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U.S. Concerns over Turkey; Dangerous Infection Shuts Down A Virginia School System
Aired October 17, 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 NEWSROOM CO-ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone! You are in the "CNN NEWSROOM."
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN NEWSROOM CO-ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins.
Watch events coming into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday, October 17th.
Here's what's on the rundown. A Virginia school system shut down today by a killer super bug. What is staph and should parents everywhere be worried?
HARRIS: What are investigators learning about Chester Stiles, the accused child rapist in court? Shortly, our guest from "America's Most Wanted."
COLLINS: High honors for the Dalai Lama in Washington today. China labels the ceremony a farce. Bitter in Beijing in the NEWSROOM.
Good morning, everybody.
First up this hour. Word coming in just a short time ago. President Bush will hold a news conference this morning at 10:45 Eastern. We expect the president to address a number of topics, including the domestic surveillance program. And what's known as SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program. We've been talking about it quite a bit here in the NEWSROOM. So stay with CNN. We, of course, will have live coverage of that event when it happens.
HARRIS: Another story we're following. A Virginia school system shut down today. The reason, a dangerous drug-resistant infection that led to one student's death.
The mother of 17-year-old Ashton Bond said he died Monday after diagnosed with MRSA. That is an antibiotic-resistant staph infection. The Bedford County superintendent says all 21 schools in the district are closed today for a thorough cleaning. It is an attempt to keep the infection from spreading. The decision followed a protest by concerned students.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: We're just trying to find answers. We want to know what's going to be done about cleaning up the school.
DANIEL ORANGE, STUDENT: Feel safe and all going back in there. Not only do I remember Ashton, but get it through to the administration and all that we don't want another one of our friends or another one of our classmates gone because of them not doing anything and we want something done about this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Health officials say staph infections have spread through schools across the nation over the past few weeks. The Virginia students organized their protest using text messages and social networking sites.
COLLINS: MRSA, the drug-resistant staph infection. A much bigger problem than scientists previously thought. That's according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For more on this, we want to bring you Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Boy, when we first heard this story, people get pretty darn nervous, obviously.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean we're talking about some infection that's been out there for sometime. This methicillin-resistant bacteria, it's evolved. This used to be a bacteria that you could kill with simple penicillin, but now it actually requires more aggressive antibiotics and sometimes even those don't work.
There are about three high school students who actually had it. One died, as you just mentioned, Heidi. It is finding its way out of hospitals. This used to be something that's solely found in hospitals because that's where sick people were and that's where they used a lot of antibiotics. But now it's become something that you're finding more and more in the community and even in schools, as we're hearing about this particular case.
COLLINS: Yes -- locker rooms or we were talking about wrestling match earlier in our meeting today.
How exactly is this spread?
GUPTA: Yes. It can be through close contacts -- skin-to-skin contact. It can be through equipment, such as sports equipment that may not be completely hygienic, actually passing on the bacteria that way. Typically more common in urban areas, typically more common in close quarters such as schools.
There's lots of different pieces of advice, Heidi, in terms of how to avoid it, especially in hospitals or in the communities. Washing your hands, not sharing personal items, keeping wounds clean and dry, and covered. Those sound like obvious things, right?
COLLINS: Yes. GUPTA: But they seem to make a big difference. And you mentioned the 94,000 number, as far as the number of cases of this, that's much higher, I think, than a lot of people thought.
COLLINS: Absolutely.
GUPTA: I should add to that that 19,000 of those people have subsequently died. So the mortality rates, if you will, are quite high with this.
COLLINS: Well, when you say those numbers, it's absolutely shocking. So...
GUPTA: More people died of this than HIV/AIDS in this country, in that year...
COLLINS: Why doesn't anybody really talk about it?
GUPTA: Well, I think people are starting to talk about it more. It used to be something that's primarily relegated to hospitals, so the hospitals were the problem. Now you're seeing it more in communities. But you're also getting the sense that these bacteria evolve -- right? You try some antibiotics, they develop resistance. You try other antibiotics, they become resistant to that.
There are different types of antibiotics that still work against MRSA, but you got to catch it early and you got to make sure you're dealing with the right diagnosis. With this particular football player, it has spread to his kidneys, his lung and liver. It was simply just too late for any kind of medication to work.
COLLINS: How do you know that you may have something like this? I mean I'm just trying to imagine his parents or even himself, you know, not feeling right, and here's what we think it might be.
GUPTA: Right. It can be hard to know, because it can start off as something that looks relatively innocuous -- a little sore on your skin, some people describe it as looking like a little spider bite.
If you have something like that that's simply not going away, even with antibiotic treatment -- you can get a glimpse of what it might look like in the early stages -- it's not going away, you need to get it checked out. And they can actually do a little swab to see -- is this in fact MRSA, also known as MRSA? Some people call it the flesh-eating bacteria. But you got to get that checked out early. That's the key.
COLLINS: Wow! I'm just looking at those pictures. Yuck!
All right.
GUPTA: Yes.
COLLINS: Thanks so much, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
GUPTA: All right. Thank you. COLLINS: We're going to stay on top of this for you.
And also, I want to invite everyone. Coming up a little bit later in the NEWSROOM, we're going to be talking with someone from the Virginia school system, about the decision to cancel classes at 21 schools today because of this story, and what officials are doing to keep students safe.
That interview still ahead this morning.
HARRIS: Chester Stiles in court next hour. Police on the search for more possible victims or accomplices. Stiles is accused of raping a 3-year-old girl and videotaping it. The discovery of that tape eventually led to a police manhunt and ended two days ago, when Stiles surrendered during a traffic stop. Stiles was identified after police released his image. One tipster who identified Stiles by name was his former girlfriend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELAINE THOMAS, STILES' FORMER GIRLFRIEND: When the enhanced photos came out on the news, I -- when I realized that it definitely was him, I knew that there was really nothing else that I could do. How could I not tell them who that man was? That little girl suffered unimaginable things. And I knew for a fact it was him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Police said the little girl who is now 7, apparently has no memory of the attack. Her mother says she'd like to be Stiles' executioner.
Our Ted Rowlands is in the courtroom for Stiles' appearance and Ted will join us later in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Drought relief deadline. Georgia's governor demanding a response, today, on decreasing the amount of water released from a major reservoir. Georgia is in the grips of an extreme drought. The Army Corps of Engineers releases water from Lake Lanier to protect threatened mussels and sturgeon down the stream in Florida. And the state's congressional delegation wants the court to turn off the tap.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHNNY ISAKSON, (R) GEORGIA: It's a simple request. We are at a place in our time and our country today and in a region -- my home region -- the state I represent, where the health, safety and welfare of my people are threatened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Water levels at Lake Lanier are down drastically. Other states blame Metro Atlanta's blooming growth for the current water crisis.
And deadly sandstorm. At least two people killed in chain reaction wrecks in Southern California. Two others in critical condition this morning. You can see cars scattered all over the roadway in these pictures. The blinding sandstorm and high winds caused at least three separate pile ups. As many as 16 people were injured.
HARRIS: And as we get to the severe weather center, Rob Marciano is talking about storms.
Whoa! You're starting out west. I thought you might be starting in the plain states. But what's cooking out west, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's the overall producer. I saw you guys were doing sandstorms.
COLLINS: You're good. He is quick.
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: I want to start with that out here.
HARRIS: Nice.
MARCIANO: Here you go.
You know, we typically think about Santa Ana winds, this time of year, and we think, when we hear about winds in Southern California, well we've got a couple of storms that are piling into the West Coast and they're actually not Santa Ana winds, but just your ordinary Joe north-northwesterly winds.
Los Angeles here. Lancaster here. This is where these winds came in -- up and over the San Gabriel Mountains. So, they make it through the passes, they get down the canyons and then the compressed valleys, and that's where we get winds that, at some cases, gusts to at least tropical storm strength.
Mojave is 67, Warm Springs 48 and Lancaster 44. If these are measures we probably had some higher gust.
All right. Now, we'll talk Midwest. This is where a lot of the action is going to be, not only today, but over the next two days. We still have -- we have two tornado watches out already. This one until 9:00 a.m. This one just issued by the storm's prediction center until 4:00 p.m. Central Time. That means there's a potential foreseen tornadoes pop out on this area. We have the dynamics in place for a storm that is winding itself up as it enters the plain, and now we're getting some moisture on board as well.
Some of these storms coming across the Red River Valley and through Oklahoma, show a little bit of twist, but no tornado warnings, as of yet. And, these showers heading in two places like Kansas City. You'll be under gun.
Places like this already saw a lot of rain in the last couple of days. So flashflood watches are out for De Moines, Kansas City, because they've already seen two to five inches of rainfall just in the last few days.
St. Louis, we've got a live shot for you. You have some fog, but you'll be clearing, and then you'll get storms, if not today, you'll get them tomorrow.
There's the Gateway Arch. I never get tired of seeing that.
So enjoy your tranquil weather today, later on, this afternoon, tonight and tomorrow. Use the threat for storms, as will Chicago. It's going to be pretty widespread 09:40. It moves off to the east, and the southeast might even get a little bit of much-needed rain.
HARRIS: No!
MARCIANO: Maybe.
COLLINS: I heard that. I have my umbrella in the car, but that might not be good...
MARCIANO: No, no.
COLLINS: ... right?
MARCIANO: That's bad luck.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: We won't get any rain.
MARCIANO: Don't pop that out just yet.
HARRIS: OK, Rob, Thank you.
Well, a grilling this morning for the man President Bush wants to be the next attorney general. A senate confirmation hearing for Retired Federal Judge Michael Mukasey begins next hour.
Senators expected to press Mukasey on such hot button issues as warrantless surveillance and torture. But the Judiciary Committee's democratic chairman is predicting smooth sailing for Mukasey. He would replace Alberto Gonzales who stepped down in controversy.
Here's what you do: Log on to cnn.com to watch the hearing, live. And our Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena is closely monitoring the hearing. She will bring us live updates throughout the morning, right here in the NEWSROOM.
Also, at the Capitol, a prestigious honor for the Dalai Lama today. But will it bruise Washington's relationship with Beijing?
CNN's Elaine Quijano, joining us from the White House this morning.
And, Elaine, the president has a lot on his plate today, including a news conference later this morning that we found out about a short time ago. Good morning to you.
ELAINE QUIJANO, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony.
And you can bet the Dalai Lama and that issue will likely be among the topics that reporters questioned the president about today. This is about a month since the last news conference that the president held -- a little under a month since the last one.
And, this news conference today is coming at a time when the president and Democrats in Congress are on a collision course really, on a number of domestic issues, among them the SCHIP legislation. We've heard so much about the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Also, larger budget battles, domestic surveillance -- all of those topics, we are told by White House officials, will be among the topics the president will cover in his opening remarks -- his opening statement. He'll also mention Michael Mukasey's nomination, as you noted. His hearing taking place today. Housing issues, trade, no child left behind.
And on the international front, interesting to note as well, that the president will also make some comments on the situation involving Turkey. Of course, those strange relations as a result of that House resolution that Nancy Pelosi has said she will bring to a vote that would label as genocide, the killing of Armenians during World War I by Turks.
So, look for all of those topics. And the addition, also, of the Dalai Lama. That's something that the president is not expected to talk about, but will likely be questioned about. Because this is a very big deal in Beijing. They are quite angered at the prospect of the Dalai Lama, whom they view as a Separatist, really, as receiving this honor by the U.S. Government.
And President Bush is going to be making a very public appearance in presenting that, along with Speaker Pelosi later this afternoon. And he'll not only be taking part in that ceremony, he'll also be making some remarks. So you can bet, Tony, that Beijing will be listening very closely, not only to this news conference, but also when those remarks are slated to happen later this afternoon.
HARRIS: That is a full plate for the president.
Elaine Quijano from the White House for us, good to see you. Thank you.
COLLINS: What is the Congressional Gold Medal? Well, officially it's the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. It was originally award to military heroes, but later became a symbol of civilian achievement. Notable recipients include Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II and Nelson Mandela. General George Washington received the first Congressional Gold Medal in 1776. And, about 90 minutes from now, President Bush will be in the White House briefing room, this morning, for Q&A with reporters. The news conference will come your way, live, right here on CNN at 10:45 Eastern.
HARRIS: Oh, the housing crisis. Banks were closing, sales stagnating. Is the president now responding? Our Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is on that story. She is about 30 minutes away.
BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
Deteriorating relations with one of America's closest military allies. I'll have that next in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: And, take a look at this. A seriously close call for a South Carolina driver. We'll show you the dramatic outcome.
HARRIS: And, he heard the click. But not the shot. A fast food restaurant worker is just a misfire from death, but then he fights for his life.
You're in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: You are in the "CNN NEWSROOM."
I'm Heidi Collins.
New Hampshire traditionally gets first shot at choosing presidential front-runners, but does the Granite State really give us an accurate measure? We're "Keeping Them Honest."
HARRIS: And, good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
Making a run beyond the border, Taco Bell's new frontier. What Mexicans have to say about the import?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Shell down in the House tomorrow. Veto override votes sat on expanding a program for poor kids' health care.
CNN's Jessica Yellin looks at the latest lobbying.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Capitol Hill, the lines are drawn. In one corner, fighting for children's health insurance, rock star Paul Simon.
PAUL SIMON, MUSICIAN: I'm here today to ask those you who supported the veto to reexamine your conscience, to find compassion in your heart for our most vulnerable and sweetest citizens.
YELLIN: Joining him, little children.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: These kids with needs and they need a lot of help.
YELLIN: And, of course, the Democrats, who have until Thursday to win enough votes to override the president's veto.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The moment of truth is approaching. We have 48 hours.
SIMON: There's a determined minority, standing in the way of enacting this bill.
YELLIN: In the other corner, Republicans who say they're not heartless, they're fighting for a less expensive bill.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) MINORITY LEADER: I think this bill was designed to be vetoed. I think it was designed to create this political fight.
YELLIN: But the fight that uses pictures of cute kids against Republicans is making some in the president's party very uncomfortable.
REP. TOM DAVIS, (R) VIRGINIA: I think health care is going to be at the top of the agenda for the American people. And I don't think you want to be on the side of saying we're for less health care.
YELLIN: Adding to the heap, ad like this one, running against those who oppose the bill.
(ADVERTISEMENT)
YELLIN: Republicans insist they have the votes to uphold the veto but the opponents say that vote will haunt them come election time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Tension in the red zone. Turkey's parliament today considering whether to go after Kurdish rebels in Northern Iraq. A resolution on the table. But, if approved, Turkey says its troops would not immediately go into Iraq. The U.S., also worried about Turkey cutting off U.S. access to a key airbase and Turkish airspace.
U.S. relations with Turkey have suffered since the House panel approved, calling the World War I death of Armenians in Turkey, genocide.
At stake for the U.S. war effort in Iraq, about a third of the U.S. fuel supply and 7 70 percent of its air freight that goes through Turkey. So will 95 percent of mine-resistant armored vehicles that we've talked so much about. They're set for delivery in coming months. And a great deal of Iraqi trade also goes through the Turkish border.
The very latest on U.S. concerns over Turkey from CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): CNN has learned a military warning order has been issued to air crews across Europe, telling them to be ready to move if Turkey follows through on threats to cut off U.S. access to Turkish airspace, bases and border crossings, which carry 70 percent of U.S. cargo into Iraq.
For the first time, senior U.S. military officers are openly discussing just how serious the crisis has become.
LT. GEN. CARTER HAM, DIR OF OPERATIONS, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: If the flow of those materials were to be disrupted, it would have, not only a significant effect on the U.S. military operating in Iraq, but it would have a significant effect commercially to Iraq, as well.
STARR: The Bush administration also is struggling to explain why it's not moving against Kurdish rebels, the PKK, who are launching attacks into Turkey from Northern Iraq.
HAM: Some of it is intelligence-related, to say, you know, where and when are they, are they posing a specific threat that we need to counter immediately?
STARR: Turkey reminds the U.S. the PKK is a designated terrorist group operating out of Iraq, a country where the U.S. has more than 160,000 troops fighting terrorists.
For now, the U.S. is encouraging Iraq to step up the dialogue with Turkey, in hopes of keeping the Turks from invading with their 60,000 border troops, to chase down the PKK.
TOM CASEY, SPOKESMAN, STATE DEPARTMENT: I think our main concern is that unilateral military action isn't the way to deal with the threat posed by the PKK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (on camera): And, Heidi, you know, there are also economic implications growing here. Oil prices hitting all-time highs now over fears that this conflict along that border region could disrupt oil supplies coming out of Northern Iraq -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Sure. Well, what next, then, for the military, Barbara?
STARR: You know that's the real dilemma. Right now, the Bush administration's policy clearly is focused on diplomacy, trying to get both sides to walk back from this -- Turkey not to cross the border into Iraq, not to cut off U.S. access to its airspace over that Armenian genocide resolution, getting the Iraqi government to try and deal with the PKK on its side of the border. So it's all very complex. But one thing does appear clear, the Bush administration, no interest in having U.S. troops on the ground take on a role in this very troubled area -- Heidi. COLLINS: All right. Understood as well.
CNN's Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon this morning.
Barbara, thank you.
STARR: Sure.
HARRIS: More bombings today in Iraq. At least 10 people killed, seven of them were Iraqi police officers. They died in a roadside bombing, southeast of Baghdad. Two Iraqi civilians died in a blast in a predominantly Shiite, Baghdad neighborhood. And suicide bomber struck a Kurdish checkpoint near the Iranian border. At least one Kurdish soldier was killed.
COLLINS: A dream come true for one little girl. Daddy is home from war.
UNIDENTIFIED KID: Daddy!
HARRIS: I just want to see the end. Okay.
And a restaurant manager taking matters into his own hands. Would you, with a gun to your head?
UNIDENTIFIED KFC EMPLOYEE: As soon as I heard that click, I figured that's it, he's going to shoot me no matter what, even if I give him the money. So, I fought back.
HARRIS: A KFC robber chickens out and takes his lunch to go.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: This is an amazing story. A robbed at gunpoint. A fast food manager actually heard the click of the rifle. And that's when he made his move. Alex Reed of affiliate WCNC reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX REED, WCNC REPORTER (voice-over): Surveillance video taken inside a KFC restaurant on Salisbury road in Statesville shows an armed robber forcing a store employee into an office to open a safe.
UNIDENTIFIED KFC EMPLOYEE: He came charging out of the Bushes and he leveled the gun straight at my chest.
REED: Then, as the gunman gets impatient, police say, he presses the gun against the employee's head and pulls the trigger!
UNIDENTIFIED KFC EMPLOYEE: As soon as I heard that click, I figured that's it, he's going to shoot me no matter what, even if I give him the money. So I fought back.
REED: Taking advantage of the suspect's surprise misfire, the employee grabs for the gun, and the two men fight over control of the weapon. As the two men slide along the wet tile floor of the restaurant's kitchen, the employee manages to take down the suspect, but he can't keep him on the floor.
UNIDENTIFIED KFC EMPLOYEE: I wanted to go home to my wife and kids and one way or the other, I just was not going to let go of that gun.
REED: At one point during the struggle, the suspect has the presence of mind to bend over and pick up a glove he dropped, in an effort to clean up any possible evidence from police.
CHIEF STEPHEN HAMPTON, STATESVILLE, N.C. POLICE: We feel that this is a very dangerous robber. And we need the help from the citizens to identify this individual and get him into custody before he does kill someone.
REED: Eventually, the employee is able to push the suspect back, outside the restaurant, where the man runs off. Police canine units tracked the suspect to the Belmont Cemetery down the road but were unable to follow him from there.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: A dangerous infection shuts down a Virginia school system. How common is the deadly super bug and how concerned should parents be.
HARRIS: An accused child rapist, the next hour. He's in court, and so are we.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: And there you have the opening bell on this fine Wednesday morning. Yesterday, things ended up to the negative side. Unfortunately, down about 71, almost 72 points yesterday. On the Dow Jones Industrial averages 3912. Just any bit below of 14,000 marks. Today, we will be watching those numbers as usual as well as the NASDAQ and talking with Susan Lisovicz a little bit later on. Some news about Social Security benefits. Those benefits going up a small percentage. So, tell you why in just a few minutes.
Meanwhile, the housing crisis. Talking about that again today, too. Banks foreclosing, sales stagnating, is the president now responding? Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis is on this. She is straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Tony Harris and Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back everyone to the CNN NEWSROOM. Heidi, there's a lot of stuff going on here. You got to have a pretty big guest coming up in the show a little bit later. I'm Tony Harris. Good morning, everyone.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Want to get to this story on the top. In fact, 21 Virginia schools shut down today. The response to a deadly drug-resistant infection that is blamed for the death of one student. The mother of 17-year-old, Ashton Bonds says, "He died after being diagnosed with MRSA." It's an antibiotic resistant Staph infection. The Bedford County superintendent says, "All 21 schools in the district are closed today for a thorough cleaning." That's an attempt to keep the infection from spreading and it followed a protest by students.
MRSA is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact or sharing an item used by an infected person. In a new study, finds it is more common than previously thought. Researchers estimate there were more than 94,000 infections. Almost 19,000 deaths in 2005. Then coming up at the top of the hour, just a few minutes here, we are going to be talking with Bedford County, Virginia School System plus the head of the Centers For Disease and Control. We will have that information, those interviews, very coming up at the top of the hour, right here on CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Also among ours stories, Chester Stiles is in court next hour. Police on the search for more possible victims or accomplices. Stiles is accused of raping a 3-year-old girl and videotaping it. The discovery of that tape eventually led to a police manhunt. It ended two days ago, when Stiles surrendered during a traffic stop. Stiles was identified after police released his image. One tipster who identified Stiles by name was his former girlfriend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELAINE THOMAS, STILES' FORMER GIRLFRIEND: When the enhanced photos came out on the news, when I realized that it definitely was him, I knew that there was really nothing else that I could do. How could I not tell them who that man was? That little girl suffered unimaginable things and I knew for a fact it was him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Police say, the little girl who is now 7 apparently has no memory of the attack. Her mother says, she would like to be Stiles' executioner. Our Ted Rowlands is in the courtroom for Stiles' appearance and Ted will join us later in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Rob Marciano is standing by now to give us a little bit more information about the weather all across the country. Right now, we're talking one more time about the Midwest?
(WEATHER REPORT):
HARRIS: Mortgage meltdown. A staggering number of homes in foreclosure. The housing industry and a deepening slump, now signs the Bush administration is confronting the problem. Here is our personal finance editor Gerri Willis. Gerri, we got some new stats...
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do.
HARRIS: on housing starts and permits for new houses? WILLIS: Yes. Let's take a look at those first. That's the new news this morning. In fact, in the month of September, housing starts were down 40 to the lowest level in 14 years. Year over year, Tony, that's a 30 percent drop in housing starts as you can see. The mortgage meltdown is really hitting those builders hard. Now, as you know, the U.S. -- the Bush administration is looking at this issue. Their point man on this is Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. And he says that the stakes in the mortgage meltdown are high indeed. He spoke yesterday to a Georgetown University Group. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: Despite strong economic fundamentals, the housing decline is still unfolding and I view it as the most significant current risk to our economy. The longer housing prices remain stagnant or fall, the greater the penalty to our future economic growth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: All right. So, the ultimate penalty here, if nothing is done to fix the mortgage meltdown could be recession. So what does Paulson recommend? Well, first on foremost, one of the big items on his list, let's regulate those mortgage brokers out there. Tony, you know, there are lots of complaints about brokers pushing loans on folks that were really tough for them to pay off. The treasury secretary says, let's license those brokers, let's make sure they are educated. Also, he asked for mortgage documents to be readable. I don't know if you've ever looked at a mortgage document before.
HARRIS: Yes.
WILLIS: But it seems like it's written in Greek. It's full of boiler plate information that's just hard to understand. He says, we have to put that in English. And one big goal in his speech yesterday is he said, you know, the whole mortgage industry is governed by a patch work of laws and regulations, both state and federal. He said, you know, we've got to make that simpler. That's going to be easier to understand and more straightforward. Now, what is interesting here are the things on the list that the Democrats have that this Republican administration does not.
No government bailout, according to Paulson. They are not in favor of that because they feel like the -- like Wall Street, if you make it right with them by giving a big bailout, they will just go out and do some of the these practices all over again. Also, the treasury secretary saying, that some of the practices from this recent run up in mortgage is, don't necessarily have to go away here. You know, we talked about prepayment penalties and how difficult they've been for people to pay. He wanted to get new mortgages. Guess what, he doesn't want to get rid of that and he doesn't liability for Wall Street either. So, interesting mix of things that he is suggesting here.
HARRIS: So, if he gets all of his suggestions, that's a big if. Would all this actually make an impact? WILLIS: Yes, it would. You know, we've been sort of waiting and waiting.
HARRIS: Sure.
WILLIS: The president has already come out with one plan that would help 80,000 people but as you know, there are probably over 2 million at risk right now. The question is when are some of these suggestions actually going to go into effect? And we're waiting for Congress to come out with some kind of bill that they can pass both houses with. As you know, there are number of bills out there that are going nowhere right now. So we're eagerly waiting and watching because while Congress has talked about this since February, as many as a million people have gone into foreclosure.
HARRIS: Just give me a big interest rate cut and I'll tell you what, that would get markets going. Talk to us about "Open House" Gerri.
WILLIS: Yes. Well, we got a lot going on this week. We're going to tell you how you can save money by going green. All kinds of improvement you can make to you house, to save money on energy costs this winter. As you know, energy costs are going to go up 33 percent this year. I'm telling you. You're going to have to have an efficient house.
HARRIS: Absolutely. All right, Gerri, good to see you. Thanks.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
COLLINS: President Bush will be in the White House briefing room next for Q&A with reporters. The news conference will be coming live your way 10:45 eastern so watch for that.
And New Hampshire traditionally gets first shot at choosing presidential front-runners but does the granite state really give us an accurate measure? We'll take a look at that. We're keeping them honest.
HARRIS: Whoa, whoa, whoa! A seriously close call for a South Carolina driver. We'll show you what happened. Well, I guess you just saw what happened. More of this, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: New Hampshire is working hard to keep its place as the nation's first presidential primary state. But who chose the granite state as the nation's touchdown? Let me try it again. Who chose the nation's touchdown to be in this geographic location? CNN's Joe Johns is keeping them honest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENTS: Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo shows up at the New Hampshire state capital to pay his $1,000 fee and get on the ballot in what for nearly a century has been, the nation's first presidential primary.
REP. TOM TANCREDO, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is the kind of situation where somebody like me, somebody who does not have hundreds of millions of dollars of personal wealth, can still make a difference because you can still get to every little cafe.
JOHNS: And if he can do well in the nation's first primary, Tancredo instantly becomes a viable national candidate but get this. It's possible that for the first time in 90 years, no one knows when the New Hampshire Presidential Primary will be held. Will it be January? Or early December? Bill Gardner is the New Hampshire Secretary of State. He gets to decide.
QUESTION: So when is the primary going to be?
BILL GARDNER, NEW HAMPSHIRE SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't know.
CNN REPORTER: You don't know?
GARDNER: I don't know.
CNN REPORTER: You haven't decided even yet in your own brain?
GARDNER. No.
JOHNS: He is being coy about the date so that other states won't jump ahead of New Hampshire which begs the question keeping them honest, who appointed New Hampshire king of the presidential primary calendar anyway? Answer? New Hampshire did! It's been holding the nation's first presidential primary since 1916 and in 1975 it passed a law saying it had to be first. New Hampshire says it should have an outsized role in nominating the president precisely because it is so small. It's easy to get around and meet most of the voters who take politics very seriously.
GARDNER: The grassroots speak here. And its retail politics and that's the tradition and it's not easy to just replicate that or tow it to some other place.
JOHNS: And you really don't hear the candidates complaining about this setup.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good for Tom Tancredo. It's good for our campaign. It works for me! It's great.
JOHNS: So it's great for the candidates, but what about the rest of the country? Well, when you look at the demographics of it, New Hampshire doesn't always come off as a clean cross-section of the U.S.A. To be fair, average income levels here, percentages of people with high school educations, the ratio of blue collar to white collar workers roughly track the national averages. But when it comes to race and ethnicity, it's a different story. About 2 percent of the New Hampshire population is Hispanic. While the national average is more than 14 percent. Does that matter in a presidential race? It could. Tom Tancredo's key issue is immigration and a lot of Hispanics aren't exactly enthralled with his views. TANCREDO: Look at the attack on own culture. That is occurring as a result of massive immigration, illegal immigration in particular.
JOHNS: Just about 1 percent of the New Hampshire population is African-American, compared to almost 13 percent nationally. 96 percent of the population is white. Compared to 80 percent across the country. Some people like Debbie Dingell, wife of Democratic Congressman John Dingell of Michigan, argue that a larger state with a different mix of people ought to have more influence in an election year.
DEBBIE DINGELL, WIFE OF DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN JOHN DINGELL: New Hampshire doesn't have the ordained right and the fact of the matter is it doesn't reflect the diversity of this country.
JOHNS: But don't hold your breath. The political parties are fighting tooth and nail to keep their retail politics just the way it is. Joe Johns, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Get the most up to the minute political news anywhere available including the latest candidate poll numbers. Cnnpolitics.com is your one-stop shop. Get behind the scene details from CNN's best political team on television and see why it's the internet's premier destination for political news. Go to cnnpolitics.com.
HARRIS: Hundreds of pro-Democracy demonstrators still in custody in Myanmar. New details now from the military government there. They say more than 2,900 people detained during protests last month. The authorities are still hunting for other demonstrators. It is reported at least ten people were killed in the government crackdown on protesters. But because of government restrictions on journalists, CNN is unable to confirm those reports.
HARRIS: Making a run beyond the border. Taco Bell invades the land of the taco. What Mexicans have to say about the import straight ahead.
COLLINS: And a little girl, a very big surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it was something different but it was my daddy!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: We could see it again and again, couldn't we? Daddy and his daughter reunited. A sailor's story in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Take a look at this story now. A close call caught on dash cam. A train slams into a car. The woman inside narrowly escapes. Take a look. Here she is minutes before the crash. Police say, they had to coax her out of her car. She was on her cell phone and didn't realize she was on the tracks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you! Oh, thank you for saving me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The Officer Marcus O'Shield saved her life. He talked to CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCUS O'SHIELD, GREER, SOUTH CAROLINA POLICE: I don't think she realized what type of danger she was actually in until the train actually struck her vehicle and I think that's when it just hit her. That's when the scream. She let out the scream and then afterwards, she, you know, just thanked me and thanked me for saving her life. I think she realized what kind of danger she was in if she had stayed in her vehicle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Police say the woman was actually lost. The train was going 70-mile-per-hour.
HARRIS: Mexican taco makers take a stand at their stands as a U.S. competitor comes to town. CNN's Harris Whitbeck reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Taco Bell meet your competition. His name is Santiago Cruz and he has spent 20 years making tacos at a place called (INAUDIBLE). One of the most venerable taco joints in Mexico City.
SANTIAGO CRUZ, TACO CHEF (through translator): These tacos are unique. They're made on the spot, he says, as he hands me a plate full to prove it. Try them, they're very good, he urges. We know how to make tacos to perfection. In addition to chopped beef steak, there is a marinated pork shoulder and beef cheek. Typical of taco stands throughout Mexico. The restaurant has been around since the 1960s. It closes only one afternoon a year, Good Friday, and sells more than a thousand pounds of tacos every weekend. A thousand pounds of tacos a weekend from one restaurant. No wonder Taco Bell wants in on the action.
XITLALI MANCILLA, TACO BELL MANAGER (through translator): Our plan in the near future is to take over the local fast food market here in Monterey. Our business will grow because our employees are young and full of energy.
WHITBECK: Taco Bell, by the way, is not marketing itself as authentic Mexican food. It's pitching its restaurants as better fast foods but that's not enough to quiet critics. Christina Barros is a food anthropologist. A fierce defender of Mexican cuisine.
CHRISTINA BARROS, FOOD ANTHROPOLOGIST (through translator): Frankly, it is deplorable. These multinational fast food chains come into countries with little respect for local tradition.
WHITBECK: But so far, Taco Bell customers seem open to the idea of the American take on the taco.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's a great idea the fact that they brought Taco Bell over here. Back in the U.S. we really like Taco Bell.
WHITBECK: Does that worry master taco makers like Santiago Cruz?
CRUZ (through translator): No, no. In other words, bring it on Taco Bell.
WHITBECK: Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: They make baby toys soft but do they also make them dangerous? Questions over a substance inside commonly used.
HARRIS: And President Bush will be in the White House briefing room this morning for a little Q&A with reporters. A news conference live at CNN 10:45 a.m. eastern time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We love this story. We always love this story. The surprise of a lifetime, for one little girl. Daddy is home from war.
HARRIS: Jessie Degollado of affiliate KSAT was on hand for the family reunion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSIE DEGOLLADO, KSAT: At the last minute, dad, Jimmy Reyes, had to go get balloon. His two young is dressed in honor of their Navy CB father knew something without, unlike their oldest sister, told to close her eyes, she was about to realize her dream.
CRYSTAL REYES, HUSBAND HOME FROM IRAQ: She tells me, Mommy, I want to see my daddy. I'm going to run to him and I'm going to hug him.
JIMMY REYES, U.S. NAVY: We really enjoyed to see her running something like that.
DEGOLLADO: Exactly as described.
J. REYES: I feel like crying but I'm not going to cry.
C. REYES: I was crying like a baby.
J. REYES: I got you some balloons.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
DEGOLLADO: Beaming with joy, Taylor, had been promised a surprise of some sort.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it was something different, but it was my daddy.
DEGOLLADO: Daddy has a new son, born right before he went to Iraq.
J. REYES: I don't even know him, so I got to get to know my son. I missed Taylor a lot, Jasmine, too.
C. REYES: When he's here, you know, I just wish that everybody could come home already. But the good thing is, you know that, it makes us stronger. I'm glad that she sees my daughter (INAUDIBLE) sacrifice.
DEGOLLADO: Eight months without you father is a long time.
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