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Suicide Car Bomb Attacks in Baghdad; Shiite Militia Attack on Sunni; Explosion in Diyala Province; Massive Snowfall in New York
Aired February 10, 2007 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Did I hit you? Did I hit you? Get the (BLEEP) out of here! What? What? You going to hit me? You going to hit me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You hit me and I'll...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the (BLEEP) out of here! All right? I'm sick of your (BLEEP). Go ahead hit me!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, somebody's really angry. And that is just the beginning. A veteran reporter gets more than a story. You won't believe what happens next.
REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just as soon as her they're done cleaning up, the snow comes down again. I'm Reggie Aqui in update New York. We're going to show you what it's like to live in seven to 10 feet of snow -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right Reggie, we look forward to that. The news unfolding, live this Saturday, the 10th day of February. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, you're in the NEWSROOM.
Senator Barack Obama is in and now on his way to the pivotal presidential caucus state of Iowa. Moments ago, you watched it live here from the NEWSROOM. Obama announcing his formal entry into the 2008 race, he did it in his home state on the steps of the old courthouse in Springfield.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It was here in Springfield where North, South, East and West come together, that I was reminded of the essential decency of the American people. Where I came to believe that through this decency we can build a more hopeful America, and that is why, in the shadow of the old state capitol, where Lincoln once called on a House divided to stand together, where common hopes and common dreams still live, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: He revealed a lot about himself today, and his American dream. Relatively new to Washington, he has already among the Democratic frontrunners. Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is part of the best political team on television, she takes an insider's look at this candidate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He streaked into the political atmosphere like a meteor. Fiery. Dazzling.
OBAMA: We worship an awesome god in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states.
(APPLAUSE)
We coach little league in the blue states, and, yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states.
CROWLEY: Emil Jones, Barack Obama's friend and mentor, says the night before that convention speech, Jones was mistaken for an Alabama delegate because someone misread his Obama campaign button.
EMIL JONES, PRESIDENT, ILLINOIS STATE SENATE: After he gave that brilliant speech, the delegates at that convention were all over those persons from Illinois trying to get an Obama button.
CROWLEY: Name recognition is part treca (ph) of muss in presidential poll significance, along with the ability to raise money and a story to tell.
OBAMA: That's pretty good picture of me. Don't you think?
CROWLEY: He has one. Born in Hawaii, son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, Obama writes in his autobiography of struggling with his identity as a teenager. "Pot had helped," he wrote, "and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it." He wrote that 11 years ago. It may hurt, or not.
ELLEN WARREN, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": 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.
CROWLEY: He got it together, Colombia, Harvard law, professor, community organizer, Illinois state senator, U.S. Senator.
OBAMA: The time for waiting in Iraq is over.
CROWLEY: He opposes the war in Iraq and favors the Bush-backed immigration bill. He's against same-sex marriage, but supports civil unions. He favors universal healthcare.
REV ALVIN LOVE, LILYDALE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH: I've known Barack for 20 years and I'm not sure that I know whether he's liberal or conservative. I really think sometimes it depends on the issue. CROWLEY: Republicans describe Obama as a pragmatic left-of- center politician who works both sides of the aisle to get things done, sun up past sun down.
KIRK DILLARD (R), ILLINOIS STATE SENATOR: Senator Obama had the social skills to help him as a legislator, in Springfield he played basketball, he played poker with a number of legislators from down state Illinois after hours. He would have an occasional drink, he would smoke a cigarette, bum a cigarette from legislators.
CROWLEY: He spent eight years in state politics, the last two in national politics. It is, in the end, the biggest question on the Barack Obama bandwagon -- Is that enough to be leader of the Western world?
OBAMA: I'm ready, let's go.
CROWLEY: Candy Crowley, CNN, Springfield, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Senator Hillary Clinton grabbing some of the political spotlight in New Hampshire herself, today. Clinton is holding a series of town hall meetings she calls a "Conversation with Granite Stators." Our Mary Snow joins us live from Concord.
And what's the message?
MARY SNOW, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well Fredricka, this is Senator Clinton's first trip to New Hampshire since she was first lady back in 1996. And right out of the gate, at a town hall meeting, this morning, in Berlin, New Hampshire, acknowledged that the state had embraced her husband in 1992.
She said -- she told the crowd to expect to see him campaigning here for her and she said that his years in the White House gave her perspective.
A number of questions asked of her today were about Iraq. And Senator Clinton saying that if she had been president in 2003 she would have never have voted to have -- she never would have started this war, and sounding a very confident note, she said, if it is not ended when she is president in 2009, that she will end the war.
Now, one man who questioned her said -- he identified himself as a primary voter and he wanted to know if she would admit that her vote to authorize the war in 2003 was a mistake. And he noted that other senators have done so, including her Democratic rival, senator -- former Senator john Edwards. Here's a little bit of the exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: The reason I ask personally is because I-- and I think a lot of other Democratic primary voters -- until we hear you say that? We're not going to hear all these other great things you're saying. SEN HILLARY CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Well, I have said -- and I will repeat it -- that knowing that I know now, I would never have voted for it. But I also -- and, I mean obviously, you have to weigh everything as you make your decision. I have taken responsibility for my vote. The mistakes were made by this president who misled this country and this Congress into a war that should not have been raised.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Expect more questions like that when Senator Clinton attends another town hall meeting, here in concord this afternoon. Tomorrow's she will go into people's homes to talk one-on-one with the voters of New Hampshire. Now while she is here, also Senator Barack Obama will be here on Monday. Their paths will not cross because Senator Clinton will have left tomorrow night -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Mary, is it safe to say that these are very challenging crowds, not necessarily docile ones?
SNOW: Yeah and some of the people in the crowd were mixed, saying that they were undecided and really many had stressed that Iraq was really a very important issue for them. So, certainly some hard questions coming to Senator Clinton and this crowd will even be a bigger one than this morning's town halls.
WHITFIELD: And it being a very political savvy state. Mary Snow, thanks so much from Concord.
Well, some Republican presidential hopefuls are on the campaign trail, as well. Two of them are scheduled to speak at the Michigan State Republican Convention in Grand Rapids, today. They are former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. They face tough competition. Michigan's GOP chairman says the frontrunner in his state is Senator John McCain.
About three hours from now, Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani will deliver the keynote speech at California's state Republican Convention in Sacramento. He is in the Golden State mining key support for his campaign. California is poised to move its primary next year to early February. Early winners there could gain tremendous momentum in the 2008 race.
Get this, up to 10 feet of snow? That's what's on the ground right now in parts of upstate New York. And guess what? More snow is on the way. CNN's Reggie Aqui is on top of all that snow and kind of underneath it as well with new snow in Oswego.
AQUI: Yes. Well, when I found out I was coming here I couldn't imagine what eight to 10 feet of snow would be like. Well, this is what it's like. OK? I'm actually standing on top of a fire hydrant. And the only reason I know that is that they've got this orange flag up here to alert the firefighters to know where it is because it's completely buried in snow. I mean, this is what you're going to find all throughout Oswego County, today. And a lot of folks thought that they were going to get a break. There were blue skies early this morning, well, now look at it. The snow is coming down again.
How did they get through all this? Well, couple things. A good shovel, a good attitude, and a pantry full of macaroni and cheese, that doesn't hurt either.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): They move here partially because of the water. Lake Ontario, especially at sunset, is pretty. And this week, it's pretty overwhelming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we had 70 inches, here in Oswego.
AQUI: After 18 winters, the Taylor family, like most people in this part of upstate New York, is used to lots of snow.
LARRY TAYLOR, OSWEGO RESIDENT: Three or four inches an hour and sometimes even little more than that and that's not unusual, but having that kind of snowfall over this long period of time is what's been unusual.
AQUI: Larry Taylor knew he was in trouble when he had to tell employees not to show up to the power plant where he works, an almost unprecedented move. And when he tried to make the 20-minute commute...
L. TAYLOR: Well, one day it took me about an hour and 45 minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the kids have been off school all week, so they've been having a ball.
AQUI (on camera): What's it been like for the adults?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chaos.
L. TAYLOR: Yeah, our snow blower quit working, which is a big challenge when you're trying to keep the driveway cleared.
AQUI (voice-over): They are thankful for what is working. The lights are on, the pantry, full.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can't really get pizza delivered, too much snow.
AQUI: And the kids seem to be content playing in the mini mountains now dotting their backyards. But after too many afternoons of mac and cheese buffets and a now week-long living room card game, even a family used to rolling with the weather punches...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. Yeah. I'm ready for a break. Time to go out somewhere.
AQUI: Can't wait for spring to wash ashore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And I want to show you what folks have been doing outside today. You see right over my shoulder behind me? They've been taking spray paint and kind of telling the world about how they feel what's going on here. And it says Oswego snow? No problem. So generally, that's sort of the attitude that, Fredricka, people have around here, that they're going to get through all this. They wouldn't mind if it stops some time soon though.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, and I'm getting the sense that people there are really taking it in stride. Not just from your piece, but the three people who just walked behind you didn't even look like they had heavy parkas on, like this is no thing.
AQUI: You know what? They go through this like it is no big deal. I mean I think part of it's probably just to make us, you know, out-of-towners feel like, you know, they know what's going on here, which they do. But they're tough folks, tough folks.
WHITFIELD: Except I'm seeing that you're fitting in because you're not wearing a hat. You are just braving the elements like it's no biggie.
AQUI: You know, Mr. Tough Guy.
WHITFIELD: That's what I'm getting here. All right.
AQUI: As soon as I leave you, it'll go back on.
WHITFIELD: OK, or maybe the earmuffs. I like those. All right, Reggie Aqui, thanks so much in Oswego.
Let's check in with Bonnie Schneider, so it ain't over yet.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, METEOROLOGIST: No. And you know, it's really interesting to watch, look at this, this is the snow band that Reggie's standing under right now. It is so narrow, lake effect snow is almost similar to a thunderstorm where you can have that downpour in one community and the next town over is totally dry, same thing with lake effect snow. One area getting hard-hit with heavy snow at this time, but then just to the south, just to the north it's dry.
Now, the wind direction is a big part of that. We've seen winds shift a little bit, coming in a little more westerly at this hour, they were more to the southwest. And as they come across Lake Ontario and pick up that moisture, we will see more lake effect snow.
In fact in Oswego and some areas around the region we could see another foot or two before the weekend is over. That's not the only place we're watching for snow in the days to come. Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, get ready -- snow is likely. As we look at the current temperatures, the cold air is here, but what about the storm? The first part of it sort of getting going a little bit today, but more so on Sunday as we watch this area of low pressure trek across the southern plains and eventually will intensify and when it does, some time on Monday, it could bring a blast of wintry weather to Kentucky, and then Tuesday, snow for the D.C./Baltimore area.
Fred, I know this comes as great news to you.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, it does -- well, it does at least for my family. A lot of my family members who are wishing for a little snow, that way kind of the winter feels a little bit more normal. But of course, once the snow is on ground and it's gridlock in Washington, then everyone wants it to go away. That's the way it goes.
SCHNEIDER: Well, at least it will be short-lived, by Wednesday it clears out.
WHITFIELD: OK, well that's good. All right, thanks a lot, Bonnie.
All right, Barack Obama officially throwing his hat into the presidential ring. Could you be looking at the new first family of '08? We'll discuss his campaign in the NEWSROOM.
Confronting Iran over its nuclear program and its involvement in Iraq. What would it take to trigger a showdown in the Gulf? We'll lay it all out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Did I hit you? Did I hit you? Get the (BLEEP) out of here! What? What? You going to hit me? You going to hit me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You hit me and I'll...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the (BLEEP) out of here! All right? I'm sick of your (BLEEP). Go ahead hit me!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: OK, someone did not have their coffee today. But guess what? This is all about a pair of sunglasses. Can you believe it? A consumer reporter takes one for the team and find out why in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Another day in Iraq, another day of attacks and death. At least seven people were killed in two separate suicide car bomb attacks in Baghdad. Another person was killed when Shiite militia attacked Sunni houses in the western part of the capital.
And this from the U.S. Military today, three American soldiers were killed in an explosion in the volatile Diyala province northeast of Baghdad. The blast occurred as the soldiers searched for hidden weapons in a building. That raises the death toll for U.S. forces in the Iraq war to 3,120. It is the first day on the job for the new commander of the U.S.- led coalition forces in Iraq. General David Petraeus takes over from General George Casey who is the new Army chief of staff. Speaking in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces, Petraeus said it's imperative American and Iraqi forces work together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. ARMY: We will all have to share the burdens and move forward together. If we can do that, and if we can help the people of Iraq do likewise, then the prospects for success are good. Failing that, Iraq will be doomed to continued violence and civil strife, and surely that is a prospect that all must strive to avoid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: General Petraeus has served two previous tours in Iraq.
The war of words between the U.S. and Iran are still heating up. U.S. officials say serial numbers and other bomb markings suggest Iran is linked to the violence in Iraq.
Tomorrow the Bush administration may make public some of the alleged evidence pointing to an Iranian link. The latest moves by Washington appear to contradict what we've been hearing from U.S. officials in the last few weeks. Here's CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two days of war games under way by Iran's Revolutionary Guard near the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the point through which much of the world's oil supply passes. The U.S. now keeping two aircraft carriers in the region, ready to strike inside Iran if ordered, except for one thing.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I've said it, the secretary of defense has said it, the president has said it, we're not evading Iran.
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We have no intention of attacking Iran. The president said that, the secretary of state's said it. I've said it before.
STARR: It's an extraordinary admission.
MAJ GEN DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: And we're all a little bit mystified by this, because what we normally say is, all options are on the table. You want a potential enemy to be threatened and wondering what you're going to do.
STARR: Last month, Defense Secretary Gates openly said U.S. options against Iran are limited. GATES: I think that our difficulties have given them a tactical opportunity in the short term, but the United States is a very powerful country.
STARR: Why the softer tone? First, Iran's nuclear program is still years away from posing a strategic threat. And the U.S. worries that if the war of words gets too hot, either side may miscalculate and go to war. But the ratcheting down of rhetoric has a political component.
SHEPPERD: The American public wants us out of the wars that we're in and not involved in another war. I think that's what this is about.
STARR (on camera): So, what would provoke U.S. military action? Top commanders say, if Iran tried to close the Strait of Hormuz, that is something that would have to be dealt with.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And now questions linger in the death of Anna Nicole Smith. How did she die and who is the father of her daughter?
And talk about some dramatic video, this of a shootout at a home in Kentucky. We'll show you how this all went down.
And expensive lingerie stolen -- the underwear heist that could cost one man some time in jail. You're in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Still more questions than answers about the death of Anna Nicole Smith. A Florida medical examiner says it could be weeks before we know what killed the former model pending results of chemical and other tests. However, he has ruled out physical injuries and says no pills were found in her stomach and there was no evidence of long-term drug abuse.
At the time of her death, Smith was caught up in a dispute over the paternity of her daughter, 5-month-old Dannielynn. Smith named her lawyer and companion Howard K. Stern as the baby's father. But ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead filed suit claiming he was the dad and now a new claim from the husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE FREDRICK VON ANHALT, ZSA ZSA GABOR'S HUSBAND: I know who the real father is. You mean the real father is...
LARRY KING, LARRY KING LIVE: So it's not you?
ANHALT: I don't say yes and I didn't say no. Let's see how the court is ruling. If the court rules the right direction, not left to Larry, not right to Howard, Howard in the right direction, I stay out of it. If the court rules either to Howard or to Larry, I jump in. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Can this get any more confusing? So, up for grabs in this paternity battle, the child's inheritance which would be in the millions.
Other stories making headlines across America, dramatic pictures, look at these out of Kentucky. A man faces sentencing in May on an attempted murder and carjacking conviction. The conviction stems from a standoff with police two years ago at a home in Bowling Green. The scene captured on tape by a police robot cam. Before the standoff the man led police on a high-speed chase. Officers used tire deflation devices to try to stop him, but he continued fleeing and ended up at the home where that standoff took place.
Police are revealing that Nobel Laureate and holocaust scholar Elie Wiesel was attacked during a peace conference at a San Francisco hotel last week. Police are investigating the incident as a crime. Investigators say there is an anti-Semitic website where someone is claiming responsibility for that attack.
And the woman claiming to be James Brown's fourth wife, allowed to return to the home she shared with the singer to retrieve her belongings. That decision from a South Carolina judge. Tomi Rae Hynie says she has been locked out of the home since Brown died on Christmas day.
Police in Kentucky are looking for a man who's got about $15,000 worth of secrets -- Victoria's secrets, that is. They say the man stole the lingerie from a warehouse where he worked. Police said it was the man's girlfriend who revealed the lingerie theft to them.
The Obama 2008 presidential campaign train is rolling down the tracks now. But what are his chances for derailment?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What? What? You going to hit me? You going to hit me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: A consumer reporter confronts a business owner and look at what happens. Don't miss this story. It's coming up in the NEWSROOM.
It's deep and getting deeper in upstate New York. More than eight feet of snow piled up so far. Is more on the way? Find out in the NEWSROOM.
But first working out is usually at the top of the list of New Year's resolutions. Right? Well, busy schedules and expensive gym fees can make it hard to follow through. CNN's Gerri Willis went in search of the perfect home gym where you can burn calories without burning your budget. Here's this week's edition of "Modern Living."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Everybody wants a home gym but what if I don't have a lot of money to spend, say only $500. What can I get?
DAVID HARRIS, EQUINOX HEALTH CLUBS: For $500 you can get some very basic tools. You can get, for example, a foam roller which is really good for loosening up a lot of the muscle tissue around the joints.
WILLIS: Like this.
HARRIS: Right. Put your hips right up here. Put your hips...
WILLIS: This is my kind of exercise.
HARRIS: Put your hips right on up there.
WILLIS: I get to lay down.
HARRIS: This is called a Swiss ball. And basically it is a rubberized ball that you can load up with air and you can do a verity of things on it...
WILLIS: You know I have one of these, but I don't really know what you do with it.
HARRIS: OK. You can use it to add more complexity to a basic exercise, like, let's say it is a crunch. So, why don't you lie down on the ball.
WILLIS: Thanks. I get to do this. OK.
HARRIS: They're very inexpensive. These generally run somewhere around $30 or so. That's probably the lowest cost cardiovascular exercise you can do, next to running, of course, which costs nothing.
WILLIS (voice-over): I'm Gerri Willis and that's this week's "Modern Living."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In Iraq, General David Petraeus is the new commander of U.S. forces. He says the country is doomed to continued violence if U.S. and Iraqi forces fail to work together.
Iran says it now has surveillance cameras in an underground nuclear plant where it plans to enrich uranium. If confirmed, the move would put Iran in compliance with U.N. demands that it make its nuclear program more transparent.
And in upstate New York, old man winter is showing no mercy. Up to ten feet of snow covers some areas. And guess what? More is expected.
Senator Barack Obama makes it official. About an hour ago in Springfield, Illinois, he announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination, saying he wants to lead a new generation.
OBAMA: What's stopped us from meeting these challenges is not the absence of sound policies and sensible plans. What's stopped us is the failure of leadership, the smallness of our politics, the ease with which we're distracted by the petty and trivial, our chronic avoidance of tough decisions, our preference for scoring cheap political points instead of rolling up our sleeves and building a working consensus to tackle the big problems of America.
WHITFIELD: Barack Obama now takes on nearly a dozen Democratic White House wannabes, including Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton from New York.
So how does that affect the way the things are shaping up for the big race in 2008?
Republican strategist Amy Holmes and Democratic strategist Jenny Backus are here with their insight.
Good to see both of you.
AMY HOLMES, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.
JENNY BACKUS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: All right, so, Amy, let me begin with you. Has this race, whether you be a Democratic hopeful or a Republican hopeful, now changed substantially as a result of Barack Obama saying "I'm in?"
HOLMES: Well, it's definitely heated up and this is an exciting day. It's an exciting day in politics. Republicans I'm sure were watching and listening and seeing how inspirational he can be to his constituents.
Does this change it materially? On each side, Republicans and Democrats are going to looking at what's happening tomorrow in terms of who they're running against in the primaries.
WHITFIELD: Really? So, Jenny, how do you see it? Because he was very careful about the language that he used, appealing to so many people from so many different backgrounds, being very specific about what he sees in a new America.
I would imagine that that is going to change the dialogue, the word choice that a lot of the candidates are using now.
BACKUS: I think you're absolutely right, Fredricka. I think politics, especially on the Democratic side, was sort of going down a very traditional road, lots of rhetoric that we've heard before, policy ideas which are great, but we've heard before.
All of a sudden, Barack is challenging the Democrats, the Republicans and the country to take a significant turn, to take a higher path, a different path, one we haven't taken before, one that transforms and transcends politics as we know it and really lays down a message for the future. And that's an interesting thing that we haven't seen for a while on the Democratic side of the aisle. We had a great president. We had Al Gore, who was his vice president. It was always a continuity message.
This is a change message. This is an empowerment message to voters and I think he did an interesting thing.
WHITFIELD: What's that?
BACKUS: Which is in 2006, I think the Democrats won because voters wanted a party, wanted people from outside of Washington. They wanted people who would represent their voice and their values.
I think Barack is the first candidate on either side to hear that same message for 2008. He's talked a lot today not about "I" today, but about "we" and about how people can come together and took a pretty hard shot at the ways of Washington, too.
WHITFIELD: And, Amy, I mean, while he talked about some kind of political speak, meaning we can differ, but we don't have to be disagreeable, he didn't single out parties.
I don't think I heard him once say Democratic this, Republican that. He did talk about instead transforming America, everyone coming to the table in agreement about what is universally right and fair.
HOLMES: Sure, he did say those things. And I would actually disagree with Jenny, that politicians typically talk about that, coming together, rising above partisanship, crossing party lines, trying to bring people from all different corners of America.
I think that's actually fairly boilerplate. What's interesting about Obama is that he represents great progress for this country and I think that that's exciting. But he can't be a symbolic tower, because symbolic towers can be taken down very quickly by the buzz saw of presidential elections.
And he is going to have to come out with specifics. He, you know...
BACKUS: And I think he did today and I think what you saw was he also was -- it was very significant where he did this announcement today, which was in Springfield, Illinois, both the home of Abraham Lincoln, a Republican president, that he definitely tried to sort of wrap his candidacy around the same ideas, but also where he was a legislator, where he worked with Republicans across party lines to do really hard things.
HOLMES: Certainly, and you heard George Bush talk about that in 2000, running from Texas, that he worked with Democrats in Texas.
It's not new. It is inspirational. It's what the American people want to hear.
WHITFIELD: Well, perhaps your exchange is kind indicative of what we're going to see from a lot of these characters who are running, Republican and Democrat.
They're going to now start reanalyzing exactly what they're stating, how they're stating it, maybe to make it a little more digestible for the American public, because while these are issues that he touched on today, which are not foreign issues, we've all heard it before, it's about how you present it, how do you make it more appealing.
HOLMES: And, you know, Fredricka, he has a tremendous presentation. It's an exciting presentation, but he's also going to be running into the Hillary machine that, as of today, is going to start knocking him down.
WHITFIELD: Well, that's interesting that you bring that up, because we've seen their Senatorial relationship. We've seen pictures of Ms. Clinton and Mr. Obama together looking like they're working on the same page.
But now when you're talking about being competitors and they've been very cordial toward one another, is there a likelihood or a possibility that we're going to see a fight between the two, fighting for the spotlight?
BACKUS: I don't think so, actually, and that was sort of what was interesting and where I respectfully disagree a little bit with what Amy said earlier.
I think in primaries on the Democratic side, we traditionally have had people fighting with each other. We haven't seen the language of "let's work together," not even just "let's work together," but politics is more important than Republicans and Democrats. It is all about voters.
I think that is going to be an important sub-theme, like you were saying Fredricka, inside the Democratic Party.
And it sort of a little bit started with Howard Dean in 2004, his rhetoric about "this is your campaign." I think with the Internet, and you saw how Obama -- he teased the speech that he gave today to his million-person e-mail list last night, saying, "Come to my Website, use my Website to build a campaign. This is your campaign and my campaign."
I think it is going to be harder for other candidates to sort of attack Barack because, in a sense, they're attacking all the people that support him.
And I don't think you're going to see the Clinton and Edwards and Barack attack each other.
WHITFIELD: Amy?
HOLMES: I have to point out that the phony madrassa story seemed to have possibly originated in the Hillary campaign.
BACKUS: I think that was knocked down. HOLMES: I think that Jenny's being a little overly optimistic. Politics ain't beanbag and Hillary's not going to let Obama roll over her.
WHITFIELD: All right, Amy Holmes, you get the last word. Jenny Backus, thank you, as well. Good to see both of you and I know we'll be talking a lot more over the next couple of years. Thanks again.
So will Barack Obama make history in the White House? And might he be putting his life in danger simply by running?
Senator Obama and his wife, Michelle, tackled those very issues in a CBS "60 Minutes" interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
REPORTER: Do you think the country's ready for a black president?
OBAMA: Yes.
REPORTER: You don't think it is going to hold you back.
OBAMA: No. You know, I think if I don't win this race, it will be because of other factors. It's going to be because I have not shown to the American people a vision for where the country needs to go that they can embrace.
REPORTER: Has that that been a factor? I mean, have you talked about that? Is that something that you think about?
MICHELLE OBAMA, WIFE OF SEN. BARACK OBAMA: I don't lose sleep over it, because the realities are that, as a black man, you know, Barack can get shot going to the gas station, you know.
So you can't make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
WHITFIELD: So Obama hit campaign trail after this morning's announcement, heading now to Iowa and to New Hampshire.
Five years since American journalist Daniel Pearl disappeared. Now, a look at days just before he vanished.
And this.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNKNOWN MALE: I'm sorry, did I hit you?
(END VIDEOCLIP)
WHITFIELD: Rude, huh? A consumer reporter just doing his job when he gets the surprise attack. We'll explain right here from the NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The consumer beat. Well, sometimes it can get a little rough.
Take this, for instance. A75-year-old reporter for "City News" in Toronto, Canada went to get some answers from an optician accused of selling counterfeit glasses.
Instead, he got a handful. The problem? That optician apparently has a temper.
What he did next definitely got our attention. Here's Pete Silverman.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNKNOWN MALE: Oh, oh, I'm sorry, did I hit you? Did I hit you? Just the [expletive] out of here. What, you going to hit me? You going to hit me?
REPORTER: You hit me and I'll...
UNKNOWN MALE: Get the [expletive] out of here, all right? I'm sick of your [expletive]. Go ahead, hit me.
PETE SILVERMAN, CITY NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This all started with Diana Roman said she had paid optician Adam Plemmer (ph) $400 for glasses which she never received.
DIANA ROMAN: I'm ready to pick up my glasses. Everything was hunky-dory. He says, "You're not getting," but he didn't say it like that. He was screaming, "You're not getting."
SILVERMAN: And then there was Katherine Ning (ph), who paid Plemmer (ph) $700 for a pair of glasses, which also included a free eye test. But when Plemmer (ph) couldn't get her prescription right, she wanted to cancel the deal.
KATHERINE NING: And then he said, "No, if you don't get out of my store, I'm going to call the cops on you."
ROMAN: Then he says, "Get the hell out."
NING: He threatened me.
SILVERMAN: So we went to see Adam Plemmer (ph) about the two women.
ADAM PLEMMER, OPTICIAN: I don't have any more to say to you. You're all full of [expletive]. You deal with my lawyer.
SILVERMAN: Whoops. Well, on Tuesday we received this phone call from Mr. Plemmer.
PLEMMER: Mr. Silverman, I've become a new man. I've witnessed the power of God and I want to tell you, Mr. Silverman, that I do love you. And you want to come back here again, you can talk to me.
SILVERMAN: Did that mean that Mr. Plemmer (ph) was ready to pay restitution to the two women? We hoped so.
So back we went to see him. And that when his protestations of love started to become a bit unglued.
PLEMMER: Oh, oh, I'm sorry, did I hit you? Get the [expletive] out of here. What, what, you going to hit me? You going to hit me? Get the [expletive] out of here, all right?
SILVERMAN: Get away from [expletive] cameraman.
PLEMMER: I'll break your face in half.
SILVERMAN: Will you?
PLEMMER: [Expletive] you. See?
SILVERMAN: Punches, door mats, spit, and now snowballs.
PLEMMER: You, too. Get the [expletive]. You're standing in front of my [expletive]. I don't care. Stop looking at my store.
SILVERMAN: Telling me to go away is one thing. Telling the cops to disappear is another.
PLEMMER: All of you. You.
SILVERMAN: From then on, the situation ratcheted up. Plemmer (ph) now barricaded in his store, refused to come out and that led to the emergency task force coming in.
It was an inglorious end, Plemmer (ph) being led away in handcuffs. He is being charged with assault and assault with a weapon.
For us, it was not the end we wanted. We much preferred to have Plemmer (ph) pay restitution and not end up in jail.
We'll keep you posted.
I'm Peter Silverman for "City News."
(END VIDEOCLIP)
WHITFIELD: People, we do not make this up. I know you wouldn't believe it if you just heard us tell the story. So, look, there was videotape to prove it all.
Well, the eyeglass shop owner was charged with a criminal count of assault and assault with a weapon. He is out on bail. But there is a restraining order that requires him to stay away from the reporter, the station and any of the stations' employees.
The station also pointed out to us that their reporter only put up his fists as a defensive move.
So tonight on CNN, a story you'll be telling your friends for days. The anatomy of an affair.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNKNOWN MALE: Basically, it started out with lunches and then after a while, she invited me to have an after-work drink. And so, you know, we had a drink. One drink led to, you know, many drinks.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
WHITFIELD: Elements of a marriage meltdown, tonight at 10:00 Eastern in the NEWSROOM.
Journalist Daniel Pearl, on the hunt for an interview, becomes the hunted. A preview of the documentary, "The Journalist and the Jihadi."
And baby pandas in China finally getting their names, all 18 of them. We're going global right here in the NEWSROOM.
SCHNEIDER: I'm CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider with a look at your cold and flu report for Saturday.
Well, we have widespread outbreaks of the flu across much of the southern plains, including Texas and Oklahoma.
The southeast is reporting local activity and regional outbreaks, while areas to the west are reporting sporadic outbreaks at this time.
That's you're a look at your cold and flu report for Saturday.
I'm meteorologist Bonnie Schneider.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It's been five years since American journalist Daniel Pearl became a victim of the war on terror. Pearl was snatched off the streets of Karachi, Pakistan and murdered.
A two-hour documentary created and produced for HBO and airing on CNN this weekend also profiles British-born terrorist Omar Sheik. This segment narrated by CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour focuses on the days just before Pearl disappeared.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
REPORTER: Richard Reid, a British national, was detained by the security authorities in the United States this morning.
Reid was overpowered by flight attendants and passengers as he tried to detonate explosives hidden in his shoes.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Following up on the Reid story, Daniel Pearl begins looking for a religious leader called Sheikh Gilani.
MARIANE PEARL, WIDOW OF DAVID PEARL: It was possible that this man was the spiritual leader.
UNKNOWN MALE: This Mr. Gilani, the biggest number of his followers are not in Pakistan in general, but are in America.
AMANPOUR: To reach Gilani, Pearl turns back to a Halad Hajah (ph), who is a known Gilani disciple.
HALAD HAJAH: I said we will not be (inaudible). He was just requesting to me again and again. I said, "Look, Daniel, when I'm telling you something, just listen to it." He is not willing to come for an interview.
AMANPOUR: But Daniel Pearl is determined to get an interview with the Sheikh Gilani, whom he suspects of running Al Qaeda's hawallah, a grassroots method for transferring money without bank records that may have helped fund the September 11 attacks.
HAJAH: He kept on calling me the whole day after every one hour. I said, "Daniel, don't call me. I'll call you whenever I'm free."
I called him at about 9:00. I said, "OK, if you can come now to my office, you're welcome." He said, "Can I come in a half-hour?" I said, "No, I will sleep then."
So next day he again called me in the morning, he said, "Can I come now?" I said, "Sorry, I'm busy now." This was the last call I received.
JOHN BUSSEY, PEARL'S FOREIGN EDITOR, WSJ: In the process of poking around and spreading the net for folks who might know Gilani, he spread the net pretty widely and went into the Jihadi community to see if there was anyone there.
A fellow named Bashir came to his attention.
AMANPOUR: It seems like a breakthrough.
PEARL: A meeting occurred in the hotel and Danny talked to this person, supposedly a disciple of Sheikh Gilani.
UNKNOWN FEMALE: Bashir doesn't have a beard, he's wearing jeans. He's looking completely non-threatening. He's looking like the last thing from a Jihadi that anyone would suspect.
AMANPOUR: Although a cautious reporter, Daniel Pearl has no inkling that Bashir is actually Omar Sheikh.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
WHITFIELD: So get more from Christiane Amanpour on the kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, the two-hour special event, "The Journalist and the Jihadi," airs 8:00 p.m. Eastern tonight and Sunday, only on CNN. So piles of snow in the northeast.
Bonnie Schneider is in the weather center. And we can see just from the map behind you that it's going to be there for a while.
SCHNEIDER: It sure is, right over Owego right now and more is to come. But it's not just going to be snowy in the northeast.
We may see snow later this week in the mid-Atlantic. I'll tell you about a snowy forecast for Washington and Baltimore. That's all coming up next on CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Bonnie Schneider now in the weather center, where for so long people were complaining, "Where's winter?" Well, here it is now.
SCHNEIDER: It is, it is. And we have a really strong band of lake effect snow working its way across upstate New York right at this hour. Oswego getting hard hit once again. You know, we could see another two feet of snow before this storm finally wraps up on Monday.
It's also been rough in Mexico, New York. That's a tiny town just to the north of Oswego.
We have a great I-report to show you. This is from Shannon Scott. It's actually a picture of her aunt and her name is Rene Lawton.
There's Rene. She's trying to shovel out. And Shannon says if you look closely you can actually see her mailbox. Good point. You have to look closely to find that.
And how's this for a tie-in? Shannon doesn't live in upstate New York. Shannon lives in Washington, D.C., and that's the next stop where we're expecting snow later on, I'd say into Tuesday, maybe even Monday night.
What's happening is even though things are pretty dry right now, we have some very cold air across the mid-Atlantic. Washington right now below freezing now at 31. And look at this, Lexington, Kentucky, checking in at 21 degrees. So pretty cold.
This big ridge of high pressure has brought in the dome of colder air. And notice this storm here well, well out to the Rockies and southern plains. Not that strong yet, but as it works its way to the east, it's likely to get stronger and intensify.
Eventually, on Monday, we're expecting it to work its way all the way off the coastline here developing off the Carolina coast.
Now, depending on where it goes and the track of the storm will determine how much sleet and freezing rain we get, how much snow we get. But looking at everything, all the computer models are pointing toward some snow for the Washington area on Tuesday. That does include Baltimore, as well. Fast-moving storm, though. It should be all wrapped up by Wednesday.
So, Fredricka, we are going to see snowy conditions this week in some places that really haven't seen the snow just yet.
WHITFIELD: And something tells me Shannon from that I-report picture isn't getting home to D.C. anytime soon. Snow on both ends. Thanks so much, Bonnie.
Take a look at this. Cute as can be. All 18 babies, Chinese pandas, now have names, all selected by Internet surfers. The 18 cubs were born in captivity to 11 mothers in southwestern China. Happy day.
"IN THE MONEY" is coming up straight up and, first, a look at the top stories.
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