which i think is just

fascinating, and that is her favorability among republicans, check this out, 79% view her favorably, 17% unfavorably. those are dynamite numbers when you're thinking about running for president for a presidential nomination on the republican side. think about states like iowa, south carolina. and by the way, this is not the only time you're going to be hearing about sarah palin. she's got a book coming out shortly and she's going on a book tour, carol. some of those appearances including iowa and south carolina. so stay tuned for that. >> yeah, can't wait. thank you, jim. >> you bet. it's 31 minutes past the hour, time for a check of this morning's top stories. it is back to work for congress. two weeks after the election dramatically shifted the balance of power. newly elected congressmen won't take their seats until next year. in the meantime, a major battle over tax cuts is expected as the lame duck session gets underway. lawmakers also expected to take on spending cuts and the nuclear treaty with russia.

just don't call it a hybrid. gm is unveiling a new version of the buick lacrosse. general motors is looking to avoid the sales problems it had with the malibu hybrid. this will be called the lacrosse e-assist and expected to get 37 miles to the gallon. >> it's not a hybrid. >> it's an e-assist. the opposition to the new airport body scans. sully z lly sullenberger thinks poses radiation risks. you remember sullenberger safely landed a passenger plane on the hudson back in 2009. >> it's going to up the ante a little bit. >> that's right. george w. bush admits he's no expert when it comes to economics, but he thinks he

stopped the nation from going into a deeper depression. candy joins us this morning. great to see you this morning. let's -- let's start out here by playing a portion of your interview with the former president. as he responds to your questions about the economic bailout that he began. >> i did know we were in deep trouble. there's a lot of people who said, well, the economy we wouldn't have seen a depression. the problem is when you're the president, you don't have the luxury of talking about the theoretical. look, i'm not trying to pass the blame on anybody. but i think it is very difficult for a president or administration to see the size and scope of a downturn. i mean -- economics is an inexact science. and we did see a problem coming. my job at that point was to make a decision as to whether or not we're going to risk a complete economic collapse and i chose not to. >> so a lot of people, canadian duh, say that he overstepped. he went in too deep. and there are some who say well,

maybe he should've gone even more hard at the problem. >> exactly. it's good not to be president, i think, sometimes. because you do get blasted from both sides. and it was breasti iteresting t that the critics he responded to in what you just played were the republican critics saying, look, people say, oh, it wouldn't have been as bad because people were telling me we were on the precipice. and he was responsible for setting up the bank bailout, even though president obama's gotten so much flak from republicans about it. so that conversation was about culpability about who is responsible. and i think most people sit out there and say, one day it seems like things were just fine, the next day it was the precipice of a depression. why didn't his economic advisers see it? and you heard him say, listen, i'm not an economic prognosticator, they said, here's what's going to happen. and it was a perfect storm, i

believe, is what he called it that brought up this very near economic collapse. >> well, we remember those conversations where his advisers told him, mr. president, if we don't do something, with may not have an economy by the end of the weekend. there was also a light moment you spoke not only with the former president but his brother jeb. let's listen to that. >> so one question for you and one question for you. who do you think was the better president? 41 or 43? >> 15-yard penalty -- >> go with 41. >> you're always safe going with the dad. >> so, you know, george w. bush thinks that -- there are other people who also believe ed rollins among them, that jeb bush would make a great candidate for president in 2012. but he says he doesn't want any part of it? >> he doesn't want any part of it. he didn't rule out politics at some point.

but he said, first of all, i don't know what i have to do to stop people from asking me that. i also asked him whether he would head up the rnc. a lot of people brought up jeb's name. he said, no, listen, i have to make money here. i have to have a job. and i wouldn't go to the rnc to make money. so he kind of rules out politics for the moment. they do -- you think if your name weren't bush that you would do it. and the two had a moment when george bush said well, my name were george jones, you'd be a country western singer. the name holds him back, but i think there are other things right now that keep jeb bush from getting back into politics, but he didn't rule out that some place down the line he might do so. >> okay. canadidy candy, thanks so much. be sure to watch "state of the union" 9:00 a.m. on sunday mornings. and wednesday night at 9:00

eastern, george bush senior and barbara bush join "larry king live" for a revealing hour wednesday night, 9:00 eastern right here on cnn. coming up this morning, their long ordeal is finally over. a british couple held hostage for more than a yefreed by soma pirates. we'll talk to kaj larsen about the relief, the ransom they paid, and their captors. and who doesn't want to be debt-free? meet the family that was $88,000 in debt and got out of it in three years. the valuable advice you'll want to hear straight ahead. 37 minutes after the hour. thank you for calling usa pmy name peggy. peggy, yes, i'd like to redeem my reward points for a gift card. tell points please? 250,000. calculating... ooh! answer: five fifty! 550 bucks?!

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freed by somali pirates after 388 days in captivity, a british couple is happy to be alive. paul and rachel chandler were sailing the world in their yacht when pirates kidnapped them in the indian ocean and asked for a $7 million ransom. a year later, after reportedly paying a $750,000 ransom, the chandlers were released. cnn's kaj larsen has reported on the pirate activity off the coast of somalia. he joins us live from los angeles. and kaj, i want to talk about this ransom that was paid because, you know, it's a difficult thing. because by paying the ransom, that just encourages pirates to continue kidnapping people and holding them, doesn't it?

>> yeah, i mean, it's absolutely true, carol, you don't want to incentivize this kind of activity, but in this case, there's such a precedent of paying ransoms for hostages in somalia that it would have been almost impossible to get the chandlers out without some kind of monetary compensation for the pirates. you know, it's a great day, obviously, for paul and rachel chandler and for their family. and we're very happy that they're released. but at the same time, i have the dubious honor of explaining this $750,000 was not the first attempt to get the chandlers out. in fact, there were several fumbled attempts along the way, that resulted in them being held in captivity for so long. >> tell us about those attempts. and i know the british government tried to get them out so that a ransom would not have to be paid, but apparently could not do it. >> well, it was widely reported by the bbc and the common knowledge on the ground in

somalia that there was a failed raid by is sbs, the british equivalent of the navy seals. that they went in and were not able to complete a direct action mission to extract the chandlers. that, additionally, there were several sums of money that were paid along the way over the course of their 388-day captivity. some of the funds were diverted to the wrong groups. some of the funds weren't sufficient to secure their release. and that's why you saw in this particular circumstance that they became the longest held captives by somali pirates since the beginning of the uptick in the somali piracy. >> let me ask you this, if no ransom had been paid, what would've happened, do you think? >> well, part of the issue on the ground -- and i spoke with the doctor who was treating the chandlers while they were in captivity in somalia. part of the issue that accelerated their release is that the help of pahealth of pad

rachel chandler started to fail. and that made the pirates nervous because they saw their asset, that's what they consider these captives. the value of their asset diminishing and they were petrified that paul or rachel chandler would actually die in captivity. so it's not really clear what would happen if the ransom wasn't paid. there was extraordinary political pressure from local clan leaders for the chandlers to be released. that's just one of those unknowns. we're lucky it worked out the way it did. >> just to be clear, if one of the chandlers had died in captivity, the somali pirates would have been upset because that would have been bad for their cause? or what would've been the line of reasoning for them? >> no, it would have been bad for their investment. you have to understand, carol, this is big business. there is a pirate stock exchange where local somalis can invest in one of 72 pirate companies. and then they get pretty much a good return on their buck.

there's been hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom money paid. and so they look at this as a business. there are very few commerce activities in somalia. this is one of the most lucrative ones, though. they were scared of losing their investment. >> so sad. and you know, what do you do? you want to get your loved one out of captivity, you pay the ransom. kaj larsen, thank you so much. >> wow. >> thank you. >> piracy stock market. i hadn't heard that one. >> frightening, isn't it? and nobody can do anything about it, apparently. >> kaj knows a lot about these things. former navy seal himself, traveling the world. good man to have onboard. coming up, more engine troubles for qantas airlines. a 747 forced to turn back because of a faulty electrical system. comes two weeks after qantas grounded the a-380 super jumbos. it's 45 minutes after the hour.

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12 minutes now to the top of the hour. rob marciano in atlanta, let's check in with him to get a quick look at the travel forecast. good morning, rob. >> good morning, john. hi, carol. unsettled weather across the eastern part of the country. all around this front that's not moving too quickly. little waves, low pressure that will travel along it. moisture from the gulf of mexico and atlantic ocean, and that'll spell rainfall for parts of the east coast over the next two to three days. not a whole lot of moisture

across the northeast right now, but probably will see some light showers or sprinkles. especially this morning, seeing this area of precip trying to make its way eastward. and where it's not raining or sprinkling, there'll be low clouds and fog and that may slow things down, as well. more substantial rains from montgomery, alabama, back through hattiesburg and new orleans. with an area of low pressure developing along that front will get into the atlanta area, as well. so travel through the atl will be a little slow. new york and boston and philly will probably see delays because of low clouds and fog this morning. and then some thunderstorms in houston and some added snow showers across parts of denver, colorado, and a high of 43. 56 in chicago, 71 and wet in new orleans, 58 degrees and wet in atlanta, and 57 degrees and kind of wet in new york. i think you'll see the bulk of your rain on wednesday. that's a quick check on weather. john and carol, back up to you. >> rob, thanks so much. your tax dollars at work this morning. let's head to washington, shall we? these are your tax dollars. see the police escort and the

big bus? that's congress going back into session, the lame-duck congress. >> the police escort is for? >> congress people going back to their offices and going into work to start, i don't know, debating tax cuts. >> there you go. and have air travelers had enough? wait until you hear the confrontation. a san diego man who man who refused to submit to a body scan and a thorough patdown. we'll have that for you. it's 10 minutes to the top of the hour. one word turns innovative design

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getting yourself into debt isn't hard to do especially during the holiday season. for some getting out of debt can be nearly impossible. >> we want to introduce you now to one family that went from $88,000 in debt to financial freedom in just three years. here's christine romans. >> there are more than a dozen accounts you had to close. >> three years ago don and carol were $88,000 in debt. today they are debt free. >> it's not like we went go buy a maserati. all it takes is a hiccup to start this horrible snowball effect. >> they spent every penny and then some even though they had

health n. then don lost his job. >> you were literally near a nervous breakdown over the bills. >> when you can't sleep it's just -- it gets to you. and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. i stopped sleeping. >> they did not want to file for bankruptcy. >> we made the debt. we should pay for it. >> a nonprofit credit counselor but them on a five-year payment plan. they finished in just over three. >> i think if there is a silver lining to the recession it is that it has refocused people's attention on their own personal finances. i think they are ready to move back over into the driver's seat. >> how did the carrolls do it? >> you have to get organized. i don't know if you call it having less. it's just not having it immediately. you learn to live with what you need, not what you want. >> what is your message for people who might see your story

and think wow, i have 40, 50, 60,000 in credit card debt i'll never get out from under. >> never say never. >> it's totally fixable. but you have to -- you have to take the steps to say i need help. >> they raised their credit scores so much that everyone's trying to get them to borrow money again. they will no. they have perfect credit because they paid off so much so quickly. the carrolls couldn't do it alone. they used a nonprofit credit counselor who helped with a payment plan and kept them on track. they used every income to pay for debt. they cut out anything they thought not essential t. bottom line is for everyday items they only buy if they absolutely need it and have the cash to pay for it. for anybody watching this story thinking that's sounding impossible. $88,000. they took every penny of their earnings and they put it toward this. >> how tight did they have to pull the belt?

>> i asked them did you really sacrifice your standard of living? he said actually no. not really. we had this mission, and we realized how much extraneous stuff there was in our lives. there are a lot of ways to do it depending on what your situation is. the first thing to do is you've got to know the number. how much you have to pay, how much you owe, and how long it will take. start with your krd credit card bill on the upper right-hand corner it tells you how much you have to pay every month to get it done in three years. you need to know how to become debt free in three. >> you can still have fun without going out to dinner or -- i think we forgot that. >> you got to pay for what you spend. >> you can have your own show in your living room. >> you could be the main character. >> smart is the new rich. >> a whole chapter. >> thanks so much. we want to take a shot at capitol hill, the first day of congress. for many of these people t. freshmen, their police escort. your tax dollars at work got them to the capitol on time.

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good morning. welcome to monday, it's november 15th. i'm carol costello in for kiran. >> i'm john roberts. thanks for being with us. a lot to talk about this morning. let's get you to. air travelers had enough of the airport body scanners and the invative patdowns? one california man refused both this weekend. never made it on his plane, never made it through security but did secretly record his

confrontation with tsa screeners. we have the tape. >> it's juicy, too. congress back from its break, the lame duck session gets under way today and there is a lot on the agenda like extending those tax cuts and funding the government so it can keep operating. stuff like that. how much can we really expect from a lame duck congress? >> and sarah palin, can she see the 2012 presidential race from her house? her reality tv show launched last night. did it signal the start of her run for the white house? >> first, it's getting ugly at america's airports and the head of homeland security is now pleading this morning with air travelers to have more patience. the latest incident john tyner's confrontation with tsa officials in san diego this weekend all captured on his camera. >> he was going on a hunting trip with his father-in-law when he refused to submit to a body scan at san diego's airport. with his cell phone recorder rolling tsa agents took him

aside and attempted to pat him down. >> you have anything in your pockets? >> i don't think so. they had me take it all out. no belt. no nothing. >> do you have any external or internal implants that i need to be aware of? >> no. >> we are going to do a standard pat down on you today. using my hands going like this. >> all right. >> also, we are going to do a groin check. that means i'm going to place my hand on your hip, the other hand on your inner thigh, slowly go up, slide down. >> okay. >> two times in the front, two times in the back. >> all right. >> if you would like a private screening we can make that available for you also. >> we can do that but if you touch my junk i'm going to have you arrested. >> actually, we are going to have a supervisor here because of your statement. >> the screeners called in a higher ranking officer to deal with tyner. things got worse from there.

>> if you're not comfortable with that we can escort you back out and you don't have to fly today. >> i don't understand how a sexual assault can be made a condition of my flying. >> this is not considered a sexual assault. >> it would be if you weren't the government. >> this is considered an administrative search and we are authorized to do it. you have submitted yourself to it by coming through the checkpoint. >> if you enjoy being touched by other people. >> i'm sure you're thinking i'm with you. at one point a tsa agent tells him quote upon buying the ticket you gave up a lot of your rights. of course tyner never made it on the plane. janet napolitano is stepping in to the fray, if you open up your "usa today" paper she has written an opinion piece that defends pat downs and scanners and asking, she is asking air travelers, as in you, to be patient and cooperative with screeners. >> tyner says he was told he is

facing a $10,000 fine and a civil suit for not completing the security check. coming up in about seven minutes we'll talk about all of this with the tsa administrator john pistole and growing opposition to the use of these scanners. even sully sullenberger. why are they screening pilots. >> 3 say if you go through the machine the radiation is hurting you, but like john hopkins said there is no health risk. it's this big huge thing. >> the government also told tus air at ground zero was safe. people are skepticalle. >> your conversation with mr. pistole will be interesting. pistole. >> mr. postal runs the post office. >> maybe you didn't realize they were gone but congress is back in session this morning and if you're hoping to see your elected officials rolling up their sleeves and taking on the tough issues, you might need to

lower your expectations. >> this is a lame duck session, a lot of lawmakers already have one foot out the door. and dana bash live on capitol hill where the incoming crop of freshmen members of congress arrived on the buses you see. >> just arrived. you can probably see them departing there. one bus just showed up. a sixth bus, that's how many came because that's how large this freshman class is. needed six buses. it will abvery long day of orientation. john, they are going to learn from how you cast a vote to how you set up an office to the ethics rules that they need to abide by when they are members of congress. that's what they are going to do all day. they are already looking ahead to when they are sworn in in january. i talked to several of them about the fact that especially for republicans, there are very high expectations that they can follow through on campaign

promises. >> you can't come in in a month or two, and i want to make sure the people in my district know you can't come in and in a month or two solve all of the world's problems but we have to begin that process. >> the expectations are pretty high. >> very high. and i think it's important to stress to people that we're going to work as hard as we can but this is a long process. this takes time. >> i was a tea party endorsed candidate and so they have gotten behind conservative republicans and expect tuesday govern differently. if we don't you may see the rise of an independent third party. they are going to give us a chance. >> that congressman-elect duncan, he said that he is going to try to in his words lead by example by giving back 10% of the money allocated to him to use for his staff, that means hiring staff, running his office, other members elect said they might do the same. you asked john what that is going to be used for, i can tell you those members are going to try to make sure it's not spent, that it's saved by this government.

john. >> sounds good savings. now dana, i know that this group of congress people have not been sworn in yet but you know, we still have the old ones in office until january. there's a lame duck session that saturdays today. what should we expect? >> reporter: there is such a long list on the agenda for the lame duck congress. they had a lot that they did not get done over the past year, actually two years. but of that long list, we don't expect, talking to democratic and republican sources, they are going to get a lot done t. basic like keeping the government running. but they are probably going to have a lot of focus on one of the most politically tough decisions that they are going to make thus there are such differences, that is over how and whether to extend the bush tax cuts. those e speier at the end of the year. i'm hearing from some republicans it's possible if they don't come together that they might try to do it retroactively when republicans have more power. >> what a surprise.

so nice if they could work together, just in this last session. come up with a compromise, and get it going and not like drag it into next year. >> reporter: one can only hope. we'll see. >> dana bash for us outside the capitol building. thanks so much. former president george w. bush says he did not take his eye off the ball in the war on terrorism by failing to focus on afghanistan. in an interview that aired last night on cnn the former president told our candy crowley that he ordered troops to withdraw to over throw saddam hussein assuming that our allies would pick up the slack in afghanistan who he claims had no stomach for war. >> what happened in afghanistan was that our nato allies turned out, some of them, not to be willing to fight. and therefore, our assumption that we had ample troops, u.s. and nato troops, turned out to be not true assumption. so we adjusted.

and i completely disagree with the take eye off the ball. i found that to be empty political rhetoric. >> president bush was asked about his handling of the failing economy in his final year. candy joins us live at 8:30 eastern with that part of her interview with the former president. >> let's check in with rob marciano. people in minnesota are asking for a reprieve. >> a little snow over the weekend, up to a foot in minnesota and iowa. and that has moved into canada. to replace it to the east a little rain today all the way from the northeast back flew the southeast, the southeast is where you see the heaviest amount, just light rain across the northern appalachians but you get your heavier rain tomorrow. rolling along this boundary from louisiana up flew maine, and that will be the unsettled area of weather here over the next two to three days. a little bit of light showers, but the heavier rains across the southeast and the ground was saturated this might cause

flooding but it's been dry though gloomy, we could use the rain. john and carol. >> and you're getting rain there in atlanta as well. it's been a little dry for the last few months so that's a good thing. >> we'll take it here in atlanta as well. >> next on the most news in the morning more and more americans are just saying no to the tsa's airport screening procedures. we'll talk to the head of the agency, john pistole, next.

♪ i want to get away >> growing pilot passenger revolr revolt over body scans. passengers refusing to pass through them. homeland security secretary janet napolitano is urging patience, patience, patience. what's the tsa going to do about this if anything? joining me too talk about thattant security issues, john pistole in washington this morning. john, thanks for joining us. you got a lot of people including pilots unions very much opposed to these body scanners, they say they are invasi invasive, there is a radiation risk. what do you say in response? >> i think it comes down to two things. one, security on one hand and partnerships on the other hand. so the question is, how do we best address those issues that people have raised, while providing the best possible security. we know that everybody on every flight wants to ensure that everybody around them has been

properly screened so there's not a group of box cutters or liquid explosives or underwear bombs or shoe bombs or whatever it may be, so we have to find that area that we can provide the best possible security to address those issues. >> a point that opponents of the body scanners make if you look for underwear bombs the current advanced imaging technology would not have discovered the type of bomb that was secreted in underwear. >> i think reasonable people may disagree on that. but the experts say that yes, that type of device would be identified in an advanced imaging technology machine, and our tests have shown that to be the case. you have to rely on the expertise of the security officer, who is reviewing that image. we're also looking at automated target recognition, the next generation where there is a stick figure that looks at algorithms and puts a box if you will on that part of the body

that may need additional screening. >> and sully sullenberger fired the latest in this saying i don't understand what the purpose of screening pilots is. some people at home might ask, the biggest weapon that a pilot could have if they wanted to commit an act of terror is the aircraft. why are we screening pilots? >> that's obviously been an issue for a while, john, and trying to use an intelligence driven risk based approach, we had some good conversations last week with pilot groups and we're continuing that this week. i believe we are finding a good way for it on that as we try to manage risk as to the security we need apply to those groups for those reasons. >> does it make sense to you to screen a pilot for weapons if, again, they have got the biggest weapon they could have in their hands. >> well, obviously they are an entrusted group in so many way, so it makes sense to do some type of different type of screening which we will explore and i think have a way forward

in the near future. >> so things will change when it comes to pilots? >> well, i don't want to broadcast anything prematurely but i think there are options that we are looking at that will make sense. >> very interesting. what about this fellow over the weekend in san diego, john tyner didn't want to go through the body scanning machine, then whe he was subjected to a pat down he was uncomfortable with the level of patdown he was going to be subject to, then he was escorted out of the airport and then told he might face a $10,000 fine. what's your take on that? >> well, obviously everybody has their own perspectives about their personal screening and again, it gets back to the issue of what are we doing to ensure everybody else on the flight that people have been properly screened. so if abdulmutallab had well, i don't want to you do a pat down on me because of my beliefs or whatever it may be, so that's something we have to balance. all trying to be sensitive to individuals' issues and concerns, privacy and things,

also the bottom line of ensuring that everybody gets on the flight has been screened. >> what about this threat of a $10,000 fine and potential civil litigation because he didn't go through the screening? >> there are a number of different possibilities there. the bottom line is if somebody does not go through proper security screening then they are not going to get on the flight. so that's what it comes down to. >> one of the other things that people talk about in terms of airport security, they say that this is always the best prevention, good intelligence. you are expanding to see something, say something program. what can you tell us about that. >> trying to become the best possible risk-based intelligence driven organization that we're part of the continuum for the u.s. government working with state and local police and airlines and airport authorities, and our partners worldwide to be informed by the intelligence just as we were with the recent cargo threats that the saudi intelligence developed that information on.

the better informed we can be the better screening from a risk-based perspective we can perform and so, it really comes down to what steps can we take that before anybody ever gets to the airport. whether it's through the joint terrorism task forces that the fbi, in my 26 years experience there, every significant investigation was based on the cooperation of the american people, people who were willing to step forward and say okay, i've seen something, i want to say something because shg's not right how can we work together as far as a partnership between the u.s. government and the state and locals and the traveling public and all of those others i mentioned. >> well, obviously airline security is an important thing for a lot of people but they want to maintain privacy so obviously this is an issue we're going to talk about for some time to come. we also look forward to whatever news you have to make in the next while on the pilot screenings. good to talk to you. thanks. >> thank you, john. >> democrats get their way

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christine romans is "minding your business." good morning. >> good morning. i think you're going to hear more about a $250 check to american seniors. democrats likely to be pushing for this in the lame duck session. congress because seniors are not getting a cost of living increase in their social security check so there is a push to get more money to seniors. it would look like about $14 billion in new spending to try to bridge the gap for senior who is for two years 18 row have not had a cost of living increase. $250 checks per senior citizen, that's 58 million people, $14 billion. here's the issue. you're going to have trouble pushing something like this through in the senate because frankly, many republicans were elected on the idea we've got to stop spending money we don't have. you've got a lot of people talking about the debt crisis. the fact that this country has been spending far more money than it has for several years now and this is a problem going forward. there is something interesting happening here, carol and john, on the one hand you're talking about new spending to try to

relieve the pain, real pain from people because of the economy is still weak. on the other hand you're talking about the fact we have to get our fiscal house in order and maybe do serious belt tightening to prevent a debt crisis down the road. on our weekend show alley and i asked how important it was, the debt crisis issue is for america. this is what she said. >> a debt crisis may be sooner rather than later as nile ferguson put it and rudy penner who i saw on the commission quoted him saying it could take a bit of bad news on a slow news day to cause a crisis in financial markets in the next two to three years. >> in the next two to three year, that's what got our attention. so much is talking about election cycles and you push the hard questions further down the road. spend more money. we'll worry about it later. shep is talking serious implication we don't get our house in order. >> the real problem is that you know, to get our house in order you have to either raise some

people's taxes now or later on something else and no politician has the political will to do that at this moment because we have an angry electorate and taxes are an emotional issue. >> john king said it really well when he said both parties have moved back into their ideological bunkers. that's one of the reasons why dan was so fired up about tough choices to make even if it seems business as usual. >> ten years ago we were talking about retiring debt by 2015. and how things were going to change because we had no debt. >> never say never. >> i think now you can say never. >> yeah. never count out washington for giving ayou a curveball. >> going green to save the earth, right? are they. a look at why some people are really turning to actually -- deb is going to look at why some people are turning to

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28 minutes after the hour whacht is motivating americans to go green? you know, despite what they tell you it might not be the thought of saving the earth. >> some people do it for rewards like saving the earth, but others, they are apparently trying to impress their neighbors. deb is here. >> it's about people do want to do good. without that pressure, that

basic simple human behavior of being praised and rewarded and thanked for doing a good job, people may not want to go green. that's why it is so important. when new jersey decided to expand its recycling the town got in the act. >> explain to the public that we could cut the carbon footprint of the community down. of course the coupons were an incentive, too. >> that's right the recycle program rewards people with coupons to use at local stores a. new line of thinking to help the planet by offering incentives like saving money to get everyone to go green. the mayor says this recycling program saves the town half a million dollar as year, money that would otherwise be spent dumping this trash into landfills. while that helps the environment, melissa says that's not exactly what neighbors are talking about. >> the only thing i ever heard people really talk about is what coupons they are getting when

they cash in their points because that's the best part of the program. >> surprising? not any more says environmental branding expert hank stewart. >> 17 years ago the motivations were probably more altruistic than today. people today first and foremost want a personal benefit. >> for some that's saving the planet for the kids generation. for others it's social status. new research from the university of minnesota showing people think being ecofriendly will boost their standing to keep with the joneses. want to impress our peers. >> there is almost a competition in some neighborhoods. >> which is lowering the carbon footprint, in boston the local power distributor, the national grid, sends personalized energy reports to customers comparing how much energy they use compared to their neighbors in similar homes. >> this is one of the programmable thermostats. >> bill is obsessed with the comparison reports and over

hauled his home. it's down 14% from last year. he says it's not about impressing is neighbors. >> i like to compare myself to myself, you know, that i want to improve on my own record. >> the key to living green may no longer be about tapping into what you can do for the environment but what being environmentally friendly can do for you. it's not just happening in boston. the energy reports were created by a company that teamed up with almost 40 utility companies so soon these reports are going to be available to 5 million homes in the united states. you think about it, they are saving 1.5 to 3.5% of energy, that make as huge difference when you think of all of the people, even cutting back their consumption just a little. >> love the guy in competition with himself. >> that is the competitive spirit. the one thing going to the recycling plant i cannot believe how much garbage. it's overwhelming what we are

just throwing out. and so it's good that people are making an effort to recycle because boy. >> for whatever reason. >> it doesn't matter. coupons, you're doing a good job. >> if i may say so you make that safety vest work zlxt thank you. >> it's 31 minutes past the hour. the new kids on the block are rolling up to capitol hill right about now. we're talking about the nation's newest congressmen going through orientation on capitol hill. they'll take office at the beginning of next year. most of the rookies are republicans who campaigned on small government and cutting the deficit. >> g smrks unveiling a new fuel espirit version of the buick lacrosse. don't call at hybrid. it's the lacrosse e-assist. it's expected to get 37 miles per gallon. general motors is looking to avoid problems with its malibu hybrid. i thought they were supposed to be attractive. >> i don't understand it. he may be the most famous pilot

in the country, now sully sullen berg ser joining the opposition to the airport body scans. he thinks they pose a radiation risk. he may not have to deal with the procedure much longer. the head of the tsa is planning changes when it comes to pilot security screening. >> john pistole wouldn't tell us but new stuff is coming. george w. bush admits he is no expert but he thinks he kept america from sliding into a depression. the former president appeared last night going one on one with our host of state of the union candy crowley. candy joins us live from coral gables. let's play a portion of the interview as he responds to a question about the economic bailout that he initiated. >> i wasn't a very good economic prognosticator. i did know we were in deep trouble. a lot of people said well t economy, we wouldn't have seen a depression. when you're the president you don't have the luxury of being -- talking about the

theoretical. i'm not trying to pass the blame on anybody. but i think it is very difficult for a president or an administration to see the size and scope of a downturn. economics is the an inexact science. we did see a problem coming. my job at that point was to make a decision whether or not we're going to risk a complete economic collapse and i chose not to. >> candy, he was told that the economy was in deep trouble, but unfortunately the way he reacted got him in deep trouble with his own party. >> exactly. and we talked a little about how the fact that it was the republicans who ran against all of the excessive t.a.r.p. bailout. the first time he tried to get that through capitol hill when we were told the economy was almost on collapse he had trouble with the republicans, he had to send ben bernanke now and then the fed chairman, hank paulson, his treasury secretary to say no, we're not kidding. the economy is on the cusp of a

total breakdown here. so he had to sort of drive it through, republicans still hold him responsible for bailing out the banks but as you heard, he's not making apologies, i had to make that decision,ed was a good decision. i stand by it as he does most of the other major decisions about war and security that he made during his very tumultuous eight years. >> you had fun when you sat down not only with the former president but his younger brother jeb and the family legacy. >> one question for you and one for you. who do you think was the better president, 41 or 43? >> 15-yard penalty, loss of down. >> 41. >> you're safe going with the dad. >> absolutely. >> particularly with the mother. >> who do you want to have more angry at you, your brother or mom and dad? >> exactly. always go for picking mom and dad over the brother. they were fun together, they had

just been at a golf game together, a foursome. when i asked jeb bush a question about what he might do, and what he might not do. he said i thought we were going to talk about the book. i said we are going to talk about the book. he said and his brother mentioned something in the book and jeb said well, i don't remember that. and turns out jeb bush hasn't read the book. so i said how are we going to talk about this. he said well, i bought 40 copies and while we were there jeb bush said george, come over, sign these books because he was passing them out to friends d. buy 40 but had not read it yet. >> good when your brother is not only the author but the former president. candy, thanks for joining us this morning. great job with that. thanks. be sure to watch candy crowley and then wednesday at 9:00 eastern we're going to hear from mom and dad, george bush senior and former first lady barbara bush join "larry king live."

that's wednesday, 9:00 p.m. eastern. >> up next sarah palin and the great outdoors, her new reality show. could it be a launching pad for her presidential campaign. we're going to dive deep into that one. [piano keys banging] [scraping] [horns honking] with deposits in your engine, it can feel like something's holding your car back. let me guess, 16. [laughing] yeeah. that's why there's castrol gtx... with our most powerful deposit fighting ingredient ever. castrol gtx exceeds the toughest new industry standard. don't let deposits hold your car back. get castrol gtx. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering.

the self-proclaimed momma grizzly was in good company during the premier of her tlc reality show. sarah palin's alaska. >> i love watching these momma bears. what i see in that is what a mom would do, too. anything and everything laying down her life for her kids.

let's get the fish before the bear gets the fish. piper, don't. a bear's coming towards us. we're going to back up. look at his claws. yeah, i'm looking around to todd going are you feeling what i'm feeling? it could think we're its lunch instead of the tiny salmon. of all times we're snagged on a rock. >> it's a revealing look at the palin family but could it also serve as a spring board to her 2012 presidential bid? joining us is brian stelter, media reporter for the new york sometimes and stlashawna. welcome to you both. i assume you both watched the show. >> we did. >> let's start with you. was it apolitical, was at look at the palins' life? >> it's primarily a look inside this family, essentially a family reality show t way that tlc is is known for having family reality shows.

it has the political veneer. a nature series for the political voyeur. >> you think it's kind of -- is this a big campaign ad, let's go one step farther. >> i really think it is. you see almost every candidate when they come out they have a bio ad. this is an eight-week campaign ad produced by tlc and discovery. it's a magnificent beautiful program, and i think we see sarah palin in a different light that we've seen a very long time. she's softer. i think she can be more appealing politically. >> wouldn't most politicians die for this? >> i think so. not just the exposure which she has but how beautiful it is, how it reaches so many people, people that are not politically attune, people that are. and i think that this is the palin we haven't seen in a long time, a sarah palin that i haven't seen since before the

campaign. i didn't even know who she was before that but through her book we researched this person. we haven't seen her in this light since then. and this is a true side of her. >> well, brian -- >> image we have. >> let me ask you about the ethics of this. not all politicians, i mean, can you imagine nancy pelosi getting her own reality show? >> i can't imagine any other politician, frankly. sarah palin is one of a kind in this respect. it's also one of a kind she has a fox news deal so she has two ways really to prepare herself if she decides to run for 2012. she has this political outlet or this journalistic outlet at fox where she can talk about politics, then this i guess this family outlet on tlc where she can almost share her family values. for tlc i don't think they are losing sleep. they don't pretend to practice journalism but they do see this as a way to define themselves about being about families. especially red state families. >> it's interesting they have like five blogs and one of them

is called splaska. it's to conduct a nonpolitical, political conversation about the show. whatever the hell that is. what is that? they are going to, i mean, politics are going to slip in because let's face it, she's in the political arena. >> absolutely. mark burnett told me this is apolitical. we've seen from the first episode that when she's talking about joe mcginniss she equates the 14-foot fence to border security. that's the first episode. it's definitely, they show her whole life, that's part of it. >> so let's say she does consider a run. let's say she does run for president in 2012. i can see democrats playing this ad from the 2008 campaign on celebrity. let's roll it. >> he's the biggest celebrity in the world. but is he ready to lead? >> okay.

so, the republicans mu much-maligned president obama, you know, he wasn't president then, but for being too much after celebrity, and that's all he had. he wasn't prepared for the job. he's just this big kind of movie star person. how can sarah palin fight against the same kind of thing. >> that's interesting. sarah palin is a much bigger celebrity than candidate obama, president obama ever was. and i think that they will try this attack but it didn't work with candidate obama and i can't imagine it will work with her now. >> so how do we come to the point in this country where it doesn't matter if you can do the job, it only matters how famous you are and how likable you are and if you can put a successful reality tv show on the air? i'm being a cynic here. >> she did time this out to premier literally two years before there's an election. you could look at the other way and say she is a long time to present herself this way as you know, the leader of this family on a tv show, then she has two

years to prepare herself as a political figure. i can't imagine she would have allowed this show to premier say, in the middle of an election campaign. >> and brian brought up a good point i think is show is image rehab. see her in a different light, not polarizing figure we've seen since the 2008 campaign and during the 2008 campaign. >> it was about a daughter and this boyfriend on the side. that was not a good image. this is a family united together having fun in the wilderness. >> thank you both. it's an interesting conversation. we'll continue for many months. thank you. john? >> thanks, carol. still to come, stormy start to the work week in the south. rob marciano has the travel forecast coming up after the break. [ advisor 1 ] what do you see yourself doing one week, one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something.

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lots of rain in the south and of course that will move its way up to the north. rob marciano in the weather center in atlanta. good morning. >> that's the way this is going to roll. everything down south going to ride this stationary front that's going to, well, be stationary for the next couple of days and the moisture will roll along it where we'll see rainfall. here's what we expect over the next 48 hours. most of the heavy rain across the south. some of this will get to the northeast, the bulk ever your rain will fall tomorrow into tomorrow night and even into wednesday as this kind of slowly chugs along. it slowly moved across parts of the upper midwest, a separate

system but it brought snow to minnesota over a foot in spots including iowa. so, that early in the season that caused traffic accidents and a lot of power outages as well. some of the heavy wet snow weighing down some of the limbs. boston and new york, the city metro, 30 to 60 minute delays. a 30 minute delay at philadelphia, fog from across parts of jersey in philadelphia this morning. that will burn off later on. atlanta will see rain delays because of rain. and denver some slight delays. some of the rain across the northeast. very night. maybe a quick shower. that should be about it. this is where the heavy stuff is rolling to the northeast but look for heavy rain to moderate rain across new orleans through hattiesburg, montgomery. probably not a flooding issue. maybe minor street flooding. we're looking at severe drought conditions in spots so we'll take the rain where we can get it. most is going to be away from the areas that really need it most including memphis and southern indiana. some of the spots will get much

needed rainfall. 64 degrees expected in dallas. 70 in houston, 63 in d.c. and 55 kind of a blah day in new york city. tomorrow more blah with more rain. a quick check on weather. >> i like that weather terminology, a blah icky day. >> still to come, a japanese city leveled by an earthquake 15 years ago now rebuilt. it's hailed as the first disaster-proof town. dr. gupta is there.

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seven minutes till the top of the hour. government leaders from around the globe will be in kobe, japan for the health organization. with over half the earth living in urban areas the human race will face health challenges that officials in kobe are stepping up to meext dr. sanjay gupta joining us from kobe which i guess you could say, doc, the closest thing to a disaster proof city in the world. >> and for good reason, john.

because they had a big earthquake here in 1995, and a lot of lessons were learned at that time. obviously we spend a lot of time talking about haiti this year, talking about the reconstruction, how is that going to progress. well, they can look to kobe to try to get clues. here's what we found. would you know what to do if you found yourself in the middle of that? what we're experiencing is a 6.9 magnitude earthquake. what they tell you to do is go in the corner of a room, structure the most sound, stay away from glass, cover your hands, your face, get under the table if you have to, something to protect yourself. of course all of this is just the simulation. and that's what you need to do as an individual. give than so many people live in urban centers across the world, how do you recover and rebuild after something like that? that's the question they were asking themselves in kobe, japan, a 6.9 magnitude

earthquake, 20 seconds in length, 200,000 buildings gone, 5,000 lives lost. a lot of work to do trying to rebuild this place. kobe did it. in less than ten years now they serve as a model for the rest of the world. a lot of lessons learned. don't put all of your disaster resources in one area. also try and engage survivors of an earthquake as much as possible in the rebuilding process. and finally, hospitals. they have to be able to stay open and functioning even after an earthquake. of course, there are the buildings, the awful images like this one. 200,000 went down. this was one of them. take a look at what it looks like now. this is the same building rebuilt quickly after the earthquake. what do they do? they try to isolate the building from the ground and the shaking. they also use metal plates to allow the building to move as well as materials that sort of allow this building to sway if the ground is shaking.

it's by no means perfect. if you ask officials about 80% of the city is rebuilt. there are some problems. narrow thoroughfares tough to navigate. these buildings could come down making rescue more difficult. but the balance, it's always there, trying to maintain what japan has been for hundreds of years in the middle of all of this reconstruction. there is no question, john, that it's sort of human nature to wait for some sort of disaster or tragedy to unfold before anybody does anything about it. preplanning, that's really what they are talking about, trying to prevent the worst consequences of a natural disaster and the health effects as well. look, john. you probably think as a lot of people are japan is not haiti. that's true. but there are lessons to be learned. six months after the earthquake in cobay they had a plan to carry out over 10 years. they engaged the survivors of the earthquake to be part of the reconstruction. those things aren't country

centric. it's about preplanning and moving things forward. >> let me ask you about the room you were in sanjay. you were taking the time, your shaking there to describe what you should do if you're 18 situation like that. but what was it like being in that room, how difficult was it to stay standing up? >> it was interesting because the way that room was set up, i didn't know when it was going to start shaking. it was not a definitive time. you know, it's startling all of a sudden to be sort of jostled around like that. i can tell you even after the earthquake in haiti when we were there, there was dozens of aftershocks and i still every time i feel a little tremor at all it makes me a little nervous. it was startling i think to be in there. obviously a simulation but startling nonetheless. >> good stuff. thanks for joining us this morning g. to see you. >> 57 past the hour. we'll be right back. until one day, my daughter showed me a designer handbag.

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