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Tony Snow's Cancer Recurs; Bank Robbery Suspects Threaten to Kill Bank Employees; Senator's Aide Cited for Bringing Gun to Capitol; New Central Commander Optimistic about Iraq; Medicines May Work as Well as Surgery for Heart Trouble; More News on the Deaths of Anna Nicole and Daniel Smith

Aired March 27, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: And I'm Betty Nguyen in for Kyra Phillips today, who is on assignment in Iraq.

Well, there's a story that's happening right now in Miami Beach. Police at the scene of a bank robbery end up in a standoff, but not at the bank. We're going to take you live to Florida.

LEMON: But news now at the top of the hour. White House spokesperson Tony Snow, of course, in the hospital for a growth that he had to remove. His cancer has recurred.

Dana Perino, who is taking questions and filling in for him, held a press conference just a short while ago and talked about Tony Snow's condition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN PERINO, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: Tony Snow went into surgery yesterday. He told everyone last Friday that he was going to have this surgery. You'll remember that he said that the doctors had found a small growth that they had seen over a series of CAT scans and MRIs, they had identified on his abdomen. It was in the area where he previous cancer had been located.

And Tony called us this morning and informed us that, despite all of our best hopes and expectations, that his doctors unfortunately learned that the growth was cancerous, and there has been some metastases, including to the liver.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Some metastases. Doctor Otis Brawley from Emory University, talk to us about that.

DR. OTIS BRAWLEY, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Yes. Unfortunately, what happens with cancer is it starts breaking apart. And as it breaks apart and spreads, you have numerous foci, numerous places where the cancer is within the abdomen. This sounds like -- from what she said, this sounds like what Mr. Snow is facing. LEMON: So we're talking about a recurrence of cancer, again same thing, Elizabeth Edwards, a recurrence of cancer, a growth that had spread to another part of the body? What are we talking about, survival rates? Treatment, that sort of thing? Chemotherapy, I know, is one option that Tony Snow will probably face.

BRAWLEY: Yes, well, one important fact is we can never talk about the survival of one particular individual. We can talk about a group of 100 people who has disease which has spread throughout the abdomen with colon cancer.

We're talking about, with very good chemotherapy, five-year survival rate, which could be as high as 40 percent, could be as low as 15 percent. But one can never say about one particular individual. You know, I actually know of patients who've had this problem and done very well for 20 years. Now, that's the unusual patient.

LEMON: But you hear Dana Perino talk about Tony Snow being a fighter, keeping a positive attitude. He's walking around this morning. And plus, those close to him are wishing him well, as well. And he has a very strong group behind him. So that also adds to those survival rates, as well.

BRAWLEY: I'll tell you, my personal experience is that people who take a positive attitude, who face this thing head on, tend to do better.

LEMON: All right. Doctor Otis Brawley from Emory University, thank you so much for joining us. We're going to be relying on you throughout this whole situation for your expertise. We thank you so much for joining us.

BRAWLEY: Thank you.

LEMON: All right.

In the meantime, we have some breaking news we want to get to. Let's go to T.J. Holmes in the newsroom.

T.J., what are you working on?

T.J, HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We've been keeping an eye on this story for the past hour or so here, Don. And what it is, we take you to Miami Beach, where there was a bank robbery. You're looking at video here.

But the call came in about a bank robbery at the Commercial Bank of Florida. And now, after police got to the scene of this bank robbery at this bank, they were able to take one person into custody, one suspect.

Well, a short time later, police got phone calls from people saying, "If you do not release that suspect, we're going to start shooting people in the bank."

That is how this whole situation is set up. And where we are now is that police are telling people at the Sheridan Office Building, which is across the street from the Capital Bank in Florida on 41st Street, again, in Miami Beach, telling them to stay put if you are in that building.

Police want you to know to stay where you are, stay in place. Because there is a possibility, police believe, that the suspect or suspects who were still in that bank or part of this bank robbery may be across the street in that Sheridan Office Building.

We saw video. Don't know if we'll be able to get some of it up for you here. But we saw police a short time ago actually filing people out of that Sheridan Office Building. They had people -- you could tell. They were workers. They had their hands on top of their heads. Police officers, with guns drawn, were patting those people down as they came out of the office building.

So right now, the mystery is exactly where did the other suspect or suspects go? They did have reports that, in fact, yes, the suspects were armed. No reports of shots fired or any injuries, but, again, right now, the mystery is exactly where the other suspect or other suspects may be. Maybe across the street at that office building. So police are being -- being real cautious, checking everybody out.

We're keeping an eye on the situation, Don. And as soon as we get updated or any updates, we certainly will bring them to you.

NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, T.J. In fact, our Susan Candiotti is headed to the scene. And as soon as she gets more information, we'll bring that to you, as well.

In other news, though, want to tell you about this. An aide to Senator Jim Webb in court, facing charges of taking a loaded gun to Capitol Hill. CNN's Brianna Keilar joins us now with more on how Phillip Thompson, a former Marine and long-time friend of the senator, got into this mess.

Brianna, I guess the big question here is why was he carrying a loaded gun?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, Senator Jim Webb, according to one congressional source, this was his gun, and he is a supporter of Second Amendment rights. He says he does have a permit to carry a weapon in Virginia.

But we should also say, Betty, that a Capitol police spokeswoman says she doesn't believe that Phillip Thompson had any intention of doing any harm. And Senator Jim Webb, of course Thompson's boss, said a short while ago, this is an unfortunate accident.

Now, Webb, as we said, does have a permit to carry a weapon, unlike many of his fellow Democrats. He said a short while ago in a news conference that he left the D.C. area on Friday to fly to New Orleans. That's where he was until last night. In the process of getting them to the airport, his staff getting him to the airport could have contributed to this mix-up. Here's what he said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JIM WEBB (D), VIRGINIA: I have never carried a gun in the Capitol complex. And I did not give the weapon to Phillip Thompson. And that's all -- we had -- we had three cars on Friday that were being moved about because of my trip. And that is probably a reason that this inadvertent situation developed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, Webb, citing the ongoing investigation here, wouldn't talk about a lot of details with -- with reporters. But Thompson did spend the night in jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned here shortly on felony charges this hour of carrying a pistol without a license, having an unregistered firearm, and also having unregistered ammunition. You might recall that there were actually two fully loaded magazines of bullets also in his briefcase, along with that gun.

But what makes this really interesting, Betty, in particular, here in D.C., in the district itself, not in Virginia where Jim Webb lives, you cannot carry a handgun at all. There is currently a ban on all handguns -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes. In fact, we're going to be speaking with Bob Barr a little bit later on about carrying a gun in D.C. and what are the ramifications of that. But Brianna Keilar, we thank you for that report.

LEMON: Well, the Navy admiral now in charge of the U.S. Central Command is on the ground in Iraq and not put off by its prospects. William Fallon oversees U.S. military operations from Kenya to Kazakhstan.

Now getting his feet wet in Baghdad, he tells our Kyra Phillips, there's a crying need for law and order, but there's also hope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Is that your biggest concern? Security? Biggest challenge?

ADMIRAL WILLIAM FALLON, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Of course. Without security and some sense of stability that the people perceive they can actually move forward with their lives, then we're not going to -- not going to be able to get there.

I was out actually in the streets the other day and took a little stroll. And saw a lot of folks moving around. And they saw me. I'm not sure. They probably didn't have any idea who I was. But they saw the entourage, so there must be something going on.

PHILLIPS: You must be important.

FALLON: So we came over, and the first thing the guy did was offer me a cup of tea. So no sooner did I have the tea to my lips then a large group of people, and they wanted to talk. And every one of them asked for more security. Just give us some security. Why? Because they want to go about their lives. They want to -- they want to do things. They can sense...

PHILLIPS: Could you tell them, look, you'll have it. You'll have it in six months? You'll have it in a year? Were you able to say to them...

FALLON: I can't make promises that I don't know whether we're going to keep. We're certainly going to be moving in that direction of trying. A big piece of this, they have to really want it. Now, they say they want it. They're going to have to demonstrate by actions that they will do everything they can to help us to identify those who are not likely or just definitely not willing to go abide by the rules of justice or some killers that are still loose in this country.

I think it's a very small percentage of the population. The idea that the whole country is at war with one another I think is absolutely not true. But there are some zealots here that will stop at nothing. And they don't care how many men, women, or children they -- they'll kill or maim.

PHILLIPS: And you don't think there's civil war?

FALLON: No, I don't think there's a civil war. There are factions that are fighting one another.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Our Kyra Phillips on the ground in Baghdad with more, -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And you can see that the admiral is keeping a pretty positive attitude. So I had to come back and ask him about another comment made by the second commander in charge of ground forces here on the ground, General Ray Oriengo (ph), who said that he doesn't really think the U.S. is winning this war, and he didn't expect what he's seeing right now.

However, Admiral Fallon coming back and saying, "I see signs of improvement."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: I've been here now for a couple of weeks. Every morning or afternoon or evening, I hear mortars and explosions over in the Green Zone. I'm seeing suicide bombers go off here in the Red Zone. And I wake up every day thinking, when is this going to end? Can it end? Will it end? I can hear the gun fire right now.

FALLON: You'll hear an occasional thing. But if you take this in context, this population of 27 million. Also, you're here in Baghdad right in the Green Zone. I've been all over this country in the last five days. And there are parts that are dramatically different. PHILLIPS: Is there a certain area that stood out to you?

FALLON: I was in the north yesterday, up in the Kurdish provinces. And it's completely different. People are just going about their daily lives in a completely different environment than here. Irbil, booming city, lots of new construction, huge new airport.

I was in Anbar. Huge difference out there, tremendous difference in -- just in the last several months.

I was in Fallujah yesterday, very quiet. Rebuilding going on. Key point. That city a year and a half ago was down to a population of in the 10,000, 20,000, something like that. Now the Marines out there tell me there are about 250,000 back in the city.

Traffic moving in and out. Lots of commerce. Lots of construction. That's a really good sign.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, I also had to ask the admiral about al Qaeda. U.S. intelligence officials, including sources here within Iraq, saying al Qaeda is stronger now in this country than before the war.

The admiral disagreed with me. He says that al Qaeda is taking hits every day. And there are arrests being made. And a lot of those -- that terrorist network, they're going down by the dozens monthly. So he feels that there has been a dent made.

Now, I also had to ask him about Iran. That's in the news lately. And I asked him point blank: will you consider ever going to war with Iran? And I'll tell you what he had to say, coming up in the next hour.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, Kyra. And we're going to talk a little bit more about Iran, specifically the Brits, in just a little bit. Thank you so much for your report.

Democrats want a deadline, but Republicans are resisting. More than $120 billion, mostly for Iraq and Afghanistan, teeter in the balance. Days after all this played out in the House, the Senate is grappling with a war funding bill that President Bush swears he will veto if it includes withdrawal dates for Iraq.

The Senate measure would set a nonbinding goal of having U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by the end of next month, but it would mandate a troop redeployment start right away.

Now, the bill that squeaked through the House would set a binding pullout deadline of August 31, 2008. A Senate vote is expected this week.

They haven't been seen in days, but Iran says the 15 British sailors and Marines it has detained are healthy and being treated humanely. The group was seized Friday in the Persian Gulf when it left the HMS Cornwall to inspect a merchant ship.

Now, Tehran says the 15 trespassed into Iranian territory. Britain insists they were in Iraqi waters.

Their release is the focus of intense diplomacy. Britain asked -- has asked Russia, which has close diplomatic and trade ties with Iran, for help in securing their freedom.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Iran has no justification for holding the group.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I hope we manage to get them to realize they have to release them. And if not, then this will move into a different phase. But at the moment, what we're trying to do is to -- is to make sure that that diplomatic initiative works.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And Iran says it is now questioning the Britons to find out whether their alleged entry into Iranian waters was intentional or by accident. Iran says British diplomats can see them once its initial probe is complete.

Let's get back to our T.J. Holmes now with details on a developing story.

T.J., what's up?

HOLMES: I'm going to take you back to Miami Beach, where a bank robbery got a little more complicated, not that they're simple in the first place. But this one took a strange and dramatic turn.

You're seeing video here. Well, police were actually escorting these people out of the Sheridan Office Building across the street from where they believe a bank robbery was happening in Miami Beach. They had to check those people out at that building, because they're not sure where the alleged bank robbers are at this point.

Take you back a little bit, just a quick background, is that there was a call that the Commercial Bank of Florida was being robbed. This is on 44th Street in Miami Beach. When police got to the scene of the bank robbery, they were able to take one suspect into custody.

A short time later, calls started coming in from people threatening to come out shooting if that suspect was not released. Well, then, across the street from the bank a short time later, people started running out of the Sheridan Office Building, a financial center, saying that there was somebody in there with a gun. Two guys in there with a gun.

So what you're seeing there is now video of police officers actually checking out people who work across the street at the Sheridan Office Building, where they believe now that possibly two of the bank robbery suspects may be, and they may be armed. So right now, police are searching that Sheridan Office Building across the street from the bank, trying to possibly find the suspects, one or two suspects.

So the bank robbery was the initial. And again, here we are seeing some of this video. SWAT team certainly on the scene checking this out. But going in now. A pretty good sized office building there across from -- across from the bank, where possibly now they believe that the suspects are.

No word right now of any injuries. No word right now of any shots being fired in all of these developments today. And also no word of any hostages, which is key right now.

But as you can see, the police are geared up and ready to go and going in and then probably going through a very -- a very meticulous search of that building but believe that the suspect could possibly be in there now.

A tense situation. We're keeping an eye on it. We'll get back to you guys when we have the details.

LEMON: And we will check back. Thank you so much, T.J.

HOLMES: All right.

NGUYEN: Coming up, scrub the scrubs, because ahead in the NEWSROOM, a new study says some heart patients would be better off completely bypassing the O.R. We're going to give you those details ahead.

LEMON: Like mother, like son. Police in the Bahamas look into the death of Daniel Smith. Did Anna Nicole Smith's son die accidentally, or was it something more sinister? Details just ahead, live from the Bahamas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This just in to the CNN NEWSROOM, tornado warnings in Texas. Rob Marciano on the case.

What do you have, Rob?

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: You got that right. Thank you, Rob. We'll check back.

NGUYEN: We want to talk now about angioplasty and heart disease, which is a common treatment for a common ailment. But a new study could have millions of heart patients looking for another option.

It says angioplasties give no added benefit over drugs alone. Can you believe that? And that drugs alone keep arteries clear just as well.

Now, in the most common type of angioplasty, doctors snake a tube into a clogged artery in the heart, which you're seeing right here in this graphic, and they inflate a tiny balloon to widen the artery, then leave behind a wire mesh tube called a stent to keep it open.

So if you're a heart patient, what should you do now in light of this news? Well, CNN medical correspondent Judy Fortin joins us with a look at this.

This is really exciting if you could just take a pill and not have to undergo surgery.

JUDY FORTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exciting, Betty, and somewhat controversial, depending on who you talk to.

NGUYEN: Yes.

FORTIN: The head of the American College of Cardiology told me the outcome of this study is stunning. It challenges one of the most common procedures used on more than a million Americans each year to unclog arteries and relieve chest pain.

Researchers looked at more than 2,200 patients. The findings suggest drugs alone work just as well as angioplasty and stents in patients with stable angina. Now, we're not talking about high-risk patients who have chest pain at rest. In other words, when they're not exerting themselves. We're focusing on people who have predictable pain with exertion that goes away promptly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have choices now. You can elect to have medical therapy alone, drug therapy. And if you do well, you may actually become completely free of symptoms in the first year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FORTIN: Well, the study was designed to see if stents work better at preventing heart attack, stroke, hospitalization, and death. In the end, researchers concluded stenting through angioplasty and administering drugs versus the drugs alone work about the same.

NGUYEN: But doesn't angioplasty just work on one artery at a time?

FORTIN: And that's exactly what doctors are saying. Dr. Nissen (ph) told me that angioplasty works on one blockage at the time, but the drugs affect all of the arteries and all the plaque that causes the blockage.

So when you implant a stent in an artery, you're only treating 1 percent to 2 percent of the plaque. So you can see the difference.

NGUYEN: OK. So when it comes to taking these drugs, how do you know which ones are most effective?

FORTIN: Well, there are a couple that you've heard about a lot. For instance, statin drugs that lower blood cholesterol, blood pressure medication, and blood thinners such as Plavix and aspirin.

Now, for people who are already on these drugs, Dr. Nissen (ph) told me they may not be getting the aggressive treatment that's needed to make a difference in this case.

NGUYEN: Again, like we said, you know, it's exciting but it's controversial at the same time. So as people are thinking about this, what should they be asking their doctors?

FORTIN: Well, they certainly should be asking their doctors a couple of questions. Again, if you're not in the high-risk category, you should be asking if it's reasonable to try medicines first before undergoing angioplasty. It is an invasive procedure.

Dr. Nissen (ph) tells me if the drug therapy is not effective, you can always have a stent implanted later. By deferring the treatment, he says, patients will not be putting themselves at risk.

Now, if you're already taking these medications, you should be asking your doctor a couple of questions. Are you getting the best results? Is your cholesterol low enough? And is your blood pressure low enough, Betty?

NGUYEN: And when you look at the two different types of treatment, talk about the costs. Because it seems like one will be a lot less than the other.

FORTIN: And that's true. We're told by Dr. Nissen (ph) that stents cost about $25,000 to implant in the hospital, including doctor's fees, as well. Doctor Nissen (ph) says the study results are expected to increase cost effectiveness quite a bit.

NGUYEN: I would imagine. Judy Fortin, thank you for that. We appreciate it.

FORTIN: You're welcome.

NGUYEN: Don.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Betty.

We told you about that breaking situation that's happening in Florida. Started as a bank robbery. One gunman is still on the loose. And just arriving now on the scene is our Susan Candiotti.

Susan, what do you know?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, just a little while ago, a SWAT team from the Miami Beach Police Department began to enter a building across the street from bank that had been robbed.

This building across the street is a medical arts building, where a number of people have been told by the police to stay inside, lock their doors, just in case one armed gunman or possibly more than one might be holed up inside that building. So, now the SWAT team members have now gone inside after waiting quite a while to evidently go through the building and see whether they can see anyone. Before this, the authorities had been using bullhorns to try to talk with whoever might be inside the building, these one or two gunmen.

And before that, they evacuated some of the people who were inside that building. We're talking about employees who work at doctors' and dentist offices and other offices, as well. There were also -- there are also a number of patients who are inside that building.

We have spoken with some employees who tell us, naturally, they're unnerved and nervous about all of this happening, fearful for their lives.

But outside of the building, there is nervous expectation. But I would say for the most part, calm, because the police are all over this situation.

Joining me now is a gentleman who works in a building next to the bank, the Commercial Bank of Florida that was robbed.

And you saw commotion this morning. This happened just before 10:30. When did you know something was going on outside?

NORBERT MACHADO, EVACUATED FROM OFFICE BUILDING: Well, we generally have our meetings, our sales meetings at 10:30. Nobody was in the sales room. So I went out, and everybody was looking out the window. And we saw the commotion outside.

And about ten minutes after that, the police came in our building and asked us to evacuate as a precaution.

CANDIOTTI: What was going through your mind?

MACHADO: Well, I hope the people that are holed up somewhere are not hurt, basically. And...

CANDIOTTI: Were you afraid at first when the police came in, in force, and told you to leave? Some people protested?

MACHADO: Not really, no. No, nobody -- everybody cooperated. And I'm not one to be afraid too easily. So I just hope and I pray for the people that were inside. That's all.

CANDIOTTI: And even though it's been a few hours, you're still out here waiting.

MACHADO: Yes, I told everybody else to go home. And I'm here. And a couple of other people stayed behind until this is over. And then I'll go in and lock up.

CANDIOTTI: Mr. Norbert Machado, thank you very much for joining us. You work in the realty building across the street.

MACHADO: That's right.

CANDIOTTI: Thank you very much.

Again, to recap, how this all started was around 10:30 this morning when a manager inside the bank, the Commercial Bank of Florida, was on the phone with a friend, coincidentally, when an alleged bank robber came inside to hold up the bank. She told her friend, "We're being robbed."

That friend got on the phone with police, and that's how the authorities were able to get here so quickly. They arrested this alleged bank robber and thought everything was all over with.

When all of a sudden, almost simultaneously, they got a phone call from someone saying if you don't release that person, we're going to, quote, "start shooting everybody."

At the same time, people started leaving this -- this medical arts building across the street from the bank, and that is why authorities think that one or possibly two people might be inside.

We have no confirmation that there are any hostages involved. We don't know that to be the case at all. Obviously, though, police are taking every possible precaution. And as we indicated, are now inside the building trying to see what they can see.

Don, back to you.

LEMON: All right. Susan Candiotti on the scene. We'll let Susan get some new information for us. And then we'll check back with her. Thank you, Susan, for that.

One investigation ends as another begins. The inquest into the death of Anna Nicole Smith's son gets under way today. Was it an accident or something more? Stay right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: One family's mortgage nightmare. Why do they say they were forced to sign for a loan that they didn't even want? We have their story. That's ahead on the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Let's bring you up to speed on what's happening in Miami right now. There was a bank robbery a little bit earlier today, in fact, one person is in custody. But this robbery essentially turned into a situation across the street where SWAT teams have entered a building nearby in search of the possible suspects. Police have not identified that person that they have in custody that they arrested. But a police spokesman did say that someone called from outside of the building and threatened to start shooting people if the suspect was not released and you're looking at video right now, that SWAT team entering the building next store. Not clear if any of these hostages are being held in this but again, this all started as a bank robbery and right now, the search is on for the suspects involved. We'll stay on top of the situation in Miami and bring you the latest just as soon as we get it. DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: And we're also on top of Betty, the possibility of severe weather, tornado warnings in Texas. Rob Marciano has it for you. Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Don, Betty, we've just extended this tornado warning in Marion County, Texas until 1:00 local, the next 30 minutes. So this cell, which was moving at 30 miles an hour still the mezzo-cyclone being reported in there where the circulation that they think is causing this tornado warning. Again, we typically throw out tornado warnings when we -- when we see something in the Doppler rotating, we call them mezzo-cyclone and for that reason, Marion County right here. We had Harrison County had a tornado warning out about a half hour ago. That's been allowed to expire. But the warning in Marion County has been extended for another 30 minutes. It looks like -- I missed this off the printer, but this SBC -- this red line here is likely, the storm prediction center out of Norman, Oklahoma has likely issued a tornado watch out for probably a good chunk of Louisiana, northern Louisiana, Arkansas and maybe even parts of southern Missouri later on this afternoon.

Showed you this early, a couple of cells. Whenever these cells kind of separate themselves, they have the potential to grow and become a little bit stronger and bigger and develop into what we call a super cell thunderstorm. No indication of that right now, but still a severe thunderstorm warning out for Newton and Jasper counties across southeast Texas. As we heat up the day, Don, you know the routine, these things get a little bit more active. So the next few hours will probably be active here in the weather center as well.

LEMON: And we know you're going to be on top of it, Rob. We'll check back with you. Thank you so much for that.

They died suddenly within five months of each other. This week, the deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and her son, Daniel, are in the spotlight on two fronts. The day after police declared her death in Florida an accident, investigators in the Bahamas are taking a closer look at his. An inquest began today. CNN's Rusty Dornin is in Nassau with all of the details for us, Rusty?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, it's slow going here today. They're actually recessed right now. Attorneys are going to be back in arguing over a procedure in the court. The jurors, the witnesses, and the media were taken out of court. While they argue over the way they're going to question the jurors. Apparently, the attorney for Howard Stern wants some more formal questioning. He's concerned about any bias that might be exhibited by jurors. Normally for an inquest, they do very fundamental questioning. Did they know Daniel Smith? Did they know Anna Nicole Smith, that sort of thing. Now but they want -- they're arguing over whether there should be a more formal voir dire which is what they do in a trial.

Earlier in the day, people began arriving, including Vergie Arthur (ph) who is Anna Nicole Smith's mother of course. She is not on the witness list, but she wants the panel to hear what she has to say. She's of course the grandmother of Daniel Smith. She says she just wants to see justice done. And also Larry Birkhead, the man who's claiming to be the father of Anna Nicole Smith's six-month-old daughter came to court. He's on the witness list. And from a list obtained by CNN of the witness list, he is apparently going to talk about possible prior drug use by Daniel that he knew about. He arrived only to be turned away by court officials saying that there would be no testimony. So we've heard from no witnesses so far today and this afternoon, lawyers are just going to be arguing over how they're going to question the jurors before they pick the final seven. Don?

LEMON: Rusty Dornin, we'll find out if you know more. Thank you so much.

NGUYEN: Back here, we've been following the numbers. It's a down day on Wall Street. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with a check on the markets and what' s worrying the investors today. Susan, what's on their mind?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's something that we've talked about quite a bit in recent weeks Betty, a recurring theme -- worries about the housing market, one of the nation's biggest home builders, Lennar posted a nearly 75 percent drop in profits in its last quarter. Because of continued weakness in the housing and sub- prime sector, the company withdrew its earnings forecast for the rest of the year saying only that the typically strong spring season is yet to materialize.

Also, weighing a key measure of consumer confidence slipped this month hurt by the housing slump, rising gasoline prices, and a falling stock market. That could crimp consumer spending and consumer spending is the engine of U.S. economic growth. So, stocks are broadly lower. The Dow Industrials right now off their lows. They were down actually 92 points at their low, down 70 points right now, .5 percent. The Nasdaq is also down .5 percent. That's a quick look at what's happening on Wall Street. Coming up, we talked a lot about mortgages. What do you know about yours? A new report shows confusion is rampant. Betty? Back to you.

NGUYEN: Listen to this, Susan, instead of a bank, they say they should have talked to Tony Soprano. Check it out.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Went to the mall for a loan. That's the bottom line. I think the mob would have gave us a better loan.

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NGUYEN: The mob, are you serious? Ahead in the NEWSROOM, looking for a loan and borrowing trouble. We have a homeowner nightmare.

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LEMON: If you are among the hundreds of thousands of homeowners sitting on a so-called sub prime mortgage and wondering where your next payment is coming from, well, you might think there ought to be a law. Many in Congress now agree with you. Today, a House subcommittee is considering a national standard for banks and anybody else who lends money to buy houses, which brings me back to the sub- prime issue. Are you facing or bracing for sky-high payments you could just barely afford to begin with? Or do you even know what kind of mortgage you have? If you don't, guess what, you're not alone. CNN's Susan Lisovicz is back with some startling facts and figures for us. Susan.

LISOVICZ: Hi Don. Well, the turmoil in the mortgage sector has rocked the financial markets. It's leading to a jump in the number of foreclosures and it's pushing many lenders on the brink of bankruptcy. Certainly, legislators are taking notice. A Federal Reserve official telling the House subcommittee that the surge in foreclosures is of great concern. But unfortunately, there is no one sure and easy fix. She says the Fed is taking some immediate steps like publishing consumer education information and revising a handbook on adjustable rate mortgages and with good reason.

A new study shows most Americans are confused. One reason why -- the increased variety of loans available. A new bankrate.com study asked homeowners what type of mortgage they had. A whopping 34 percent said they had no idea. But the confusion could stem from the fact that the mortgage industry has changed dramatically. A generation ago, almost all mortgages were fixed rate loans and they were made primarily through banks, but now consumers have a variety of options. With the increased options came a lack of regulation.

Be careful where you get the loan from. There are many so-called predatory lenders out there designed to draw you into loans that you cannot afford to repay by offering a low teaser rate. But many of those loans are now readjusting to a higher rate, leading to late payments and foreclosures. All in all, more than $2 trillion worth of adjustable rate mortgage loans were made in the past three years. Many of them will need to be reset over the next year. In fact bankrate also says 28 percent of those surveyed are worried about making payments. Senior Democrats in Congress are drafting legislation intended to curb predatory lending. For a lot of folks, it's coming too late, Don.

LEMON: Obviously Susan, it's a huge problem. Here's the question though, the obvious question -- can't people with those adjustable rate mortgages just refinance them?

LISOVICZ: It certainly is an option, but it doesn't come free. There are -- there are closing costs that could total thousands of dollars. It could be helpful in the long run. You have to figure out what's better for you. Also, if you're forced to refinance out of those low teaser rates, you're likely to end up with higher monthly payments. Still the survey shows that more than a third of those with adjustable rate mortgages or ARMS do plan to refinance. Because of all of these options, some analysts say first-time home buyers are especially vulnerable. Many cities offer first time home buyer classes to help educate those with less experience. Others even offer classes to help people who already own homes. They provide lessons on upkeep and, upgrades, and how to increase the value of your home. Valuable classes if you can get a chance to get to them. Back to you, Don.

LEMON: Good information, Susan. Thank you so much.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

NGUYEN: You may want to donate early and donate often. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, the campaign fundraising clock speeds up. How are the presidential candidates doing?

But first, it is tax time and there's less than a month to go before that deadline. CNN's Jennifer Westhoven breaks down what's new this year and why anyone who talks on the phone should be interested.

JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: James Hartman from Columbus, Indiana asked -- is there an easy way to know if I'm entitled to take the telephone tax deduction. James, the short answer is yes. Here's what you need to know. Until last August, the Federal government was collecting a monthly 3 percent excise tax on long distance service for land lines, cell phones and Internet phone services. So anyone who paid those excise taxes between February 28, 2003 and August 1, 2006, you're eligible for this one-time refund.

So there's two ways you can do it. One is just take the standard deduction. It's $30 to $60 based on the total number of exemptions on your 2006 tax return. The second option is a little more complicated. Gather up all your old phone bills from the 41-month time frame and calculate the actual amount of tax you paid. You don't have to send in all those old bills with your tax return, but you've got to keep them handy in case the IRS questions the amount that you deducted. For more information, you go to the IRS Web site, which is irs.gov and there is a whole section dedicated to the phone tax refund. That's tax time made easier. I'm Jennifer Westhoven.

NGUYEN: We do invite you to send in your questions about taxes to cnn.com. Then you can join us every Tuesday and Thursday for tax time made easier with Jennifer Westhoven. There's more in the NEWSROOM in just a moment.

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NGUYEN: John Edwards was right to stay in the race for president. So says a majority and a "USA Today" Gallup poll taken after Elizabeth Edwards revealed her recurrence of cancer. Not only that, but more Americans than before say Edwards is their pick for the Democratic nomination. He is favored by 14 percent now, look at these numbers, versus 9 percent just three week ago.

On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani has taken a 13-point stumble. That could be the Thompson factor. Word that Fred Thompson, the actor turned senator turned actor again may get into the race. Joining us with his take on these polls and other campaign matters is of course senior political analyst Bill Schneider. As always, we appreciate your coming on to sort all of it out. First thing I want to talk to you about though is Edwards. You saw a bump in the polls after his wife announced that she does have cancer yet again. And not only that, but another poll showed that 58 percent of Americans believe he's doing the right thing to continue the race. What do you make of this?

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We checked to see if that view was held by both men and women and the answer is it is by about equal numbers, roughly two to one. Both men and women believe that John Edwards is right to continue to campaign. What's important here is he clearly had his wife's support. She was there by his side in his news conference, indicating that it was a mutual decision. Both of them support it. It appears to be popular with the American people -- by two-to-one, people believe he should stay in the race.

NGUYEN: So Edwards gets an increase in the polls, but Rudy Giuliani does not. In fact, he's had a dip there. What do you think is sparking this? Is it the Fred Thompson factor?

SCHNEIDER: It appears to be. Fred Thompson suddenly being talked about, said he's considering entering the race. If he did -- at this point, he's not a candidate but he still gets 12 percent support if you ask people whom they would pick as the Republican nominee. And it appears that most of that support comes from Rudy Giuliani. What do Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani have in common? Both of them have a kind of a celebrity factor. Thompson, of course, is an actor, a movie and TV actor. Rudy Giuliani is a different kind of celebrity. He became renowned for his performance, his leadership after 9/11. They're both very well known. They both have a lot of name recognition.

So it appears that some of Giuliani's support which may have been based on name recognition is going to Fred Thompson. Thompson also is picking up votes from southerners. He was the United States senator from Tennessee, remember and from conservatives who are looking for an alternative, many of them, to McCain and Giuliani. You would have noticed in that poll that Mitt Romney also lost a few points when Thompson's name was brought in. And that's because a lot of conservatives -- he's been trying to cultivate conservatives as an alternative to McCain and Giuliani. A lot of conservatives are looking to Fred Thompson as a real alternative.

NGUYEN: Bill, in looking at these poll numbers, I really want to get a sense of what it means for campaign fundraising because of course, John Edwards says, look, I don't want your sympathy money.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. Well the poll numbers are very important because they indicate whether a candidate is viable or not. And you notice, even though John Edwards has picked up some support, he's still running third behind Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. And when voters - when people give money to a candidate -- you see John Edwards there also behind Al Gore who is not a candidate at this point, but when people give money to a candidate, they want to bet on a winner. They want to bet on someone likely to get the nomination. So they look at those numbers very closely.

We're also going to look at another set of numbers that are going to be coming out in a few weeks. On April 15, we are going to get numbers showing how much money each candidate raised, Republican and Democrat, in the first quarter of 2007. Everybody is watching in the political world with eager anticipation because that is a real demonstration of the viability of a candidate whether people will put money on that candidate and what's happening is, we're in March madness. The candidates are all running around the country having five, six fundraisers every day to try to raise as much money before the March 31 deadline so they can report it -- so it can be reported by the Federal Elections Commission on April 15 that they have a high total for the first quarter.

NGUYEN: This is a critical point in fundraising. CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider, of course we appreciate your time.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

NGUYEN: And do want to remind you that all of the day's political news is available anytime day or night at cnn.com/ticker. It's constantly updating with the latest from the campaign trail. So be sure to check it out.

LEMON: Forget fear of flying. There may be more risk before your plane ever takes off. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, safety officials take a look at danger on the runway.

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LEMON: A developing story weather-wise. Rob Marciano in the weather center checking it all out for us, Rob?

MARCIANO: Hey, Don, that tornado warning was allowed to expire in Harrison County has just been reissued. And the watch box that popped up on your screen earlier today, when we were doing a hit about 20 minutes ago, a tornado watch issued by the storm's prediction center out of Norman, Oklahoma for the rest of this afternoon in through the early evening for the potential of tornadoes developing within this watch box. Sure enough, just before this was issued, we had those two tornado warnings out for Harrison-Marion Counties. The Marion County was extended. Now this cell has kind of back filled or intensified a little bit as it slowly progresses to the east. And right in through here in eastern parts of Harrison County, this tornado warning has been extended to 1:45 local time. The movement of the cell is the same about northeasterly about 30 miles per hour and now it's about to cross the border. So I wouldn't be surprised if Kato (ph) Parish is put under a tornado warning here in the next 20 minutes and when that happens, we'll certainly bring it to you. It does get a little bit more towards more populated areas as it heads toward Shreveport.

LEMON: OK, that's good to know. Thank you so much for that, Rob.

The question echoing from Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue.

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KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do you have to see on ground for those U.S. troops to come home?

ADM. WILLIAM FALLON, CMDR, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: We clearly need more pervasive (ph) security.

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LEMON: Questions and answers with the Pentagon's top commander for the Middle East ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: Let's get a check now of the big board as we go to break. Take a look right now. Whoa, the Dow down 70 points and at last check, the Nasdaq was also down today by 14 points. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM in two minutes.

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