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Police Suspended after Fatal Shooting of Groom; U.S. Fighter Jet Crashes in Iraq; Neighborhood Fighting Accelerates in Baghdad; Turkish Leader to Meet with Pope

Aired November 27, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: And I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Don Lemon.

PHILLIPS: Should the "N" word be banned? Michael Richards does radio with Jesse Jackson. Comedian Paul Mooney does TV with us. Spin control and the black community.

HOLMES: A police shooting leaves a groom dead on his wedding day. New York City questions why dozens of shots were fired at unarmed men.

PHILLIPS: Searching for an Iraq solution. Leaked intel from the Iraq Study Group. Bottom line, will American troops come home, whether Iraq is secure or not? Senator turned diplomat Ted Mitchell joins me.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First this hour, the NYPD shooting. You heard it right here, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announcing that two days later authorities don't have all the answers, but he's pledging a full and fair investigation.

Here's what we know. A groom to be was killed early Saturday morning in a hail of police gunfire after a bachelor party at a strip club in Queens. Two of the man's friends were hurt. Police say it happened after an undercover cop was rammed by the groom-to-be's car.

Five undercover police are on administrative leave, and Bloomberg is reaching out to community leaders, some of whom staged a rally yesterday condemning black brutality.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick was at the mayor's news conference. She joins us from outside city hall.

Hey, Deb.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, again, Kyra.

The mayor spent about 30 minutes this morning meeting with members of the clergy as well as community leaders. He is promising a fair and thorough investigation. The mayor determined to find out whether, in fact, race did play a role in this shooting or whether it was just a series of events.

Now, two of the police officers were black, another Hispanic. Another of the officers was white. This shooting took place at a club. The club under investigation for gun sales, as well as teenage prostitution.

And what happened after that, a group of men came out, parted ways. One of the undercover cops thought he heard one of the men in the groom's party talking about a gun and going to the car to get the gun, and that's when one of the undercover police officers confronted those men.

It is unclear whether, in fact, the men in that doomed car ever knew that they were being fired on by a police officer or whether the man identified himself as a police officer. All that now is under investigation.

The Queens district attorney has the leads on this whole thing. They are talking to the five officers who fired their weapons. A total of 50 shots, 31 of them fired by a single officer.

Police have questioned two of the officers who were on scene, but who did not fire their gun. It is going to be up to the prosecutors, the district attorney to decide whether criminal charges should be brought.

But right now the mayor doing his best to urge calm in the community. The clergy members who were here are going to go out to their neighborhoods. They're going to talk to people to make sure that this thing does not turn explosive -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Deb Feyerick, live just outside city hall, thanks.

HOLMES: Stopping the war and saving face. Can the U.S. do both in Iraq? That's the question facing the Iraq Study Group as the war turns into a struggle for answers. We're going to go now to senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, who also has the latest on the crash of a U.S. fighter jet.

Hello there, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Well, let's start with the F-16 incident in Iraq. That is the case where the fate of the pilot is still unannounced, although sources indicate it's unlikely the pilot was able to survive.

This was an F-16 that was conducting a low-level strathing run west of Baghdad about 20 miles away from city and the support of troops on the ground when it crashed. And there are no indications at this point that the pilot of the single seat plane survived, but we're still waiting for any official announcement from the U.S. military.

They also say there's no indication that the plane was shot down, although that will be also determined by an investigation. But it also underscores the danger that these pilots are in in actual combat because, you know, this is something that didn't happen in the 12 years that the United States patrolled the no-fly zones over Iraq when Iraqi troops were actively trying to shoot down planes.

But this plane was flying, again, at a low level conducting a strathing operation. It's a dangerous maneuver, and something goes wrong where you hit some stray ground fire, you don't have much time to recover from that.

So this incident still under investigation, and the U.S. Air Force F-16 crashed today, again, west of Baghdad -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Jamie, what do you know, as well, some information to get, bits and pieces leaking out about what the Iraq Study Group, the recommendations they're possibly going to be coming out with. What are you hearing from them?

MCINTYRE: Well, this group, headed by both former Congressman Lee Hamilton and former Secretary of State Jim Baker, bipartisan group. Ten members. High expectations about what they might come up with.

They're meeting this week. The "New York Times" reports that they already have a draft proposal that they're debating, but it's anything from final. In fact, the debate seems to be over. The question, sort of a chicken and egg question. Do you withdraw U.S. troops to try to get things better on the ground or do you have to wait for things to get better on the ground before you can withdraw U.S. troops? And at this point the indication we have is that there's not a consensus on that question.

And the other problem that this Iraq Study Group is going to present to President Bush is that if it recommends a radical change in strategy, that means going against the best military advice that President Bush is getting from his joint chiefs chairman, General Abizaid, the top commander on the ground.

So we don't know where this group is going to come out. But it will be very interesting to see when they present their recommendations, which is expected early in December.

HOLMES: All right. Jamie McIntyre for us from the Pentagon. Thank you so much, Jamie.

PHILLIPS: The official curfew is over, and Iraq's president has left the country on a business trip. But thousands, maybe millions of ordinary Iraqis dare not leave their homes.

Let's get straight to Baghdad and CNN's Michael Ware -- Michael.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, the curfew, as you said, has lifted. Nonetheless, this morning, as many as 39 executed bodies were found on the streets of the capitol. And in the town of Baquba, just north of Baghdad, 12 more bodies were found.

We also see the continuation of what's becoming a daily phenomenon here in this city, which is neighborhood mortar wars. Firing bombs at each other. We've seen another neighborhood in the capital hit. There's reports of at least three dead and 15 more wounded.

There's been some sporadic attacks on Iraqi police. There's at least one dead police officer as a result.

Essentially, this is a city that's almost socially paralyzed by fear. People dare not leave their homes. The education system is grinding to a halt. Teachers are not showing up at schools. Students aren't attending classes. Families aren't prepared to leave their homes.

And reading Iraqi weblogs has become the most illuminating exercise. Electronic Iraq is an organization which -- which culls these things, has posted a number of these -- these references. We have people in suburbs saying, "My suburb is under attack now, I can hear gunfire. We've been under mortar attack for two days. God save us."

Someone else saying, "Our suburb is running out of ammunition. Please, come to our aid."

Another one saying, "Our suburb is breached. We will fight to the death." That's what has become of Baghdad.

PHILLIPS: Michael Ware, interesting point is you give us these descriptions. All you can think about is, is there a civil war or not? Some journalists are coming a little more daring and saying, yes, there's a civil war going on here. Others not saying that.

King Abdullah doing an interview on ABC this week, saying, still, potential civil war. When exactly can you say as a journalist, as a politician, as an administration, all right, there's a civil war going on right here. This is how you define it.

WARE: Well, put it this way, this is the way I define it. It's that anyone who still remains in doubt about whether this is civil war or not is suffering from the luxury of distance.

You stand here on these streets, you take shelter in these families' homes. You dare to try to go out and try to go to work or, indeed, shop at a marketplace and you will know that this is civil war.

There are already signs of what technically could be declared ethnic cleansing. The United Nations says entire neighborhoods are being disrupted to various degrees. Communities being split. I mean, we have areas that people of one sect cannot enter for fear of immediate execution by another sect.

You drive in a minibus on your way to work. Suddenly, there's a check point. If you're of the wrong faith, you are dead.

There's literally defensive fighting positions now built in some of these suburbs. And the Sadr City quarter of Baghdad, the Shia domain, where as much as half of the population lives, is essentially now a garrison, servicing outlying Shia militia outposts as it wages its retaliatory strikes for the deadly multiple car bombing on Thanksgiving Day which saw 200 innocents slain in the streets in Sadr City.

If that's not civil war, if we don't have two sides of a nation going face to face, then, honestly, I don't know what is, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Michael Ware couldn't have put it more directly. Live from Baghdad, thanks.

HOLMES: Well, it's not a world war, but it's taken a world of time. U.S. troops have now fought more days in Iraq than they did in World War II. Today marks the 1,348 day of fighting in Iraq. U.S. involvement in the Second World War lasted 1,347 days.

Only Vietnam, the Civil War and the Revolutionary War have tied up U.S. troops any longer.

PHILLIPS: Are we healing yet? Michael Richards does on-air penance with Jesse Jackson. We'll check in on his latest apology from the NEWSROOM with the help, of course, from comedian Paul Mooney.

HOLMES: Plus, forget the Turkish delight. Thousands of Muslim Turks hit the streets of protest. This week's visit from the pope. The NEWSROOM keeping an eye on a controversial trip.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, three minutes of venom, 10 days of outrage, backlash and uproar, and it's not over yet. This hour, Jesse Jackson and Congresswoman Maxine Waters holding a news conference on the Michael Richards rant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: This is not an aberration. We believe that this happens all the time. Most of the time it's in private, so it doesn't get the attention.

And, so, we're not here to talk about whether or not we forgive. Who are we to forgive? I don't have any special knowledge or platform by which to forgive. That will happen when Michael demonstrates in his ongoing work and in his life what he cares about and whether or not he should change the way that he thinks.

And, so, this is not simply about whether or not the black community forgives or forgets. This is about understanding that this is pervasive, that this happens in all of our institutions one way or the other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN's Brooke Anderson brings us up to speed. As you know some of the language within this piece is offensive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MICHAEL RICHARDS, COMEDIAN: I know I've hurt them very, very deeply, and now I can -- I can say I am deeply sorry for this.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice-over): Michael Richards is apologizing, once again, for his racist rant at a comedy club in Los Angeles.

RICHARDS: I'm shattered by it. The way this came through me was like a freight train.

ANDERSON (on camera): Richards came here to Premier Radio Networks to sit face to face with Reverend Jesse Jackson on his nationally syndicated radio show, "Keep Hope Alive", to personally ask for forgiveness from the African-American community.

REV. JESSE JACKSON, HOST, "KEEP HOPE ALIVE": Use the word, nigger, and then the lynching scene, I mean, have you been here before?

RICHARDS: No, no, no, no. No. It's a first time for me to talk to an African-American like that. That's a first time for me.

ANDERSON (voice-over): But this isn't the first time he said, "I'm sorry." This latest act of contrition comes nearly a week after Richards' appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman". It wasn't well-received.

SINBAD, COMEDIAN: The apology was -- it was a piece of trash. You can't go on "Letterman". That's the punk way out.

ANDERSON: CNN was the only media outlet allowed into Jackson's radio show, which included a call from Al Sharpton and featured comic Paul Mooney and two NAACP leaders in studio.

We were asked to film the interview, but at the very last minute before the show went on the air, Richards became extremely uncomfortable with the presence of the cameras. And we were told they were no longer permitted. Richards did allow brief filming only during a commercial break.

(on camera) Do you see yourself as a symbol of this bigger issue now?

RICHARDS: That's the voice that got it in motion.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Following the show Richards spoke exclusively to CNN about what he plans to do next.

RICHARDS: Personal work. Deep, personal work.

ANDERSON (on camera): As in therapy, psychiatry?

RICHARDS: Yes. To get to the depths of my -- of anger. The issues of anger. And I'm seeing someone now.

The African-American community is -- I mean, the leadership has opened up the healing. And for that I'm grateful.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Community leaders hope the healing extend to everyone, not just Michael Richards.

WILLIS EDWARDS, NAACP: We have to begin at home, too, within our own community and begin today stamping out using that word, called the "N" word.

We hope that everybody across America would join us in never allowing their children, allowing themselves to use the "N" word.

RONALD HASSON, NAACP: This word has no place in our society.

ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: More on Michael Richards' apology and his meeting with Jesse Jackson. Comedian Paul Mooney joins us live in the NEWSROOM in just a few minutes.

HOLMES: Armored cars, riot police, snipers. Good will visit just not what they used to be.

Security forces in Turkey are preparing for the worse when Pope Benedict arrives there tomorrow. Yesterday, thousands of Turks rolled out the unwelcome mat, calling the pope an enemy of Islam. But Turkey's prime minister, at least, has had a change of heart. He now says he will meet face to face with the pope after all.

CNN's Alessio Vinci is following it all from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fact that the Turkish prime minister, Recep Erdogan, has agreed to meet with the pope is a significant development.

Mr. Erdogan was among the most vociferous critics of Pope Benedict XVI when he made his controversial remarks in Germany, linking Islam with violence. And he had indicated that he was not going to meet when the pope traveled to Turkey, as it is customary every time a pontiff travels to a country. The prime minister saying that he was busy traveling to Riga, Latvia, for the NATO summit. By the way, also the summit where -- attended by the U.S. president, George w. Bush.

Now, it appears that the Prime Minister Erdogan will find some time in his schedule before leaving before Riga and meeting with the pope at the airport in Ankara when the pope arrives there on Tuesday, the prime minister there perhaps under pressure from intellectuals in Turkey who want to make sure that Turkey gives a positive image of a modern democracy that also can welcome people who disagree with its people.

At the same time, not everyone is welcoming the pope in Turkey. There have been several demonstrations throughout Turkey over the past few weeks. The largest one took place on Sunday in Istanbul. Several thousand people gathered in downtown square there, a far smaller than originally feared or even anticipated. Organizers there hoped that several hundreds of thousands of people and perhaps even a million would gather there. That did not take place.

So the fact that a far smaller number of people took to the streets to protest against the pope and the fact that the prime minister would finally meet with the pope, all good indications that the trip of the pope in Ankara will start on a good foot.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, reporting from Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And tonight join Anderson Cooper live in Turkey as the Muslim world prepares for the pope's visit. What will this visit bring? See first hand all this week at 10 p.m. Eastern.

Then all day tomorrow beginning at 6 a.m. CNN begins a full day of special coverage, "When Faiths Collide: Christianity and Islam". Watch all day tomorrow, beginning at 6 a.m., only on CNN.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, pressing allies on Afghanistan canvassing for confederates in the Middle East. The president kicks off a week of global diplomacies. We're tracking every step.

HOLMES: Plus, a former spy is dead. Are others at risk? A radio active case in London that even has the coroner worrying about exposure. The fallout is ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: For the past month we've heard about record after record after record with the Dow Industrials but, today, bam, reality hit us upside the head, and gravity is taking hold.

Susan Lisovicz joins us now from the New York Stock Exchange with more on today's triple digit sell-off.

Hello there.

(STOCK REPORT)

HOLMES: All right, Susan, we'll take it. Thank you so much.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're welcome.

HOLMES: We will see you again soon, I'm sure.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead are, we healing yet? Michael Richards does on-air penance with Jesse Jackson. We're checking out his latest apology from the NEWSROOM with the help of comedian Paul Mooney, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the "N" word, we say just say no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just say no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just say no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just say no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just say no. Just say no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just say no. Just say no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just say no. Just say no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, the most trusted name in news. Now back to the CNN NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: Radioactive sushi? Scotland Yard is retracing the steps and meals of the former KGB agent who died last week in a London hospital. They're trying to track down anybody who Alexander Litvinenko may have had contact with just before he fell deathly ill. Litvinenko died last Thursday, poisoned by the radioactive substance polonium 210. Traces have since been found at a sushi restaurant and hotel he visited the last day that he was healthy. He met with two Russians at the hotel. Litvinenko was a harsh critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and in a scathing deathbed indictment accused Putin of having him killed. President Putin denies it.

PHILLIPS: Taking the measure of al-Maliki, President Bush may turn a critical eye on the Iraqi prime minister this week when the two leaders meet in Jordan.

CNN's Ed Henry has a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Fresh killings and kidnappings in Baghdad just as President Bush preps for a midweek summit with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. But the host of the talks, Jordan's King Abdullah, is warning that Lebanon and the Gaza Strip may also soon be engulfed in sectarian violence.

KING ABDULLAH II, JORDAN: We could possibly imagine going into 2007 and having three civil wars on our hands.

HENRY: In a sign of the urgency, Vice President Cheney engaged in shuttle diplomacy in Saudi Arabia over the weekend, setting the stage for the president's face-to-face meeting with the Iraqi prime minister.

ABDULLAH: We hope that there will be something dramatic. The challenges obviously in front of both of them are immense.

HENRY: The radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is threatening to boycott parliament if al-Maliki goes ahead with the Bush meeting.

DR. MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: This is all political posturing. It's all red herring. It's an anti-threat. This is a very stable government.

HENRY: Mr. Bush faces competing pressure within his own party, with Republican Chuck Hagel Sunday calling for a phased pullout of U.S. troops, declaring, "We have misunderstood, misread, misplanned and mismanaged our honorable intentions in Iraq with an arrogant self- delusion reminiscent of Vietnam."

Other Republicans are urging a massive increase in U.S. troop levels.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: We're talking about 20,000 to 50,000 additional troops to embed them with the Iraqis so that when we clear areas we can actually secure them. Then we need to disarm the militias, we need to arrest al-Sadr.

HENRY: But leading Democrats scoff at that idea and are skeptical about the president's summit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm afraid of, it's going to be a photo session, they'll talk, they'll leave, and nothing will be done consistently. We've got to follow up on that meeting.

HENRY (on camera): This summit will give the president another chance to take a measure of Prime Minister Maliki. Mr. Bush has repeatedly expressed confidence in him. But in recent months, U.S. officials have grown concerned that perhaps Maliki is not stepping up.

Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Take you live to D.C. National security correspondent, or homeland security correspondent rather Jeanne Meserve working the details on a developing story. HAZMAT team being called to the Lincoln Memorial -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They don't know yet what exactly they're dealing with, but they do have reports of a suspicious envelope, and a suspicious container of liquid in the ladies room at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. Various police agencies are responding, as is the D.C. fire department. They are Just starting to get tests under way at this point to determine whether or not this is something hazardous. According to one homeland security source, the letter in question had the following quotes included, "What is anthrax?" And, "Do you know what a bomb is?" One source with the D.C. fire department tells me that they have not found any indications of explosives on site right now, but it will take a little more time to do the testing for anthrax, that involves, of course, getting firefighters suited up in their protective gear. Then they go in and there are a series of tests that they'll do. None of them even will be definitive. It can rule anthrax out, but it can't necessarily tell them that is what they're dealing with, anthrax.

We are told by one source that the envelope in question was found at the base of a pillar in the main chamber of the Lincoln Memorial. Police then evacuated that memorial. The envelope is described as being roughly 10 by 14, laminated, sort of like a packing envelope, and we're told that the Park Police has put out a warning be on the lookout for a white male, about six feet toll, 180-200 pounds. blond hair, green knit hat, green shirt, green khaki pants, no facial hair, possibly about 30 to 35 years old, last seen on foot leaving the Lincoln Memorial at approximately 12:30 this afternoon. According to one source, that description matches someone who a visitor to the memorial thought they saw holding that package. That witness then went to a security guard and mentioned him, and that's why they're on the lookout for this individual. They also are reviewing surveillance video. Of course, there are cameras stationed all over that memorial here in Washington, D.C.

A D.C. fire source says the first thing they're going to do is check out that bottle of liquid in the ladies' room. It was described as looking something like Gatorade. They'll check that out first, then move on to checking out that envelope to determine what it is. No road closures or anything of the sort at this point in time.

Let me emphasize, they do not know yet what they're dealing with beyond a threat. We'll find out more, hopefully, in the minutes to come -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jeanne Meserve, thanks.

MESERVE: You bet.

HOLMES: A nightmare come true in Missouri. At least 10 people dead, another two dozen hurt in a fire that swept through a home for the elderly and mentally ill overnight. The fire burned for hours in the town of Anderson. That's in the southwest corner of the state. The Missouri Highway Patrol said the home had 33 residents and two employees. A recent state inspection identified problems, but none related to fire safety. The cause of that fire still not yet known.

PHILLIPS: A high-stakes huddle for former foes, but as Iraq and Iran get diplomatic, where does that leave the U.S.? We're watching all the Mideast action right here from the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: Plus, Michael Richards does on-air penance with Jesse Jackson. We're checking out his latest apology in the NEWSROOM with the help of comedian Paul Mooney.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: We now want to get you all to a situation we're watching out of New Castle, Pennsylvania, where there's been a house explosion. We'll bring you a live picture here. That is what's left. What we're getting here is that three people have been injured. No deaths, however. Don't know the cause of this. But a house exploded. And taking a look at the pictures, the house appears to be a total loss, totally destroyed, nothing but rubble, like a little smoke there. But that's it. Again, lucky here, certainly looking at these pictures, that no one was killed in this incident.

But, again, we are hearing that at least three people have been injured in this, but don't know the cause of the explosion just yet. This live picture coming to us from our affiliate WPXI, again, out of New Castle, Pennsylvania. But, wow, looking at the pictures, amazing no one was killed, and a heck of an explosion. Don't know what in the world might have caused that. But certainly, man. Wow. Just something to see. We'll keep an eye on that for you.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, international intrigue, no answers in the poisoning death of a former Russian agent in London, but plenty of accusations. That's straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures of the Lincoln Memorial right now as the HAZMAT team has been called out. Evidently police and federal agents have been called in. They're investigating an envelope that was found there, containing a note. Apparently there were a number of things in that note including a quote that said, "What is anthrax?" Tourists are now being kept away from the memorial site while it's being examined.

Our homeland security correspondent Jean Meserve is on, it bringing us all the details. As soon as she gets it we'll bring it to air.

Something else we're keeping our eye on just a moment ago. Live pictures we're getting out of New Castle, Pennsylvania, where there has been a house explosion. These pictures coming to us courtesy of WPXI, our affiliate there, but you can see firefighters still working and smoke still coming from this. But on the wider picture, don't know if this live picture will give it to us, but you can see this house looks like it has been completely leveled, completely been destroyed by an explosion, don't know at this point exactly what caused this house to explode. We do know that there have been three injuries. Looking that mess we saw a short time ago in this live picture. Lucky nobody was killed in this thing. It's amazing that anyone who may have been in that house survived.

But, again, keeping an eye on that, trying to find out exactly what happened. Here is the live shot, or the wide shot rather, not the live shot. But this is tape of what we were talking about, what I was just saying that we saw earlier -- look at it. You can see a neighborhood, and something's missing from that neighborhood, a house exactly is missing. There was a house there. Again, we're keeping an eye on this. Again, just three injuries in this house explosion in Pennsylvania. PHILLIPS: As we mentioned earlier traces of the radio active material that killed a former KGB spy last week has since been found around London.

Paula Newton joins us now with the latest -- Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, more locations have been added to a list where there is polonium radiation. Now here investigators are trying to determine whether or not Alexander Litvinenko was murdered. He died of polonium radiation poisoning, a very rare radioactive element that comes from uranium.

Now, some of the locations they're chasing down right now, Kyra, they're actually just a couple hundred feet away from hundred feet away from the American embassy here at Grover Square. There's no reason to believe that the American embassy itself is in any way, shape or form involved. But it seems that every minute here the authorities are adding more locations to the list of where they're finding these traces of polonium.

In the meantime, the British authorities have done what they can to try and calm people's fears.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): His doctors called it chemical torture. And in the hours before his death, former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko bared the scars of it. His organs failing, his body surrendering. But not his mind.

Until the last, he fingered the Kremlin, a charge echoed by his father.

ALEXANDER LITVINENKO'S FATHER (through translator): "This regime is a mortal danger to the world. He fought this regime, he understood it, and this regime got him."

NEWTON: What actually got him, investigators say, is a rare radioactive element called polonium-210. And now trying to figure out when and how he was poisoned is turning into a sensational whodunit. His friends say the polonium should be like a fingerprint for police; it implicates Russian intelligence executing the government's orders.

ALEX GOLDFARB, VICTIM'S FRIEND: We know that the Russian regime has evolved into a kind of authoritarian dictatorship by now, with no checks and balances.

NEWTON: Russian President Vladimir Putin denies any and all involvement.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I hope that British authorities would not contribute to instigation of political scandals. It has nothing to do with reality.

NEWTON: It's now up to Scotland Yard to sort all of this out. Investigators are combing through Litvinenko's north London home, the sushi restaurant where he had lunch on November 1st, and the hotel where earlier that same day when he met with two Russian men.

All the sites are now contaminated with radiation and authorities are asking people who may have been affected to come forward.

JILL MEARA, BRITISH HEALTH PROTECTION AGENCY: Because we can analyze for it, and this is potentially a serious incident as a whole, we are pleased to offer this reassurance to people.

NEWTON: But police remain challenged by this bizarre murder that now threatens to strain relations between Britain and Russia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Now, in the meantime here, Kyra, authorities are trying to calm people's nerves. They stress that polonium is really only dangerous if it is inhaled or if you are contaminated through an open wound. It's not seeming to put many people's fears at rest here. Calls, dozens of calls an hour, we're told, continue to come in -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Paula Newton, thank you.

HOLMES: An NFL quarterback lets his fingers do the talking. And let's just say it was not a V for victory for Michael Vick.

Turkey not the only bird making news this weekend. That story you have got to see is ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A Falcon says he's sorry for shooting fans the bird. Michael Vick, one of the biggest stars in the league, the star quarterback, of course, with the Falcons gave booing fans a single finger salute yesterday after his team lost to the New Orleans Saints. We're blurring that image.

RAY D'ALESSIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Obviously, thank you. It's a family show.

HOLMES: Ray D'Alessio joins us here now.

Kyra, keep your hands and fingers and everything to yourself over there.

PHILLIPS: I'm being well behaved.

HOLMES: What is the deal? Remind folks how big a star he is. And has he ever had issues like this?

D'ALESSIO: Well, that's what's so shocking about this whole thing. I mean, anybody who has followed the career of Michael Vick, I mean, he is a standup guy, an excellent role model for kids. In fact his only incident really on record, if you want to call it an incident, back in 2002, the NFL fined him for wearing the wrong colored socks, a fine they later rescinded and just gave him a warning. So I mean, again, this is really shocking, really surprising, and not that we're condoning it, and again, not condoning it in any way. Will he be fined? More than likely, yes, Absolutely. Was he in the wrong? Absolutely.

But you've got to understand where he is coming from. It's been very frustrating season for Mike, very frustrating day yesterday. I mean, here's a guy that rushed 166 yards, doing that by himself, and then his receivers dropped a number of passes. So obviously the frustration showing there. Fans giving him a lot of criticism, which he always gets here in Atlanta, and it finally came to a head.

HOLMES: This guy's huge; people love him. Is this going to hurt him? You know, like all this talk about jersey sales and all that stuff.

D'ALESSIO: I think he did the right thing. I mean, Vick realized pretty much immediately afterwards what he did, issued an apology last night, wanting to move forward. And we've got his apology here for you. Vick saying, quote, "First and foremost, I would like to apologize for my inappropriate actions with fans today" -- of course meaning yesterday's game. "That's not what I'm about. That's now what the Atlanta Falcons are about. I simply lost my cool in the heat of a the moment. I apologize and look forward to putting this incident behind me."

So the next question, what happens now? We talked to the NFL office. They are still reviewing the incident, have not made any decision yet. Usually that comes down on Fridays. More than likely he will get a $5,000 fine. In past incidents like this, for instance, Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer back in 2004 flipped off a fan and he got fined $5,000.

But again, Michael Vick a stand-up guy and this is, you know, fans really shouldn't say, OK, well he's a thug or something like that, because he always had a very good reputation in the NFL.

HOLMES: Do we have any idea what might have been said to him, what they were yelling at him?

D'ALESSIO: No idea what might have been said, but, again, it was just a very, very frustrating day all around for Vick and the Falcons. Again, they're fourth straight loss. They started off the seasons 5- 2. Now they're 5-6. And just a frustrating day. Obviously, something was said to him, and he lost his cool.

HOLMES: He's been getting this a lot lately?

D'ALESSIO: He gets a lot on talk radio. I mean, that's the one advantage that we have being down here in Atlanta, you listen to talk radio coming in to work, a lot of people criticizing him because, oh, he runs too much, he doesn't throw, he's not a consistent thrower, and it just all came to a head.

PHILLIPS: Was Michael Richards in the crowd?

HOLMES: Oh, man.

D'ALESSIO: I am not touching that.

PHILLIPS: You know, I am just asking a simple question. I'm sure he's a football fan.

HOLMES: He wasn't.

PHILLIPS: Vick's been such a role model. It's funny that this -- just yesterday, I was at the aquarium and I noticed all the kids, even the adults had his jersey on. I mean, this guy, he's just a tremendous role modal.

D'ALESSIO: And again, it is not the first time that it's happened in the NFL. It just was surprising that it was coming from Michael Vick. That's the whole big story.

HOLMES: Ray D'Alessio, thank you.

D'ALESSIO: Kyra, behave.

HOLMES: Please.

PHILLIPS: I always try.

Next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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