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Cheney Targeted in Afghanistan?; Child Obesity Case in Great Britain; Sharing the Wealth in Iraq

Aired February 27, 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 come in to the NEWSROOM live on Tuesday, February 27th.

Here's what's on the rundown.

The vice president says he heard the loud boom. Dick Cheney, unharmed after a suicide attack in Afghanistan. Reports this morning of the Taliban saying he was the target.

HARRIS: A British boy so fat, the state says his condition amounts to child abuse. His mother could lose custody for overfeeding him.

COLLINS: Sure, it keeps vampires away, but new research says garlic will not keep your cholesterol down. It might keep your friends away, but more on that and the findings in the NEWSROOM.

A suicide bomber strikes, Vice President Dick Cheney escapes unharmed. Almost three dozen people dead and wounded outside the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan. Cheney, safely inside Bagram Air Base, but close enough to hear the explosion.

Let's get the very latest now from Tom Coghlan. He's a freelance journalist. He's joining us now from Kabul.

Tom, what is the scene now as we are talking at the base in Bagram?

THOMAS COGHLAN, REPORTER: Well, I just left the base at Bagram. I spent several -- several hours there this afternoon.

The base was closed by U.S. forces, sealed by a ring of U.S. soldiers, the entrance to that base this afternoon. A number of bodies still visible by the entrance.

Those were bodies, Afghan laborers, who were waiting to come on the base. They were killed during this suicide bomb attack, and their bodies were waiting for collection by their relatives. Now, the number of dead in this attack was the subject of a certain amount of controversy during the day. Initial reports from the U.S. military said that only four people had been killed in this attack. One of those a U.S. soldier. Subsequently, we've heard reports of as many as 21 dead and possibly 20 more injured in that attack. Those reports coming from Afghan government officials on the scene.

As you said, the Taliban have claimed this attack and they have claimed that they were targeting the vice president, Dick Cheney.

Over to you -- Heidi.

COOPER: Tom, any changes to the vice president's schedule or the way that his security is being handled from this point forward?

COGHLAN: Not as far as we're aware. Now, the attacker in this instance didn't actually manage to penetrate the first ring of security around Bagram Air Base. There are several more rings of security that that attacker would have had to get through to actually get on the base, and would then have had to penetrate the particular security that Dick Cheney has around himself.

So, the attacker really didn't get very far. But it was, as you say, close enough for him to hear. And the vice president did continue his pre-planned schedule. That was a meeting with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, in Kabul. He flew to that meeting. That was always his plan, to fly to that meeting -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Very good.

Tom Coghlan for us.

Thanks so much, Tom.

HARRIS: S after the suicide attack, Vice President Cheney spoke to reporters.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House.

Elaine, good morning to you. What did the vice president have to say?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the vice president, as you heard, by all accounts, not close to where that explosion took place, but the vice president telling reporters traveling with him that he in fact heard a loud boom. This was around 10:00, he said, while he was at Bagram Air Base.

He said that the Secret Service told him that there had been an attack on the main gate. He was moved for a brief period of time, as he describes it, to a bomb shelter near his quarters before he was allowed to return to his room.

Now, he was asked about reports that the Taliban not only claimed responsibility, but also said that -- members of the Taliban bluntly saying that Cheney himself was a target. The vice president told reporters he hadn't heard that, but he responded by saying, "I think they clearly try to find ways to question the authority of the central government. Striking at the Bagram base with a suicide bomber I suppose is one way to do that. It shouldn't affect our behavior."

This attack, though, comes, Tony, more than five years after the U.S. toppled Taliban -- the Taliban region in Afghanistan, and certainly America's allies in the region. Not only Afghanistan, but Pakistan, as well, have been unsuccessful in curbing the threat posed by the Taliban and al Qaeda.

Mr. Cheney met with Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, to talk about that threat, and away from the cameras, no doubt, pressed Hamid Karzai about that threat. One senior administration official saying that there is a lot of work still to be done -- Tony.

HARRIS: Elaine, let me follow up with an allies question. Does the Bush administration believe the Iraq debate that is ongoing now is having impact on U.S. allies like Afghanistan?

QUIJANO: Yes. Well, the senior official who was traveling with Vice President Cheney says that they do believe there are "consequences" to this talk of U.S. withdrawal from Iraq when it comes to allies around the world. The official essentially relayed a story, saying that President Karzai was trying to get some tribal leaders to cooperate. And the question President Karzai kept getting from these tribal leaders was, what about the U.S. commitment? Do you in fact have that? How deep is that?

Well, certainly the implication and the argument here, Tony, is that as this talk of withdrawal from Iraq continues, and the political pressure continues to mount, that it is being very closely watched by U.S. allies around the world -- Tony.

HARRIS: White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano for us this morning.

Elaine, thank you.

And tonight, on "ANDERSON COOPER 360," meet the man who says the U.S. didn't finish the job with the Taliban in Afghanistan and now it's deadlier than ever. Watch the "360" investigation tonight at 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

COLLINS: Diplomats in danger. Ambassadors from the U.S., Italy and Germany received minor injuries today in the attack in the eastern part of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan authorities say Tamil rebels fired upon helicopters carrying the ambassadors. Nine other people also injured in the attack.

A rebel spokesman says the government put the diplomats in danger by taking them to an area where fighting is going on. Rebel forces have been battling the Sri Lankan government since 1983 in a bid for a separate homeland.

HARRIS: And let's get our first check of weather this morning in the NEWSROOM.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Want to tell you about this story now. He's an 8-year- old little boy and weighs nearly 200 pounds. British authorities say his mother feeds him too much, literally putting his life at risk. Today social services officials consider whether to take custody of the boy.

CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): ... house, and weighing in at around 200 pounds, Connor is relishing every bite. A chicken drumstick may seem typical for a young kid, but Connor is just 8 years old. Almost four times the average weight for a kid his age.

And where's my pork chop?

VAN MARSH: Connor's mother says she's obliged to answer her son's constant demands for more food, but British authorities say they're very concerned the diet he is being fed could seriously damage his health. And now they're considering putting the child into care until he loses more weight.

The implication, neglect.

NICOLA MCKEOWN, MOTHER: What if I neglected Connor? He would be a skinny kid? A skinny little runt?

VAN MARSH: On a typical day, Connor he starts with chocolate cereal, followed by some toast with processed meat. Lunchtime means a burger and fries and sausages, or a pizza, a whole pizza. It's fast- food takeaway for dinner. And toss in four bags of potato chips.

And Connor's family admits that in addition to all of that, he scarfs down cookies and other snacks about every 20 minutes.

DR. MICHAEL MARKIEWICZ, PEDIATRICIAN: They love him. They actually love him to death, literally. In fact, not saying they can't care for him, what they're doing is, through the way they're treating him and feeding him, they're slowly killing him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Alphonso Van Marsh joining us now live.

Alphonso, I know that the British social service officials were scheduled to meet this hour regarding Connor's case. The latest on that?

VAN MARSH: Well, we're waiting for details to see just what will happen in that meeting. But what we do understand will happen, as you mentioned, there will be officials from social services, as well from the health department, specialized nurses with specific knowledge on obesity care, a pediatrician, even a police officer, as well as an official from Connor's school. He's missed a lot of class due to ill health and to bullying -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Alphonso, any idea if this has ever happened before? Have parents ever lost custody of a child in Britain because of a reason like this?

VAN MARSH: Well, the buzz around here for a number of years has been, just what are parents doing -- or just what are children doing to take care of themselves, and what are parents doing to watch them? What's really interesting is, in the past couple of years, British authorities have committed over $500 million just to improve the lunches, because they're saying at school, kids are just eating junk.

They're eating sodas -- they're drinking sodas, they're eating junk food instead of getting the proper nutrition, their fruits and vegetables at school. So that's what people are talking about here, is, what can schools do, what should parents do, what can communities do to keep kids healthy -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, I can attest to that here in the U.S., those school lunches. All right.

Alphonso Van Marsh, keep us posted, will you? Thanks.

HARRIS: Sharing the wealth. Can a plan to divide up oil money unify Iraq? That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Also, finding Jesus. A fantastic claim, but is it anything more than a publicity stunt?

We'll take a look at that in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Plus, watch this tape. A man hit by a car, the driver allegedly so boozed -- wow -- the driver so boozed up, he didn't even realized what he'd done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ran someone over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are they in the road?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much did you have to drink tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple of beers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Man. Again, a pedestrian hit so hard -- did you see the shoes? Flying. Run down in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And they say their sorority was nicknamed "The Dog House."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Image is a racism of sorts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: But these women say they face more than just name- calling. We'll tell you their story coming up right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Suicide bombers in Baghdad believed to be shifting tactics in response to the Iraqi government's new security plan. At least 10 deaths are reported today in bombings in the Iraqi capital.

A car bomb exploded in a parking lot, a suicide bomber rammed an ice cream shop, and a hidden bomb went off inside a restaurant. All of the attacks in central Baghdad.

The new security plan forbids parking on Baghdad's main streets. So police now believe suicide bombers are shifting tactics and targets.

Also in Baghdad, officials say they've arrested a suspect in yesterday's attempted assassination of one of Iraq's two vice presidents. Adel Abdul Mahdi suffered minor injuries when a bomb killed a dozen people at the Public Works Ministry.

COLLINS: Iraqi oil -- a proposed new law could lead to greater distribution of wealth in Iraq. But will it lead to peace?

CNN's Michael Holmes takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): All roads to Iraq's economic recovery come from one place, the oilfields. There have been a couple of problems, however -- a war that won't quit and furious political squabbles over who gets what.

The United States has been pressing the government of Nuri al- Maliki to come up with an oil plan for his oil rich but underproducing country, and that plan is about go to the parliament.

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: This is the first signs since 2003 that all major Iraqi communities have come together on a defining piece of legislation. This law is a major pillar of a national compact among Iraqis.

HOLMES: If passed, it will end decades of total government control over the nation's massive oil reserves and distribute oil income among all the country's regions.

HUSSAIN AL-SHAHRISTANI, IRAQI OIL MINISTER (through translator): This law will guarantee for Iraqis not just now, but for future generations, too, complete national control over this natural wealth, and that the benefits of this natural wealth will be distributed to all Iraqis in all regions, provinces and districts. And that it will be under the control of the United council of Oil and Gas that will make all decisions and the development for this wealth.

HOLMES: At the heart of the new plan and after months of argument will be a high council for oil that would include representatives of the oil-producing provinces, the ministers of oil, finance and planning, and the central bank governor. It may be headed by the prime minister himself.

BARHAM SALIH, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: We have reached what I consider to be a very good deal that will satisfy the needs of all the regions of Iraq and will turn oil from the curse it has been for Iraq into a blessing.

HOLMES: Barham Salih is a Kurd, and it is the Kurdish region that has some of the biggest reserves. Kurds wanted to develop and sell those reserves the way they want, but now a complex compromise is in place that would give Baghdad veto power.

SALIH: It will be based on sharing revenues and redistributing oil revenues equitably among all Iraqis, and to ensure that the best business practices will be adopted in developing the oil sector in Iraq.

HOLMES: Western oil companies are rubbing their hands in glee at the potential windfall, at least those companies who would be willing to come to a country where hundreds of contractors have been killed and pipelines are regularly blown up by insurgents.

SABAH MUKHTAR, ANALYST: In fact, this is -- this is an obscene exercise we're going through. Who cares about the oil? If the American soldiers, in their tanks and their armored vehicles, are afraid to move around Iraq and they are being killed, you want to tell me some idiotic geologist or an oil company will go and prospect for oil in Iraq? This is an absolute nonsense.

HOLMES: Still, the stakes are enormous, with oil prices hovering near historic highs and estimates of Iraq's oil reserves ranging from 120 billion barrels to 250 billion barrels, making them the world's third or second largest.

(on camera): Now, the new law is far from passed, of course, and regional and sectarian self-interest still very much part of the game. Many ordinary Iraqis fear their country's oil wealth will be robbed by the Americans. Shiites and Kurds who have most of the reserves feel it's their turn to take a slice of the cake, and Sunnis, who have few reserves, fear getting left out.

(voice over): Oil smuggling and corruption are still major issues, too, with insurgents often the beneficiaries of the cash. In any event, passage of the law won't mean wholesale oil exploration and development overnight. There is, after all, a war on.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And still ahead, ready to fight on another front. Is the U.S. military stretched too thin? A closer look at the concerns, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And we are "Minding Your Business," like we always do.

Ali Velshi here now with a preview.

Hi there, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good morning.

We are just moments away from the open of markets in the United States, and investors are bracing for a very rough day. I'll tell you why when we come back in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: In a story that is just developing, China's stock market plunged sharply today, while Toyota is planning to open a new auto plant in Mississippi.

Ali Velshi with us this morning, "Minding Your Business."

Ali, I've got to tell you, this news about China's markets, we saw this coming for a couple of days, didn't we?

VELSHI: Yes. Now, here's the thing, Tony. Five years ago, it wouldn't have mattered what happened on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. This morning it matters.

These markets closed just a couple hours ago in China -- in Shanghai. And this is the biggest drop in 10 years.

Now, it's not a fundamental problem in China, but that market has been really, really hot for the last couple of years. And the government has started to express some concern that it needs to be -- maybe -- maybe something has to happen.

HARRIS: Yes.

VELSHI: And think about it as irrational exuberance. Well, that fear has led a lot of people who have made a lot of money on that market to bail out.

It's a 9 percent drop. It could have been worse, because a lot of companies in China -- the limit on how much you can lose in a day on the stock market is 10 percent. A lot of companies hit that 10 percent. So it could have been worse.

That is definitely going to trickle into U.S. markets, which are set to open in about five minutes. On top of that, we got a report of durable goods.

HARRIS: Yes. VELSHI: Durable goods are the things that are ordered that last more than three years. Listen to these numbers. This is the largest drop on record.

Vehicle sales down 5 percent. Machinery sales, 9 percent. Computers, 8 percent. Communications equipment, 19 percent. And aircraft orders in the United States, fully 60 percent.

This is bad news for markets, and it's going to turn the way -- it's going to have a lot of influence on how markets behave.

HARRIS: We'd like to think folks are saving that money, but there's no real evidence of that, is there?

VELSHI: That's exactly right.

Yes.

VELSHI: And, you know, the one thing we're going to see at 10:00 Eastern, about a half an hour from now, is the consumer confidence numbers. The one thing that can offset all of this is that if the American consumer, who doesn't seem to get tripped up by anything, continues to shop.

HARRIS: Are we a little concerned about oil prices and gas prices and, you know, the creep of inflation here?

VELSHI: Well, think about all this, right? So we might have -- we've had four days of stock market losses in the United States, plus we've got this China thing.

HARRIS: Yes.

VELSHI: Plus, we've got these durable goods, which means companies are not spending as much. So -- and then we've got gas prices and oil prices going up again.

HARRIS: Yes.

VELSHI: So this all combines to put a squeeze on the consumer. And as a result of that, that's why markets are concerned. We are concerned.

Now, 10:00, we'll get a clearer picture.

HARRIS: Sure.

VELSHI: We had some retail reports today. Target's going to come out, Federated is going to come out. Nordstrom, sales were way up for the holiday season.

So, it's very, very mixed right now.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

VELSHI: But it's something to be concerned about. HARRIS: Well, there has to be a little good news in this reports from Toyota, huh?

VELSHI: Yes.

HARRIS: Planning a new plant in Mississippi.

VELSHI: And again, this is going to happen in about a half an hour. We're going to get an announcement from Toyota. It's about the biggest leaked piece of information I've ever had to deal with.

But they're going to open their eighth assembly plant in North America in Mississippi. It will start running by about 2010. They'll have these Toyota highlander crossover vehicles manufactured there. About 150,000 of them a year, starting in 2010.

So there's a bright spot. That will create jobs and more cars built in America.

HARRIS: All right. There he is, "Minding Your Business."

And boy, a lot on the plate this morning.

VELSHI: A lot of stuff today.

HARRIS: Ali Velshi for us.

Ali, thanks.

VELSHI: See you, Tony.

COLLINS: The smoke clears, the menace grows. The Taliban and their suicide mission -- was Dick Cheney targeted? Details on that coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: The Scooter Libby jury carries on, one member short. What does this -- I don't know, does it really change anything? What does it mean?

That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And what does this mean? Sorority sisters kicked out of the house. They say it's because they're ugly.

When looks matter, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: This news just into CNN now, our Betty Nguyen working on it for us. Betty, we are hearing about several people that are being decontaminated in Missouri.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, a couple dozen, in fact; 23 were sent through the decontamination process. Let me tell you what happened. A man showed up with a white powdery substance on him and he was threatening a terrorist type action at the University of Missouri at Rolla. Now that man was later discovered to be a student it's believed. But there was a standoff with police and that ended a short time ago. That man, student, is in custody and he's being questioned. But he also had according to police, possible bomb materials on him and this was happening outside one of the engineering building there's, the university civil engineering building. We're looking at a live picture of the school right now.

The university did have to shut down during the standoff classes. Some 5800 students were canceled. It looks like those classes are still canceled. But again, nearly two dozen people were decontaminated after a white powdery substance was found on a student threatening a terrorist-type action. Now we don't know why this occurred. But you can see the tents right there and how the decontamination process has been set up and students are going through it, again some 23 people. We're hoping to get more information as to what kind of threat, why this threat was made and more about the student who came to campus not only with the threat, but with some kind of a white powdery substance and police also found possible bomb materials on him. As soon as we get more information, we'll bring it straight to you Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow, weird story. All right Betty, thanks so much.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: The Taliban strike, their reported target, Vice President Dick Cheney. A suicide bomber detonated outside the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan. Almost three dozen people dead or wounded. Cheney was safely inside Bagram air base, but heard the blast. Earlier on CNN's "American Morning," we heard from a reporter who was traveling with the vice president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK SILVA, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: The vice president was preparing to leave. The party was assembling. They were preparing the aircraft and people were heading toward the plane. The plane itself was out on the tarmac, near the flight line, very well inside the base and quite removed from the main entrance that was attacked. The first indication we had of an attack was we heard the sirens at the base fire station. We were very close to the fire station. The trucks sped out and the public affairs spokesman for the base, Colonel David (INAUDIBLE) told us that there had been a direct attack at the gate and the base had gone on code red because of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Now an hour after the blast, the vice president appeared with Afghan President Harmid Karzai. According to one report, the Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack and confirmed Cheney was the intended target. The Bush administration has repeatedly warned that the Taliban are mounting a comeback in the region.

COLLINS: A deadly mistake for Afghanistan, mis-aimed mortar fire now from NATO troops now being blamed for the deaths of two civilians in the southern Helmand province. It happened Monday, the mortar fire in exchange between international troops and Taliban fighters. The incident was discussed in a meeting between village elders and Afghan national police.

HARRIS: What if a new crisis crops up? Is the military maxed out with Iraq and Afghanistan? CNN senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has a closer look at the concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE McINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The chairman of the joint chiefs still stands by what he said publicly three months ago.

GEN. PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: The United States military can today and tomorrow handle any additional challenge that comes our way.

McINTYRE: But CNN has confirmed that recently General Peter Pace secretly upgraded to significant the risk that the U.S. would have trouble responding to a major new security threat. In that classified assessment, Pace insists as he did in public, that the U.S. could still win a third war, just that it would be messy. The problem was outlined in a Senate hearing two weeks ago, is that the army and the Marine Corps are maxed out.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D) ARMED SERVICE CHAIRMAN: Simply stated, our ground corps are stretched thin and equipment is wearing out faster than planned and is not being replaced in a timely manner.

McINTYRE: Those are the two critical shortages, combat-ready ground troops and their equipment. The top brass has been worried for a while.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: I am not satisfied with the readiness of our non-deployed forces.

GEN. JAMES CONWAY, COMMANDANT, US MARINE CORPS: We're not doing amphibious training. We're not doing mountain warfare training. We are not doing combined armed live fire maneuver such as would need to be the case eventually in another type of contingency.

McINTYRE: So what if the U.S. had to respond to Iran or repel a North Korean invasion of the south? The plan now is to rely heavily on air and sea power, which is not nearly as stressed by the war in Iraq.

PACE: If you had to go fight another war some place that somebody sprung upon us, you would keep the people who are currently employed doing what they're doing and you would use the vast part of U.S. armed forces that is at home station to include the enormous strength of our air force and navy against the new threat.

McINTYRE: It's a fine line the Pentagon has to tread, acknowledging the clear reality that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are taking a heavy toll on U.S. military readiness, while not showing any public sign of weakness that could embolden America's adversaries, such as Iran or North Korea. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Rob Marciano joining us now for a look at the weather situation. It looks like everything is kind of happening out west? Where are we looking out there? The east?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We like to cover everybody. There's a little bit of snow. The kids are upset with us this morning, because the last couple days, it snowed a little bit.

COLLINS: I hate that.

MARCIANO: The New England area and it just hasn't been enough to cancel school. So this has been enough to slick the roadways up, four or five inches of snow totals across upstate Connecticut, western Mass but again, not enough to cause the schools to close but just travel headaches. Of greater concern, like you mentioned to Heidi, the big storm that's rolling across the west coast. This is all driving inland. You see the heavy snow that it turns to, above about 2,000 feet.

Let's take you to Lake Tahoe, just to the west of Lake Tahoe, Truckee (ph), California, whiteout conditions, I-80 over Donner Pass yesterday, just traffic coming to a halt. We had two feet of snow over the weekend, another two feet in spots, just reading the report from Kirkwood, which is southwest of Tahoe, 36 inches in the last 24 hours. My goodness and this is pretty light stuff relatively speaking, not like the Sierra cement that area is known for because this is really cold air that's driving down to the south. And look at this (INAUDIBLE). When weathermen (ph) look at this stuff, we get kind of excited because that is a good looking storm and it's going to bring a lot of snow and not only to the Sierra Nevadas, but to the (INAUDIBLE) the Wasatch and to the Colorado Rockies as well, places from Vail to Aspen, back to Park City. We'll probably will see a foot plus of snow with this as we go through time.

We do have some travel delays to tell you about, Houston reporting 45 minute travel delays, 30 minute delays in JFK, 40 minute delays at San Francisco and a ground stop right now in Washington, DC and as this thing heads into the plains, once it gets through the Rockies Heidi and Tony, the potential for severe weather exists tomorrow and possibly Thursday as well. So busy from the weather center.

COLLINS: Very busy. All right, Rob, thanks for watching it for us.

MARCIANO: You bet.

COLLINS: Jury deliberations again this morning in the Lewis "Scooter" Libby trial but will yesterday's dismissal of one juror change more than just numbers? CNN's Brian Todd has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Showing obvious disappointment, Judge Reggie Walton declares about one juror, what she had exposure to obviously disqualifies her, a reference to information on the case the juror had received outside the courthouse. With that, a woman who worked as a museum curator is thrown off the jury and not replaced, despite the concerns of prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who worried out loud that the pool is getting dangerously low. The judge's reason for not seating an alternate, he didn't want to start from scratch and waste more than two days of deliberations. The fate of former vice presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby charged with lying to investigators about the leak of a CIA officer's covert identity now in the hands of 11 people.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: It is certainly unusual to have a verdict from 11 jurors but it's not unprecedented and it's certainly treated the same way as the verdict would be from 12.

TODD: It's unclear what kind of information the juror, who's now an arts researcher was exposed to, but she has gone her own way before in this case. On Valentine's Day, when jurors came in wearing identical red t-shirts and one read a note of thanks to the judge, she was the only one who didn't play along.

JONATHAN TURLEY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She was self-assured. She was different from a lot of the other jurors and she really stood out refusing to wear a Valentine's shirt. All those things made her a point of considerable interest.

TODD: When the judge first heard about this juror's exposure, he feared whatever information it was might have tainted other jurors. After interviewing them and speaking to the foreperson, he concluded it had not but he emphatically warned the panel again not to have contact with any outside information. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And let's get you back to the NEWSROOM now and Betty is following developments in San Francisco, Betty, word of a landslide?

NGUYEN: You have to see these pictures Tony. How about this for a wake-up call? It happened around 3:00 a.m. this morning, San Francisco time. Once we get the pictures up, you're going to see what I'm talking about, a huge landslide. Look at it right there in the center of the screen. Look at that thing. Basically it happened like I said around 3:00 this morning and it sent rocks and boulders tumbling down onto a building, which is in the 400 block of Broadway, if you're familiar with San Francisco. Residents in an apartment building in this area, obviously they had to leave their homes because of this landslide.

But here's the good news, no one was injured believe it or not despite all that. It seems like around that hour, everyone would be home asleep in their beds and then all of a sudden, things come crashing down. But civil engineers are being sent to the area to assess this landslide, something you don't see all the time for good reason, at least you hope not to see and you definitely don't want to be awakened by this at 3:00 a.m. in the morning, but that's exactly what happened in San Francisco today. And as soon as we get more information on it, we'll bring it to you.

HARRIS: I was wondering, when does a sinkhole become a landslide, I guess when it gets to that size, where it can swallow up a whole apartment building.

NGUYEN: It is huge and we can talk a little bit later with Rob Marciano, just about the rainfall there and maybe if that is what is causing it. You think it would have, but waiting to get some more information on this. Nonetheless though, quite a sight to be seen out in San Francisco today. Again, do want to stress, no one was injured, at least no injures have been reported as of yet.

HARRIS: Appreciate it Betty, thank you.

Taking arms and taking a stand, a U.S. neighbor to the south flexing military muscle. That story straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: They say their sorority was nicknamed "the doghouse."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Image is the new racism of sorts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: But these women say they face more than name-calling. We'll have their story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And watch this piece of videotape, a man hit by a car, the driver allegedly so boozed up, he didn't realize what he had done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: The man was run over

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is he in the road?

UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: How much did you have to drink tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple beers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Man. His shoes came off! Run down. We'll explain the rest of this story. It has a decent ending, in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And there you have it, the opening bell for the morning. We are looking at the S&P down about 14, the Dow down about 125. The Nasdaq down about 50 at this point. We'll be watching this one today, a few concerns about the economy and possibly some overseas sell-offs, plus that attack at the U.S. air base in Bagram where Vice President Cheney was visiting. So it might have an effect on the market. We'll watch it for you as we always do. Back in a moment here on CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Just a couple moments ago, we were telling you about 23 people or so who were going through the decontamination process at the University of Missouri-Rolla, something about a powdery substance on the man who was threatening some type of terrorist activity. Betty Nguyen is here -- no, she's not. She's going to have an update for us in just a few minutes. But in the meantime, we have a live look here from our affiliate, KMOV. You see those couple of yellow tents there. We believe that is where the decontamination process is going on. But what happened is apparently this particular individual, who is believed to be a student at the University of Missouri-Rolla, was threatening some type of terrorist activity. We don't know what that was but they found a powdery substance on this man, as well as quote, possible bomb material. That's according to the school. This all happened at the civil engineering building. Want to get over to Betty Nguyen now with some new information on this. Hi there Betty.

NGUYEN: Yeah, Heidi, I was listening to a news conference there out of Missouri by the police chief and the mayor of Rolla. Let me tell you what we know, again, as we've been saying, involving just that one individual, that student they believe. They say this is localized, not a widespread threat, but the FBI has interviewed the suspect. And we understand that they have cleared that building, but the main goal right now, with the building being the civil engineer building, is to find out what the substance is. Let's take a listen, a little bit, of what was said during that news conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MARK KEARSE, ROLLA, MISSOURI POLICE: So he did mention the word anthrax. So of course, what we did, we had several officers respond. In the building, at that time, were students, because there were students who can go in and out of the building throughout the night to do work. There is 23 people, highway patrolmen, some of our police officers, two of three Phelps County deputies and UMR police, along with students which equals the number 23. They were in the building. We decided we need to quarantine the building. So we held them in that building. Of course we had a possible bomb that we were concerned with. So we ended up evacuating them as soon as we could out of that environment into a building next door, so they wouldn't be, if it was anthrax, breathing that product and also, to get them away from the bomb.

So of course, this all takes time to get the manpower to do this properly. We activated the weapons of mass destruction team, which is the Rolla fire department police department's team, using the command post to help this situation out. We then called and notified FBI and all these other agencies I just told you about. We have done -- the suspect has given several different stories. We then went to the suspect's home and conducted a search of that location and interviewed his roommates and later had to locate another roommate. And our belief is at this point in time, that -- the suspect has been distraught over schoolwork and I believe that he is using his depression under the umbrella of terrorism to make this look like a different situation than it is. Right now, -- (END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: So there we have a possible motive in this threat today. We heard there from the police chief Mark Kearse, saying that this student, who is a suspect here, was distraught over schoolwork, came to the campus, making a terrorist type threat, also had some white powdery substance not only on him, but maybe possible bomb materials as well. So they were dealing with a huge situation here, not only the threat but then you have the students inside the civil engineering building which they had to pretty much shut down that building, keep the students in there, so that they could be decontaminated.

And we're looking at an outside live shot. You can see the big tents that have gone up part of that decontamination process, nearly two dozen students involved, 23 to be exact. But they say that the threat so far is over because they do have the student in custody. That student has been interviewed by the FBI. They don't believe anybody else was involved in this and really believe that this was just nothing more than a student being distraught over schoolwork.

But nonetheless, they do have to take precautions, so the building has been cleared and what they are trying to do is find out what exactly is that white powdery substance and in order to do so, they have shut off the airflow and again, those 23 students going through the decontamination process. So a lot going on there at the University of Missouri-Rolla today. The good news is, so far, no one has been injured. It seems to be just a threat and only that. But we'll wait to see what that powdery substance is. Heidi.

COLLINS: Yeah, the University of Missouri-Rolla being one of the premier technology research...

NGUYEN: For engineering.

COLLINS: Yeah and research on itself. Is there just one building there or is the whole campus shut down?

NGUYEN: The whole campus is closed. They don't want anyone coming near this just because they don't know what it is. But specifically the building, the civil engineering building is the one that came under that threat. That's where that white powdery substance was found. So that is completely cordoned off and testing will be done there. The airflow has been shut down. As for the entire campus, classes are closed today for good reason.

COLLINS: No kidding. All right, thanks so much, Betty Nguyen.

HARRIS: He is a man who toots his own horn. Winston Marsalis has plans to bring the beat back to New Orleans. He is live in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Sorority sisters kicked out of the house. They say it's because they're ugly. When looks matter in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Sorority outrage. Sisters say national leaders kicked them out of the house because of their looks. The sorority says, no, that wasn't the case. CNN's Keith Oppenheim reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The women of Delta Zeta thought of themselves as accomplished, but they knew some on campus had a mean nickname for them.

JOANNA KIESCHNICK, FORMER DELTA ZETA MEMBER: "The doghouse."

OPPENHEIM: The doghouse?

RACHEL PAPPAS, FORMER DELTA ZETA MEMBER: That's the biggest one.

OPPENHEIM: That you're a bunch of ugly women?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

OPPENHEIM: Rachel Papas, Kim Le and Joanna Kishnick (ph) are former members who said the sorority's national office had been concerned membership at the DePauw University chapter was too low. Last August, the students said those leaders suggested the way to recruit was to change their image with appearance, with drinking and sex.

KIESCHNICK, Their whole idea is basically that need to be more sexually appealing. You need to make the guys want you. You need to -- I don't know, get sloshed and then have them -- whatever, just be more attractive, get the men to like you, get them to want you.

OPPENHEIM: By late November, some Delta Zetas started to believe their national leaders were so consumed with image, their ultimate goal was to get rid of most of the girls in the sorority. Some former members told me when national leaders held an open house for freshmen women, only the more attractive students were asked to play host.

KIM LE, FORMER DELTA ZETA MEMBER: Those of us who weren't chosen to give tours were asked to not come downstairs and if we were, that we needed to dress really cute, make sure we had on makeup, that we were put together. Otherwise, they would prefer that we stayed upstairs.

OPPENHEIM: In early December, just before exams, the bombshell. The national office sent a letter to 23 members, two-thirds of the sisters living at Delta Zeta stating they failed to meet recruiting standards so their status was changed from active to alumna. That meant they had to move out by the end of January. The former members say the 23 included all the overweight students and three of the four minorities in the house. They say the ones not told to move were generally pretty and slender.

KIESCHNICK: They lied to us. They blatantly lied to us multiple times. OPPENHEIM: Joanna Kieschnick says she was not asked to leave, but quit. She and the others said they were committed to recruiting and believe the real agenda was to kick out anyone they thought unattractive.

LE: I've done everything I was supposed to do, I'm a good student, I'm involved. In your heart, you take that really hard.

PAPPAS: Image is the new racism. Image is the be all and end all of everything. Sorority life is just where it appears the most.

OPPENHEIM: The executive director of the Delta Zeta's national office Cindy Menges tells CNN's Paula Zahn the sorority doesn't discriminate. Instead, this was about whether or not students were committed to aggressive recruiting.

CINDY MENGES, EXEC. DIR, DELTA ZETA SORORITY: In a conversation that we had with each woman, I personally participated in these conversations, looked these women in the eye and said, do you commit to the recruitment plan, to remain active? The decision was based on the women's decision on commitment.

OPPENHEIM: University officials sent a letter reprimanding the national sorority for disrupting students' lives just a week before exams. They say they're still investigating but could ask the sorority to leave campus. Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Greencastle, Indiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The smoke clears, the menace grows, the Taliban and their suicide mission. Was Dick Cheney targeted? Details in the NEWSROOM.

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