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Philadelphia Police Officer Shot in Head; Is It Safe Up There?; Teen Commando

Aired October 31, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. We want to get straight to Fredricka Whitfield. She's working details on a developing story for us.
Hey, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you'll recall, Kyra, earlier this morning, at about 10:30 a.m., a police officer in Philadelphia was shot while at a Dunkin' Donuts at 66th and Broad streets there in Philadelphia. Well, now we understand that there is an identity that is being publicly released of the officer, Officer Charles Cassidy, and a bit more detail on exactly what happened.

Apparently, this suspect in this Dunkin' Donuts simply took his gun, took the officer's gun, and then shot him in the head. The officer is in extremely critical condition at a hospital, Albert Einstein Medical Center there in Philadelphia.

This is now the second police shooting in Philadelphia in two days. Yesterday, another police officer was shot, and they believe that the suspect may have taken his own life. They found the body of the suspect in the river a bit later.

Meantime, this police officer shot today at a Dunkin' Donuts this morning, where presumably there were a lot of witnesses. And so hopefully in the aerial searches here, as well as the searches on the ground, they will be able to pinpoint a suspect. The suspect still at large.

Again, Officer Charles Cassidy in extremely critical condition there after being shot in the head with his own gun by a suspect still at large.

More information when we get it -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep following up. Thanks, Fred.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Near misses in the air, confusion on the ground, outdated equipment, bad communication, jam-packed runways and air corridors. Commercial airline safety is the topic of the day on Capitol Hill. On the hot seat, NASA's top boss with some data that his agency tried to keep under wraps.

CNN's Miles O'Brien, space correspondent, is keeping an ear on the testimony.

Hey, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

You know, it's not a pretty picture, as best we can tell. But part of the problem with all this is NASA has not released the report, this anonymous survey of 24,000 pilots which painted a grim picture of perhaps a system that is less safe than we might think.

The Associated Press tried to get this report released. It was conducted by the NASA Ames Research Center, along with a contractor. And they were rebuffed.

They were told that NASA could not release it because they were trying to protect the names and identities of these pilots. And -- this is the kicker -- in releasing it, it would undermine confidence in the general -- in the aviation system, as well as hurt commercial interests.

Well, that got a lot of ire up with NASA, indicating that the sense was that they were suppressing a very important report that all of us would have an opportunity to see and evaluate. And that's what brought the NASA administrator, Mike Griffin, before a House committee just a little while ago.

Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL GRIFFIN, NASA ADMINISTRATOR: Now, I've already made it clear that I do not agree with the way this was written. And I regret any impression that NASA was or would in any way try to put commercial interests ahead of public safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: And with that, he says he will in fact release the report. But not today.

And the problem is that they granted all these pilots when they spoke with them anonymity. And they want to make sure in going through it that they won't inadvertently identify somebody in releasing the report. So it's going to take some matter of months.

The data has been handed over by NASA to the congressional committee. The staffers there will have an opportunity to look at it. So, eventually this will see the light of day, but the administrator wants to make sure that people's names, ranks and serial numbers, so to speak, are protected.

And also, he warns us that the data is just raw data. It hasn't been peer reviewed or analyzed or put in any context.

So we'll have to see it and at least take it with a bit of grain of salt -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Well, you've been -- your mission has been twofold, so to speak. Griffin as well not only talking about this, but also the International Space Station, the current mission going on, and a number of problems. We talked about it yesterday.

What's the update there?

O'BRIEN: Well, that torn solar array which we first told you about yesterday, Kyra, that had just happened when we talked yesterday. That torn solar array is the focus of a lot of attention and is changing this entire mission.

A spacewalk that was going to happen tomorrow will not happen tomorrow. It will happen Friday, maybe even Saturday. And instead of doing what they are planning to do, they are going to focus on this -- as it was being unfurled yesterday, this sort of glorified pleated blind bound up and caused this two and a half foot tear.

It's a relatively significant problem. While the solar array works OK, in that configuration it cannot rotate probably to match the sun and will not generate enough electricity to support a laboratory which is due to come up at the end of the year.

There you look at a live picture now of us down there somewhere. If you wave, you might be able to see us, Kyra.

In any case, so they...

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: They have got their hands full in space. And Mike Griffin has got his hands full on Capitol Hill.

All in all, NASA is juggling some balls today, for sure.

PHILLIPS: All right. And I know you'll keep going over (ph) the air. We'll try to make sense of it all.

Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. You're welcome.

LEMON: All right. Just in now, we want to get you to the White House. You're looking at -- or you will be looking at the president and his nominee for Ag secretary. His name is Ed Schafer. He's from North Dakota.

The president talking now. Let's take a listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... and the environment and spends federal tax dollars wisely. It will also join other members of my administration to continue leveling the playing field for America's farm products by concluding the Doha round of trade negotiations. LEMON: All right. There he is right there.

We want to tell you just a little bit about Ed Schafer.

He is the nominee, again, for the secretary of Agriculture. And according to the president there and the senior Bush official, he is cited -- the president cited Schafer's record on being the first Republican to being elected to a second term in North Dakota. Ed Schafer, again, the president saying the right experience for the job. He is being nominated for secretary of Agriculture.

Opening fire with automatic rifles, does that sound like typical teenage horseplay? Police in Lakeland, Florida, don't think so, especially after seeing this video. Now they have an 18-year-old behind bars.

Here is Beau Zimmer of CNN's Tampa Bay affiliate WTSP.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEAU ZIMMER, REPORTER, WTSP (voice over): On the tape, 18-year- old of Sean Newberry (ph) of Lakeland and several of his friends can be seen and heard planning mischief in the neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to Saran Wrap vehicles together. It's going to be great.

ZIMMER: But this tape also shows the teens with what appear to be high-power AK-47s and a host of other weapons, including explosives. Additional footage even shows Newberry (ph) using a Taser gun on a friend.

The tape was discovered after police say Newberry (ph) exhibited unusual behavior at school, wearing body armor underneath his clothing. He was questioned by police who say they found a can of tear gas in his car.

The video then led to additional charges, including grand theft, because police believe a Lakeland "Ledger" newspaper stand shown in the video being shot to shreds was actually stolen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dude, I saw chunks of Plexiglas flying everywhere.

ZIMMER: Newberry (ph) is currently being held on $605,000 bond. His arraignment is scheduled for November 13th.

In Lakeland, Beau Zimmer, Tampa Bay's 10 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, plenty of real guns on the streets, and just about anybody can get hold of them. But police are also seeing plenty of fake or toy weapons. They look so much like the real thing they could put kids and cops under the gun for real.

We'll explore the issue with our security analyst, Mike Brooks, tomorrow at 1:30 Eastern, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Slash, trim or stand pat? Moments from now, the Fed will announce its decision on interest rates. You have money at stake whether you know it or not.

We'll check in with CNN's Ali Velshi and Susan Lisovicz.

LEMON: And also ahead, a new twist in the flag flap involving the VA. The issue has outraged veterans.

PHILLIPS: And Paul Mccartney's estranged wife goes on a tirade over coverage of her nasty divorce.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Some breaking news when it comes to Wall Street. The Fed about to make a decision on interest rates.

Susan Lisovicz standing by on Wall Street, Ali Velshi is at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Susan, do we know what the decision is going to be? Has it been made yet?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we got it. The Federal Reserve -- go ahead, Susan.

LISOVICZ: The Federal Reserve has lowered -- has lowered interest rates, as expected, by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 percent. That is the Federal Funds Rate, and what that is the benchmark for all consumer and business loans. Or I should say most consumer and business loans.

And what happens is, when the Fed is cutting interest rates, as it has now for the second time in six weeks, it is saying it's more concerned about a recession than it is about -- that it is about inflation. But I think Ali can tell us quite graphically we have arguments on both sides. Fear of inflation and also fear about a recession.

LEMON: Ali, you there?

VELSHI: Yes, Susan.

And you guys, we have got this quarter point, which is what was expected. What we're watching is these pits to see how people are trading. And let me tell you what they're waiting for -- is they are waiting to find out about what the Fed is saying, what the influence is, what's the next thing to happen.

We expected a quarter point decrease, but what does that mean? What is the Fed saying about the economy? Right now this is going to be a big discount to everybody who carries debt in America. Credit cards -- the bank rate -- we will start to see in the next hour the prime rate will start to decrease by a quarter of a percentage point. And you're going to see these guys starting to trade the treasuries so that the fixed mortgage prices and adjustable rate mortgages that are set here are also going to go down.

The issue here is, do we now avoid the idea of a recession? Does this make -- does this give us the turning point that we needed? And you're going to start to see these guys who are making these decisions, they're getting orders from people who are trading bonds to decide how they play this. What does this actually mean for the economy?

But right now...

LISOVICZ: Hey, Ali...

VELSHI: ... this is what was expected -- Susan.

LISOVICZ: Hey, Ali. And we did get some initial -- some additional word from the Federal Reserve. The Fed acknowledging that expansion in the economy is likely to slow, but this further easing of monetary policy, that is interest rates going down again, should forestall the adverse effects.

That is what the Fed is hoping to do with this action today. And that it is still concerned, still concerned about energy. And the most graphic example of that, of course, today oil topping $94 a barrel for the first time.

VELSHI: And you can see it's starting to get hot here on the floor. These guys are now making decisions.

The traders who are on the phone are sending these guys signals to make their trades and they are responding to it. The Fed is talking about growth, as Susan said. This is what they have to balance -- growth versus inflation.

Susan, you're going to see those number on the exchange. We have gold that is higher. We have oil that crossed $94 a barrel today. We have gold almost at $800.

We're going to see the U.S. dollar continue to go lower. It's now $2.05 -- sorry, $2.07 for a pound, $1.44 for a euro. Lower than $1.05 for a Canadian dollar.

And when the Fed decreases rates, you're going to see more of that. That kind of stokes inflation. So there is a real concern now about whether inflation is something we're going to have to concern ourselves with.

LISOVICZ: And you know, Ali, it's interesting, because the Dow Industrials, ahead of this decision, had been as high as a hundred points, and now you saw the Dow actually go -- dip into the red, and now barely above it. And I think one of the things could be is that there's disappointment in what the Fed said, because now the Fed is saying in the statement that the risk between growth and inflation -- growth and a slowdown is balance.

So the Fed may be saying, look, we're done. This is it. And that's what the markets we're hoping for, maybe help us out.

VELSHI: That's a big point. That's a big point, because a lot of the traders we have been speaking to today here have been saying that while they think the Fed will lower rates, as they just did, there really is the risk of inflation.

Over in the pit next to where I am is where agriculture is traded -- wheat, soybean, other grains, corn. Things like that are at record high prices, and people are feeling that on their kitchen tables.

And this is a problem that we have to get a grip on. I think people have forgotten what inflation really feels like. So we're not worried.

We just want low interest rates. Low interest rates come at a cost. Low interest rates can make inflation into a problem.

LISOVICZ: And you know what? Another thing I can just give you an example.

Procter & Gamble, you may not own the stock, but you probably own the products. This is the company behind everything from Oil of Olay to Gillette razors, to Pampers diapers, to Crest toothpaste. Today it said it was going to raise prices from 3 to 12 percent on a lot of its products.

And why is that? Because of higher energy prices, among other things.

So that's a concern. And that's why these kind of decisions are so fraught with anxiety, because you really have to walk a very fine line at this point, where you do have inflationary concerns.

We are feeling it. We may have $4 a gallon gas very soon. But on the other hand, you see job creation has been slow. The housing market is still in the dumps.

So the Fed has to walk a fine line. And that's what it's trying to do with this decision and with its accompanying statement.

LEMON: Susan Lisovicz, Ali Velshi, thank you both for that.

Also, coming up in our next, hour we're going to talk to our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis. She is going to tell us how this is going to affect the housing market.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, it's the bottom of the hour. We showed you just moments ago the fed lowering the interest rates. Lowering the rates by a quarter of a percentage point. They did that just a couple of minutes ago to 4.5 percent, a move widely expected today on Wall Street. You may remember that the fed lowered the rate by half of a percentage point. That was back on September 18. But again the fed lowering the rate today to 4.5 percent for the rate by a quarter of a percentage point. Again, widely expected on Wall Street, expected to help out with the economy and also we're going to see if it's going to help out when it comes to the housing market. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis will join us in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: U.S. military sharing intelligence information with Turkey, helping out Turkish forces battling Kurdish rebels along the country's border with Iraq. A Pentagon spokesperson confirms the U.S. assistance and military sources tell CNN American U2 spy planes are making flights along the border. One of the sources says that intelligence data is shared with Turkish forces quote, "when appropriate." The Kurdish rebels are fighting to establish an autonomous homeland in southeastern Turkey.

The White House insists the president's pick for attorney general still has a good shot at confirmation, that's despite nagging even growing criticism over Michael Mukasey's refusal to take a legal stand against water boarding. In a letter to Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Panel Mukasey calls the mock drowning technique pungent but he doesn't call it illegal. At his hearing earlier this month, Mukasey was equally noncommittal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, (D) RHODE ISLAND: Do you have an opinion on weather water boarding which is the practice of putting somebody in a reclining position, strapping them down, put a cloth over their faces and pouring water over the cloth to simulate the feeling of drowning, is that constitutional?

MICHAEL B. MUKASEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: If it amounts to torture it is not constitutional.

WHITEHOUSE: I'm very disappointed in that answer. I think it is purely semantic.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well congress passed a law last year that specifically bans water boarding. The Bush administration has never revealed its interrogation techniques but insists the U.S. does not torture prisoners.

LEMON: It's a tradition at military ceremonies around the country, the reading of a religious passage during the folding of the American flag. After a complaint the VA issued a memo outlining when the reading should and should not be done. But the memo sparked an uproar and now some members of congress, well they are getting involved. So what is the real story on this? Let's ask Bill McLemore, he's a spokesman for the Department of Veterans Affairs. I have been reading this story Mr. McLemore and I have to tell you, I'm a little bit confused myself and I have been researching it. This memo came out the other day and it sort of got some people in an uproar. Tell me exactly what the uproar is about?

BILL MCLEMORE, DEPT. OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SPOKESMAN: Well, the military tradition for honors at a military funeral includes a silent and very solemn folding of the flag, a rifle salute and taps.

LEMON: Thirteen folds, right?

MCLEMORE: Thirteen folds, silent and solemn. That's the military tradition. There are other traditions of course within our nation that have been established from a variety of different religious perspectives and religious faiths. And what we're trying to do here today is make sure that people understand and veterans in particular, their survivors understand that whatever the family's wishes are about the reading or the provision of a military service, that we're going to adapt to those things.

LEMON: Ok, well it seems like -- are you surprised by the reaction to this memo? Because it seemed like it created sort of an uproar, an outrage there and according to the records and the resources that I have it was only one complaint about it.

MCLEMORE: Yeah, a little bit surprised because of the one complaint. The one complaint was not about the ceremony it was about the distribution of the material and the written distribution. Of course the VA has not been responsible for that. Local communities provide that from their own sources. That is not a federal brochure. It is not a federal reading, no one again knows the author for that. If the family wants to do that, we will provide it.

LEMON: So what is the question here? The question is that this ceremony and the religious aspects of this folding that it wouldn't be forced on people who didn't want this sort of ceremony is that what is at issue here?

MCLEMORE: That is correct. It will not be forced upon them but more importantly we want to make sure that everybody understands that even if this is not the reading that you want as a family member. That you have the right and we will respect your wishes, and if you have a different family reading that you're wanting for our honor guard to read in conjunction with the folding of the flag, that those folks will be included, also.

LEMON: But Mr. McLemore was this part of your original recitation memo or part of the recitation document or did you have to change this in order to make some folks happy about it?

MCLEMORE: We had to clarify.

LEMON: Why did you change it, why did you clarify it? MCLEMORE: Because clearly there were some misinterpretations. Misunderstandings about what would occur in local communities. What we want to be clear is that families get to make that choice. They will get to determine what will be read as part of the flag folding in that ceremony and we're going to honor their wishes.

LEMON: How common is it? Have you read this 13th fold recitation? How common is this?

MCLEMORE: It depends upon the community. Some communities do it frequently, others do not.

LEMON: Have you ever had anybody turn it down?

MCLEMORE: In my own, I was a county veteran services officer for about 15 years down in Travis County, Texas. We read that and did that recitation ceremony on the south steps of the capitol and on Memorial Day and on Veterans Day. It's about 10 to 15 minutes long and it's never been turned down, as far as I know. And of course, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs is not turning it down.

LEMON: Ok. Well it appears to me, Mr. McLemore, that the controversy is averted. Everything is avoided. You said that if folks want to do it, they can do it and if they don't, they don't have to do it and no one will make anything of it.

MCLEMORE: You got it.

LEMON: All right, well you know what. That's the end of it. Thank you sir, thanks for joining us.

PHILLIPS: While you slept the earth moved. Is the latest California earthquake a sign of things to come?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Rattled nerves, things flung off shelves. That's about the extent of the damage from the earthquake that shook the San Francisco Bay area last night. It was centered nine miles northeast of San Jose at a magnitude 5.6 it's the strongest quake there in almost 20 years. Just to make sure all is ok Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants roads, bridges and levees given the once over. The latest jolt was felt as far away as Sacramento and Monterrey, right along the Calaveras fault. That's just one of the faults that run through that area, right Chad Meyers? CHAD MEYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. There are a number of them actually out there. This is all part of a very active area. You go on the USGS map and you look for the shake maps and where the greatest potential for shaking is, this quake is right in the middle of it. Here is L.A., San Diego, we move on up a little bit farther to the north, call it northern California, although really it's not all that far north. It is near San Jose. There you go, 5.6 last night and it was about 8:00 last night, it was shaking out there. There have been a number of aftershocks in the 2 to 2.8 range, but this was the only earthquake of this size. We'll switch you now to what the heliquarter actually looked like here as it was shaking. We can pick up what this heliquarters looks like. Look at these on the USGS site map as well. We come across to about 8:04 and it shook for this vertical lines, one minute, two minutes, about two and a half, maybe two minutes of really intense shaking and then it just kind of settled itself down and stopped. We have had a couple of those aftershocks but nothing significant out there according to aftershocks. Nothing bigger than three since this happened. Back to you Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right Chad, thanks so much.

MEYERS: Sure.

LEMON: How much fat and calories are in a plate of spaghetti and meatballs? Don't answer that question. Definitely more than you think and that's why two Italian restaurant chains are getting grilled. We are going to tell you about it straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hey A.J.

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey there Don. I'm A.J. Hammer in New York. Her divorce battle has been rough going for Heather Mills McCartney, who says she was pushed right to the edge. I'll have her alarming revelation when CNN's NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Meat, cheese, pasta, heavy sauces, now that's Italian. It sounds really good too. It's also the reason that two of America's most popular Italian restaurant chains are being skewered by the food police, also known as the Center for Science and the Public Interest. CNN's Greg Hunter has the skinny on all the fatty food.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prime rib or fettuccine Alfredo, which has more fat? Answer? They are equal. 1100 calories and 53 grams of saturated fat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The difference is you can see it on the meat, you can see it on the fettuccine.

HUNTER: The Center for Science and the Public Interest reporter: they analyze dishes from two nationwide Italian chains, the Olive Garden and Romano's Macaroni Grill. It found one of the biggest problems is the lack of available information.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no numbers on the menu that tell them they are splurging. They may think they're eating a healthy meal and they're not.

HUNTER: Spaghetti and meatballs from both restaurants. Olive Garden's, 1200 calories, 19 grams of saturated fat, equal to three quarter pounders. Macaroni Grill, 2400 calories and 57 grams of fat, equal to six quarter pounders. That's more calories than the FDA says that most of us need in a day and three times the daily requirement of saturated fat.

Well they're giving you your money's worth, ah?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. Let's hope you save up your money you may need it for the cardiologist.

HUNTER: Neither chain challenged the CSPI calorie count. A Macaroni Grill spokesman told us, "Macaroni Grill is able and happy to modify most menu items to fit the individual dining and dietary needs of its guests." For example, substituting side items or whole wheat pasta or getting sauces and dressings on the side. CSPI says customer choice can make a big difference. Take Olive Garden's chicken marsala.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like getting grilled chicken with a side of vegetables and 10 packs of butter.

HUNTER: Now check out skinny chicken from Macaroni Grill. It has less than half the calories.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of their sensible fair items, great dish.

HUNTER: In response to the CSPI's findings, Olive Garden told us quote, "Our menu has something for everyone from traditional favorites to lower fat garden fare items." Greg Hunter, CNN, New York.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well divorcing former Beatle Paul McCartney hasn't been pleasant for Heather Mills, but she says it's the tabloid reports about her that have really done the damage. Entertainment correspondent A.J. Hammer joins me now with more on her dramatic British interviews. It sounds really dramatic. I can't wait to see this A.J.

HAMMER: It's dramatic and it's actually quite scary, Don. Death threats, feelings of suicide that is the kind of stuff we're talking about, what Heather Mills McCartney is dealing with right now. The soon to be ex-wife of former Beatle Paul McCartney talked to Britain's ITV Television and she also said quote, "I have been pushed to the edge by lies in some newspapers." Mills-McCartney said she even resorted to preserving a box of evidence just in case she is killed because she received some death threats. Both her and McCartney are still negotiating the financial settlement in their divorce. Mills- McCartney does not understand all the bad press she's been getting. She said quote, "I have had worse press than a pedophile or a murderer and I have done nothing but charity for 20 years." So far, Don, Paul McCartney's camp has declined to comment on this interview. But that's scary and imagine all the pressure and your name being in the newspaper every single day with such harsh things being said.

LEMON: But you know, there is a lot of money at stake here, too.

HAMMER: A lot of money.

LEMON: It gets kind of ugly when those things happen. I also hear the Los Angeles Police Department, they're investigating an incident involving a former James Bond actor. What's going on with that?

HAMMER: Yeah, you have that right. Los Angeles County Sheriff's are looking into whether or not Pierce Brosnan assaulted a photographer. Now, no more details were given about this but the reported incident took place near a shopping center in Malibu. A celebrity website is saying that a guy named Robert Rosen said something about Brosnan being in James Bond films. Soon afterwards there was a scuffle. There's still no word yet on who may have thrown the first punch or exactly what words were exchanged. The results of the investigation are now going to be handed over to the L.A. district attorney's office but it could very well Don be yet another case of a celebrity in trouble with the law. Seems to be a trend these days.

LEMON: Yeah, watching your show, a huge trend.

Ok, so it's the worst kept secret in Hollywood A.J. that everyone is talking about, except for, do they still call her J-Lo?

HAMMER: Yeah, you can call her J-Lo, she doesn't have a problem with that. We're wondering if she finally is going to come out and say something because obviously for weeks now we've seen Jennifer Lopez's belly get bigger and bigger. Now we have confirmation albeit indirectly and probably unintentionally. Designer Roberto Cavalli inadvertently told a reporter that Lopez is pregnant and that creating clothes for her was a bit tricky. He said she requests something special because she is waiting for the baby. Now Cavalli goes on to say it's so complicated because every week she is getting bigger and bigger. So far Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony have not officially confirmed the pregnancy rumor. I wonder how that phone call between J-Lo and Roberto Cavalli went after this news kind of broke. Don?

LEMON: A.J., you know my hair grows really fast, right?

HAMMER: Yes, I've heard that about you. What's happening, what's going on?

LEMON: How do you like? This is my Halloween costume.

HAMMER: I'm very frightened. It's better than mine. Although we've seen to have gone the same route, oh get one little thing and that will be that.

LEMON: You know what, this is from a dance contest I was in years ago and I never let it go. What do you think?

HAMMER: I have a feeling you didn't win that dance contest, did you?

LEMON: I like it. Hey listen, I understand we've got, I thought he was in Hollywood. Come here. Who is this, everybody. Mr. Larry King joins us here today. I thought he was in L.A. tonight. What do you have on your show?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The show is going to be great. I don't want to give away too much. I just want to let you guys tune in.

LEMON: Mo works on the national desk and he came in today dressed as Larry King so we had to put him on TV.

HAMMER: I have to tell you, I like Mo a whole lot, but that's terrible.

LEMON: That's a terrible Larry King?

HAMMER: Sorry, Mo, I have to call it like I see it.

LEMON: Oh he looks good. I think he looks good. Don't you think? Ok. Hey, A.J., what are you 25, 22. See you, Larry.

HAMMER: Let me tell you what's coming up on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT."

LEMON: Ok, come on A.J., you're what, it's your birthday. I'm being told by everyone at "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" it's your birthday.

HAMMER: Well thank you very much for acknowledging that here on CNN. I appreciate that. Here's what I'll be doing on my birthday night before I go trick or treating with my nieces and nephews. We'll be talking bad mom, good mom. Just moving things right along here. How can all of the big Hollywood stars like J-Lo, who happens to be pregnant at this time, avoid the parenting mistakes that other stars have made? An eye opening special report on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, it's "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" at 11:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on HEADLINE PRIME. I have a feeling the mask will be coming off.

LEMON: If you're going Halloween or trick or treating with your nieces and nephews, you have to get a better one than that, come on.

HAMMER: This was just for you, Don. This was all I could come up with at the last moment.

LEMON: Ok, you're legal now. Happy 21st birthday.

HAMMER: Thank you, goodnight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: From produce to pet food to play things, much of the ordinary stuff we ordinarily don't think much about has been in the news this year for being unsafe. Democrats want the person in charge of the Consumer Product Safety Commission thrown out. Is the agency in charge of protecting consumers falling down on the job? CNN's Randi Kaye is keeping them honest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So this is the room where you used it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the room, the infamous room.

KAYE: It was supposed to be a simple do it yourself project. The grout in this tile floor needed work so Dr. Walter Friedel bought six cans of stand and seal spray-on grout sealer sold exclusively at Home Depot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I did was take the can and shake it up the way they instructed you.

KAYE: So whatever was coming up, any of those vapors would have been coming right into your face.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

KAYE: But as far as you knew ---

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were safe.

KAYE: Turns out they were anything but. Dr. Friedel ventilated the room as suggested but within a half hour something was very wrong.

DR. WALTER FRIEDEL, SICKENED BY STAND N SEAL: By the time I made it from my bedroom to the kitchen I was down on one knee. I was so short of breath, I couldn't catch my breath.

KAYE: A hazardous chemical in Stand n Seal had severely damaged 30 percent of Dr. Friedel's lungs. He was hospitalized in intensive care for four days with chemical pneumonia. He needed an oxygen tank for four months and still uses an inhaler. If only this do it yourselfer had known when he bought Stand N Seal two years ago that it had already been recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Did you have any idea when you bought this product that it made dozens of people sick and killed two people?

FRIEDEL: Had no knowledge whatsoever.

KAYE: Two people had died from this stuff yet it was still on store shelves. Keeping them honest we tried to ask the Consumer Product Safety Commission the very government agency designed to protect us from dangerous products how this could happen? They refused to talk to us. Saying an ongoing investigation prevents them from discussing the issue. Imagine that? A public agency that can't talk to the public. Here is what we've been able to piece together through court documents. Consumers started complaining to Stand N Seal's manufacturer Roanoke in May 2005. In an internal e-mail dated June 17, the company's CEO wrote, "For the last two months or so we have been getting calls with problems related to the Stand N Seal and called the situation very serious." Still, Roanoke didn't tell the safety commission until June. At that point the safety commission started an investigation, but didn't recall Stand N Seal until the end of August, more than two months later.

DON MAYS, CONSUMERS UNION: The Consumer Product Safety Commission clearly dropped the ball in the case of the Stand N Seal. They failed to get an unsafe product off the market.

KAYE: How was it Stand N Seal remained on store shelves even though it had killed two people? Had the Consumer Product Safety Commission not done its homework? Why didn't it make sure the product was safe?

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PHILLIPS: So how did the company continue to sell a dangerous product? What are the government watchdogs telling consumers now? More from Randi Kaye coming up. The next hour of NEWSROOM starts right now.

A half percentage point last month, a quarter point today. Back to back interest rate cuts add up to a booming economy. Will they help you sell your house? Ali Velshi and Gerri Willis are in our house this hour.

LEMON: Well you may never fly on a space shuttle but I bet you fly on airplanes and NASA knows a thing or two about air safety that it tried to keep secret, now the truth is out there and it's on Capitol Hill. Hello everyone, I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Your credit card debt, your loan payments, your mortgage. These numbers could be good news for all of them. We're following breaking economic news today. The fed has cut the federal funds rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.5 percent. Let's go straight to Ali Velshi, he's on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

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