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Anna Nicole Smith Dies; Jerusalem Protest; Arms Dealer; Gerri's Mail Bag

Aired February 09, 2007 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. Spend a second hour in the NEWSROOM this morning and stay informed. Here's what's on the rundown.

A soap opera life. A sudden death. An autopsy under way right now on the body of model/actress Anna Nicole Smith. Across the country, a judge weighing legal issues surrounding her baby daughter.

COLLINS: Rocks and tear gas flying on the streets of Jerusalem's Old City today. Angry Palestinians protesting a site holy to Muslims and Jews.

HARRIS: The American soldier getting a fashion makeover. A look at the Army's new uniform this Friday, February 9th. You are in the NEWSROOM.

We could learn today what lead to the death of Anna Nicole Smith. An autopsy is going on right now on the former "Playboy" playmate and widow of a Texas oil tycoon. Smith found unconscious in her Hollywood, Florida, hotel room on Thursday. CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti joins us now from Broward County, Florida.

Susan, good morning to you.

It seems to me there were a couple of inquiries going on right now. First as to her cause of death and then there have to be a lot of questions still out there as to what happened in the moments leading up to her death in that hotel room.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The list of questions seems endless, doesn't it, this morning, Tony. And, in fact, just about a half hour ago, the autopsy did get underway. The chief medical examiner has sent out word that he hopes to have some information to share by this afternoon.

If she died of natural causes, well, of course, his work may be fairly uninvolved. If it is something else, then it could be weeks before we get some complete information. Toxicology reports, for example, would have to be done. That kind of thing.

Now Smith's lawyer has said that in the last few days since she arrived here on Monday, she has been suffering from the flu. She checked in to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on Monday and was supposed to check out with her partner, Howard Stern, today. We don't know whether the flu played any role in her death or whether anything else did at this point.

Of course, simultaneously, the police are conducting their own investigation. Again, the hotel is on Seminole property, and so that small police department is the lead agency here. However, it has asked for help from the Broward sheriff's office, which, of course, has access to its own crime laboratory, and evidence was collected from the hotel room. They took out at least a half dozen paper bags last evening. All that they collected, and they won't say what it is, is being processed in the police laboratory at this time.

Now, other questions. What has happened to Anna Nicole Smith's partner, Howard Stern? We don't know. No one has been able to speak with him yet in person certainly.

And what has happened to Anna Nicole Smith's five-month-old baby Dannielynn? Well, today there is a report with a Bahama's "Tribune" newspaper. I spoke with reporter there this morning. They tell me that they have information that the baby is being cared for by the wife of a government official, the minister of labor and immigration.

Now we have, of course, reached out to them as well, to that minister. We have not yet been able to reach him. But we are told that the minister and his wife are friends of Anna Nicole Smith and Mr. Stern and they're the ones that are in care of the baby at this time. That's what's being reported.

Tony.

HARRIS: Wait a minute. Wait. So, Susan, this gets even more bizarre. So you're saying the baby may be in the care of officials of the government in the Bahamas?

CANDIOTTI: Well, remember, she has been living there for quite some time. She certainly has made a lot of friends on the island. We know that the baby did not make the trip to Florida this week. And, presumably, Anna Nicole Smith does have some help in caring for her baby. So it might not be all that out of the ordinary in some circles. But, of course, we'll keep trying to track that one down.

HARRIS: All right. Susan Candiotti for us. Susan, I appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: "Entertainment Tonight" host Mark Steines has followed Smith's rollercoaster career, include the most recent dispute over the father of her young daughter. Mark goes over the last few days of her life. He also reveals she attempted suicide after the death of her son, Daniel. Smith's attorney and partner, Howard K. Stern, found her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK STEINES, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": We have found out that, after the death of Daniel, at some point, Anna did jump in her pool, attempt suicide at that point, and was found by Howard face down in the pool. Howard screamed for help. Her body guard, Mo, came out, who is a paramedic, and took her from the pool, administered CPR and saved her life at that point.

So I don't know if that led up to this, where she just didn't feel like she could conquer all of the DNA stuff that's going on in her life. The accusations of Howard K. Stern murdering her son, Daniel, and the TrimSpa lawsuit that is pending as well, and J. Howard Marshall. I mean there was so much going on and I don't know if that was just too much for her.

She never indicated that to me. If, I mean, that certainly could be -- it's a great observations. She was depressed quite often. In fact, after the interview last week, in our conversations with Howard, he told us she never really, really recovered from the final part of that interview where she was talking about Daniel.

She did have a fever. I can tell you the last few days of her life when she came here. She had a fever when they got here. Before they came, Howard was actually suffering from the flu. When they got into the hotel room behind me, there was a point where Anna's fever had reached 105 degrees, at which time they put her in an ice bath. This is when her private nurse was with her, Howard was there in the room, to get her temperature back down. Her temperature went back down. They got her out of the ice bath. She was OK.

The next day, which would have been Wednesday, Anna was in the bathroom, she slipped, she fell. They heard something. They went to her and she was in her tub with no water, nothing else and they had asked her if she had fallen. And she seemed a little bit out of it. But they checked her for any bruising or contusions or swelling and there was nothing.

She got out of the tub. She had a nice meal. Everything was fine. Then she went to bed and that led to yesterday when, after taking a nap, I believe, she never came to and never woke up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The legal fight over Anna Nicole Smith's baby girl and her status, uncertain. CNN entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson joins us next hour with the very latest.

HARRIS: Different times, similar stories. Anna Nicole Smith found more than inspiration in Marilyn Monroe. CNN's Sibila Vargas reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA NICOLE SMITH: It's wonderful.

MARILYN MONROE: (INAUDIBLE). I do feel silly.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Both breathy and blonde, and larger than life, the physical similarities were obvious. And not at all accidental. The shimmy, the wiggles, the sex kitten kisses, Anna Nicole Smith created a modern-day Marilyn Monroe persona and launched a career.

SMITH: A lot of people give me presents that have Marilyn Monroe on them because they know that I really like her. Because I have pictures everywhere in my home.

LARRY KING, "LARRY KING LIVE": In many ways she wanted to emulate Marilyn Monroe. The blonde hair, the beautiful body, the up and down love lives, the addictions.

VARGAS: Like Monroe, Smith would eventually become famous as a "Playboy" model. Like Monroe, she would die before she was 40. Anna Nicole was found dead Thursday at age 39 alone in a hotel room. Marilyn died at age 36 from a drug overdose alone at home in 1962. The lives lived by one girl born Vicki Lynn Hogan in Texas, and another named Norma Jean Baker, born four decades earlier in California, in retrospect seemed tragically parallel.

SMITH: She's been my idol for many, many years. I just love her. She's wonderful.

VARGAS: Both girls grew up lonely, never knowing their fathers, raised by their single mothers. Both married first as teenagers and posed for cheesecake photos before making it big in "Playboy." Marilyn famously in 1953, Anna Nicole in 1992.

SMITH: Well, she's a wonderful actress. She's funny. I love all her movies. I have everything you can imagine of hers at my home.

VARGAS: And it seemed Anna Nicole took notes on Marilyn's screen siren (ph) shtick.

She channeled Monroe's famous seven-year itch pose publicly more than once and emulated Marilyn's iconic number "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," as witness in this add for Pita (ph).

MONROE, "HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE": Do you know what who I'd like to marry?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE": Who?

MONROE: Rockefeller.

VARGAS: Another of Marilyn's classic films that perhaps Anna Nicole watched closely, "How To Marry A Millionaire." In her own life, at 26, Smith married 89-year-old Texas billionaire, oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall III and found herself in one of the most wildly publicized marriages of her time. Just like her idol, whose marriage in 1954 to Joe DiMaggio seemed to trap her to the spotlight, Monroe and Smith, Hollywood beauties from distinctly different eras, whose lives were cut short by tragedy.

Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COLLINS: Faith and fury colliding at a Jerusalem holy site. Israeli police facing off with Palestinian protesters at the third holiest shrine in all of Islam. The site also revered by Jews. Tear gas, rock-throwing and outrage and a frequent flash point sparks yet again. Ben Wedeman joining us now from Jerusalem.

Ben, is it true Israeli intelligence had warnings that this could actually happen?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is true, Israeli intelligence was aware that this could happen. But it didn't take really that much intelligence to realize that it would happen. We've heard throughout the week of mounting rhetoric from Palestinian leaders calling on their people to come to the Aqsa mosque, to protest this renovation work being done on the very edge of the compound of the mosque. So it really came as no surprise, Heidi, to anybody that this was going to result in some kind of violence, though the scale of it comes as something of a surprise.

For about an hour and a half, we saw intense clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police and security personnel. They were using stun grenades, flash grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets to try to disperse the crowd. There have been sporadic outbreaks and clashes throughout the Old City all afternoon. In fact, just about 20 minutes ago, we heard another outburst of explosions coming from the Old City.

Clearly the clashes are continuing. The question is, how long are they going to go on? Israeli officials say, Heidi, that they may well resume this renovation work in the Old City on Sunday. However, they are going to review the situation before they make a final decision.

Heidi.

COLLINS: So put it in perspective for us, quickly, if you can, Ben. I mean, this is all happening because of a construction project near this al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem?

WEDEMAN: A stone and dirt ramp that leads up to the side of the compound. Muslims claimed that this work threatens the structure of the compound. Israeli officials say that that simply isn't the case. They've offered to install 24-hour web cameras so anybody around the world at any time can log on and see what's going on. But nonetheless, the credibility gap between Israelis and Arabs is so wide that these reassurances just fell on deaf ears, and you saw the result today here.

Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, CNN's Ben Wedeman reporting to us live from Jerusalem.

Ben, thank you.

HARRIS: Western New York. A study in white. Yes, Oswego, we're looking at you. The result of a massive snowstorm that's left the region under several feet of snow. Nearly eight feet of snow are on the ground right now in Oswego County, New York. A state disaster emergency is in effect for the county and schools are closed for the fourth day. Even for the snow-savvy region, this storm has become overwhelming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LILLIAN PANINSKI, OSWEGO COUNTY, NEW YORK RESIDENT: Well, yesterday it was probably down to here. And when they got the snow all off the roof, all the way around, it come up to here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And residents aren't going to get any immediate relief. More snow is forecast for the weekend.

Chat Myers, I don't know, what do you do with all this snow? Where do you move it? Where does it go? How do you figure out wind chills? I have questions for you this morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: And still to come, he is a dealer in demand.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (through translator): If you need three hand grenades, you can get them in two hours.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And how much?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No more than 25,000 to 30,000 Iraqi dinars. Around $20.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And business is booming -- literally. See for yourself in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: From starch and press to wash and wear. The army is refitting its troops in new attire. We'll take a look at the old and the new with real live models. We'll tell you why they're doing it too. It's all coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And a dude with attitude. An officer with little patience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was all, come here, do you want a ticket? And I was like just thinking to myself, yeah, give me five (BLEEP) tickets. I love tickets. No, I don't want a (BLEEP) ticket. What kind of a stupid question is that?

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: Come on with that language. Come on! The student's protesting after one of their own is tasered. Skateboarder shocker. That's coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Pointing fingers at the Pentagon over what's described as dubious intelligence about Iraq. A report being released today criticizes Defense Department officials for trying to link Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. The information is being presented to the Senate Armed Services Committee. The chairman, Democrat Carl Levin, calls it "very damning." The investigation found that former Pentagon policy chief, Douglas Feith, did not act illegally, but it says Feith's group "developed, produced and then disseminated alternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and al Qaeda relationship, which included some conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus of the intelligence community."

COLLINS: Have guns, will sell them. A black market arms dealer in Iraq reveals where his weapons are coming from and who is buying them. CNN's Michael Holmes reports from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABU HIBA (ph), (through translator): Before we buy a weapon, we always check its quality.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): In a country where unemployment is rampant, one business is booming, often literally.

HIBA: This path found me. I didn't choose it. I want to help people defend themselves.

He goes by the name of Abu Hiba. He used to go to university. He's young, smart and for two years now a black market arms dealer in Baghdad, with no shortage of customers.

HIBA: Everyone demands. Neighborhoods, militias, Jihadi groups. Everyone demands.

HOLMES: He's a proud salesman and knows his wares. In this case, the heavy duty PKC machine gun.

HIBA: This is an effective long range weapon. Its nickname in the army and among militias is the reaper.

HOLMES: Say I wanted to buy some grenades. How long would it take to you get them to me?

HIBA: If you need three hand grenades, you can get them in two hours.

HOLMES: And how much?

HIBA: No more than 25,000 to 30,000 Iraqi dinars. Around $20. HOLMES: A rocket-propelled grenade launcher, around $130. But his biggest seller is the AK-47. The weapon of choice for most Iraqis. On a busy month, maybe 50 pass through his hands and onto the streets, adding to an already unnerving level of fire power in the capital. This a fairly routine sound in the city.

Iraq is a place where every household is entitled to have one AK- 47. That's one of them there our guard is holding. You see, with all the sectarian and criminal violence, ordinary people feel that no one can adequately protect them. Not the police, not the army, not the Americans. So for about $400, they try to protect themselves.

Abu Hiba says those people are his market, not insurgents, although later he does admit to having rockets, hardly a defensive weapon, in his inventory. And with the new Baghdad security plan underway, Abu Hiba says many militiamen are laying low, getting rid of some of their weapons. Abu Hiba's happy. With so many weapons around, prices are low for him. He'll store them until those prices rise.

Meanwhile, he tells us that while militia members supply him, they are often supplied from places within Iran.

HIBA: What comes in from Iran is disastrous. Big trucks stacked with mortar bombs, 135 millimeter and 136 millimeter, Iranian- manufactured 120 millimeter mortars stamped 2006.

HOLMES: It's not like there's a shortage of weapons in Iraq. During the invasion, American troops left vast armories unguarded, later to be looted. Only a couple of years ago outdoor arms market thrived. They were shut down and so now the market is black. Underground.

Are you ever worried you're going to get caught?

HIBA: We can buy and hide weapons easily. When the Americans come in, they can't find anything and leave. I'm afraid only of God.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Michael Holmes joining us now live from Baghdad.

Boy, Michael, I have a lot of questions for you. If he says that he is being supplied by the militia, and then only sells these weapons on the black market to people who are trying to defend themselves, do people believe that? Did you believe it in speaking with him face-to- face?

HOLMES: Yes, not really, Heidi. Now, to me, in this country, a weapon for self-defense is a pistol or maybe an AK-47. As you saw, this is a man who has PKCs. That's a heavy-duty machine guns. He's got rockets. He's got mortars. But I do believe he buys from all sides, but he does sell to one locals and insurgents from his side of the sectarian war, that way he can really rationalize what he's doing.

COLLINS: What about U.S. forces now? And maybe that's not the right people who would go after him. But who would go after someone like him as a supplier?

HOLMES: Someone who would go after him would be anyone, the Iraqi army, the Iraqi police. In theory, the Americans as well. But it's, you know, it's weather they're going to have the ability to catch him. These guys are good at it. I've got to say too that I've been on countless raids. What the U.S. will call clearing operations in various suburbs. And while some searches are thorough (ph). Other searches involve a closet and under the bed. These guys are pretty good at hiding this sort of materiel.

COLLINS: Yes, he sounds pretty confident. If he were to stop supplying, people would just go somewhere else and find the same type of ammunition?

HOLMES: Oh, without question. This is a city awash in weapons. You can't go anywhere without seeing a gun pretty much around here, whether it be with the security forces or with locals. And as I said, everyone here is entitled to have an AK-47 for their own protection. I've never really seen a place that's got so much weaponry available. And if I wanted to go out today and get one of those AK-47s, or you, for that matter, wanted me to get one for you, I guess about two hours.

COLLINS: Good Lord. All right. CNN's Michael Holmes coming to us live from Baghdad.

Michael, thank you.

HARRIS: Student loans, interest rates and disability insurance, the topics tackled today by CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis. There she is. She joins us from New York to answer some viewer e- mails.

Are you ready? I have them in my hot little hand here, Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tony. Let's do it, baby.

HARRIS: All right. Good morning to you.

This first one, first bit of viewer e-mail comes from Matthew who writes oh, Gerri, "will the bill to cut interest rates an Stafford loans have any potential benefit to graduates who are currently repaying loans?"

WILLIS: Well, a little background first. Recently Congress voted to cut the interest rate on unsubsidized Stafford loans from 6.8 to 3.4 percent. Now the bad news for Matthew, sadly this will not impact graduates who are already in repayment. But there are a few things you can do to lower your payments.

First off, try to consolidate your loans because you'll be able to lock in a rate. Also, don't forget to take advantage of borrower benefits that lenders are offering. You could shave 25 basis points off your loan rate by signing up for direct debit with your lender. And if you've been really great about making your payments on time, you may be able to take advantage of lender discounts. Beginning this year, lenders may even give you a three strikes policy that will help out if you miss a payment.

HARRIS: Well, that's a good question. Good answer.

Jeff from Delaware is next and he writes, oh, Gerri, "I would be interested in your thoughts on disability insurance. What types of individuals would benefit the most from this type of insurance?"

WILLIS: Well, Jeff, everybody should have disability. Look, disability insurance replaces a portion of your income if you become disabled and can no longer work. Remember, you're biggest assessment is bringing able to bring home that paycheck. And the younger you are, the more you'll benefit from this kind of insurance. That's because a lot of companies offer disability insurance until you're 65. And this will replace up to 60 percent of your salary. If you're self-employed, you may have to resort to the more expensive, private market for disability insurance, but in the end it's really something you want to invest in because it protects you if you lose your job, get in trouble.

HARRIS: Yes. Absolutely.

Hey, Gerri, one final e-mail. Oh, I thought we had more than that, but OK.

WILLIS: Yes.

HARRIS: Wehrner in Virginia writes, "where can I find accounts with a higher yield than 5 percent? In order for your savings to grow, you need to stay ahead of inflation."

Gerri, help, help, help.

WILLIS: Well, Wehrner is absolutely right. The more, the better when you're saving. The good news here is, banks are competing for your money, so they're offering yields of 5 percent or higher on savings accounts. To find out who's giving out the best rate, go to bankrate.com or hsh.com. Of course, you should keep in mind that just because you sign up for a 5 percent rate, that doesn't mean it will always stay that way. Rates can change over time. Plus, many of these higher yields are only available if you bank online.

Tony.

HARRIS: Did we cover it all? Let's see, student loans, interest rates, disability . . .

WILLIS: Bingo, bango, bongo.

HARRIS: We've got it done.

WILLIS: We're fast.

HARRIS: All right, Gerri, good to see you.

WILLIS: Good to see you, Tony.

HARRIS: Good Friday to you.

WILLIS: Good weekend.

COLLINS: We are getting some new information coming out of the Anna Nicole Smith death and how she may have spent her last few hours of life. As we wait for that press conference that we've been telling you about, Broward County, Florida, the medical examiner's office expected to come to the microphones and tell us about the autopsy. A little bit about it, anyway, that is going on right now as we speak. Our Susan Candiotti is on the scene. We will talk with her in just a few moments.

Meanwhile, another politician about to go under a glaring microscope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I know of any skeletons now that are going to be problems? I don't think so because he's immunized himself. He's immunized himself by writing a book about all the naughty things when he was young and naughty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Barack Obama in the game. A live report ahead in the NEWSROOM.

Chaos erupting today on the streets of old Jerusalem. Clashes at a holy site. The story coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Tony Harris and Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back. Good Friday to you. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins.

Faith and fury collide. New violence erupts in Jerusalem's Old City. It's a holy site revered by both Jews and Muslims. Earlier today Israeli police stormed the site as Muslim worshipers finished their noon prayers. The latest flashpoint sparked by Israel's repair work at the compound. An Israeli-Arab lawmaker diffused the standoff. At last report, 15 Israeli police officers were injured, along with 15 some Palestinians. Another 17 Palestinians were arrested.

It is the race for '08, and Senator Barack Obama will be in his home state of Illinois tomorrow. He will formally add his name to a growing slate of Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is already there and she joins us live.

Candy, great to see you. Good morning. A couple of questions. Barack Obama, arguably has a kind of thin, I guess that's a good way to describe political resume. The question is, why is he running now?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: He's running now, according to everyone around him, because he's a brilliant tactician in politics, and he understands when you've got your short you have to take it, because the opportunity may not come around again.

As you know, he has become a rock star in the political scene. He draws huge crowds. He's got a lot of shine of his Democratic National Convention speech, now in the Senate for two years, and just simply thought, you know, now is the time and is going for it.

HARRIS: Candy, you know, there is a lot of competition in the Democratic Party for the African-American vote, and I'm wondering where Barack Obama stands in that contest. Can he count on that particular bloc's support?

CROWLEY: Definitely can't count on it. As a matter of fact, we've had some national polls that CNN has done which showed that actually Hillary Clinton polled better among the black community than does Barack Obama. But again, those were around him, and they're African-Americans around him, point out that No. 1, he represented a district in Illinois that was 68 percent black. No. 2, they really feel that once African-Americans get to know Barack Obama's past, that they will warm to him, that the thought is, at least anecdotally, that a lot of people think he doesn't understand the black experience in America. As you know, he has Kenyan father, had a Kenyan father, a white mother from Kansas. He was raised by his mother and his white grandparents.

So there's some feeling among the black community that he doesn't really understand the experience, but those around him say that that's total baloney, that he does, that he's been a community activist. He was that before he became a Congressman from Illinois, so they that think once his resume is really out there, that the African-American community will warm to him.

HARRIS: And, Candy, what is the significance of Senator Obama making this announcement outside of the old Illinois statehouse?

CROWLEY: Yes, absolutely. This is the old Springfield Capitol. This is where Abraham Lincoln gave his "house divided cannot stand" speech. So there's a lot of symbolism to this, particularly because Barack Obama is selling himself as somebody who can walk across the aisle and get things done, that he has shown the Illinois state Capitol, where he was a state senator, that he is someone who can work with people to get something produced.

As you know, in Washington right now, there's a pretty partisan atmosphere and has been for some time. So in addition to being a fresh face, he's selling himself along bipartisan lines.

Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley for us. Candy, thank you.

COLLINS: We want to get straight to correspondent Susan Candiotti at the ground at Broward County, Florida, for some new information, Susan, about the final hours of Anna Nicole Smith's life.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know is this. This is new information. CNN has learned that, from law enforcement sources that a, quote, "large number of prescription drugs were found in her hotel room on the sixth floor of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino." You'll recall that investigators went through that hotel room after she was taken to the hospital, spent hours in there, collecting whatever evidence they could, did not reveal what they were.

So for the first time now, we are hearing at least in part about some of what was found in there, according to law enforcement sources.

Now, what does this mean? Well, we have yet to find out, because, at this hour, an autopsy is under way here at the Broward County medical examiner's office.

For example, authorities here will be trying to determine whether any of the prescription drugs were found in her bloodstream. They might have to do, and probably will have to do, of that's the case, toxicology reports, which could take weeks to complete.

However, it is also possible that there could be some preliminary findings, and we are told that there will be a news conference this afternoon to tell us what they can after the autopsy is complete -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Susan, do you have any idea what time that news conference will start yet? We've seen the microphones set up for awhile. I just wonder if maybe it will be soon?

CANDIOTTI: It could take some time. We don't know precisely how long the autopsy will take to complete, and then of course the medical examiner will want to get together with the staff, decide what information they want to put out into the public domain at this time, so we only know that it will be sometime this afternoon.

HARRIS: OK, very good. Susan Candiotti live for us from Broward County, Florida. Susan, thanks.

From starch and press to wash and wear. The Army is refitting its troops in new attire. We will take a look at the old and the new with models, models this morning, in the NEWSROOM

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Out with the old, in with the new. The military is phasing in new Army combat uniforms. The old battle dress uniforms were more than 20 years old, two form fitting. The new uniforms have extra room and more functional. They were designed by non- commissioned officers and battle tested in Iraq. Here to talk about it all is retired Sergeant First Class Jeff Myhre, Major Robert Helms, wearing the old army uniform.

Mayor, can you raise your arm? There you are, old uniform, see it.

And Major William Schaffer sporting the brand new fancy look.

We want to talk about this and find out why exactly this was done. So I want to speak with Sergeant First Class Jeff Myhre first.

Let's start by having you show us, if you would, Jeff, sort of some of the features of the new uniform. Can you point them out?

SGT. 1ST CLASS JEFF MYHRE (RET.), U.S. ARMY: I can. Good morning, Heidi.

What you see here are the two uniforms, the battle dress uniform that you spoke about, which is the old uniform, kind of circa 1980, and the new Army combat uniform or ACU, and this uniform, the thought along has been to make a uniform that's more functional, more comfortable for our soldiers who are in the field, in harm's way, and make it a little bit more ergonomic or a little bit easier for them to do their daily jobs.

COLLINS: And of course when do you that, it ultimately makes them safer, does it not?

MYHRE: I think it makes them much safer. They can move better. They can carry more equipment. There's more storage capacity.

COLLINS: OK, go ahead and point out for us, if you would, some of those differences, starting at the collar.

MYHRE: One of the big changes is the mandarin collar in the uniform. This uniform can now be worn in the up position with the wearing of body armor. The mandarin collar worn in the up position protects the neck, and gives a nice, smooth surface for the body armor to ride on. It also protects from things going inside the individual soldier's blouse.

COLLINS: All right, and talking about that shirt, too, the old shirt was pretty restrictive, wasn't it?

MYHRE: The old shirt was very restrictive. There wasn't a lot of ease of movement. So in the building of the Army combat uniform, we've added an inch and a half to the overall diameter of the blouse, as well as putting a biswing behind each shoulder to give more freedom of movement to the individual soldier.

COLLINS: All right, and what about the buttons? We used to have buttons, and now -- yes, look, you can see quite a bit of difference there, and now we have velcro fasteners. Why is that?

MYHRE: The buttons on the uniform create a snag hazard. They're uncomfortable when wearing body armor. They provide an uncomfortable surface. So the zipper being placed into the army combat uniform now gives a nice, smooth surface for the body armor to ride on.

COLLINS: All right, Major Schaffer, how does it feel to you, this new uniform?

MAJOR WILLIAM SCHAFFER, U.S. ARMY: The new uniform gives us a lot more flexibility, a lot more comfort, and probably the main point I want to bring out is it's more functional with the OTV and body armor that we use now.

COLLINS: OK, understood. And I forgot that you guys are not miced. So forgive me. I won't ask you too many more questions. I just had to know how it felt.

And the pockets, we know that before that you couldn't really get to the under body armor, could you?

MYHRE: With the wearing of body armor in the old battle dress uniform, all of the pockets were covered, so with the invention of the Army combat uniform, we've moved the pockets out to the shoulders and down onto the calves, so that when wearing body armor the soldier still has the same or more carrying capacity than he did with the old uniform.

COLLINS: All right. And finally, what's different from that camouflage?

MYHRE: The pixellated or universal camouflage pattern that you see here, the digitized pattern, gives the individual soldier the greater ability to break up their pattern in a color scheme that works better in the environments that we are most notably working in today, that being the desert and an urban environment.

COLLINS: Yes, it's just better camouflage.

Jeff, tell me this. The process of redesigning a uniform, is that something that's tough to do?

MYHRE: When we started this project, I had no idea that the changing of this uniform would be such an undertaking, but the great folks at program Executive Office Soldier, as well as the noncommissioned officers throughout the army that took part in this project provided invaluable information that would not have allowed us to do this uniform if we hadn't this those folks.

COLLINS: Yes, imagine you really had to talk a lot about the troops to find out what it is that they felt they were missing and would help them improve their performance out there. What do they think about the new uniform as a whole? How many people have even seen it?

MYHRE: Universally, as a whole, we have fielded approximately 1.4 million individual uniforms to 348,000 soldiers across our Army. Universally the uniform has been accepted with great reviews, although we solicit comments and feedback from the field, Afghanistan, Iraq, and here in the United States, almost on a daily basis.

COLLINS: And so when will these soldiers be able to start wearing them?

MYHRE: We started fielding the Army combat uniform in February of '05, and the mandatory possession, or wear-out date, for this uniform will be March/April, 2008.

COLLINS: OK, I bet they are anxious, anything to keep our troops safer and certainly more comfortable. I so appreciate your time, guys, and appreciate looking at this. Jeff Myhre, Major Robert Helms and Major William Schaffer, thanks once again.

MYHRE: Thank you.

HARRIS: And as you know, six-party talks are under way right now with North Korea. The goal of course being to get North Korea to give up its nuclear program. We understand that a draft agreement has been offered to North Korea.

Our State Department correspondent Zain Verjee is on the line with us.

Zain, fill us in on some of these details if you would, please.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Tony, the talks are in a crucial, a very important phase. There's a draft agreement that's being circulated by the Chinese, and it's under discussion. Apparently, according to reports that we've received, the idea is that North Korea shuts down its nuclear facilities within a short timeframe in exchange for aid. A State Department official speaking to us awhile ago says that it's being discussed, details are being worked out and there are outstanding issues, but the officials said the U.S., though, is cautiously optimistic. It's really the idea of a step-by- step action-for-action process. He said that these are initial steps on what would be a long journey in implementing the September 19th, 2005 agreement. That was a big deal. It was considered a breakthrough. And the idea there was North Korea give up its nuclear program, which is agreed, in exchange for aid and security.

So talks are still under discussion in Beijing, and there could be a breakthrough.

HARRIS: Zain, any idea of what the sticking points might be?

VERJEE: Well, one of the big issues has been the issue of financial sanctions. This has been a huge rau (ph) between the U.S. and North Korea. The U.S. had imposed financial sanctions on North Korea, basically accusing of it of counterfeiting and money laundering, saying, you know, this is illegal. North Korea is denying that it's done anything wrong, but the financial crackdown has really hurt them. The U.S. has frozen something like $24 million of North Korea's accounts at a bank in Macao. North Korea wants the financial sanctions to be dropped, saying you've got to drop it, you've got to ease up on it so we can make progress, only then, on nuclear disarm amount.

HARRIS: OK And is that the main sticking point? Is there anything else that North Korea, to your knowledge, now is asking for? VERJEE: Well, North Korea basically is looking for normal relations with the United States. They've always seen that as the key to its survival. They look around and see what happened in Iraq, and they don't want that to happen to them. So they're also looking for a few security guarantees. North Korea is also a very poor country. They need and they want economic aid. They need food and they also do want an end to these financial sanctions, that is one of the main sticking points.

HARRIS: Our State Department correspondent Zain Verjee for us -- Zain, appreciate it, thank you.

COLLINS: Just a quick reminder now, we are watching the microphones outside the medical examiner's office in Broward County, Florida, after the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Sorry about that, and that autopsy going on right now, so we will be continuing to follow that. The new information in just a few moments ago from our correspondent, Susan Candiotti. Prescription drugs were found in her hotel room, that's the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Broward County. Toxicology could take some time now, but we will continue to watch those microphones and bring you any details from the autopsy as they come to us.

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HARRIS: Look, first it was cell phones. Now, no coffee, no smoking, no reading, writing or eating, and stop playing that flute, OK? Vermont lawmakers want drivers to stay focused, crafting a law banning any and all things they say keep motorists driving while distracted, personal grooming included. And about that flute? One lawmaker says he added that after witnessing seeing someone driving while playing.

COLLINS: A tasing incident at San Diego State University is the talk of the campus. It started with a moving violation on a skateboard and quickly went downhill from there. Steve Fiorina of San Diego affiliate KGTV has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE FIORINA, KGTV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two hundred and fifty T-shirts, compliments of a North County skateboard company, unloaded quickly this afternoon in San Diego State. "I Got Tased," referring to the incident Tuesday when campus police tased a student who copped an attitude when he was stopped for skateboarding.

JOSHUA GANDY, STUDENT: He's all -- come here, do you want a ticket? And I was like, just thinking to myself, give me five (BLEEP) tickets, I love tickets. No, I don't want a (BLEEP) ticket. What kind of stupid question is that?

FIORINA: Soon, Gandy was on the ground, two officers over them, the taser being fired. He showed us the marks.

GANDY: They got it to almost my groin area, and that's where I voluntarily put my hands behind my back. Because nobody wants (BLEEP) by a taser. That's just inhumane.

FIORINA: Several students gathered today to show support, wear the T-shift.

GOLDIE DIEBEN, STUDENT: I wish I could skateboard because you get to class faster, you avoid the crowds. It's not a problem around campus.

FIORINA: Campus police meanwhile were quietly ticketing two other skateboarders a short distance away and confiscating their boards. While their superiors are reviewing the use of force against Gandy.

LT. BOB MCMANUS, CAMPUS POLICE: The taser was not used on the individual because he was skateboarding. It was the aggressive behavior and the noncompliant.

FIORINA: And a co-ed who caught the tasing on her cell phone camera reflects on the aftermath.

LAUREN NEIDIG, STUDENT: Well, I don't know if it was necessarily on my video. There was a ton of people who saw it and there's tons of people talking about it the next day. Yes, I have the video of what happened but so many people saw it that, you know, I think just helped to get it around.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Her death leaves in doubt the future of her young daughter. The paternity battle over Anna Nicole Smith's young infant, a live report straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Flawed intelligence linking Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, a new report out today pointing fingers at the Pentagon. The latest on the investigation in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Keeping track of your kids, how about these sneakers? What's so special about them? Find out in the NEWSROOM.

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