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Hartsfield-Jackson Airport Fire; Pakistani Police Keep Benazir Bhutto Bottled Up; Ex-Top Cop in Trouble
Aired November 09, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. Good Friday to you, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins.
Watch events come into to the NEWSROOM live on Friday, November 9th.
Here's what's on the rundown.
Supporters in back. Razor wire in front. Pakistani police keep Benazir Bhutto bottled up. Her protest against emergency rule shut down.
HARRIS: It looks to be one of the largest civil settlements in legal history. Merck announcing a deal to end thousands of Vioxx lawsuits.
COLLINS: A community banding together to help a wounded warrior. An inspiring story ahead of Veterans Day.
Patriots act -- in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And here is some breaking news that we're following out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport here in Atlanta. We're getting word of a fire at Concourse C. That is the concourse that houses AirTran and a couple of other airlines as well. This is a fire that broke out in an electrical closet near a gate on the concourse.
Darin Kraetsch is a passenger, an AirTran passenger. He's on the line with us.
Darin, good morning to you.
DARIN KRAETSCH, PASSENGER IN CONCOURSE C: Good morning, Tony. How are you?
HARRIS: Hey, I'm great. I guess the first reports of this fire started rolling in at about 6:30 a.m. What time did you arrive at the airport and what did you find?
KRAETSCH: I got to the airport around 7:00 this morning, and actually the only real inconvenience I found was the escalators were off. So you had to hike to the top of the terminal, and I thought I was going to have a heart attack about three-quarters of the way up. But other than that, the only other thing was people were kind of wandering around aimlessly trying to find hot coffee, which was tough to find.
HARRIS: Well, what did they tell you once you got to your gate?
KRAETSCH: They said that some flights had been -- had been canceled. Others were being delayed. And that they were trying to push as many flights out as they could, and they also were telling passengers there was some kind of a generator fire.
HARRIS: And Darin, what's your status now? When do you think you'll able to get out?
KRAETSCH: You know what? I just asked the gate agents, who I think are being tired of being asked when flights are leaving. And I was told -- in fact, I think my announcement is getting ready to come.
HARRIS: OK.
KRAETSCH: It still says that it's on time, but there are starting to be more and more people milling around the airport. So I can tell that some flights are definitely being delayed.
HARRIS: Hey, how about the mood of other passengers? Everyone seemingly taking it in stride?
KRAETSCH: You know what? Everybody seems to be doing pretty well. There's actually kind of a funny sense of calm in the airport as from the usually business travelers, you know, kind of yelling and screaming and running around. Everybody seems to be -- oh, actually, my flight just got delayed.
HARRIS: OK.
KRAETSCH: So everyone is now starting to wander around. And some passengers are a little frustrated. I was talking to one passenger I was sitting next to who said that her flight was out of Terminal D...
HARRIS: Yes.
KRAETSCH: ... and that it was canceled because of the fire in Terminal C. So she was a little bit frustrated because she didn't understand.
HARRIS: Ripple, ripple, ripple, ripple, ripple is what we're talking about.
All right. Darin, take care.
Get to your destination today, get there safely. And thanks for giving us this update on the situation from your perspective.
Darin Kraetsch on the line with us from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
COLLINS: Also breaking this hour, a bomb blast in Pakistan, the first deadly attack under the state of emergency. And the opposition's fight for democracy under siege this hour.
Our Dan Rivers is live this morning from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and CNN's Isha Sesay is also monitoring the crisis here at our international update desk.
Firs though, Dan, we want to get to you.
A large rally was planned by supporters of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto today. We've been talking about it for a couple of days here. but now she is obviously not going to be able to take part in that.
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It was a big disappointment from her perspective.
They failed to get the tens of thousands of people onto the streets that they had been threatening in this showdown against General Pervez Musharraf. In the end, the police had a complete lockdown on the city of Rawalpindi, where I'm speaking to you from. Checkpoints all around the city.
There were some clashes involving a few supporters, but really only a few hundred people daring to clash with the police. The police responding with tear gas and baton charges. But nothing like the tens of thousands that had been vowed by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
She, herself, has been under house arrest in nearby Islamabad. She came out to talk to her supporters. This is what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENAZIR BHUTTO, FMR. PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: I'm calling upon my countrymen to join me. This is not a battle for Benazir Bhutto. This is not a battle for Pakistan People's Party. This is a battle to save Pakistan, to save Pakistan from the forces of extremism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: There was a suicide bomb attack in Peshawar, to the north of Islamabad. Four people dead, but there are a lot of attacks there anyway. We're not sure whether this was linked particularly to the current crisis, the current standoff between Bhutto's supporters and General Musharraf.
But the state of emergency remains in place. Security very tight across the city. The traffic is flowing again a bit now, so some of the checkpoints have been lifted, but certainly today the people just weren't able to get into the city to protest.
COLLINS: All right.
CNN's Dan Rivers watching the situation for us from Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Thanks so much, Dan. We'll check back a little bit later on.
HARRIS: Pakistan's government blocking the media, but it can't silence the Internet.
CNN's Isha Sesay is monitoring feeds and blogs. She is at the International Update Desk here at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
And Isha, good to see you.
Despite the press limitations, as part of this imposition of the state of emergency, the pictures -- the pictures are getting out.
ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are, indeed, Tony. We're working here at the international desk to bring the viewers every angle of the story. We have I-Reporters checking in with us from Rawalpindi, Karachi and Lahore, all giving us a unique perspective of the latest developments there on the ground.
As you say, we're also monitoring those blogs in India, in Pakistan, and here in the U.S., trying to find out what people are saying about the crisis, the ongoing crisis. We also are keeping a very close eye on the media crackdown.
CNN is, once again, off the air there in Pakistan. You can't get it anymore. We all know that those private TV stations, news channels had been taken off the air. CNN and the BBC had been reinstated. This Friday, they were taken off the air.
We're monitoring the media crackdown. We'll bring you all of the news right here at the international desk.
HARRIS: Isha, appreciate it. Thank you.
COLLINS: There's an agreement today in that massive lawsuit over the painkiller Vioxx. Drug maker Merck offering $4.85 billion to ease the pain. It's one of the largest-ever civil cases.
Forty-seven thousand people and hundreds of possible class action lawsuits are involved. And nearly all of the plaintiffs have to OK the deal, so that could take some time.
But Merck pulled Vioxx from the market three years ago now. Its own records show the painkiller doubles the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The company still faces a number of government investigations.
Well, he inherits the Justice Department in disarray, some would say. Michael Mukasey will be the nation's next attorney general.
The Senate voted 53-40 last night to confirm Mukasey. His nomination ran into trouble over questions about an interrogation technique known as waterboarding. He refused to brand it as torture.
Mukasey replaces Alberto Gonzales. Gonzales resigned in the fallout over the U.S. attorney firings and other controversies.
A little background now on Michael Mukasey. He is a former federal judge. He retired last year. Mukasey served in the southern district of New York. He was chief judge from 2000 until his retirement. President Ronald Reagan appointed Mukasey to the federal bench in 1988.
HARRIS: Damaging testimony against O.J. Simpson. He will be back in a Las Vegas courtroom for a second day this morning.
Yesterday, a sports memorabilia collector testified Simpson burst into a Las Vegas hotel room with a gang of armed men and stole sports memorabilia. Simpson claimed the items were rightfully his. The hearing will determine if there is enough evidence to take the case to trial.
We will get a live update next hour right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Ex top cop in trouble with the law. An indictment expected to be unsealed today against Bernard Kerik, former New York police commissioner and former nominee to head Homeland Security.
Mary Snow is in New York.
Mary, good to see you this morning.
Some reports already that Kerik has surrendered to authorities. Is that true? And talk to us, if you can, about the charges.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, The Associated Press has reported that he just surrendered to authorities. What is expected now, he is going to be processed, and then later today, at noontime, he is expected to appear before a judge here in White Plains, New York.
Now, he faces federal indictment, and one of the charges that he is facing, tax evasion. This is according to people who are close to the investigation that has been going on.
Kerik did turn down a plea bargain deal earlier this year. And you know, this really marks a stunning fall from grace.
From a one-time police detective who rose through the ranks, Rudy Giuliani named Kerik his police commissioner while Rudy Giuliani was in administration, of course. They were together on 9/11.
Kerik then went on to work at Giuliani's private firm. Giuliani endorsed him to become homeland security secretary in 2004, and it turned out to be a big embarrassment.
Kerik withdrew that nomination. Following that, a host of legal troubles unraveled, and one of the ramifications, of course, being here today with this indictment.
We are expecting also to hear from prosecutors at 11:30 this morning. The big question, of course, is how will this affect the presidential campaign of Rudy Giuliani? He has been saying this week on the campaign trail that supporting Kerik was a mistake, that he had been not checked out carefully enough -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. CNN's Mary Snow for us in New York.
Mary, thank you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Well, don't believe everything your brain tells you. Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at the mystery behind false memories coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Well, I think we all feel like we've done this before, where you think that your brain has done something or you thought something or actually dome something and you find out later, you know, it was really just a figment of your imagination. It makes you feel a little bit crazy, but there actually could be a medical reason behind it. And CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now.
So I'm not crazy?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're definitely not crazy. But it's so fascinating, because memory is one of these very fertile areas of the brain to study, and people have been long trying to figure out when people have sort of foggy memories of something, is that just a weaker memory in the same part of the brain that memory is typically stored, or is someplace stored different in the brain altogether?
And that is what researchers at Hopkins really wanted to study and look at specifically. And what they found, for example, was true memories, for the most part, are actually stored in an area of the brain known as the medial temporal lobe, right here.
COLLINS: Things that really happened?
GUPTA: Things that really happened, and you remember in lucid detail. He was wearing a polka dot tie. He was talking to a woman named Karen. She was wearing a dress.
That sport of stuff. Very, very clear.
What happens is the brain doesn't specifically like to be fooled. So let's say you have sort of a general gist of something but you're not quite sure what the details are. You will start to store memories in a different place, in the frontal area of the brain here and an area called the parietal area back here.
And here you're just going to have sort of a general idea of what happened. You get the general gist, sort of the global context, but you may not remember the specific details, even though you add them in yourself. You just don't have it.
And what's interesting here and why this is so novel is that you're really showing two different areas of the brain that are responsible for memory. And that's different, very different than the way a lot of neuroscientists thought about this in the past.
COLLINS: Well, I mean, there's no one who can really tell you that, oh, by the way, that isn't a real thing that happened, it's just in your memory. So is it at all useful to have these type of false memories?
GUPTA: Well, there's a couple of things. One is that the brain doesn't like gaps. So let's say you've had some sort of experience. Your brain doesn't like to actually forget things, so it starts to store memories in different areas of the brain regardless.
So it's trying to -- it's a compensatory mechanism, if you will, for something that you may not quite have remembered as well. So you're just storing it in a different area of the brain, so it's still there, but maybe not with the full detail. As opposed to forgetting it altogether.
COLLINS: Yes.
GUPTA: What's interesting is that, you know, people who have memory disorders will tend to lose memory in this area a little bit more preferentially than in other areas.
COLLINS: Like Alzheimer's? Is there a way to compare this to what happens with Alzheimer's?
GUPTA: Very interesting with Alzheimer's in particular, because you would like to think that with Alzheimer's, you're going to lose a lot of the true memories and keep a lot of these sort of general memories.
COLLINS: Really?
GUPTA: It's not true. What happens with Alzheimer's, they tend to lose memory in both places. So they will have these sort of lucid intervals. They'll be completely intact. They'll remember exact details about things and then other times they just won't have that at all.
COLLINS: Wow. Well, it's very interesting.
GUPTA: Yes.
COLLINS: It definitely has happened to me. And as we heard from one of our producers, his wife tells him it happens to him all the time. That really didn't happen.
GUPTA: His brain is really working in overdrive.
COLLINS: Yes. You really didn't paint the house.
All right.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.
GUPTA: Thanks, Heidi.
HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM, the crackdown turns into a lockdown. Police in Pakistan shut down a city and a major protest. Late-breaking information next in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Pakistan's lawyers making their mark this week. Thousands of them in black suits and ties facing baton-wielding police to protest martial law. Let's call that the imposition of a state of emergency.
These lawyers taking to the streets almost immediately after President Musharraf suspended the country's constitution and its top judge. Thousands of lawyers are now behind bars. Many judges detained in their homes.
The crackdown in Pakistan intensifying. Key opposition leader Benazir Bhutto kept from leaving her home. Her supporters beaten and blunt (ph) from the major rally that we referred to just a moment ago.
Monitoring feeds, blogs from the crisis zone, CNN's Isha Sesay, live at the International Update Desk here at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
Isha, what is the latest? What are you seeing? What are you hearing?
SESAY: Well, thanks, Tony.
We want to get right to events in Rawalpindi this day, where there has been high tension as security officials work to keep protesters off the streets. As you were just saying, Rawalpindi was to be the scene of a large mass protest called by the former prime minister, Benazir Bhutto. As you also pointed out, she is now effectively under house arrest, and we never really saw those large numbers she called for.
But we still want to share with our viewers some pictures from a little earlier in the day that gives some insight into the frantic scenes that did still play out. Look at this tape.
You see there that even those security officials, you know, really were looking to clamp down. Some people did manage to get out on the street, but they were quickly rounded up, as you can see from our pictures. Giving you just some insight of the numbers that were out on the streets, they're still trying to be defined in the face of thousands of security officials that we're being told were there to make sure that there was no trouble at this protest, did not go ahead.
We also want to share some images that we got from an I-Reporter. They took these images just as the protest in Rawalpindi were supposed to have got started. And if you look in the right-hand corner of your screen, you can just make out the security officials setting up barricades.
I want to also share with you some comments that I-Reporters sent into us. They were keen to stress that it's not just Benazir Bhutto, but the common people who are also under house arrest.
The reporter said entire Rawalpindi city is under siege. There is no public transport, several businesses have suffered due to government's current policy. There is no law here. It feels like a jungle.
We just want to give you some insight, Tony, and all of our viewers of what it really feels like to be in the middle of this pressure cooker right now in Pakistan.
HARRIS: But Isha, if I could -- that's great, but let me sort of broaden the context on this a little bit. The pictures you were showing us from Rawalpindi, correct?
SESAY: Mm-hmm.
HARRIS: But do we any idea as to whether or not there were protests, for example, in Lahore, any protests in Islamabad?
SESAY: I think what we know at this point in time is that, you know, there were small pockets of people.
HARRIS: Yes.
SESAY: You know, students said that they were still going to get out and they were still going to protest and still going to make the opposition to this state of emergency heard and felt. But nothing, Tony, on the scale of what we had expected on this Friday.
HARRIS: Got you. OK. Isha, appreciate it. Thank you.
Just a little broader context on that story.
Thanks.
COLLINS: Congress renewing the fight over Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER: This is not working. It's a war without end. There is no light at the end of the tunnel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: War funding with strings attached.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Good Friday to you. Getaway day. Whoo! Whoo! Whoo! Friday! Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm sorry, Heidi.
I'm Tony Harris. It's Friday and I was feeling it and I apologize.
Did I embarrass myself? Was that bad?
COLLINS: Nope.
Hi, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins. And it is Friday, this is true.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We want to get started with this story -- Democrats in power in Congress and trying to tie the Iraq war funding to a troop pullout.
Here is CNN's Jessica Yellin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This might sound familiar; Democrats are trying to force the president to pull troops out of Iraq by attaching strings to new war spending.
PELOSI: This is not working. It is a war without end. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. We must reverse it.
YELLIN: Republicans accuse them of attempting to choke off funds to the troops.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: I think that the proposal that we're beginning to hear about, about trying to handcuff our generals and starve our troops in harm's way, is ill advised.
YELLIN: And the president, as he's done before, is promising a veto. It would give the Pentagon $50 billion more for the war but with these conditions: the president must start redeploying troops within 30 days with the goal of having all combat troops out of Iraq within a year. And it would ban the government from using waterboarding to interrogate prisoners.
In a statement the White House accuses Democrats of attempting to "micromanage the war and tie the hands of commanders on the ground." Even Democratic congressional aides admit Democratic leaders don't expect to override the president's veto but they want another vote on an issue that's been a centerpiece of their agenda.
(on camera): Democrats and Republicans agree that even without this bill, there is enough money to keep the war going through early 2008. So this measure is really the Democrats' latest effort to show voters they haven't given up the fight over Iraq.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And let's take you to the New York Stock Exchange. A little -- there it is, the bell. You can hear it as we get the business day started. Man, we could really use a strong Friday of financial news to get us through the weekend.
The Dow starting today at 13,266 after closing down 33 points. But, boy, there was a time yesterday when it looked like things could be a lot worse. The Dow was down over 200 point at various times during the day. So how will the markets respond after the comments from fed chairman Ben Bernanke in Congress yesterday. We'll follow the markets for you right here in the newsroom.
And right now, let's get to our White house correspondent Ed Henry. Ed Henry is following the story of the protest in Pakistan, and the fact that the former prime minister there, Benazir Bhutto, is essentially under house arrest. And the White House is reaching out to the Pakistanis at this point, and what is the message, Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The message is loud and clear from the White House. White house spokesman Gordon Johndroe saying that President Bush wants to make sure that Bhutto is no longer under house arrest. As you know, U.S. officials had been privately, in recent weeks, trying to smooth the way for Bhutto to go back to Pakistan in the first place and try to help smooth the way for some sort of a coalition government being set up.
That was the reason for Bhutto going back to Pakistan in the first place. Gordon Johndroe putting out a statement saying, "Former Prime Minister Bhutto and other political party members must be permitted freedom of movement and all protesters released. It is crucial for Pakistan's future that moderate political forces work together to bring Pakistan back on the path of democracy."
Now, Gordon Johndroe who handles security council matters for the White House, he, releasing that statement from Crawford, Texas, where the president is right now. You know he will be receiving the German chancellor Angela Merkel at his ranch this weekend. Obviously, Pakistan will be one of many foreign policy issues they'll be addressing. This week, President Bush has been trying to prod Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to (A) Get back on the path of democracy. Hold those elections which now are being scheduled apparently for mid February.
They're supposed to be in January, and, secondly, to take off his military uniform. As you know, Musharraf has again pledge to do take off that uniform but he has made that pledge before and not follow through on it. Tony?
HARRIS: OK, Ed. Let's see if we can go between the lines of the statement there that you just read to us. Is this to be read as support for Bhutto, well, of course, because hers is the name mentioned, but she has her own baggage? Or is this to be read as support from this administration for the Democratic process there in Pakistan?
HENRY: I think you hit -- you hit at the end there. The White House realizes obviously Pakistan is a sovereign nation.
HARRIS: Yes.
HENRY: And they're trying to be very careful not to dictate what's going on there and that's why they also were being careful not to install Bhutto in the first place because they wanted to sort of smooth the way for her to go back, if in fact, that would help move the Democratic process forward.
Obviously, in the last week, the Democratic process has been set back. This White House has faced a lot of criticism from outsiders on Capitol Hill in particular, mostly Democrats. But in both parties saying, look, you've really got to push Musharraf harder here so the White House trying to just sort of stay out of Bhutto, Musharraf, any of that internal politics and say, look, anything that is not getting Pakistan back on the path of democracy has to be stopped. And so that's why they are not directly supporting her...
HARRIS: Yes.
HENRY: ... but support the democratic process -- Tony?
HARRIS: Our White House correspondent Ed Henry for us this morning. Ed, great to see you. Thank you.
HENRY: Thank you.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Man caught in corporate sting. He's accused of sneaking around sneakers. Reporter Kyle Iboshi of affiliate KGW has the story of Nike's secrets stolen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYLE IBOSHI, CNN AFFILIATE CORRESPONDENT, KGW (voice-over): The world's largest sports shoe and apparel company, Nike, the victim of espionage. According to the FBI, an Oregon man claimed to have insider information about the Beaverton-based company. He wrote letters to their competitors claiming to have a copy of Nike's unreleased fall 2008 catalog and was willing to leak the information, including designs and prices, to the highest bidder.
BETH ANN STEELE, FBA PORTLAND OFFICE: This is espionage. This kind of crime where you are trying to sell a trade secret is considered espionage.
IBOSHI: The suspect set up e-mail account which the FBI traced to the Monona County Library. The library helped identify the suspect who investigators say is 53-year-old Reynold Chapin. A federal agent then contacted Chapin and pretended to be a shoe company exec.
STEELE: We were able to set up a meeting between the person who we believe was trying to sell the catalog, and one of our agents posing as a business owner who was willing to buy the catalog. IBOSHI: He offered $2,000 and planned to meet at the food court at PDX. When Chapin showed up, FBI agents moved in and made the arrest.
BRIAN BERGER, SPORTS BUSINESS RADIO: This is kind of like someone finding your playbook.
IBOSHI: A sports marketing expert says companies go to great lengths to secure their trade secrets.
BERGER: Before their product goes to market, if someone is able to steal pricing information, steal design information, launch information, that's not good.
IBOSHI: For titans of the business world, industrial espionage can be costly. The FBI figures a stolen catalog could have cost Nike millions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The FBI says the suspect got the catalog while working at a printing press.
HARRIS: A fierce storm stirring in the North Sea. The English coast bracing for historic floods, but thankfully, it didn't happen. CNN's Emily Chang reports.
EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are standing along the river yard that runs right through Great Yarmouth on the eastern coast of England. The water levels here have risen considerably high probably about two meters higher than normal. It's flooded adjacent parking lots, partially flooded the streets. Police have gathered in this area shepherding pedestrians and guiding traffic, but at this point it really seems like disaster has been averted. The surge peaked about a foot lower than expected at about nine feet high. Now, 8,000 homes along the eastern coast of England were threatened. Hundreds and hundreds of people were evacuated but it looks like everyone is safe for now.
What's really been remarkable has been the government response. As soon as government leaders learned of this threat, they began to have emergency meetings last night, including, of course, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. They had meetings through the night to discuss emergency plans.
Police were sent out into neighborhoods to knock on doors and give residents fair warning. And that was partially because this was the strongest storm surge predicted since 1953, when floods killed 300 people in the U.K., 1,800 people in Holland, but that -- nothing like that has happened in this case and it seems at this point, the worst is over. I'm Emily Chang reporting from Great Yarmouth, for CNN.
HARRIS: See you. Yes.
COLLINS: Well, we don't often see that. It could have been worse, but I bet they're very, very thankful over there. Rob Marciano joining us now.
ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, definitely that was a big storm and some winding. Well, it's not so much winding down as it is moving to the east. Their weather too, moves from west to east. They were getting hammered across the North Sea.
A lot of oil companies out there were shutting down production and now they're probably ramping back up. And, of course, maybe that will help the price of oil if they know the supply is not going to be cut off too much. You know, big news here in the states. There it is.
Rockefeller tree. We showed you pictures of it being hauled out of Kentucky yesterday. Today, on that 118-foot trailer, it is being hauled to the Big Apple, will be put up in Rockefeller Center above the skating rink and they'll have their ceremony probably, around -- well, November 28th, I'm told. That would be after thanksgiving.
So anyway, it's going up. And you'll -- you know, big tourist attraction there. Not bad weather right now in New York for that event. As a matter of fact, live shot for you from Central Park where it is a bit hazy and overcast. Temperatures are in the 40s. Not a bad fall day actually, but you'll probably see a little bit of rainfall as you head tonight.
This is probably from our Time Warner Center tower camera, high- top towers there. On Columbus Circle looking to the north and east, there's the reservoir. Tell you what -- foliage kind of hitting the brakes this year with all that mild October air. It looks like the leaves have yet to change there. All that much in Central Park. That mild weather did not help those colors pop. That's for sure.
All right. Low pressure, weak one right now, but it's going to be strengthening. It's dropping some rain. It's chilly rain from Kentucky, West Virginia over the Appalachians into parts of Virginia itself and Baltimore, D.C., and roundabout areas. Temperatures there right around 40, 41 degrees with a chilly rain and some of that rainfall will be moving up towards the northeast.
Meanwhile, pretty tranquil across parts of the central part of the country tomorrow. Pacific Northwest we're going to see some rainfall. It looks like not only tomorrow but the next couple of days. A parade of systems moving in from Portland to Seattle, a look for a cool rain shower there. But Eastern parts of Oregon yesterday saw record high temperatures.
As a matter of fact, if my clicker will work, we'll highlight some of those. Phoenix, 91. They had another record yesterday. Payson, Arizona, 79. Redmond, Oregon, there you go on the high desert, 71 degrees. And Dillon, Montana, 61 doesn't sound warm but for them, that's a record high as per yesterday's date. It'll be 60 degrees in Billings today.
Here's your mild air across the central southern plains. That's where it will stay and its chilly air will remain. It looks like across parts of the northeast, 48 degrees in New York and 49 degrees in D.C. And that tree getting there. Have you guys ever seen the Rockefeller Center tree? I certainly have.
HARRIS: Oh, yes.
COLLINS: Oh, yes. Many times
ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLOGIST: It's like, you know, it's not like not seeing the Washington Monument.
HARRIS: There you go.
COLLINS: You got to go. You got to do the skate at least one lap.
HARRIS: I don't like that.
MARCIANO: Tony, can you just see her? Can you --
HARRIS: I don't skate. I watch Heidi skate.
COLLINS: Yes, he watches me skate all the time!
HARRIS: Yes.
MARCIANO: What kind of outfit would you have on when you're doing that little -- when you skate around?
HARRIS: Careful, Rob. Careful, Rob.
MARCIANO: Well, I'm sure it's fur, you know?
COLLINS: Jacket and jeans. We'll talk to you later, Rob!
MARCIANO: All right, guys.
COLLINS: Thanks.
MARCIANO: Just asking out!
COLLINS: We do want to give you this bit of information right now. Just into the CNN NEWSROOM, a really interesting picture from several years ago to show you because Arthur Bremer, the man you see in this picture being taken into custody is being released after 35 years in prison.
You will remember him to be the man who tried to assassinate Alabama Governor George C. Wallace. Again, that picture coming from 1972, shortly after the event, him being taken into custody.
So, today, we are understanding that he will walk out of the Maryland Correctional Institute in Hagerstown, Maryland. It's a program. He's released anyway, as a result of a state program that reduces prison time for inmates who have actually had good behavior and have held a prison job.
So once again, Arthur Bremer, the man who attempted to assassinate Alabama Governor George C. Wallace is now getting out of prison.
HARRIS: And just in, some breaking news. I guess we have to treat this as breaking news because the markets have been so rocky this week. We told you yesterday -- well, just look at the numbers as they appear right now.
The Dow down 161 points. What are we? Just 10 minutes or so into the trading day. The Nasdaq, we understand, is down -- oh, 63 points, in the early trading. What a week! We were down at various points in the day yesterday by 200 points. More than that at various points.
I can recall watching the last half-hour of the trading day yesterday, and you saw these wild fluctuations that go in from, like 50, 60 point fluctuations yesterday. And we get off the market this morning and take a look at this.
The Dow down 153 points, and believe it or not, that is off the morning low. Just moments ago, the Dow was down 173 points. So we're going to follow this. At least for now, let's call it breaking news throughout the morning here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: An NFL player docked in pay. Just wait till you hear why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Let's see how you feel about this story. A Minnesota Vikings wide receiver taking a financial hit for going to his grandmother's funeral.
Troy Williamson will be docked one pay check from missing last Sunday's game to attend Monday's service. That comes to more than $25,000. Coach Brad Childress calls a decision to dock Williamson's pay a "business principle of the Vikings organization." Huh!
The NFL players association says Williamson will appeal. That makes sense. And how about this story? Man.
The Catholic school principal takes a walk on the wild side. Police in Louisville, Kentucky, say they found him in his car on the shady side of town, dressed like a woman with bondage gear!
Well, you can't make it out all that well here, but he is wearing lots of leather! Fishnet hose! And plastic breasts! He is on leave and facing a charge of loitering with the intent of prostitution.
COLLINS: Wildlife rescue teams are out this morning along the San Francisco shoreline. Dozens of birds have been killed or injured by a 58,000 gallon oil spill in San Francisco bay. Teams have been collecting the birds and attempting to remove the oil. Other workers have been placing booms to control the spill. The oil spilled Wednesday from a ship that hit a tower supporting the San Francisco Oakland Bay bridge. Remember that story.
Also, a dramatic police chase caught on tape. Look at this dashcam video now. Police say they were chasing a stolen SUV on I-85 outside Atlanta, speeds exceeded 90 miles an hour. The SUV plowed into a construction zone.
Look at that. Sending workers running for their lives and get this, the driver, 16 years old. His passenger, 19. Both suffered non-life threatening injuries. They're charged with carjacking and armed robbery.
HARRIS: Badly burned in Iraq. A band of strangers help in his latest battle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. ROBERT HENLINE, U.S. ARMY: They were overwhelmed with all of the help we're getting, but it's par for San Antonio, we found out since we've been here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: It's moving day for a wounded warrior.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Helping wounded warriors. President Bush paid an emotional visit yesterday to soldiers maimed or badly burned in combat. He toured a privately funded rehab center in San Antonio, the center for the intrepid.
Also in that city, this story of a wounded soldier's move into a new house with help from some volunteers. It comes from Deborah Knapp (ph) of affiliate KNES.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH KNAPP, CNN AFFILIATE CORRESPONDENT, KNES (voice-over): Fifty volunteers from throughout San Antonio's military community pitched in today to move a severely wounded soldier and his family into their new home.
SGT. ROBERT HENLINE, U.S. ARMY: Today we're overwhelmed with all the help we're getting, but it's par for San Antonio, we found out, since we've been here.
KNAPP: Extensive injuries suffered in Iraq brought Sergeant Robert Henline to San Antonio. He was the only survivor when his hummer was hit by explosives. He spent nearly six months at Bamsey (ph) and still faces another year and a half of surgeries and therapy.
The California native, his wife and three children, plan to make San Antonio home, and the community has embraced them. Budget Truck donated moving trucks and operation homefront brought in the muscle to get the move done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The service member is not able, does not have the ability to use his hands like he would like to be able to. He is having a hard time watching this being done and not being able to help. But that's why we called the volunteers.
KNAPP: Bobby Henline suffered burns that cost him his ears and eyelids and permanent damage to his arm. His injuries will probably force him out of the military, but he knows what he wants to do next.
HENLINE: I want to get back and help out the other patients that come along, the other soldiers that come through.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy, that's a piece for the podcast later today. Speaking of which, don't forget to join us for the podcast. It's available to you 24/7. It's right there, and you can download it from CNN.com onto your iPod. I think that goes, that definitely goes into the podcast later today.
They will find some other pieces that are little maybe off-beat, these pieces that can't make it into the regular show from 9:00 until noon. By the way, thank you for watching us here in the CNN NEWSROOM, but also be sure to go and download the CNN NEWSROOM daily podcast. Once again at CNN NEWSROOM, available for you to download right on to your iPod.
Well, it's time for one grandfather to get reacquainted with his grandson. Reporter Jennifer Bower of affiliate WJXT finds sitcom-like complications in a real life story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER BOWER, CNN AFFILIATE CORRESPONDENT, WJXT (voice-over): Tonight, 4-year-old Zacari is hanging out at home. The right home.
ZACARI BRADY, WENT HOME WITH WRONG MAN: I went to his house.
BOWER: After school on Tuesday, Zacari became part of a kid mix- up. A grandpa came to Long Branch Elementary to get his grandson but round up taking Zacari by mistake.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't have the same name. They don't even look alike.
BOWER: They apparently did to a 77-year-old grandpa who put Zacari on his bike and rode home.
BRADY: We were riding a bicycle, and he had to pick me up and put me in the middle.
LATOIA GILLIS, ZACARI'S MOTHER: All the way from Long Branch, all the way to Main Street on a bicycle, with a man who I think they say was 77 years old?
BOWER: Zacari tells us when they got to the man's house, it was his wife that realized there was a kid mix-up.
BRADY: She said you got the wrong kid. BOWER: Back at the school, Zacari's aunt had come to pick him up so you can imagine the panic she felt when her 4-year-old nephew wasn't there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, ZACARI'S AUNT: I was thinking of the worst. I was crying. I was shaking.
BOWER: Luckily, the man was on his way back to the school and Zacari was safe. But now, his family wants to make sure this never happens again.
GILLIS: I just want, you know, the school -- I just want it to be a wake-up call. I'm very lucky to have my son back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And beginning today, all pre-K teachers are required to check the ID of anyone picking up students not only at that school, but across the district.
COLLINS: Well, the guy actually had a friend come over to the house...
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: ... and was supposed to come over to the house?
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: The kid wasn't there when he got off the bus.
HARRIS: So what happened?
COLLINS: He went on a different bus or something.
HARRIS: Whoa! So it happens a lot.
COLLINS: Well, I don't know about a lot but it's definitely nerve wracking.
HARRIS: Well, it happens.
COLLINS: It happens.
HARRIS: OK.
COLLINS: Indeed.
I want to get this story now. Health insurance costs cut to the bone. And Gerri Willis will tell us how to save money and where to draw the line.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Former treasury secretary, Robert Rubin, named chairman of the board for Citigroup this week. But Rubin has a passion outside the board room. CNN's Ali Velshi with a look at his life after work.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Bronx. Southeast Washington, D.C. The Mississippi delta. All stark images of poverty and a sharp contrast to the life of a former U.S. treasury secretary. But Robert Rubin made one trip to the Bronx that completely changed his perspective.
ROBERT RUBIN, CHAIRMAN, LISC: I was astounded because what I saw in the south Bronx, which in a sense was the arch symbol of urban decay at one time, was block after block after block after block after block of renovated housing. There was the beginning of new business activity. It was the creation of a real community. And so, I said, how did this happen? And that's when I heard about LISC.
VELSHI: LISC is the Local Initiative Support Corporation. It's a non-profit organization that helps community groups fund projects to redevelop rundown neighborhoods.
RUBIN: I left treasury in July of 1999. And Michael Rubinger of LISC came to me and said our chairman is going to step down, we'd like you to be chairman. And that was the first thing -- the first thing that I did. And the reason I did it was I think that these problems of the intercities and of the distressed rural areas are critical issue for our country. Socially, morally, but also very much economically.
VELSHI: Rubin is still active in the for-profit world. He was recently named chairman of the board for financial giant Citigroup as they search for a new CEO. But the work with LISC remains important.
RUBIN: I think that the best way to get a sense of how important this is is to go on a little tour of project sites. You get a sense of really how great these accomplishments have been.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And still to come, the crackdown turns into a lockdown. Police in Pakistan shut down a city in a major protest. We're live from Pakistan in just a moment, right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris staying for Bill Day (ph). In the CNN NEWSROOM, here's what's on the rundown for you this morning.
An opposition leader buttonholed an entire city, locked down. Pakistan's government heads off a big protest against emergency rule.
COLLINS: He called the shots for the NYPD. Now, the law takes aim at him.
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