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Customs Under Fire For 'Racist' Halloween Costume at Agency Party

Aired November 06, 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: Day four of the Pakistani government assault on democracy and the rule of law. Pakistani lawyers are pleading their case and paying the price. Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: More now on this teacher that was shot outside of a high school in the Miami area. We're told that it was an apparent robbery but is expected to survive, this teacher, according to a school district spokesperson. The male teacher was shot in the lower body, we are being told. The teacher had been taking a cigarette break across the street from the school during lunch when he was confronted by another man who tried to rob him. We're told now that he's taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. We'll update you as we get more information.

At least 3,000 lawyers are in jail in Pakistan and more could be on the way. It's day four of the nationwide state of emergency with no letup in sight. The main target, the country's courts and the people who run them. Opposition leaders are also targeted but some such as Benazir Bhutto are speaking out.

This hour and next, we'll bring you the latest from the streets and check in live with our international desk. But first let's get the very latest from CNN's Zain Verjee. She has just arrived in Islamabad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A major crackdown in Pakistan. They are being brought in on terrorism charges, and their cases are being brought before anti-terrorist courts. Lawyers across the country are not even going to the courts because the courts are on lockdown. Thousands of human rights activists and political activists have been arrested. Security forces are hunting them down. Opposition leaders have been arrested as well.

(on camera): There's also a major crackdown on the media. Local TV stations have been taken off the air. All international channels are off the air as well including CNN International and the BBC. We're hearing, too, that eight journalists have been arrested. We've only been in the capital city Islamabad for just a few hours and the situation here has been described to us at tense. Zain Verjee, CNN, Islamabad. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, a state of emergency in Pakistan means a news emergency for many international networks, especially Arab networks. You're seeing just a few of them on your screen, many with round-the- clock coverage of the crackdown and in addition to our own extensive coverage CNN is following media from around the globe to bring you the very latest. We'll check in with our Isha Seshay who is on our Pakistan desk and she'll have that for you in just a bit.

PHILLIPS: And we're getting more now on the death of George Osmond, the father of nine children, the most famous, Donnie and Marie Osmond. Brooke Anderson live in L.A. with what happened. Natural causes?

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Natural causes, we have confirmed that, Kyra. CNN spoke to a family spokesperson who said George Osmond, father of Donnie and Marie and the famous singing family has died. He passed away this morning at his home in Utah from natural causes. Osmond and his wife who died three years ago, as you mentioned, had nine children total, many of whom became singing stars, Allen, Wayne, Merrill and Jay first became famous as the Osmond Brothers, Donnie later joined the group and they of course Donnie and Marie became very popular with their television show.

Marie in fact performed just last night on "Dancing with the Stars." I'm sure George was proud of all of his children. The family was actually going to appear on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Friday. The plan was, according to "Entertainment Tonight" to tape the show Thursday and air Friday and now that appearance may not happen. Donnie tells "E.T." that he'll have to consult with the family to see what they want to do with that. George Osmond died at the age of 90, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Brooke Anderson, thanks so much.

LEMON: Let's get you some live pictures now from Capitol Hill. We're waiting to see whether Congress hands President Bush the first veto override of his administration. There are those live pictures there. It's $23 billion water projects bill that Mr. Bush vetoed on Friday. The bill has strong support in both parties and an override is widely expected. We'll take you live to Washington as soon as the votes are counted.

PHILLIPS: He's been here before but Nicolas Sarkozy begins his first official trip to the U.S. as president of France. He won't go hungry, either. President Bush will host a dinner in his honor tonight. Tomorrow the two will have lunch at Mount Vernon. Sarkozy's election half a year ago marked a turning point in Franco-American relations and he and Mr. Bush stand united against Iran's nuclear program and they also support Kosovo's push for independence from Serbia.

Back home Sarkozy is known by some as Sarko the American.

A teacher takes a cigarette break outside a high school and turns out to be the wrong place at wrong time, it's a breaking story we're following right now in the Miami area. Let's get straight to CNN's John Zarella for more. John?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the search continues at the mom for one, possibly two men works approached two teachers outside of Carroll City High school which is in northwest Miami Dade County.

The teachers were not on the high school property, they were across the street on a cigarette break when at least one, again, maybe two men approached them, demanded money from the teachers. The teachers said no, and at that point one of the suspects shot one of the teachers in the abdomen. You can see on the pictures there the area is all taped off, cordoned off where the shooting took place, and the manhunt is under way right now for those suspects.

The police are concentrating many of their efforts in an apartment complex, a two-story building, several buildings all attached that spread out over several acres. In fact, they look very much like World War II military-style barracks, and in fact dating back perhaps to the 1940s they may well be just that, but they are spread out over several acres. We've seen members of the response team, the SWAT team going on the second floor, moving from door to door, but you can imagine it's going to be very difficult to get through that entire complex in any real speed because it is so extensive.

Now the teacher is listed in critical condition, but we are told that he was both alert and conscious when he was brought into the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The Carroll City High School, as well as the middle school and elementary school in the area, are on lockdown, but no students have been injured, and, of course, Kyra, that is good news as well.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Are you saying that they are still looking for the shooter, John?

ZARRELLA: Yes, exactly. At least one, maybe two, and their efforts are concentrated in this massive apartment complex very close to Carroll City High School and they have a perimeter set up around the entire area near the school.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll follow up. John Zarrella out of Miami. Thanks so much.

LEMON: Michael Mukasey gets a green light on the road to attorney general, but not by much. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11 to eight to send the nomination to the full Senate. Looking at live pictures now, but only after two top democrats, Diane Feinstein and Charles Schumer broke ranks to vote yes. The former federal judge ran afoul of other Democrats when he refused to say whether waterboarding, a controversial interrogation method, is torture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, (D) VT: I wish I could support Judge Mukasey's nomination. I like Michael Mukasey. We have many things in common in our past careers. I certainly don't question his intellectual ability or his independence, but this is an administration that's been acting outside the law, an administration that has now created a confirmation contortion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: What do Americans think about waterboarding? In a new poll almost 70 percent said it does amount to torture and 29 percent said no. Asked whether the U.S. government should be allowed to waterboard possible terrorists to get information, just 58 percent said no and 40 percent said yes.

PHILLIPS: Hold on to your wallets, crude oil prices hit a new high today, $97 a barrel. Ali Velshi minding your business in New York. What's going on, Ali?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this is -- Look at this, $97.10 is where we had oil just a few minutes ago. Right now trading at about $96.54, but this is all sort of a surge ahead of tomorrow's report about how much oil reserve there actually is in the United States. That's actually one of those things, Kyra, that should actually affect the price of oil.

We talk so much about the speculation, about what else might be happening in the world. This kind of speculation has caused oil prices in the 90s. We're definitely on a march toward 100, and that is going to play its way through to people filling gas at the tank. We've seen the prices at the tanks come up. We're seeing it in the Northeast where people are use heating oil, but we're seeing it elsewhere, Kyra, because even if you don't drive or live in the Northeast, it takes oil to get these trucks moving around the country, and it takes oil to ship things around. We're seeing it in air fares, so there's a big ripple effect to oil at these prices. We've seen a more than 40 percent, 50 percent gain in the price of oil in the last year or so, so a lot of people are very concerned. You and I have talked about, you know, jittery feelings about the economy. This is the kind of thing that has people very worried, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So how do we get a break?

VELSHI: Well, walk or wear a sweater. Let me tell you this Kyra, most economists don't think that this is where we are going to see the price of oil long term. Some people think it's still going to be high, but really, the long-term projections are for around $60 or $65 a barrel, a long way from here. It sort of feels like we're going to go higher before we go lower. If we go much higher and we pass through 100 and 110, we start to worry about people really, really slowing down on their spending, and that affecting the rest of the economy, but for the moment, most people who spent a lot of time watching the price of oil think that this is a little inflated, and it shouldn't continue for much longer, but, you know, there's not much you can do about it. We're built on using oil in this economy. PHILLIPS: Isn't that the truth, out of curiosity, where did you get the barrel?

VELSHI: This is my barrel. I bought this barrel.

PHILLIPS: It's your barrel.

VELSHI: I actually ...

PHILLIPS: You just roll out the barrel,

VELSHI: These numbers are magnetic.

LEMON: It's really a keg. He keeps it in his basement.

VELSHI: Full of beer.

PHILLIPS: On the other side.

VELSHI: When it hits $100, I can hit my pen, crack it ...

PHILLIPS: There is a nice lager that comes out of the left side.

All right. Ali Velshi. Appreciate it, Ali.

All right. On a much more serious note, coming up, a medical emergency that forces an early delivery for our own Nancy Grace. We're going to have more on a condition that can put a pregnant woman's life on the line.

LEMON: And political intrigue in South Carolina. Did supporters of Barack Obama get Stephen Colbert bounced from the Democratic ballot? We're searching for truthiness.

PHILLIPS: Plus, late night talk shows are the first to go. What's next as the writers stop writing and the zingers stop coming?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: 2:13 Eastern Time. Right now here are three of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

One of the most popular musical families ever has lost its patriarch. CNN has confirmed that George Osmond has died at his Utah home at age 90. He was the father of nine, including Donnie and Marie. Police in the Miami area are out in force right now looking for two suspects after a teacher was shot near a high school in Miami Gardens. That teacher was taking a smoke break when the two apparently tried to rob him. He's expected to live.

Controversial attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey has cleared a hurdle. The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved his nomination sending it to the full Senate. Mukasey drew fire when he refused to say whether the interrogation practice of waterboarding amounts to torture. LEMON: If you've been watching Headline News with Nancy Grace lately you've heard her say she can't wait for her twins to be born. Her due date was in December. Guess what in the twins have arrived and doctors had no choice in the matter after fluid started building up in Nancy's lungs. How does this happen? We turn to our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen with information on that.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. What happened to Nancy is called pulmonary edema and it can be very big and very scary. What happened was that on Sunday she just started not feeling well and had shortness of breath and her husband took her to the hospital and they said we have got to get these babies out of you.

Pulmonary edema is a fancy term for fluid building up in the lungs, and these are the symptom symptoms. Extreme coughing and shortness of breath and water retention in legs and ankles.

Now why Nancy or why do some women get this? First of all, few women get this, fewer than 0.1 percent of all pregnancies do women get pulmonary edema, but here's some of the reasons why some women in particular get pulmonary edema. Women get this if they have an underlying heart condition that can make them more vulnerable to getting this disease or also if they are taking certain drugs to put off pre-term labor it can make them more likely and also if they already have preeclampsia, that will make them more likely to get this disease. Because we don't want to scare people too much, because it is scary, you know, when we really need to deliver these babies because of your condition, this is very unusual, less than 0.1 percent of pregnancies.

LEMON: I was going to say, because lots of women swell up and lots of women are short of breath. What do you call it, a pulmonary edema, right? How do you know?

COHEN: Pulmonary edema -- When these are really extreme, any other, you wouldn't understand, but any woman who ever been pregnant.

LEMON: Yes I would understand.

COHEN: Have you ever been pregnant?

LEMON: I've never been pregnant but my sister, her husband was away and had her baby and I was like was there like the dad so I understand all this stuff.

COHEN: Maybe she tells you how short of breath she get and you also probably saw some of the swelling that she had in her legs and so that does happen often, but in the case of pulmonary edema, it's extreme. I mean, you really, really swell up and you really feel short of breath, not just a little bit. It feels different than the shortness of breath you might have felt let's say a few weeks before so that's what you're really looking for is extreme symptoms.

LEMON: OK.

COHEN: You're still mad at me, I can see. LEMON: I would never be mad at you but if I were pregnant that would be bigger news than Nancy Grace.

COHEN: That's right. A huge story. We'd be doing that.

LEMON: All right. Two pounds, 15 pounces, that's small and dealt with preemies as well in my family how do babies that size usually fare, it gets better as time goes on. But it's still touch and go sometimes.

COHEN: It gets better as time goes on but two pounds 15 ounces six weeks early, that's almost exactly what my oldest daughter was, she was almost exactly that gestational age and almost that weight and thank goodness she's a healthy, karate chopping tennis playing 10- year-old as we speak. Babies that age and that size really do quite well.

LEMON: OK. My sister was seven months, she was tiny. You could fit her in the palm of her hand.

COHEN: Little tiny thing.

LEMON: Not anymore. She's going to kill me. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you, and congratulations, of course, to Nancy Grace.

COHEN: Congratulations to Nancy.

LEMON: Congratulations to Nancy. OK. Well, packing on the pounds when you're little could affect your health when you're older. Researchers at the Cincinnati Children's Center say they found some children as young as seven is as being at risks for heart attack. One of those signs, high blood pressure. One ways to reduce the risk set good eating habits early on when kids are toddlers.

PHILLIPS: A Halloween costumes wins top honors for immigration and custom officials but gets low marks for racial sensitivity. Who's sorry now? See for yourself straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: I've got more details on that shooting in Florida where a teacher was hit. T.J. Holmes with the details for us. T.J.?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The details now. A major detail is that we have three arrests in this case at an apartment complex that is nearby. You're seeing video of the scene and a SWAT team had to be called to this thing. One teacher was shot. As we've been explaining to you. It happened a couple hours ago now, a few hours ago. The teacher at a Miami-area high school tend out to have a smoke break. He was across the street. Two individuals approached the teacher and another colleague tried to rob the two. And ended up, the teacher was shot and the teacher is now at hospital.

But the search went on and the schools were in lockdown for what we thought were at least two suspects, one being the shooter, but now we understand that three people have been arrested in this case at a nearby apartment complex. No word yet if the schools are still in lockdown, but they had been for some time for the protection of the students.

We don't know the identity yet of the suspects. We also did not know if any of the suspects were in fact students of the high school. Now police say that they know or they got to these suspects because several tips came in on the tip line. Calls were coming in about the suspect and that sure enough led them to the apartment complex and it appears that two of these - but three people now is the word have been arrested in connection with the shooting at the high school.

We are going to try to get more information about exactly who these suspects are and it's been a developing story the past couple of hours here. We'll continue to watch it and bring you more info as we get it, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Great. We'll track it with you. Thanks, T.J.

HOLMES: All right.

PHILLIPS: Well, with two recent resignations by African American CEOs, a dwindling number of minorities hold the top spot at major U.S. corporations. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with the details on that. Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

Well, in just the last week we've scene the departure of Stanley O'Neill from Merrill Lynch and Dick Parsons from Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. They were part of a group of just six African Americans running Fortune 500 companies. The four remaining corporations with black CEOs are Sears, American Express, Aetna Insurance and Darden Restaurants which operates the Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurant chains.

Alfred Edmund (ph) Jr., editor and chief of "Black Enterprise Magazine" says that the number of African American CEOs could double in the next 20 years, but that would still leave the Fortune 500 with legs than a dozen in total. The departures of O'Neill and Parsons were for different reasons, but Edmund pointed out all CEOs regardless of race have a short shelf life now of about five to seven years on the job. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Why aren't there more African American CEOs?

LISOVICZ: That's a good question, a question that's been out there for some time. Keep in mind that while progress is very slow, 15 years ago there weren't any black CEOs in the Fortune 500. Edmonds says Xerox and McDonald's have prominent black executives poised to take over and after that the well is pretty dry.

Management consultants have long said mentoring is instrumental because it creates access and opportunity. Consider Dick Parsons who served as a legal counsel to Nelson Rockefeller. Parsons met the Rockefellers through his grandfather who was a caretaker at the family's Pacatac (ph) Hills estate. Parsons has said his grandfather had every bit as much intelligence and ability but he was offered more opportunity, and he is a great American success story.

Turning to the markets, well, the bulls are at work, despite the fact that we have record high oil prices which surpassed $97 per barrel earlier this session. Now trading just below that level. The Dow Industrials hanging in there. Up 54 points right now. Nearly up half a percent and the NASDAQ composite is up five points or about a fifth of one percent.

Coming, President Bush says he is getting tough on imports. I'll tell you about new plans that could include hefty fines and mandatory recalls. That's in the next hour of NEWSROOM. I'll see you then. Kyra, Don, back to you.

PHILLIPS: Susan, thanks.

LEMON: A state of emergency in Pakistan, working our Pakistan desk for us Issa Sesay.

ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Don. Up until this point is has been mainly the lawyers are taking to the streets in Pakistan clashing with the police. We saw those scenes today. Day two of the clashes. While the plan had been on Friday that we would see former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto launch her own political process in Rawalpindi, those plans appear to have been derailed. We'll tell you why in a couple of minutes.

LEMON: All right. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: More on the shooting of that teacher in Florida, and the capture of three suspects. Straight to the NEWSROOM, T.J. Holmes working the details on the developing story. Hey, T.J.

HOLMES: We just got word moments ago on three suspects. Word was earlier that people were looking for two people around the school in the miami area, a school where a teacher was shot on a smoke break. He stepped out. He was on the sidewalk across the street from the school when a couple of individuals approached and tried to rob the teacher and then the teacher ended up being shot and taken to the hospital. The search then ensues.

The search has been going on for the last couple of hours and three people now have been arrested at an apartment complex that is near the school. Police say they found these suspects because so many tips came in to their crimestoppers hotline and that is what led them to the apartment complex and also these three suspects. Don't know the identity yet of the suspects, also don't know if the suspects were in any way affiliated with the school or if they might have been actual students at the school. You're looking at the video here from the scene, a little earlier around the school. Again, this was in the Miami area. The condition of the teacher we're not sure of right now but the teacher is expected to survive.

The word is now that three people have been arrested in an apartment complex near the school where the teacher was shot. More details to come. As we get them we'll, of course, pass them right along to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, T.J., thanks a lot.

HOLMES: All right.

PHILLIPS: Prison stripes, dread locks, a man in white in dark makeup, such was the award-winning costume at a Halloween party given by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Now, red-faced officials are apologizing. Jeanne Meserve live in Washington with more details.

Jeanne, how did it all go down?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, once again, the offending costume did consisted of striped prison outfit, dreadlocks, and darkening skin makeup. At an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Halloween fundraiser it was cited for originally by a panel of judges which included the head of ICE Julie Myers.

But Myers has since sent a memo to all ICE employees saying, "It is now clear that however unintended, a few of the costumes were inappropriate and offensive... I and the senior management at ICE deeply regret that this happened."

And now the secretary of Homeland Security has also weighed in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, SEC., HOMELAND SECURITY: I have zero tolerance for racism or discrimination in the area of law enforcement. We have to be tough, but we have to be fair. And, I know, the idea that you're going to come and impersonate someone of another ethnic group I think is completely unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Chertoff described Myers as mortified and he said she had done the right thing by apologizing and restating her commitment to diversity. Meanwhile, the man wearing the costume, a career ICE employee, has been placed on administrative leave and could face further disciplinary reaction. An ICE spokeswoman describes the employee as wearing what she called a skin bronzer, intended to, quote, "make him look African-American." She claims most people in the room did not even realize he was wearing makeup, but others clearly did realize it and found it offensive.

Unfortunately, we cannot let you make your own judgment about this because all of the photos of Myers with the costumed man were deleted from the camera of the official ICE photographer and the agency has refused our request to see other photos of the party -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jeanne, do you know if there were other African- Americans at the party, are there African-Americans that work as ICE agents?

MESERVE: Yes, we're told that overall in the agency African- Americans consist of a little more than 11 percent of the work force. We're told it was a very diverse group at the party, but we don't have any specific breakdown there -- and we don't know who complained.

PHILLIPS: That's what I wondered. We don't know who was offended?

MESERVE: Now, we don't know if they were African-Americans, or people of other ethnic groups, just don't know.

PHILLIPS: I have a feeling we'll find out pretty soon. Jeanne Meserve, appreciate it.

MESERVE: You bet.

LEMON: At least 3,000 lawyers in jail in Pakistan and more could be on the way. It is day four of the nationwide state of emergency with no letup in sight. The main target, the country's courts and the people who run them. Opposition leaders are also targeted but some like Benazir Bhutto are speaking out. We'll bring you the latest from the streets, and check in live with our international desk.

Let's check in now with our Pakistan Desk working that for Isha Sesay from CNN International -- Isha.

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Don.

Well, it's not just the judiciary that is coming under attack in Pakistan, it's the media as well. And, in fact, with the Pakistan government trying to impose what you could call an information blackout by banning all privately run TV channels. People basically are only left with the ability to watch state-run TV, Pakistan TV. If you tuned in there it will look like business as normal, cookery shows, talk shows, but no reference to the crisis that is ongoing in Pakistan.

So what people had decided to do, Don, was buy satellite dishes and try to bypass this blackout and get information anyway they could. What we're not hearing out of Pakistan is the government has banned the purchase of satellite. People can no longer do that, so that avenue essentially has been closed off to them.

Now even though they have tried to impose this media blackout as it were, TV outlets are now streaming online, so stations like GO-TV and ANG-TV, can you go to their Web sites and watch their output. People are now -- another point I want to make, Don, is that they are sending in tons and tons of messages to voice their disappointment with the latest turn of events. I want to read some of the comments that have been coming in to ANG. Some people saying, that media has given awareness to the masses, the freedom of the media is essential. One person is saying the media is working properly in this country and to impose unnecessary laws is totally unjustifiable.

So people are turning to the Web sites to get their opinions across. I want to show you this cartoon here from the "News International". It has a picture of a fist, the last punch. This is in reference to some comments that General Pervez Musharraf made a couple of weeks ago where this conflict, this ongoing conflict with the supreme court, he said I'll get the last punch. I'll be able to get the last say in this conflict, and the newspaper, you know, depicting it there with that cartoon.

So much happening in Pakistan and we're monitoring it all. We'll be at the International Desk and will bring you the latest if and when it happens. Back to you.

LEMON: Absolutely. Isha Sesay, thank you very much for that report.

PHILLIPS: In suburban Chicago, friends, family and strangers are focused on one thing, finding Stacy Peterson. The 23-year-old mother of two disappeared more than a week ago. Her husband, 30 years her senior, and a police sergeant, says that she believes she left him for another man. But some of her relatives say she was afraid of her husband, and had talked about divorce. Here's when Peterson's aunt told "American Morning."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDACE AIKIN, STACY PETERSON'S AUNT: When I saw her in October, like 5 through 11, I stayed at their home. She was pretty confused. And I've 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)

PHILLIPS: Investigators say that they haven't found any evidence of wrongdoing in the case adding that Peterson's husband is cooperating.

LEMON: Six days and more than 1,000 miles from the crime scene police nabbed a prime suspect in the murder of a Philadelphia police officer. John Lewis was arrested this morning in Miami. Lewis has been on the lam since last Wednesday, when he allegedly shot an off-duty officer in the head during a robbery attempt at a Dunkin' Donuts in Philly. Officer Chuck Cassidy died the next day. This morning police caught up with Lewis at a homeless shelter after workers tipped them off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMISSIONER SYLVESTER JOHNSON, PHILADELPHIA POLICE: We got a couple of calls indicating that this male may be in the homeless shelter. They sent people over there and luckily he was in the homeless shelter. He was an unarmed, there was no resistance. He was placed under arrest and then we were notified, you know, he was under arrest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A Miami police officer says Lewis seemed kind of relieved when cops took him away.

PHILLIPS: Remember that security breach at the nation's largest nuclear power plant near Phoenix. We told you all about it on Friday. It happened after a pipe bomb was found in an employees truck. Roger Hurd told police he didn't even know how it got there. Today we hear from sheriff's deputies that the 61-year-old engineer is no longer a suspect. Now they are talking to people at Hurd's apartment complex. Hurd's back at work but restricted areas are off limits.

LEMON: The Southeastern drought won't keep ice skaters high and dry in Atlanta. The company that operates the rink at Centennial Olympic Park is trucking in, get this, 17,000 gallons of water from Kentucky, 12,000 to ice the rink and 5,000 for patching the thin spots. The cost, about $3,000. The rink is expected to open next weekend and stay open throughout the holidays.

Blustery and chilly, and I wish it was a little rainy, might help us out and already feeling a little like winter to a lot of folks, Chad Myers.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Almost like a rerun of yesterday, so to speak. TV writers still on strike and that might mean more deja vu for you when your favorite shows come on tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

All right. We've got a plane crash to tell you about. T.J. Holmes working that story for us -- T.J.

HOLMES: Yes, this is out in Chino, California -- the Chino -- the airport out there. Actually, a small plane crash out there -- a twin-engine plane, we understand it. And there is a look at the plane we're talking about. We don't know how many people were on board this plane when it went down, and not sure exactly what was happening out there.

The reports that the skies were a bit hazy at the time the plane took off. That's the word from the FAA spokesperson, but not sure if weather played a role. This plane took off around 9:30 local time. It crashed about three-quarters of a mile west of the airport, again, the Chino airport, a small airport.

We do have confirmation now that two have been killed in this plane crash. Word just coming into us here, that, in fact, two people have been killed in this crash. That is the official word coming to us from the FAA; that two people did die in this crash. Again, this was just three-quarters of a mile from the airport.

You see this did not happen in a -- that is certainly (ph) there gives you a better perspective of the area where this plane went down. And these pictures, we're all seeing these here for the first time, together. Some of these pictures, what you can see of at least part of the wing, appears here, a pieces of the thing broke off.

But not sure what was happening at the time. Not sure if anyone on the plane was able to radio back that they were in some kind of trouble and what the issue may have been, we don't know that just yet, but this is what we do know. Two people now dead in a small plane crash out in Chino, California. This area is just to the east of downtown Los Angeles. A developing story there. We get more details, we'll pass those along to you.

LEMON: Absolutely. Those pictures -- thank you, T.J. -- coming from our affiliate KTLA. We appreciate that. More on this developing story when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Taking a look at our political ticker now. Did supporters of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama sink comedian Stephen Colbert's presidential campaign? The Democratic leaders from South Carolina say two prominent Obama supporters pressed them to keep the comedian's name off the state's primary ballot. Colbert was only running in South Carolina. Obama's campaign denies any connection to the move.

Voters in Mississippi are casting ballots for governor today, but the winner shouldn't surprise you. Current Governor Haley Barbour is expected to easily defeat his Democratic opponent. Barbour is one of the few politicians to emerge unscathed from the bashing delivered by Hurricane Katrina.

LEMON: Utah is voting on a proposal that could affect the way your kids learn. The statewide referendum involves the nation's first universal voucher program. Parents could get up to $3,000 for tuition at a private school regardless of their income or the quality of their local public schools. Whether it's approved or not, it's expected to influence vouchers in other states.

Want the most up-to-the-minute political news available anywhere, CNNpolitics.com is your one-stop shop. Get behind-the-scene details from the best political team on television. And see why it's the internet's premier destination for political news. CNNpolitics.com.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brooke Anderson in Hollywood.

More of your favorite television shows are going dark due to the writers strike. Those details, and, a couple of presidential nominees are taking sides here. All that when CNN NEWSROOM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Well, from writing lines to walking them, Hollywood's creative types still striking over money issues with studios and production companies. It's only day two but both sides say they are in for the long haul. And that long haul could mean a winter and a fall of reruns. Live pictures coming from Hollywood, California.

I believe that is Paramount.

ANDERSON: Yes, it is, Don.

LEMON: Shouldn't they be making movies and doing some stuff and getting our primetime lineup together? We need our TV shows!

ANDERSON: We need the shows and that picture is not quite as clear as the video we've been seeing. It is a live picture coming to us via broadband, basically, a computer and camera out there.

It is day two of the writers strike and already their absence from work is seen and felt in Hollywood and with television viewers. The late-night talkers are in repeats until further notice and Jay Leno used his time off to provide fresh doughnuts to the writers on strike. He told the "L.A. Times," quote, "I've been working with these people for 20 years. Without them I'm not funny. I'm a dead man."

Steve Carell honored the picket lines and didn't show up for work yesterday. Only two scenes of "The Office" were reportedly shot since he wasn't there.

And listen to this, a couple of presidential candidates are showing their support for the writers. We just received this statement, John Edwards released, it read, in part, quote, "I commend their efforts in standing up big media conglomerates. As someone who has walked picket lines with workers all across America, and as a strong believer in collective bargaining, I hope that both sides are able to quickly reach a just settlement."

Barack Obama also issued a statement reading in part, quote, "I stand with the writers. I urge the producers to work with the writers so that everyone can get back to work."

We caught up with "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes last night in New York at "Glamour" magazine Women of the Year Awards. Now Rhymes is what the industry calls hyphenate, a writer and a producer. So, she's kind of caught in the middle of this dispute, yet, there's really no question where her loyalty lies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHONDA RHIMES, CREATOR, "GREY'S ANATOMY": It's heartbreaking. I feel like the writers really want to write, and its unfortunate that the studios and the networks don't want to let us. We're walking the picket lines and we're hold the signs and we're doing what we can to get our cause out there, and hopefully that will end soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ANDERSON: Rhimes told us there are just three episodes left of "Grey's Anatomy" and her new show, "Private Practice" before each of those go dark. So, it seems they will make it through November sweeps.

And we're just getting word that "Back To You" starring Kelsey Grammar will not return from hiatus tomorrow. And also "Till Death" and "Rules of Engagement" will stop production due to the strike. Now, the expectation is that after late-night TV, daytime including soap operas, are next to feel the biggest impact.

We just received word from ABC, home to "All My Children" and "General Hospital," it seems they are a little bit ahead of schedule. The network tells us, quote, "ABC's daytime dramas are written well into the new year and well continue to produce original programming with no repeats and without interruption."

So, Don, if you're a fan one of those soaps you've got your shows.

LEMON: Oh, yeah. Got your shows. What do I want to say to you? Oh, yes, sweeps, you mentioned sweeps. You said coming up in November? That's -- I mean, that's going to be a lot of money. This could cost the studios, writers, everybody, tons of money, tons of money.

Let's talk about the motion picture industry here, Brooke, as well. They're affected by probably not for a while?

ANDERSON: Not for a while. They are feeling a bit of an impact, but this is more of a television strike at this point. If the strike does go on and on and continue maybe six months and more in the future, then the film industry will be feeling more of a pinch. But it is a longer term production for the studios. They have scripts written well into the future. And they are satisfied with re-writes on a lot of those movies. So they are not in as desperate a situation as a lot of the television production studios are at this time.

LEMON: Brooke Anderson, always appreciate that. Thank you so much.

ANDERSON: Thanks, Don.

Top exports from the Philippines, bananas, furniture and vital organs? The government might make that last one legal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: If you try to sell one of your vital organs here in the U.S., imagine what the law would do to you, but overseas one government wants to make it a legitimate business. CNN's Hugh Riminton found out all about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the desperate shanties of the Philippines, the scars of a strange epidemic. Like so many others here, these men have sold a kidney. "I just did it because, you know, my family needs the money," says Ricky Villegas, "And I didn't have a job. So, I just gave my kidney away."

Each received about $2,000 U.S., eight times his annual income.

(On camera): It is illegal to sell a kidney in the Philippines, but it is not illegal to donate one. Nor is it against the law to receive a gift from the grateful recipient. Into that loophole falls a thriving trade in human tissue. One village official has told us that in these few streets alone, hundreds of people, most of them men, have already sold a kidney.

(Voice over): Agents, illegal middle men broker the deals for around $1,000 for each donor they find, but the donors we found are still poor. Leo Coca built a house with his money, but it burned down. No insurance in these streets. Fire also claimed Ricky Villegas' kidney cash before he even recovered from the operation. Joey Ebanyez (ph) was 19 when he sold his kidney to help his sick mother. His share of the money was gone, he says, in three months.

The recipients of their kidneys were foreigners. In two cases, Chinese. The other, a Saudi. Some Philippine officials want to change the law now to make it easier, not harder, for people from around the world to get hold of their people's organs.

(on camera): You do believe there is a black market in kidneys for foreigners?

DR. REYNALDO LESACA, PHILIPPINE NATL. KIDNEY INST.: Yes. And that's precisely the reason why we have come up with this program.

RIMINGTON: Dr. Reynaldo Lesaca is the head of HOPE, the Human Organ Preservation Effort, at the Philippine National Kidney Institute. He's drafting a new law that could be in effect early next year, making healthy human kidneys an official Philippine export.

(on camera): Do you think at the end of it, it will free up, make simpler the process by which Filipinos can donate kidneys?

LESACA: I believe so. I believe so.

RIMINTON: It becomes an accepted path, part of the economy, the money?

LESACA: That's correct.

RIMINTON (voice over): With the rich world aging, but with many young, poor Filipinos, the confronting question is this, are children being raised for little more purpose here than as incubators of organs marked for sale?

Doctor Lesaca says medical ethicists here approve, but there are many others around the world where selling an organ is almost always illegal, who oppose the move. He insists his main concern is for the donors. LESACA: We're giving better or more donor protection, which, in the past worldwide has been a big problem. It is pushed aside, been exploited, not taken care of.

RIMINTON: All three of these men now tell me they have regrets about selling their kidney.

"I tell people it is a sin against God," says Ricky Villegas. "It is karma," says Leo Coca (ph). "Something is given by God and you sell it, that is why we lost everything. Hugh Riminton, CNN, Manila.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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