Taliban Staged Some Attacks; Illinois to Take Gitmo Detainees?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Heidi.</s>HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Kiran. Good morning, John. That's right, here's what we're working on today. Issue number one, snapshot of the holiday shopping season. New retail sales report just out. Plus, a 5-year-old girl gone missing. Last seen on surveillance tape with a man charged in her kidnapping. Now her mom is in court, facing human trafficking charges. And they are two cholesterol-fighting drugs taken by millions of Americans. But a new study raises questions now about their effectiveness. Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Concerns about money and security top our hour. Our John Vause is actually covering the president's trip through China today. Mr. Obama is, in a sense, meeting with his bankers. We'll get to that in a moment. Also, our Gerri Willis is following GM's recovery. The automaker says it will begin paying back the government next month. So we'll get to that as well. Also, our Elaine Quijano, you see her standing there outside of an Illinois prison, right where some terror suspects could be heading. President Obama in Beijing and at a crossroads. The U.S. economy is battered, the Chinese economy is surging, and Washington's long-time leverage is largely gone. CNN's John Vause is in Beijing this morning with more on this. John, good morning to you. What exactly is on the president's agenda today?</s>JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, the president arrived here a few hours ago. He pretty much went straight into a meeting with China's President Hu. They sat down for about 30 minutes and then they had a meal. It's nighttime here in Beijing. The president is headed back to his hotel. Tuesday Beijing time, the show really gets on the road. There'll be the official welcoming ceremony and then an extended sit- down with President Hu at the Great Hall of the People. That will be the first of three high-level meetings. This being the president's first trip to China, he'll also do some sightseeing. They'll take in a tour of the Forbidden City. But during those meetings, it's expected the Chinese side will express their concerns, in particular, about the falling value of the U.S. dollar and what that means for hundreds of billions of dollars the Chinese hold in U.S. debt. Much of that is held in U.S. treasuries, which lose their value each time the U.S. dollar loses value. It's been doing a lot of that lately. Sources close to the U.S. side said the Chinese are even concerned about the cost of Mr. Obama's health care plan, how much extra will that add to the federal budget deficit. How much more money will the U.S. have to borrow to pay for it, should that plan get passed? Now, Mr. Obama, for his part, will be looking to the Chinese to revalue their currency, the renminbi. The U.S. believes it's undervalued, it's giving Chinese exporters an unfair competitive edge by making their products cheaper overseas. Mr. Obama will also be pushing the Chinese on issues like climate change, how to deal with North Korea's illicit nuclear program, also what to do about Iran's nuclear ambitions. A lot on the agenda -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely. No question about that. Very important that we continue to talk to the Chinese about the debt as you mentioned, John. Also, a lot going on with this town hall the president held with students. I'm wondering if it was a surprise that the president actually brought up some of the restrictive freedoms.</s>VAUSE: Well, you know, in the past, the president has been criticized for not being as harsh or outspoken when it comes to human rights in China. He took it up a notch today. He said freedom of expression, freedom of religion were, in fact, universal values. He told this to a group of Shanghai University students during this town hall meeting. But perhaps mindful of those meetings, which still to come here in China, he showed some deference to his hosts.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Truly, we have known setbacks and challenges over the last 30 years. Our relationship has not been without disagreement and difficulty. But the notion that we must be adversaries is not predestined, not when we consider the past. Indeed, because of our cooperation, both the United States and China are more prosperous and more secure.</s>VAUSE: Now most analysts say that President Obama is walking a fine line here. He has to be tough enough to earn respect, but not too tough to offend the communist party. They are the people who are also known, as you pointed out, Heidi, as America's bankers.</s>COLLINS: Yes. No question, definitely a fine line. All right, John. We'll continue to follow this alongside you. Thanks so much. President Obama's trip to China -- there is much more than politics at stake, as we've been talking about here. In a little while, we're going to be talking with a financial journalist who actually says the rising superpower is also a growing challenge to the United States. At least six people are dead after a car bombing today outside a police station in Peshawar. It marks the sixth suicide bomb attack in the Pakistani city in nine days. The bombing comes as a Taliban spokesman is blaming some of the recent attacks on Pakistani intelligence agencies. CNN's Reza Sayah is joining us now live from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. Reza, good morning to you. Are the Taliban claiming responsibility now for today's attack, too?</s>REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, nobody has claimed responsibility for today's attack, but it certainly bears all the hallmarks of another Taliban attack. This was a powerful suicide car bomb, according to officials. A car bomb packed with more than 500 pounds of explosives. Police say the target of this attack was a police station, but right next to this police station was a mosque. And this explosion flattened this mosque, reduced it to rubble. We should note, in the past few days, the Taliban has come out with an announcement saying, look, we're not going after civilian targets. We're only going after government officials and security personnel. Heidi, if this was their goal today, they failed miserably. All of the victims in this attack, according to officials, were civilians, something we've seen more and more. Innocent Pakistanis being killed in this cycle of violence -- Heidi?</s>COLLINS: That's right, Reza. We have also talked a lot about why Peshawar seems to take the brunt of attacks like these. But I am wondering about civilians, as you mentioned, in this attack, all of the victims were civilians. How are people feeling? Are they afraid now, or what's the general feeling in the street?</s>SAYAH: Yes, well -- yes, you bet they're afraid and they're frustrated, but they're also very resilient. One of the most remarkable characteristics of Pakistanis that we've seen in the past couple of years of being here is their resilience. They have endured a lot. A lot of civilians have been killed. But for the most part, they are still supporting the Pakistani government and the Pakistani army, especially in their latest offensive, targeting the Taliban in South Waziristan. So this is a golden opportunity for the government and the army to deliver peace and security for the public that's still supporting them, but they have yet to be able to deliver on that -- Heidi?</s>COLLINS: All right. We'll continue to follow that story, of course. Reza Sayah, sure do appreciate that, live from Islamabad this morning. The Obama administration is defending the decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other alleged 9/11 conspirators to trial in federal court in New York. Top Obama adviser David Axelrod talked with CNN's John King on the "STATE OF THE UNION."</s>JOHN KING, HOST, CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION": Many Republicans are criticizing this, but it's not just Republicans. This is Jim Webb, Democratic senator from Virginia who says, they do not belong in our country, they do not belong in our courts, and they do not belong in our prisons. Why, David Axelrod, did the administration decide to take these steps?</s>DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR ADVISER, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: We believe that these folks should be tried in New York City, as you say, near where their heinous acts were conducted, in full view in our court system, which we believe in. We've had, you know, since 2001, about 195 terrorism cases in the courts and we've been successful 91 percent of the time. We're very confident about these cases. We believe we're going to substantially meet the deadline. We may not hit it on the date, but we will close Guantanamo and we're making good progress toward doing it.</s>RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: The reality is, this is an unnecessary -- first of all, it's an unnecessary advantage to give to the terrorists. I don't know why you want to give terrorists advantages. And secondly, it's an unnecessary risk to the city of New York, which already has any number of risks. If it was necessary, if this were the only option, well, of course I'd be in favor of it, and of course the city would do everything it could -- as it will -- to try and make it safe.</s>COLLINS: Other critics of holding a trial in civilian court say it would give the defendants a chance to promote their ideology. I want to show you exactly how military tribunals are different from federal court trials. Military tribunals are often closed to the public while federal trials are usually open. A tribunal can be held in a different country, in a U.S. territory or even on a U.S. naval ship. Now unlike federal court, a person tried by a military tribunal does not have the right to a trial by jury. The tribunal is composed of members of the military. A tribunal's decision of guilty or not guilty does not have to be unanimous and a death penalty can be imposed immediately. Now, of course, we'd love to know what you think about all of this. Do you agree with the decision to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the four other alleged 9/11 conspirators to trial in federal court in New York? We'd love to hear your comments. Of course, I'll read some of them a little bit later coming up in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. A possible new home for terror suspects from Guantanamo Bay, and it's a prison right inside the United States in Thomson, Illinois. Homeland Security officials are checking out the site today. It is also where we find our Elaine Quijano, standing by live for more on this. Elaine, good morning to you. Wondering what people in town think of this idea?</s>ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there are some here in Carroll County, Heidi, who really understand that there are some national security concerns here. They are uncomfortable with the idea of having these hardened terrorism suspects on U.S. soil, potentially in this prison behind me. But I have to tell you, the overwhelming majority of people that we have talked to here in Thomson itself are very supportive of the notion. They don't necessarily see this as putting their community at increased risk. Instead, they really look at this as an economic opportunity, a chance for their town to make a comeback. Listen to some of the opinions that we heard here.</s>CINDY OTTENS, LOCAL RESIDENT: We need jobs in our area, very depressed, both economically and emotionally. We're looking for jobs. People are looking for these jobs and what difference does it make what these people did if it's a maximum security prison.</s>JUDY AURANO, LOCAL RESIDENT: I think in the positive, with jobs, and bringing more people into the community, and using that facility to its fullest, because it has been vacant and not used to its high potential. Then again, I think of the high security people coming in. That is also scary, thinking terrorists coming to our area and we have a nuclear facility not too far away from here, just south in the quad cities. And that concerns me also. So I see both positive and negatives about that.</s>QUIJANO: Now the Thomson Correctional Center behind me has actually been open for a number of years now, but at the moment, it reportedly only houses some 144 minimum security inmates. The facility itself is capable of holding 1,600 -- or at least, there are 1,600 cells here in the building behind me, we are told. Later this morning, federal officials are set to take a look at the building. They're going to meet with local officials in the afternoon, Heidi. And as all of this is happening, some Illinois Republican congressmen are making very clear, they do not like this idea at all. They say, look, it is just simply too risky to have these detainees come to America's heartland. They say, look, we understand full well the economic picture, but they say national security concerns, Heidi, trump everything else.</s>COLLINS: All right. Very good. CNN's Elaine Quijano for us. Thanks so much, Elaine. Payback for taxpayers. GM says it will repay its government loan sooner than expected, but will you get back all of the money coming to you?</s>REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And we're expecting the possibility of a launch today. Weather looks like it's going to be good for the time being, but what about this afternoon? We're going to give you a sharp eye on that. Plus, we're going to take a look at a big winter storm on the way to the central plains. That's coming up right here on CNN NEWSROOM.