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Storms Hit North Carolina; Shootings In Detroit; Storms Hit South; Taken At Gunpoint; Democrats Decide Leadership Positions

Aired November 16, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Lieutenant, thank you for your time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We want to take you now straight to the heart of where this tornado touched down. Once again reminding you, as you just heard, that is Riegelwood, North Carolina, southeast North Carolina. A very small town there. You see it on your map. We are hearing five confirmed deaths from the sheriff in that area. This is Columbus County.

Want to go ahead and toss this up to Kelly O'Hara. She's with WECT, one of our CNN affiliates in the area, to tell us exactly what she's seeing.

Kelly, we just heard from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety talking about the situation now as a rescue effort. There are rescue dogs on the scene, trying to find people that may have possibly been thrown from their homes. Can you describe to us what you're seeing around you?

KELLY O'HARA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right now what I'm seeing is I'm looking at about an area of a couple of football fields and it's just a complete debris field. The wind is picking up every now and then. There are large gusts coming through. There are power lines down. There are trees snapped. There are homes that have been picked up and moved throughout the air and they're all over the place. There have been two-story brick homes that have been split in half.

They're going around now and they've been spray painting x's on the home that are OK and that are safe. And right now they did bring in cadaver dogs and canine dogs from different counties to search the area because, as I said before, there have been homes that have just been picked up and been split in half. And there are large walls on -- I'm looking at a bathtub that's been completely split in half.

COLLINS: Wow. Kelly, where were you when this tornado went through?

O'HARA: When this tornado went through, we had heard reports of it, so we were up in the area. And rescue workers were kind enough to let us through to the scene and it is just -- people are in a daze. They don't know exactly what to quite make of this. I'm in an area of Columbus County and one Columbus County official told me that he has never quite seen anything like this. There is a helicopter going over the area -- the trailer area I was in, the mobile home area, it's right abuts a large forest. So right now they're just searching and they're looking through whatever they can.

COLLINS: Yes, when you mention the x's being marked on buildings and people's homes, it really brings back images, at least for me, of Katrina and total devastation, as you describe it. Did you see it? Were you anywhere near actually when it went through?

O'HARA: No, I wasn't here. I was here within an hour afterwards. A lot of rescue workers have been running back and forth because there have been reports of tornadoes touching down in other parts of the area close to the Bladen (ph) County line. Rescue workers are just going slowly through and just -- they're in a daze. They've never quite seen anything like this, as many of them have told me. There have been reports of up to 10, and possibly more fatalities. But nothing can be confirmed at this point in time.

COLLINS: I'm sorry, Kelly, you said eight to 10 fatalities? And who's telling you that?

O'HARA: Different officials and fire rescue workers that are here on the ground. They said that there's anywhere from eight to 10 and possibly more fatalities, but nothing can be confirmed, as I said, at this point in time.

COLLINS: Yes, boy, obviously, still the rescue operations very much in progress at this time. Boy, Kelly O'Hare, thank you so much for your report there.

O'HARA: Thank you.

COLLINS: CNN affiliate WECT. Kelly O'Hara.

I want to head over to Chad Myers now and talk a little bit more.

Possibly that fatality count really going up, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, here's what we had, Heidi. We had the storm. We had it rotating. It's kind of moving on up now. The remnants of what was that super cell now completely up into Virginia, not spinning anymore.

The weather that she's seeing to her west is there. And this little arrow is pointing right exactly to where she is right now. So now I'm going to zoom you into that one spot and we're going to go Riegelwood, right here, where John Riegel Road comes in. Also then up where she was standing there, and also up toward the -- this is the Old Stage Road. This is Old Lake Road. Now Holly Tree Road, which was the first report of where the damage is, is this is half of this little loop here.

So we're assuming that the damage is somewhere up through here. There were some forested areas, as she was talking about. And also, obviously, some of these homes do look long and skinny. That gives you an indication, long and skinny homes, probably a mobile home or possibly a small ranch. So these are the areas that they're looking through now, looking for survivors of this terrible little tornado that we had this morning.

We were all over it. The Weather Service had warnings on it. You need one of those weather radios to know about it. Because if you weren't watching TV, didn't have the radio on, maybe you didn't even hear the siren, there's no way to get out of the way of that storm.

Still some storms in Florida. Still have some storms and watches -- still have tornado watches. Some of these storms could still spin through North Carolina right on up into about Hampton Roads.

COLLINS: Boy, that would be just absolutely the worst of it, wouldn't it, to have another one come on through the same area.

MYERS: It happens all the time in Texas. I mean . . .

COLLINS: Tornado alley.

MYERS: Yes. You get one storm go by, you get the rescue workers out there, then all of a sudden here comes another one.

COLLINS: Well, we will keep our fingers crossed, certainly, that that does not happen here.

All right, Chad Myers, we know you're on it. Thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

HARRIS: And, Heidi, we continue to follow the story that is developing is Detroit right now, looking more and more like some kind of a shooting spree there. Let's get to Rachel Bianco with our affiliate in Detroit, WDIV.

And, Rachel, let's try to put as fine a point on this as we can this morning. Five shots, two dead, and, if I remember your reporting from a moment ago correctly, you have a suspect who is walking around armed and apparently randomly shooting people.

RACHEL BIANCO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly what police believe. They don't have any motive at this point. Five people shot, two of them fatally. There wasn't anything stolen. Their cars were not stolen.

And this guy was last seen walking the streets armed -- the west side of the city. You see that gray car right there, an investigator looking inside of it. That's where a 48-year-old woman was shot and killed, right in front of a daycare here in the city. And then down the street, around the block, a 58-year-old man, he was shot and killed, collapsed in front of a liquor store.

You see we've got dozens of police, a command post has been set up and the officer are fanning out all across the city. The three other people who were shot were shot in the neighborhoods a few blocks away. They all survived. They are at the hospital and police are hoping to get information from them.

But again, this guy did not steal anything. There wasn't any type of an argument. They don't know him. The victims don't know each other. So at this point, police believe this man is out there, he is armed and he is walking and the attacks this morning were random.

HARRIS: OK. Rachel, do we have a description?

BIANCO: We do. They believe he is a young black man. He's 18 to 25 years old. He's light complected. And he was last seen wearing dark pants, dark hooded sweatshirt and he was armed with a handgun. They want to know anybody who may have information on this man. If they may know his nickname. Even if you don't think your information is important, Detroit Police Homicide would like to hear from you. That number is 313-596-2260.

HARRIS: OK. Rachel, we appreciate it. Thank you.

The public information officer for Detroit Police, James Tate, offered a statement just a short time ago. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES TATE, DETROIT POLICE: Motive at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Randomly walked up to these victims . . .

TATE: Again, we have not established a motive at this point.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was the initial shooting in front of the daycare here?

TATE: Correct. But there's no indication that the daycare was the reason why the shootings occurred. There's no reason to believe that the daycare was involved at all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were the two fatalities . . .

TATE: And let me also say that there were no children inside of the daycare at all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Were the two fatalities, the man and the woman in the car, in front of the daycare?

TATE: No. There was a female that was inside the vehicle, and she is deceased. And then other shooting, the fatal shooting, took place around the corner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a manhunt going on now? Right now . . .

TATE: Absolutely. Absolutely. We're looking for this individual. As you see, we have a lot of manpower over here because this is definitely a dangerous individual that we want off the streets. And we need the help of the public to help us make that happen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he say anything to the victims?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK, once again, James Tate, public information officer for Detroit Police. Once again, just to sort of recap this for you. Five people shot west of Detroit. Two dead. It began at about 6:00 a.m. Police say the shootings occurred in the span of 10 minutes in a couple of locations. They're looking for a suspect described as being on foot right now. And we will continue to follow every bit of information on this story and put it together for you and bring you a more complete picture of what happened in Detroit this morning as soon as we can.

COLLINS: Back to the other story that we've been following this morning. Deadly weather in the south. We're talking about at least five people killed in North Carolina. Those numbers possibly going up. One person dead in Louisiana. And in Montgomery, Alabama, you're looking at crumpled wreckage of a daycare/skating rink where our David Mattingly is standing by to tell us more about what happened here.

David, I've been watching you in the monitor. Still very windy there. A little bit cold, too.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Windy and cold. That front brought very abrupt change in temperature today, but everyone out here, tourists aside, including Alabama Governor Bob Riley, who was here just a short time ago, walking away with the same impression they had last night. First of all, they're humbled by the destructive power of this storm and, next, they are absolutely amazed that anyone was able to get out of that building alive.

There were 31 children in daycare inside that building when the storm hit yesterday morning. The staff had practiced for this, for severe weather eventualities. They took them to a secured part of the building and that quick action saved the lives of those children. They were in a part of the building that while most of the roof was coming down, they were still sheltered and rescuers were able to get to them and get them out of the building.

Most of them relatively unharmed. Only two of the 31 need to be admitted to the hospital for any kind of treatment. Governor Riley says it pays when it comes to storm preparation to be prepared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BOB RILEY, ALABAMA: If we spend our time preparing for these types of disasters, you can save lives. If they had not had a plan yesterday in the fun zone, if Liberty Duke and her staff had not implemented that plan, we could be facing a tremendous disaster worse than what we have here today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: The state now tallying up the cost of this disaster, not knowing if the governor is going to ask for federal assistance in this. That's a decision they're going to make sometime later.

Heidi.

COLLINS: Thank goodness they had a plan, as Governor Riley said there. Thirty-one children inside that rink.

All right, David Mattingly, thank you.

HARRIS: We're all over two stories this morning. Two big stories. First out of Riegelwood, North Carolina. The story we've been telling you all morning. A strong line of storms moving through that area.

COLLINS: Very strong.

HARRIS: And the reporting now is that five people confirmed dead by the sheriff there in Columbus County, Chris Batten (ph). We will continue to follow developments there on the ground.

And also, a shooting in Detroit. Five people shot, two dead. A woman exiting her car shot dead by a suspect who is described as walking around neighborhoods randomly shooting people.

COLLINS: Still on the loose.

HARRIS: So far still on the loose. The fatal shootings happening right in front of a daycare center. Fortunately, the daycare center had not opened for the day. We will continue to follow that story in Detroit as well for you.

COLLINS: Also, he's been testing the political waters. Is he ready to jump in? This man, a maverick making a big political splash today, Senator John McCain. His story in the NEWSROOM.

And they won control of Congress, but they can't stop fighting. Democrats trying to settle on their leaders. Details in this story also in the NEWSROOM. Stick around, everybody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: And, boy, we have the breaking news today, that is for sure. Want to get you back to the severe weather situation we've been following all along the south. An update to tell you about.

The Associated Press is now reporting nine fatalities in the North Carolina area. This is southeastern North Carolina, Columbus County. You see the dot there. This is Riegelwood. It's a very small town within that county where we had previously been reporting five deaths that CNN has been able to confirm.

But once again, Associated Press now reporting nine fatalities, which we did expect this. Apparently, once again, according to the Associated Press, all occurred in a trailer park. And we have seen this happen so many times before.

This is a wooded area surrounding that trailer park and what we heard the North Carolina Department of Public Safety say a little bit earlier is that they're very concerned and the search efforts are underway for people who may have been thrown from those trailer homes into the wooded area. They are there with cadaver dogs and rescue dogs now trying to find more people who may have perished in these tornadoes. A very severe situation there that we will continue to follow, of course, right here.

HARRIS: The threat of kidnapping. It is a constant fear on Baghdad's streets. Scores of people were taken from a research facility this week. Their captors wearing national police uniforms. CNN's Arwa Damon has the latest from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): For many of these students, any future is a dream. Each day, a nightmare. Fifty thousand students are officially enrolled in Baghdad University, but you couldn't tell it from looking at the campus. Even more deserted the day after a mass kidnapping at Iraq's ministry of higher education.

MAHA NIDAL, STUDENT, (through translator): If the ministry had someone kidnapped from it, how can we feel secure? Here at the university, there is not much security. If any militia wanted to come, we could be kidnapped easily.

DAMON: On campus, we met biology student Maha Nidal and her cousin. They were among the brave ones showing up. They fear their studies could be a casualty.

NIDAL: How do you know that a future of a country, any country, not necessarily Iraq, has been destroyed? It's when there is no justice, no security and no education. If you reach the stage of no studies and no education, and when you lose that, that's it. The people are finished. There is no future.

DAMON: Students here estimate that on a good day 40 percent of their classmates will show up at university. But they say more often than not, their professors aren't here to teach.

Lectures have come to a near standstill. These students are lucky enough to have their biology class in session, though the professor did not want to be photographed and stepped out of the room. Most of the senior professors here already fled or were killed.

NIDAL: Radmala (ph), the head of our department, was killed last year. Gunmen came to his house and killed him. It was very hard for us. He was like one of the students. He kept us strong.

DAMON: Maha Nidal says extremist elements want to divide Iraqi society and drive out secular, moderate thoughts.

NIDAL: This is what they want, the gunmen, the terrorists, any force right now with its hands in destruction wants this, no education, no learning, no future. They want ignorance to rule so they can have control. DAMON: Deserted hallways testimony to the fear that has already driven many away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And that was CNN's Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad.

News just in to CNN. We've been telling you that the leadership meeting is underway. The House Democrats holding their leadership meeting right now. And we're just getting word that Nancy Pelosi has, in fact, been voted in as the new speaker of the House. There you have some information on the new speaker who will be taking over in the 110th Congress in January.

Still to come, we're waiting to learn who will win the position as the number two. There you see a shot right now, all eyes on the Cannon House Office Building. It is the battle, the inter-party battle over who will become the next majority whip. That has a lot of folks watching the proceedings this morning. And that race, as you know, is between John Murtha, the Democrat from Pennsylvania, and the Maryland congressman, Steny Hoyer. We will be following developments there and we will bring you the very latest as soon as we find out here at CNN.

COLLINS: Also following these stories, severe weather, of course, in North Carolina. We are getting some new numbers that the Associated Press is reporting. Possibly nine fatalities now after these incredible storms just raced through southeastern portion of that state.

Also following a frightening situation in Detroit. Gunman still on the loose. Shot five people. Two people now dead. Happened all within a space of 10 minutes. We have a tip line we're going to put up for you just as soon as we possibly can and let you know where you can call if you happen to know anything about the suspect. 5'9", young man, 18 to 25 years, wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Those are the details we've gotten from authorities there.

COLLINS: And Gerri Willis is here.

And, Gerri, will you help us buy safe and sound holiday toys for our kids this year?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You bet ya, Tony.

Tis the season to shop and that means buying toys for the holidays. We'll tell you what you need to know about choosing the safest ones. "Top Tips" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We are talking and looking at some pictures here about the situation in North Carolina. We are now reporting, according to the Associated Press, at least nine people dead after these incredible storms that ripped through the area. You see the scene there now. Some new video coming in to us from News 14 Carolina. The area, Riegelwood, North Carolina, a very small town. It is really suffering at this moment because of these fatalities that we are understanding also reported by the Associated Press, all to have happened in a trailer park there. Quite a rescue effort going on as we speak because authorities are trying to figure out whether or not there may be more people, more bodies, that they may be finding in this heavily wooded area surrounding the trailer park. So it is just a devastating morning for the folks in Riegelwood, North Carolina.

This is not the only area, Chad Myers, that has been hit. We're talking about Louisiana and Montgomery, Alabama, as well.

MYERS: Yes, quite a bit of damage yesterday. So far, only six confirmed tornadoes, but 66 reports of significant wind damage. And when you get wind damage at night, a lot of times it's not reported as a tornado until the assessment crews go out there and confirm that it actually was.

This storm we do know was a significantly rotating storm that occurred -- the damage occurred at 6:37 a.m. The warning came out about eight minutes before that. Riegelwood, North Carolina, about 15 miles west of Wilmington. Try to give you an assessment of where that is. We'll get off this video for just a moment.

I'm assuming they're probably standing right here on Highway 87 and our reporter was very close to this Old Lake Wilmington Road. The tornado was to the west of that location, through this tree area here. And we were noticing that when they were saying most of the reports saying that the damage was coming to mobile home parks, that all of these little structures here, the long, skinny structure, maybe 12 feet wide, 60 feet long, it's a normal mobile home.

So when you see that, and you see a long series of structures here, we obviously don't know from this picture, this was taken years ago or a couple years ago from a space satellite. But we do expect that somewhere through these tree branches, on up here and across Highway 87, that was the direction of the storm itself.

Back to the live maps. There is another significant storm just literally 10 minutes to the southwest of them, a lot of lightning with it as well, so these rescue workers, these film crews, all of these people trying to get these people out of there are all going to be under the gun again for more severe weather come in. Right now, that new severe storm is not rotating, no tornado warning on it yet. But a lot of these storms have been rotating more throughout the day.

COLLINS: Yes. Hey, Chad, any idea -- are there actually evacuations going on there then?

MYERS: I wouldn't say evacuations. I mean there are going to be some unstable buildings. People always say, why does a tornado always hit a mobile home park? The problem is an 80 mile or 100 miles per hour wind will damage a mobile home. A 100 miles per hour wind will rip the shingles off a regular house, but it will remain standing. Where a mobile home can actually be rolled over and completely come apart. We saw that so clearly, I saw it, with Anderson Cooper in Hurricane Charlie. When that storm came through Punta Gorda, homes that were just regularly stick built homes were absolutely fine. Winds were 120. But the mobile homes were ripped into shreds. And that's what happens. It's why tornadoes do so much more damage to a mobile home. It's simply because of the way they are built. Built to a much better standard nowadays, but a lot of these are built in the '60s and '70s when those standards weren't so high.

COLLINS: Yes, and most of them just don't have that foundation.

MYERS: That's right.

COLLINS: All right. Chad Myers, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

HARRIS: And just moments ago we told you that the Democrats are meeting now to select their new leadership team. Nancy Pelosi was unanimously chosen by the Democrats to be speaker of the House.

And, Carol, I guess the correct term here is speaker designate because there needs to be one more vote to confirm the post in January. But the big question, I guess, today is, who will be the majority leader?

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Her right hand person in the House. And you saw that picture of a closed door. Very symbolic. This is a closed-door caucus where these decisions are being made. And now the choice before them, the business at hand, is to see who's going to be that majority leader. And, Tony, this is where it gets really interesting.

HARRIS: Yes.

LIN: All right. So Nancy Pelosi used to work with Congressman Steny Hoyer, right? He was the assistant minority leader. She has known Steny Hoyer since their early days as interns on Capitol Hill.

HARRIS: Oh, OK.

LIN: Right. There's a relationship there, right?

HARRIS: Well, they're both from Maryland. I mean, Steny Hoyer is a representative in Maryland and Nancy Pelosi grew up in Baltimore. I don't know if they knew each other back that long ago, but . . .

LIN: But, young, at the very beginning of their political careers.

HARRIS: OK.

LIN: So what happens here? Nancy Pelosi puts her bid in for majority leader for, not Steny Hoyer, but for Congressman John Murtha, the first player on Capitol Hill to call for a withdrawal from the Iraq War. Why is this problematic? Well, this dates back all the way to 1980. Do you remember the FBI sting called ABSCAM (ph) where FBI agents posed as lobbyists?

HARRIS: That's right.

LIN: There was videotape of an agent offering Congressman John Murtha $50,000. And Murtha was recorded as saying, "I'm not interested at this point."

HARRIS: Right.

LIN: OK. Those three words, "at this point."

HARRIS: But what does that mean?

LIN: Well, he is the only lawmaker who was not convicted in that shake down on Capitol Hill. So Congressman John Murtha, though, is Nancy Pelosi's choice for majority leader.

HARRIS: And going into this, Steny Hoyer felt like he had the votes. But then you get the endorsement from Pelosi and we don't know if the candidacy of John Murtha has picked up a little steam because of the endorsement.

LIN: Right. And then the political equation on Capitol Hill. Think about what's at stake for the first female speaker of the House. If Steny Hoyer loses, the possibility that she loses some moderate support amongst the Democrats. However, you know, we at CNN have been covering the dilemma that she faces in courting conservative Democrats. Many of them who won their races in their home states because they were conservative. Many have the position of being pro abortion and whatnot. So, this political equation is playing out behind those closed doors, and we are waiting for the results.

HARRIS: Thanks, carol. Appreciate it.

LIN: Sure.

HARRIS: Well, here comes the holidays and the avalanche of toys, but those presents aren't always fun and games. It's reported that bad toys caused 20 deaths and more than 150,000 injuries last year. Joining us with a warning and advice, CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis. She joins us from New York. Gerri, good to see you this morning.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Good to see you, tony.

HARRIS: Hey, I love your first tip. Your first tip, I love it. Think big.

WILLIS: Yes, think big. Size matters here. When it comes to toys, sometimes bigger is better, at least it's safer. Most toy fatalities are the result of choking, so don't buy toys with magnets for kids who are six years or younger. And as a rule of thumb, you can determine if a toy will pose a choking hazard, believe it or not, by carrying around a roll of toilet paper with you to the store. If the toy fits through the cylinder, it is not safe. Now, quality is a matter of safety, too. Children like to pull and twist toys. You know what that's like Tony. They take off the eyes, the nose, the buttons and anything they can put in their mouth, they do. You want to make sure all that stuff is securely attached.

HARRIS: That's smart. You also tell us that it pays to pay close attention to the labeling on these toys.

WILLIS: Absolutely. Look, the only label required by law is the choking small parts label, but you should look for items that are held to even higher levels of voluntary certification. Here are some examples: There's an ASTM designation that should be on crayon and paint packages. This means the item is safe for kids to use. Also, look for the underwriters' laboratories label. You know this, the UL seal on electronic toys. That means the toys have met safety standards for construction and wiring. Another label to keep your eye on, the Canadian Standards Association, our friends in Canada, the CSA label. That has high safety standards as well.

HARRIS: Hey, you know, in my house, we're buying more and more of these things online, but you have to be careful there, don't you?

WILLIS: Yes, you really do. I know it's easy to do, but, look, Internet toy retailers don't have to include information about choking hazards or age-appropriateness in their product descriptions on the web. So, if you see no age recommendation or warning label online, call that manufacturer for that information. And keep in mind some online toy sellers could be foreign manufacturers, and their products don't have to meet U.S. regulations so you want to purchase with caution. Best case scenario, you're buying a product you already know just not in the store, but online.

HARRIS: Are there places where you can go, if you're a concerned parent, to get some information about everything we are talking about here?

WILLIS: Absolutely. Look, if you have already bought some toys, and you want to make sure there hasn't been any recalls, check the Consumer Product Safety Commission's website. They have a great, easy to use website -- it's CPSC.gov. You can also pick up the phone and call them. 800-638-CPSC to report a toy that you think might be unsafe. To get independent and non-profit toy reviews, check out toytips.com or toyportfolio.com.

HARRIS: All right Gerri. What's coming up on the big "OPEN HOUSE" show this weekend.

WILLIS: 9:30 a.m. eastern right here on CNN. We've a ton of great stories, including believe it or not, water police. Some towns have cops that go out and make sure you are using the water responsibly. Plus, how to get your house ready for Thanksgiving guests. I know people are thinking about that. I can't wait for the holidays. It's one of my favorites.

HARRIS: It's a lot of fun. Gerri, great to see you as always.

WILLIS: Good to see you, Tony.

HARRIS: Have a great day.

COLLINS: Straight to Detroit where a gunman is on the loose, and police are looking for him. He has killed two people, shot five total, and is apparently, according to authorities there, walking around randomly shooting people.

These first shootings happened within the span of about ten minutes, believe it or not, in the space of about a three to four- block area. City's Westside. 48-year-old woman, a 58-year-old man died. Three others injured. We are putting up a tip line now at the bottom of our screen there because police are, of course, looking directly to viewers and people in the area who may have seen this person.

That number, 313-596-2260. A brief description of this person, 5'9, black male, 18 to 25 years old, wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Once again, that number, 313-596-2260, two people already dead, five shot total. Police obviously very, very interested in finding this particular individual.

HARRIS: And at least five people confirmed dead. We are getting numbers that even more people have been killed after a tornado absolutely devastated the community of Riegelwood. The very latest, a complete update in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

HARRIS: OK. We want to bring you as much of a wrap of what is going on right now, what we know and what we're still trying to determine, out of the situation in Riegelwood, North Carolina. We've got Ilin Chen with News 14 in Carolina with this latest information for us.

ILIN CHEN, WECT-TV REPORTER: I'm standing at the shelter, at Acne Delco Elementary School right now, this is a staging area that emergency workers have set up. Because right now, as you can see, police are not letting anyone in except medical personnel, emergency workers, law enforcement agents and some construction cleanup crews.

Now, if you can see further down the line there, we are just about a half mile from where the tornado touched down and it's a mobile community that was hit. Folks that have gone down there have described the scene as mobile homes being torn from their foundations, in fact, one woman who went down there to check on her family said that she saw rescue workers pulling bodies out of the woods. She says that it's a scene that she's never going to forget.

Now, all the roads that are going into Riegelwood right now have been closed off because, again, they are not letting anyone in there except rescue workers. In fact, we were driving down Highway 87 and we were stopped about five, 10 miles away and we were routed to this staging area here. Now right now the Red Cross has opened up a shelter here. They're not sure if it's going to be open all night, but the Red Cross work says he expects it will be because there are going to be some folks without homes.

And later on, we are going to hear a briefing from the sheriff. So far he has confirmed there have been nine fatalities, but rescue workers are still in there, trying to find more people, and they're cleaning up the scene right now.

So later on, we are going to try to talk to the sheriff and see what else he can tell us. But that briefing is probably not going to be later on, until this afternoon.

Reporting in Riegelwood, this is Ilin Chen for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: How soon will Intrepid float free? Some new and serious information about how this situation has deteriorated into a dangerous one. Intrepid Museum president Bill White will be joining us to tell us about it live in the NEWSROOM.

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COLLINS: Want to remind you about the two VERY big stories that we are following here in the NEWSROOM. First to North Carolina, the weather situation there. We have now been able to confirm here at CNN, due to sheriff authorities on the ground in Columbus County, this is west of Wilmington, nine deaths, at least nine people are now dead in the tornado that hit a small town called Riegelwood. We'll have more on that and this developing story coming up.

Also, watching a frightening situation in Detroit, a gunman still on the loose. He has killed two people, shot a total of five in a space of about 10 minutes. Again, still on the loose. The tip line there on the screen for you in case you may know anything about the suspect, 313-596-2260.

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HARRIS: We learned just inside the hour that Nancy Pelosi has been selected by Democrats to be the speaker of the house, the correct term, speaker-designate. Pelosi officially takes the post in January. So all eyes right now are on the Cannon House Office Building, because the real question remaining now, is who will be the majority leader, the No. 2 to Nancy Pelosi. The race now, as you know, is between John Murtha of Pennsylvania and Steny Hoyer of Maryland. So we are watching the door there at the Cannon office building, congressional office building. And when the Democrats come out of their leadership meeting, we will certainly bring their comments to you. Now once again we want to bring you up to speed on the situation in Detroit right now. This is James Tate. He is the public information officer for Detroit police being interviewed now by a local affiliate from WDIV.

JAMES TATE, DETROIT POLICE: If you are in the area, please contact us, give us a call.

RACHEL BIANCO, WDIV REPORTER: OK, thank you very much. I know you're very busy, Deputy Chief James Tate. Again, if you have any information now, two gunmen who they are looking for. The phone number is 313-596-2260, or if you want to give information anonymously, crime stoppers, 1-800-SPEAK UP.

Again, the five people shot, two of them fatally, right in front of a day care, two gunmen still on the loose and no known motive. We'll have much more on this story coming up today at noon.

Reporting live on the west side, Rachel...

HARRIS: OK. And we will, of course, be following those developments in Detroit.

Back to our congressional watch for a moment now. So much for Democrats to tackle in January, not just a plan for Iraq. Democrats in the new Congress will also be called on for a strategy to capture Osama bin Laden.

CNN's Brian Todd reports.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's eluded capture through one U.S. presidential campaign and two midterm elections. During this last cycle, Democrats were all too eager to take political advantage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's Osama bin Laden?

TODD: Now that they're about to assume power in Congress, that question turns right around. What's the Democrats' plan to get Osama bin Laden?

SENATOR CARL LEVIN (D), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I would want to talk to our commanders about whether or not additional forces, including special-ops forces, would be helpful.

TODD: The incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee hits on a key Democratic talking point during the campaign. A call for doubling the size of U.S. Special Forces. Would that pin down bin Laden?

Former CIA Officer Gary Berntsen was at the battle of Tora Bora in 2001. His book, "Jawbreaker," recounts how bin Laden narrowly escaped the grasp of U.S. and Afghan forces. Berntsen says Special Op teams are only one component of a hunt like this. GARY BERNTSEN, FORMER CIA OFFICER: It's about the intelligence collections, it's about identifying him. And once he's identified, the military operation can take place. But we've got to find him first. And that's not the job of Special Forces.

TODD: That's the job Berntsen says of intelligence agents. From the U.S. and other countries, and local informants. And if as many terrorism experts believe bin Laden is in Pakistan, that presents a different political problem.

The Pakistani government is in a tough spot. Domestically, it can't allow U.S. Special Forces to operate inside its borders. Though sources on the ground say it happens.

Another Democratic talking point, increase America's human intelligence capabilities.

When I asked aides to key Democratic leaders for more specifics on than, they said they couldn't provide them yet. So I asked CNN National Security Advisor John McLaughlin, a former deputy CIA director.

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We should be doing more of what the intelligence community is now doing, that is hiring increasing numbers of case officers, the people who do this work, looking for people who have languages and ethnic backgrounds that allow them to blend in overseas in difficult environments.

TODD: McLaughlin says it's too simple to say the U.S. needs more Special Forces and better human intelligence.

(On camera): To find someone like bin Laden, McLaughlin says a lot of things have to come into alignment -- the skill of your case officers, the access of your sources. And frankly, he says, some luck, that one tip that can lead to a big capture.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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HARRIS: The latest death toll, at least nine people dead now after a series of storms, a tornado devastated the community of Riegelwood in North Carolina. A complete update on this story in a moment.

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