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Atlanta Shooting of Elderly Woman; NYPD Shooting of Groom-to- Be; Bush Promises to Stand With Al-Maliki; Train Derailment in North Baltimore, Ohio; Dangers of Polonium-210

Aired November 30, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone.
I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.

Checks, spies and isotopes. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, we're talking to a poisons expert about deadly Polonium-210.

PHILLIPS: Plus, U.S. troops called to restore order in Baghdad, except for those trying to hold Anbar Province together.

LEMON: And the official start of winter is still weeks away, but you would never know it in most parts of the country. More than a flurry of activity in the weather centers.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We start this hour of the NEWSROOM with a story we have been following, and a couple of new pieces today in the puzzle surrounding the elderly Atlanta woman shot dead in her home by narcotics cops.

And here to tell us more, CNN's David Mattingly.

How are you doing, David?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Doing well.

And police are coming up with a new wrinkle in the story now. When Atlanta police burst into the home of Kathryn Johnston last week, a shootout erupted that left the elderly woman dead and three officers injured. The officers were on what was supposed to be a drug raid based on the information of a confidential informant.

A man who claims to be a police informant has now come forward saying that police told him to lie about his involvement in the case and to cover for police. Law enforcement sources have confirmed his identity to CNN. He is 24-year-old Alexis Antonio White (ph). He is now in protective custody, as the FBI and other agencies work to get to the bottom of this tragedy.

Part of that investigation will be to determine if White is telling the truth. White claims he's been an informer to Atlanta police for four years, but he also has a criminal drug record. Atlanta police went to the home of Kathryn Johnston, claiming that an informant had brought -- had bought $50 worth of crack cocaine at that address from a man named Sam. This Sam was supposed to have cameras monitoring the outside of the house.

So police got what is called a no-knock warrant, they crashed through the door without warning, and bullets started flying. Johnston was killed in the exchange. One unnamed person was also in the home, was taken into custody. Police have not released any other information about that person or whether or not investigators found any surveillance cameras or drugs on that site.

LEMON: And David, of course this is right here in Atlanta, playing very big in the local news here. We have been seeing a lot of this guy.

How does this guy -- again, he says he's an informant but he does have a record. How does he change anything in this case? Is he going to?

MATTINGLY: It certainly broadens the investigation right now. Before they were looking at what happened, why did this drug bust go wrong. And now it's broadened out to a possible cover-up.

So FBI will also be looking into his claims and trying to determine who is telling the truth here. Is this man lying when he's coming forward saying, "Police told me to lie"?

LEMON: All right.

David Mattingly, thank you so much for the report.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Let's get straight to the newsroom. Carol Lin with more details on that train derailment in Ohio.

Not as bad as we thought, Carol?

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Not as bad as we thought, but let me tell you what we know.

This is about 40 miles outside of Toledo, Ohio, in an area called North Baltimore, Kyra. And this is what we have been able to confirm. A total of three people injured, one with a head trauma, though. The local newspaper there, "The Toledo Blade," is reporting that apparently a car tried to beat an oncoming freight train at the tracks.

All right. Pictures just coming in now to the CNN Center. These are fresh pictures. And you are looking at them as I'm looking at them.

What you are looking at are about a dozen reported cars on that freight train which had toppled over as this train tried to stop to prevent the collision with the car that was trying to beat it across the tracks. Early reports had these cars toppling onto other cars. It turns out, according to local reports, that those cars were empty, Kyra, but still you do have three people injured, including one with serious head trauma. One of the reports says that that was the driver that was trying to beat the train.

PHILLIPS: All right, Carol. Appreciate it.

Well, the groom-to-be was shot to death. Now much of New York is up in arms. New developments on that weekend shooting by undercover New York police.

CNN's Jason Carroll has more -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Kyra, a couple of developments to tell you about.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced that he is establishing a committee to investigate undercover activities in the police department, but that committee will not investigate the Queens shooting which involved undercover officers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: I wanted to announce the establishment of a committee to review undercover procedures in the department. The committee will review the policies and procedures governing the activities of undercover officers throughout the New York City Police Department. The committee will examine the recruitment, selection, training and operation of units employing undercover officers and develop recommendations for improvements.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: You'll recall it was five undercover police officers who were involved in that controversial shooting of Sean Bell early Saturday morning outside a nightclub in Queens. Bell was killed, two of his friends were injured.

Police fired 50 shots in all after police say Bell tried to hit them with his car. They also had reason to believe that Bell or the men who were with Bell may have had some sort of a gun or weapon.

No gun was found, but police searched the sewers near the scene for a weapon. They are also looking for a possible fourth person who may have been seen running away from the area that night.

Also another development, Kyra. Police have arrested four people. They would only say the arrests are related to the case, but they would not say how they are related. Those arrests were on drug and weapons charges.

An attorney representing the men who were shot say there was no fourth person who was with them that night. Services for Bell will be held tomorrow. Community leaders like the Reverend Al Sharpton made it clear after Bell is buried they will be looking for more answers and justice -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jason Carroll live from New York.

Thanks, Jason.

LEMON: A meeting of minds in Amman. President Bush today promised to stand with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to protect his country from insurgents. This after two and a half hours of talks in the Jordanian capital.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No clear indication what was accomplished here in concrete terms, but Bush administration officials were at pains to dispel the impression that they do not have confidence in the leadership of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. President Bush told reporters at a press conference after their meeting that Prime Minister Maliki is, in his words, the right guy for the job. And he said the U.S. will try to expand the role of the Iraqi government in establishing and maintaining security.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My plan and his plan is to accelerate the Iraqis' responsibility. See, here's a man who's been elected by the people, the people expect him to respond and he doesn't have the capacity to respond. And so we want to accelerate that capacity. We want him to be in the lead in taking the fight against the enemies of his own country.

WEDEMAN: And in Baghdad these days, one of the main concerns, of course, is the number of sectarian militias now operating in the country and what appears to be either the unwillingness or the inability of the Iraqi government to bring them under control. Prime Minister al-Maliki did stress during the press conference that the militias will not be tolerated.

NURI AL-MALIKI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We want to emphasize that we will not allow anybody to exert their control over any part of Iraq. If there's any talk about intervention in Iraq, and all the discussion, all the talks about people or other nations exerting control over Iraq, this is not true. This is a political process in Iraq. We want good relationships with our neighbors.

WEDEMAN: That's what they said in Amman. It remains to be seen whether those words will be implemented in Baghdad.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Amman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, he may have the support of President Bush, but that's not helping the Iraqi prime minister at home. It's probably even hurting.

Here's CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arriving back in Baghdad from his meeting with President Bush, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is walking into trouble. His government is faltering. His parliament divided. The situation is worse than when he left two days ago.

His meeting with President Bush and neighboring Jordan was supposed to bolster his power. It appears to have had the reverse effect.

In Maliki's absence, a parliamentary revolt led by firebrand Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who demands a date for U.S. troop withdrawal, is gathering momentum. Sunnis and others are joining what appears to be the first big Sunni-Shia political alliance, a striking development in Iraq's sectarian politics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be quite a thing if parties inside the parliament, in order to make a bloc, to stand against many things, not only the withdrawal.

ROBERTSON: Motlak (ph) has often been the voice of dissent in the parliament. He says the deal has been in the works for months and includes parties inside and outside the government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This role, we believe, is going to be the alternative for what is going on now.

ROBERTSON: Iraqis did watch Maliki's meeting with Bush. Expectations it could halt what many here fear is a civil war were low. It didn't stop people hoping. Sunnis and Shias were united in their disappointment.

"We don't see any solution from the Bush-Maliki meeting," Sunni Ali says. "Iraqis will reap nothing from such meetings."

"These are words without deeds," says Shiite Mohammed. "We want deeds. Bush and America have done nothing for us."

Maliki's first stop when he got back, a news conference. His first topic, America is changing tactics but still supports us. When questioned about the revolt, he called for Sadr to back down.

AL-MALIKI (through translator): They should be committed. We hope they reconsider.

ROBERTSON (on camera): In the six months he's been prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki has never looked so embattled. His ability to lead the country has been questioned in White House memos, despite President Bush's assurances to the contrary. And now he appears to be losing his grip over the very people he needs to run the country.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Double trouble as another ill wind blows east. We're tracking a severe storm from Texas to Illinois, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: A close call in California. An animal trainer is lucky to be alive after an ornery Orca doesn't get with the program.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's get to Carol Lin in the newsroom.

What are you working on, Carol?

LIN: Well, we're still getting pictures in from this terrible train derailment in -- outside of Toledo, Ohio. We are getting pictures, in fact, of the car that was actually hit on the tracks.

And just in case you are tuning in, we have been covering this derailment, where apparently, according to local reports, it was caused by the driver of a car that was trying to beat the train. The train, in trying to stop to avoid that car, derailed. At least a dozen cars fell on some other cars that people actually thought contained people, but it turns out that that they were empty.

So let's go to a reporter who is on the scene right now, Alexis Means from WTVG.

Alexis, what can you tell us about what happened?

ALEXIS MEANS, REPORTER, WTVG: I can tell you that it is a mangled mess over there. It is going to take firefighters, workers in this area, everyone to try -- hours, actually, to try to clean up this mess.

There are several trains over there, as you can see. There's two trains, and the cars you can see are slammed together. So it's going to be hours before this mess is cleaned up.

They have actually pushed all the media back from this scene. They are working to try to figure out exactly what is inside the CSX trains. And they're keeping us at a distance so that -- you know, to make sure that we're safe and to make sure that the people in this area who live here are safe.

Let me show you something real quick here down where I'm standing. These are the homes, and this is how close I am to the homes over here, OK?

These people that live over here are just feet away from this accident. And if I walk you back over here, you can see how close I am to this train accident, this train derailment.

So, as you can imagine, safety officials are very concerned about exactly where reporters are, exactly where these people who live in this area are, and they want to make sure that everyone is safe and that they get this cleaned up as fast as possible. But from looking at it, it will be some time before this will be cleaned up.

LIN: All right.

That was Alexis Means from WTVG.

So, Kyra, three people injured, one with head trauma. Did you see amidst those fallen freight cars that blue speck? I mean, essentially was a car.

PHILLIPS: Was that the car?

LIN: That was the car that was trying to beat the train.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

LIN: That is all that is left of that car.

PHILLIPS: OK. We're just now getting that shot back. It's a bit. It's a bit -- it's kind of dark. It's hard to see it. But you can see -- is the car split in two?

LIN: IT looks like it was just flattened.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

LIN: I mean, just by the force, the impact of the train. So there's a lesson here.

PHILLIPS: I don't why anybody would want to try and beat a train.

LIN: You know, people just think...

PHILLIPS: Yes.

LIN: ... the train doesn't look like it's moving so quick, and there you go. Lost that battle.

PHILLIPS: Pictures coming to us from WTVG.

All right, Carol. Thanks.

LEMON: Well, the calendar may say November, but parts of the country are getting an early taste of winter today. It's a one-two punch, first ice, then snow from a storm moving into the nation's heartland.

And CNN's Jonathan Freed is in Kansas City, Missouri.

Jonathan, what is going on there? What's the mood?

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.

Well, you're right, we saw the ice yesterday and earlier today, and some of it is still here, in fact. We'll show you in a second. And the snow that we have been talking about, that we've been anticipating, is actually starting now. Not very thick at all, but it's noticeable, and it's been thickening up a little bit in the last five minutes or so. We're told to expect between four and six inches of snow, total accumulation by the time it's done.

Let us give you a sense of what's going on around town here.

From our perch here where we're overlooking downtown, we're looking up at the sky, which up until recently, even now, is not looking particularly menacing. But we know what's coming. And the wind chill here has been about 7 degrees, temperature around 20. And you can see these flags blowing here today.

When we got up this morning, Don, in the predawn darkness, this road was covered with ice and snow. And cars were really picking their way along here. But as the day has progressed, you can see it's down to the pavement. And this is pretty well the scene everywhere that we can see at this point. People here now just waiting to see just how much snow they're going to get -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Jonathan Freed, Kansas city, Missouri.

Be careful out there.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's get the big picture. Reynolds Wolf in the CNN weather center working all the details for us around the country.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, when weather becomes the news, you can become a CNN correspondent. If you see severe weather happening, just send us an I-Report. You can go to CNN.com and click on "I-Report," or type in IReport@CNN.com on your cell phone. And then you can share your photos or your video with us.

LEMON: Well, if murder is on your mind, why would you pick Polonium to do your dirty work? Next in the NEWSROOM, portrait of an efficient killer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A very busy day for our Carol Lin, following a developing story, this time out of Iraq -- Carol.

LIN: It is about Iraq, Don. We have just heard from our national security adviser, the U.S. national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, talking to reporters on Air Force One. This is after the president's meeting in Jordan with the Iraqi prime minister.

And according to the NSA adviser, Stephen Hadley, the president may be making some changes to Iraq policy in a matter of weeks, not months. Now, this comes after President Bush in Jordan made remarks strongly backing the Iraqi prime minister and indicating that U.S. forces may be trained faster to take over -- excuse me, that Iraqi forces would be trained faster to take over security in that country. One possibility, after this Iraq Study Group report, which is supposed to come out, this bipartisan group, coming up with the possible solution that U.S. forces should shift more to a support role and not a combat role.

So, obviously, we will be waiting to hear the outcome of that report, but we are having some indications from the Bush administration that there may be a shift in policy and the emphasis on what U.S. troops actually do in Iraq in the near term.

LEMON: Very interesting. And that is something, obviously, we will be following throughout the day and evening right here on CNN.

Thank you very much for that, Carol Lin.

The audience was stunned, the trainer almost killed, and the killer was a whale having an off day at SeaWorld.

Lee Ann Kim of San Diego affiliate KGTV reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEE ANN KIM, KGTV REPORTER (voice-over): It's a show that's performed hundreds of times each year. But Kasatka, a 30-year-old killer whale straight from her routine entrapped her trainer, Ken Peters, seen here in a 1999 video under water. Audience members were horrified.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could tell this was not part of the show.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I don't get why he would do that, bite the trainer. It looked like he was biting him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just a tragedy, because you just weren't sure what was going on until the rest of the trainers started tapping the water. And you could see the panic coming over them. And then the nets coming out. And then you were, you know, instant reality, this is really happening.

KIM: Security evacuated the stadium as performers calmed down the whale and got the trapped trainer free. He was conscious and breathing and appeared to have foot injuries. Witnesses say at least twice he was forced under water for at least a minute or two. SeaWorld officials say Kasatka had strayed from routines before but never to this extent.

MIKE SCARPUZZI, SEAWORLD HEAD TRAINER: There are times like this when they are killer whales, and she did choose to demonstrate her feelings in a way that obviously was unfortunate. And we are unfortunate that our guests did have to see this, and, you know, we obviously do not want this.

KIM: And this Dallas woman certainly didn't want her kids to see this, especially as they were celebrating her 6-year-old daughter's birthday. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I just didn't want to watch a guy die. And I mean, I know I wouldn't want Shamu to die, but I think they should have had something in place where, you know, if it's between him or Shamu, Shamu's got to go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And trainer Ken Peters is reported in fair condition at a San Diego hospital.

PHILLIPS: Click, click, click. Radioactive traces keep turning up in Britain as detectives stay on the trail of a dead man. Too late to help a former Russian spy, but is anyone else at risk?

We're on it in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's get back to the NEWSROOM. Carol Lin, what do you have for us?

LIN: Let's go to the reporter on the scene of that train derailment we've been talking about Kyra outside of Toledo, Ohio. Alexis Means from WTVG. So, Alexis, we have had some conflicting reports but we did hear that a driver tried to beat this freight train and with disastrous results.

MEANS: That was absolutely not true. What we know is that there were several cars waiting with the crossing gates down, waiting for these trains to pass. Somehow, one train jumped the track, flew up in the air, and slammed into this car.

Let me show you exactly how close I am to the scene. There are houses over here that are very, very close to the scene, and then if you go over here, you can see the CSX truck, you can see some of the cars that have derailed. We talked to the police chief here of North Baltimore just minutes ago, and this is what he had to say about this accident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we have is a train derailment that involves cars that you can see here that were waiting to cross the track as the trains were passing. We have one train going east, one train going west. For whatever reason, one of the trains jumped the track down here. They slammed together, and you see the mess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MEANS: And, of course, you can see the mess here. There are a number of emergency vehicles here. They have the area roped off. These are CSX trains, again, we have two that have derailed. What we know, the trains were carrying coal as well as flat steel.

One person was very, very seriously injured and two other people were taken to a local hospital. Emergency crews right now are bringing in equipment to try to remove the cars that have derailed here, and as you can see, there are a number of people bringing in the equipment over there, firefighters here.

This is going to take some time before they can clean up this huge mess. Again, we had one person that was seriously injured, and two other people that were also injured. But we do not know their conditions. Reporting live, Alexis Means.

LIN: Alexis, real quick, the -- so the two people were on the train? Is that right? And one person in the car? Who was where?

MEANS: No, no, there were -- the crossing gates were down and there were cars lined up waiting for the trains to pass. So, there were three people in cars.

LIN: OK. The three people just...

MEANS: So, there was nobody -- exactly. There was nobody on the train.

LIN: All right. Alexis Means, WTVG. Thanks for giving us the bottom line. Kyra, we've had conflicting stories. I mean, CNN has called even people who were early responders on the scene or who were dispatchers, so obviously, this is a fast-moving story.

But can you imagine, so now it is a situation of being, frankly, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Those drivers waiting patiently to cross those tracks when for some reason one of those freight cars jumped the track.

PHILLIPS: OK, so, nobody was trying to beat the train.

LIN: Right. That's according to the local reporter who's on the scene. So this is even getting more interesting because, you know, you stop, the crossing gates are down, and for some mysterious reason...

PHILLIPS: Why did the train go off the tracks.

LIN: Yes, I mean the train just flew right at them.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, obviously, there will be an ongoing investigation. Let us know once you get more information. Thanks Carol.

From London to Moscow, the investigation widens, the plot thickens in the mysterious death of a former Russian spy who apparently was poisoned by the radioactive element Polonium-210. Today, Britain's home secretary told parliament that a dozen sites around London have tested positive for radioactive material.

CNN's Matthew Chance reports that several commercial aircraft are also being tested now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As two contaminated British planes remain grounded in London tonight, a third aircraft is in Moscow, awaiting clearance to fly back. British Airways says it's trying to contact everyone who may have been exposed. Tens of thousands may be at risk.

The British government insists the risk of contamination is low. And reaction has been calm, even among passengers who traveled on some of the flights in question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went on the 28th, which according to the BA Web site is one of the affected flights. So, yes, I mean, they did have a phone line. I haven't used it yet.

CHANCE: Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian agent who defected to Britain in 2000, died a slow and painful death after being poisoned with high doses of the radioactive isotope Polonium-210. A fierce critic of the Kremlin, even from his death bed he accused the Russian leadership of having him killed.

A British police investigation has been trying to retrace his last steps. Britain's home secretary spoke to parliament today, a sign of how seriously the government takes this investigation.

JOHN REID, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: To date, around 24 venues have or are being monitored. And experts have confirmed traces of contamination at around 12 of these venues. Police continue to trace possible witnesses and to examine Mr. Litvinenko's movements at relevant times.

CHANCE: This radioactive trail still being followed in London now appears to have taken a decidedly international turn. Flight connections to Moscow around the time of Litvinenko's poisoning are falling under especially close scrutiny. Police say their investigations are inclusive so far, but the spotlight may fall on two Russians who met Litvinenko on the day he fell sick.

Andre Lagavoi (ph), pictured on the left, is a former KGB officer known to have traveled to and from London on the contaminated flights. British officials say Moscow is promising full cooperation. The Russian government denies any involvement in Litvinenko's killing. But friends gathered at the inquest into his death say latest revelations all point to the Kremlin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The police is looking at the planes which were flying between London and Moscow. Five days prior, Alexander was contaminated himself. So he couldn't be the source of this radioactivity.

CHANCE: And British officials vow that politics or the niceties of international diplomacy won't stop the police from finding the truth. Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, it makes cyanide look like chalk dust but it's too weak to soak through your skin, not so fun facts about Polonium-210. John Emsley knows a lot more. He wrote "The Elements of Murder." It's a book, it's the history of poison. He also is a member of the chemistry department at the University of Cambridge. And thanks for joining us again today. You gave us some very useful insight yesterday.

Again, give us the bottom line on how much people should be worried about this, if you possibly came in contact with Polonium.

JOHN EMSLEY, AUTHOR: Well, if you simply come in contact perhaps by entering an aircraft where Polonium has been detected, I don't think you really need to worry.

The only danger to Polonium is if it gets inside your body and then, of course, it has a devastating effect because minute amounts of Polonium are giving off alpha rays and a milligram of Polonium is giving off something like a million of these alpha rays a second.

And of course each alpha ray is going to damage cells and organs around it. So once it gets inside you, yes, it is really one of the worst possible things to imagine inside your body.

LEMON: Again, chances are low, you said. But I mean they're looking at 33,000 people. And, of course, you know, they are saying it's low. The chances that you becoming contaminated. But you were on one of those flights, easy for us to say but if you are on one of those planes that had some sort of contact possibly, then you're going to be worried about it.

EMSLEY: Well, you would. One could imagine a scenario where perhaps the person carrying the Polonium let some of it escape into the atmosphere of the aircraft and then it might have gotten into people. So, from that respect, in that respect you would be worried.

But, for example, the sites around London, where Litvinenko has been, of course, it's possible now to detect radiation because it is possible to measure alpha radiation from Polonium-210. And in hotels and private houses it's possible to show that there are traces of this there.

But, of course, unless it actually gets inside your body, then it won't harm you. The alpha rays cannot penetrate the skin, can't even penetrate a sheet of paper. Unless it gets into you then you have nothing really to worry about.

LEMON: Let me ask you about...

EMSLEY: Whether this.

LEMON: ... About the density of it because you said you know if you are on airplanes and they are confined and if something gets into the ventilation system.

EMSLEY: Oh, yes.

LEMON: How does it travel? Can it possibly get into the ventilation system of an airplane and then you inhale it?

EMSLEY: It would have to -- yes, the thing about Polonium, it is slightly volatile, so unless it's kept in a perfectly tight, sealed container, then a little of it would escape into the atmosphere.

We know, for example, one of the most famous poisonings by Polonium-210 was by Irene Curie, the daughter of Madame Curie who discovered Polonium. And a little vial burst in her laboratory and she inhaled some of that. I mean, it took a long time to kill her, but eventually she died of leukemia and that was traced to the fact that she had inhaled some of this Polonium-210 many years before. And that's potentially quite dangerous.

LEMON: You are also talking about, we have noticed that -- we've been reporting that it was in a sushi restaurant, maybe other places, other restaurants. If you are there in a place where you are eating, don't you have a potential of actually ingesting some of this?

EMSLEY: Oh, yes, it is possible. We don't know, in fact, how the secret agent managed to get this into Litvinenko.

LEMON: Litvinenko.

EMSLEY: Yes. At one point it was suggested perhaps a drop of something was put into a drink of his and it would only require an amount like that. I mean, the amount of Polonium-210 that would cause you the serious damage that he experienced is less than a milligram, almost, you know, the size of a speck of dust. So you are talking about something very, very dangerous.

LEMON: Yes. I was going to say it's very, very dangerous and it's definitely something that should not be among the general public, especially not in an airplane or a restaurant.

EMSLEY: Oh, no.

LEMON: Elaborate on that because I know you don't want to scare people, but tell us really the dangers and after that the availability of it. How can people get it, if they can?

EMSLEY: Well, I mean, it is manufactured. It's manufactured, but almost any research, nuclear reactor and there are about 50 of these around the world can make Polonium-210 by bombarding bismuth, another element, with neutrons. And about 100 grams of this are manufactured every year, mainly in Russia. Most of that is exported because it has its use.

For example, the first lunar modules that the Russians put on the moon, they were driven by Polonium-210 because a little bit of it gets very hot and you can use it to create electricity.

But apart from those very, very special uses and the people, of course, who put that sort of apparatus together would know just of the dangers and would work in closed spaces and glove boxes that they call them, things like this. So they would not expose themselves to it. And they would, of course, know that it's -- because it's an our perimeter, it must never get inside you. Now, of course, when...

LEMON: ... John, we're running out of time, Mr. Emsley. Thank you so much for joining us. This sounds very much like a murder mystery, doesn't really sound like real life. Something you'd read about in a book. So thank you for joining us today.

EMSLEY: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well straight ahead in entertainment news, Sibila Vargas with "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Hey Sibila, what's on tap?

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. We've got a lot of you today. Michael Richards A-list ally, Hollywood's highest paid actresses and you'll never guess who's getting married.

All that and more when CNN's NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Using the United Nations as a bully pulpit, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez goes on the offensive and gets a nod as a candidate for "Time" magazine's person of the year.

ROMESH RATNESAR, WORLD EDITOR, "TIME": I think Hugo Chavez is an important figure because he is a sort of representative of something that we've seen developing over the years, but I think kind of in 2006 became much more prominent, which is a real resistance to the established order in the international politics.

And Chavez really has become this kind of -- this kind of godfather of a broader movement beyond his country, Venezuela. I think you're going to see these developing countries, which have resources that believe that they deserve a seat at the table, clamoring for more influence and I think Chavez is definitely representative of that.

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LEMON: Well, "Desperate Housewife" finally plans to be a wife, and Michael Richards may have found that special someone as well, a sympathizer.

Sibila Vargas of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" joins me now with those stories and much more entertainment news.

Hi, Sibila.

VARGAS: Hey, Don. That's right. You might say Mel Gibson has a passion for the Kramer. Mr. Braveheart himself, who's anti-Semitic tirade earlier this year made international headlines, has gone on record sympathizing with the "Seinfeld" star after his racist rant at a comedy club.

Gibson tells "Entertainment Weekly," quote, "I feel really badly for the guy. He was obviously in a state of stress. You don't need to be inebriated to be bent out of shape." The 50-year-old Oscar winner went on to say that he "likes Richards and that his heart goes out to him."

Well, moving on, taking a look at the music charts, it seems the Holiday season has been jolly indeed for Jay-Z.

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VARGAS: Z's out of retirement release "Kingdom Come" debuted at number one this week, selling a raptastic 650,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The impressive total marks a career high for the rapper, passing his previous best first week by more than 120,000 units.

And continuing the legacy of charmed "American Idol" finalists, Chris Daughtry, last season's fourth-place winner, and his new band, Daughtry, finished in the number two spot, selling more than 300,000 copies. That's pretty good. That should definitely do well for him.

LEMON: That is pretty good news. If you're on "American Idol" or whatever, you are bound to have success. It's such a popular show.

VARGAS: I know, and then Jennifer Hudson on "Dreamgirls." You've got to see that. I got to see it last night. It's going to be good.

LEMON: It's not always the winner. Not always the winner.

All right, Sibila, speaking of big money entertainment it looks like there's been a shift in the power when it comes to Hollywood's highest paid actresses.

VARGAS: Very true, Don.

For years, one name and one name only has dominated the paycheck roster of Hollywood's leading ladies, but this year Julia Roberts and her big smile didn't even make the list. These days, when it comes to money, the new queen of Hollywood is none other than Australian beauty Nicole Kidman.

Raking in as much as $17 million a movie, the 39-year-old Oscar winner tops the "Hollywood Reporter's" fifth annual highest paid actress list. Others making the top 10 include Reese Witherspoon, Renee Zellweger, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz.

Well, one actress who may not be making those kind of digits on the big screen -- well not at least yet -- is Eva Longoria but, boy, has she hit the jackpot in love. CNN has confirmed the "Desperate Housewife" is engaged to long-time boyfriend, San Antonio Spur Tony Parker.

The couple has been together for two years and plans to wed in France next summer. Congratulations to Eva and Tony. They make the most darling couple, don't they? Look how cute they are.

LEMON: OK. They look all right.

VARGAS: You have got to admit, she's hot and so is he.

LEMON: Yes, what do you have coming up tonight?

VARGAS: All right. Well, tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," scandal sells, from Britney Spears to Danny Devito, from Michael Richards to Mel Gibson -- shocking celebrity scandals couldn't be better for business. Are the stars using their bad behavior for big bucks? A "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" on TV's most provocative entertainment news program, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," 11:00 p.m. Eastern on Headline Prime.

Back to you, Don.

LEMON: OK, I look forward to that. Thank you, Sibila.

VARGAS: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: He may be an underdog and a long shot but the governor of Iowa is not a follower. The first Democrat jumps into the official '08 presidential pool. We will have details coming up next in the NEWSROOM. .

LEMON: And weather or not? As this year's hurricane season goes out with a whimper instead of a widely-predicted bang, you may be asking, how did so many forecasters get it so wrong? Well, can they please get it wrong again next year? Some answers ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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