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Death Toll Rises in Aftermath of Peru Earthquake; Hope For Trapped Miners?; Tribute to Elvis Presley
Aired August 16, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, not much in the way of wind damage, but just look at all the water. What's left of Tropical Storm Erin is pouring in on Texas, a state that has already seen more than its share of rain.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And, in Utah, renewed hope for six miners trapped underground for 11 days. Rescue teams say they will drill a fourth hole in hopes of pinpointing the missing men.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Breaking news this hour: After three-and-a-half years in custody, it took less than two days for a jury to reach a verdict in the case against a American citizen on charges of terrorism, the defendant, Jose Padilla, the verdict on all counts guilty.
Straight to Miami for all the details, CNN's Susan Candiotti -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Who is the real Jose Padilla? Well, a jury has answered they believe that he is a terrorist, and found him guilty of conspiring to carry a violent jihad overseas as well as providing material support to overseas terrorists organizations.
But right just a few minutes ago, we got this reaction -- and not a surprising one -- from Jose Padilla's mother, who said her son is not a terrorist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESTELLA LEBRON, MOTHER OF JOSE PADILLA: That (INAUDIBLE) everything in this country. So, ask Bush. He's in control. He could do whatever he wants to do. That's (INAUDIBLE) for him. (OFF-MIKE)
My son will never hurt anybody. And Bush know that. Bush know that.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did he want to go overseas?
LEBRON: Because he wanted to learns the language, the Arabic language. He's a Muslim. He could choose whatever religion he wants.
When I request (INAUDIBLE) And I told Mr. Kennedy (ph) that my son lost his passport. And I say, my son is a Muslim. He say, so what? He's an American citizen. Well, if he's an American citizen, he should be treated as an American citizen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: She says the verdict will be appealed.
Now, obviously, this was a case that was based largely on circumstantial evidence. Some of the key government evidence was an application form as they described it that Padilla filled out, the government said, to attend an al Qaeda training camp back in the year 2000.
Now, you will remember that originally the Bush administration had said that Jose Padilla was the so-called dirty bomber and that's why they originally held him, saying that he had planned to carry out attacks against Americans. But he was never charged with that crime. It doesn't matter anymore. He is set to be sentenced December 5, and at that time he could face punishment of up to life behind bars. That is the same circumstance for the two co-defendants in this case -- back to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, if they hold a live news conference, though, with attorneys and family members, we will take that.
Susan Candiotti, thanks.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Well, in the past half-hour, the earthquake death toll has risen again in Peru. Rescue teams are struggling to reach the area south of Lima that bore the brunt of the quake. A relief official now puts the death toll at 450 dead, with 1,500 injured and hundreds of houses destroyed. At least one American is among the dead, according to the State Department.
Now, the initial jolt struck last evening and lasted a terrifying two minutes, the magnitude 8.0. The quake toppled buildings and let roads in to the -- and left roads, rather, in that region largely impassable. Now, the AP quotes the mayor of one town as saying a church collapse burying at least 200 worshipers that were inside.
President Alan Garcia has declared a regional state of emergency, as rescue teams are struggling to get in.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck just arrived. He joins me now on the phone.
Harris, tell me exactly where you are and what you see. HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, I'm at a military air base in Lima, which is quickly becoming the staging area for a rescue effort.
The main challenge that rescuers are facing here is the fact that all the roads to the province, the -- which is affected by the quake, have been cut off in many places. So, traveling by air is really one of the few options left for rescuers.
We understand that a lot of people who are injured are being evacuated by air and being flown to Lima for treatment here, because the hospitals in the affected area are overwhelmed by the amount of people seeking help.
As you said, President Alan Garcia visited the area this morning. He described this as a terrible tragedy. And the concern is that as time goes by and as rescuers continue digging through rubble, the number of dead might increase. That number is now well over 400 -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Harris Whitbeck, I know you're going to work the story for us. We will stay in touch with you.
Meanwhile, a plane from Lima touched down this morning at Miami International Airport. Passengers talked about the earthquake, even though they felt it quite far from the epicenter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very bad. You know, we see all the building was moving, and glass come down. I still shake.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're still shaking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. It's a very, you know -- it's a lot of people crying. They pray. And it was -- yes, it was a very, very bad experience.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was very scary because the floors -- our house is very strong. And also I feel like I was in -- surfing. It was very scary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We live in San Francisco, so we're kind of used to earthquakes. And I was laying on the bed, and I felt something shaking behind my head. And, then, all of a sudden, the whole hotel room just was vibrating. And the earthquake lasted for about two minutes. It was one of the craziest earthquakes I have ever had.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was kind of scary, because I have never went through it. And it had to be especially on my vacation. The day -- the day that I had to come to the airport, it happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, those passengers arriving this morning in Miami on a flight from Lima, Peru.
And if you're looking for a way to make a difference for the victims of the Peru earthquake, impact your world by logging on to CNN.com/impact. Click on natural disasters to learn how you can become a part of the solution.
LEMON: There is renewed hope, but it's tempered with caution at a collapsed coal mine in Utah, new video taken inside a newly drilled hole, an unidentified noise possibly from underground.
Let's bring in CNN's Brian Todd, who is Huntington, Utah, on the ground with the very latest for us -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, with every piece of good news that comes from the search, there seems to be something else that tempers it. And that's been the case again today.
First to that video that you just mentioned, new video that we were shown just a short time ago of what officials are calling an undisturbed cavity. This is about 1,400 feet below the surface of the mountain. They drilled this for a couple of days to get down to a chamber where officials believe that the miners might have retreated to for air if they escaped this collapse.
Now, the question is, did they? From this video, which they say you can see about 30 to 40 feet in a 360-degree angle, you can see water dripping down. You can see wire mesh. You can see poles. But you cannot see miners. And officials did say that there's no evidence from this video that the miners actually went into this chamber.
Other news that, again, that you just alluded to on the sounds that were picked up. We first broke this last night. Through devices called geophones, they picked up sounds from the mountain somewhere. What is unclear is whether the sounds came from below the surface or whether they came from something above the surface.
The owner of the mine, Robert Murray, in an interview I did just a short time ago, kind of spoke to everything that those sounds could mean.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MURRAY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MURRAY ENERGY: The problem is, it will only tell you the location of a noise in a horizontal plane. It won't tell you vertically.
So, when we had that five minutes of steady noises on a graph -- we read it on a graph -- we don't hear it a -- a second and a half apart, that means that it was at Crosscut 143 on a -- on a horizontal plane. But where it was, it could have been thunder, and it was thundering then. It could have been a deer or an elk. It could have been something else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Nevertheless, those sounds that they picked up have prompted officials here to begin drilling a fourth hole. And it could be under way really at any time now, even as we speak. They're going to drill down about 1,500 feet or more, near where they drilled down that third hole, based on those sounds.
Now, the sounds are going to -- they're going to drill down to a chamber where they believe the miners are or near where they are, probably maybe 1,000 feet away from where they believe the miners might be. So, this is another lead that they're following.
But another setback they face today, they talked about this just a short time ago. In the main tunnel where they are digging underground for these miners, they have progressed now more 800 feet. They still have to go a total of 2,000 feet. They experienced more mine bumps, shifts inside the earth, from when the mine settles on this mine. That has set them back and damaged some more of their heavy equipment, Don.
So, again, every piece of good news seems to be tempered by something else that sets them back.
LEMON: All right, CNN's Brian Todd -- thank you for your report, Brian.
PHILLIPS: Well, as we go to break, let's take another look at the Big Board, the stock market down, Dow Jones industrials down 295 points right now. Ali Velshi and Susan Lisovicz will join us from New York in just a few minutes.
LEMON: And the old saying is, mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. How about hound dogs and one Englishman? We will tell you who it is. Ahead, thousands of Elvis fans head to Graceland, along with our -- there it is -- Richard Quest here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Fourteen past the hour. Three of the stories we're working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
In Peru, the worst of the damage from the major earthquake is south of the capital, Lima. Relief officials put the number of dead at 450, with 1,500 injured and hundreds of houses destroyed. At least one American was killed, according to the State Department.
The season's first hurricane is churning in the Atlantic, the open Atlantic. Early this morning, Dean was upgraded from a tropical storm. Still 270 miles east of Barbados, Dean's top sustained winds are near 90 miles an here. Hurricane warnings are in effect in Saint Lucia and also Dominica.
And Jose Padilla found guilty of federal terrorism charges. Padilla and two co-defendants all convicted today by a jury in Miami. All could get life in prison. Padilla once was suspected of plotting a dirty bomb attack. He was tried for lesser crimes after the government held him for more than three years without filing charges.
PHILLIPS: Well, recovery crews have found two more sets of remains in the wreckage of the Minneapolis bridge collapse. Four vehicles have been pulled out of the waters since yesterday. Remains were found in two of them. The medical examiner is working to identify the victims and notify families.
Now, before the latest find, nine bodies had been recovered and four people were listed as missing.
A pedestrian bridge overlooking the collapsed bridge site is now closed again. Minneapolis officials had reopened it yesterday, allowing the public its best view of the wreckage, but recovery workers said the move was disrespectful to families of the missing, so the barricades went up again.
LEMON: Churning in the open Atlantic and looking, set to become extremely dangerous. Hurricane Dean, the first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season, is aiming for the Caribbean. After that, it's anybody's guess. The island of Dominica and Saint Lucia are already under a hurricane warning.
What's left of Tropical Storm Erin is soaking a chunk of Texas. It whipped ashore this morning just north of Corpus Christi, dumping a ton of rain on places that certainly don't need any more, one of them, Houston, Texas. Between three and five inches have fallen across that city. Roads in every direction are underwater there.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to the NEWSROOM now.
Fredricka Whitfield has details on a developing story -- Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we don't know when the big day is, but what we understand is the first couple will be giving away one of their daughters. That never sounds good, but it is actually good news for the family, that they are now celebrating the engagement of this young lady, 25-year-old Jenna Bush, one of the twin daughters of first lady Laura Bush and President Bush.
She's a schoolteacher. And we also understand she's been working on a children's book along with her mother. But the headline today is that she has announced the engagement of herself, along with Mr. Henry Hager, who is the son of the Honorable John Hager of Richmond, Virginia, who happens to be the chairman of the Republican Party for Virginia and also a former lieutenant governor.
So, soon to be all in the family there, the Hagers, as well as the Bushes, a lot to celebrate for both families today.
PHILLIPS: A future power couple, right, Fred?
WHITFIELD: That's right.
PHILLIPS: OK.
WHITFIELD: I think they're already there.
PHILLIPS: OK. Thanks.
LEMON: All right, as we go to break, let's take a look at the Big Board. And it's not good news. The Dow is down.
Here's some good news for, though. You know that Ali Velshi guy? He used to be on the show. Now he comes back and makes those guest appearances.
PHILLIPS: I think he's bald and wears bow ties. Isn't that the guy?
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: The one with the crazy vests and all the different patterns and the neckties. He's going to join us. And the beautiful and lovely and talented Susan Lisovicz will join us from New York in a few minutes.
I should say in a New York minute.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Four weeks to the day the Dow closed above 14000, the market officially enter, well, a correction now.
Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with more on what that means.
Only four weeks ago, but those were the good old days.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Those were the good old days.
And it is really breathtaking when you think about what has happened in four short weeks since then, a decided change in investor sentiment. And, if you want to do the numbers, 1,400-point decline for the blue chips since closing above that milestone four weeks ago today.
There's more bad news today from the housing center, which really started it all. Housing starts for the month of July came in worse than expected to a level that we haven't seen in 10 years, so that's not the kind of news that the market wants to hear. And then we also got bad news from Countrywide Financial, which is the nation's biggest mortgage lender, which had to tap into an enormous line of credit in order to be able to stay in business, essentially.
It's had so many defaults and delinquencies. It can't really sell the loans that are bundled then as securities. And what you're seeing is a continuing fallout.
But I just want to mention something, Don, real quick, sort of stock market 101, that corrections, a decline of 10 percent or more from the recent highs, is something that is normal, and there are many people who would argue that it can be healthy for the markets. A correction relieves some of the pressure after the market moves higher for an extended period. And we have had a bull market for nearly four-and-a-half years.
We have had a few corrections back in the early part of the decade. You're looking at the chart. We haven't had one for a while. So, the real question is whether this correction gets worse and goes into a bear market. But we're nowhere close to that now. But it is little scary, Don.
LEMON: I think that's what -- what is it, Mr. Iceberg, alluded to. I forget his name.
(CROSSTALK)
LISOVICZ: Weisberg, Teddy Weisberg.
LEMON: Weisberg alluded to when you were interviewing him. That was a great interview. It's always good to get those guys' perspective.
All right, Susan Lisovicz, don't go anywhere.
We want to bring in this gentleman. You might recognize him, Ali Velshi. You know it's a big deal. I mean, this is -- a lot of people are really sad about this, not good news for the markets, but Ali Velshi joins us.
Big deal when you're up this late. You should be in bed by now, you know, "AMERICAN MORNING" and all that. Give us some perspective, Ali.
(CROSSTALK)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I just want to make sure Susan is OK there. I remember those long days on the exchange and after a while she's looking at it the same way we all are, thinking, what are you supposed to make of this? What exactly happens?
And it's tough, because, on the floor, those folks, they are trading stocks and we're trying to take sort of a 50,000-foot view of this and say, what does this mean on a large scale?
And I'm glad Susan brought up that 10-year chart, because the last time we had 10 percent off the high was in 2002. A correction is often necessary, but it's not common. Look at that chart. If you look at that market from 2003 onward to now, it's basically been up all the way.
So, while we have got big gyrations right now of 200 points up or 300 points down, whatever the case may be, look at the value of the market and look at it in perspective. Now, there are things going on that are a little unusual. There are a lot of stocks selling off that -- today, you look at General Motors. You look at Alcoa, probably the biggest loser on the Dow right now from a percentage basis, and you think, what has this got to do with mortgages and subprime and credit risk? And the people we have been speaking to on Wall Street are saying the same thing, that some of this is a little overdone. Some of it is a little oversold. They don't necessarily know that this is the bottom of the market yet. Nobody really ever does. That's a hard game to play.
But there are people, professional investors, who are poised to get back into this market when they think this is done. The problem is, Susan talked about Countrywide Financial saying today it needed to borrow $11 billion just to run its business. Well, those are surprises that the market doesn't like to hear, and they're sitting there thinking, are there other banks, are there other lenders, are there other mortgage companies that have surprises like that in the bag?
Until everybody's satisfied that this is all out there, they're not going to do anything. They're not going to commit more money to this market. But, when they do, Don, a lot of people are saying they are expecting this market to get right back on track to where it was and possibly end this year above the 14000 that we saw on July 19.
LEMON: All right.
LISOVICZ: Hey, Don, I don't know if I can jump in real quick to add on to what Ali was saying.
(CROSSTALK)
LISOVICZ: You know, everybody is talking about the volatility. This is happening so quick.
Part of it is, the market was so high. Part of it, of course, is the continuing bad news. But one other thing that I should mention, you could see it when I'm on the trading floor, how empty it is. The New York Stock Exchange, the world's biggest exchange -- we talked about it -- we did a whole piece on it -- is going increasingly automated. Most of the trading is automated. It's much quicker.
The SEC also recently put into a rule that aggravates the volatility that we're seeing. So, this just exacerbates the kind of market conditions we're already seeing.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: And the volume, Susan, the volume. There are more shares traded every day than there ever have been in history. So, that exaggerates the move.
And it's summer, which means everybody is not there and at their desk. So, everything is a little bit exaggerated. And, Susan, remember back to 2001. There was a word we used to use and it was followed by a sell-off in a stock.
LISOVICZ: Capitulation?
VELSHI: The companies would say, we don't have -- we don't visibility. They don't know what the future holds.
And that's what they're hearing about these mortgages. They don't know what the future holds.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Ali, Susan, you know I love you guys to death, both of you, right?
LISOVICZ: But we're out of here.
LEMON: Yes, but...
(LAUGHTER)
LISOVICZ: Bye.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Susan, call me. You and I will talk.
LEMON: Ixnay on the ox-day.
Yes, thank you very much.
We're going to get back to Susan in just about 30 minutes just for the close of the markets.
Thank you, both.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, Iowans show off their swine, nosh on funnel cakes. Yes, how about pork on a stick? Let's not forget that.
Now, take a gander at the 2008 presidential pool. Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, why the Iowa State Fair is a must on the candidates' schedules.
What did you say, Scotty (ph), about funnel cakes? You wish you were there.
All right.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Our director, Scott Riegert (ph), ordering a funnel cake. John King is going to bring it to him in about two minutes.
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
Guilty on all three counts. A Miami jury decides that so-called enemy combatant Jose Padilla belongs in prison.
PHILLIPS: Details ahead on what's next for Padilla and why the verdict is such a big victory for the Justice Department.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A look at the severe weather across the country, particularly Tropical Storm Erin, which turned into a depression once hitting landfall, affecting places like right here in Houston, Texas.
These pictures coming to us from KTRK. A roof collapsed at a grocery store, we're being told, killing one person. This is in the Clearlake area. A large portion of that roof just collapsed at the Reynolds grocery store. Actually, that's not far from Space Center Boulevard, as well.
One person injured, one person is dead. It's unknown if the victims were employees of that store. But we are following the aftereffects of those torrential rains and also flooding conditions there in Houston, Texas. Our Chad Myers is following it for us.
Also, we're being told a former Maxwell House coffee plant also feeling the effects from the rains. These pictures coming to us from KHOU out of Houston, Texas. Apparently a roof has collapsed at this office building. It used to be the Maxwell House coffee plant. The building is called Maximus (ph), if you're familiar with that. It's located right there at the corner of Harrisburg and Polk Street right in Houston, Texas.
Chad, we saw the high waters. We saw the flooding. We saw the rescues. Now we're seeing damage to various buildings throughout the Houston area.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: Jose Padilla, U.S. citizen and terror suspect -- his federal trial on terrorism charges is over. And today, the jury handed down its verdict -- guilty on all three counts of conspiracy and helping fund and supply extremist groups here and abroad.
Parts of Padilla's case have drawn questions from the beginning, and this verdict will no doubt add to that controversy.
Let's bring in CNN justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, for the very latest -- Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Don.
LEMON: How are you?
ARENA: I'm OK.
You know, this -- this is a very controversial case. As you said, Padilla is a U.S. citizen and a lot of people forget that, you know?
He was arrested more than five years ago, put in the criminal justice system. Then he was declared an enemy combatant, so he was pulled out and put into a military brig for three-and-a-half years. For most of that time, he couldn't see his lawyer. He claims that he was mistreated while he was in military detention.
And then when the case made its way to the Supreme Court, the government transferred him back to the criminal justice system and charged him. And a lot of people at the time said the government did that to avoid a high level legal defeat.
So controversial a very good way to describe this.
LEMON: Can you talk a little bit more about why this is so important to the Justice Department, or is it? I imagine it is -- Kelli.
ARENA: Oh, yes, it's very important to the Justice Department to have won this case. Look, they very publicly said Padilla trained at Al Qaeda camps. They said he meet with senior Al Qaeda leaders, that he planned not only a dirty bomb attack, but that he also planned to blow up apartment buildings in the United States, and on and on. And if they had lost this case, it would have been a major blow to the government.
LEMON: All right, this wasn't brought up in trial. I don't think it was part of this trial. But he's facing charges related to supporting fighters overseas...
ARENA: That's right.
LEMON: ...but not related to the original allegation (INAUDIBLE)...
ARENA: ...none of what we heard originally. Right.
LEMON: OK.
ARENA: Very true.
LEMON: So why is that?
ARENA: Well, you know, we're going to hear it from the Justice Department at around 4:00. They're supposed to have a press conference.
But in the past, government officials have said look, we're going to charge Padilla with what we can prove in court definitively. Officials never actually backed away from those earlier allegations, but it was a matter of prosecutors being comfortable with the evidence.
Plus, let's not forget, the Moussaoui trial -- now, the government was put on the spot during that trial to present evidence and witnesses that it wasn't prepared to. And in this case, too, there was no way that the government was going to put senior Al Qaeda detainees on the stand. So it limited the charges, went with what it thought it could win and it did.
LEMON: Kelli Arena. Thank you for breaking it down.
ARENA: All right, thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, middle of America, meet the candidates. A pack of White House hopefuls dropping into today on the Iowa State Fair.
Beforehand, Democrat Barack Obama had some words about Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) ILLINOIS: After all, the war in Iraq wasn't cooked up in Council Bluffs. It was authorized by politicians in Washington who said they knew better than you did and that's what conventional thinking on foreign policy amounts to. Conventional thinking has to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Joining us now from Des Moines, the scene of that big state fair, our chief national correspondent, John King.
So John, what do you think? Are the candidates like Barack Obama getting more attention or, be honest here, the famous pork on a stick?
JOHN KING, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, just over here, I can get you a fried Twinkie if you're hungry. There's corn dogs here. There's lemonade. You name it, we can get it for you. I'm not sure how it would hold up on FedEx or in the mail, but you ask and we will send it to you.
You just played that clip from Barack Obama. It's an interesting political moment for the senator. He just turned 46 years old. He's in his first term in the United States Senate. And in the post-9/11 world, his biggest challenge is proving first to Democrats, but then to the American people, that he's ready to be commander-in-chief at this time.
And, as you know, many of his rivals, from Senator Clinton at the front of the pack to Senators Biden and Dodd below him in the pack, have said look, he's a nice guy, but he's not ready to be president. He doesn't have the experience. So what Obama is trying to do is to turn that liability into an asset, saying experience isn't what matter, judgment is what matters.
Hillary Clinton has a lot of experience. Dick Cheney has a lot of experience. Well, they were for the Iraq War and look where that has gotten us.
So Obama's at a very interesting moment in the campaign, trying to turn what many would say is his greatest liability into an asset. We'll see if it works, but it is a fascinating dynamic in the campaign at the moment. And, Kyra, as you noted, he is one of the candidates coming here today, due here in a couple of hours. And I'll watch him. And what Obama eats, we will send to Kyra and Don.
PHILLIPS: I can't wait. I've heard about his eating habits, so I'll be curious.
No, this really is about embracing Americana. I mean if you're a serious candidate for president, you come to the state fair, for example, in Iowa.
KING: You come to this state fair, perhaps, ahead of any other state fairs, because Iowa goes first. The caucuses a little more than four months away. It is this state that gets the first say in the nominating process. So we have already had Clinton and Biden on Richardson here on the Democratic side. We get Edwards and Dodd and Obama today.
McCain and Romney have been there on the Republican side. And tune in tomorrow. Former Senator Fred Thompson makes his first trip to Iowa. He has not yet officially announced, but guess what?
He's running for the Republican nomination, and he's going to make his Iowa debut here at the fair tomorrow. And there's a reason he's getting out here all of a sudden now. Mitt Romney won the Ames straw poll last weekend. The former Massachusetts governor is ahead of the polls here in Iowa, ahead in the polls in New Hampshire. So even though Rudy Giuliani leads in the national polls, many Republicans are saying, Mitt Romney is starting to build some momentum.
So we get Fred Thompson's debut here at the state fair in Iowa tomorrow.
So maybe it's a fried Twinkie today, Kyra. We'll send you some pork chops or corn dogs tomorrow. We will keep you well fed as we keep you well informed.
PHILLIPS: Oh, you know the way to a woman's heart is right through her stomach. You hit all the favorite foods.
John King, thank you so much. We'll see you in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
OK, our John King.
KING: See you a little later.
PHILLIPS: All right. It sounds like a plan.
John King, of course, part of the best political team on television.
Well, the top U.S. general in Iraq is to report next month on conditions in that country. And that report is expected to have a major impact, especially as we get closer to the 2008 elections. Now, a new CNN/Opinion Research survey just released shows fewer than half of those polled believe that General David Petraeus will give a completely honest assessment of the war's progress.
The bigger question -- and we always ask this one -- what's your overall opinion of the war? About a third of our respondents say they're in favor. Nearly half say they're opposed, with no chance of changing their minds.
LEMON: You've got to love those state fairs, too. You want some water fried? Fried water? Everything is fried.
Check this out, though. There's an old saying that said mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. How about hound dogs and Englishmen? I should say one Englishman.
Ahead, thousands of Elvis fans head to Graceland along with our Richard Quest. We just call him Quest, one name.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, long live the King. Thirty years after his death, Elvis Presley still in the heart of Memphis. Hundreds of people lining up yesterday to make their tributes ...
LEMON: Yes, they did.
PHILLIPS: I was kind of confused there. I thought we're going to Elvis, we're going to Peru. We're going to Elvis, we're going to Peru.
How about we go to Richard Quest in Graceland, where he has been there all day following all the fans honoring The King 30 years later?
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hour after hour, the buses arrive bringing the tourists and the fans to the heart of Graceland, where Elvis Presley died 30 years ago today.
More than 600,000 people visit this place every year. A record 70,000 will have been here in the last 24 hours alone. And for good reason. The fans wanted to show their solidarity with the man they called the King.
So it was a family atmosphere. During their nighttime vigil, they told stories of the concerts they'd been to, the records they'd had heard, the songs they'd danced to. In many cases, Elvis was the music to which they got wed.
It's not surprising that over by the gravestone way over yonder, there are dozens of floral tributes. There are mounds of teddy bears, flowers and presents; notes written by the faithful.
It all tells one simple tale -- that 30 years after The King passed on, his memory has not been forgotten. And if there's been one shift between this year over the past, it is a wish to remind people that, yes, Elvis may have been larger than life, but what Elvis was about was his music -- the way he sang and the message.
And that, they believe, is just as relevant today as it was three decades ago.
Richard Quest, CNN, Graceland, Memphis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You know what? And just for full disclosure here, what was your first album?
PHILLIPS: Oh, Elvis -- well, there were two. They came together. My mom got me Elvis Presley, yes.
LEMON: And?
PHILLIPS: Album.
LEMON: And Shaun Cassidy.
PHILLIPS: And Shaun Cassidy. That's a little embarrassing. No, Scott, not The Carpenters.
LEMON: Not The Carpenters.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
LEMON: And you had it up there with your copy of "Teen Beat?" Or was it "Tiger" magazine? Which one was it?
PHILLIPS: I -- my mom never let me read those magazines.
LEMON: Really?
PHILLIPS: Yes. "Highlight" magazine. That was it. I entered the writing contest and never won.
LEMON: That's why you're so wholesome and smart right now.
PHILLIPS: Oh, yes.
LEMON: Well, such a fan, you've kept The King -- The King alive.
Priscilla Presley has carefully tended the legacy of the superstar she met when she was just 14 and married when she was 17. Can you imagine that? Although that marriage ended in divorce, she tells our Larry King it was impossible to ever stop loving Elvis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST: What do you miss most about Elvis?
PRISCILLA PRESLEY: Oh, my gosh, what is there not to miss? Elvis epitomized the charm, charisma. But I think his laughter. Elvis had the most contagious laughter. He just, once he started laughing, that was it. Everyone would start laughing. And sometimes it was uncontrollable. He couldn't -- he couldn't stop.
And he laughed over the silliest things, you know? He just -- he just had a great sense of humor. He loved to have fun. Loved to play games.
KING: You still love him.
PRESLEY: Well, of course. I mean -- I mean, it's -- he was a hard person not to love.
KING: Did you love him the day you divorced him?
PRESLEY: Absolutely. Absolutely. I didn't -- we didn't get divorced because I didn't love him. You know, sometimes people grow apart, and more and different lifestyles. It was a lifestyle that was very difficult to live for a woman, very difficult.
KING: I'll bet.
PRESLEY: But it wasn't because I didn't care or I didn't love him. If anything, I did love him more than I can even imagine. But that was a very difficult decision. But he was always in my life. And it wasn't as if we were divorced at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All righty.
Well, tonight, Larry King interviews Star Jones about her new show and her gastric bypass surgery.
More in the NEWSROOM in just a moment.
But I've got to tell you, Kyra's first album was really Parliament and The Funkadelics.
PHILLIPS: What do you call it, baby? What you call it?
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the death toll is rising from the devastating earthquake south of Lima, Peru. Relief officials put the number of dead at 450, with 1,500 injured and hundreds of homes destroyed. At least one American was killed, according to the State Department.
We have more now from CNN's Jim Clancy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): With belongings scattered around them, men, women and children in the city of Pisco, sat in the relative safety of the streets. All around them, homes and shops damaged or destroyed by the force of the earthquake.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It just didn't stop. It kept going and going. And it kept getting stronger and stronger. And things were falling and flying. And it looked like the -- because my house, my apartment is all glass and real tall ceilings, all glass. And it looked like the glass was bending in.
CLANCY: Peruvian television broadcast video of the devastation and desperate attempts to save lives. Hospitals across the country have been jammed with the injured.
The powerful earthquake struck at 6:41 p.m. 150 kilometers southeast of the capital, Lima. The quake was measured at a magnitude of 8.0.
Many towns were plunged into darkness with electricity and communications cut. Landslides blocked roads, making it more difficult for rescue workers. Outside a hospital, bodies were simply left wrapped in sheets or blankets. Officials warned that the death toll is certain to rise, amid reports of collapsed apartments, homes, offices and churches.
President Alan Garcia was quick to respond.
PRES. ALAN GARCIA, PERU (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We have declared a state of emergency in the ICA Department. And elsewhere are going this evening to ensure that regional and local governments, civil defense institutions and ministries can spend what they need to rapidly and immediately.
CLANCY: A Peruvian Red Cross team reported widespread damage in the quake zone, while international aid groups are already dispatching planeloads of emergency supplies.
Jim Clancy, CNN.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LEMON: The Peruvian capital, Lima, is pretty far north of the quake's epicenter, but an American witness told us chaos reigned in the capital when the quake hit yesterday evening.
Dan Brumbaugh lives in Austin, Texas. He's in Lima on business.
DAN BRUMBAUGH, LIMA, PERU: Although nothing fell off the walls, there were cracks that were opening up, little bitty cracks. And it was moving it seemed like a foot back and forth. And so at that moment we turned and ran down the stairs into the street. I have a Nextel with the international radio. So I was calling my father in Houston as this was happening and I was getting out of the building and out from where I thought it was going to fall.
And I got across the street and I was standing there talking to my father on the Nextel and it was -- literally the ground was shaking so hard that I almost had to go to my knees to avoid falling. So it was as if waves were going through the ground and moving you up and down. And it was it was actually absolutely terrifying.
LEMON: I think I know your answer to this, so what was the mood, though? What were people on the streets doing? Was it kind of a calm because they thought maybe, you know, it was going to be over soon or were people panicked?
BRUMBAUGH: No, no. I was one of the first out into the street, being a gringo and not real used to that kind of movement. And within a minute after I hit the street, everybody came out of all the buildings.
I'm in the central financial district of Lima and thousands of people were coming out into the street. And it was not calm by any stretch of the imagination. It was pure panic. People were screaming and crying. And everybody, it seemed, was on their cell phone trying to call their family.
LEMON: Right.
BRUMBAUGH: But, no, we all stood out in the street for a good half hour after it was over and it was utter chaos.
LEMON: I can only imagine.
A native of California told us the earthquake in Peru was worse than any quake she felt back home.
If you're looking for a way to make a difference for the victims of the Peru earthquake, impact your world by logging on to cnn.com/impact and click on natural disasters to learn how you can become a part of the solution.
PHILLIPS: The closing bell and a wrap of the action on Wall Street straight ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We're actually seeing a plus. Unbelievable. The closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street.
LEMON: I was going to say, Susan Lisovicz, what gives?
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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