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Publicity Ploy in Boston; Southern Discomfort; Nine Questioned in Britain in Alleged Plot to Behead British Muslim Soldier; Evolving Enemy in Iraq

Aired February 01, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.

For the next three hours, watch events as they come in to the NEWSROOM live on this Thursday, the first day of February.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Toon trouble. This electronic device stirring a big security scare. This hour, a pair of promoters heading to court.

HARRIS: Slipping and sliding in the South. A storm spreading a glaze of ice and snow from suburban Atlanta up to the nation's capital.

COLLINS: Keeping up with the evolving enemy. Iraqi insurgents constantly changing tactics. The challenge for U.S. troops in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: At the top of this hour, call it bad publicity or publicity gone bad. Two men in court this hour to face charges in a marketing stunt that got out of hand.

It was supposed to be a promotion for "Adult Swim" on the Cartoon Network, part of Turner Broadcasting, parent company of this network. It turned into a series of bomb scares, shutting down parts of Boston.

Our Boston bureau chief, Dan Lothian, has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning.

We are outside Charlestown District Court, where two suspects involved in yesterday's security scare here in Boston connected to a botched advertising campaign will be arraigned. Twenty-seven-year-old Peter Berdovsky and 28-year-old Sean Stevens are being charged with placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct.

They were both working for the Cartoon Network, were doing this on the part of a third party ad firm, Interference Incorporated, which is based out of New York. The first incident happening yesterday morning, not far from where we are standing, shutting down a highway north of the city of Boston. And then, of course, other devices throughout the afternoon causing a major security scare in the city of Boston and surrounding area. Throughout the afternoon, highways were shut down, various roadways closed, bridges closed, even the Charles River was closed at one point.

Now, Turner Broadcasting, which is the parent of the Cartoon Network and also CNN released a statement, saying in part, "We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger. We appreciate the gravity of this situation, and like any responsible company would, are putting all necessary resources toward understanding the facts surrounding it as quickly as possible."

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Slipping and sliding in the Sun Belt. Winter slams the Carolinas. Snow in some areas for much of the morning, then a freezing rain that could topple trees and cause power outages.

In Atlanta, the sun came up and so did the temperature. A few icy patches melted quickly. The metro area now dealing with merely a cold soaking rain. That's little comfort, though, to travelers at the city's airport. Concerns over icing prompted airlines to cancel some 450 flights since last night.

Snow on the move. Right now it's sweeping through Charlotte, North Carolina. And that's where we find our meteorologist, Reynolds Wolf.

Charlotte, North Carolina? Reynolds, that's not supposed to happen there.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I know. It's hard to believe.

I mean, they do get winter-like precipitation here. It does happen. But it's funny to see the change here in the past 24 hours.

I mean, 24 hours ago, people in Charlotte were walking around with blue skies, and it was chilly, granted, but, I mean, it was fairly decent conditions in terms of travel, in terms of living day- to-day life. Take a look at this video of what they're experiencing this morning, though, on roadways, on sidewalks. It is just -- it's a slushy, wet, icy experience. And it started this morning with some snowflakes.

We had maybe about an inch, maybe two inches of snow in places. Then much of that switched over to some sleet. Right now, we've seen a bit of a combination.

As you come back to me, you can take a look. And on your TV screens at home, from the top of your screen, to the bottom of your screen, you might be able to see some snowflakes coming through, an occasional raindrop. And, yes, some of that sleet as well. So we're getting the big mix.

Now, what that is doing on the roadways is keeping things pretty icy. We've had widespread reports of accidents. No fatalities, thankfully, to report. But this stretch of I-77 that you see right behind me has been in pretty decent shape.

Yesterday, they had crews out here that were dropping a brine solution on the roadways. Now, when I'm talking brine, plain and simple, what that is, just a combination of water mixed in with salt. And they put that down before the precipitation begins to pick up. And what that does, that actually soaks into the tiny crevices, into the concrete. And then, once you get that ice, when you get that snow, they put an additional layer of salt on top of that.

So you have salt below, salt on top, and then some of that nasty in between. And that kind of takes care of things.

Take a look at what we have in terms of the snow. And speaking of which, I'm going to drop here for a little bit, scurry some of this stuff off the grass.

Now, earlier this year we did some coverage of some storms out in Colorado, where it was that beautiful, snowy powder. Almost like a beautiful dust.

That is not what you're getting here in Charlotte. You're also getting some -- well, some pine straw that I just picked up. But for the most part, it's just this really, really wet, kind of gushy snow.

And that, coupled with very little wind, means that whatever falls is pretty much just going to stay put. It's not going to drip. You're not going to have, like, two or three-foot snowdrifts like you see in Colorado.

This is going to fall and it's going to stick. And then what we're going to be seeing is that ice kicking into the afternoon. That's going to cause some issues, possibly on trees, as well as power lines, because of all that weight.

We could see some of those limbs snap, and then you have some power outages as it hits power liens and whatnot. Speaking of which, though, thankfully at this point, there have been no power outages, at least widespread power outages to report. But, of course, all of that could change.

But what is interesting is, all this snow, all this ice we've been talking about, by tomorrow is going to be gone. We're going to see temperatures going up some 15 to 20 degrees. And as soon as that happens, the snow, this ice, it all goes away.

Let's send it back to you.

COLLINS: Hey, it's never a dull job, right, Reynolds?

WOLF: No. You never know.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much, Reynolds Wolf, live from Charlotte, North Carolina, today.

Chad Myers is standing by right here in the severe weather center to tell us more about this whole situation kind of across the country.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: And we are also staying on top of the situation that we first told you about here yesterday in Boston, where all of those devices across the city of Boston were found. Battery-operated light boards. They were aimed at promoting a late-night show called "Adult Swim Aqua Teen Hunger Force." This is the Cartoon Network here.

You'll remember everything that happened yesterday. Several bomb scares. People pretty worried about it. It shut down several bridges and a stretch of the Charles River as well.

Right now you are looking at Peter Berdovsky. He's a 27-year-old freelance video artist from Arlington, Massachusetts. This is one of the suspects, as well as Sean Stevens. He's 28.

They are being arraigned right now. Our Dan Lothian is in the courtroom. He is going to come out of the courtrooms and tell us what happened there and anything that he may have noticed during those proceedings.

You may also know already they were facing charges of placing these hoax devices in a way that resulted in panic. So those are the charges, and we will continue to follow it. It's a felony, too, we should let you know. So, we'll bring it to you if anything new should happen there.

HARRIS: We are learning more from the U.K. this morning about an alleged plot to kidnap, torture and behead a British Muslim soldier. Police in Birmingham, England, now questioning nine suspects. They say the plan, if carried out, would have stunned Great Britain.

International Correspondent Paula Hancocks is live in Birmingham.

And Paula, there's probably a more artful way to ask these question, but I'll ask it straight out. Are the suspects -- do we know if the suspects are Muslims?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As far as we know, according to security sources, yes, they all were. But the fact is, the police themselves, the official terrorist units, are not giving that much information out. So all the information really is coming from the security sources.

But this is -- this is widely reported, that, yes, they all were, many of them, we understand, were also British born, from Pakistani descent, at least eight out of the nine. And that's the latest we have at this point on those suspects. They're all still in custody. None of them have been charged at this point. They're still being questioned. And certainly, these properties that were raided at the crack of dawn on Wednesday are still being searched, things are still being bought out, computers, the like. And also, we know that a couple of cars were taken away for forensics.

So this is really an ongoing investigation.

HARRIS: OK, Paula. Talk to us, if you would, about the unease these arrests are causing in the Muslim community of Birmingham.

HANCOCKS: Well, here's certainly a lot of shock. The people I've been speaking to really can't understand that something like this, if it is in fact what we think it is, the fact there could have been this alleged kidnapping plot of a British Muslim soldier, they can't believe that something like that could have been planned or could happen on their doorstep.

This is something that you see in Iraq on the television, this is something that you see in Afghanistan, in Pakistan. It's not something that you see in a quiet community like this.

And there are some circles that are feeling victimized, saying once again it is the police against Muslims, it is Muslims that are being targeted. There is a small element of that, but most people are just saying that if this is actually the facts, if it's actually the truth, then they're just happy it's been stopped before something this sinister could take place in Britain.

HARRIS: I know we're very interested in more details on the alleged plot. Is there pressure coming from that community for the authorities to come forward with more evidence?

HANCOCKS: Certainly, there is. Yes, they want the proof.

There have been raids at the crack of dawn, 12 properties were turned over. You know, nine people are in custody.

Inevitably, the wider community at large wants to have some kind of proof so that they know that this is in fact what the police should have done, because there have been cases in the past where there has been mistaken identity...

HARRIS: Yes.

HANCOCKS: ... or there has been mistaken intelligence. So, inevitably, they want to know as much information as possible. But that's not likely to be forthcoming.

You know, the U.K. have very strict reporting rules. So the police don't often give that much away before an actual court case, if these suspects are charged.

HARRIS: And one final question, Paula. Has this whole episode -- I can't imagine that it hasn't, but has the episode stirred memories of Ken Bigley's hostage ordeal and eventual murder? Bigley was an engineer, for those who many not remember, from Liverpool, killed by militants in Iraq in 2004.

HANCOCKS: That was actually on the front page of many newspapers. And yes, this does stir up memories of that, because if this was going to be an Iraqi-style kidnapping, then that obviously brings up those memories.

In fact, on one newspaper, "The Sun," one of the tabloids, they actually have a picture of the U.S. hostage, Nick Berg, back in 2004. And so this is the exact picture that this sums up in people's minds as soon as they heard that this could be an Iraqi-style kidnapping in Britain.

HARRIS: Yes.

CNN's Paula Hancocks for us in Birmingham, England.

Paula, appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: Joining voices. Senate Democrats and Republicans voicing opposition to the president's Iraq plan.

Details ahead in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Changing with the enemy. Can the U.S. military meet the challenge in Iraq? A live report from the Pentagon.

COLLINS: A pregnant woman pulled over by police. She needs help. You won't believe the officers' response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says she's three months pregnant.

SOFIA SALVA, PREGNANT DRIVER: I'm three months pregnant and I'm bleeding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is that my problem?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COLLINS: There's more to the story. What happened to the baby?

Find out in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Targeting insurgents in Iraq. The U.S. military reports 29 suspects detained, one killed in a series of raids across the country today.

And more bombings. Six passengers were killed and eight wounded when a bomb ripped through a minibus. The attack happened in a Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. In a Sunni neighborhood north of the capital, a mortar attack killed one person and wounded four. COLLINS: The enemy in Iraq is constantly changing tactics. The goal, kill more Americans. That's a crucial challenge for the U.S. military.

CNN's Barbara Starr takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In Iraq, the battle lines are getting increasingly more blurred and more deadly. In January alone, more than 80 U.S. troops were killed.

Who's doing it and how they can be stopped? Four years into this war, U.S. commanders still aren't sure.

ADM. WILLIAM FALLON, U.S. NAVY: The enemy that we face, particularly in Iraq, very adaptive, very skilled at observing and changing their tactics and procedures. And so, equipment that we thought was pretty effective in protecting our troops just a matter of months ago is now being, in fact, challenged by some of the techniques and devices over there.

STARR: Admiral Fallon, set to become the top Middle East commander, has reason to worry. Over the span of a week, three U.S. helicopters apparently shot down.

Five U.S. soldiers were killed in a carefully choreographed attack on a Karbala compound. Four were captured and then executed. Iranian-trained operatives may have been behind it.

And there's growing evidence of Iranian-made roadside bombs coming into Iraq, bombs capable of shredding the strongest U.S. armored vehicles.

HENRY KISSINGER, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have the al Qaeda influence and then we have the Shia-Sunni conflict. And they're all merging together in a sort of amorphous explosion of violence.

STARR: Defending and defeating that sort of amorphous violence is going to be the toughest challenge facing U.S. commanders who, like the enemy, will have to adapt and meet them head on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Barbara, it's obviously true that those tactics are changing all the time.

What are the specific type of attacks that worry the Pentagon the most right now?

STARR: Well, Heidi, one of the things they obviously continue to worry about a good deal are IEDs, improvised explosive devices, especially with all the talk about some of these new advanced roadside bombs coming in from Iran.

So, what can they do about it? People might be surprised to know, almost four years into this war, the military is about to spend billions of dollars on an entire new range of armored vehicles, hoping that they will be better to protect the troops -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right.

CNN's Barbara Starr reporting from the Pentagon this morning.

Barbara, thank you.

Waging war from the air, the role of the U.S. Air Force in Iraq. A CNN military analyst weighs in on that coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And apparent congressional compromise in the political war over Iraq. Republican John Warner and Democrat Carl Levin joining forces, opposing President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq. Levin, backing a resolution chiefly sponsored by Warner, that happened after Warner agreed to a change or two.

The compromise increases the chances the resolution will pass in the Senate. The first vote on the measure could come as early as Monday.

Still to come, these soldiers have been and there they have done that. And they're ready to do it again, heading back to Iraq, redeployment, in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And we are "Minding Your Business" this morning. Ali Velshi is so good at it. And he's here now with a preview.

Hey, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is an easy one. You can actually just sort of record something I must have said about a year ago. The world's biggest publicly traded oil company has recorded once again the U.S.'s largest corporate profit ever.

I'll tell you about that when we come back in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Heidi -- Heidi, take look at this. Just want to give you a sense of what's going on in the Carolinas right now.

COLLINS: They have two snow removal machines.

HARRIS: Yes. Everything else has been deployed. Right? We need to get those cranked up and out on the streets.

All right. On the left there, Raleigh, North Carolina, WTVB, our affiliate there. And on the right, just a tower cam picture. Traffic moving slowly, folks taking the advice, if you don't have to go, don't bother, because we've got snow, temperatures rise a little bit, we'll get freezing rain, power lines, tree limbs, all kinds of potential problems.

We're going to keep an eye on it for you and bring you more of these pictures throughout the morning here in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: 2006, it was a very good year for ExxonMobil.

Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business."

And, hey, this sounds like a little bit of deja vu, does it not?

VELSHI: Yes, totally. Totally. I mean, this is the world's biggest publicly traded oil company, one of the biggest companies in the world altogether.

2006 was a record year. You'll remember oil prices soared in the middle of the year. We got to $78 a barrel, gas was trading up around $3 a barrel for self-serve unleaded as a national average. It was a lot more than that in some places. And, of course, the world's biggest company which sells the most gas and oil ended up profiting.

Forget that $1.59 that's on the screen, by the way. I don't know anybody in this country that can get gas for $1.59 a gallon right now.

Exxon came in with $39.5 billion in profit for 2006. Now, back a year ago, we were talking about the 2005 profit, and that was also the largest ever for a U.S. company at the time, and it was $36 billion. So, they've topped that by $3 billion.

A strong year for ExxonMobil. Now, nobody...

COLLINS: Ali...

VELSHI: ... sort of thinks that those prices are going to continue this year.

COLLINS: Yes. It is a business, though. And we do talk a lot about supply and demand, right?

VELSHI: Yes, it is a business.

COLLINS: People tend to get very upset when they see numbers this big.

VELSHI: They sell a product that we buy a lot of, like pharmaceutical companies and other companies. And if you were an investor in ExxonMobil -- first of all, over the last 10 years or so, you probably doubled your money twice.

But let's just say you invested at the beginning of last year. I think we might have a chart on this to show you what the stock was a year ago. It was around 60 bucks, and now it's in the high $70s.

So, as an investor you've made money, the company paid $7.5 million in dividends. So, two sides of the coin. If you think that oil prices are going to continue to go high, there's another way to make up for that as an investor on the energy side. These companies are in business to make money and they are certainly doing that very well -- Heidi.

COLLINS: And why exactly do they make so much more than the next guy?

VELSHI: The oil companies will tell you it's because of the margins, because they have a fixed cost. So, when oil is, you know, $20 a barrel or $30 a barrel, they're not going to make this much money. But when oil --, the difference between $20 and $30 a barrel and $58, which is where we are now, there's a lot of gravy in there.

A lot -- some of it will go for research and development. But a lot of that is their profit. So they're saying it's the economy. When oil prices are high, they're getting paid back for the risks that they took to build rigs and digs all those years ago.

COLLINS: I'm thinking maybe we went into the wrong business.

VELSHI: Totally.

COLLINS: Poor choices in college, maybe?

VELSHI: That's why I'm being careful what I say, just in case, you know, things work out...

COLLINS: Just in case. You never know where it could lead. Got you.

All right. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" today.

Thanks, Ali.

VELSHI: See you.

COLLINS: Hi there, everybody.

I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

It was supposed to be -- it didn't turn out this way...

COLLINS: No.

HARRIS: ... but it was supposed to be a promotion for an adult cartoon, but it is turning out to be no laughing matter. Two suspects went to court this hour to face charges in the publicity stunt gone wrong.

The two are charged with placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct. They're accused of setting up electronic signs promoting a program, "Adult Swim," on the Cartoon Network. That's part of Turner Broadcasting, parent company of CNN.

The device has triggered a series of bomb scares. It shut down highways, bridges, and even a section of the Charles River in Boston. Police, prosecutors and the mayor vented their anger at Turner Broadcasting. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR THOMAS MENINO, BOSTON: I just think that this is outrageous what they have done. You know, they send us a one- paragraph press release out saying they apologize. But they never gave us the locations of any of these packages in the city of Boston.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Turner Broadcasting issued a statement apologizing to the citizens of Boston for the hardships caused by the marketing campaign.

COLLINS: Southern snow. Drivers in Charlotte and other cities navigating slick roads this morning. Wintry mix in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Cold crash. A car careening off a road, plunging into an icy river.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you put into words how cold you were?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. So cold that you kind of stop being cold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Trapped for hours, two Idaho teens tell their harrowing story. Hear it for yourself in the NEWSROOM.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Also hear this for yourself.

(BELL CLANGING)

That's the opening bell on this Thursday. Market check now, Dow Jones industrial average gained about 98 points yesterday, pretty good stuff, ending at 12,621. As you know, the Federal Reserve, yesterday, did not touch those interest rates, so that's good in many ways for most of us. We'll continue to watch those business stories for you, and bring them to you, when they happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Among our top stories this morning, misery by degrees in the Southeast cities that stayed above freezing are dealing with just a cold steady rain. Their colder neighbors are dealing with this, snow, blanketing parts of the Sunbelt from the northern edge of South Carolina and up -- yes, Heidi?

COLLINS: You said that with such anger in your voice.

HARRIS: It's just a nasty thing for folks that have to deal with this. I have family in the region, I feel for them. Some areas of North Carolina could have four inches of snow. But that's not the big concern right now. When the mercury ticks up a few degrees, the snow becomes freezing rain, that could mean toppled trees and downed power lines. Air travel, bogged down in the region. Airlines have canceled some 450 flights through Atlanta's Hartsfield, Jackson International airport, dozens of flights are also canceled in Charlotte. A mess.

COLLINS: Chad, Chad, Chad, we get so angry with you weather guys, meteorologists, when this stuff happens. But the good news is, you totally called it. Warned everybody.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: From the political battle to the front lines. The president's new strategy means new marching orders for thousands of U.S. troops. CNN's Sean Callebs is in Fort Stewart, Georgia, soldiers there preparing again for redeployment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): Real bullets, real rockets, and members of the 37th Cavalry know the reality is resolution, or no resolution, they are getting ready to join soldiers being sent to Iraq.

PVT. CHRISTOPHER WEISENBERGER, U.S. ARMY: You can always train more, but we train with the time we have. And we get to see our families, when we get to see our families. So, I'm ready to go.

CALLEBS: But before reaching Baghdad, soldiers at Fort Stewart are caught in a different kind of battle. A struggle between President Bush and senators, who are supporting a nonbinding resolution that says adding 21,000 more troops is against the U.S. national interest.

SGT. LARRY MITCHELL, U.S. ARMY: Reality is reality. So, you can ignore negative stuff, but it's still going to be there.

CALLEBS: Training to go house to house, door to door, troops know just what to do. But a confrontation between Congress and the Bush administration is something else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see our soldiers focused on what we have to do. And making sure that we will make a positive difference, with the Iraqi people, and with ourselves. And we'll let the rest of it take care of it.

CALLEBS: It's a sacrifice for people like 25-year-old mother of two, Carlia Mulholland. She is getting read I do say good-bye to her husband, a tank commander, who is heading to Iraq for the third time.

CARLIA MULHOLLAND, SOLDIER'S WIFE: I don't really like having him go back over again. And sometimes, you know, you get to the point where you're like it's been enough, but he's our president.

CALLEBS: As the war goes, in many ways so does Hinesville, Georgia, home to Fort Stewart. Those who have loved ones in Iraq say harsh reality means more than heated rhetoric. CAROLINE CRISSMAN, WIFE OF SOLDIER: Frustrating to deal with. This all fighting over here, when no matter what you decide, my husband is still over there and still in harm's way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: That's for sure. Sean Callebs joins us now.

Sean, how many times has the brigade you're with been deployed, let's say, what coming up on four years now?

CALLEBS: This will be the third major deployment out of this area, first one, 2003, then 2005, now this one, that will play out over 2007. Some troops from here, already over there. The ones that we followed around yesterday were supposed to go over at the end of the summer. That's been moved up.

The latest it would be now is the end of the spring. The Bush administration is now toying with moving them over there even sooner, Tony.

HARRIS: Sean, the back-to-back deployments, did any of the soldiers talk to you about the impact on their families?

CALLEBS: Yes, it's tough. If you talk to the families and the troops, that is perhaps the toughest thing. Even for these families who have gone through this now for the third time they say it never gets any easier. A lot these are very young men, who have young kids. There's a big difference if you leave a child two or three and you come back, and that child is now three or four.

Hard for the soldiers overseas to talk to their loved ones back home and have the children say, you know, when is my dad coming back home? But this is what these troops signed up for, a lot them said they knew they were going to be going over there.

HARRIS: That's right. Sean Callebs for us, Fort Stewart, Georgia this morning. Sean, thank you.

Waging war from the air, the role of the U.S. Air Force in Iraq, a CNN military analyst weighs in, that's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Packed for battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I survived a bunch of close calls and this has always been with me, so it won't be leaving me any time soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Troops and the trinkets they take to war in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: A pregnant woman arrested. But she's bleeding and asking repeatedly to go to the hospital. Did two Kansas City police officers fail to protect and serve? The story in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Shocking discovery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said to Johanna (ph), the woman over there, take a good look at her, and I'll tell you why later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Was it a woman missing for seven years, and if so, did she want to be found? Mystery in the NEWSROOM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Road rage: Here's a different take on it. A woman furious at two Kansas City police officers; she blames them for her newborn's death.

COLLINS: Sophia Salva (ph) says she was pregnant and bleeding when she was pulled over one year ago. Now, we can show you video of the disturbing traffic stop. Here's Bev Chapman of affiliate KNBC.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a fake temp tag in your back window.

BEV CHAPMAN, REPORTER, KNBC (voice over): The actual stop lasts about 30 minutes, during that time Sophia Salva (ph) she asks for help 21 times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She says she's three months pregnant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm three months pregnant and I'm bleeding.

CHAPMAN: Salva (ph) tells police she wants to go to the hospital. Officer Melody Spencer responds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How is that my problem?

CHAPMAN: During the course of the stop and search of her car, police will learn she has outstanding warrants, including mistreatment of children, trespassing, and driving with a suspended license. Officer Kevin Schnell (ph) tells her he watched her place the fake tag in her window.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there is still a little bit more than what you're telling us. You sure play hard to get, lying us to.

CHAPMAN: Salva's (ph) attorneys say that "Officers approached the situation expecting to find criminal evidence, expecting this person was not telling the truth. They did nothing," he says, "to ask questions, to find out what was going on."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't cop an attitude with me! It's called a menstrual cycle.

CHAPMAN: Salva was taken to jail, nine and a half hours later she was released to a hospital, where she delivered a premature boy, who died after one minute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I go to the hospital?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can go to the hospital when we're done with you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The woman has filed a lawsuit against the police department and the two officers. A police spokesman says the department is investigating the incident.

A marketing misstep causes chaos, two men land in legal trouble and Boston officials are fuming, the latest fall-out ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Disorder on the court. Look at this! Is this any way for fans to act at a high school basketball game? Milwaukee madness, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You already know to catch us weekday mornings from 9:00 a.m. until noon Eastern, but did you know you can take us with you, anywhere you go, on your iPod, CNN NEWSROOM podcast available 24/7, right there on your iPod.

HARRIS: As we age, things we eat and drink begin to make a difference in our lives. Isn't that the truth? In today's "30 40 50", Chief Medical Correspondent Doctor Sanjay Gupta looks at the effects sodium has on us, as we age.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): We shake it on to many of the foods we eat.

DR. STUART SEIDES, WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER: We need salt to live, it's part of our cellular structure.

GUPTA: Although salt is part of our daily diet, too much or too little of it can cause health problems, especially as we get older.

In our 30s, we begin to lose fluids faster when we exercise. As we work out, our salt is depleted, and we sweat it out. It's important to keep our salt levels in balance. If we don't get enough our blood vessels can dehydrate and collapse.

SEIDES: Your blood pressure falls and a person can become very ill, or even die.

GUPTA: Most people deal with their salt deficit with water. But many hardcore athletes need to replace salt with sports drinks, with electrolytes.

In our 40s, our blood vessels are aging and hypertension, or high blood pressure becomes an issue. A postman Larry Campbell is 47; he has a family history of hypertension, takes medication for it.

LARRY CAMPBELL, HYPTERTENSION PATIENT: I have never been a salt shaker. My mother brought me up like that. That once you prepared the meal, it has the salt in it, and that you don't need to put salt on your food.

GUPTA: And if your blood pressure begins to rise, too much salt can raise it even higher, eventually causing heart problems. So watch what you eat. An average fast-food meal may contain more salt than you need in an entire day. And processed foods also have lots of salt.

As we get to our 50s, doctors say used moderate salt in your cooking and seasoning. The American Heart Association recommends 2,000 and 3,000 milligrams of sodium daily. For example, a teaspoon of salt is 2200 milligrams. So, you need to use it sparingly.

SEIDES: That's not that easy to do. Many foods that we have are either previously prepared or preserved, and even more difficult, if one eats out at restaurants.

GUPTA: When we reach our 50s, too much salt compounded with other health problems we face as we get older, like hypertension, diabetes, and fluid retention, can cause the heart and the kidneys to break down. If you can, doctors say try to take that salt shaker off the table, for good. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

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HARRIS: Still to come, shocking discovery.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said to Johanna, the woman over there, take a good look at her and I'll tell you why later.

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HARRIS: Was it a woman missing for seven years, and if so, did she want to be found? Mystery in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: It definitely wasn't part of the Biden 2008 campaign playbook.

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SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D-DE) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, you got the first sort of mainstream African-American, who is articulate and bright, and clean, and a nice looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man.

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COLLINS: Details of Senator Biden's blunder, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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COLLINS: Missing woman, mysterious ways, a seven-year search has taken a unusual turns. CNN's Gary Tuchman explains.

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): Rick Richman was having brunch with this is girlfriend, Johanna at a San Francisco restaurant when he abruptly stopped talking because of the person at the table next to him.

RICK RICHMAN, SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENT: I looked at the woman, and it registered immediately to me, when I saw her. Like, how do I know her? And then I was like, whoa.

TUCHMAN: Richmond was watching CNN on the night of January 18th, when we presented the bizarre tale of Esther Reed (ph).

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, AC 360: They say she stole a missing girl's identity. Now, she's missing, too.

TUCHMAN: A Montana woman who has been officially listed as missing for seven years. But police recently learned she was alive and using other people's identities to do some strange things. Upon reflection, Richmond called police, but the woman and her male companion had left.

RICHMAN: After I definitely knew it was Esther Reed, I said to Johanna, the woman over there, take a good look at her, and I'll tell you why later.

TUCHMAN: He told her later about this small town of Traveler's Rest, South Carolina, where a different woman, named Brook Henson, has also been missing for seven years.

JON CAMPBELL, TRAVELERS REST, S.C. POLICE: My working theory is that she was murdered, and her body was disposed of.

TUCHMAN: But this summer, police in New York City contacted police in Traveler's Rest.

CAMPBELL: They called us and said your girl's in New York, she's alive.

TUCHMAN: Lisa Henson is Brook's aunt.

LISA HENSON, AUNT OF MISSING WOMAN: I was just like jumping for joy. I mean, it was incredible.

TUCHMAN: But a sad mistake had been made, the woman found was using Brook Henson's identity but actually was the woman who may have been in the San Francisco an restaurant, Esther Reed (ph).

CAMPBELL: This girl was actually living as our victim, and went to great lengths to live as her, and become Brook. She was able to get some true identification, using fake identification. She was able to take the SAT, the GED, in our victim's name and she used those to apply to Columbia.

TUCHMAN: And Harvard, incredibly the high school dropout was admitted to both Ivy League universities.

Police provided us pictures of her with four boyfriends. All officer candidates at West Point and Annapolis. Those relationships, and thousands of dollars she received in wire transfers from overseas, have led them to ask the military to investigate whether she could be a spy.

(On camera): Way before the sighting, here in San Francisco, Ester Reed use a different identity while dating another boyfriend, this one not in the military. That boyfriend did not want to appear on camera, but says that Esther Reed always had a lot of money because she claimed she was winning international chess tournaments.

He isn't a good chess player but wanted to play her in a game of chess. She always refused. Finally they did play a game, on the computer, and he won. Esther Reed disappeared from his life shortly after.

(Voice over): Esther Reed's father still lives in her hometown of Townsend, Montana.

(on camera): Ernest can I ask you one more question about Esther?

(Voice over): Ernest Reed did not want to open the door. But did tell us earlier he is convinced his daughter does not want to be found.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Do you think she's using another ID right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most probably.

TUCHMAN: Police say they had evidence Esther Reed had been spending time in Northern California. So, they believe the woman in the Chow's Restaurant may well have been her.

RICHMAN: I definitely think that was her. I think that she's here, in San Francisco.

TUCHMAN: But she remains at large. And her intention is still mysterious. Gary Tuchman, CNN, San Francisco.

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COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris, spend a second hour on the NEWSROOM this morning and stay informed. Here's what's on the run down. Boston legal, a pair of promoters in court this morning. An electronic publicity stunt for a cartoon character stirring a security scare.

COLLINS: Southern comfort, winter spreading a glaze of ice and snow from Georgia to Virginia. Travel troubles in the forecast.

HARRIS: Lucky charms, the trinkets soldiers take to war for peace of mind.

It is Thursday, February 1, and you are in the NEWSROOM

At the top of this hour, February arrives with a vengeance in the deep South. The worst could be yet to come, snow began falling before daybreak in the Carolinas, Greenville became white.

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