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Pakistan: State of Emergency; Without a Trace: Search for Illinois Woman; No Movement in Writers' Strike

Aired November 06, 2007 - 10:59   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You're with CNN. Hello, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins.

It is Tuesday, the 6th of November.

Here's what's on the rundown now.

Pakistan hauling more protesters to jail today. The prime minister suggesting the state of emergency will be short term.

A little girl undergoing perhaps 40 hours of grueling surgery. She was born with four arms and four legs.

Oil surging closer to the $100 mark. Is $4 a gallon gas just around the road? Down the road, I should say.

Over the barrel, down the road -- in the NEWSROOM.

Want to get to this immediately, clashes in Pakistan. Some say no justice. These pictures, though, say no peace.

The government intensifying its crackdown on critics. Many judges detained in their homes. Their crime, protesting the government's emergency rule. The move suspended the constitution and crippled both the courts and the media.

Last night on CNN's "OUT IN THE OPEN," we spoke to one Pakistani lawyer who is in hiding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYESHA TAMMY HAQ, LAWYER: We're hiding from the military, obviously. There's been a huge crackdown. Anyone who is out, anyone who is protesting against -- against General Musharraf, is being arrested. So I'm trying to stay out of jail.

It's not just brutal, it's violently brutal. And they seem to enjoy themselves. They seem to actually take pleasure in what they are doing. Very shocking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Pakistan's chief justice has been thrown off the bench but he is not staying silent. He vows Pakistan's constitution will be restored and says, "There will be no dictatorship." Want to get an update now on what is going on right now in Pakistan.

On the phone we have journalist Beena Sarwar in Karachi, Pakistan.

Can you give us an idea, Beena, of what you're seeing around you?

BEENA SARWAR, JOURNALIST: Hello.

Well, I am seeing two things around me. One is kind of a deafening silence from the political parties on the situation. Another is kind of a normalcy all around in terms of shops, offices, traffic, and all of that.

And on another level there are protests by the lawyers, the community of lawyers and human rights activists all over the country. And about 2,000 of them have -- it is estimated they have been arrested and detained, and in many cases severely been beaten up by the police.

COLLINS: Wow. Well, let's start with the deafening silence that you talk about from the politicians. Does that mean possibly that at least Benazir Bhutto and Musharraf are possibly talking? And we have been hearing a little bit about how this actual emergency declaration could be short-lived?

SARWAR: Well, that is something I just heard from you just now, that it's going to be short-lived, that it might be short-lived. But Benazir Bhutto, on the one hand, has announced a political rally for Friday, but she hasn't really given a call for any kind of resistance or any kind of -- you know, any kind of resistance to the emergency or the martial law, as many people here are calling it. And, of course, she did come back, as you know, having struck kind of a deal with a military -- with Musharraf, in exchange for abstaining from the presidential elections, her party, her party abstaining from voting in the presidential elections.

That's allowing him to be elected as president in the assembly. And that was the decision that the supreme court that has now been dismissed was ruling on, on that particular decision. So there is -- there are rumors, definitely, that she is still talking to the powers that be in Pakistan.

COLLINS: What about the people on the streets? It's always helpful.

SARWAR: I'm sorry, what about who?

COLLINS: The people on the streets. It's always helpful to try and get an idea from where you are of how people are feeling about the situation that they are living in right now.

SARWAR: I think people that you talk to generally -- and I'm not -- OK, they're the people who have access to Internet, cell phones, and maybe some of them have access to satellite television, or whatever, and who know what's going on...

COLLINS: Sure.

SARWAR: ... who can see the images of lawyers being beaten up and all that. And then a totally different reaction (INAUDIBLE) middle class. And then you have the ordinary people that make up more than 60 percent or much more of Pakistan's population, who really have no clue of what is going on.

A woman asked me the other day that she had heard that Benazir is coming back to Pakistan, and Benazir had already been back to Pakistan since Saturday night. And if -- you know, you talk to an ordinary person, somebody who is an employee somewhere at somebody's house, or something like that, and they are saddened. I think there's a feeling of helplessness, there's a feeling of, you know, why are we doing this to our own people?

And I think among the general masses, as you might call them, there's a sort of -- a certain inertia that I think will only, can only be done away with if there's some kind of a dramatic protest that is visible. But I think that there is generally support for the protests. That's what I see, is that there's generally support for the protests. There's generally support for those people who are coming out and protesting.

COLLINS: Yes. All right.

So you mentioned this political rally on Friday. All right. We will continue to watch this story, obviously, as we have all day long here at CNN.

Out of Karachi this morning, journalist Beena Sarwar.

Beena, thank you so much.

Isha Sesay is monitoring the situation in Pakistan from our international desk.

And Isha, I understand that Benazir Bhutto did just make an appearance. What did she have to say?

ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, we're working on fully translating the former prime minister's comments. But just to give you an essence of what she said a short time ago, she said that the moves by President Musharraf were unconstitutional. And she said there are more peaceful ways of dealing with this situation.

That's what we know for now. We're working on getting those comments. We'll bring them to you as soon as we can.

Our producer Amir (ph) is working hard. He's burning up the phones to bring us the very latest out of Pakistan. Him and so many other people here on the international desk.

So let's get to some of the other news that's coming out of Pakistan. We have got that press release released by the government a short time ago in which the prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, basically said that this state of emergency would not delay those parliamentary elections scheduled for mid-January. In fact, in addition, Shaukat Aziz and the full cabinet endorsed the action taken by President Musharraf on Saturday and said they felt that it would actually hasten the transition to democracy.

So we're getting that out of Pakistan at this point in time. We're monitoring the movements of former prime minister Bhutto.

Of course, she said she would meet with opposition leaders sometime today. The plan, to get together to form some kind of strategy to overturn this declaration of a state of emergency.

We'll be monitoring that. We're monitoring all the media coming out of Pakistan. We're monitoring the blogs, the news channels, we're monitoring the newspapers. Everything, you name it.

Let's share some blogs with you now.

This one from Jossi (ph) on "The Pakistaniat."

Jossi says that seeing those pictures and TV footage of Pakistani lawyers being beaten up and still standing up to face the brutal force to defend their independence, it says, "I have been reminded about the stories of freedom struggle against the British empire." She says, "I think Pakistanis should be proud of the way their country is reacting to this emergency."

Navid Ahmed (ph) said, "We need to stand up to face the crisis unitedly and Musharraf should realize that we do not need him."

A different point of view coming from Nena (ph). She says, "If Musharraf stepped down, then who would lead us? I don't see any leader capable of running the country right now. Let's put all the leaders to go through election process and people will decide who will lead them." In fact, she says, "Musharraf or Benazir Bhutto, both of them have already disappointed the Pakistani people."

So a mixture of opinions out there on the blogosphere. We are monitoring it all.

Pakistani TV, if you were to watch it right now, which we have on our air, it looks like business as usual, but we have every angle of the story covered. We'll bring you the very latest here at the international desk.

Keep coming to us, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, it does seem like the main question, though, if not Musharraf, if not Bhutto, then who?

And we will continue to follow it.

Thanks so much, Isha. Just a short time ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee gave Michael Mukasey the green light to be the next attorney general. The vote was 11-8. His nomination now goes to the full Senate and he is expected to be confirmed.

Mukasey's nomination had been in jeopardy after some senators expressed doubt when he refused to publicly denounce waterboarding as torture. That's an interrogation technique that simulates drowning.

An unwelcome record for U.S. troops in Iraq. Roadside bomb attacks have killed five soldiers. The deaths now make this year the deadliest yet for troops in Iraq.

With two months left in the year, 854 service members have been killed. That compares to 849 killed in 2004. But important to point out, last month had the fewest troop deaths since March of 2006. And the number of wounded troops has dropped. The death toll since the war began in 2003 stands at 3,857.

Italian police say they are holding 20 people suspected of recruiting suicide bombers for Iraq and Afghanistan. Eleven of those arrests coming in northern Italy. The rest throughout Europe. Police say they uncovered al Qaeda manuals, bomb switches and poison.

A police sergeant's wife missing since last week. Today, friends and family are getting help in their search.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim is in Bolingbrook, Illinois, this morning with the very latest.

Keith, good morning to you once again.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi.

It's a windy, very cold day in Illinois, but that hasn't stopped more than 21 people who are out at fields and streams and wherever they can go in Bolingbrook, Illinois, to look for Stacy Peterson. This church behind me is a command center where people are going to check in.

She, by the way, is 23 years old. Her husband, police Sergeant Drew Peterson, is 53. They have been married for four years. And Stacy was first reported missing a week ago on Sunday.

Her husband says he does not believe that she is missing and that she has run away with another man. But Stacy Peterson's family completely disputes that.

They don't agree with what he's saying about her running away with another man. In fact, in one e-mail from a friend, Stacy wrote, "I am finding the relationship I am in is controlling, manipulative and somewhat abusive."

Now that e-mail was sent to a gentleman by the name of Steve Cesare. And he spoke on "LARRY KING LIVE" last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE CESARE, MISSING WOMAN'S FRIEND: I knew they had problems. Her phone calls were limited. So we had to keep a distance, you know, over the summer and whatnot. But the part where it says that he was becoming abusive, that concerned me, and I didn't know what to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: There's another layer to this story, Heidi. And that is that Drew Peterson was married four times, and his previous wife, Kathleen Savio (ph), died three years ago in 2004.

Her death was ruled as an accident by the coroner, that she drowned in a bathtub. But now the prosecuting attorney in this county is looking at the old police records to see if there may be a connection between what is going on in this missing person's investigation and the death of Drew Peterson's previous wife.

In the meantime, there are a lot of people that are out looking today with hopes of finding her. And, you know, there are members of her family, Heidi, who are saying that they don't think she is alive, and they are quite worried.

Back to you.

COLLINS: Yes, you can understand why. Lots of angles to this one.

All right. Keith Oppenheim, live from Bolingbrook, Illinois, this morning.

Keith, thank you.

And new this morning, this picture in a short time ago of a suspect in police killing. John Lewis (ph) arrested in a Miami homeless shelter this morning, accused in a crime several states away.

We showed you this surveillance video last week of an armed robbery at a Philadelphia doughnut shop. A police officer was shot after interrupting the robbery. Investigators tracked the suspect to Florida after hearing he took a bus there.

It's a first for the Bush presidency. Congress expected to override the president's veto of a big water project bill today. Some of the $23 billion will go to Louisiana to restore a coastline ravaged by hurricanes Katrina and Rita two summers ago. President Bush complained the bill was packed with too much pork.

And trouble in TV land. The writers' strike already pulling the plug on some of your favorite shows.

The NEWSROOM is on the air, though. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Entertainment writers still on strike, manning the picket lines instead of their laptops.

CNN's Kareen Wynter is in Los Angeles for us this morning.

So, Kareen, any idea how long the strike is expected to last?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, things could get really ugly before they are actually resolved, Heidi. And the reason I'm saying that is we're hearing from, you know, both sides, including the union heads, who point to what happened almost two decades ago in 1989, the last time of the strike. And they said that, you know, writers really weren't too thrilled about the contract negotiations then, and so fast forward to where we are right now, the way new media has advanced, and that's really the sticking point right now, Heidi.

Internet programming, DVD sales, collecting on those residuals, the writers are saying that there's so much out there, so lucrative. And they want a big piece of the pie, a bigger chunk. But the studios are saying, hey, not so fast. You know? We have to assess the future.

And so they are saying everything is still up in the air. And so, hence, both sides are still -- still at a distance.

No official words in terms of talks. And so we don't know how long this could drag out. And of course, Heidi, the viewers being impacted here with the late-night talk shows. They have been in the dark, last night running reruns. And so that's just one ripple effect from this -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. I saw those reruns.

Some big stars, though, including those who are in reruns right now, are actually out there supporting the writers.

WYNTER: We are seeing so many stars come out showing their support. Jay Leno, for example, yesterday. And Jay always making light of a serious situation, handing out doughnuts and showing his support for writers.

Also actors Julie Louis-Dreyfus, Tina Fey coming out and showing their support by joining the picket lines. Now, some other actors not so vocal. But, you know, their actions speak volumes.

Steve Carell, the actor of "The Office," didn't show up for work, as well as Ellen DeGeneres. She decided to take the day off in support of writers.

And day two, hey, who knows what today will bring? We're expecting to see some more big names as this battle really continues.

COLLINS: All right.

CNN's Kareen Wynters watching the story for us from L.A.

Kareen, thank you. A boy's prehistoric discovery. Do you know what this thing is? Fred Flintstone does. And you will too when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: This just in, another record high for crude oil. It's getting very, very close to 100 bucks a barrel.

Ali Velshi is watching it for us.

Ali, did you do something about those magnetic letters -- or numbers, I should say.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I was waiting for a round number...

COLLINS: Yes. Oh, OK. There you go.

VELSHI: ... before it changed again and we got it.

Oil at NYMEX -- crude oil trading here in New York, $97 where it got up to. It's been choppy all morning. In fact, right now we're looking at $96.77. But we are definitely seeing a surge higher.

There are some fundamental reasons going on in the world. There's some violence in Afghanistan. There was a pipeline explosion in Yemen. And then there is a report coming out from the U.S. government tomorrow, when a lot of analysts expected to say that our stockpiles of oil are a little bit lower.

Very active, very choppy trading in oil right now. But we are -- we did see $97 for a barrel of crude oil for the first time we have ever seen that actual number, $97. Right now, $96.79.

But we will stay here with the barrel and with my numbers, and we'll keep you posted on where it's going -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Jeez. You think it will get to $100 before the day is through?

VELSHI: I didn't think it would be here before the day was through.

COLLINS: Yes.

VELSHI: So that's -- you know, it's one of those things that there's a lot of -- as you and I have discussed, there's nothing about how much oil we consume and produce that should have numbers like this. So this is a lot of trader speculation, and as we have seen with the stock market when it is speculation and traders, it can go in different directions than you would expect.

So certainly moving up there. It's not even noon Eastern and we're seeing $97.

COLLINS: Yes. As far as gas goes, though, I mean, I have taken it real seriously and I only fill up like half the tank, which is so dumb. It doesn't make a difference.

VELSHI: And you see those prices are going up.

COLLINS: Yes.

VELSHI: I mean, we are moving up. There was a time when it wasn't moving up as quickly and people were saying, see, it's disconnected. Well, it's not.

And as we continue to see these kind of numbers and it crosses $100, you are actually going to see that in your gas prices, let alone in your heating oil prices and anything else to do with transportation. We talked about airline fares. So this does matter regardless of whether you drive or take the subway or heat your house with natural gas or oil.

COLLINS: Yes. Might actually have to break out the Cannondale and the bike helmet.

VELSHI: Yes. You might have to.

COLLINS: Ali, thank you. We'll check in with you a little later on if we need to.

So, did you gas up your car today? Well, it is pretty painful. Gas prices just above $3 now. So we asked some of you how the rising costs are affecting your family.

The answer not too surprising. Sixty-three percent of people asked say gas prices are causing financial hardship.

This story now -- too many arms and too many legs. Today, a little girl is in surgery to fix Mother Nature's slipup. It's a story you have to see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is off today. Clashes in Pakistan. Some say no justice. These pictures say no peace. The government intensifying its crackdown on critics. 3,000 lawyers now detained. Many judges kept in their homes. Their crime, protesting the government's emergency rule. The move suspended the constitution and crippled both the courts and the media. Earlier we spoke to a veteran journalist to covered the world. Today he serves as a critical link to Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto. I asked Arnaud De Borchgrave how serious is this crisis?

ARNAUD DE BORCHGRAVE, CTR. FOR STRATEGIC & INTL. STUDIES: I think it's the most dangerous crisis in the world today given the fact that Pakistan is one of the eight nuclear powers in the world and seems to be spinning out of control. Also, the fact that the army in the federally administered tribal areas which are essential to what we're doing in Afghanistan, the army in that part of Pakistan has virtually collapsed. They feel they are fighting America's war. That President Musharraf is taking orders from the United States. And they are now trying to create a front here, those actually gave up without fighting and were in Taliban hands until yesterday when there was an exchange of prisoners between the Taliban and Pakistani army. That's how serious the situation is up there.

COLLINS: I know that you are a friend of Benzir Bhutto. When I asked you about here is it not fair to say also, some people of Pakistan, any way, also feel that she has a relationship with the United States, that they are not necessarily in favor of?

DE BORCHGRAVE: That's correct. The story has been around that there was a deal between Benazir Bhutto and President Musharraf. The deal was brokered by the United States. This would allow her to run in the elections in January if they are held on schedule. And her PPP, Pakistan People's Party, would most likely get a majority in which case she could become prime minister for the third time but that require as change in the constitution which forbids people from being prime minister three times. That was all part of the deal. Plus the fact Musharraf said he would take off his uniform as soon as he was confirmed by the supreme court but the supreme court was about to say he was not, that his election was not valid because a majority of the people did not -- of the assembly members did not vote in it. So it still got a few, seems to me a few crises to go before we get things back on track.

COLLINS: I know you have spoken or at least e-mailed recently. I want to put on the screen for a moment something that she sent to you on Saturday. Just a couple days ago. She says this is. "There is no move toward democracy. It's either back to dictatorship in 1999 or back to a rigged election in her opinion in 2002 or Musharraf replaced with an interim government from two years run from behind the scene from the same military hardliners." If in fact she is positioning herself to be the leader of this country, what would be different for the people of Pakistan?

DE BORCHGRAVE: I think it would be back to democracy, it's not always worked as you know in Pakistan. Pakistan is 60 years old and military dictatorships have ruled for over half that period. So it's not a given if elections are held and she becomes prime minister that this is going to work out, especially if Musharraf stays on as president without a uniform because I don't see how Benazir Bhutto is going to be listened to by the army and ISI, the all powerful Inter- Services Intelligence Agency. That will be a story to come.

COLLINS: Arnaud De Borchgrave this morning giving us a little bit of the insight there. With more insight now, Isha Sesay, monitoring the situation in Pakistan and the local TV networks there. It's been pretty interesting to watch some of the reports, Isha.

ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Heidi. Many things have been really busy here on the international desk because we've been working every angle of the story. We have a producer with TV who is helping me monitor how the story has been covered out in Pakistan he was stressing to me Pakistani TV which is a state-run TV network.

The only one you can see right now if you live in Pakistan is taking a business as usual approach, talk shows, cooking shows, you know, soap operas, very little to reference the crisis that is commonly on the streets of Pakistan as we know there have been several clashes today in Lahore and other parts of the country between lawyers and police but Pakistani TV if you were to watch that probably wouldn't get much of a sense of that.

Go TV, on the other hand, which is stationed out of Dubai, that broadcasts it Pakistan to Pakistan but you can't see at the moment because of the government-imposed virtual media black-out, they are hitting the story very, very hard. Lots of analysts, lots of talk, lots of focus on how this is going to play out. Now, Benazir Bhutto, she spoke in Islamabad a short time ago. I want to bring you some of her comments. She says the talks are off in reference with her talks to President Musharraf. That has been one of the key questions in all this. What would it mean for those power sharing talks between Musharraf and Bhutto? We have some kind of answer at this point in time. We were talking about a restoration toward democracy and to my surprise we ended up with martial law. She says, I feel it was a breach of faith. She says if Musharraf wants to get back on the Democratic Party he must come on TV and say he is retiring of chief of army staff. Give us a date in nine days time when the assemblies must be dissolved and those elections in mid January should take place.

The main thing I want to bring out here is Benazir Bhutto is in Islamabad to meet with opposition leaders to talk about forming a strategy to overturn the state of emergency but up until this point the opposition in Pakistan has always been a fragmented unit. It will be very interesting to see if they can coy a less around this one situation the fact that the government is trying to impose this media black-out certainly on news channels has raised a question of whether these protests we're seeing with lawyers will they ever grow into anything else, into a broader, more popular-based movements. Because these movements or this kind of outpouring on the streets needs oxygen to breathe and it need as news channel to galvanize the people to get them out there. So you know we're watching the swigs, we're monitoring everything. We have our producers, our correspondents in place. We're going to bring you some live updates. Keep coming up to us here at the international desk. We'll keep monitoring the story for you.

COLLINS: All right. Isha Sesay, over at the international desk, we'll do just that. Thank you.

Are the borders really secure? An internal government report now says illegal immigrants are using regular guarded border entry points to sneak into the U.S. One person familiar with the report says as many as 21,000 people came across that way last year. Her reports lists as border agent understaffing is one problem but also says some agents just aren't doing their jobs.

In the meantime, an apology from the nation's top immigration official and an investigation now by the Department of Homeland Security all over a Halloween costume. An immigration and customs enforcement employee went to a fund raising party dressed in prison stripes with dreadlocks, dark-faced makeup. Julie Myers, head of I.C.E., has issued this statement saying, "It is now clear that however unintended a few of the costumes were inappropriate and offensive. I and the senior management at I.C.E. deeply regret it happened." Myers hosted the costume party in question. She was also a judge in the contest. The unnamed employee in the prison outfit won for originality.

Well next, two bodies, one child; surgery now under way to turn an eight-limbed girl into a normal girl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: In India right now doctors are operating on a little girl born with four arms and four legs. A very risky procedure. Here to talk more about it is CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. This is just incredible story.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's incredible and incredibly rare. 2-year-old was born in India with as you said four arms, four legs, also four kidneys, two abdominal cavities and two chest cavities, that's according to a British newspaper and also two spines. So what they are trying to do right now is a surgery to get rid of what she doesn't need and keep what she does and this is so rare, it's really hard to say exactly how well we'll do in that surgery.

COLLINS: Has it ever been done before? How does something like this happen in the first place? Another body wasn't there?

COHEN: There was. This is very odd. We all heard about co- joined twins. There was another baby in her womb at the time so technically she is a conjoined twin. That baby at some point in the pregnancy stopped developing but the remnants of that body remained. That body somehow melded into her body. What you're seeing is the remnants of her conjoined twin that never fully developed.

It's just awful. Hope they can do well for this child.

COLLINS: Now what are the risks? What's the next step?

COHEN: They are probably so many risks couldn't even list them. So unusual because what they are -- what they really have to do here is they have to figure out which of her legs is she not going to need. Which ones does she need? Which ones are the dominant ones?

COLLINS: They are all functioning, right?

COHEN: In some way, shape or form but they want to figure out which of the two are functioning the best. As far as the spine goes we're on the phone with a CNN affiliate reporter who has an exclusive on the story and he's right there in the hospital. He said they did manage town twist the spine. They did separate the spines. Now they have to separate the rest of the body parts that they need to separate and the surgery will continue into the night. There are so many different things have to think about here. You have to think about bleeding. Am I taking anything away from her that she needs for her body to live on? There are a lot of risky things we're talking about.

COLLINS: I would imagine that internally those are the most serious issues.

COHEN: The spine sounds like it would be the most serious one. Apparently they finished that and it's going well.

COLLINS: We'll definitely be following this story.

Thank you so much. CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

To get your daily dose of health news on line log on to our website. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and exercise. The address CNN.com/health.

Oil surges to a new high today. So get ready for a crude awakening. Will a fill-up soon feel like a stick-up at the pump?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We are getting word of a situation in Miami where there are some reports of shots being fired. T.J. Holmes is in the NEWSROOM now with the reports on this. T.J., any idea what we have here?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not exactly. Details just coming into us. But the reports are right now that there has been a shooting in and around the area of Carroll City High School in Miami. We're showing you a picture here from our affiliate of what's been happening, police activity around the school. What we do have we can report again this is Carroll City High School. Reports of a local affiliates there at least one person being transported to the hospital. Also we're getting from our affiliate WFOR that police have confirmed to them a teacher was one of the people who has been shot. We don't know how many, again, no confirmation on how many people shot but the report is that one person transported to the hospital and WFOR, the affiliate, reporting that in fact it was a teacher. Also, WFOR reporting right now in fact a search is going on right now around the school for a possible suspect. Also we do know this school itself right now is in lockdown. Just explaining to you the new video and pictures you're seeing is of the area around Carroll City High School where shots have apparently been fired. No word right now, again, on how many people possibly shot. Reports right now of just one, again, that possibly being a teacher. Also don't know if this -- of the person, the possible gunman was a possible student at the school. Don't know where the shooting took place exactly but somewhere in or around the school. This is a developing story. We're just getting word on and we're keeping a close eye on making calls and checking with our affiliates. We'll get right back to you as those details become available to us.

COLLINS: OK. Very good. T.J., thank you.

"YOUR WORLD TODAY" is up next on CNN. Hala Gorani is here now with a sneak peek. Again, I think the story is going to be Pakistan for you, as well. HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely, no prize for guessing what our top story is today, Heidi. We're going to be taking you live to Islamabad. Our reporter standing by there. Clashes continue after general Musharraf suspended the constitution and democratic rule in Pakistan. The country's fired top judge says it's now time for sacrifices. How close is this nuclear power to complete political collapse?

Also organ donations Philippine style. Also, our reporter taking us to one Philippines village where four residents show scars where kidneys were taken out; a compelling report for you.

On a much lighter note, I don't know if you're a surfer or an extreme sporting enthusiast but if you ever checked surf board, skis or a javelin on a flight British Airways says no way. We're not checking those cumbersome items anymore and the British surfing association says it's going to fight to overturn the ban. We'll bring you that and much more at the top of the hour on "YOUR WORLD TODAY."

COLLINS: Can't you just check them?

GORANI: You can't check them. That's the point. They are saying they are too cumbersome.

COLLINS: I thought you said carrying them on.

GORANI: No carrying them on, that's also been an issue but javelins. I'm surprised British Airways ever allowed you to check in a javelin.

COLLINS: Yes now but, skis?

GORANI: Skis, no skis. No, but it's a fight now and on Myspace.com the British Surfing Association is getting tons of support for a petition telling British Airways, we want these items to be checked in because it's a problem for us now.

COLLINS: In cahoots with the shipping companies, I think.

GORANI: I don't know. We'll bring you that report.

COLLINS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" coming up in ten minutes.

With two recent resignations by African American CEOs, a dwindling number of minorities now hold the top spots at major U.S. corporations. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with more details on this. Hi there again, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Heidi. Well in just the last week we have seen the departure of Stan O'Neill from Merrill Lynch and Dick Parsons from Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. They were a part of a group of six African Americans running Fortune 500 companies. The four remaining corporations with black CEOs are Sears, American Express, Aetna Insurance and Dardon Restaurants, which operates the Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurant chains. Alfred Edmond, Jr., editor in chief of "Black Enterprise Magazine" says the numbers of African Americans CEOs could double in the next 20 years but that still would leave the Fortune 500 with less than a dozen in total. The departure of O'Neill and Parsons were for very different reasons but Edmonds points out, all CEOs regardless of race have a relatively short shelf life of five to seven years on the job. That was the case for both O'Neill and Parsons, five years, five and a half years for Parsons, five years for O'Neill, Heidi.

COLLINS: Right. Well, is there any research as to why there aren't more African American CEOs?

LISOVICZ: That's the eternal question. Keep in mind, Heidi, that 15 years ago there weren't any black CEOs in the Fortune 500 at all. There has been some progress. It takes time, obviously, to rise to the level of positions like Parsons and O'Neill did when they both took the helm in '02. Changes don't happen quickly. Edmunds says Xerox and McDonald's have prominent black executives poised to take over but after that the well is fairly dry. We don't have a black CEO as president of the United States but we do have a prominent candidate running and Senator Barack Obama.

One other thing, Heidi, that people in management always say, is that you need to network in order to make it to the top and have mentors. Dick Parsons, for instance, is very close with the Rockefeller family and interesting entree to the family and that his grandfather was a very highly respected caretaker for the Rockefeller family estate. So some people would rightly argue that black Americans haven't always had the same access that others take for granted and that's something that really helps out certainly in the corporate world.

Just quickly let me tell you what is happening on Wall Street. Not much of anything as far as stocks are concerned. But that may be the case because of what oil is doing. We had an early rally. It fizzled out. The Dow is down eight points. The NASDAQ is also down eight points or a third of a percent. But oil went above $97 a barrel. Yes, that's an all-time high. We get the oil inventory reports tomorrow. I know Ali has mentioned it, which is about supply and demand. And oil is up quite a bit today in advance of that. Back to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right Susan. I know you're going to be watching that one for us throughout the day. Thank you.

Also want to get you back to this story. Breaking news coming out of Miami where there's been a shooting near a high school. There's been at least one person wounded. We're going to have the very latest for you after a real quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Some breaking news to tell you about now. A report of shots being fired near a high school in Miami Gardens, Florida. T.J. Holmes has been following the story for us from the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: We have been able to confirm here that in fact someone was shot. Police say that this was near Carroll City High School. There in Miami Gardens but not actually in the school and not on the grounds themselves but, yes, somewhere near the school. They don't know if the person, at least police are telling us, not being able to confirm whether or not this person was affiliated with the school. But several local affiliates are reporting it was a teacher at the school. One of the affiliates actually reporting that a teacher was actually on the sidewalk and approached by someone and was shot. That teacher has now been transported to the hospital. A search is now under way around the school grounds for a possible suspect. The school is in lockdown. We have been able to confirm a couple of things here. But several other things being reported as well. We want to get the information out there to you. This is a situation that is certainly fluid and happening right now. We're following it and continue to update you. Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Great. T.J. Holmes, thank you.

A missing woman's case but her family fears it could be more. An Illinois mother of two disappeared more than a week ago. Stacy Peterson's husband a police sergeant suggests she left him for another man. Her family says she was afraid of her husband and had been talking about divorce. Peterson's aunt spoke a short while ago on CNN's "AMERICA MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDACE AIKIN, MISSING WOMAN'S AUNT: When I saw her in October, like five through 11, I stayed at their home. She was pretty confused and I have never seen her like that. She was very, very full of stress and just not happy in her marriage at all. Everything was magnified. Her life was full of chaos, actually.

(END VIDEO CLIP_

COLLINS: Investigators say they have found no evidence of wrong doing in the case and say Peterson's husband is cooperating.

A long-time friend of Stacy Peterson started worrying when he got an e-mail from her. He spoke about it with CNN's Larry King last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: She sent you an e-mail.

STEVE CESARE, FRIEND OF STACY PETERSON: Yes.

KING: October 17th at 11:26 in the morning. I'm going to read a portion of it. We put a portion of it on our screen, too. "I have been arguing quite a bit with my husband. As I mature with age I am finding the relationship I am in is controlling, manipulative and somewhat abusive. As I try to help make changes to this he has become argumentative. Tomorrow is our four-year anniversary and I'm not as excited as the years that have passed. I don't know I'll see what happens. I guess if you could keep me in your prayers I could use some wisdom, protection and strength. Thanks a lot." What did you make of that when you got it? CESARE: I was very alarmed. I knew they had problems. Her phone calls were limited. We had to keep distance, you know, over the summer and whatnot. But the part where it says that he was becoming abusive, that concerned me and I didn't know what to do because, of course, he's involved with the police department and I figured it would just fall on deaf ears.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Larry will continue to follow this story for you. You can watch "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight at 9 p.m. eastern.

The CNN NEWSROOM continues just one hour from now. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is coming up next.

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