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Mysterious New York Odor; Dozens of Dead Birds Found in Austin, Texas; President Bush to Unveil New Iraqi Policy This Week; The Archbishop who Came in From the Cold

Aired January 08, 2007 - 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 again, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.

President Bush says as the Iraqis stand up we will stand down, but where do we all stand now? A live report from Baghdad.

PHILLIPS: Snow in Colorado no surprise this time of year, but back-to-back blizzards are taking a toll on patience and resources.

LEMON: Plus, some people are cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Others are gaga for gadgets. If you fall into the latter category, well, you better prepare to drool as we visit the consumer electronics show.

I can't wait for that.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

But first this hour, the mysterious odor in New York City. Homeland Security says there's no sign of terrorism, but nobody can say what's causing the smell.

Standing by live with the latest, Alina Cho, at Columbus Circle.

Did you figure it out yet, Alina?

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it is still a mystery, Don. But I can tell you, 2:00 in the afternoon in New York City, and not only has the smell dissipated, but much of the concern has as well.

People sort of going about their business, walking along the street here. Some people may not even know what happened. But it was quite a different story at about 9:00 this morning.

Thousands of calls poured in to 911 here in New York City. People were plain complaining of a mysterious odor. And it was pervasive.

It was noticed all over Manhattan, as far away as Newark, New Jersey. And CNN has confirmed that two people were hospitalized in New Jersey for shortness of breath related to this odor.

Now, still a mystery, as I mentioned, as to what caused this, the nature of the leak. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg did hold a news conference earlier today. He said there is no cause for concern. The city has conducted air quality tests and they have determined that the air is not hazardous. All the while, they are still investigating.

Of course, many residents did smell something suspicious this morning. Lynn Ronchetto, who works in Midtown Manhattan, is one of them.

So what did you notice, Lynn, when you got to work this morning?

LYNN RONCHETTO, SMELLED GAS-LIKE ODOR: I did notice a very strong smell of gas. That was probably about 9:00, 9:10 this morning.

CHO: That sounds about right. So what went through your mind at that point? You weren't overly concerned, I suspect.

RONCHETTO: No. I think I was rushing to the office and probably didn't think twice. So I think I will next time.

CHO: Are you a little surprised that this was -- that people noticed this all over Manhattan? I mean, how do you respond to that?

RONCHETTO: I am. I just thought it was a very localized incident. And, you know, I did notice it, as I said. And when I came out about two hours later, it was -- it was gone.

CHO: Well, glad. And you are going about your business. Do you have the day off work now or are you heading back to work?

RONCHETTO: No, I'm heading back to work. So great.

CHO: Well, too bad for you. Some people did get off -- get the day off of work.

Lynn Ronchetto, thank you very much.

RONCHETTO: Thanks.

CHO: As I mentioned earlier, some people getting the day off of work today, primarily because their buildings were evacuated. Several buildings in Manhattan were evacuated this morning.

And again, it bears repeating, the mayor of New York City saying there is no cause for concern. Air quality tests have been done and the air is not hazardous. All the while, they are still investigating, trying to find out the nature of the leak, the source of the leak.

And Don, as soon as we get more information, of course we'll bring it right to you.

LEMON: And it looks like, Alina, things are getting back to normal fast, because Manhattan is noisy and still is noisy on the background there.

CHO: That's right. Classic New York style.

LEMON: Alina Cho, thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, foul phenomenon is also gripping Austin, Texas. Parts of downtown were shut down early today after dozens of bird were found dead in the streets.

Pigeons, grackles and sparrows started dropping overnight on a route through the heart of the Texas capital. Now, authorities say preliminary tests for dangerous chemicals have turned up negative. The same for bird flu.

Dr. Adolfo Valadez, medical director for Austin's Department of Health and Human Services, now joins us live for more.

Doctor, thanks for being with us. I know you just held a news conference.

I guess, first of all, are you concerned at all about this? Because it's still a bit of a mystery as to why these birds died, right?

DR. ADOLFO VALADEZ, AUSTIN DEPT. OF HHS: Well, it's actually not unusual for a large number of birds to die off. I think that maybe we become remiss about that living in the city so much. So, of course, we do take this seriously, and the first thing we want to do is assure the public safety.

And so we performed tests to rule out any dangerous chemicals that might immediately impact the public's health. And those -- those tests came back negative.

Additionally, some air monitoring and review of our disease surveillance information in our hospitals and emergency rooms showed no natural -- unnatural occurrences happening. And so we felt rather confident this was not a threat to the public's health.

PHILLIPS: So you say it's not unusual for dozens of birds to turn up dead like this, but it does seem unusual, because it's not something we hear about every day. So explain to me why it's not unusual.

VALADEZ: No, because birds, as you know, are not always the cleanest of species. They eliminate in their drinking source and food sources, which then can pass different illnesses on between them, whether virus or bacteria. So that certainly can be a cause of a large die-off. And we certainly saw that in the beginning of the West Nile Virus here in Texas several years ago.

And then also, there can always be an element of intentional harm to a bird, such as a direct poisoning. And so we're investigating all of those possibilities.

PHILLIPS: All right. Tell me what type of tests you did because, of course, we see fire engines and ambulances and hazmat teams. And we're talking 63 birds. That's not, I guess, just a dozen or so.

Tell me exactly what you tested for. You tested for bird flu. You said that came up negative.

VALADEZ: We did not test -- I just want to be clear -- of course, avian influenza is on everybody's minds. And that's something that we will test for as we send this off, but this is not -- that is not an immediate concern.

The immediate concern was more dangerous chemicals. And so what we tested for on site were, through a gas chromatography, a procedure to isolate these chemical for organophosphates, which are pesticides that can be used to poison people, as well, and that was the specific battery of tests that we did around volatile chemicals and organophosphates in particular.

PHILLIPS: So you didn't test specifically for bird flu, West Nile, any of these strains that we are concerned about nowadays?

VALADEZ: We have -- we do test for those. Those tests are -- there's not currently available, a rapid test. And what we -- it takes several hours to run those tests, and those tests have been sent off to appropriate laboratories.

PHILLIPS: OK. So it still could be something like that then. The threat is not completely over?

VALADEZ: It's highly unlikely to be an avian influenza. There have been no reported cases of avian influenza in the United States or North American continent. And although certainly it's a concern for me as a public health official, at this point we wanted to really focus on the immediate concern to people, which are chemical or toxin exposure.

PHILLIPS: So right now you're not concerned about anybody there on the streets living in Austin in any type of health danger?

VALADEZ: As we mentioned in the press conference, that's correct. Based on the information we have at hand, currently there's not a public health threat to people here in Austin.

PHILLIPS: And final question. I have to ask you, when will we have the results from the CDC for these other things that you have tested for?

VALADEZ: Well, the tests take -- depending on the types of tests, whether it's for viral cultures or bacteria, or toxicology results, those can take anywhere from several days to weeks to get a final result.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Dr. Adolfo Valadez, appreciate your time. We'll stay on top of it and keep checking in with you.

VALADEZ: Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: Thanks. LEMON: Thousands more troops, a billion more dollars, a seemingly infinite amount of skepticism. President Bush's new plan for Iraq could generate all of that, and he hasn't even announced it yet. But, you won't have to wait much longer for that.

CNN's Elaine Quijano has the very latest for us from the White House.

Wednesday night, right, Elaine?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good afternoon to you, Don.

We knew the president would unveil his Iraq policy this week. And now we have a date and time. It will be Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The White House has asked the television networks for approximately 25 minutes for President Bush to address the nation.

Now, sources familiar with President Bush's deliberations tell CNN that, while a final plan itself is not in stone, essentially, that there are still several aspects in which there is widespread agreement. And that includes sending some 20,000 troops to Baghdad and possibly other areas. Also, on the economic front, a new jobs program that you mentioned costing some $1 billion, as well as a focus on reconstruction in Iraq.

Now, Tony Snow, at the White House press briefing just a short time ago, didn't go into any specifics. He would not talk about that, saying, "Talk to me on Thursday," essentially. But he did get asked about why the White House believes that this strategy yet to be unveiled, nearly four years after the Iraq war, why the White House believes it will be successful.

Here in part is how Snow answered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We've been consultations with Congress, with members of the military, with foreign heads of state, with the Iraqi government, with leaders throughout Iraq, with scholars, with people who agree and disagree. There's been a lot of time and effort put in to trying to figure out, how do you try to set the conditions that are going to enable you to move forward so that you have an Iraq that can stand up on its own?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, what will be happening over the next couple of days, President Bush will be taking a look and reviewing and retooling, if you will, the speech that he will deliver on Wednesday night. We also understand, including today, there will be some more outreach to members of Congress. Tony Snow not really going into very much detail, but saying that essentially the members of Congress will, in fact, be briefed before the president does deliver that speech.

We also know a little bit about what the president will do after the address on Wednesday. On Thursday, he will be heading to Ft. Bening, Georgia, to talk to troops there.

And stay tuned, Don, because we anticipate there might be more announcements once the president does deliver his address about where the president and other administration officials might be heading to talk about this new Iraq plan.

LEMON: Elaine Quijano.

Wednesday night. And, of course, CNN will be carrying it all for you live.

Thank you, Elaine.

PHILLIPS: The burning question in the fight for Iraq, when will the Iraqis take care of their own business?

CNN's Ryan Chilcote tried to find some answers in Baghdad -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, Iraqi officials have been outlining a new security plan for Iraq over the last 48 hours to us. It focuses squarely on Baghdad, and it is a plan -- they say it's called the Baghdad Security Plan that they have been working very carefully on with -- with the U.S., and that they say the U.S. would have a big role in.

The Iraqi officials say that, effectively, this plan, the Baghdad Security Plan, would be the centerpiece of the U.S.' new strategy in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE (voice over): Fighting crime in a city of six million people is a daunting task. Cleaning up Baghdad, where more than 100 people are killed on any given day, is a mammoth task.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Baghdad is the center of gravity. And the battle will have to be won.

CHILCOTE: The new plan, cordon off the city and each of its neighborhoods. No one gets in or out unchecked. Then move in more Iraqi and American troops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to be -- clean it, hold it, and inject cash in it to stimulate the local economy in that particular neighborhood, and to generate jobs and to attract young people to do useful jobs.

CHILCOTE: The U.S. and Iraq have launched crackdowns in Baghdad before, but those operations have failed to stop the killing. This time, Iraq's Shiite-led government is promising to go after both the Sunni-based insurgency and Shiite militias, including the Mehdi army in Sadr City, believed to be responsible for a large number of sectarian killings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually take on the Mehdi army? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take on Sadr City, clear the area from the insurgents. We have people -- bad people there who will be cleared.

CHILCOTE: U.S. troops will be fighting alongside Iraqi forces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would like the multinational forces to be everywhere within the police, within the army, and the checkpoints and the patrolling, and the combat forces.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHILCOTE: Kyra, this plan would require an enormous amount of manpower. Not just more U.S. troops, in all likelihood, but also more Iraqi troops.

Now, the Iraqis say that they would bring those troops in from other places in the country, something that they have failed to do in the past when there have been crackdowns. They also are saying, in a change on policy from just a couple of months ago, that they are now ready to accept more American troops -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And as we wait for the president's speech here in the United States, Ryan, on his new strategy and his new plan going forward for Iraq, what about the prime minister and his upcoming security plan for Baghdad?

CHILCOTE: Well, again, officials are telling us that that security plan is really the centerpiece of the U.S.' strategy. It is being announced as an Iraqi security plan, perhaps to put an Iraqi face on it, but it is a plan that is being drawn up, together with U.S. officials. The Iraqi officials working together with the U.S. officials.

And as we understand, it would really involve a lot of U.S. troops. The plan specifically calls for U.S. troops to go in to these Iraqi neighborhoods, into the neighborhoods here in Baghdad, together with Iraqi counterparts. Actually, at about a ratio of about six Iraqi troops to one American soldier -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ryan Chilcote, appreciate it.

LEMON: He's supposed to hear confessions, not make them. The archbishop who came in from the cold, that's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In Cold War Poland, the Catholic Church and the communist party were believed to be opposing forces. The former under a Polish pope helping bring about the downfall of the latter. But two prominent Polish clerics have stepped down in the past two days over their alleged secret ties with Poland's former communist rulers. Today's resignation of a chief priest at a Krakow cathedral follows a bombshell announcement by the newly appointed archbishop of Warsaw.

CNN's Alessio Vinci has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): His code name was Agent Gray, and for about 20 years, starting from the late 1960s, Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus spied on fellow clerics for the Polish secret police. Wielgus first denied any involvement, but facing increased pressure from the Polish clergy and reportedly from the pope himself, he resigned on Sunday, the day he was to be installed as the highest church official in the Polish capital.

"I submit to your holiness my resignation as the metropolitan archbishop of Warsaw," he said, reading from a letter sent to the pope. Earlier, in a different statement, Wielgus said he did not report on anyone, nor deliberately try to hurt anyone. But documents uncovered by a Polish church commission showed enough evidence he was a willing informer.

"The church historical committee has found that there are important documents which confirm Wielgus' willingness to cooperate with the communist secret police," this spokesman said. "The documents also point that this kind of cooperation has been undertaken."

Among the documents proving he was an informant, this agreement signed by Wielgus in 1978 promising to cooperate in exchange for a passport and the permission to travel abroad. A Vatican spokesman said Wielgus' behavior during the communist regime gravely compromised his authority. But also said Wielgus may be the victim of a revenge from old enemies.

Allegation that's Wielgus was a spy first emerged in early December after Pope Benedict appointed him archbishop of Warsaw to replace retiring Cardinal Jozef Glemp, the primary (ph) opponent, and one of the symbols of the Polish Catholic church's opposition to the communist regime, which ended in 1989.

During mass on Sunday, Cardinal Glemp said Bishop Wielgus should not be judged too harshly, as many Poles were forced to cooperate during the communist era. Some historians say as much as 10 percent of the Polish clergy could have cooperated with the regime.

(on camera): A senior Vatican official says when the pope nominated Wielgus last month, he did not know the former archbishop had spied for the Polish communist regime. It is an admission that raises questions about the Vatican's vetting process of some of its most senior members.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk more about the Vatican connection.

Joining me now, CNN faith and values correspondent, Delia Gallagher.

Delia, is it possible that the man at the center of the scandal spied on Pope John Paul II?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, one of the -- one of the mysteries in all of this is what exactly was involved in his collaboration. And, of course, the details of that we don't know. But this abrupt sort of resignation suggests that there are probably some details that are yet to come out. And indeed, that's one of the concerns now expressed by the Vatican and by others in Poland, that this may only be the tip of the iceberg, both with regard to this bishop and with regard to other priests who were collaborators in Poland.

PHILLIPS: So let's talk more about what the Vatican is saying about this. And how did it happen that the pope even nominated him?

GALLAGHER: Well, there is a serious vetting process. And so this is one of the big questions of the Vatican, how could it happen that they didn't know about this? And, of course, the bishop himself said that he told the pope about this collaboration. And the Vatican came out with a statement in December and said we know and we support this nominee, nonetheless.

PHILLIPS: Delia, forgive me. We will -- we will continue our conversation. I apologize.

We've got to get to the speaker, though. Nancy Pelosi meeting now with the 9/11 Commission. Lee Hamilton also there and other representatives from that commission.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: ... protect the American people, to fight terrorism, and to give comfort to those families.

Two and a half years ago, the 9/11 Commission took giant steps to do just that. I am so honored that we are joined here today by two members of that commission, the vice chairman, a former congressman, former chairman, Lee Hamilton, and Congressman Tim Roemer. I thank them on behalf of everyone in our country for their leadership and service.

Throughout the debate on 9/11 and its consequences and its aftermath, we have always said that any discussion of 9/11 was a discussion that is held on sacred ground. To the extent that we can do whatever we need to do in a most bipartisan way, we will strive to do that.

To that end, tomorrow, we will be introducing our 9/11 Commission recommendation legislation. My colleagues are here to join us to talk about that today. It comes in four parts.

First, the 9/11 Commission bill itself, which Mr. Thompson will address on the provisions that relate directly to homeland security. Two of our colleagues who aren't here, Congressman Ike Skelton and Congressman Tom Lantos, their committees jointly have jurisdiction over stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and they will manage that part of the bill. Mr. Lantos' committee has further jurisdiction over the public diplomacy aspects of the bill, and he will manage that.

Before we get to the 9/11 Commission bill, though, we will have a legislation that addresses congressional oversight. A very important part of the 9/11 Commission recommendations was criticism that Congress has not exercised appropriate, adequate oversight over the intelligence community.

We all, Democrats and Republicans alike, take very seriously our responsibility to protect the American people. We know the important role that intelligence plays in that.

To that end, we have worked with the Appropriations Committee and the Intelligence Committee, and Mr. Obey is here to speak to this issue for a commission...

PHILLIPS: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holding a news conference. She met with members of the 9/11 Commission today.

You may remember, right after 9/11, Lee Hamilton and Congressman Tim Roemer came together with other members from the Hill and discussed certain recommendations that could be made to try and prevent another 9/11. From that commission came a tremendous piece of legislation with a lot of recommendations. Some have been implemented, some have not. A lot of them still weighing in the balance there.

Nancy Pelosi saying now it's time to move forward and work to hammer out a number of those recommendations and get them in print and get them into action. Talking about weapons of mass destruction, congressional oversight, and also dealing with the intelligence community and the communication among the intelligence community. Of course, homeland security and a number of provisions that were recommended by that commission.

We'll continue to follow it. You can also go to cnn.com/pipeline if you want to follow that in its entirety.

LEMON: And Kyra, all of this part of the 100 hours that the Democrats are proposing, especially Nancy Pelosi.

Let's head off to Washington now, and Brianna Keilar.

You heard the speaker talking there what they are going to do, breaking this basically into teams, they say. One for weapons of mass destruction, another for diplomacy, and so on and so on.

Reaction from Washington on this?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, at this point we don't have reaction. But what's interesting, Don, is that in the release from Democrats, talking about the proposals, these proposals from the 9/11 Commission that would be incorporated, the initial release, there was something conspicuously absent. And that was actually something that Nancy Pelosi addressed.

That was the 9/11 Commission recommendation, what they considered one of their most important recommendations. And that was increasing congressional oversight. Centralizing oversight over homeland security operations and also over intelligence.

And what's interesting there was you heard House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressing that. So perhaps maybe a last-minute change.

Now talking about a few of the things we're going to be -- we're expecting to be seeing tomorrow, when Democrats sort of push this, what they are calling the 100 -- first 100 hours of legislation through in six days over the next two weeks.

First, the funding to improve the communication system for first responders. As you may recall, during 9/11 there were local, state and federal responders. And it was very difficult for them to communicate and know what other agencies were doing.

Also, improved aviation security. Better bag screening. Better passenger screening.

And also, improved inspection of cargo containers coming from the largest overseas ports here to the United States -- Don.

LEMON: Yes, absolutely. All of this coming out.

But you know what? They were talking about 9/11 here, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats, this press conference she just had. But missing from the 100 hours is any talk about Iraq.

KEILAR: No, and that's exactly right. There are six issues they are undertaking over six days. Or at least that's the plan.

Speaking with one political analyst, one political analyst told me that Democrats don't have a ready agenda on Iraq like they have on these other issues, these six issues they are tackling. Among them, increasing the minimum wage. Also -- pardon me -- also -- also student loans. Another very touchy subject, of course, stem cell research.

But this political analyst says this legislative blitz is really just a chance for Democrats to show they are working hard. That they are working harder and accomplishing more than their Republican predecessors, and that they are unified. And that political analyst saying that talking about Iraq isn't going to buy Democrats the message that these other issues will buy them.

LEMON: All right. Brianna Keilar summing it all up for us in Washington.

Thank you very much.

The speaker of the House holding a press conference a short time ago, talking about her meeting with the 9/11 Commission. PHILLIPS: A new base, a familiar mission. Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, evidence in of al Qaeda in Somalia stokes fears of new terror training camps.

We'll bring you the details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

PHILLIPS: Well high interest in high tech. The newest in new fangled is debuting right now at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. And this case, what happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas. CNN's Renay San Miguel joins us live with a severe case of gadgetation. Hey, Renay.

RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is that an actual word, Kyra, gadgetation?

PHILLIPS: Well according to my writer Lisa Clark, yes.

SAN MIGUEL: I like it. And you're right, what stays in Vegas -- what happens here will not be staying in Vegas, if we have anything to do about it.

The 2,200 companies that are here showing their wares for 130,000 people want to make sure they get some kind of buzz or publicity about this because they've got to get it on store shelves by the time Christmas rolls around in 11 months.

But here's the thing. We wanted to kind of stage our own little version of a reality game called pitch me. Basically, why, as a consumer, would I want to buy your product? You see there's tons of product here. There's a lot of competition for not only space on retail shelves, but also for the dollars that are in your wallets and your checking accounts.

So we're going to start off here with a product that's getting a lot of buzz that's basically live television on my cell phone. Is that right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct. This is V CAST Mobile TV from Verizon. And V CAST Mobile TV allows us to bring the best of TV onto your mobile phone.

SAN MIGUEL: OK, what is it going to cost me and when is it going to be available?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to be launching this in the first quarter. We haven't announced pricing details at this point, but stay tuned. It's coming in the near future.

SAN MIGUEL: Now the idea of watching live TV on a cell phone is great, but it's a very small screen. I mean, what do you tell a consumer that's going to have some concerns about that? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well what we're doing is we're working with our strategic partner QUALCOMM and MediaFLO to bring the best of TV through really compelling consumer content deals so that people, when they have a few minutes to kill and are looking for some entertainment, instead of being tied to their TV or their DVR at home, can now access this content anywhere they are.

SAN MIGUEL: OK, thanks very much. We appreciate it. Let me move you over here and we'll get our next contestant, which is Toshiba, which has a very cool looking, very clean, slick looking laptop computer. The Protege, I understand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, today Toshiba is introducing the Protege R400. And what you have here is perhaps the most advanced showcase of technology in the signature notebook for Windows Vista.

SAN MIGUEL: OK, a lot of laptops out there. What is really truly the one thing you would want consumers to know about this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the most important thing that you would see is this is the world's first PC to provide the convenience of information. It's the world's first system that can actually enjoy push mail technology. Meaning whether the system is even on or even asleep, it will go out and actually grab your e-mail and provide it for you.

So whether you are looking at a system which is a convertible tablet, whether you are looking at the system in tablet mode or whatever. As you go around and do what you need to do, Renay, it will actually have the information there waiting for you.

SAN MIGUEL: That is very compelling. What's the cost? When is it available?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's available as of about January 30th. The cost starts at $2,599.

SAN MIGUEL: OK, thanks very much.

PHILLIPS: Renay, did you see the shout-out? Hold on, did you see the shout-out on his computer? Have him go back to that. Was that to his kids?

SAN MIGUEL: I understand, yes, you're right, there's going to be a lot of CNN help and hello Renay and hello CNN and hello Kyra as well. I'm telling you, they want to get the attention. They want to get some publicity here.

This is a camcorder. Tell us what it does.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a great little product. It's called the RCA small wonder digital camcorder. And it's available now at Kmart stores, $129. It has an hour of video right inside the flash memory of this device. The great thing is this is perfect for posting to YouTube or e-mail. You can just flip up the USB arm and send that video that you just shot right to grandma. Post it on your Google video site, whatever. This is perfect for the user-generated video generation.

SAN MIGUEL: And how much and when will it be available?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is available now from RCA, the small wonder available now, $129.

SAN MIGUEL: $129 bucks. Thanks so much. We want to thank all of our people for playing our game. And you're going to be able to play the home version here when all these products finally make it to store shelves. Just a small sample of what's available here at the Consumer Electronics Show, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Fun stuff. Hey Renay, Lisa sent me the actual definition of gadgetation. Are you ready?

SAN MIGUEL: I'm ready, go for it.

PHILLIPS: All right, it's a noun. Here's the first definition. State of extreme excitement brought on by exposure to new gadgets. No. 2, this is the best one, annoyance, experienced by spouse, significant other when these new gadgets are brought home.

SAN MIGUEL: Guilty right here, guilty as charged.

PHILLIPS: Are you one of those guys with nine remotes at the house?

SAN MIGUEL: Completely. I'm saying, look at what this does. Look at what that does. We just got an HDTV and my life is over. I'm telling you, all I'm watching is just HD stuff now.

PHILLIPS: Man, I can feel your wife's pain. All right, thanks Renay.

SAN MIGUEL: Thank you.

LEMON: A new base. A familiar mission. Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, evidence of al Qaeda in Somalia stokes fears of new terror training camps.

PHILLIPS: And a whole lot of flaking going on in Colorado. But even in ski country, snow isn't always a good thing. Check out these pictures. An update on the conditions and that avalanche and what's yet to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit in the wind. And for Pete's sake, you don't go after Oprah the same week she opens her new multi-million dollar school in South Africa.

Just ahead, an alleged extortion attempt that went bust. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: But first this. A milestone in Somalia. That nation's president arrived in Mogadishu today. The capital not only for the first time since taking office, but for the first time in 40 years.

To say the Somali government is weak is an understatement. And as we hear now from CNN's Barbara Starr, Islamic radicals have been eager to fill the void.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. officials here in East Africa tell CNN that Al Qaeda operatives were developing the ability to attack U.S. targets, just as they did in 1998 when U.S. embassies were bombed in Kenya and Tanzania, killing hundreds.

Intelligence shows that after an Islamic militia took power in Somalia in June, Al Qaeda stepped up its operations there. Camps taught radical Islam to young men. Weapons flowed in from East European arms dealers, and money from the Middle East. One official said, "We just couldn't live with it anymore. We were worried."

REAR ADM. RICHARD HUNT, TASK FORCE, HORN OF AFRICA: That's what we were really concerned about, is there seemed to be much more recruiting, much more training going on. They were positioning themselves to expand their area of influence beyond the Somali borders.

STARR: Three Al Qaeda operatives accused in the embassy bombing have been hiding for years. The U.S. believes they were closely tied to the Islamic group, the ICU.

JENDAYI FRAZER, ASST. SECY. OF STATE AFRICA AFFAIRS: We had felt that and see evidence, intelligence evidence, that these three al Qaeda operatives were also very much influencing the leadership of the Council of Islamic courts. For example, they were providing logistics, providing fuel, arms, et cetera, to the militia.

STARR: Neighboring Ethiopia was also worried by the prospect of a hardline Islamic regime next tour. Its invasion to oust the Islamic militia met with no objections from Washington. Frazer is now leading the U.S. government to support the fragile new government in Mogadishu, hoping it can keep both Al Qaeda and Somalia's traditional warlords in check.

The new Somali foreign minister says his country now wants U.S. troops back more than a decade after they withdrew.

ISMAEL HURREH, SOMALI FOREIGN MINISTER: More than anything else, we want the Americans to help us to train an efficient security force.

STARR (on camera): The Bush administration has made it clear -- it will not send U.S. troops into Mogadishu. But the question now may be, what else is Al Qaeda sending into Somalia?

Barbara Starr, CNN, Nairobi. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to the NEWSROOM, T.J. Holmes with details on something at the port of Miami?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's been an interesting and a little more exciting couple of days, I guess they really anticipated or hoped for at the port of Miami. But another security scare there for the second straight day.

You are looking at live pictures there now of the port of Miami where the Miami-Dade police bomb squad has been called out because of a suspicious device that's been found at the port of Miami. That's how it's being described.

The public information office saying they have located what they are describing as some sort of instrument. That instrument tested positive for C-4. That's plastic explosive.

Now we're looking at these live pictures. Don't exactly know for sure what we may be looking at or if we are looking at this particular device or whatever it is, this instrument as they call it that they are looking at.

Now again, you may remember just yesterday there was another scare at the port of Miami where three men were detained and caused quite a stir there. These three men here who the charges have been dropped against but they were held and detained because some of the people they ran into there at a checkpoint, they turned out it was a miscommunication.

These three men are of Middle Eastern descent but they are U.S. citizens, legal U.S. citizens. Turned out that was a miscommunication but it caused quite a stir and quite a scare at the port of Miami yesterday and now here we are the very next day.

You can see there, some of the emergency officials and police and what not gathered there. Don't exactly know where this device is, where -- who left it. What kind of place or situation or area it might have been dropped off. But they are calling it an instrument that has tested positive for plastic explosives and are calling it a suspicious device.

You can see quite a number now of police on the scene trying to figure out exactly what this is, if it is dangerous. But if they're saying that it tested positive for a plastic explosive, that certainly sounds like serious business and they certainly will be taking it seriously. We are going to keep an eye on this (INAUDIBLE) more information and when we do get it Kyra, we'll be right back to you with it.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll keep following those live pictures via our affiliate WSVN and keep talking to you. Thanks, T.J.

HOLMES: All right Kyra. LEMON: A whole lot of flaking going on in Colorado. But even in snow country, snow isn't always a good thing. An update on conditions now and what's to come? It's next right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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PHILLIPS: We've been watching those live pictures from our affiliate WSVN, T.J. What's the latest coming from the port of Miami?

HOLMES: Yes, keeping an eye on this situation, trying to get a better handle on exactly what's happening here. But what we do know, according to police there, is that the bomb squad has been called out to the port of Miami for a second straight day. They have a bit of a security scare there.

This time around it's a suspicious device at the port of Miami that's been found there. It's been described as some sort of instrument that has tested positive for plastic explosives. C-4 plastic explosive is what we're being told.

And again, we just had a security scare there yesterday. However, that ended up being a miscommunication with three gentlemen who were held and now later released and all charges dropped against them. But it did cause quite a stir at the port of Miami. And another stir there today because of a suspicious device.

Don't know where it is there, who might have dropped it off, how it was located, who located it. But police are taking this and all these situations quite seriously, especially now that they seem to have word and know that it has tested positive for an explosive, for C-4 plastic explosive.

We are working our sources and also getting our law enforcement experts, trying to get them up, trying to as much information as we can on this. And as we get that, we will, of course, bring that to you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right T.J., appreciate it.

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LEMON: Straight ahead, entertainment news with A.J. Hammer of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT".

A.J., what do you have for us?

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, what celebrity was the target of an extortion scheme? We're going to tell you.

Plus, we're going to reveal who the newest members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are. That's just ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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LEMON: Let's get an update from the Miami airport. T.J. Holmes following all the developments in the NEWSROOM. What have you learned, T.J.?

HOLMES: We're trying to get more information on this. Again, C- 4 explosive is what has been detected with some sort of instrument that we're told has been found at the Port of Miami. This is according to the Miami-Dade police. And the bomb squad has been called out there. We're watching the activity in these live pictures, still trying to get as much information as we can. We're working with our people on the ground, trying to get more info and also trying to get some of our security experts, law enforcement experts on the phone and trying to find out more -- certainly trying to find out more about exactly what C-4 is.

You might know the name but not exactly familiar with what it is and just how serious and dangerous and volatile this stuff may be.

But, again, some sort of instrument found at the Port of Miami. Second straight day that we've seen some kind of a security scare at the Port of Miami. Yesterday's scare turned out just to be kind of a communication breakdown. That situation was worked out with three men who were there at the port. But this time around it appears some sort of suspicious instrument.

You're watching police officials there. And, again, the bomb squad we know has been called out. We're keeping an eye on some sort of instrument. C-4 plastic explosive found in that instrument at the Port of Miami. We've got on eye on it -- Don.

LEMON: All right, T.J. Thank you very much for that.

PHILLIPS: No celeb likes bad publicity. But that doesn't mean they'll pay it avoid it. An extortion suspect has been in court in Chicago over his alleged scheme to squeeze Oprah Winfrey. We get the details now from "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's" A.J. Hammer.

So I understand you don't try and squeeze Oprah into anything or out of anything, A.J.

HAMMER: No, she's not exactly the woman that you want to target. And this is a bizarre little story, Kyra. Oprah Winfrey, of course, in the news all last week, being called a hero after opening her school in South Africa. But, yes, over the weekend we learned that at least one man is calling her something else, a target. The FBI has charged 36 year-old Kiefer Von Villain (ph) with trying to extort $1.5 million from an unnamed Chicago based public figure. Chicago newspapers have named at figure as Oprah Winfrey.

Van Villian apparently recorded several conversations that he had with a California-based employee of Winfrey's. He then claimed that tabloids and book publishers were offering him up to $3 million for those tapes and that unless he was paid off, he was going to release them to the public. He arranged a pay-off but instead of getting cash, he got a set of handcuffs and a trip off to jail courtesy of the FBI.

What is on the tapes remains a mystery. Van Villain has said he has this employee saying some awful things about her boss. But, Kyra, I'm not exactly sure what could have been said between him and the boss -- him and the employee that would have been worth so much money.

PHILLIPS: You think we'll find out?

HAMMER: Hopefully, for Oprah Winfrey's sake, if it indeed is damaging information, no. But, you know, we don't know. No, I don't think we'll actually find out.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about some good news for some big names in the music industry.

HAMMER: I love this time of year. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announcing its new class today. The word here: variety. Listen to these bands: Georgia rockers R.E.M. inducted alongside the 1960s band the Ronettes, punk poet Patti Smith and Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five, all inductees this year.

Van Halen's also being inducted into the Hall of Fame. And with that band's history, it could be a pretty interesting ceremony. The band has had some well documented breakups with their lead singers, first, of course, David Lee Roth, then with his replacement Sammy Hagar. And since inductees typically perform at the ceremony, there's already speculation as to just who's going to be on stage. It's a black tie induction ceremony. And it will go down in New York on March 12th.

Now, coming up tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT", Rosie strikes back. This story continues. And we're going to tell you exactly why Rosie O'Donnell is not taking Donald Trump's attacks against her lying down and how even her kids are getting caught in the middle of this bitter feud. We've got the explosive story on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT". We'll see you at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, A.J.

HAMMER: You got it.

LEMON: And don't go anywhere. We're going to continue to bring you the latest developments from that situation at the Port of Miami. --

You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM.

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