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Tracking Tropical Storm Noel

Aired October 31, 2007 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: She's been traveling the world trying to improve the U.S. image aboard. Hughes now planning to return to Texas. She's quoting as saying, improving the worldview of the United States is a, quote, "long-term challenge that will outlast her."
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Talking about wind, waves, and worry. Tropical Storm Noel is centered over Cuba right now. Our i-Reporters tracking the storm through Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Jose Adelis Contreras took this video with his cell phone. Emergency officials say there's massive flooding and a rising death toll in the Caribbean. Here in the United States strong winds and rough surf are hitting South Florida beaches right now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Don't tase me, bro! How is that not the crazy line of the year?

COLLINS: It might be.

HARRIS: Don't tase me, bro!

COLLINS: Just the way you say it.

HARRIS: Well, you know, that plea was ignored, and the university of Florida police did, indeed, use a stun gun on that student, but Andrew Meyer kept talking, even after his arrest. New tape from Diane Cho.

She is with CNN affiliate WJXT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANE CHO, WJXT REPORTER (voice-over): After the entire country heard his infamous cry.

ANDREW MEYER: Don't tase me, bro! Don't tase me?

CHO: All new, the university police department just released a video of Andrew Meyer frantically talking with officers in the back of the police cruiser.

MEYER: I'm so scared, you guys. I didn't do anything.

CHO: Just moments later, Meyer quickly changes his tone and gets defensive.

MEYER: Is this America? is this America? Is this America? Is this Nazi Germany, or is this America? Honestly.

CHO: After several minutes go by he starts to calm down and even jokes around when officers tell him there are 15 jail personnel waiting for his arrival.

MEYER: Who is waiting for me? No, I'm good. I'm good, bro.

CHO: Ironically throughout the tape, you can hear the classic '80s Police song "Don't Stand So Close to Me," and as they approach the Illatro County (ph) jail, he tells officers he was only defending his First Amendment rights by asking Senator Kerry a question at the forum.

MEYER: You're just doing your job.

CHO: Hours later he makes a first phone call from the jail to his father, and his dad tells him how he learned of his son's arrest from Channel 4 news.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JOEL MEYER, FATHER OF ARRESTED STUDENT: Do you know how I found out about that?

A. MEYER: I was wondering that.

J. MEYER: A news reporter from Channel 4 called and asked to speak to the father of -- to Joel Meyer, the father of Andrew Meyer. So I get on the phone, and I say, this is Joel Meyer. And she says, did you see the video?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CHO: After a lengthy talk Meyer's father, Meyer insists they need to let the story grow and get it out as much as possible, and then Meyer gives his first account of what happened that day.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ANDREW MEYER, ARRESTED STUDENT: And I said, I just want to ask you a question. He said, all right, all right, ask me the question. And then I asked him the question, and then the cops -- he could have at any time John Kerry could have been like, hey, leave that kid alone. So after I asked him the question, he wasn't so friendly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Florida State attorney says Andrew Meyer has apologized and is now serving 18 months probation. Prosecutors say if he stays out of trouble, the case will be dismissed.

Protecting Americans in Iraq. Private security firms not just guarding diplomats, but also top military brass. Some wonder why aren't troops doing that job? Searching for answers, ahead, in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And welcome back, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A different kind of child labor. Myanmar's military accused of forcing children to serve as soldiers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Judgment day in the deadly Madrid train bombings, but the verdict from the three-judge panel is mixed. Three accused masterminds are found guilty of mass murder. One is acquitted. Four others are convicted of lesser charges. The horrific blast back on March 11, 2004, killed 191 people and wounded about 1,800 others. The bombing blamed on al Qaeda. In all, the judges found 21 of 28 defendants guilty of at least some of the charges.

HARRIS: Monks on the march again. A dissident source telling CNN more than 70 Buddhist monks took to the streets in central Myanmar, in the country formerly known as Burma. It is the first protest reported in the secretive Asian nation since last month's bloody government crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations. As many as 110 people, including 40 monks, are believed to have been killed in those demonstrations, and thousands of people detained. Many of them are still believed to be in custody.

COLLINS: Child soldiers. Myanmar's military accused of forcing children to fight.

CNN's Dan Rivers has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): A month after the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Myanmar, formerly Burma, the country is once again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The pressure group Human Rights Watch has come out with a report alleging a huge problem with the recruitment of child soldiers into the Myanmar army. The report is entitled "sold to be soldiers," 135 pages of very hard-hitting evidence and testimonies about this problem. Human Rights Watch say that brokers are used by the Myanmar army to search for children as young as 10 years old, that some are recruited in public places, in marketplaces and so on. Some are beaten and forced to sign recruitment forms in which they lie about their age. They're then given 18 weeks of military training before they're sent to combat zones.

The Myanmar government says that the recruitment of anyone under 18 has been illegal since 1973. In 2004 the government set up a high- level committee which was charged with trying to address this problem, but Human Rights Watch alleges that that committee has done very little on the ground to tackle the scale of recruitments of child soldiers. It says most of the committee's activities are simply to do with denying the problem and attacking the West for allegedly making propaganda about the scale of child soldiers. The U.N. Security Council, though, is also due to be looking into this. A working group has been charged to look into this, and they are due to report within the next few weeks.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Mai Song (ph), Thailand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Your wallet, your future. In just a few hours the Fed will decide whether to cut interest rates. Gerri Willis has tips on what it all could mean to you. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Funeral services today for the woman killed while answering an Internet ad for a baby-sitter job. Authorities have charged Michael Anderson with second-degree murder. They say he lured Catherine Olson (ph) to his home using an ad on the popular Web site craigslist. The 19-year-old allegedly shot Olson in the back. Her body was found stuffed in the trunk of her car at a park about five blocks from Anderson's house. That's just outside Minneapolis. Police say they found blood spatters in Anderson's home.

Private security firms in Iraq protecting American diplomats and some top military commanders, but you may be wondering why aren't U.S. troops doing that job?

CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has the answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon employs some 7,000 private contractors to provide security for both civilians and military personnel operating in Iraq and Afghanistan, including some senior officers, such as Brigadier General Jeffrey Dorko, wounded in an IED attack on his armored SUV Monday in Baghdad.

GEOFF MORRELL, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: We simply do not have the resources to do everything that perhaps we would like to do, and so you have to make choices about where they can best be used.

MCINTYRE: Most American generals are protected by their own troops, but some, like General Dorko, who's with the Army Corps of Engineers, have no combat forces under their command, and rely on private hired guns. A spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq told CNN, "The private security companies better meet the travel needs of many of our general officers. This allows combat troops to perform other, more critical duties."

At a Congressional oversight hearing this month, the problem was clear.

REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, at some point, you have to make a decision in this battlefield and this war. If we don't have enough troops to do the job, then we should get more troops. MCINTYRE: But training troops to fight wars is not the same as training them to be bodyguards.

REP. THOMAS DAVIS (R), VIRGINIA: Now, if we want to train them to do that, we can do that, but that hasn't been the history throughout the last 50 years of the military that I'm aware of.

MCINTYRE: It could be done, but at considerable cost, says author Robert Young Pelton, whose book "Licensed to Kill" argues the U.S. is overreliant on contractors.

ROBERT YOUNG PELTON, AUTHOR, "LICENSED TO KILL": The question is, do we want to create this huge behemoth of sort of state mandated military police or State Department security, and that's a question that taxpayers should decide on, but it hasn't actually been presented to us.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The biggest problem with using private contractors is they are expensive and harder to control when things go wrong. The Pentagon has reached a preliminary agreement with the State Department to put the movement of all security contractors in Iraq under U.S. military control, as well as standardize the rules for the use of force and training procedures.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Let's take a minute to check out the big board. We are to the positive now with the DOW Jones Industrial averages up about 41 points, resting at 13,833. Nasdaq, I'm told, also up about 10 points. So we, again, are to the positive. But, what's going to happen come a little bit later today, whether or not the Fed has decided to cut interest rates again. That's going to be happening, at least we'll learn about it, around 2:15 Eastern time today. Of course, we'll stay on top of that for you right here at CNN.

HARRIS: You just got to get a cut, a show of hands in the -- oh, all right, never mind.

Just a few hours from now, we will hear whether the Federal Reserve will, in fact, cut interest rates. CNN Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis is here to help us figure out what this will mean, what it all means.

Boy, Gerri, what's the thinking on this? If the Fed does cut rates today, what does it mean, for example, for homeowners like you, like me, and for most of the folks watching us this morning?

GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, Tony, I got to tell you a little analysis here. In fact, 30-year fixed rates have already fallen ahead of this cut. It will mean a lot though to adjustable rate mortgage holders. If you have like one, three, five-year adjustable rate mortgage, your rates will down a bit, but it won't be a quarter percentage point reduction in lockstep with what the Fed is doing. And, if you took out an ARM between 2002 and 2004, you'll be facing higher adjustable rates no matter how much the Fed cuts rates.

During those years, rates were at historic lows, and when you're at a low, well, there's no place to go but up, but there is light at the end of the tunnel and that is home equity lines of credit. These are tied directly to the prime rate, and that will go down. So, some good news for consumers.

HARRIS: Not exactly the totality of the good news I was hoping for.

WILLIS: That you wanted? Hey, you know, lower rates are basically good for consumers, but it doesn't happen as fast and the impact isn't as great as a lot of people expect.

HARRIS: Ah -- what do you think about credit card debt? What about the impact on credit cards if we get a rate cut today?

WILLIS: Well look, if you have a variable rate credit card and you carry a balance, you'll see a small decrease in the rate you pay if the Fed cuts rates as we expect. For example, with a balance of $5,000, you'll save about $2 a month. Doesn't sound like much, but I'm -- I'd be ready to take that.

HARRIS: Yes, yes.

WILLIS: Remember, your credit card company, though, can raise your rate at any time for any reason, so you really have to stay on top of what they're forcing you to pay. Now, you won't see any change in your credit card rate if you have a fixed rate card, obviously, or if you're in one of those introductory rate periods.

And, some advice here, if your APR is higher than 12 percent and you've been paying your monthly bill on time, call the credit card company ...

HARRIS: Yes.

WILLIS: ...and ask for a lower rate. Tell the issuer that you're considering switching to an adjustable rate card. Hey, you said the Fed's action today is a negotiating tool to tell them, hey, rates are on the way down, I need to pay less.

HARRIS: I tell you what, that works a lot. If you just call them and say, hey, I'm thinking about moving ...

WILLIS: I've done it.

HARRIS: ...it really does help.

WILLIS: Yes.

HARRIS: And what about, Gerri, folks who want to invest in say, CDs and maybe bank accounts around the country. A lot of folks are coming up on open enrollment season for their 401-Ks.

WILLIS: Well, look, you know, the bad news is for savers. When the Fed cuts rates, CDs, money markets and savings account, their rates that they pay go down in lockstep. And the rate you'll get is only going to go lower. You shouldn't have more than three to six months worth of living expenses in cash because of this.

Invest in some low-cost mutual funds or index funds. Check out Fidelity and Vanguard for some low cost options. And of course, when it comes to your 401-K, you have to look at the long term ...

HARRIS: Yes.

WILLIS: ...even if the market goes down, you want to continue contributing, and of course, if you have a question about these rates or anything else, send us a question to "Top Tips" at CNN.com. We answer them right here every Friday.

HARRIS: Boy, you are going to get some questions on this today, Gerri. Great to see you. Have a great day.

WILLIS: Great to see you.

HARRIS: Thanks.

COLLINS: Vice President Dick Cheney in the midst of another hunting controversy. This time, Cheney is not doing the shooting. Critics are firing at him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Coming up on the half hour, welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Hi there, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins.

Want to give you this news right off the top here. President Bush's long-time adviser Karen Hughes leaving her post. She plans to quit her job as Undersecretary of State at the end of the year. Hughes is one of President Bush's last remaining advisers from his close circle of Texas aides. She's been traveling around the Arab world trying to improve the U.S. image abroad. And Hughes now, planning to return to Texas. She's quoted as saying, "improving the world's view of the United States is a long-term challenge that will outlast her."

HARRIS: Homes and lives in ashes, a boy in limbo after admitting that he started this fire, the Buckweed wildfire swept across some 38,000 acres in Los Angeles County. The cause, a boy playing with matches. More than 60 buildings were left in ruins, 21 of them were homes. The boy's name and age have not been released. He is in the custody of his parents. Prosecutors in Los Angeles County will decide whether he should face charges.

COLLINS: Jacqui Jeras joining us now from the weather center with another look at Noel, who is at least very colorful on your map right there.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is. Hey, speaking of the colors, let's point something out here, guys. This is a loop that goes with time, as you can see, and notice all this purple popping up here, and then, it's just fizzled out a little bit. So, I think we've been seeing some intensifying. I think that's probably peaked out a little bit. The hurricane hunters have been flying in this. They're finding some winds a little bit stronger than the 40 miles per hour maximum sustained that we had with our last one advisory. So we get a new one coming in from the National Hurricane Center anytime. We'll see if they are going to bump those winds up a little bit, and I think they probably will, maybe by five, 10 miles per hour at the most. So just a minor intensification going on right now.

Some heavy rain across the central Bahamas. More rain, unfortunately, for Hispaniola, and also the Dominican Republic here. They could see an additional 5 inches on top of what they already have. The storm is moving north-northwesterly right now. And until we start to see this pull into the north and east, you know, we're not going to give the green light to Florida all together.

But right now best projections are keeping it offshore by about 150 miles or so, and most of the showers and thunderstorms are in the east side of this storm. So that's some good news, but either way we are going to continue to get in some of those onshore winds here, on the Atlantic coast. And that means more beach erosion.

We have got some great video to show you out of Ft. Lauderdale that really helps tell the story of the strong winds that you have been dealing with here the last couple days. Look at that sand just flying through the air. Reducing visibility. Just cutting away at the beach there.

Unfortunately, also there have been a lot of big waves, six to eight feet. So -- but not great for the surfers because they're really consistent and they're real close together. So you don't want to get in the water anyway. The very high risk of rip currents. It is just kind of a dangerous day to get out and do that.

Here is the current wind speeds across Florida right now, St. Augustine at 15 miles per hour. In the 20s there for Vero Beach as well as Hollywood Beach where we have our Rob Marciano. And Sarasota about 15 miles per hour. But that's coming in offshore for you so you're not dealing with the beach problems there just yet.

So, guys, we have a good day to get through today with the very strong winds for Florida, and then we're going to watch Noel start to move up to the north and east as winds will subside and things will get a little bit better.

HARRIS: All right. Jacqui, appreciate it, thank you.

JERAS: Sure.

COLLINS: Thanks, Jacqui.

HARRIS: Vice President Dick Cheney, the target of shots after his latest hunting trip. CNN's Mary Snow reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): It is this image of a Confederate flag captured by a New York Daily News crew that has stirred controversy. The photo was taken shortly after Vice President Dick Cheney hunted here at Upstate New York Monday.

JOE GOULD, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: It was inside the garage, the door was opened to the garage, so it would have been visible from the road.

SNOW: The Daily News crew acknowledged they don't know if the door was open and the flag visible when the vice president passed by. A spokeswoman for the vice president said: "The vice president didn't see a flag and neither did any of the staff traveling with him." She declined to give specifics on the vice president's view of the Confederate flag.

But a local leader of the NAACP says he found it disturbing.

KEVIN CROMER, PRES., NAACP DUTCHESS CO., NY: Well, you know, it is extremely unfortunate that an elected official who represents all of us chose to hunt within a facility that believes in obviously segregation.

SNOW: The Clove Valley Rod and Gun Club, a private club, declined any comment at all. One pastor of a nearby church said it's not uncommon to see Confederate flag decals in the area but insists it's seen as a symbol of rebellion, not racism.

REV. JIM WICKSTEAD, VALLEY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP CHURCH: In my experience the people that display that flag are not necessarily racist. They might be. But it's more they're saying -- declaring that they're rebels.

SNOW: But one U.S. historian says that explanation doesn't wash with many who see the Confederate flag as a symbol representing bigotry.

PROF. JIM ROARK, EMORY UNIVERSITY: For some Americans, rightfully so, it represents tyranny, it represents racism, it represents violence.

SNOW: For Vice President Cheney, one political observer says it was a symbol he should have avoided.

LARRY SABATO, UNIV. OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: They have dozens of staff and advance people who work for days or even weeks planning a visit like this. It's difficult to believe they could have missed something like this.

SNOW (on camera): The controversy gained attention after The Daily News showed the photograph of the Confederate flag to the black activist, the Reverend Al Sharpton. He in turn called on the vice president to denounce the flag and to apologize for going to the club.

Mary Snow, CNN, Union Vale, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Legendary entertainer Robert Goulet is dead. He was in the hospital waiting for a lung transplant. Last month Goulet was diagnosed with a rare form of lung disease. The award-winning actor/singer first hit it big on Broadway with his performance in the original production of "Camelot." He later went on to be one of the most popular lounge acts in Las Vegas, stopping along the way to star in movies, on television, and other Broadway plays. Robert Goulet was 73.

HARRIS: So all that Halloween candy coming your way. Also here in B-control, transformed today into "boo control." Is that OK? You guys are just -- you know what, here is the question, should you let your kids eat it all? One dentist has an idea for what you should do with the leftovers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to get to this breaking news that we are learning about here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Fredricka Whitfield is at the desk for us right now.

And, Fred, more information about that attack on Ft. Dix -- or it was a plot to attack Ft. Dix, obviously.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. A group of folks planning to plot an attack on Ft. Dix there in New Jersey. Well, today the headline is that a 25-year-old New Jersey man has actually pleaded guilty to providing weapons to this group of men accused of plotting this attack at Ft. Dix, 25-year-old Agron Abdullahu now faces up to five years in federal prison.

And he's scheduled to be sentenced in February. About five men are accused of plotting in their group, plotting to attack Ft. Dix. Apparently Abdullahu was accused of actually providing the weapons for them to carry out the attack. It's unclear what kind of charges and what kind of pleas the other five might bring to the federal court, but as of now this one guilty plea coming down in federal court today -- Heidi.

COLLINS: OK. Fredricka Whitfield, watching that story for us on that alleged plot on Ft. Dix. Thank you, Fred.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: A buck a pound. That's the offer to kids for their candy, and it's no trick. It's meant to be a treat for the soldiers. Want to give you some more information now about this program. Dr. Francisco Arias is joining us live from West Palm Beach this morning. He is actually a pediatric dentist.

And we want to ask you, Doctor, right off the bat here, how does this whole program work?

DR. FRANCISCO ARIAS, DENTIST: It's very simple, Heidi. We are hoping -- we're actually pretty sure that children will be more than willing to donate the excess candy after they have enjoyed all their treats -- all their good ones tomorrow between the hours of 3:00 and 5:00 in my office in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

And I believe many other offices throughout the country, dentists are welcome to bring their candy. We're buying back a pound for every dollar, and we're going to give them this wonderful brush. It's a twinkling brush. The best thing about it is, it twinkles -- this little light twinkles, for about two minutes, which is the time that we think kids should be considering brushing their teeth, hopefully.

COLLINS: OK. Now wait a minute, wait a minute. I don't want to blow holes through this whole thing because I have a 6-year-old and I just would love if he would give his candy away. But I have got to tell you, we still have Halloween candy from last year sitting around the house, because there is no giving it up.

But I want to make sure that people understand, in fact, I have a bag of candy right here. You are saying that if somebody brings in a pound of candy, this is a little less than a pound. This is a bag that's 12.5 ounces, OK? Then you're going to give them a dollar for every pound and then what they get in return is a toothbrush, yes?

ARIAS: It's a toothbrush. They're going to get their name on a huge card that we're putting together, and we're going to send all this overseas to the troops. I think the kids are going to be happy, happy to know they're bringing some joy to the soldiers overseas. Absolutely.

COLLINS: Yes, I do. I'm giving you a hard time. I think it's a terrific idea. And I know that obviously in the profession that you are in as a dentist, that you kind of make money off of filling cavities. What are you going to do if everybody is giving the candy away?

ARIAS: Oh, trust me, there is a lot of urging for candies. We hope that we would have less cavities to drill and fill. As it is, on a more serious note, the CDC earlier this year published that we have more cavities now in children 5 and under. So if anything, we need less candy.

Well -- and I don't want Hershey to be on my back, we just need to make sure that we probably brush better. You know, we brush better and floss better and help our kids with that.

COLLINS: OK. So wait, now I thought that cavity rates were down over the last 20 years, but you're saying that it has actually gotten a little bit worse.

ARIAS: Actually in the last -- I believe the three years between '99 and 2002, CDC earlier this year said that for the group of children 5 and under it actually went up.

COLLINS: So they're not just eating raisins, huh? I mean...

ARIAS: Well, you know, and raisins are probably, you know, sticky, a lot of sugar in them as well, so.

COLLINS: I know, I know. It's everywhere, isn't it? OK. Talk to the...

ARIAS: It's everywhere.

COLLINS: Real quickly about that toothbrush one more time, because I think it's a great point that you make. We know that the kids are supposed to wash their hands while they sing happy birthday three times. But when you brush your teeth, it should be for two minutes. They usually have no idea how long two minutes is.

ARIAS: You're right. Two minutes is a long time, and for kids who are used to watching TV, we tell them at least four commercials of TV. I believe the actual commercial is 30 seconds. You correct me if I'm wrong.

COLLINS: Something like that.

ARIAS: Yes. right. So if we can do it for two minutes I think we have a much better chance of getting a lot of the excess germs and leftover food off our teeth and, of course, to floss as well, so absolutely.

COLLINS: Yes, very good. You know, I'm actually going to get one for my husband because I think he has the worst time with it.

ARIAS: Good idea.

COLLINS: Dr. Francisco Arias, we appreciate your time. It's a very interesting program. We want to check back with you later too to see about the turnout, to see how many kids came and got their cash for candy this Halloween. Thank you so much. Happy Halloween to you.

ARIAS: Thank you much, Heidi. Have a good day, bye.

COLLINS: You too.

HARRIS: Matt is on the phone for you. Anything you want me to tell him?

COLLINS: Oh, he's brushing.

HARRIS: Oh, OK. First, he put a scarecrow outside his home. Then he got into the character.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WILLIAMS, HALLOWEEN ENTHUSIAST: Just to see the people and watch them, it's just a riot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, this is one riot that police stopped.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: OK. So this is the point in the program where we tell you a little more about that podcast thing-y that we do.

HARRIS: It's great, yes. I mean, it is great.

COLLINS: It is great. And we always put stories in there that we don't normally have on our program here. So that's the fun part about it because you just never really know what you're going to get...

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: So you know, Anderson has a podcast, Anderson Cooper. Pretty good podcast.

COLLINS: Pretty good, not great.

HARRIS: Our podcast, mwah! Premo, 24-7. Go to cnn.com. Download the CNN daily NEWSROOM podcast. Do it today. Be there. Don't miss it. It will be terrific. Promise you, promise you.

All right. Museum madness. Some lawmakers have some interesting ideas about how to spend your money. CNN's Drew Griffin is "Keeping Them Honest."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five hours from Los Angeles and on the backside of the Yosemite Valley sits Bishop, California, with an elevation higher than its population. And it is here, you might say, federal taxpayers are being turned into jackasses.

BOB TANNER, BISHOP MULE ASSOCIATION: Bishop considers itself the mule capital of the world.

GRIFFIN: The county fairgrounds in Bishop host the biggest mule festival in the United States every Memorial Day weekend. And Bob Tanner says, it's time you knew more about the mule.

TANNER: No, there's a lot of things that people don't know about mules.

GRIFFIN: Which is apparently why Republican Congressman Buck McKeon wants you to help pay for a museum to the mule to be built on these fairgrounds. The congressman wouldn't talk to us, but his earmark request of $50,000 to explore the possibility of a mule museum is on its way to getting final approval in Congress.

A long way from Bishop, California, and also on its way to congressional approval, in rural Rices Landing, Pennsylvania, your tax money will turn a dilapidated barn into a museum, too.

(on camera): There's cobwebs in there.

(voice-over): This earmark will cost you $150,000, to be spent on a nearly abandoned building where neighbor Gary Smith (ph) parks his truck.

(on camera): Must not be too busy if you can park a truck here, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, they got a tour once a year in there.

GRIFFIN: Once a year?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Democrat John Murtha is asking for this one, the money to restore the luster to the W.A. Young and Sons Foundry, turning it into a key historic property.

That's what Congressman Murtha said on his Web site, anyway. He wouldn't talk to us either. A mule museum? A mostly abandoned foundry? These are just two examples of the 63 earmark requests for museums that members of Congress are asking for in their districts.

The congressional watchdog group that tallied the numbers says the total bill for museum pet projects this year alone, $13.7 million. Since the Democrats were the ones who touted earmark reform at the beginning of this Congress, we wanted to find out where museum earmarks fit into those plans.

(on camera): Well, we have repeatedly, over and over, bent over backwards trying to ask Democratic leaders all about their earmark reforms, but the speaker of the house is much too busy. The head of the Appropriations Committee, he's too busy, too. And John Murtha, the only earmark reform we know about from John Murtha seems to be he's getting more earmarks.

So with the Democrats all saying they won't talk to us, we decided to talk to the Republicans. And specifically Republican leader John Boehner. He's not in control of the House, but he is in control of other Republicans.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: I think there's an awful lot of wasteful Washington spending in these earmarks and I'm doing by best to try to control it.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): To control it, Boehner is gathering signatures in the House to force at least the potential of a vote on every earmark.

BOEHNER: It says this. Every bill that comes to the floor of the House that has an earmark in it, it has to be disclosed with the member's name on it and the member has to be willing to defend it.

GRIFFIN: He hopes the potential for exposure of things like -- well, like a jackass museum will lead to fewer requests for things like jackass museums, but he's still gathering signatures and Congress is getting closer to approving this year's spending bills, and right now the mules are in business.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: So are you tired of carving pumpkins for Halloween? Well, you can always just chuck the whole thing. So here's the idea. Let's just launch pumpkins over Chicago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's just a pumpkin. In fact, dozens of flying pumpkins. Students from the Illinois Institute of Technology put their heads together to see how far they could toss the pumpkins. No electronics allowed, just good old ingenuity. The top pumpkin toss, try 234 feet landing with a big old splat.

HARRIS: Getting a little too, too, too enthusiastic about Halloween. Police are stepping in at one guy's house. The story from Heather Hamel from affiliate WMUR in Merrimack, New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEATHER HAMEL, WMUR REPORTER (voice-over): Tied to a post and surrounded by corn stalks, this scarecrow on Baboosic Lake Road may startle you in the dark, but during the daylight hours, it's stirring up even more of a scare.

WILLIAMS: Some people go by and they'll be like, oh, my God, and some people will turn around, drive back around, go get their kids.

HAMEL: This is why. David Williams says he waited a good five days before bringing his creature to life, just enough time for people to get used to the stuffed version.

WILLIAMS: You see them going by, they're all pointing, look at the scarecrow, and then finally I said, OK, now it is time, and I jumped up there Sunday -- this Sunday.

HAMEL: With the lifeless guy off his perch, David takes on his identity.

WILLIAMS: Just to see the people and watch them, it's a just riot.

HAMEL: And while many reacted like this, some pointing, others smiling, even some beeping, there were some that called police.

LT. RICHARD DESMOND, MERRIMACK, N.H., POLICE: We have had some complaints of him waving a fake sword out towards the roadway, causing people to go in other lanes, and that's very dangerous.

HAMEL: So just a day before Halloween, and it looks like...

WILLIAMS: Scarecrow can't move anymore except for Halloween.

DESMOND: We prefer that he stay in his yard and that's for safety reasons. If you know the area, it's a very short sidewalk into the roadway, and we don't want anybody getting hurt.

HAMEL: And David says it's the last thing he wants. So while we were there, the mask came off.

WILLIAMS: Get that out of here before I get in trouble.

(LAUGHTER)

HAMEL: But as for doing away with his costume all together come Halloween?

WILLIAMS: Well, I'll have to think about exactly how much I'm going to curtail it back, but I definitely won't get back up there again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Now police haven't totally pulled the plug on the display. The scarecrow is allowed to come alive one night only, tonight, as long as he stays out of the street.

COLLINS: What's the big deal? It's Halloween. Your turn.

HARRIS: Oh, OK. And good morning again, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. And Happy Halloween to you. Developments, though, do keep coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM on this Wednesday, October 31st.

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