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Threats Against NFL Stadiums; Condoleezza Rice Willing to Talk to North Korea; Spike in Violence in Iraq

Aired October 19, 2006 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: You're with CNN. You're informed.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments just keep coming into the NEWSROOM on this Thursday, October 19th. Here's what's on the rundown now.

A security refocus in Iraq. A brutally violent month prompts the U.S. military to take another look at their strategy.

HARRIS: The secretary of state in Seoul, all smiles, pressing South Korea to stand tough with sanctions against the nuclear North.

COLLINS: And this priest -- CNN sources and a newspaper report identify him as the man who allegedly molested former congressman Mark Foley when he was a teenager. The Capitol e-mail scandal merging with the priest abuse scandal in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And we continue to follow developments in the story of the threats against NFL stadiums for this weekend that was posted on a Web site.

Jonathan Freed is on the phone with us from Milwaukee -- Jonathan.

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

I can tell you that a law enforcement official is telling CNN that a young adult who they will only say is from Wisconsin is being interviewed in Milwaukee by the FBI. They say that person came forward with information regarding the threats that were posted -- that was posted, and that this person is further believed responsible for posting the threat on the Internet.

Remember, we're talking about seven stadiums here in Miami, New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston, Oakland and Cleveland.

Now, the FBI is continuing to say and authorities are continuing to say that they do not believe and they have not believed from the beginning that this threat was credible. They say that they informed the NFL after a point because they felt that they needed to err on the side of caution, and they have been emphasizing throughout that the public needs to go about its normal plans and does not need to avoid stadiums -- Tony. HARRIS: And Jonathan, what was the nature of the threat? What was the person promising would happen at these stadiums?

FREED: Well, what we've been hearing and what has been posted is that dirty bombs, so-called dirty bombs would be delivered by truck. And a dirty bomb is a combination of a conventional explosive with some kind of radioactive material. This would not be a nuclear explosion by any means. But it is a means of dispersing radioactive material in a way to perhaps contaminate an area and try to affect individuals in that area.

HARRIS: So, Jonathan, are we, in essence, waiting for some kind of a statement from the FBI? Because the FBI's involvement certainly seems to ratchet this thing up another level. I'm thinking about folks with tickets to ball games this weekend.

FREED: Well, I don't know if it's necessarily ratcheting it up another level, because when you have somebody came forward and when they are trying in a case like this to investigate this kind of a threat, they use all their resources at their disposal.

HARRIS: Got you.

FREED: The statement that did come out this morning suggested that -- that the threat is still believed not to be credible, and the official statement only went so far, using the traditional phrase that we're so used to hearing in case like this, Tony, that "the investigation is ongoing." But, again, a source is telling CNN -- law enforcement sources telling CNN that the person being interviewed is a young adult from Wisconsin, being interviewed in Milwaukee by the FBI, who came forward and who is believed to be responsible for posting this threat on the Internet.

That's the latest we have.

HARRIS: All right, Jonathan. Appreciate it. Thank you.

FREED: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: CNN's Jonathan Freed for us.

COLLINS: Condoleezza Rice on the road. Washington's top diplomat in Seoul today, just across the border from North Korea and its defiant nuclear program. Rice won more support for international sanctions, but will it curb the crisis or escalate things?

CNN's Zain Verjee is the only TV journalist accompanying Rice on her travels. Here she is now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the U.S. is still willing to talk to North Korea. She says that North Korea has to give up its nuclear program and return to six-party talks. CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: We want to leave open the path of negotiation. We don't want the crisis to escalate. And the sooner that North Korea would choose to unconditionally come back to the table and take up the very good -- very good statement or very good agreement that is their framework agreement that is there as of September, it would be to the betterment of everyone.

VERJEE: She says that she's hoping that a senior Chinese official that's been dispatched to Pyongyang is going to be able to convince North Korea to do just that.

On the way over here, a senior administration official also added that that Chinese official is carrying a very strong message to Pyongyang. It's not clear exactly what that message is.

Secretary Rice also wants South Korea to implement the U.N. Security Council resolution that hit North Korea with sanctions. Specifically, also, she wants South Korea to carry out inspections of North Korean cargo ships coming in and out of the country that may be carrying nuclear materials.

Secretary Rice also said that she wasn't in South Korea to dictate to the South Koreans exactly what they needed to do. The question now, though, is, what will the South Koreans do? How tough will they be on North Korea? Will they squeeze North Korea hard?

One of the analysts we spoke to here said that South Korea would be nervous if North Korea was pushed too hard for fear that it may collapse and destabilize the region.

Zain Verjee, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: More bombs and bullets across Iraq today killing dozens of people. The surge in attacks is now prompting the U.S. military to announce a refocus of security measures in Baghdad.

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr joins us with details.

Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony.

It was a surprising briefing in Baghdad today, to say the least, when the top U.S. military spokesman, General Bill Caldwell, got up in front of reporters and said that the violence is, in his words, "disheartening." There is some progress, he says, but there is a good deal of concern about the continuing violence in Baghdad.

For the last two months, there has been something called the Baghdad security plan. That is the effort by military forces and police forces to try and get a handle on the situation in the capital. It is one of the lynchpins of the U.S. effort there. General Caldwell today saying it's all being looked at. Once again, it does not appear, by all accounts, that the plan is working as intended.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, SPOKESMAN, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: We're obviously very concerned about what we're seeing in the city. We're taking a lot of time to go back and look at the whole Baghdad security plan. We're asking ourselves if the conditions under which it was first devised and planned still exist today or have the conditions changed and, therefore, a modification to the plan needs to be made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: A lot of bureaucratic words there, Tony, but make no mistake, the U.S. and the Iraqi forces now looking at the entire situation in Baghdad, once again trying to figure out what they can change, what they can do different to try and get a handle on this. What is the level of violence? Attacks up 20 percent in recent weeks, Iraqi civilians now literally dying by the dozens each day.

Seventy-three U.S. troops killed in action so far this month. One of the deadliest months on record -- Tony.

HARRIS: Barbara, I've got a couple of questions that I want to ask you very quickly here.

We really like General Caldwell. He answers your questions directly. And he used that word "disheartening" to describe what's going on in and around Baghdad.

Did he give any suggestion that perhaps the coalition might be losing Baghdad?

STARR: No. I don't think that that's anything that one can expect a military officer to say or that the U.S. military or the Iraqis believe.

It is very critical right now, but they are going to, in General Caldwell's words, refocus their efforts, look at the whole Baghdad security plan, and figure out what they can do about it. One of the critical things that they know they must do is get a handle on the police forces, the militias, the death squads. That is a lot of the focus right now -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Barbara, talk to us about the release of a cleric who we believe is tied to actual death squads.

STARR: That's -- this underscores the problem, the challenge, the very difficult situation. U.S. forces conducted a raid a day or so ago and captured a Shia cleric that they believed was involved in death squad activity that is tied to this man, Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of one of the strongest militias, the Mehdi Army, in Iraq.

Let's be clear. U.S. forces went after him, U.S. troops put their own lives at risk.

What has happened? Well, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called up the United States coalition in Baghdad and said he wants this man released. And this man now has been released.

Not a lot of explanation why. General Caldwell saying that U.S. troops, of course, are in Iraq at the behest of the sovereign government of Iraq now and have to do what the Iraqi government tells them to do.

But here's one of the challenges, Tony. They get this guy and now they've released him because the Iraqis want him released.

HARRIS: OK. What a story that is.

Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon.

Barbara, thank you.

STARR: Sure.

COLLINS: Chad Myers joining us now with an update on the weather situation, which we continue to keep people abreast of, the southeast area.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Baton Rouge just getting hammered right now.

COLLINS: Yes.

MYERS: Just that line, a squall line just has pushed right into the city now of Baton Rouge. And I was just looking at a bunch of the tower cams and a bunch of the traffic cams around Baton Rouge, and a lot of them are just obscured with rain coming down in buckets there now.

A little bit farther to the north, though, we're also watching this tornado warning, although it's almost moved out of the county that we're really worried about. It's almost moved up into the county that's just southwest of Jackson, Mississippi.

Here's the cell that has been rotating for a while. And the warning is still down here for the Crystal Springs area. But the storm has now and it still continues to move up toward the Jackson, Mississippi, region. It is still rotating, although fairly slowly at this point. Any storm that rotates at all we're concerned about because a rotating storm can bring down its rotation into one point, which could be a tornado.

We'll keep watching it. And the warning is issued for Jackson. That will certainly get on the air right away for you.

Atlanta, an hour delay now because of some low visibility. LaGuardia and also Philadelphia, 30-minute departure delays.

Other than that, for today severe weather will build up all the way from really Chattanooga through Atlanta, down into the Gulf Coat region. Tomorrow it pushes off shore. There will be some rain in New York late, late tonight, probably after midnight, probably after the end of the game, I hope.

And then for Saturday, a cool day. For the Colorado Rockies, more snow expected. Summit County and the ski resorts just going, come on, bring it on.

COLLINS: I think that's an invitation directly from Colorado.

HARRIS: That's what that is.

COLLINS: Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

COLLINS: We quickly want to get to Thomas Roberts now. He's standing by in the newsroom to give us an update on a happy ending to a story in Washington State which turned out to be first a car-jacking and then a possible kidnapping.

THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: You're exactly right, Heidi. So this is really showing the success of the Amber Alert program, also the hard work of police there in Washington State, in Arlington and Marysville, Washington.

Now, here's the back story.

A mom was driving with her two kids in the backseat last night in Arlington when a guy jumped in her car showing a knife, saying, "Hey, I want you to drive me to a nearby town." Well, once they got to that nearby town, he forced the mom oust the vehicle and took off with the two kids in the backseat, Abigail Sobiniya (ph), who is 4; Calleb Sobiniya (ph), just 2 years old. And they went off with this guy.

The mom notifying authorities. Well, that was last night. And then by this morning, roughly by 5:30 a.m., there was a patrol officer that found the two children in this minivan, safe and sound.

However, the guy, he is still on the loose. Just to give you a quick description, he was described in his 30s, about 5'6, shaved head, also a slight goatee. He was wearing jeans and a navy jacket, kind of sweatshirt thing as well underneath.

But the success here is great that the two kids were found OK. So a mom and her two kids have been reunited, but the search for the guy of the car-jacking goes on.

Back to you guys.

COLLINS: All right. I hope they find him. Boy, what a relief for her.

ROBERTS: Absolutely.

COLLINS: All right, Thomas. Thank you. HARRIS: How about this freak accident out of Florida? An 81- year-old Florida man in critical condition this morning. A stingray jumped into his boat yesterday, striking him in the chest with its stinger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did not feel the bar in the heart. It may still be in the heart or it may have gone out through a major artery to a different part of the body.

He has a reasonable chance of recovering, but it's not guaranteed. It's a very serious and a freaky injury. I've never seen anything like this. And I don't think many people have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Yes, that's for sure. But you may recall, "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin died last month when a stingray hit him in the chest with its barb off of Australia's northern coast.

Do we have these live pictures?

Let's take a look. OK.

There's a news conference that should be starting pretty soon. There it is, live pictures out of the hospital where this man is being treated in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We are going to maybe dip in a little bit and maybe just sort of monitor it for you and see if we can get an update on this man's condition.

COLLINS: A mother, her boyfriend and baby on the run. A social worker killed. A detective will update us on a Kentucky manhunt coming up in just a few moments.

HARRIS: And betting on oil and losing big time. Hedge funds take a hit. What about your funds?

Where's Ali Velshi? He is in the NEWSROOM and with us when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to get to a developing story out of Florida now. An Amber Alert for a 4-month-old baby there. We've been following this story for you all morning long.

Thomas Roberts is on top of it in the newsroom now with more on that -- Thomas.

ROBERTS: Heidi, we've just now gotten some aerial pictures in of the search that police are conducting right now, looking for this 4- month-old child. Want to give you the back story on this.

This is Carter Park, and they're searching this area because they believe that the person who took the baby normally frequents this park. The young lady's name is Kaniesha Black, and she's just 15 years old, but here's how it went down.

Yesterday, the baby's mom was walking to a babysitter's house. And Felicia Slater (ph), the baby's mom, says that's when she was approached by this acquaintance, a young girl, Kaniesha (ph), asking her questions about the baby and where she was going.

Then that's where the mom took the baby on to the babysitter's house. Well, Black then followed on, went to the babysitter, and asked the babysitter to release the child to her, saying that the mother had said it was OK.

When the mom returned to the home that afternoon to get their -- to get her young child, Makai (ph), the baby was gone. And that's when an Amber Alert was issued roughly yesterday, about a quarter to 5:00 in the afternoon.

Police working overnight to find Kaniesha Black. Again, she's known to frequent the area of Carter Park and Broward County's main bus terminal. This is all taking place in downtown Fort Lauderdale.

And there's a picture of this missing 4-month-old baby.

Heidi, one thing that makes this so heartbreaking and urgent all at the same time is Kaniesha, the little girl -- or the 15-year-old that's suspected of taking the baby, is a runaway. She's also known to suffer from bipolar disorder. And she's believed not to have been taking medication recently because she's depressed because of the loss of a family member.

But again, all of this making the case much more urgent because they want to get this young baby back so quickly. But it really is a heartbreaking story to tell right now. But we're going to stay on top of it, bring you more details throughout the morning right here.

COLLINS: Boy, it's so scary, too, for her to have followed the mother to the babysitter. Yikes.

ROBERTS: Right, and then walking right in and saying, you know, the mom said release the baby to me.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we will continue to watch that activity there with the police department on the scene obviously in that Carter Park area.

Thomas Roberts, thank you.

ROBERTS: Sure.

HARRIS: And we want to get you an update on a disturbing case out of Kentucky. Police say they're still searching for a mother, her baby and her boyfriend after a social worker, Boni Frederick, was killed in the mother's home. The veteran social work had taken the baby to visit the mother.

Detective Ron Adams joins us now on the phone from Henderson, Kentucky. Ron, thanks for your time.

DET. RON ADAMS, HENDERSON POLICE: Yes, sir.

HARRIS: Ron, we're a little frustrated up here. We've been talking about this case for two days now. This is a -- this is a 9- month-old baby. I know you have to be frustrated that you haven't found, A, the baby, most importantly, and then the suspects in this horrible murder.

Are you getting any, any additional information, any tips, any clues?

ADAMS: We're still getting tips called into the Amber Alert hotline number, as well as to the Henderson Police Department. As we get those tips, we're following up on them. However, so far none of the tips have proved to be credible.

HARRIS: This couple on the run a couple days now. Did Renee Terrell, the mother here pictured, did she plan this?

ADAMS: We have some information that she did plan to take the child and flee with it.

HARRIS: Anything that you can share with us about the planning that might be helpful for folks listening?

ADAMS: No, sir, not really.

HARRIS: OK.

ADAMS: They just planned to take the child and go with no particular destination in mind.

HARRIS: Well, was the attack and the ultimate murder on the social worker, was that part of a plan?

ADAMS: I don't think we have information right now to say that the murder was planned, just that possibly the kidnapping of the child was planned.

HARRIS: Are you -- I know that one of the things do you when you start one of these investigations is that you contact everyone in the so-called friends and family network. Has that provided any help for you?

ADAMS: So far, it has provided a few leads, but nothing -- nothing concrete.

HARRIS: OK. Anything that we can help you with? We'd like to certainly help you. Any additional pictures that maybe we can get a hold of that might be helpful? Would you like to give us a phone number for folks to call if they have additional information?

ADAMS: Certainly. We are urging anyone in the public who has any information on these individuals to call the Henderson Police Department at 270-831-1295. At this particular time, we believe they're still in the white 2002 Daewoo station wagon.

HARRIS: OK. Detective Ron Adams from the Henderson Police Department.

Detective, we appreciate it. Thank you.

ADAMS: Thank you.

HARRIS: And right now -- I'm sorry -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Want to get to fort Lauderdale, Florida, here quickly. A news conference under way.

We are looking at a diagram, it looks like, for the 81-year-old man who is the victim of a stingray attack. A barb lodged somewhere in his body.

Let's go ahead and listen in to see what I believe his physicians are talking about here.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... a little more clear. And it ran completely under the tricuspid valve and it actually perforated into the right ventricle at that point, and it migrated at the time of surgery completely through the free wall of the right ventricle, and we could see the tip of it penetrating the wall of the heart, sitting in the pericardial sack.

QUESTION: Was it simply the contractions of the muscles that brought the barb deeper and deeper into his body? Is that...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe so. On the echocardiogram, which maybe we can get going sometime soon, we'll be able to show you that, as the heart squeezes, this actually migrates to it. It's very similar to a ratchet mechanism. Every squeeze of the heart grabs it, pulls it forward, and pulls it forward again. And you can actually watch it move through the heart muscle.

QUESTION: How did he not die?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he's lucky. He had some good care at his initial institution.

The initial injury was out here into the chest cavity and probably had just become adjacent to the heart muscle itself. And with movement and breathing of the lung, it got pushed into the pericardial sack, and then with each heart contraction just sort of grabbed it and pulled it along further.

QUESTION: Well, you were describing it going into the ventricle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct.

QUESTION: I mean, inside the heart you've got a barb that's poisonous. The toxin painful. The guy's still breathing. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct. And as long as it's within the muscle and not having been pulled out, which happened to Steve Irwin, it (INAUDIBLE) the hole.

As long as this is in there to tampen out the hole, it will continue to beat and the blood will go in its normal routes. Some will leak out into the pericardial sack. And when he was operated on in North Broward, that's what they found and were able to repair the puncture site, which was actually two puncture sites on the back wall here.

Dr. Carson (ph) and Dr. Mellon (ph) -- were you in the operating room?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and Dr. Johnson were all there and were able to successfully suture closed those, stabilize him enough to get him to us.

QUESTION: So did you pull it out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, we pulled it through. It's much like a fishhook, if you've gotten stuck with a fishhook. You pull it through because of the barbs.

If you try to pull it out backwards, you're going to lacerate more, tear more structures. Then you pull it through and repair the holes that are left behind.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) have they actually been pulled through? (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's -- this is the piece. It's razor sharp and the tip is extremely sharp.

QUESTION: So nothing left in there. And how do you repair the damage that's been done?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The holes that this creates in the heart were closed with sutures, standard surgical technique. You have to be on the heart-lung bypass machine.

I have to give kudos to the team. We have an excellent heart team up there, a well-trained staff that help us get through these cases. And it's a team effort.

QUESTION: How unusual of a case is this? I mean, how unique, when you have this foreign object that is actually moving through the body?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we're a level one trauma center. So we see a number of penetrating injuries to the heart.

I've been in practice 20 years now. This is the first barb I've removed from a heart. But it's written about in the literature. Certainly we've had a famous event recently.

Penetrating injuries to the heart are common. And we can deal with them as long as the patient is stable and can reach us in time.

QUESTION: Any side-effect from the toxins?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The toxins are a local effect from the barb. It's an irritant. And once it's removed, it's gone.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that's certainly a concern. He's 82 years old. He had a long day before he got to us. And some more time during the night with us.

And he's stable. That's a big plus for him. His heart is functioning well. His lungs are functioning well. And provided we don't have additional problems develop, which are very common in that age group, god willing, he'll survive this.

QUESTION: Does the fact that he got medical care rapidly compare to Steve Irwin (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, certainly rapid intervention is key to survival. When you bleed from any puncture to the heart, the heart is surrounded by a sack which envelops it, which if you bleed within to it or collect fluid within it, acutely, rapidly, it squashes the heart and prevents it from pumping normally.

If it accumulates over a period of time, days, months, then the sack will stretch and the heart will continue to function normally. In this situation it's a rapid development, and at the time when they were exploring his chest at North Broward, as soon as they saw this and as they were getting ready to take action on it, it migrated into the heart further. And there was profuse bleeding at that point that they were able to control successfully and get him to us.

QUESTION: How important was it that the barb wasn't pulled out immediately like in the case of Steve Irwin? Did that save some possible bleeding that could have been critical?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think it was ever visualized. It's only six centimeters long. And it was well within the chest cavity.

QUESTION: So there was no way to pull it out or anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. There's no way to pull it out. At the time of surgery if they had removed it by pulling it backwards, they would have encountered more bleeding than they had.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) wanted to know how that is for you, what was going through your minds as you look at that barb?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a second.

I'm the designated mic shifter. So just bare with me. There you go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My father's age isn't -- it's not a good indicator of my father's health. He's extremely active. He's a -- he puts a lot of people to shame.

As a matter of fact, he never admits he's over 69 years old. And he's quite a character.

But he had knee surgery about a month ago and a week after that he was on his bicycle for 15 miles. And he said, "The doctors told me the best way to heal is to start using it."

So I think I'd still be in bed. But my father was up in a week. He's an incredible man.

But this has certainly taken a toll on him. And I just have to say, Dr. Constantini (ph) was remarkable, to say the least. He did some things...

COLLINS: So we are listening in now to the son of this 82-year- old man who was -- I mean, you have to say attacked by a stingray, because we...

HARRIS: In the water.

COLLINS: ... learned that the stingray jumped into the boat and the barb went through this man's heart. And it's amazing because they were able to get it out, as you may have heard the physician say. But you can't just pull it out, you have to back it out like a fishhook, because otherwise you will do...

HARRIS: Otherwise you'll do more damage.

COLLINS: ... critical damage. And as we saw in the case of Steve Irwin, when he pulled it out himself, they believe that's exactly what happened.

HARRIS: Yes.

How lucky is this man to be in pretty stable condition right now?

COLLINS: Phenomenally luck.

HARRIS: Eighty-two years old. You heard from the son there, fit as a fiddle, apparently.

COLLINS: Yes. A young 82.

HARRIS: It's a great ending to the story so far. We'll keep our fingers crossed for a speedy recovery, obviously.

COLLINS: We will, indeed.

Meanwhile, though, a chilling threat. But is it credible? Why some NFL stadiums are on alert and what homeland security officials are saying now. New developments right here in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And where is that man, Ali Velshi? Betting on oil, losing bigtime, hedge fund over the hedge.

Why don't you do the tease. You can do it a lot better than I can.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hedge funds, you may not care about them, but it may affect your pension. So stick around. I'm going to tell you that story when we come back.

HARRIS: In the newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Sources say the priest who allegedly sexually abused former Congressman Mark Foley has been identified as Anthony Mercieca. Mercieca now lives near Italy. One source says the priest worked at Sacred Heart Church in Florida during the '60s. Foley once served as an altar boy there. The former Congressman's attorney has said Foley was molested between the ages of 13 and 15. A "Sarasota" Florida newspaper interviewed Mercieca.

We spoke with reporter Matthew Doig a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW DOIG, "SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE": His main concern was to stress the point that this was a one-time situation with Mark, the extremely inappropriate encounter. And he said in hindsight there were -- a lot of their relationship was inappropriate, the skinny dipping, naked back massages, that type of thing. But he stressed over and over that throughout his career, there's only been this one allegation against him. And other reporting that's been done kind of backs that up, that this was a one-time encounter with Mark Foley and that this may be the only allegation that's been leveled against him, at least to this point.

You got to imagine, especially back in the 1960s, when nobody was thinking about priests molesting kids, if you go up in a very Catholic family, it's an honor to have a priest over to your house for dinner and to befriend your son or want to take him on trips. I mean, the reporting that my colleague, Mo Tamin (ph), did through the Foley family showed that this was -- the family did take it as an honor. And that's why they're, I think, struggling so much to come to terms with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: New threats, new developments in the threat against NFL stadiums. We learned the FBI in Milwaukee is interviewing a person believed to be responsible for the threat. He IS described only as a young adult. Law enforcement sources say he's from Wisconsin. Homeland Security officials say a Web site posting warned of dirty bomb attacks during NFL games this Sunday. They stress the threat is not credible, and the warning is just a precaution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE POMERANTZ, FMR. FBI COUNTER-TERRORISM OFFICIAL: In a post- 9/11 world, the very worst outcome would be if the government had some sort of threat information, failed to pass that information on, and something were to occur. I mean, that's just the worst nightmare possible. So in order to preclude that and prevent that, sometimes, they pass on information, even though they know it's not the most credible information out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The NFL issued a statement saying its stadiums are very well protected with comprehensive security procedures in place.

Dropping oil and gas prices saving you money now. But will it cost you more when you retire? CNN's Ali Velshi with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI (voice over): Oil going up to $100 a barrel. Admit it, you thought it was coming. The problem is, so did they.

"They" in this case are the hedge funds, the investment choice of the very rich. Hedge funds, like mutual funds, are large pools of investment money. But unlike mutual funds they don't have as many rules. They often make riskier investments with the potential of earning higher returns for their investors.

Back in early summer, the smart money was on oil going higher, based largely on forecasts for another devastating hurricane season. Israel and Hezbollah were fighting, and tensions with Iraq were mounting. How could oil prices drop? Some hedge funds went on a multi- billion-dollar buying spree, pushing oil prices even higher. They bet really big. And they bet really wrong.

Doomsday never arrived, not in the Gulf of Mexico, not in the Middle East. So the hedge funds started selling their oil, 40 million barrels of it. Whether the hedge funds actually triggered the drop in oil prices, or just helped push them lower is a chicken or the egg question. But with more a trillion dollars to trade, when the hedge funds sell, we all feel it.

It wasn't just oil. One bet on natural gas and lost $6.5 billion. That fund had to shut down, taking more than just rich folks' money with it. Investors included the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Fund, the New Jersey State Employees' Deferred Compensation Plan, the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System, and the San Diego County Employees' Retirement Association, which lost up to $90 million in that hedge fund.

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VELSHI: The president of that last retirement association was telling us, he had no idea that the hedge fund had so much risk in it. Now if the president of that pension fund didn't know, how about the folks who actually depend on that money to retire?

COLLINS: Well, no kidding. And there are a lot of people who do certainly depend on it.

So what do you do, if you do have a pension?

VELSHI: Well, you call up your pension fund and ask them what they're investing in, but you can't do anything about it. It's not like a 401k, where you can change your outlook.

COLLINS: Can't get them to change it, yes.

VELSHI: Right. People worry about pensions because they're worried their company's going to go bankrupt. This is a whole another problem.

COLLINS: How do you find out, though, if your pension fund is making those risky investments? You can track it somehow.

VELSHI: Yes, well, the pension fund will tell you. The problem is it's hard to know what hedge fund they're investing in is doing. The hedge funds are not regulated, so you can't get that information. Hedge funds are not inherently risky; it's just that they can do things; they're not regulated. So they can do things like this, take big bets on oil and gas, and you pay the price.

But the pension funds tend to be pretty diversified. So the ones we spoke to that were affected, say this was a small part of their investment.

COLLINS: And 401ks?

VELSHI: 401ks are safe -- well, not safe, but they can't speculate in the way hedge funds can.

COLLINS: OK, very good. Ali Velshi, thank you for that. It's a good warning, for sure.

HARRIS: Bad vibes on Capitol Hill. Half of Americans believe most members of Congress are corrupt, and that is up 12 percent since January. The CNN poll from opinion research corporation shows 43 percent don't believe most representatives are corrupt. Checking job approval, pretty negative for both parties. 54 percent disapprove of how Democrats are doing their job. For Republicans, the figure jumps to 61 percent. The poll was taken last weekend. More than a thousand Americans expressing their opinions in the sample.

Cheaper generic drugs available even sooner? Find out in our "Daily Dose" of health news. It's coming up in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: In today's "Daily Dose" of health news, Wal-Mart announcing today its generic drug program, expanding it to 14 more states, 314 drugs included in all. A month's supply, going for $4. The program began just two weeks ago in Florida. Wal-Mart put the expanded program on the fast track after so many people asked about it.

Go on, take a sip of that bottled water and don't worry about cavities. But check the label first. The government says companies selling bottled water with fluoride can now claim cavity prevention. It is a response to dentists who are worried about people drinking bottled water without fluoride protect.

And cuts in Medicare reimbursements take effect next month. That could be a problem for people using power wheelchairs. The government says there is fraud in the program. It will stop paying for most power wheelchairs as of November 15th. Several wheelchair companies say they won't be able to provide affordable power chairs.

And to get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, log on to our Web site. You will find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address, CNN.com/health.

A costly lesson in reality 101.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I'm middle American, middle-class income level, but I'm barely able to maintain the middle class status because of the education debt I'm having to repay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Some hard lessons to tell you about, straight ahead.

And no laughing matter for the mother of comedian Chris Rock. She's claiming racial discrimination. We will hear from Rose Rock ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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COLLINS: Coming up in just a little more than ten minutes, Hala Gorani, "YOUR WORLD TODAY."

HARRIS: There she is.

COLLINS: Hello there, Hala.

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: I'll center myself here. Hello, how are you, Tony and Heidi?

"YOUR WORLD TODAY" at the top of the hour. We're going look at that exclusive insurgent sniper video, and we'll take it one step further. We'll bring you analysis. For the first time, the president is not disputing comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam. What next? If the U.S. needs a new strategy, what might it be?

Also, a story of women in Portugal, talking about harrowing tales of illegal backstreet abortions in that country, on a day where the debate on making abortion legal in Portugal.

Also, the Paul McCartney/Heather Mills divorce is getting uglier. She says he treated her badly. And the leak of alleged court papers adds to all the drama. We'll bring you our report from London.

At the top of the hour, join Jim Clancy and me on YOUR WORLD TODAY. Back to you guys.

COLLINS: Thank you, Hala.

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COLLINS: No laughing matter, though, for the mother of comedian Chris Rock. She is claiming racial discrimination. We're going to hear from Rose Rock, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: You're back in the NEWSROOM, 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time this afternoon. Don Lemon here with a preview.

LEMON: Yes, what a bizarre story.

COLLINS: Isn't it unreal.

LEMON: You guys have had a very busy morning, which probably means we're going to have a very busy afternoon in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: I bet.

LEMON: First of all, we're going to be talking about the priest. Priest accused. Now that this identity has been revealed, what is the Vatican saying about the allegation that this priest molested former Congressman Mark Foley when he was a boy. Pat attention to this one: a racy race. On the campaign trail, a Republican Congressman beset by a scandal involving a mistress and a 911 phone call. He'll get help from President Bush. We'll take you live to La Plume, Pennsylvania. That's when you join Kyra and me at 1:00.

Very interesting, a mistress and a 911 phone call.

COLLINS: Yes, we will be watching that.

LEMON: That's all we'll say about that one and watching you guys.

COLLINS: Thank you.

HARRIS: That's called a tease, yes.

Comedian Chris Rock's mother fed up over service at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. Rose Rock is teaming up with civil rights activist, the Reverend Al Sharpton. She's suing the restaurant after a recent visit. Rock said she and her daughter sat in a South Carolina Cracker Barrel for more than 30 minutes without being served.

Rock and Sharpton talked about it last night on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."

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LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Isn't it possible that are 4:30 in the afternoon, they are changing servers, waitresses coming in and out, different people going, that a goof occurred? Isn't that possible?

ROSE ROCK: Well, you know what, it seems so strange that if they were changing tables -- I mean changing people that only one table got overlooked? Only one table was overlooked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And tune in every night for CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE." His special guest tonight, Democratic Senator Barack Obama. And tomorrow night, civil rights leader, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific on CNN.

COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues just one hour from now.

HARRIS: YOUR WORLD TODAY is next with news happening across the globe and here at home. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. We'll see y'all tomorrow.

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