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Mideast Peace Talks; GOP Candidate Ron Paul Picks Up Support; Blackwater Security Guards Under Scrutiny for Alleged Steroids Use
Aired November 28, 2007 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it won't be a picnic, a cakewalk or a day at the beach, but Middle East peacemaking does come with a rose garden, at least for a few minutes.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures you're seeing right there. President Bush about to send off the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
We're moments away. You'll see it live right here in the NEWSROOM.
Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips, live from the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
LEMON: It has been a month since anyone has seen Stacy Peterson. Today, several Chicago media outlets are reporting a new twist. One of Drew Peterson's relatives says he helped move a large sealed container from the couple's home into Peterson's SUV the day Stacy vanished.
Sources tell the papers the relative described the container as warm to the touch. The man later became so upset he attempted suicide and was hospitalized. Illinois police have reportedly told volunteers working with the private group Texas EquuSearch to look for a large blue plastic barrel and to focus on areas of water.
CNN affiliate WGN spoke with Drew Peterson right after the story broke.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DREW PETERSON, SUSPECT: I have no idea what anybody is talking about like that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Warm to the touch?
PETERSON: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says he believes that he helped you dispose of your wife's body. Can you at least respond to that? PETERSON: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not at all?
PETERSON: No response. Talk to my lawyer. I have got nothing to say about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No truth to it whatsoever?
PETERSON: Non. Nobody helped me with anything such as that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On October 28th? Where were you on October 28th? This gentlemen says he helped you carry a container out of your home.
PETERSON: You have to talk to my attorney.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Reports say the relative has not been charged and is not being treated as a suspect.
And we'll bring you new developments in the case as they happen. Ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, we'll talk with Jon Lieberman from "America's Most Wanted" for his take on the relative's claims.
PHILLIPS: Police in Miami say they are looking at every angle in the shooting death of NFL star Sean Taylor, but so far there's no suspect and no description of the gunman. Taylor was shot by an intruder inside his Miami home early Monday. He died yesterday.
We don't know much about the investigation, but police are looking at a possible link to a break-in at Taylor's home eight days before the shooting.
Sean Taylor played safety for the Washington Redskins, and since his death fans have placed flowers and other items at makeshift memorials outside the team's stadium and headquarters. The Redskins plan to honor Taylor by wearing number 21 on their helmets and a patch on the jerseys.
LEMON: Let's get you to the Rose Garden now. President Bush making that speech we've been promising you.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No matter how important yesterday was, it's not nearly as important as tomorrow and the days beyond. I appreciate the commitment of these leaders to working hard to achieve peace.
I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't believe that peace was possible, and they wouldn't be here either if they didn't think peace was possible. It's very important for the international community to support these two leaders during the bilateral negotiations that will take place.
And one thing I've assured both gentlemen is that the United States will be actively engaged in the process. That we will use our power to help you as you come up with the necessary decisions to layout a Palestinian state that will live side by side with peace in Israel.
And so I wish you all the best. I appreciate the courage and leadership. It's an honor to call you friends, and it's an honor to have watched you yesterday as you laid out your respective visions for something we all want, which is peace in the Holy Land.
Thank you very much.
LEMON: OK. The president -- let's see if he takes some questions here. Someone threw out a question there, and it was possible the president would answer, but he did he not take questions.
Again, the overarching thing here is he said everyone wants peace in the Holy Land and it's time for Palestine and Israel to live side by side there.
Again, meetings happening -- happened in Annapolis, Maryland, yesterday. Again, the president meeting with both leaders there at the White House, just did that speech moments ago in the Rose Garden. You saw -- I don't know if you guys saw this, but we saw it here, Condoleezza Rice, Dana Perino, all high-ranking members of this administration, in the Rose Garden there.
Also, CNN's Wolf Blitzer will sit down with an exclusive interview this evening in the 6:00 p.m. hour.
Is that correct, of "THE SITUATION ROOM?"
You don't want to miss that. President Bush talking today, and then Wolf Blitzer having that exclusive interview today in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You the people are the key players in tonight's CNN/YouTube debate. You submitted questions on YouTube, and the candidates will answer some of them. And here's a sampling of what has been on all of your minds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you saw with your very own eyes an illegal immigrant crossing the border what would you do?
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can't you make a law that outlaws constant standardized practice test curriculum and force the States to finally actually teach us?
Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When are you candidates going to actually answer a question specifically and stop this double talk?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I look at those of you running for president, you look nothing like me. What are you going to do as president to ensure diversity in your administration?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, for a long-shot, no-named, bottom-tier presidential candidate, Ron Paul has been amazingly successful. He's already shed that bottom tier label, at least in New Hampshire. And if you don't know his name you will after this report from CNN's Chris Lawrence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is Ron Paul's revolution.
RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.
LAWRENCE: And its soldiers have defected from a lot of different camps.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I voted for Bush twice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I usually vote Democrat, and I voted for Kerry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I voted for Bush.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually campaigned for Barack Obama until I heard about Ron Paul.
LAWRENCE: He's a 10-term congressman who already ran for president once. Even fellow Republicans are wondering how Ron Paul became this maverick who broke a record and raised more than $4 million online in a single day.
PAUL: It isn't a technique. It isn't a good computer guy that does this.
LAWRENCE: Paul told me it's his message: return the American dollar to the gold standard and eliminate personal income tax.
PAUL: Just get the government out of our lives and off our backs and out of our wallets.
LAWRENCE: But the thing his supporters mention most is Paul's position on the war, how he'd pull out American troops and hand over the country to Iraqis, like Muqtada al-Sadr.
PAUL: He has his pros and cons, but he's Iraqi. They will listen to him. And he has -- he has his troops. He has his brigade. And they don't need training.
LAWRENCE: And on Web sites like MySpace, Facebook and Meetup, that message has earned him more supporters than Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson or Mitt Romney.
And word is spreading in unorthodox ways.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we have people all around town who are always like, "Who's Ron Paul?"
LAWRENCE: He's the candidate underestimated by practically everyone. Now outpolling Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee in New Hampshire.
(on camera): If you didn't get the nomination, would you consider running as an independent.
PAUL: I have no plans to do that. I have been running -- I've been a Republican congressman for 10 terms. And I think I represent the Republican Party.
LAWRENCE (voice over): Chris Lawrence, CNN, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And be sure to watch tonight at 8:00 Eastern when your voice will be heard. The CNN/YouTube Republican presidential debate only on CNN, your home for politics.
LEMON: A Washington Redskins legend shares his personal friendship with Sean Taylor. We'll hear from a former quarterback, Joe Theismann.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: It's very important for the international community to support the two leaders during the bilateral negotiations that will take place. And one thing I've assured both gentlemen is that the United States will be actively engaged in the process. That we will use our power to help you as you come up with the necessary decisions to lay out a Palestinian state that will live side by side in peace with Israel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So the president is optimistic. The Israeli leader, the Palestinian leader, both optimistic. But do their people feel the same?
Let's go straight to Jerusalem now and CNN's Atika Shubert.
You saw Mahmoud Abbas there and also Ehud Olmert flanking the president. How is this playing over with the people there in Jerusalem, Atika?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, to give you a sense of the Israeli reaction, I have here two Hebrew language papers. This one has the headline "A New Beginning," which certainly sounds optimistic enough. But take a look at this other people which has a very similar photo, but the headline on it says "A Year of Trials," referring to the 2008 deadline for a peace deal.
And that really sums up the attitude of many Israelis here. They want to try for peace talks, but they're also very skeptical of the outcome. And they also know that any peace deal that will be struck is bound to have some very painful concessions. And furthermore, they are fearful that the current Palestinian government may not have the power to actually implement any peace deal that is struck -- Don.
LEMON: OK. So I asked about the people in Jerusalem. How are the Palestinians reacting today, Atika?
SHUBERT: Well, unfortunately, there was more violence in the streets of the West Bank. As you know, there were thousands that demonstrated against the peace talks yesterday in Gaza and the West Bank. One protester was shot and killed. And that violence continued today at the funeral of that demonstrator.
And what we're really seeing on the streets is frustration, people feel that the talks haven't produced anything. There are still checkpoints. There are still Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. And so this doesn't bode well for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. He has already lost control of Gaza, and now with this violence happening in the West Bank, the area he's supposed to have control over, critics are now asking whether or not he can realistically implement a peace deal.
LEMON: Atika Shubert joining us from Jerusalem.
Thank you so much for your report, Atika.
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PHILLIPS: Friends and family say he was coming into his own as a football player and as a person. Now he's dead at the age of 24.
We'll update the search for Sean Taylor's killer.
LEMON: Did road rage contribute to the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we've learned is that there is fairly widespread steroid use among the personnel that they call shooters, the people that go out on the vehicles with guns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Details of a lawsuit filed against Blackwater.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Calgary is Canada's Houston -- all about cowboys and oil. But as people here get more worried about global warming, the wind is shifting.
DAVE BRONCONNIER, CALGARY MAYOR: It's important we address climate change. How do we reduce our environmental and ecological footprint?
O'BRIEN: That's Calgary mayor Dave Bronconnier, touting his city's effort to tap into another plentiful natural resource in this part of Alberta, the strong winds. The city's new $140 million wind farm is now on line, and it means three-quarters of the municipal buildings here are running on renewable electricity. And every day people here are urged to ride the wind on the world's first wind- powered commuter train line. All those windmills are equivalent to taking 30,000 cars off the roads.
Even here in oil country, renewable energy is now frequently cheaper than fossil fuels for generating electricity. So Bronconnier isn't stopping now.
BRONCONNIER: Our objective is that by the year 2012, to have 90 percent of the corporation -- the city's use for energy will be from renewable and sustainable power.
O'BRIEN: Now the question is, will private businesses and plain, old folks follow the city's example, turning this turbine success into a green stampede in Calgary?
Miles O'Brien, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Police in Miami say they're looking at every angle in the shooting death of NFL star Sean Taylor, but so far there's no suspect and no description of the gunman. Taylor was shot by an intruder inside his Miami home early Monday. He died yesterday. We don't know much about the investigation, but police are looking at a possible link to a break-in at Taylor's home eight days before the shooting. Sean Taylor played safety for the Washington Redskins and since his death fans have placed flowers and other items at makeshift memorials just outside the teams stadium and headquarters. The Redskins plan to honor Taylor by wearing number 21 on their helmets and a patch on their jerseys.
Former Washington quarterback Joe Theismann is still close to the Redskins and says he got to know Sean Taylor. Earlier today on CNN, Theismann said that Taylor was eager to grow as both a player and a person.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE THIESMANN, FMR. WASHINGTON REDSKINS QUARTERBACK: When you come into the league out of college you're ill-equipped, from a maturity standpoint, to really handle professional football. You come into a man's world. You're a boy coming into the man's world, physiologically, psychologically, physically, you all have to grow.
And Sean, at the age of 24, had grown into that feeling of leadership. He was the first one at practice. He was the first one in meetings. He understood and loved the game. He had a passion and a love for the game of football that you could see on the field but because of his guarded nature very few people ever got to really know who this young man really was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The Redskins are scheduled to play Sunday against Buffalo and again the following Thursday night.
LEMON: Disgraced NFL quarterback Michael Vick has already paid a big price for his illegal sideline. Now he's paying more. Vick has agreed to put up almost a million dollars by Friday to care for 54 dogs found on his property. The suspended Atlanta Falcons star pleaded guilty back in August to federal dog fighting conspiracy charges. He hasn't been sentenced yet, but he reported to jail earlier this month to get an early start on serving his time.
O.J. Simpson pleaded not guilty today to kidnapping and robbing those sports memorabilia dealers in Vegas back in September. Trial is set for April. Simpson claims he was only trying to get back items stolen from him by a former agent. He says he had no idea his cohorts brought guns. The former NFL running back was acquitted of murdering his wife back in 1995.
PHILLIPS: "Roid rage" in Iraq? Well, a lawsuit claims that steroids may have been a factor in the controversial, some say unprovoked, killing of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater security guards in September. CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Lawyers for some victims of the September 16 shootings allege that Blackwater guards were regular steroid users and suggest that could have been a factor in the incident, by magnifying the guard's anger and making them more prone to overreact.
SUSAN BURKE, LEAD COUNSEL: What we have learned is that there is fairly widespread steroid use among the personnel that they call shooters. The people that go out on the vehicles with guns.
MCINTYRE: A lawsuit just filed in federal court in Washington spells out the charge. "Blackwater knew that 25 percent or more of its 'shooters' were ingesting steroids or other judgment altering substances yet failed to take effective steps to stop the drug use."
Contacted by CNN, a company spokesperson said, "All Blackwater personnel are drug tested during the screening process, before ever working for the company, and are subject to random testing which is performed quarterly. Steroids and performance enhancement drugs, both illegal and prescribed, are absolutely in violation of our policy. If anyone were known to be using illegal drugs they would be fired immediately."
BURKE: It's not enough to just fire a few people after the fact. They've got to be looking into this.
MCINTYRE: The lawyers say they have sources with inside knowledge who confirm the company turned a blind eye to steroid use; and that by putting employees under oath they will be able to build a convincing case. The lawsuit asks for significant but unspecified punitive damages on behalf of seven victims or their families, including Mohassan Mosen Kadem (ph), a doctor whose son, a second-year medical student, was shot to death just before she herself was gunned down, as she cradled her dead son's body calling for help.
(On camera): A tendency toward violence is a well-documented side effect of steroid use. It even has a slang name, "roid rage". What no one is saying whether any of the Blackwater employees were tested for steroids after the incident, or whether it's part of the FBI investigation.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: No longer General Musharraf. It's now just President Musharraf. Pakistan's president hung up his uniform today giving up the army post that had been the real source of his power. That's long been demand of Musharraf's political opponents and something he's pledged to do more than once. Musharraf took over the presidency after a coup in 1999. He'll be resworn in tomorrow as Pakistan civilian head of state.
PHILLIPS: A team in a rebuilding year? No, it's not a sports team. We're going to look at what Republicans are trying to do to bounce back from 2006.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: The Sunshine State is in the spotlight as eight Republican presidential candidates face off tonight in the CNN/YouTube debate. It takes place in St. Petersburg in less than seven hours from now and it comes just five weeks before the first votes are cast in the race for the White House.
The scene, a busy one today, as we see in this time-lapse video. Right now security sweeps are under way and we're pouring over all the poll numbers. A new CNN/Opinion Research poll of likely Republican voters in Florida, among other things, 53 percent say Rudy Giuliani can best handle terrorism; 19 percent pick John McCain. Trailing them Fred Thompson at 10 percent, Mitt Romney 8 percent.
Asked who can best deal with Iraq, about a third say Giuliani, a third say McCain, Thompson and Romney trail at 10 and 9 percent.
LEMON: The guys facing off in Florida tonight get most of the media attention as do their Democratic counterparts, but the stakes for both parties in 2008 go far beyond the presidency. Democrats want to build on the congressional majority they won just a year ago, and Republicans want their majorities back. CNN's John King is part of the best political team on television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TONY DIMATTEO, CHAIRMAN, PINELLAS COUNTY GOP: OK, so we have the double order for the tables.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tony Dimatteo prefers to worry about the next election not dwell on the 2006 national Republican drubbing.
DIMATTEO: We got bogged down in the war. We got it handed to us, but there was external reasons beyond our control. Hopefully the national party will remedy this.
KING: Dimatteo is the GOP chairman in Pinellas County, Florida, and thinks his state could serve as a national model.
DIMATTEO: It's a moderate Republican county. I think, in general, Florida is a moderate state.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Vince, I hope you would consider voting for me, OK?
DIMATTEO: So, I think that's why people like Giuliani are doing well for instance. Because he's generally in a lot of social issues he's considered a moderate.
KING: But one Republican's solution is another's nightmare. Richard Viguerie among the veteran activist who view Giuliani as a threat to the party's social conservative brand.
RICHARD VIGUERIE, CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST: There is a major, even massive amount of anger, frustration, unrest, feeling of betrayal. Rudy Giuliani is a major focus of this concern right now, but it's far beyond just Giuliani.
KING: The debate over Giuliani is one symptom of a broader Republican identity crises.
GOV. MARK SANFORD (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: It takes time to damage a brand, takes even longer to rebuild it.
KING: A president who took office imagining a lasting Republican majority is now unpopular, and all but ignored by the candidates looking to replace him. The party's image is tattered. One reason two dozen Republicans in Congress are retiring.
Only 25 percent of Americans identify themselves as Republicans and just 40 percent in a recent Pew Research Center study had a favorable view of the GOP. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford says voters no longer trust that pulling the Republican lever means less spending and lower taxes. Not the legacy Mr. Bush had hoped for.
SANFORD: He's not the only one to blame. I don't want to suggest that. Inasmuch as the presidency if you were the party in power is sort of the titular head of the Republican Party, certainly some of the buck stops there.
KING: Picking a new leader is one step in the rebuilding process but consensus on a winning agenda is just as important.
WHIT AYRES, REPUBLICAN POLLSTER: The real challenge for the Republican Party is figuring out how to keep the base happy while at the same time reaching out to the independents who voted Democrat in 2006.
KING: Pinellas County is a case study. Since Mr. Bush was elected in 2000, Republican registration in the county is down slightly, Democratic registration up a little. And the number of independents way up.
DIMATTEO: So that just tells me that we have a lot more work to do to get registered Republicans involved in the process.
KING: Plenty of work for Dimatteo and others here at the county level.
DIMATTEO: I'm glad I'm not the national party chairman because I think it's a puzzle.
KING: While the national party tries to find its way.
John King, CNN, Clearwater, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Make sure to watch tonight at 8:00 Eastern when your voice will be heard. The CNN/YouTube Republican presidential debate only on CNN. Of course, CNN, your home for politics. Remember the CNN/YouTube debates are all about you. You're asking the questions, but it doesn't stop there. After tonight's debate log on to CNN.com/ireport and tell us how you think the candidates did. What you say might be part of our post debate analysis.
PHILLIPS: A quick programming note President Bush will talk exclusively with Wolf Blitzer in "The Situation Room" at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
Reporter puts pedal to the metal to drive home a point.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, hit a speed of 60 miles per hour and don't brake.
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PHILLIPS: This smart car stops on a dime, but will it stop dumb drivers?
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. A race car driver takes on a Spice Girl, it's a ballroom blitz you won't want to miss straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: When the ripple effect from the mortgage crisis becomes a tidal wave. CNN's Rusty Dornin is live in one such suburban neighborhood, much of which was on the auction block.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What if you bought a house like this as part of your American dream and then the builder couldn't make his payments and was foreclosed on. Now this is in your front yard and the future is uncertain. We'll tell you how neighbors are feeling about the housing gloom coming up next.
PHILLIPS: He likes things fast. She likes things spicy. Last night viewers at ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" got both race car driver Helio Castroneves and Spice Girl Mel Brown went heel to toe one last time. Our Entertainment Correspondent Brooke Anderson joins me now with all the details.
ANDERSON: Hi there, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, one sexy couple.
ANDERSON: One sexy couple, you're right about that. A lot of sexy moves on "Dancing with the Stars." And from champ of the racetrack to king of the dance floor was race car driver Helio Castroneves, who pulled ahead in the last lap to take home the checkered flag on the finale last night.
Castroneves and his dance partner, Julianne Hough, who also won last season's competition, beat out the Spice Girl Melanie Brown for that mirror ball trophy. Judges' scores had given Brown and partner Max a one-point lead heading into the final tally, but when America's votes were added it was the Indy car driver who crossed the finish line in first. Now, the third finalist Marie Osmond was eliminated earlier in the night, Kyra. PHILLIPS: We have to ask you about that. Each week Marie Osmond seemed to get the lowest scores. What happened?
ANDERSON: She did. And she even admitted, Kyra, that she wasn't the best dancer. It's votes from the viewers. Marie has been famous for a very long time, very popular. And during "Dancing with the Stars" she faced some personal struggles. Her father died. Her son went into rehab, she also fainted on the show. So, maybe people could relate what she was going through, and wanted to send their support through their votes.
PHILLIPS: All right. Apologize for that. We're having a little issue here.
ANDERSON: That's OK.
PHILLIPS: We're going to step aside from "Dancing with the Stars" and talk about the writers strike. That sure didn't stop "Dancing with the Stars" from finishing out the season, right? The picketers are now turning to the Internet for support.
ANDERSON: They certainly are, Kyra. It is the latest attempt to gain support and get more exposure in their battle with the Producers Alliance. As writers continue to fight for higher pay outs on web- based material, they are now turning to the Internet itself for help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE SCHUR, WRITER, "THE OFFICE": You're watching this on the Internet. A thing that pays us zero dollars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And hey, forget about reruns. Thanks to YouTube and Speechlesswithoutwriters.com, you can now see a number of A-list actors on line with some new material. Hearing them, however, is not an option the majority of the time. The campaign is called "Speechless": A series of black and white shorts that feature actors like Sean Penn, Eva Longoria. And here they are, the cast of "Ugly Betty" mostly sitting silently or mouthing words. This to convey the importance of writers in the creative process. Another clip becoming popular on line is called, "This Is Not the Daley Show" from one of that show's writers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our top story, really our only story, the ongoing writers' strike, which began last Monday after talks broke down between writers, seen here working slavishly for your entertainment, and media company CEOs captured here in their natural habitat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So, Kyra, writers are definitely pulling out all the stops as negotiations do continue today. PHILLIPS: All right. Before we let you go we have to ask you about the Hannah Montana ticket scandal story. It's pretty big news here in Georgia today.
ANDERSON: Certainly. As teen pop star Miley Cyrus, aka, Hannah Montana, continues her tour, tonight, there in Duluth, Georgia, but today there is a new warning for ticket holders. Officials with the Gwinnett County Arena are warning parents some of whom -- listen to this -- paid up to $2,500 for a seat. They're warning them that counterfeit tickets are floating around out there.
Officials say there's no way to know whether the tickets you buy are real until they are scanned at the concert door. Only tickets purchased through Ticket Master or the venue's box office are guaranteed. Tickets for the show have been in high demand since going on sale.
Moving now to "Showbiz Tonight" coming up we've got spicy beauty queen scandal. Miss Puerto Rico sits down with "Showbiz Tonight" to reveal what really happened the night she claims someone tried to sabotage her with pepper spray. That was before she went on stage. The explosive and revealing interview on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, "Showbiz Tonight", 11:00 Eastern and Pacific. Hope you join us then.
PHILLIPS: All right, Brooke Anderson, thanks so much.
LEMON: Remember when the only safety feature in cars were seat belts? Before the late '50s most cars didn't even have them. It was just your mom's hand to push you back when she stopped. Well today's cars have crumple zones, air bags, even cameras so we can see everything behind us when we back up. There's much, much more coming down the pike. CNN's Kyung Wah (ph) takes us on a test drive into the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG WAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From the packed maze of Manhattan to the sleepily suburbs of Rhode Island to the tangled streets of Tokyo. When it's car versus pedestrian the pedestrian almost always loses.
(On camera): Here we go.
(voice-over): What you're seeing us drive is the car engineers hope will give pedestrians a fighting chance.
(On camera): So hit a speed of 60 miles per hour, and don't brake.
(Voice over): As we pick up speed on the Toyota test course this special sensor detects I'm about to blow through a red light. Picking up a signal emitted from the light.
(On camera): It brakes on its own. (Voice over): It's not just red lights, engineers are conceptualizing cars that can even detect a pedestrian is about to run out in front of you, or another car is about to sideswipe you.
(On camera): So the idea is to create a car where it's nearly impossible to have any sort of pedestrian accident.
(Voice over): Honda already is marketing cars in Japan equipped with night vision and hoods that reduce the extent of head injury if there is an accident. Toyota hopes to have its concepts for sale in three years.
The goal, says Toyota engineer Hiroyuki Kanemitsu is to warn drivers before they get into an accident and not to become dependent on the safety devices. That's where a New York City pedestrian group believes this technology could actually cause more accidents.
PAUL WHITE, TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES: These kinds of devices send drivers the message, OK, drive however you wish. This technology will make you and your family and people on the street safe and that's just not true.
WAH: How much technology can do to save lives no engineer can say for sure but they say there is one certainty, as long as drivers and pedestrians share the streets, accidents are inevitable.
Kyung Wah (ph), CNN, Susono, Japan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: So, who is the best neighbor these days? One that can cover their mortgage and in some places good neighbors are getting harder to find. We'll tell you why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It looks like, once again, we are getting word from the U.S. Air Force that it is grounding most of the F-15 fleet. We're being told it grounded several hundred more of the F-15 fighters due to potential structural problems that could lead to these planes falling apart in midair.
We're told that all 442 F-15 A through D models, in the Air Force inventory were regrounded this week after inspectors were looking through them and also looking into the November 2nd crash of an F-15C that found possible fleetwide air worthiness problems. Now tests on the planes appear to have found problems with strips of metal as well, which hold the fuselage together. That's the main concern there. So we're going to get more from Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon as soon as we're able to connect with him.
LEMON: Meantime, we're going to talk about this. Owning your own home -- it is the American dream, but for some the modern day reality is nightmarish. The sub-prime mortgage mess, a glut of homes that won't sell, also creeping inflation. It's a financial storm very much on the radar of America's mayors. CNN's Kitty Pilgrim has their grim forecast.
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KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Mayors from metropolitan areas met on Tuesday in Detroit to discuss what the mortgage crisis is doing to their communities.
MAYOR VIRG BERNERO, LANSING, MICHIGAN: It's eating away at the backbone of our neighborhoods. And it is bigger than what I can handle.
This thing is massive. It's bigger than any of us. It's bigger than our cities, it's bigger than the state. We need a federal imperative. We need federal leadership.
PILGRIM: According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors the epidemic of foreclosure signs and boarded up homes will depress the value of the average home price of 7 percent in 2008. Total lost equity from mid 2007 through 2008 is estimated to run $1.2 trillion as home values decline across the board.
MAYOR DOUGLAS PALMER, TRENTON, NEW JERSEY: Lenders could have policed mortgage brokers more carefully and Wall Street scrutinizers could have shown less greed and more care in the soundness of their investments and profits. They did not.
PILGRIM: These 10 states alone expect to lose more than $6.5 billion in tax revenue. Mayors say with reduced revenues from property taxes, they will struggle to provide services to their communities without raising taxes. Schools could also see budget cuts because of reduced revenues.
MAYOR KWAME KILPATRICK, DETROIT: This is big. This is one of those issues where if we really don't go at it with the type of tenacity and focus that it deserves, it can undermine the very fabric of what America is all about. Homeownership, the American dream, sending the kid to college. We need people to really focus on this in a major way.
PILGRIM: It's not just large cities. The mayor of Bowling Green, Kentucky, population 53,000, is trying to prevent her community from being devastated.
MAYOR ELAINE WALKER, BOWLING GREEN, KENTUCKY: We have a 47 percent homeownership rate in the City of Bowling Green. I've been mayor now for my third year and one of my top priorities is to increase the homeownership rates.
When you look at this foreclosure tsunami that we're looking at that's going to take us backward and I'm quite -- I'm not quite prepared to go backward.
PILGRIM: But many sub-prime mortgages will reset in the middle of next year.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: That was CNN's Kitty Pilgrim reporting.
In case you're wondering which city takes the hardest fall in the S&P Schiller home price index, it's Tampa, Florida. The average home price there is down more than 11 percent from last year.
And you know the movie line, "If you build it, they will come." But if they don't? Well, that question is part of our continuing coverage of the mortgage crisis in just a few minutes. Next, the impact of the mortgage crisis on the companies that build sub- divisions. How will your property be affected if your sitting next to empty homes like these. Rusty Dornin is live in an Atlanta suburb facing that problem. Plus, renters you're not off the hook. Do you know for sure your landlord is paying his bills? Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis has answers for you.
The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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