American Morning
The Gun Trail: How legal guns go bad
Editor’s Note: In this week’s American Morning original series “The Gun Trail,” we are taking a look at how legal guns could get into the wrong hands. Today, our Ed Lavandera is on the front line – a state at the start of the so-called iron pipeline – a pipeline that could end in your streets. Tomorrow, we go from the front line to the end of the line – the city streets. Are laws at the local level making it harder for the criminals or the legal and responsible gun owners?
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/16/lavandera.gun.shop.cnn.art.jpg caption="CNN's Ed Lavandera looks at both sides of the "lost or stolen" weapons law in the fight against gun trafficking."]
By Ed Lavandera, CNN
Kayton Smith says you'd be surprised the stories gun buyers reveal.
"What made you decide to buy a firearm?" he asks a potential customer.
"Do you want to know the truth?" the customer asks.
You are about to hear the kind of story that puts Kayton Smith on edge.
"I left New York owing someone a lot of money and eventually they’re going to find me. Better safe than sorry," the customer tells Smith.
The buyer is a legal Russian immigrant. After calling the FBI's instant background check system, the sale is put on hold while the Feds look deeper into his background.
Smith and Ricky Duffy run The Gun Shop in Savannah, Georgia. We spent a day with them, watching dozens of customers come through The Gun Shop.
Watch "The Gun Trail" part two 
According to federal statistics, Georgia is the number one state for exported guns used in crimes across the country. Gun safety advocates say that has created what is known as "the iron pipeline" of illegal guns flowing north, from places like Savannah, Georgia into northeastern states with stricter gun laws.
Bayh says he's fed up with Congress
First, he was a popular Democratic governor in a red state. And then a popular two-term senator in D.C.
But now, Indiana Democratic Senator Evan Bayh says he's done with Congress. Is it really so bad inside the Beltway that it's worth leaving office?
We figured the best person to ask is Sen. Bayh himself. He joined us live on Tuesday's American Morning.
Read more: Bayh won't seek re-election
Toyota's crisis blamed on corporate secrecy
There's more trouble for Toyota. A government agency says there has been a spike in consumer complaints.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is now investigating a total of 34 Toyota complaints alleging fatalities since 2000. The car maker is doing damage control, saying it has fixed half a million vehicles recalled for sticky gas pedals.
Toyota's public relations disaster is forcing other Japanese companies to lower the veil of corporate secrecy. Our Kyung Lah has this AM original report.
Complete coverage: Toyota recall
Top Taliban commander captured, officials say
Washington (CNN) - The Taliban's top military leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, has been captured, senior U.S. and Pakistani officials told CNN.
This is a "huge deal," CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen said. "This guy ... is the number two political figure in the Taliban" to the group's founder Mullah Muhammad Omar.
Baradar, an Afghan, was arrested in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said. The official asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Baradar was a close associate of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden ahead of the September 11 attacks on the United States. Bergen said Baradar also would have been in regular contact with Omar.
American and Pakistani intelligence officials are taking part in interrogations, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said.
"The critical issue is how much will he talk and provide information on ... where the Taliban in Pakistan are and ... where Osama bin Laden is," said Robin Wright, a fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace. FULL STORY
The Gun Trail: Riding along with Houston's ATF
Editor’s Note: As drugs and violence flow north from Mexico, guns are heading south from the U.S. Our Ed Lavandera rides along with an ATF agent for part one of the American Morning original series “The Gun Trail.” Tomorrow, he heads to Savannah, Georgia to see how gun smugglers are taking advantage of the state's weaker gun laws, and why shop owners say they're not part of the problem.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/15/guns.sign.mx.gi.art.jpg caption="A sign warning border-crossers that weapons are forbidden in Mexico is posted on the streets of the border town of Lukeville, Arizona."]
By Ed Lavandera, CNN
We drove the streets of Houston with an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). We can't tell you who he is because he's in the midst of the biggest case he's ever worked; battling lethal Mexican drug cartels on American streets.
"We started seeing [the guns] popping up in Mexico and then further down in Guatemala is where it really opened our eyes that we're onto something pretty big here," the agent says.
What they found was a trail from Houston to Guatemala littered with almost 340 guns purchased by so-called "straw buyers” – 23 Houston-area residents, all with squeaky clean records and legally allowed to buy guns.
Investigators say almost 100 of those guns have since turned up at crime scenes south of the border, in the hands of the drug cartels.
Watch "The Gun Trail" part one
"They're fighting each other for turf in Mexico. And unfortunately, many law enforcement and civilians are being killed in that fight," says Special Agent in Charge Dewey Webb.
Afghan offensive 'big test' for U.S.
Coalition forces are tightening their grip on a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan.
Officials there say most of Marjah is now under government control, but the 15,000 Afghan and NATO forces are said to be facing, “scattered resistance.” Mines, as well as IEDs left by Taliban fighters, are still a major concern.
To discuss this largest offensive since the war began, our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joined us Monday on CNN's "American Morning." Below is an edited transcript of the interview.
John Roberts: This is also a big test of the new “clear, hold, and build” strategy; the new surge strategy the United States has implemented.
Barbara Starr: You know, John, it really is. This is the test of President Obama's strategy. The key, of course, is putting more U.S. troops in to be able to throw the Taliban out and then bring the Afghans in and make them do the “hold” phase of this. Make them insert their own government. This is the big test if that will really work. A lot of people say the Afghans just aren't ready and it's going to be very tough going in the weeks ahead.
Roberts: A lot of troops involved in this: U.S., NATO forces as well, troops from Canada, other countries. But a large contingent of Afghan forces as well, and the U.S. military really making a point of the number of Afghan forces involved here. Why?
Starr: Well, again, because they want to show to the American people that there is, first and foremost, a way home for U.S. troops. And the way home for U.S. troops is for Afghan troops to be able to handle their own security situation. And also, to demonstrate to the Afghan people that it is their own government and their own security forces that are really in the lead here. Nobody wants to see it look like a U.S. occupation.
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