[John Roberts, Cnn Anchor:] Good Wednesday morning to you. Thanks for being with us on the Most News in the Morning. It's the 17th of February. I'm John Roberts.
[Kiran Chetry, Cnn Anchor:] I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. Here are the big stories we'll be telling you about in the next 15 minutes. First, U.S. Marines under constant attack in a major Afghan offensive, and they're getting some help, while at the same time accomplishing a huge objective. We'll take to you to Afghanistan for an exclusive report from our Atia Abawi who is imbedded with the U.S. Marines.
[Roberts:] The U.S. set to break ground on its first nuclear reactors in 30 years, President Obama making billions of dollars available to build them. But others are asking, what about nuclear waste? We're digging deeper on this politically charged debate this morning.
[Chetry:] On the gun on the trail of guns that go missing, there is a new law aiming to find them before they can turn up at a crime scene, but critics say that it actually is going after the wrong people.
[Unidentified Male:] To come up with an idea and adopt it based on, "Well, it might work," is ridiculous. We wouldn't get into an airplane that might fly. There is an awful lot of laws relating to firearms. The real problem here is that it's not illegal to lose a firearm.
[Chetry:] Ed Lavandera takes a look at grassroots efforts at gun control and the uphill battle in gun country. Also this morning in Afghanistan, help for American and allied troops fighting the biggest battle since 2001. U.S. Marines are moving in by land have now joined up with the Marines who came in by helicopter earlier. Marines have also taken control of the police headquarters. That was one of the main objectives for the forces fighting in the Taliban stronghold of Marjah. And also, later today, President Obama will meet with his national security team in the White House Situation Room to monitor the new U.S.-led offensive in Afghanistan. Our Atia Abawi is traveling exclusively with the U.S. Marines in Marjah. She brings us this report.
[Atia Abawi, Cnn International Correspondent:] Roaming the empty streets of Marjah, the U.S. Marines from Unit 16 Alpha Company are keeping a watchful eye over the city from a
[Sgt. John Trickler, U.s. Marine Corps:] Once people are on our side, they no longer have a place to hide. The fight will be done and it will just be us with the local nationals and all the Afghans trying to join together to make a team.
[Abawi:] Right now, very few locals are coming out to join that team. Some flood Marjah before the offensive. Others are staying indoors. [on camera]: The city of Marjah still looks like a ghost town on day four of Operation Moshtarak. The civilians are still encouraged to stay inside their home and, so far, it's been a fairly quiet day when it comes to fighting compared to the last few days. But it is suspected the Taliban are biding their time, assessing the movement of the Marines, and it is expected that they will launch some sort of attack, hoping to disable the progress of the U.S. troops. [voice-over]: A morning lull ended with more sporadic and intense fighting. At one point, a 15-minute engagement with incoming fire from several parts of the city. The commanding general says the job's not done yet.
[Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, U.s. Marine Corps:] We're moving in the right direction. I mean, like I say, there's a lot of heavy- lifting to doing and there are a lot of surprises ahead that we have not even anticipated, I'm sure. So, there's nobody dancing in the end zone right now, I can tell you that. But I like our I like where we're at.
[Abawi:] And so do some Afghans. "The Taliban never helped us," Abdul Mukim says. "They won't, and they can't, help us. Instead, they take from us." Abdul Mukim's property was damaged by the initial military push. He has been promised compensation and he's glad the Americans are here. He remembers USAID building the canals in Marjah 40 years ago, that turned this area into rich agricultural land. "I'm glad the Americans came back," he says. "They built these places in Helmand, but then they left us. They left us when we were being demolished by the Soviets." Today, Abdul Mukim prays that the battle for Marjah will bring a great change in his life and a better future for Afghanistan. This time, he says, he wants America to stay. But first, the U.S. Marines have to drive away others who don't want America to stay and have not yet given up the fight in Marjah. Atia Abawi, CNN, Marjah, Afghanistan.
[Roberts:] More possible trouble for Toyota this morning as the U.S. government tightens the screws. The company held another news conference in Tokyo overnight, announcing it is investigating a possible problem with the Corolla's power steering and a recall is not out of the question. This comes at the top of 8.5 million cars that have been recalled already. Toyota's president also said the company will cooperate with Washington, but he will not be coming to the United States to answer any questions himself. Well, now to the president's plan to build the first nuclear reactors in a generation. He announced more than $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to help pay for the construction. But are Americans ready to embrace nuclear power again? CNN's Brian Todd tells us, there's a debate heating up over where to store all that nuclear waste.
[Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] Some 70,000 metric tons of nuclear waste stored in so-called casks of steel, concrete and lead, at more than 100 commercial nuclear power plants across the U.S. and other locations. Two thousand tons added to the pile every year. U.S. officials say the spent fuel can be safely stored in these containers for 90 years, but that's storage, not disposal. And it's the disposal problem that's got some in the industry worried. [on camera]: If the nuclear fuel is safe at the sites where it's stored now, and if it can be safe almost indefinitely, why do you need a nuclear repository?
[Jack Edlow, Pres., Edlow International:] You ultimately need a nuclear repository because just like all wastes in a society, we have to put them someplace. We deal with biological waste. We deal with chemical waste. We deal with trash, every day trash.
[Todd:] Jack Edlow runs a company that transports nuclear material. He's against President Obama's decision to cut funding for the Yucca Mountain Project in Nevada. That was supposed to be the nation's underground storage facility for nuclear waste. Why the president pulled the plug? South Carolina's Republican governor, Mark Sanford, accuses Mr. Obama of what he calls a Chicago- style political payoff to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Reid's from Nevada, where Yucca Mountain is located, and he's in a tough re-election battle.
[Gov. Mark Sanford , South Carolina:] It is the Obama administration's choice in this instance, based on an election outcome that they might fear in Nevada to make this decision.
[Todd:] Sanford has political motivation, too. His state ranks third in the country in the amount of nuclear waste stored. Contacted by CNN, an Obama administration official emphatically denied this is political, saying the president's always been against Yucca Mountain. The White House official says there have been mounting cost overruns for the project and serious concerns about its scientific viability and the security of transporting nuclear fuel to Yucca Mountain from all the commercial nuclear power plants across the country. An aide to Senator Reid also denied political motivations. He cites Reid's own concerns about costs and security for Yucca Mountain.
[Sen. Harry Reid , Majority Leader:] Leave it on site, where it is. You don't have to worry about transporting. It saves the country billions and billions of dollars.
[Todd:] In place of Yucca Mountain, the president's appointed a blue-ribbon panel to study alternatives. The Nuclear Energy Institute, a lobbying group for the industry, is against the decision to cut the Yucca Mountain Project but does support the president's new panel.
[Alex Flint, Nuclear Energy Institute:] There are significant developments over the last several decades that can be taken into consideration. France has gone forward with recycling their spent nuclear fuel. They're having a lot of success with that program.
[Todd:] But one energy industry executive points out the United States has other types of nuclear fuel that cannot be so easily recycled, from places like naval facilities where they process fuel for nuclear-powered ships and submarines. John and Kiran, back to you.
[Roberts:] Brian Todd reporting for this morning. And later on this hour, coming up at 8:30 Eastern, Christine Todd Whitman, co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, and environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will be here to debate the nuclear power controversy.
[Chetry:] Also new this morning, Republicans are playing nice with the conservative tea party. GOP Chairman Michael Steele spending nearly four hours behind closed doors yesterday trying to calm the fears of tea party activists who are worried the Republican Party is out to co-op their grassroots movement just in time for the 2010 mid- term elections.
[Lisa Miller, Tea Party Wdc:] It was congenial. Everybody wanted to figure out what kind of assets he could bring to the game. I wanted to return to commerce charity and their individual rights and responsibilities, and if his agenda or the people that he backs don't support that, I find that I'll put my energies like they will in an area where I think it will achieve the most good.
[Chetry:] Well, Republican Chairman Steele says that the two groups do share a common goal, and that is stopping President Obama's agenda.
[Roberts:] Well, talk has been around about a possible 2012 run for the presidency from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. When the talk turned to a possibility of a President Palin, America's top diplomat remained shall we say very diplomatic. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked that question by a student during a town hall meeting in Saudi Arabia.
[Unidentified Male:] Does the prospect of Sarah Palin one day becoming president maybe terrify you? And if so, would you consider immigrating to Canada or possibly even Russia in the event of this happening?
[Hillary Clinton, U.s. Secretary Of State:] Well, the short answer is, no. I will not be immigrating. I will be visiting as often as I can.
[Roberts:] So, she didn't answer the first part of the question. During her trip, Clinton was very vocal about Washington's opposition to Iran's nuclear program. She also spoke at the U.S. Islamic World Forum in Qatar.
[Chetry:] She's very busy. You never know what questions are going to come her way.
[Roberts:] At least she got a good laugh.
[Chetry:] Yes, it's good. Well, Sadie, the Scottish terrier, certainly lived up to the hype. Four-year-old fan favorite is winning best in show last night at the Westminster Dog Show. Sadie, by the way, is no stranger to the winner's circle. She's won 112 best in show honors. Last night's show was briefly interrupted, by the way, by two protesters from PETA. There you see women running to the floor holding up a sign that said, "Mutts rule." The other one said, "Breeders kill shelter dogs' chances." They were escorted out and the show went on. But they got their point out there.
[Roberts:] They certainly did. Rob Marciano is tracking the weather across the country, 10 minutes after the hour. He's here with the quick look. Hey, Rob.
[Rob Marciano, Ams Meteorologist:] Good morning, guys. Nothing wrong with a mutt from the pound, that's for sure. If you're out walking your dog today across the eastern third of the country eastern half really bundle up yourself and maybe your pooch as well. Snow showers are expected across parts of the Great Lakes. Here it is on the radar scope shows, a little flow around the back side of this low that brought all the heavy snow to the northeast and in some cases got a foot or more. It was a boon for some of the ski resorts across northern New England. That's good news. System of light lake effect snow showers from Buffalo to Syracuse, the usual spots. Twenty-seven though, that's a little unusual in Atlanta. Current temperature: 28 in Mobile, and 33 in the Big Easy where they're sweeping the streets of Bourbon down there in New Orleans after Mardi Gras. It is 40 days, 40 nights of repenting and giving stuff up. That is if you report to the Vatican. We'll talk more about weather in about 30 minutes. John and Kiran, back up to you.
[Roberts:] Looking forward to that. Thanks, Rob.
[Marciano:] Sure, guys.
[Roberts:] Talk about a room with a view. Early this morning, astronauts on-board the International Space Station opened the seven- window observation deck in the newly added lab tranquility. They are calling the views of earth 220 miles below absolutely spectacular. It's pretty easy to see why.
[Chetry:] Amazing pictures. Well, the stimulus plan is it progress or is it failure? We're going to be talking more about that with DNC Chairman Tim Kaine. He joins us to talk about it one year later. Is it everything that they hoped it would be? It's 11 minutes after the hour.