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Weather-beaten; Endorsement Season for Presidential Candidates; Cash for Guns; Basra Handover; Two Arms, Two Legs
Aired December 16, 2007 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, ANCHOR: Well, we can call this a very, very good weekend for at least three presidential candidates; some score as endorsement season kicks off.
Plus she lost two arms and two legs, but is more whole than ever. A little girl born with eight limbs goes home with four.
And our top story, thousands without power, airport delays and dangerous roads, a big chunk of the country weather-beaten.
And hello everyone, I'm Tony Harris. You are in the "CNN Newsroom." Let's get right to it. Winds, snow, sleet, a deadly combination, a fierce winter storm barreling across the nation, has killed at least three people on icy roads, two in Michigan, one in Wisconsin.
The storm left the Midwest Great Lakes snowed under and it is dumping more snow in New England. More than 100,000 customers in Pennsylvania have no power. And thousands are still without electricity in Oklahoma and Missouri, from an ice storm that struck last week.
Meantime, a different kind of weather threat struck a community on Florida's Gulf Coast early today. A tornado destroyed a minimum security jail annex in Land o' Lakes and tipped over some cars. No injuries reported. The inmates had been evacuated to a main jail just before the twister hits.
More on the weather story across the country right now. Straight Syracuse, New York, and CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf. Reynolds, ok let's do this in one-two-three-four words, how rough is it?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: To tell you the truth, Tony, it's been pretty interesting here. I mean, we have to remember, Syracuse is an area that is used to getting some snowfall. This is in close proximity to the Great Lakes.
They get the lake effect snowfall. So the half-heavy snow is not out of the question; this happened before. However, this is the first significant snowfall of the season so of course, it has been a headache for many people but it sure is pretty.
We had around one to four inches of snowfall earlier today. It has begun to pick up. We've seen a few breaks here and there but we're expecting by morning time at least ten inches on the ground in some spots, a few places getting a little bit less than that, maybe around four to five, but it is going to be something that a lot of people going to have to deal with during the rush hour. However, keep in mind, Syracuse is not the only place in the country that's been dealing with a dose of Old Man Winter.
Christmas may be just over a week away, but do you really want to go shopping in this mess? From the Midwest to the Northeast, heavy snow for the second time in less than a week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Horrible. Absolutely ridiculous.
WOLF: Get out the scrapers, the shovels the snow blowers and don't forget the snowplows and salt spreaders, says Chicago's street commissioner.
STREET COMMISSIONER, CHICAGO: I will have over 400 vehicles on the street.
WOLF: Despite the best efforts of the road crews, there were accidents, also flight delays and cancellations.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're trying get home.
WOLF: Not a fit day for man nor beast but dogs have to be walked.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, four times a day; got to do it.
WOLF: This is what it looked like in Foxborough, Massachusetts, just hours before the big game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. As crews worked to clear the snow under the stands, fans were urged to take public transportation or carpool.
You know, Tony, it's funny. It's hard to believe that something so pretty can cause so many problems for so many people. Millions of people will be affected across much of the Northeast tomorrow, due to all this snow. Some places in upstate New York's highest elevations could see around 20 inches of snow before all is said and done. Back to you.
HARRIS: Reynolds, you mentioned something, I think it's very important, we were in the heavy duty retail season right now. Look, retailers need traffic right now. Are you in an area where you've been able to gauge how much traffic has been -- have you seen much traffic go into the shops and actually doing some Christmas shopping?
WOLF: We have seen quite a bit of traffic on the road. Keep in mind, this being a Sunday, the people that are out, there are some that are obviously doing some shopping and some people that are checking on relatives.
I'm sure there has been some shopping going on but tomorrow, Tony no, doubt, some people will be trying to go shopping but you do have those people on the roads that have to go to work.
HARRIS: Sure.
WOLF: So that is where we're going to see a lot of problems. It's a mathematical equation. You think more people on the roads, icy conditions, people being in a hurry, it's not -- doesn't add up very well.
HARRIS: Okay, Reynolds Wolf for us, Syracuse, New York. Reynolds it's great to see. Nice behind you, looks great!
Let's get over to Bonnie Schneider now in the Severe Weather Center.
And Bonnie, again, another day, we talked about this yesterday, the story is just as complicated. Today is yesterday.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, METEOROLOGIST: It may get more complicated, Tony because now we're also factoring some strong winds and refreezing of areas that saw rain today like Boston where we're going to have black ice tomorrow morning. And that's going to be a major concern if you're traveling there; and also into New York temperatures dropping below freezing.
Reynolds is in Syracuse, we're still going to see heavy snow. We still have the winter weather advisories in place there. By the time we get to Monday, what will happen is, we still have our low pressure area well to the northeast but high pressure will gradually build in from the southwest. That will create more of a pressure gradient. So the winds will really crank up by Monday morning.
In fact, most of the advisories go until 7:00 in the morning tomorrow. So if you're an early riser you are going to have to deal with that wind in the forecast.
We do have advisories posted for snow to the north, sleet to the south, and very windy conditions from some major cities. The weather is so bad tonight, Tony, that some airports have completely shut down. I'll have a look at air travel for tonight and a look ahead to tomorrow coming up.
HARRIS: Ok Bonnie, appreciate it, thank you.
You know t is still weeks before the caucuses, but the endorsements from influential newspapers, and from non-running politicians, well they're starting to come in.
CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is on the road this weekend. And she joins me now from the battleground state, well, the number one battleground state I guess. Suzanne, good to see you.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Tony. Really, it is anybody's race here in Iowa, and of course, these endorsements are coming in. The big question, you know, whether or not they really make a difference.
Sometimes they have in the past. Sometimes they absolutely don't, but it certainly is Camp Clinton that is hoping that this big endorsement will put her over the edge.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
Dogged by bad press and bad weather, Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign looked like it was grounded. But then, something happened. Clinton got the coveted endorsement of Iowa's most important paper -- the skies cleared, and she took off. You couldn't get a better metaphor.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And if you stand up for me, I promise you, I will stand up and fight for you every single day that I'm president.
MALVEAUX: The makings of another Clinton morphing into the Comeback Kid? Well, it may be too soon to tell. But the nod from Iowa's "Des Moines Register" does help. It echoes her campaign's central theme, "Experience Matters."
CLINTON: I'm running because I think I can take the experience of my lifetime, particularly the work that I've done over the last 35 years, and put it to work for everybody.
MALVEAUX: She uses the argument mostly to set herself apart from her closest opponent, Barack Obama. Her husband, former president Bill Clinton, is fine tuning the message; mixing it with part flattery.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obama is a person of enormous talent. You know, staggering political skills.
MALVEAUX: Part inquiry.
B. CLINTON: Who is the best agent of change, not the best symbol but the best agent?
MALVEAUX: And part zinger.
B. CLINTON: I mean in theory we could find someone who is gifted television commentator.
HOST: You think?
B. CLINTON: And let them run. They'd have only one year less experience in national politics.
MALVEAUX: Obama's comeback?
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I was 20 points down, they all thought I was a wonderful guy. So obviously things have changed.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
And Tony, really that feud over Obama's experience has become so heated now that there are some voters who are looking at this race and saying it's really a battle between Bill and Barack.
HARRIS: Wow, wow! All right, let's sort of drill down on that just a bit here, Suzanne. This tit-for-tat between Bill and Barack. What does it really mean for the campaign?
MALVEAUX: You know what this really says, is that people are fully engaged. This is really an indicator of just how important this window of important is before the Iowa caucuses, less than three weeks away, essentially the gloves are coming off and it shows you that everyone is engaged here.
They believe that what happens in Iowa essentially is going to set the stage for all of those states that follow. So it is critical to use whatever they have at this point to put it out there now.
HARRIS: I think you're absolutely right about that. Suzanne Malveaux for us this evening. Suzanne great to see you, thanks.
Okay the endorsements from the "Des Moines" and the Boston papers surprised a few people but not as much as the news today from the office of a perennial party-line crosser, a Washington source tells us that Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman is throwing his support behind Republican candidate John McCain.
Why the surprise? Lieberman is not a Republican. He's officially an independent but he votes in caucuses with his former party, the Democrats. Lieberman's endorsement isn't confirmed. He's expected to make it official tomorrow.
No big named power endorsements yet for GOP long-shot Ron Paul but the Texas congressman is showing his flare for one of the trickier plays of the election game; the money, the money, oh, yeah, the money.
CNN's Mary Snow reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They mark the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party to rally for Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul, and call for a modern-day revolution. They raised millions in a single day online and gathered in Boston to make a statement.
RAND PAUL, RON PAUL'S SON: I think my dad, Ron Paul, has always been one who believes at times there are times in our history when we have to say no; no to a government that's run away.
SNOW: Rand Paul represented his father, whose image was never far away. His followers weren't deterred by the sleet and snow or by Paul's underdog status in the presidential race.
If this is a revolution, then Linda Honeycutt is its daughter. She calls herself the granny warrior and travels in this bus to spread his message.
LINDA HONEYCUTT: How many other candidates would you know of that would have people come out and stand in this mess, drive from North Carolina up here? I mean, it's just phenomenal. Ron Paul cannot lose. Even if he loses, he wins because he's opened up the box.
SNOW: Paul's call to anti-Iraq war and his libertarian views are what attracts these followers and while his numbers have been stronger in fund-raising than polls, some of his supporters say their revolution goes beyond the presidential election. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ron Paul says he's a conduit, but the grassroots, the actual support runs deeper than that. It's throughout the whole United States.
SNOW: Some supporters say they would like to see Ron Paul run as an independent if he doesn't win the Republican nomination, but that's something Paul has repeatedly said he wouldn't do. And if he doesn't, some of the grassroots organizers here said they would use their fund- raising ability to help candidates in state races.
MARY SNOW, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: I want to give you A postscript to that report, the Ron Paul campaign lit the fuse on what he calls another money bomb today, that's what his followers call those one-day mostly online fund- raising pushes. Just minutes ago the poll camp reported up to $4.2 million in pledges just today. That report is not confirmed.
All right, the bloggers love Ron Paul, writing about Ron Paul, they love writing about everyone. We will poke our noses into the blog sphere in just a couple of minutes and see how these endorsements are playing with the web crowd. "Blog Buzz" on CNN at 7:30 Eastern.
Hand in your gun and they'll hand over money, no questions asked. Can cash curb the violence in our nation's capital?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Welcome back everyone to the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Tony Harris. Cash for guns. Hand in a gun today in the nation's capital and go home with money in your pocket. That's Washington's latest effort to battle a growing murder rate. But are gun buy-back programs effective?
Here's CNN's Gary Nurenberg.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sign on this Washington D.C. Street says "Peace on Earth." Other signs on D.C. streets, bullet casings at the scene of a drive-by shooting Friday, tell a different story. The shooters fired 11 times.
WANDA BROOKS, GUN OWNER: There's just too much violence in the world now and especially in this area, and we need to get the guns off the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Automatic pistol.
NURENBERG: Washington police were buying guns over the weekend in a city where handguns have been banned since 1976, a gun amnesty program, "Cash for Guns".
CHIEF CATHY LANIER, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE: There just seems to be an unlimited supply of guns out here on the street.
NURENBERG: D.C. Police Chief Kathy Lanier says it is the number one reason for an increase in the city's homicide rate.
CMDR. JOEL MAUPIN, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE: Any weapon that comes of the street that gets into our possession one that will not be used against any of our systems ((ph)).
NURENBERG: Criminologists are skeptical.
JAMES ALAN FOX, CRIMINOLOGIST, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: It's sort of like trying to bail out the Titanic with a paper cup as the water keeps coming in. The extent to which we can get guns off the street, with a gun buy-back program, is dwarfed by the flow of guns, illegal guns onto the street.
GEORGE LYON, GUN OWNER: We shouldn't fool ourselves that offering the $100 in a gun buyback program is going to stop anyone from committing a crime.
NURENBERG: George Lyon is suing the city to overturn its gun ban, a case the Supreme Court will hear early next year. A new CNN/opinion research poll released Sunday shows 65 percent of Americans believe the constitution guarantees each person the right to own a gun.
LYON: Guns no more cause crime than cars cause drunk driving.
NURENBERG: But D.C. police are convinced that every gun off the street is a plus. They bought 279 of them over the weekend.
Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: The pageantry was noticeable but is it a sign of progress in Iraq? Control of a major province returns to the Iraqis, that story next in "The Newsroom."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You hear that? Those blasts you hear there, the sound of air attacks by Turkey, some 60 miles deep into northern Iraq. They're the biggest such bombings in years against Iraqi Kurdish rebels who launched attacks into Turkey. Iraq says a woman was killed in the strikes. It summoned the Turkish ambassador to launch a formal complaint.
At the other end of the country, Iraqi troops on parade today. A ceremony in southern Iraq marks the formal return of oil-rich Basra to full Iraqi control. It is a risky move by the British. The story from Isla Traquair of ITV news.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ISLA TRAQUAIR, ITV NEWS: A handshake and exchange of signatures, a small gesture between two men, marking what is a significant milestone in the process of bringing to a close the most contentious British military exercise of recent times.
This simple ceremony in front of the world's media, formalized the handing over of Basra, making it the ninth out of 18 provinces to be handed back to Iraqi control. Signing of the memorandum of understanding was carried out by the commander of British forces in Iraq.
MAJ. GEN. GRAHAM BINNS, BRITISH COMMANDER: This ceremony is particularly poignant for me. I commanded the coalition troops, who entered Basra in April, 2003. Four and a half years later, I have the privilege of handing the city and the province back to Iraqi control. I came to rid Basra of its enemies, and I now formally hand Basra back to its friends.
TRAQUAIR: But what if in handing back, the province changed for the better or worse? British troops received a warm welcome when they first entered Basra, but the cheers and handshakes were soon replaced with bomb attacks and gun battles.
That violence dramatically reduced when troops withdrew from the city in September, but that hasn't stopped violence between Iraqis. There're reports of 40 women being murdered for being insufficiently Islamic.
DAVID MILIBAND, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: It remains a violent society, whose attentions need to adressed but they need to be addressed by Iraqi political leaders.
TRAQUAIR: Politicians may have been handed the responsibility and official paperwork today but who will really take control of Basra?
Isla Traquair, ITV news.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: In the other war zone, Afghanistan, Taliban fighters are claiming responsibility for yesterday's rocket attacks that targeted police headquarters in Kabul. Five people died, another five were wounded. Insurgents had turned a wooden cart into a makeshift rocket launcher.
CNN's Nick Robertson who was at the scene spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
NICK ROBERTSON: What is the solution here? Is it a purely military solution to defeat the Taliban?
HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: No, it is not. It is definitely not purely a military solution. The solution has to be both political and then military.
ROBERTSON: Reconciliation then?
KARZAI: Reconciliation is one part of the political solution. The solution has to be concentrating by all of us on the sources of terrorism. On where they get trained, on where they get enabled to come and hurt the rest of us, in Afghanistan or the rest of the world.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: President Karzai denies reports suggesting as much as half of Afghanistan is under Taliban control.
With the Iowa caucus now less than, what, three weeks away the state's major newspaper picks its candidates. But will the endorsements make any difference? That is the focus of our weekly blog buzz. That's next in the "The Newsroom."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Ok, let's talk more about these big endorsements. They are big, in case you missed it during Suzanne Malveaux's live report at the top of the hour, here's the skinny.
The "Des Moines Register" and let's keep it real here, this isn't some college paper. It's the big paper, the statewide newspaper endorsing Senators McCain and Clinton for the 2008 Iowa caucuses and "The Boston Globe" is endorsing Senators Obama and McCain.
We have roughly 18 days until the caucus. Is that enough time for the other candidates to jockey into the top position? Let's bring in the bloggers.
On the right, Amanda Carpenter from townhall.org. Amanda, good to talk to you. You're usually on Howard Kurtz's show, right?
AMANDA CARPENTER, TOWNHALL.ORG: I've been on there a couple of times. I'm on with you tonight.
HARRIS: You're going to have more fun on this show. To the left, Pam Spalding from pamshouseblend blog. Good to talk to you.
PAM SPALDING, PAMSHOUSEBLEND BLOG: Nice to talk to you, Tony.
HARRIS: All right let's, Pam, ratchet up the energy a little bit. We go at it here all right? Stay with me now.
The "Des Moines Register" goes for Hillary and McCain. Amanda, let's start with you. What's the impact, let's start with the Clinton campaign?
CARPENTER: I think it gives Hillary a little bit of help. I mean, she's been hurting a lot this week with Obama. Obama has been tearing up. There was a great story in the "New York Times" yesterday, talking about how he has this new confidence. He's speaking much crisper. And McCain, that's interesting, too, because I think he's getting some momentum under the radar.
HARRIS: Do you really?
CARPENTER: I do, because his theory about the surge is being proven true right now and New Hampshire is taking notice as well.
HARRIS: Hey Pam, what do you think about these endorsements?
SPALDING: I think the Clinton endorsement was not particularly surprising. The McCain one is kind of surprising, though if you think about it, the Republican party is having a really tough time this cycle trying to find a candidate that's going to be palatable to the American public.
HASRRIS: What's with your candidates Amanda? Pam says all of them are problem-plagued.
CARPENTER: You know, I think this process is great. The Republican Party is putting our own candidates through the ringer. We're getting a lot more interesting discussion on the issues. We have a great pool of candidates.
Mitt Romney, a former governor, John McCain, with these great credibility on the war issues, Rudy Giuliani, seeing things, cleaning up New York. I think our pool is great, I think our pool is strong. And it's good that we're taking a long time to make up our minds.
HARRIS: Yes and Pam, did you see these endorsements coming for John McCain?
SPALDING: I did not. I mean, quite frankly, I think that he is probably the safest. He's also had trouble with fund-raising and his campaign was tanking quite early on. So I know this is a big boost for his campaign.
HARRIS: Pam, one more for you: Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman. If you have been following the newscast at all today, you know this news here, officially independent, votes in caucuses with the Democrats, is set to come out tomorrow and endorse John McCain? Huh? What happened here?
SPAULDING: Oh, holy Joe. Yes. I'm not surprised at all at that. It's almost like the circle is now complete, the conversion is now complete. It's a surprise from the perspective that I don't think anyone heard anything about this prior to now.
HARRIS: Yes.
SPAULDING: But I'm really interested to see what the Democrats have to say about that particular -
HARRIS: Well, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, his reaction was basically, "huh?" Amanda, what do you make of this?
AMANDA CARPENTER, TOWNHALL.COM: I think it's interesting. I'm wondering if Hillary will have a Republican in her back pocket to endorse her.
HARRIS: Nice. Let's move forward here a little bit. The endorsements, let's talk about the endorsements in Iowa, that's the first big stop here. Does this have the net effect of moving us away from this cult of personality the last couple of weeks. We got Oprah in Iowa. We got Kevin Bacon in Iowa. We got Tim Robbins in Iowa. Does this new, this set of endorsements from "The Register" effectively get us back to talking about issues, talking about candidates and focus us on the people who perhaps are best to lead the country?
CARPENTER: I don't know about that. Their debates sure did it in the last week.
SPAULDING: No, not at all. We're talking about the media bubble, where we have people who are political junkies, mainstream media looking at the horse race aspect of this, and quite frankly, I don't think most of the American people are tuned in.
HARRIS: Well, we just had a report from Suzanne Malveaux that seemed to indicate that the people really are tuned in.
SPAULDING: Well, in Iowa, they are, but they are states, and I don't think that everybody is engaged around the country. Just remember, 50% of the folks don't vote at all. So I think that you're just going to have to see what happens. I think for insiders in the media, this is an incredibly interesting development. And there's going to be a lot of buzz around it, no doubt.
HARRIS: Amanda, what do you think?
CARPENTER: I disagree. I think people are very tuned in to this election. But unfortunately, I think it's become a little bit more about political entertainment with figures like Oprah and Chuck Norris getting more play than actual issues. Unfortunately.
SPAULDING: I agree with that.
HARRIS: You agree with that. What about the undecided? For example, in Iowa, my goodness, what are we 18 days away? Pam, and you're undecided. What are you waiting for at this point, a bolt of lightning? What happens here?
SPAULDING: Maybe a bolt of lightning would help jar some of these folks. Because I think everything is so political.
HARRIS: Are you as amazed as I am that we get to the end of these races and there's still like huge blocks of undecided voters out there?
SPAULDING: Well, absolutely. I think that there is an element and desire for change, which is why the republicans feel the struggle quite a bit, and there's quite a bit of unanimity and excitement among the Democrats. I think the folks who are backing Democrats are going to have a hard choice and that's interesting and I think it's good for (inaudible).
HARRIS: Amanda, I saw you burrowed your brow there. You made faces. What was all that about?
CARPENTER: Well you know, I wouldn't be as grim as our friend Pam is about the republican party. Like I said before, I think we have a great pool of candidates and people are watching for someone to make a big mistake. If you judge from "The Des Moines Register" endorsement this weekend. At the end, if nothing happens between them, they might be going with the establishment, which is McCain and Clinton.
HARRIS: All right. You know what, Pam, anything? Any last word here?
SPAULDING: No, I just think that when people start seeing things happen after the caucuses in New Hampshire I think you're going to see things shake out a little bit differently. Endorsements alone I don't think is going to make or break anyone.
HARRIS: What do you think, Amanda? Last word to you.
CARPENTER: We'll see in Iowa if the Huckaboom is a Huckabuster or not.
HARRIS: There you go. I think I saw that a couple of places this weekend. Pam, Amanda, great to see you both. That was fun. Thank you.
CARPENTER: Thank you.
HARRIS: To keep you up with the latest information on politics, moment to moment, go to cnn.com, they've got it all right there for you.
They both belong to the republican party and now they belong to each other. California Congresswoman Mary Bono has married Florida congressman Connie Mack. They tied the knot yesterday in a private ceremony in North Carolina. Bono is the widow of singer turned congressman Sonny Bono. She won his seat in a special election after he died in a skiing accident, you may recall back in 1998. Bono and Mack have been dating for about two years. She is 45 and he is 40.
From public spectacle to medical miracle, a little girl born with eight limbs heads home, just over a month after her big surgery. New life in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Let's get caught up. Here's what's happening right now in the news. A major winter storm now dumping snow and sleet from Indiana to Maine, extremely high winds creating whiteout conditions in some areas. So far at least three deaths are blamed on the storm and tens of thousands of people are without power. Part of that same storm system triggered a tornado in Florida. Look at these pictures, it flipped cars and demolished part of a jail facility in Land O'Lakes. Inmates were safely evacuated moments before the tornado hit but a real mess there.
Security in Iraq's Basra province now the responsibility of these men, Iraqi troops and the British military officially handed over control of the area today. The 5,000 British troops still in Basra, will provide backup support, if needed. Britain hopes to with draw half of those forces by the spring. What a great update this is on one of our most popular stories last month. Remember Lakshmi, the little Indian girl born with eight limbs, four arms and four legs? Well, she went home the hospital this weekend, healthy and happy after surgery to remove those extra limbs. CNN's Liz Neisloss filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LIZ NEISLOSS, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: It is her first time outside the hospital since her surgery 1 1/2 months ago. Lakshmi and her family go to a nearby Hindu temple to make an offering and give thanks for her recovery. This is the day she will be released from the hospital. Doctors say all Lakshmi's organs function well and she has had no significant problems in recovery.
DR. THIMAPPA HEGDE, SENIOR NEUROSURGEON: We are in a great stage of joy to give you the news that she's going home, truly wonderful. None of us really believed she'd be almost normal the way she is today.
NEISLOSS: A dramatic change from her arrival, a startling case of a child with eight limbs, the result of a partially formed conjoined twin. Lakshmi will need at least two more surgeries, possibly on her spine and feet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the surgical steps are not of great urgency and we're not in a hurry to perform them, and it also help for her body to recover and be strong enough to undergo further things.
NEISLOSS: Lakshmi can now sit up. She waves a doll, one of her favorite toys. Lakshmi must now learn to walk on her own two legs. Doctors have taught her parents how to stretch and manipulate her feet to help her walk normally. Her mother still worries about being able to afford her daughter's care. "Everything is done by money. If I don't have money, it will be difficult," she says.
Lakshmi and her family have become used to near constant attention of the media. Lakshmi's brother plays nearby his sister, exploring a photographer's camera. He says he'll help care for his sister. Lakshmi may eventually move with her family to a residential school for physically-challenged children in the state of Ragistan. With access to physical therapy and medical attention. Lakshmi leaves the hospital and the flurry of press behind. Doctors hope the attention that has been lavished on her will help others in India as well.
And a story like this, I sincerely hope will inspire a lot of people who have problems and these problems are solvable. They need to approach and they need to be educated that the situations have changed and there's no need to resign to the fact that there is a difficult problem.
Lakshmi may now have a chance to get an education far beyond what she would have had in her poor village, something her mother once described as a dream for her child. Liz Neisloss, CNN, Bangalore.
HARRIS: What a great story. We love that story. All right, let's get back to our top story of the evening - flight delays, power outages, terrible roads. Despite all of the things that come with bad weather, some people having a good time? Is that true, Allan Chernoff?
ALLAN CHERNOFF: Absolutely, Tony. No question about it. You know, we've been getting pounded here all day long, but plenty of kids and adults are loving this snow by breaking the rules. The story, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And this just in to CNN. Do you remember singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg? He is one of the artists who helped define the adult contemporary soft rock radio format in the 1970s? Well, he has died. He died in his home this morning in Maine, after battling prostate cancer. Fogelberg's hits include "leader of the band." I think we'll hear a little bit of "Same auld lang syne" here in just a moment. There you go.
In 2004, Fogelberg was found to have advanced prostate cancer. Dan Fogelberg was 56 years old.
All right, let's get back to our top story now from the Midwest to Maine, people are either digging out, snowed under or bracing for more wicked winter weather. Some of it look pretty fun though, doesn't it? A massive storm churning across the eastern half of the U.S. has killed at least three people on icy roads, knocked out power to thousands and it is not over yet. All right, quickly now, let's get to Bonnie Schneider in the CNN severe weather center, and Bonnie, what do you have for us this time around?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER: This is really interesting. We're looking at flightexplorer now and what I've done is program all of the planes that are headed to Bradley Airport in and around the Hartford area. There are two planes in the vicinity. This one's coming from Milwaukee and this one from West Palm Beach. And if you can see, there's a circle because they're circling right now. They can't land because Bradley Airport has shut down, due to snow removal. At least for two hours, they're going to need some time to kind of clear off the runways so flights will get there. It's just going to take awhile. Let's take a walk over here and I'll show you this airport in Hartford, Connecticut, is not the only airport facing some huge airport delays right now. We have numerous delays. There's the Windsor Lock location for Hartford, Connecticut. We also have delays in and around New York City at La Guardia and at JFK, over two hours in terms of airport delays, and delays right now for ground delays in Washington D.C.. More delays are tallying up due to weather. In Chicago, things are improving. They were actually a little bit longer earlier. There are still ground delays there. It's all part of this big blast of wintry weather that we're seeing across a good portion of the northeast and the storm isn't over yet. Some of the heaviest snow still has to be cleared out in places like Indiana and Michigan, where we saw over a foot of snow and a lot of that is still on the ground, some of it even more than that. The low pressure center is working its way off the coast of Massachusetts, and what's happening here is we're getting lake effect snow coming in off the Great lakes as the colder air passes over the warmer waters of the Great Lakes, to get that dumping of snow, we're seeing that in Watertown, Syracuse and Buffalo right now. And even though it stopped raining pretty much in Boston, some light rain continues. The problem overnight there and pretty much everywhere across the northeast will be black ice in the morning, because temperatures will refreeze as we see them drop down below freezing tonight. Now, tomorrow, the concern will be for wind. You can see the storm is really going to have the wind kicking in on Monday, even though it's pulling away, as high pressure builds in from the southwest, we'll have a strong pressure gradient and that's going to make for some windy conditions and some places are still under winter weather advisories, like Detroit, Michigan, where more snow is expected tonight. We have a live picture of Detroit to show you, plenty of snow on the ground there, and it's not over yet. We could see another four inches of snow. And finally I just want to show you what we're also looking at, which is the strong winds. In Boston, in Hartford, down through New York and then back out through Pennsylvania and even if you head further to the south like in Richmond, Virginia, wind advisories are actually going to continue at least until 4:00 a.m., some go to 7:00 a.m.. The gusts could be as strong as 50 miles per hour and Tony, the concern here is, where you have ice on the trees and heavy snow on the tree branches, a strong gust of wind could knock down a tree and then take out a power line. We may see more power outages on Monday due to the fierce wind coming in.
HARRIS: Oh, wow. I got to tell you I lived in Cleveland for a lot of years and this lake effect stuff is no joke. The blowing, the drifting, you get to (inaudible) I'm getting frost bite just thinking about it. Bonnie, thank you.
SCHNEIDER: I'm sure. OK.
HARRIS: It's being called the snowball, today's NFL match up between the Buffalo Bills and the hose Cleveland Browns. This is exactly what I was talking about a moment ago. Man, what a test for players and spectators. So much blowing, drifting snow. It was hard to see on the field, in the stands and heck, even from your armchair, if you're watching it on television. In the end, the Browns survived the elements and the Bills winning 8-0, that's it 8 zero, 8 nil.
All right, sports fans aren't the only ones trying to shovel away the winter blues. Plenty of other people are keeping their spirits up, even though they're snowed under. Our senior national correspondent Allan Chernoff found out that firsthand in Syracuse, New York. What did you find there, Allan?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN, SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, when most of us see a storm like this, we think of the hassles, the hassle of digging out a car, the tough commute in the morning, but the way to really make it through winter especially in a place like this, is to love the snow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Some signs are meant to be ignored. Because this is the time and place to break the rules. John, what about the signs that say no sledding?
JOHN: I didn't see anything, did you?
CHERNOFF: No, that's right!
It is a Syracuse tradition to sled where sledding is forbidden.
JOHN: It's awesome. Having a good time breaking her into a generational thing. With her age, I used to do this when I was a kid here.
CHERNOFF: And the sledding was mighty fine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's awesome.
CHERNOFF: Some children had work to do at home before sledding like brothers Carlos and Maurice who view shoveling as a competition. Who is winning?
MAURICE: Him.
CARLOS: Me.
CHERNOFF: Is that fair?
MAURICE: No, it's not.
CHERNOFF: he's the big brother, right?
MAURICE: Yes.
CARLOS: I'm supposed to win.
CHERNOFF: Someday you will.
MAURICE: Yes, someday when he gets old. I'm going to challenge him again.
CHERNOFF: For some, shoveling itself is pleasure enough. How's the shoveling going?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good. I like a challenge.
CHERNOFF: Good exercise, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Keeps the arms in shape.
CHERNOFF: And for those with the right shoes walking is a joy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great, being out open in nature instead of being in class, a lot different.
CHERNOFF: Beats being in school?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, it does.
CHERNOFF: But this reporter is with the kids on the hill. Downhill is the way to go. Let it snow! Ooh!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: That was the absolutely spectacular hill for sledding and why anyone would want to ban sledding there is totally beyond me. Tony, you got to love this stuff.
HARRIS: Oh, that's good stuff and that was a spectacular wipeout too. A bit of a face plan, it would like from back here. Good stuff, Allan, great to see you.
And still to come in the NEWSROOM, it's a show that sold out in, count them, 38 seconds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you want to be my lover, you gotta be my friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Up next, the Spice Girls return to London. First though an opportunity to work in a little news quiz. The Spice Girls broke onto the scene with a debut single that shot to number one on the charts. That year was that?
And what is the name of the song?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SPICE GIRLS: Tell me what you want, what you really, really want.
HARRIS: Before the break we asked you about the Spice Girls debut single that shot up to number one. So what year was it and what was the song? OK, you know the answer now, right? "Wannabe," a chart topper back in 1996.
SPICE GIRLS: Now don't go wastin' my precious time. Get your act together, we can be just fine.
HARRIS: OK, here we go. Posh, Baby, Sporty, Ginger and Scary have spiced up Britain's '02 arena this weekend. Good, huh? Tickets for their reunion tour are so hot, they added 16 more shows at the London venue just to accommodate Spice Star fans. The girls kicked off their UK homecoming last night and our Emily Chang was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EMILY CHANG, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: British fans say it's all they really want.
KATE PEARSON, SPICE GIRLS FAN: I went to see them when I was 14 and it was amazing and I've been waiting for this date forever.
CHANG: They really, really want to see the Spice Girls back together again. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been waiting for so long for them to come back.
CHANG: And tonight, they've got it. It's the first time the Spice Girls performed together in the UK in nine years. Posh, Baby, Sporty, Ginger, and Scary Spice. Singing a couple of new songs, but mostly their old hits. The Spice Girls originally planned to have just one show in London, but tickets sold out in 39 seconds. So they decided to add a few more shows. They ended up selling out 17 shows in London alone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES (singing): If you want to be my lover, you gotta gotta be my friend.
CHANG: Many of these fans got hooked when the Spice Girls when they made it big a decade ago. They ziggazig-a their way to international pop stardom almost instantly.
GILMAR MARTINS, SPICE GIRLS FAN: I've never seen the girls together. So this is my first time so it's a special night, a dream come true so I'm really looking forward to it.
CHANG: The question remains, where will this reunion take them?
MARTINS: They might, you know, stay together or go in different ways. We don't know.
CHANG: Either way, one thing is clear, tonight the spice is right for a comeback. Emily Chang, CNN, London.
HARRIS: Good stuff. I'm Tony Harris at CNN World headquarters in Atlanta. "CNN's SIU" is next. Right now, more of the Spice Girls. Works for me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SPICE GIRLS SINGING)
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