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At Least Four Killed at Explosion at Gas Station; Change of Command to Lead U.S. Forces in Middle East; Global Warming

Aired January 30, 2007 - 14:01   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, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.

A flash, an explosion, and now virtually nothing is left of a West Virginia gas station. At least four people are dead and others seriously injured. We're following all the latest developments on this.

PHILLIPS: He says something is different -- or something different is needed in Iraq. But is Admiral William Fallon the man for the job? We're watching Senate confirmation hearings on the man who could become the next head of U.S. Central Command.

LEMON: And new stones unturned near Stonehenge. Scientists dig up an entire village near the ancient site. And what they found could rock the archaeological world.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: It is the top of the hour. We're following a developing story for you from West Virginia. T.J. Holmes with all the details.

What do you know?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: As you said there at the top, at least four now CNN has confirmed dead in that explosion at a gas station in Ghent, West Virginia. We did talk to the sheriff there of Raleigh County not too long ago here live on the air, and he said that as many as seven are possibly dead in this explosion. But again, you are seeing what's left of the Flat Top Little general Store there in Ghent on Route 19, where there was an explosion this morning.

They believe there was a leak at a propane tank there. And as fire officials were there to check out the leak, as soon as they were starting to arrive, the explosion happened.

The sheriff did tell us -- Sheriff Danny Moore said that they are going through that debris, going through that rubble. And they don't know how many victims they might find there because they are having a tough time -- or it's difficult, as you can imagine, trying to determine exactly how many people were in the store.

They are trying to figure out how many people had actually worked there, but also trying to determine how many people just had stopped by who were customers there at the time. So that is the painstaking and just horrible task they are having to go through right now.

Don't know what sparked -- sparked this explosion, but know that there was -- or they do believe there was some kind of leak, a gas leak, and -- but don't know what that trigger was, what that spark was to cause the explosion. Do have a report that at least five are injured as well, and possibly critically injured. And we do know as well that a paramedic and a firefighter are believed to be among two that are injured in this explosion.

But a painstaking task right now to go through that debris, that rubble. We don't have a before picture of the gas station, as we said, but the after picture here, you can't even tell there was a gas station or convenience store there, really. You can't make anything out that looks like a gas station, really, or convenience store.

But we're continuing to follow this story. Developments keep coming to us on it. And we will bring those to you as we get them -- Don.

LEMON: Unbelievable. T.J., thank you so much.

HOLMES: All right.

PHILLIPS: Time is short and new and different actions are needed. The subject, Iraq. The speaker, President Bush's pick to lead all U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Navy Admiral William Fallon is on Capitol Hill today for his confirmation hearing. And CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is on the story.

How did he do, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, Admiral Fallon was making clear he didn't really want to be pinned into any corners just yet. He pretty much stayed away from the questions he was asked about benchmarks, deadlines. He said he wanted to focus on progress and that he said, the way things are going in Iraq, something else needs to be done than what's been going on.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. WILLIAM FALLON, U.S. NAVY: I believe that there will have to be a firm understanding that we are not in an open-ended situation where we're just going to sit around and wait forever for things to happen. But I also believe that it's not going to be particularly constructive right now to tape an edict of a number of actions and give deadlines.

I believe in giving them some time. How much time? I don't know. But time is running out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: And, Kyra, that's really the watchword from Admiral fallon in this hearing -- "Time is running out." He says they have to make progress, they have to get the Iraqis to take some of the responsibility for security. But it was pretty interesting.

One other corner he wouldn't let himself be painted into was whether or not the U.S. would need to send additional troops into Iraq beyond the 21,000 increase that is happening now. Something that General Petraeus has left the door open to, the new commander on the ground inside of Iraq, that maybe even more troops would be needed -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And Barbara, as you know, a number of senators asked him a lot of questions with regard to Iran and how he would handle the influence of that country.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FALLON: They are posturing themselves with the capability to attempt to deny us the ability to operate in this vicinity. But I would note that this is not a one-sided game or a one-sided situation. And that Iran is, I believe, critically dependent on its exports of petroleum products for its economic vitality, and those exports, of course, go through the same Strait of Hormuz that they would potentially seek to deny us access to.

And so it seems to me that there is -- there's lots of issues here. There are many things that ought to be considered as we approach our engagement in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Barbara, as you know, Admiral Fallon knows how to negotiate it. He did it with China and a number of other countries as the head of PACOM.

So when it comes to Iraq, how do you think he will proceed on dealing with this threat? Will he be diplomatic, will he wait for intelligence on Iran and take stronger action against that country?

STARR: Well, Kyra, clearly what the U.S. military will do, I think, in this case is follow the lead from the White House.

President Bush has made a couple of things very clear. On the diplomatic front, in terms of Iran's nuclear program and trying to get that back in the box, it is the diplomatic front that the U.S. will pursue on that matter. But all of this evidence that has been merging more in the public arena in the last few days and weeks about Iran's support for the insurgency inside of Iraq, its support for the Shia militia groups, its shipping of advanced weapons into Iraq that are killing U.S. troops, tougher words each day from the White House.

And the U.S. military making it clear that it is really assembling what it believes is a dossier of intelligence and evidence that that is happening. And making it very clear that they will continue, the military, continue to target Iranian operatives inside of Iraq when and where they find them.

PHILLIPS: Barbara, did you also notice, too, almost every senator said things like, "We wish you lots of luck," and "God speed," "We're praying for you." "You are taking on an incredibly difficult task."

From what you know about the admiral and how he has operated in his various positions, he seems that he's not going to be taking his time with anything. He's going to do what he has to do immediately.

STARR: Well, I think that's right. You know, those of us in the Pentagon press corps who have covered Admiral Fallon know him as someone who simply doesn't get flustered. He's very quiet, very methodical, very business-like, moves right ahead.

Today he was not letting himself get cornered. He was saying he wants to take his time. He wants to learn more about all of these issues. But I think, make no mistake, William Fallon will learn about all of this very quickly and will hold people accountable. He will want to see results, and if he doesn't see results, he's going to want to know why -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, thanks.

LEMON: Most people don't ask to be demoted, but that's the situation for National Intelligence Director John Negroponte. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is taking up Negroponte's nomination as deputy secretary of state. A prestigious post, but a definite step down from cabinet level.

Negroponte was asked today about U.S. policy on Iran, particularly the nuclear standoff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN NEGROPONTE, DEP. SECRETARY OF STATE NOMINEE: ... with respect to Iran is that we have, I think, made what I would consider, at least, to be a very interesting and attractive offer to them in exchange for suspension of their nuclear enrichment program, which is now something that's been demanded unanimously by the Security Council, that that would open the door to a richer -- or a dialogue with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: In explaining his desire move back to state, the longtime ambassador kept it simple -- "Basically, I'm a diplomat."

Global warming, just how serious is it? It's a hot potato in politics. Is the Bush administration pressuring scientists to downplay the dangers of climate change? Those and other issues are the focus of a hearing today on Capitol Hill.

Congressional Correspondent Andrea Koppel is on the Hill with the very latest for us -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, it is among the allegations that have been swirling around the Bush administration, that it injected politics into the scientific world of global warming. And it's one that top Democrat on the House side, Henry Waxman, says he believes is one of the major issues of our time. And as a result, the first issue that he focused on his committee hearings on today, a panel of government employees and respected scientists who are in the realm, in the field of global warming, were asked a multitude of questions whether or not -- to find out whether or not, in fact, the Bush administration did try to manipulate the findings of some of these scientists for its political advantages.

Now, among those who testified, Dr. Francesca Grifo with the Union of Concerned Scientists. Her organization is an advocacy group that says it conducted a survey of a number of these climate scientists from seven government organizations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCESCA GRIFO, UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: Our investigations found high-quality science (ph) struggling to get out. Nearly half of all respondents perceived or personally experienced pressure to eliminate the words "climate change," "global warming," or other similar terms from a variety of communications. Forty-three percent personally -- or perceived -- personally experienced or perceived changes or edits during the review of documents that changed the meaning of scientific findings.

Barriers to communication hinder our national ability to prepare and respond to protect future generations from the consequences of global warming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Now, over on the Senate side today, Senator Barbara Boxer of California really took the pulse of her colleagues. It wasn't a hearing. It was a meeting at which 14 senators, both Republicans and Democrats, among them some presidential hopefuls -- senators John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- were given the forum to lay out their views on global warming and what they would do about it.

This is, Don, sort of seen as being a precursor to hearings that will be held over on the Senate side -- Don.

LEMON: Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill.

Thank you.

PHILLIPS: It's perhaps the original "If you build it, they will come" destination. And now scientists may have found where the Stonehenge building crew hung out.

Up next, the discovery that's rocking the archeological world.

LEMON: Think you know all you need to know about breast cancer? Well, so did this Boston reporter, until she got a shock at her doctor's office.

Her story and what you can learn from it ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Tyra Banks fighting back against reports that she's fat. We've got the skinny on the weighty issue and we'll read some of your e-mails straight ahead from the NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Kelley Tuthill is a mother of two and a reporter at our affiliate WCVB in Boston. And just before Christmas she learned she had stage two breast cancer. Tuthill has no family history of the disease and had never even had a mammogram. And she's just 36 years old.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLEY TUTHILL, REPORTER, CANCER PATIENT: While the doctor was examining me, you could just feel the tension start to build in the room and everything gets very serious.

I have no family history of breast cancer. I never even had a mammogram before. So when I tell you I was not expecting this diagnosis, believe me, I was not expecting this diagnosis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with some breast cancer myths and facts.

It catches a lot of women off guard.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly does.

Two of the myths that Kelley was operating under are two that many women have in mind about breast cancer. The first one, the first myth, is that young women usually don't get breast cancer, that it's highly unusual for a young woman to get breast cancer.

Well, it is unusual, but it's not all that unusual. In fact, one out of every 231 women under the age of 40 will get breast cancer. That's not a teeny, tiny number.

Now, the second breast cancer myth is that most women who get breast cancer have a family history of the disease. The fact is, is that 80 percent of women who get breast cancer have no family history of the disease.

Now, this is such a common perception in people's heads. I guess maybe it makes a lot of us feel better. They think, "I can't get it because it's not in my family."

In fact, one oncologist I know who had breast cancer said that she thought, "It's not in my family, I'm a young woman. I won't get it." And even when she was diagnosed, she was surprised.

PHILLIPS: Well, what about the ones who do have it throughout their family, mothers, aunts, grandmothers?

COHEN: Right. There are some things actually that you can do.

If indeed you do have breast cancer in your family history, some women think, "Oh, my mother, my aunt, my grandmothers, there's nothing I can do." That's not true. There are things you can do.

For example, you can stop smoking, if you smoke. That affects more than just lung cancer. You can start exercising. You can drink less alcohol.

And f you have breast cancer running throughout your family, another thing you can do, Kyra, is talk to your doctor about medications you can go on, or talk to your doctor. You may want to have surgery. Some women choose to have their breasts removed. It's a relatively radical thing to do, but that's sometimes what women decide to do.

PHILLIPS: Well, and also saying that some women just assume that when the doctor tells them that they have breast cancer that there's -- I mean, they probably won't survive. I think that's what goes through a lot of women's minds.

COHEN: Many women equate a breast cancer diagnosis with a death sentence. They think is it. And many, many years ago, decades ago, that more or less was pretty much true.

But now that is not true. In fact, 80 percent of women who have breast cancer, it never goes beyond their breasts or the adjacent lymph nodes. It doesn't metastasize, to use the medical term. And, in fact, even if it does metastasize, even if it does go to other parts of the body, many of those women live long lives as well.

PHILLIPS: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, a jury in Philadelphia has blamed an Arkansas' woman's breast cancer in part on the replacement hormone Prempro. It found that the drug maker Wyeth negligent in warning Prempro users of the risk. And it (INAUDIBLE) $1.5 million in compensatory damages.

Punitive damages are expected on top of that. Wyeth faces about 5,000 lawsuits involving its hormone replacement drugs.

LEMON: Up next, your answers to this question: What do you think of America's obsession with weight, and are we crazy to be preoccupied with a few pounds?

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYRA BANKS, TALK SHOW HOST: For them to say, you know, all these negative things, I have a show, "The Tyra Banks Show," and so many girls that are -- that do have that body or that are even heavier than that, you know, look up to me, and they say, "Tyra, you weigh 30 pounds heavier than those models that are on the runway right now and you make me feel beautiful. I look at your body and I feel beautiful."

So when the tabloids are saying that that's ugly, that's disgusting, it makes me think of my audience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Model and talk show host Tyra Banks speaking out to Larry King about tabloid photos of her in a swimsuit. Now, what do you think about America's obsession with weight? Send it to cnnnewsroom@cnn.com and we'll share some of your e-mails here in the NEWSROOM.

Well, Revlon is looking to one-up the competition against rivals L'Oreal and Clairol.

Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock exchange with all the details. We'll have that in just a minute. But first, these messages.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: For nearly half a century, airline pilots have been grounded at age 60, forced to retire whether they were in the best of health. Now the FAA has got change on its radar. It's recommending mandatory retirement be pushed back to 65. FAA administrator Marion Blakey talked about her reasoning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARION BLAKEY, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: If there's a group of employees out there that are in better shape than airline pilots, generally speaking, they are not coming to mind. Well, OK, maybe the Bears and the Colts. But short of a few rarefied groups, I think pilots can contend with anyone on that front. Plus, there's the added protection of a medical exam every six months that's specifically tailored to aviation, conducted by a professional who is specifically trained to address the kind of medical conditions that affect the ability to fly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, back in November, the International Aviation Organization pushed its retirement age to 65, but the U.S. opted out at that time.

LEMON: Revlon is looking to one-up the competition against rivals L'Oreal and Clairol.

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with all the details on that.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

LEMON: The next half hour of the NEWSROOM starts right now.

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

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

Chewing the fat over the size of a former supermodel. Tyra Banks says, get over it, her scale goes up and down like everybody else's.

What do you think about America's obsession with weight? We're reading your e-mails straight ahead, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: 2:30 Eastern time, T.J. Holmes working details on a developing story for us -- T.J.?

HOLMES: Yes Kyra, we continue to follow and update this story for you out of West Virginia. In Ghent, West Virginia, where there has been an explosion at a gas station there that has killed at least four people and the sheriff there tells us that they could -- that number could go higher, as many as seven possibly killed.

What happened they believe here this morning is that there was a leak, a gas leak in a propane tank here at the Flat Top Little General Store again in Ghent, West Virginia. Authorities were called to the scene. As soon as authorities got there, the explosion happened, essentially wiping out just about completely this entire gas station with the people that were there.

You are seeing this video. There used to be a gas station there. You can't make out anything, any semblance of a gas station there right now. We talked to the sheriff, Danny Moore, a short time ago here live. Here's some of what he had to say about the situation they have there. Actually, we don't have the sound from him right now, but the sheriff Danny Moore said he's going to have to go through. What they are doing is the task of having to go through a lot of the debris and rubble and they don't know -- they could find out, of course, find out how many people were working. How many people were on shift at that time.

What they don't know is exactly how many people may have just stopped in, how many customers may have been there. So they certainly wouldn't be surprised and could possibly find more people under that rubble. But we're keeping an eye on this. But at least we know of four dead after a gas station explosion at a gas station there in Ghent, West Virginia.

We've been following this story for some time. We'll continue to follow it and bring you those developments, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right T.J., thanks a lot.

And just back from Iraq, Democratic Congressman Tom Lantos is offering a grim view of the war and the Iraqi leadership. The head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee was part of a delegation led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He says Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is a long way from being the right man for the job. In the CNN NEWSROOM this morning, Lantos also called President Bush's troop escalation plan a mistaken policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM LANTOS (D), CALIFORNIA: I strongly favor deescalating for a tremendous range of reasons. One of them being the global security position of the United States. We have no strategic reserve. Iraq is not the only danger point we face and to try to salvage an operation where so many fundamental mistakes have been made for so long a period is a wrong-headed policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Lantos, Pelosi and the rest of their delegation plan to hold a news conference 3:00 p.m. Eastern. CNN plans live coverage.

LEMON: A party town for the bronze age. Well, archaeologists digging near Stonehenge in southern England believe they found a village where people gathered for festivals and feasts thousands of years ago. Here's CNN's Paula Hancocks.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For centuries, people have been questioning what exactly is Stonehenge? Why was it built here? And who built it? Now "National Geographic" along with other archaeologists believe they have discovered the answer to at least some of those questions. They believe that they have found a site just about two miles away from Stonehenge northeast where they say there used to be an entire village dating back from 4,600 years ago.

Now this was the exact time that Stonehenge was built, they believe, which they now say that they think these people who lived in this village may have been the people who actually built Stonehenge itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK PARKER PEARSON, BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGIST: We found a whole settlement. Many houses and these, we think, are the houses that were lived in by the people who built this thing here. We also think that it's part of a bigger complex that Stonehenge wasn't here in isolation sitting on Solesbury Plain (ph), but was part of a much bigger group of monuments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: The village itself was found between half a meter and 1.5 meters below the ground. And the entire site was probably around 450 meters wide, they believe.

Now archaeologists also say that there was a timber construction there, a timber circle, very similar to the stone wall we have here at Stonehenge, saying it's very significant to see the symmetries between the two.

Stonehenge to the archaeologists symbolizes death. They know that there were cremations here and they say that the permanence of stone shows the permanence of death and ancestry. But they say it's interesting the other one was made of timber, which could decay showing the transience of life. For the archaeologists who are still working in this particular area say that it is a very significant discovery. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Stonehenge, England.

PHILLIPS: What was and what might have been. We look back at Barbaro's short career, mourning a champion straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: More on that developing story from West Virginia. Let's go back to the NEWSROOM. T.J. Holmes, what do you have?

HOLMES: Yes, I've got an update here for you, Don, on that death toll. Again, we have confirmed that four dead in that explosion at the West Virginia gas station.

Well, among those four, according to officials, there was one paramedic and a firefighter among the four dead in its explosion. The confirmed four dead. Also of the four confirmed injuries, two of those are critical. The other two are serious injuries, that is being described.

But again, the word was, as the call came in about the gas leak at this fire station, again in Ghent, West Virginia, that as paramedics and fire officials got to the scene to check out that gas leak, that indeed that's when the explosion happened. But it turns out that they certainly did get caught up in that explosion and again, one paramedic and one firefighter among the four confirmed dead at that West Virginia gas station explosion.

Tough story, sad story here and again the death toll may go a little higher according to Sheriff Danny Moore of Raleigh County. We heard from him a little while earlier. We'll listen to him now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY MOORE, SHERIFF, RALEIGH CO, WV (on phone): We have five that's confirmed injured at the hospital. We have anywhere from three to seven casualties. As we speak, the debris is -- the whole building is leveled. We are digging through the debris now to confirm. We're trying to confirm how many was actually working, how many customers they had, how many was at the gas pump itself. We have -- an EMS, has an ambulance there, disintegrated. There was no fire. It just leveled the whole complex.

HOLMES: Sir, what was the initial call that authorities were coming to respond to? Firefighters were responding to a gas leak, is that right?

MOORE: Correct, on a propane tank. From what I understand, there was a hole in the propane tank. And I think one of the propane people was actually there. The fire department, volunteer fire department at Ghent was called. They were on their way out here to evacuate when the explosion happened.

HOLMES: Any idea what the spark was, what triggered the -- what got that gas to ignite like this?

MOORE: At the point we do not know. We do have the state fire marshal's office here as part of the investigation. And that's what we have to determine, what actually caused the explosion outside the leak, what set it off. We do not know. And unfortunately, if there was a gas personnel worker there, then he won't -- he's probably one of the casualties.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HOLMES: Again, that was Sheriff Danny Moore a short time ago, giving us the update and details. And again, that work continues to go through that debris and that rubble to try to find out, again, try to pin down exactly how many people were there. So a possibility that more -- that death toll could rise from four. Again, at least one paramedic, one firefighter killed, four killed altogether.

We're expecting the very latest on this explosion coming up at the top of the hour when a press conference is scheduled. So we will, of course, be monitoring that and we'll bring that -- those details to you when we get them -- guys.

LEMON: T.J., thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: She traded bylines for headlines when she went to jail in the CIA leak scandal. Now former "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller is on the witness stand in the perjury trial of Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Miller, you'll recall, spent 85 days in jail back in 2005 for refusing to divulge the source for the story involving Libby, the former chief of staff to Dick Cheney.

Libby is accused of lying to federal investigators about how he first learned of a CIA agent's identity. He's not accused of leaking that information.

LEMON: Well, there is a legal setback for Jose Padilla. A federal appeals court in Atlanta today reinstated a charge of conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim overseas. It's the only charge the long-time terror suspect had faced. And it carries a possibility of life in prison. A federal judge dismissed it last year and the government appealed.

Padilla has been in custody five years, originally dubbed an enemy combatant and accused of plotting to detonate a dirty bomb. He wasn't charged, though. Instead, in late 2005, he was charged with taking part in a cell that provided cash and recruits for jihadist causes.

Rain, snow and chilly temperatures are relatively normal winter weather day for most of us, for once. Right, Rob Marciano?

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: A fitting farewell for Barbaro. The Kentucky Derby Museum on the grounds of Churchill Downs is offering to let the derby champ be buried on the site of his greatest triumph. As you know, Barbaro was put to sleep yesterday after one too many complications in a long and rocky recovery from a shattered leg bone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. DEAN RICHARDSON, CHIEF OF SURGERY, NEW BOLTON CENTER: I really didn't think it was appropriate to continue with his treatment because the probable outcome was just so poor and he would have to go through basically an unimaginable amount of discomfort.

JULIE ROVNER, NPR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were able to keep him comfortable, to keep him bright, to keep him happy despite these injuries. And they've said all along that when they couldn't keep him comfortable, they were going to stop. And I think that was clearly the point that they got to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope that we can turn our love into an energy that supports horses throughout the world and not just in our own country and not just the thoroughbred that we all loved so dearly, but all horses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, here at the off-track, when he come on the screen, you know, everybody just went absolutely wild.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heartbroken. I mean, he was a great champion. His owners tried to do what they could for him. His trainer was behind him all the way. His jockey was. And he had a whole country behind him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did develop fairly severe laminitis in both front feet so that essentially it left him with -- it left him with not a good leg to stand on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were lucky to have experienced it. We were lucky to have had a horse like him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right.

LEMON: Well, tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE" an exclusive interview with Barbaro's owner. That's at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

And straight ahead, entertainment news with A.J. Hammer of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT".

A.J., what's on tap?

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Don, get ready for a major reunion during the Grammy Awards this year.

And, besides moving to Los Angeles, what else is soccer superstar David Beckham up to? I will have all the details coming up when CNN's NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

LEMON: Man, that's one of my all-time favorites. What a great song.

PHILLIPS: Incredible musician.

LEMON: Yes. Well, one gig the eighties super-group The Police never played was the Grammys. But never say never.

A.J. Hammer joins us with an arresting development on that.

Isn't that a great song?

HAMMER: Great song. Eight weeks at number one when that came out in the summer of '83, Don. And a lot of people are very excited about this news today because it's been more than two decades since the music group The Police called it quits. But now, thankfully, they're back.

Ah yes, "Every Breath You Take." It was definitely the biggest of one of the many hits the group had back in the late '70s and '80. The Police officially broke up 23 years ago. But they got back together briefly back in 2003 when the trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And now you can see band members Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland all performing live for the first time in years on the Grammy Awards on February 11th. You know guys, these guys have five Grammys to their credit and certainly it's coming up on their 30-year anniversary. So this makes perfect sense.

LEMON: And Kyra's telling me she saw them in the '80s with Oingo Boingo.

PHILLIPS: I saw them with Oingo Boingo. We're going back.

Did you go on that tour, too?

HAMMER: I actually did get to see that tour. What a great lineup that was.

PHILLIPS: We are really aging ourselves.

LEMON: Oingo Boingo.

PHILLIPS: It's one of the best concerts.

HAMMER: Oingo Boingo not appearing at the Grammys.

PHILLIPS: Not making a comeback.

LEMON: Well, this person's probably going to be at the Grammy's too. We probably think we've heard enough of Paris Hilton. But now we're hearing that we could hear even more?

HAMMER: Yes, I don't think you'd have any trouble finding people who thought Paris was already way too overexposed. Now, sorry to report, there's even more of her to see. And Paris is not happy about it. The Hilton heiress filed a federal lawsuit on Monday to try to shut down a Web site which is displaying personal pictures, video, diaries and other personal items belonging to her.

Now the site promises that if you'll shell up $39.97, you'll also be able to see her passport, Paris's medical records and some other legal documents. The company says Hilton's belongings were auctioned off because she failed to pay a local storage facility, which was holding the items. But Hilton claims that a moving company was supposed to pay the storage fees.

Hilton also says that she was absolutely shocked to learn her possessions were sold at a public auction. Even if you are an heiress, you've got to pay the bills.

LEMON: You would think she could afford it. I mean, come on, she is an heiress.

HAMMER: It's easier to say it was somebody else's responsibility.

LEMON: Absolutely, absolutely.

OK, you know, we know that David Beckham is coming to America. But we hear he's already taking part in an American past time, the Super Bowl. What's up with that?

HAMMER: Yes, it's amazing. As if moving to the U.S., suiting up for a different soccer team, raking in over $250 million over several years, not enough for David Beckham. He has another gig. And as you said, partaking in one of America's biggest events.

He's going to be starring in a 30-second commercial for the NFL network. The 30-second spot is going to air during the Super Bowl. You don't get a bigger audience than that.

Now in this commercial, Beckham is going to be joined by -- listen to this crowd, Cincinnati Bengals star Chad Johnson, former attorney general Janet Reno, and domestic mogul Martha Stewart. The way this is set up is Johnson is throwing a little party and the rest of them show up. That is quite a party. Beckham is scheduled to join major league soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy team a little later this year.

Now coming up tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," unmarried in Hollywood. Why are so many stars rebelling against marriage? And "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" dares to ask, has marriage in fact become obsolete? We will have this special report for you tonight on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, it's "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." We will look forward to having you join us at 11:00 Eastern and Pacific on "Headline Prime."

LEMON: And we look forward to joining you, thank you very much.

HAMMER: You got it.

PHILLIPS: Model and talk show host Tyra Banks says she's had enough of tabloids making fun of her weight. Last night she told CNN's Larry King that she was saddened by the way tabloids seemed to enjoy ridiculing photos of her packing on some extra pounds.

We asked you earlier what you thought about America's obsession with weight. Here's some of your answers. Stephanie wants American men to wake up and smell reality. She writes: "So Tyra Banks is finally a normal, average American woman and people just can't stop talking about it. If people are so repulsed by this normalcy, I feel very sorry for most of the men in this country. Wake up, people. This is what we American women look like."

LEMON: Well Henry writes about weight and its effect on how you are perceived. He says: "In America, obese people are seen as weaker. They might not have self respect or self confidence. Healthy-looking people represent a person with discipline who is probably hard- working, focused and reliable."

PHILLIPS: And he goes on to say: "In the hiring room, assuming all qualifications are equal, I would hire the healthier looking person. That's prejudiced, of course. America is a prejudiced nation."

LEMON: Well Shawn shifts up from the philosophical to the practical. He says: "I believe Americans should be healthy and healthily concerned about their weight. Many don't make the proper dietary choices. It's simple. Drink more water than carbonated beverages, eat proper portions of fruits, vegetables and proteins and exercise more."

Well Shawn, if it were only as simple as writing down an e-mail, then we might be able to do all of that. But keep the e-mails coming and send them to CNNNEWSROOM@CNN.com. We'll have more ahead right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Harry Connick Jr. is putting his heart and soul into rebuilding New Orleans. It is, after all, his hometown and he just released two new tribute albums. "Oh, My Nola" and an instrumental "Chanson du Vieux Carre." I've got to work on my French. Royalties from both go to the Habitat Musicians Village in New Orleans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY CONNICK JR., MUSICIAN: In 2006, we bought about eight acres, which is about five city blocks, and the core site of Musicians Village will contain about 70 houses and about 10 duplex elderly apartments, along with a school called the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music which will have a recording facility and performance base and teaching facilities.

And out of about, I guess 50 applicants that have applied for one of the homes, about 30 of them are musicians. And it's going really well. And over the next five years, we hope to have about 1,500 houses in the surrounding areas. So Branford and I are delighted to be associated with Habitat for Humanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Chanson du Vieux Carre. There were go. The Musicians Village was conceived by Connick and fellow performer Branford Marsalis. Already 10 of New Orleans displaced musicians have moved in. LEMON: And your French is just fine.

And we're expecting a news conference, we want tell you, out of West Virginia on the gas station explosion. Four people dead. Several others are injured. New details at the top of the hour. You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we want to tell you this: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democrats in the delegation that visited Iraq plan to hold a news conference at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. And CNN plans live coverage right here in the NEWSROOM as well.

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