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Fred Thompson Officially Launches Presidential Bid; Republican Face-Off in New Hampshire; At Least 14 Iraqis Killed in U.S. Airstrike
Aired September 06, 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Heidi Collins today.
Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live this Thursday, September 6th.
And here's what's on the rundown.
HARRIS: Fred Thompson's late-night announcement. The Republican is in the race for president today, stumping across Iowa.
WHITFIELD: U.S. and Iraqi troops in a fierce gun battle with militants in a Baghdad neighborhood. The Iraqis count 14 deaths.
HARRIS: And Fred, somewhere today, shouts of "Superbo (ph)! Superbo (ph)!"
Legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti dies.
Master of the opera, in the NEWSROOM.
And at the top of this hour, actor, former senator, and now official candidate for president, Fred Thompson in the race and on the campaign trail in Iowa today.
Live to Des Moines and Chief National Correspondent John King.
John, good to see you this morning.
When is the candidate arriving? And we get a chance to closely scrutinize the stump speech today, don't we?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We sure do, Tony. It is now official. He was on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" last night, then a Web broadcast just after midnight, officially declaring his candidacy for president.
Well, about six hours from now, right here in this ballroom in Des Moines, Iowa, the more traditional Thompson for President campaign will get under way. A speech here, then a bus tour, more speeches in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina over the next week or so.
Now, I want to give you a look around this room here because it gives us a bit of a flavor as what is to come. You see in this room a sense of the anticipation. Iowa has been waiting for three months as Fred Thompson tested the waters. Now he will get in officially and launch his Iowa campaign here in this room today. But also around this room you see a sense of the questions facing the Thompson campaign.
This is a pretty small ballroom. A few hundred people at most will get in this room. The Thompson campaign says, well, that's because it's a workday afternoon. Many of his rivals though saying that's because he is so late in this race. He doesn't have a long list of supporters, doesn't have an organization to speak of here in Iowa.
The Thompson campaign knows it needs to quickly try to put those doubts to rest. And part of the message is this: Fred Thompson will say that after eight years of George W. Bush, in the middle of an unpopular war, the Republicans are not only worried about losing the White House to the Democrats, but worried about losing the White House to a Democrat named "Clinton".
Fred Thompson says he is the best candidate to make sure that doesn't happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED THOMPSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To my Republican friends, I point out that in 1992, we were down after a Clinton victory. In '94, our conservative principles led us to a comeback and majority control of Congress. Now, you don't want to have to come back from another Clinton victory. Our country needs us to win next year, and I'm ready to lead that effort.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: You'll hear him today say he is a commonsense conservative with a tough anti-amnesty stance on immigration, a promise to keep taxes low, a promise to keep waging the war on terror, and a promise as well, Tony, though, to be less confrontational and to unite the country. The Thompson campaign understands all the questions of getting into the race so late, hasn't been able to raise as much money as many thought, has had a lot of staff turnover for somebody who's not even in the race yet, but they believe once they get into today they will quickly put those doubts to rest.
HARRIS: Ah, yes.
KING: I think he looks the part. There's your first bumper sticker of the campaign, Tony. It's on its way to you as soon as we're done here.
HARRIS: Yes. I have got to keep my Freds straight today. All right.
WHITFIELD: Yes. I'm getting confused myself.
HARRIS: There you go.
John, appreciate it. Thank you.
You know, he boasts about his commonsense conservative principles. Here is a look where presidential candidate Fred Thompson stands on some key issues.
On abortion, Thompson opposes abortion rights. He calls Roe versus Wade a bad law.
On Immigration, Thompson supports tougher enforcement of existing laws. He opposes blanket amnesty but is willing to consider a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants.
On Iraq, Thompson voted for the use of military force. He supports President Bush's Iraq policy but says the U.S. entered with too few troops.
Thompson is against same-sex marriage. He says he personally opposes civil unions but the issue should be left to the states.
WHITFIELD: Tony, now, the other Republican president candidates facing off and facing a new contender. The GOP candidates debated in New Hampshire last night.
Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley is live from Durham, New Hampshire.
And so, Candy, Fred Thompson was not at the debate, but it was almost as if he was, because they talked about him a lot, didn't they?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was sort of a case of the elephant who wasn't in the living room. You can't quite ignore it.
It certainly was the first question out of the box, and it gave these other Republican candidates a chance to take their first shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The people of New Hampshire expect to see you. They expect to see you a lot. And they expect to see you at town hall meetings and at places all over this great state.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is going to bring more entertainment and vigor and ideas to the Republican platform, so I welcome him into this.
RUDY GIULIANI (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not a time that the United States should be electing someone who is going to get on-the-job training.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CROWLEY: They very much believe here in many of these campaigns that, in fact, Fred Thompson is too late, as John referred to. They believe that nine months of face-to-face campaigning, which many of them have already put in, have given them a real leg up, which over the next 16 weeks Fred Thompson will be hard-pressed to catch up with -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. So what was different about this debate than, say, the last GOP debate?
CROWLEY: What was interesting to me was you could almost feel the calendar closing in on these candidates. There was much more back and forth between them on immigration, on taxes and on the Iraq war.
As you know, most of those on the stage, with the exception of Ron Paul, have been supportive of the Bush policy in Iraq. Last night, they began to draw difference between themselves on the war.
John McCain stressing his credentials to lead the war. Mitt Romney talking about whether or not the surge was apparently working. And McCain shot back and said it is working.
Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee got into a huge fight really about Ron Paul saying we've got to get out right now, and Huckabee saying, we can't, we broke it, we have to fix it. So there was a lot of back and forth on a number of issues. And you just know at this point, with the two main targets being the frontrunners, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, they took the brunt of the attacks, but, nonetheless, you could really feel that there are just 16 weeks left.
WHITFIELD: All right. Candy Crowley, thanks so much from Durham, New Hampshire.
Well, how about this? You did it once. Now it's time for history to repeat itself.
Go to cnn.com/youtubedebates and post your questions for the Republican presidential candidates. The debate scheduled for Wednesday, November 28th.
Your voice will be heard only on CNN, your home for the best political team on television.
HARRIS: A hatred of Americans and a mission to kill them.
New this morning, German police say they are looking for 10 more suspects in a terror plot. Three people are already in custody. Investigators say they plotted attacks on U.S. military installations and other targets in Germany. The attacks they say were imminent.
Seized in the raids, a massive amount of explosive materials. The fire power, police say, more fearsome than the 2004 train bombing in Madrid or the London terror attacks two summers ago. Police say the suspects also had sophisticated detonators.
WHITFIELD: Out West now. California ablaze. A massive wildfire threatens the coast.
In northern California, more than a thousand firefighters are struggling to gain control. Right now, the fire is about 25 percent contained, but it has already charred 14,000 acres. Investigators have ruled out arson, saying a trash fire accidentally lit the dry brush nearby.
No help from the weather. The surging heat and low humidity only seem to make matters worse.
HARRIS: How about this? Rescuers recover the body of a Texas woman swept away by rising floodwaters. It was raining heavily yesterday when the woman and her friend tried to cross a flooded bridge near San Antonio.
The water is pushing the car into the creek. They grabbed on to some branches waiting for help. The friend was rescued, but the woman lost her grip. Her body was found about half a mile downstream.
Some parts of Texas got as much as eight inches of rain yesterday.
More, Fred, is expected today.
WHITFIELD: It's incredible situation just all the way around.
HARRIS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Let's check in with Rob Marciano...
HARRIS: Let's do that.
WHITFIELD: ... who is getting a pretty good look of what is happening down south, much further south.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: A black flag flies over the Vienna State Opera House today mourning legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti.
You can hear him forever, right?
Well, Pavarotti died at his home in Modena, Italy, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. For more than 50 years, Pavarotti thrilled audiences with his vibrant voice and larger than life personality and presence. He is credited with bringing opera to the masses.
Fellow tenor Placido Domingo described Pavarotti's voice as having God-given glory.
HARRIS: Wow.
WHITFIELD: Pavarotti was 71.
HARRIS: And still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM this morning, Oprah Winfrey, political rainmaker? What will support from the talk show host mean to Barack Obama?
The best political team on television has answers.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Arwa Damon, live in Baghdad, where a U.S. air strike is blamed for at least a dozen deaths. We'll have that story coming up.
WHITFIELD: Also straight ahead, cell phones in hospitals. Doctors order, turn them off.
We'll tell you why.
HARRIS: How about this? A veteran officer charged. His police dog dies in hot car.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody has to take care of the animals. People have to be held accountable for abusing animals. Who else is going to take care of them?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Absolutely. Abandoned, trapped for 12 hours in the Arizona heat. Phoenix stunned by the case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And new this morning, battling militants in a Baghdad neighborhood. Iraqis reporting at least 14 killed in an air and ground assault by U.S. and Iraqi troops.
Live now to CNN's Arwa Damon in Baghdad.
Arwa, what is the U.S. military saying about this incident?
DAMON: Well, Tony, the U.S. military put out a press release saying that this was an operation conducted by both American and Iraqi special forces. Their target, a Shia militia cell that was being accused of setting up illegal checkpoints, of illegally detaining Sunnis and carrying out extra judicial killings.
Now, what happened, according to the military, is that when these forces arrived on site, the neighborhood, Wasaj (ph), a Mehdi militia enclave, they immediately began receiving fire from the building that they were targeting and from buildings around it. They're estimating dozens of fighters shooting at them.
According to the press statement, they tried to suppress the incoming fire by responding to it and ended up calling in an airstrike. The U.S. military saying that they destroyed two buildings that they believe were enemy strongholds and that two buildings in that area were also minorly damaged.
Civilians in that area, however, seen sifting through the rubble, trying to salvage what they can. And Iraq's Ministry of Interior reporting at least 14 people were killed, another 10 were wounded. The civilians here do continue to bear the brunt of this war -- Tony.
HARRIS: Arwa, we know that an operation to oust militants from the Diyala River Valley wrapped up on Saturday. And there -- sort of by extension, an operation is now being launched in northern Iraq.
What can you tell us about that?
DAMON: Well, that operation is being called Operation Lightning Two, and it does follow up that month-long operating that we saw taking place in the Diyala River Valley.
What happened in Diyala was that Al Qaeda in Iraq and other Sunni extremists groups had established a foothold. They declared Diyala the new Islamic state in Iraq. The U.S. and Iraqi militaries launched intensive offensive operations in Baquba, the capital, and up along the Euphrates River Valley, intending to disrupt al Qaeda's activity and drive them out of this area.
The operation that we're seeing laumplged today that involves tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi forces is focusing on northern Iraq. The intent is continue to disrupt the al Qaeda cells and disrupt their ability to regroup and carry out attacks -- Tony.
HARRIS: CNN's Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad.
Arwa, thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right, a question for you, Tony, and everybody else. When you go to the hospital, do you abide by the rules, turn off your cell phone, or do you keep it on?
HARRIS: Ooh, good question. Good question.
WHITFIELD: A lot of folks keep it on because they don't believe that it really could cause any kind of interference. Well, it turns out there really are some good reasons why you need to obey the rules.
Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from New York.
So, be honest with me. Do you turn off your cell phone, Mr. Man of the Hour, every hour, all the time?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't. And I probably should, especially based on this new evidence.
WHITFIELD: Oh.
GUPTA: And Tony, by the way, I noticed, didn't answer the question.
WHITFIELD: I noticed that, too.
GUPTA: Maybe later on. He just...
WHITFIELD: Conspicuously silent. HARRIS: I'm thinking he is a magician. He can read my mind.
GUPTA: I'm walking through the hospital there. I'm not on my cell phone. So there is the evidence right there.
HARRIS: There you go.
GUPTA: Hey, but look, there's some new evidence out there that's really interesting, actually. I think a lot of people are paying attention to this.
It's a study out of Denmark, and what they did was they actually tried to figure out just what kind of electromagnetic interference some of these cell phones, especially some of the ones that cause -- that you can surf the Internet with and get a wi-fi signal -- how much of an impact do they have on equipment? And what they found was interesting. Two things, Fred.
One was that simply having it on, simply having a phone on like this one, not even talking on it, can cause a significant amount of this interference. And that interference can actually interfere with some of the life-saving equipment, such as ventilators, for example. And have a significant impact there.
So, you know, they have signs up all over hospitals. They have signs in my hospital.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
GUPTA: They actually tell you to turn your phone off if you come into the hospital with it. But a lot of people don't pay attention. This may be some more reasons they should.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And so I wonder if that means hospitals have to invest in really trying to police it, too. Because I know I've called people who I know are at the hospital visiting someone, and called them on their cell phone and they answered.
GUPTA: Right. Well, you know, it's interesting. There's no national guidelines on this right now.
Hospital by hospital, they sort of determine what they're going to do regarding cell phone usage, which is ubiquitous. Everyone has one.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
GUPTA: But they have found that, for example, ICUs, intensive care units, operating areas and emergency rooms tend to be the most problematic because there's a lot of specific equipment in there. Some of the equipment that can be affected was pretty amazing in the study.
They talked about a mechanical ventilator, which is a breathing machine actually being turned off as a result of the signal interfering with it. WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.
HARRIS: Wow.
GUPTA: That obviously is a life-threatening problem, but also things like EKG machines not getting a reading from a pacemaker, feeding tube pumps stopping. So pretty significant interference that can be caused by these cell phones.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And so the phone that you held up looks like it's a phone that kind of does a little bit of everything, maybe even some e-mail or text messaging type of thing. So does it mean that perhaps the more basic of phones might cause less interference?
GUPTA: Absolutely, it does. And the two things that sort of sprung out at me were phones that are GPRS, a type of signal, or a better way to know it is just ones that can surf the Internet.
This is a Blackberry. I can get on the Internet with it. These tend to be the most problematic.
Mayo Clinic actually did a study showing older phones like this one, for example, which doesn't have some of those capabilities, actually are less problematic. In fact, the Mayo Clinic does allow doctors and nurses to use their cell phones in certain parts of the hospital.
But this study out of Denmark is pretty interesting. And, you know, a lot of people don't turn their cell phones off in hospitals...
WHITFIELD: I know.
GUPTA: ... airplanes as well. You've heard about that. But this could be a little bit of a problem, especially in those areas such as ICUs.
WHITFIELD: Yes. I think now you have urged everyone...
HARRIS: There you go.
WHITFIELD: ... to respect the lettering on the wall that says please turn off your cell phones, especially ICUs.
GUPTA: Maybe even Tony Harris.
WHITFIELD: Maybe Tony, too. Yes, he's sitting here -- OK.
I think you got to him, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
HARRIS: You got me. You got me.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much.
GUPTA: See you guys.
HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, a senator in trouble. A look at the hurdles Larry Craig must clear if he wants to save his career.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Ali Velshi in New York.
Big news out of Detroit. Chrysler has just hired the president of Toyota's successful North American division.
I'll have more on that when we come back in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Huddling on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit, President Bush and Chinese president Hu Jintao, their talks in Sydney Australia today. The topics pretty wide-ranging.
Among them, public safety tied to recent recalls of Chinese-made products. Mr. Hu told the president China has set up an agency to oversee the quality and safety of exports. And the president assured him safety concerns were not a form of trade protectionism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We talked about our economic relations and our trade. The president was quite articulate about product safety and I appreciated his comments.
PRES. HU JINTAO, CHINA (through translator): (INAUDIBLE) issue of climate change bears on the welfare of the whole humanity and sustainable development of the whole world. And this issue should be properly (ph) tackled through a stronger international cooperation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Bush and Hu were among 21 world leaders meeting in Sydney. Climate change it is at the top of the agenda.
HARRIS: Breaking news out of Detroit. Chrysler announces the hiring of a Toyota exec to help revamp the automaker.
Wow.
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: Ali Velshi is here "Minding Your Business".
This is a little corporate raiding going on here, Ali?
VELSHI: A little -- this is big corporate raiding.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: Jim Press, who was the president and chief operating officer of Toyota North America, which, by the way, is the second biggest car manufacturer in the United States today, and a division of the biggest car manufacturer in the world, quite possibly, has been named as vice chairman and president of Chrysler. This has just happened. Press was at Toyota for 37 years. He was the first non-Japanese executive ever to be on Toyota Motor Corporation's board.
He is moving from the presidency of Toyota North America -- by the way, as you know, which has been having a fantastic run. We just spoke yesterday about the year-to-date sales. Only Toyota and Honda of the big car companies are actually up year to date. Chrysler, Ford and General Motors are all down, but Chrysler is down by the least amount.
And they have gone in and taken Jim Press. And they're making him vice chairman under Bob Nardelli, who was formerly of Home Depot.
HARRIS: There you go.
VELSHI: But that's -- I mean, a lot of people wondered what Bob Nardelli is going to do at Chrysler that he didn't do at Home Depot. He may have paid his salary just by doing this.
HARRIS: How about that?
And if we could change gears just a little bit, hey, what is going on with the iPhone, released a couple of months ago with this huge -- well, for me, for most folks, I think, of this big sticker price, and a couple of months later the price is coming down?.
VELSHI: Six hundred bucks if you wanted the 8-gig iPhone. You know, we had all of those people standing in line...
HARRIS: That's right.
VELSHI: ... and normally you don't expect a price drop two months in.
Apple yesterday announcing a $200 price drop. Now $400 for the -- for the big iPhone. The smaller iPhone, the six gigabyte one, being discontinued altogether. And that has got a lot of people steaming mad.
Apple also announced a new iPod called the iPod Touch, which looks like the iPhone. It's got the big screen and you can touch things on it. It's got a web browser, you can download music wirelessly.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: It just doesn't have a phone.
So that's their new thing.
Steve Jobs there at the announcement was saying that they've sold 100 million iPods so far since 2001. So, what is that, six years? It took Sony 13 years to sell 100 million Walkmans.
HARRIS: Whoa. So what if you bought the iPhone at $600? What now? VELSHI: You would be steaming mad about that at this point.
HARRIS: That's it. And what is this new iPod, what is it going for? Do we know?
VELSHI: That's going for $300 or $400, depending on the size. So they're now -- that's it.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: That's the iTouch it's called.
HARRIS: iTouch, OK.
VELSHI: There are now four iPods. There's the iTouch, the Nano, the Shuffle, and then the one that I have which is the iPod video, or what we just called the iPod, which is being renamed iPod Classic now.
HARRIS: Got you.
VELSHI: So, the interesting thing about the iTouch, wireless. It's got this touch screen, it's got a browser. And you can download from YouTube directly.
So, clearly, they are catering to a younger generation. They're trying to get, you know, everybody to buy it.
HARRIS: Yes. So I can't afford this iTouch right now. I should just wait a couple of months.
VELSHI: No, but this is a very bad example to set. When they drop a price two months in, that mean the bargain hunters like us sit back and say, maybe they're not selling enough of them. We'll wait.
HARRIS: Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Ali, good to see you.
VELSHI: See you, my friend.
HARRIS: Thank you, sir.
So here we go, coming up on the bottom of the hour.
Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Heidi Collins.
Among our top stories this morning, a manhunt for 10 more terror suspects in Germany. Three men are already in custody. Police say they plotted attacks on U.S. military installations and other targets in Germany. Investigators say the attacks were imminent and driven by a hatred of Americans. Seized in the raids, a massive amount of explosive materials. The potential, police say, a stronger explosion than the 2004 train bombing in Madrid or the London terror attacks two summers ago. Police say the suspects also had sophisticated detonators.
HARRIS: Still a work in progress. A new report says Iraq is not ready to go solo on security just yet.
CNN's Jessica Yellin reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The president has made it clear.
BUSH: Our strategy can be summed up this way: As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.
YELLIN: Now a commission headed by General James Jones, former top commander of U.S. forces in Europe, reports Iraqi forces are not ready to stand on their own.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our strategy can be summed up this way. As the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Now, a commission headed by General James Jones, former top commander of U.S. forces in Europe, reports Iraqi forces are not ready to stand on their own. It finds the national police are operationally ineffective and should be disbanded and reorganized; the interior ministry vital for support of the police is dysfunctional and sectarian; and that the border security forces are generally ineffective and riddled with corruption.
The study does offer significant praise for the Army, saying it's gaining size and strength, with soldiers willing to fight against enemies of the state. But it adds they will not be ready to fulfill their security role within the next 12 to 18 months without significant coalition support.
Democrats say that's evidence of a failed policy.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The facts are self-evident that the progress is not being made. Now, they might want to find one or two places where there is some progress and cherry pick in that way. YELLIN: The report includes some recommendations. Among them, that the U.S. break up its massive footprint in Iraq and that U.S. forces could start adjusting their role in early 2008.
(on camera): The report offers ammunition for both sides in the Iraq debate. With signs of progress and the Iraqi Army, Democrats say it's time to start turning responsibility over to the Iraqis. But Republicans say coalition forces should stay and help the full security picture mature.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WHITFIELD: A Baghdad neighborhood becomes a battleground. Iraq's interior ministry reports at least 14 people killed in a U.S. air strike this morning. It happened in an area known as a stronghold of the Mahdi militia loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The U.S. military confirms the operation, but makes no mention of fatalities. It says U.S. and Iraqi troops came under fire and responded with well- aimed firepower from the ground and in the air.
The military also announcing a massive operation well north of Baghdad in Ninewa Province, dubbed Lightning Hammer Two. Some 12,000 U.S. soldiers and 14,000 Iraqi security forces trying to rout out Al Qaeda militants.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ted Rowlands in Minden, Nevada.
The desperate search for Steve Fossett continues.
Coming up in THE NEWSROOM, we'll tell you what they are doing now to try and find him. He's been missing since Monday.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We want to take you back just a little over a week ago. August 24th, you may recall New York officials, police, were sort of hustled to the U.N. Building -- a U.N. Building in midtown Manhattan because of vials that were found in an office in a box sort of unnoticed.
At the time, the suspicion was that these boxes contained -- well, it wasn't a suspicion, it was suggested -- contained a potentially deadly chemical from Iraq.
You remember this story?
Well, we have learned today that the vials actually contained cleaning solvent. Yes, cleaning solvent. Not dangerous at all. But embarrassing for the officials there at the U.N., certainly embarrassing for the officials in law enforcement.
We're understanding now that the person who was doing the speaking on the record about this was not authorized.
Let's go to Deborah Feyerick, who has been following this story for us -- Deborah, have I capsulized this correctly?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you definitely have. As a matter of fact, this material was sent to a military facility for testing after it was discovered. And the results of the tests, according to NYPD spokesman that is it is a commercial solvent. At least that is what initial tests are showing.
Now, back on September 24th, the NYPD was notified that someone at the U.N. had discovered a substance in plastic packages. Five days later, as that same person at the U.N. found what appeared to be paperwork indicating that the material was phosgene -- phosgene, which may have been suspended in an oil.
That's when the NYPD came in and the FBI in order to evacuate that area so that they could safely move the material from the sixth floor down into an emergency service vehicle and then to a heliport, where it was transported to the military facility.
Now, the U.N. has not yet been notified as to what the substance may or may not be. This, again, this coming from NYPD spokesperson.
But the area of the U.N. we were told even from the beginning, that nobody at risk, that everyone was safe in there and that they were evacuating just as a matter of precaution.
The big question now is the phosgene -- or what they thought was phosgene -- and if, in fact, it was or wasn't, whether it decomposed, whatever, why it was sent to New York, because when the inspectors were over in the U -- in Iraq, they would ship it back under military escort to this testing facility in Maryland.
So why there was even paperwork or something that appeared to be a chemical, nobody knows.
HARRIS: Yes.
FEYERICK: That's what they're looking into now.
HARRIS: But let's go back to the original reporting on this, you know, which raised all kinds of eyebrows because folks conflated, all right, we've got chemical agents here. It's Iraq and there you go. The official samples or the official said to us at the time that the samples had been in this box in this office unnoticed for more than a decade.
FEYERICK: Yes, somebody is going to have to look into that.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
FEYERICK: and I'm sure they're doing that right now. They're investigating why that was even allowed to happen. It was really the paperwork that set everybody off. They found this solvent. Nobody really knew what it was. HARRIS: Yes.
FEYERICK: and then when they found the paperwork saying that from 1996 -- saying that U.N. inspectors had found some phosgene there, then people started making connections.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
FEYERICK: Probably prematurely.
HARRIS: Yes.
Deborah Feyerick following this story for us out of New York.
Deborah, appreciate it.
Thank you.
WHITFIELD: It's still pretty perplexing. The search for missing adventurer Steve Fossett, which resumed this morning. Crews scouring the soaring peaks and desert of Northwest Nevada.
And CNN's Ted Rowlands joins us from Minden, Nevada, which has kind of been command central for this search.
And how do they go about the search today?
ROWLANDS: Well, you say perplexing, also frustrating, Fredricka, because they have not been able to locate Steve Fossett. Yet everybody agrees that this is the guy that you would want in these conditions, surviving or trying to survive.
But the reality is, as every day goes by, the odds of him coming out of this alive start to go down -- with every day and every hour.
Last night, they flew overnight using C-130s and using thermal imagery to try to locate him. This was the first time that they actually flew overnight. Normally they suspended the operations during the overnight hours to spell people and to give -- and because they decided, for whatever reason, it was resources.
But now they have enough resources that they can fly overnight. But you can feel the desperation a bit, that they really do want to find him and find him fast. There is concern on many levels.
And yesterday, the weather was perfect. And we're expecting that again today. They were able to fly all day long. And at one point yesterday, they thought that they had found Fossett's plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. CYNTHIA RYAN, CIVIL AIR PATROL: We thought we had it nailed. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of many dozens of unmapped wreck sites from previous years. We found that out by sending in a helicopter and they put a man on the ground and verified that it was not the target that we were looking for. It was not Mr. Fossett or his aircraft.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Steve Fossett disappeared on Monday. He left for what was going to be about a three hour flight Monday morning and did not return. They have estimated the area where he could potentially be as being 600 square miles. It's an enormous area. And they will be back at it this morning, Fredricka, at 8:00 local time here, hoping that today they'll get some answers and find Steve Fossett.
WHITFIELD: Wow!
It's a painstaking search and one that they are using all the resources that they know to be available.
Ted, thanks so much.
The latest information on the search for Steve Fossett is coming during a live news conference from Nevada, 1:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll have that live in THE NEWSROOM.
Join me and Don Lemon at 1:00 Eastern time.
HARRIS: Well, let's get a check of weather now. Boy, you've got a long day ahead of you, don't you?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: There you go.
Rob Marciano in the Weather Center.
WHITFIELD: A little look at the big picture.
HARRIS: And the weather conditions that we just heard great in Nevada for the search again today -- Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: And still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM this morning...
(VIDEO OF LUCIANO PAVAROTTI SINGING)
HARRIS: Opera's grand master loses his battle against cancer. The magnificent life and career of Luciano Pavarotti in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: No question about it -- talk show queen Oprah Winfrey can sell books.
Can she sell a presidential candidate? We will find out this weekend. Winfrey throwing an A list fundraiser for Barack Obama.
Senior political analyst Bill Schneider reports.
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): This year, Oprah Winfrey is doing something she's never done before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LARRY KING LIVE," MAY 1, 2007)
LARRY KING, HOST: Have you endorsed a candidate before?
OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: Never.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER: She's endorsing Barack Obama for president. She's hosting a fundraiser for Obama in California this weekend. But she doesn't just bring in money.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "LARRY KING LIVE," MAY 1, 2007)
WINFREY: I think that my value to him, my support of him is probably worth more than -- than...
KING: Than dollars, yes.
WINFREY: ...any check that I could write. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER: Oprah Winfrey has more than an audience -- she has a following.
PROF. MARTY KAPLAN, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: I think what Oprah can do is potentially bring out the congregants in the church of Oprah. She is a charismatic leader of a lay congregation.
SCHNEIDER: Oprah's core audience is women. Her endorsement could help Obama compete with Hillary Clinton for women's votes.
KAPLAN: One of his campaign officials in California told me Oprah is everything. So they have high hopes for the endorsement.
SCHNEIDER: Oprah's relationship with her audience is personal. So is her relationship with Obama.
DAVID MENDELL, "OBAMA: FROM PROMISE TO POWER": They met way back here in Chicago in sort of the African American social circuit here in Chicago, back in, I believe, either the late -- the late 1990s or around 2000, when he was running for Congress.
SCHNEIDER: Obama's campaign message is not ideological, it's personal.
MENDELL: I think what he is trying to sell is a hope and an optimism and a message that, you know, a new day can come. We can change things for the better.
SCHNEIDER: When Oprah Winfrey tells her audience that she likes Obama and she trusts him, she's helping him sell his political message.
KAPLAN: She can make the case, as Obama makes, that it's not about experience, it's about judgment.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): A source close to the Obama campaign tells CNN that there's a chance Oprah might play a more visible role in the campaign, although there are no definite plans at this point.
Might we be seeing Oprah Winfrey at Obama campaign rallies or in TV ads? She is, after all, the second most admired woman in America, according to a December Gallup poll.
Who's the first?
Hillary Clinton.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, he is officially in.
Now can he win?
Actor and former Senator Fred Thompson jumps into the GOP race for president. A closer look ahead.
HARRIS: And calling all party animals. Atlanta's big star celebrates a big birthday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, Fred, I know you've have a busy day.
Are you going to have time to pod cast with me here...
WHITFIELD: I think I'll make a little time...
HARRIS: ...in your a.m. NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: I'll make a little time...
HARRIS: You're going to make a little time?
WHITFIELD: ...on my calendar.
Yes.
HARRIS: Hey, you are something else.
All right, you know, to catch us weekday mornings 9:00 until noon right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. But you can also catch us every day. Go to CNN.com and download the CNN daily NEWSROOM pod cast. I think that's the title of it. I get confused from day to day. Different stories than you see in THE NEWSROOM on television.
WHITFIELD: That's not good.
When you're confused...
HARRIS: I've got a little...
WHITFIELD: That means the rest of us are confused.
HARRIS: Yes, you're right. Good point there.
WHITFIELD: Don't go confusing us.
HARRIS: Exactly.
So here's what you do. Go to CNN.com and download the pod cast today. It's available -- it's -- Fred, oh, it's over here.
WHITFIELD: 24-7?
HARRIS: It's over here.
WHITFIELD: Yes. It's over your shoulder here. Robert (INAUDIBLE).
WHITFIELD: Hey!
HARRIS: 24-7 right there on your iPod.
WHITFIELD: All the time.
HARRIS: OK. OK.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: All right. Everyone is straight now.
HARRIS: OK.
WHITFIELD: All right, Atlanta's biggest celebrity turns one today.
Remember this?
Oh, my gosh.
HARRIS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Mei Lan isn't so little anymore. Look at how she has grown. She weighs nearly 60 pounds now and she's four feet tall and she loves chewing on bamboo. Yum, yum. And since it's her birthday, I think she'll probably get all the bamboo that she wants.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
And still to come in THE NEWSROOM this morning, fire ravages Northern California. Some 14,000 acres already charred. What investigators say caused this massive blaze.
WHITFIELD: Fallout following an air and ground assault by U.S. and Iraqi troops.
Live to Baghdad in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: A legendary tenor now silenced -- the opera world remembers Luciano Pavarotti.
(VIDEO OF LUCIANO PAVAROTTI SINGING)
WHITFIELD: But first, this news quiz.
What character did Fred Thompson play on NBC's "Law & Order?"
HARRIS: That's a good question, Fred.
WHITFIELD: We'll tell you straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
Still don't know?
HARRIS: No. No.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, this just in. A big bust in New Jersey involving elected officials and corruption. The charges stem from insurance contracts for local government. And we understand from authorities in New Jersey that 11 public officials from North and South New Jersey have been arrested. And the arrest include assemblymen, as well as a mayor -- the mayor of Passaic.
When we get more information on these charges and how this bust actually went down, we'll be able to bring that to you here on CNN.
HARRIS: You know, earlier we asked you what character did newly minted GOP presidential hopeful Fred Thompson play on NBC's "Law & Order".
Do you have the answer?
Well, I have it. And I'm not sure -- oh, it's up there already. The answer -- District Attorney Arthur Branch.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Well, women know there are risks involved in pregnancy at any age.
But what exactly are those risks?
Medical correspondent Judy Fortin has a look at pregnancy in your 30s, 40s and 50s.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Playing pretend mommies with daughter Naomi, Nora Phemister makes motherhood look easy. But for Nora, pregnancy in her 40s was tough -- much tougher than in her 30s.
NORA PHEMISTER, MOTHER: My energy level really went down completely. I just wanted to dig a hole in my mattress and stay there.
FORTIN: Nora, a former TV journalist, says she's worked hard to stay camera ready. But fact is, pregnancy takes a toll on the body and younger bodies often have an easier time.
DR. ROBIN KALISH, NEW YORK WILL CORNELL MEDICAL CENTER: Almost all of your vital organs are changed during pregnancy. Patients have about 50 percent more blood volume in pregnancy, so the heart has to pump harder to get all the blood running through their bodies.
FORTIN: If you're healthy, your obstetrician blink an eye in your early 30s. You're likely to feel sick and have heartburn and swollen feet. But those are normal with pregnancy.
Mid-30s, things change. Women are more likely to have high blood pressure or to develop gestational diabetes and are also more likely to miscarry.
KALISH: And the most likely reason for this is as women get older, the risk of having a fetus with a chromosomal abnormality increases.
FORTIN: Like Nora, women in their 40s can add fatigue to their list of complaints. But a more serious problem is a risk of dying. At 40, you're four times more likely to die during pregnancy than at 30.
The reason?
Blood clots. But the chances of dying are still tiny -- less than 1 percent. The risk for preeclampsia also increases.
KALISH: The overall risk of having preeclampsia, which is high blood pressure in pregnancy, is about 7 percent. However, in women who are over 40, this can be as high as 25 percent or greater.
FORTIN: In your 50s, what was once impossible is now possible thanks to in vitro fertilization and donor eggs. But it's always a high risk pregnancy and a lot of stress on an aging body. It's also rare. Only some 300 50 to 54-year-olds in the United States give birth each year.
As for Nora, she says she's done with having babies. Taking care of two children is tough, no matter how old you are.
PHEMISTER: It is a consuming job. And whether you have the energy or not, you have to do it. FORTIN: But look at the rewards.
PHEMISTER: Oh.
FORTIN: Judy Fortin, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
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