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Tiger Attacks in San Francisco Zoo; Panama Plane Crash; Deadly Indonesia Mudslides; Presidential Candidates Back on Campaign Trail

Aired December 26, 2007 - 10:00   ET

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


BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Brianna Keilar in for Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown: Mourning a dad ad his daughter, praying for her friend. A California community copes with a far-away plane crash.

KEILAR: Breaking loose and attacking: A tiger goes on a deadly rampage at a zoo. How did it escape?

HARRIS: And good grades in Iraq. The Pentagon delivers a report card. It is Wednesday, December 26, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

KEILAR: Christmas day terror: A tiger escaped its cage at the San Francisco zoo and goes on a deadly hunt for people. CNN's Dan Simon is at the zoo with the latest.

Hi, Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Brianna.

This zoo is open 365 days a year, but it is closed today, it will probably be closed for some time. This happened just after 5:00 p.m. yesterday, when this tiger somehow escaped its enclosure. It attacked one person right outside of the enclosure, killed a guy who was about 20 years old. Then the tiger went about 300 yards to the outdoor cafe, here at the zoo, attacked two more people, both men believed to be in their 20s.

Last night during a press conference, zoo officials talked about how this Siberian tiger, this 350-pound tiger, may have escaped its enclosure. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT JENKINS, SAN FRANCISCO ZOO DIR. ANIMAL CARE: In this case there was no way out through the door. The animal had to -- appears to have climbed or otherwise leapt out of the exhibit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: When officers arrived here at the scene, the tiger was still in attack mode. The officers drew their weapons, the tiger then advanced toward those officers, that's when those four police officers shot and killed the tiger. As for the two victims who is survived the attack, of course, they were taken to the hospital, they were alert and talking when they got to the hospital. We are told they are in serious, but stable condition, Brianna.

KEILAR: And Dan, you know, one of the questions people are asking should this tiger have even -- should it have been at the zoo, because it showed violence towards a human being about a year ago, right? Can you tell us about that?

SIMON: Brianna, almost a year ago to the very day, last year this particular tiger, this 350-pound tiger named Tatiana, attacked a trainer during a public feeding demonstration. Zoo officials at the time made the decision not to euthanize the animal. Investigators came in and determined that the animal, if you will, wasn't at fault, they actually blamed it on the exhibit. So they strengthened the exhibit, they thought they had fortified it enough where the animal was not going to endanger any patrons or the staff.

Obviously, they were wrong. But again officials don't know exactly what happened, although they say there's really no chance it could have gotten through a door, that in theory it would have had to leap over the actual exhibit -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, more details to come obviously. Dan Simon for us there at the San Francisco Zoo. Thanks.

HARRIS: And earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," we heard from a renowned animal expert. Jack Hanna is the director emeritus at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK HANNA, COLUMBUS ZOO: Unpredictable is the right word to use. You've got to remember that about 95 percent of our animals in zoos (INAUDIBLE) come from other zoological parks, but they are wild. Now, we tell our folks a wild animal is like a loaded gun, it can go off at any time. That's not saying -- these are just what Mother Nature gave the animals. I mean, a tiger is an incredible creature, I've seen them in the wild take down water buffalo less than -- a 2,000 pound water buffalo, in less than 30 seconds.

No, this animal -- I'm not sure how this animal got out, no one knows yet whether it came out the back or someone left a door open or whether somebody said it jumped across the moat. I don't know how because that was a pretty large moat, but you know, there are athletes that do things every year that we don't believe. So, the tiger usually -- when it does make a kill, it usually goes for the upper part of the body and of course, that can be fatal for anyone.

I mean, 145 million people went to zoos last year and yes, accidents happen, but you know, when you look at the numbers of people we educate in the zoological world, you know, it's something -- it's a real safe place to go to.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Right. Are you familiar with this zoo and the tiger enclosure, Jack, and as you said, without some sort of human component involved in this, could the tiger have gotten out? HANNA: Well, you know, with these animals, you just don't know. We do the best we can do in the zoo world. Over the last 40 years, these habitats are phenomenal habitats. San Francisco is a great zoo. I would not say it couldn't. You know, I don't know because I don't know that the entire details of this situation, but these animals are phenomenal creatures. They're magnificent, they're very powerful, they can leap a long ways, but again, I don't know how the animal got out.

ROBERTS: You know, obviously, Jack, a lot of people are going to be looking to place blame, here. Are these incidents ever the animal's fault?

HANNA: That's a very good question. No, you know, because - the animal's fault -- usually human error was involved. The animal is just being the animal, you know. These animals, you don't know what they're going to do and that's why we try to encourage people that don't know what they're doing not to have these creatures as little pets and that type of thing -- it would be cool to have a tiger or lion, which most states have outlawed that now, because what you're dealing with have a very, very dangerous thing and these folks that work in the zoos, dedicate their lives to these animals.

We all know that. But these accidents do happen, and we do everything we can to avoid that. Safety comes first in any zoological park.

ROBERTS: And as Dan Simon was mentioning, just a couple moments ago, Jack, and you probably heard it, Tatiana, this tiger here, in question, was involved in a similar, not exactly the same, but similar incident last year in which it ripped the arm off of its handler during a feeding demonstration. There was some discussion at the time whether or not the animal should have been put down. And now, of course, people are asking questions about whether it was prudent to keep the animal alive. What do you think should have happened after that?

HANNA: Well, no, I would not, myself, I would not have put the animal down after that. The animal itself, I don't know what the feeding situation was, got a hold of something and just -- the power of the animal -- it's not that the animal -- you got to remember, this isn't an animal out in the wild looking for food. A tiger can eat up to 40 pounds of meat at a time. Some tigers in the wild even die from their stomachs exploding because, you know, they eat that much at one time. These animals have been fed, this animal just grabbed and did that.

And how do I know this? I had a terrible accident happen in 1972 as a young boy in Tennessee that lost his arm to a lion that I had to go and pick up. I've never forgotten that. You know, when you have accidents like this happen, these are things you never, never forget. And yet I pursued my career for 40 years now trying to educate people and hopefully, you know, we've done more good than bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Did he say they will eat so much in the wild that their stomachs will actually explode?

KEILAR: That's what he said.

HARRIS: That is what he said, isn't it? All right, zoo officials say they will conduct a thorough sweep of the grounds today to look for clues in the tiger's escape.

KEILAR: The sole survivor, a 13-year-old girl, found alive after a plane crash that killed her friend, the friend's father, and the pilot. The plane went down in a remote area of Panama. Crews found the wreckage after searching for two days. California businessman, Michael Klein and his daughter died in the crash along with the Panamanian pilot. The daughter's friend, Francisca Lewis, survived the crash. Officials say she's being treated for multiple injuries as well as hypothermia. Now, we could get an update on her condition from authorities in Panama, this hour.

HARRIS: Buried by mud, land slides caused by heavy rain leave dozens dead in Indonesia. A search and rescue official says at least 67 people may have been killed. Hundreds of soldiers, police and volunteers are digging for survivors. Heavy equipment is also on the way, in the meantime, villagers are using shovels and picks to dig through the mud and debris.

KEILAR: Indonesia and other Asian nations marking the third year anniversary of the deadliest disaster - one of the deadliest disasters of the modern age, the Asian tsunami that killed more than 200,000 people in 12 Indian Ocean nations. As you will recall, villages and tourist resorts were washed away by the waves, and today survivors and families of the victims gathered across the region for ceremonies, prayer services, and vigils.

HARRIS: Brianna, Reynolds Wolf was here in this anchor chair three years ago when those first images started to roll into the NEWSROOM. they started to arrive, boy, in the small hours of the morning, and it was one of the most surreal things I think I've ever seen. We started with, oh, about 1,700 who had been killed and at the end of the five-hour shift we were already over 100,000, just unbelievable to see those pictures coming in.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Terrifying prospect.

HARRIS: And amazing it's been three years now.

KEILAR: Amazing, and amazing stories of rebuilding.

HARRIS: Absolutely, absolutely. Boy, that was quite an event.

Reynolds, good to see you, god morning, sir.

WOLF: Hey, good morning to you guys.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KEILAR: Gift cards, chances are you ended up with one under your tree. And the national retrial federation estimates gift givers shelled out $26.3 billion on the plastic. That's a 42 percent increase from just two years ago.

HARRIS: Mastering the levels of good husbandry. Hmm, men commit to the "Don't Divorce Me" club.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Iowa countdown, just eight days to go until voters take part in the first caucuses. The candidates are busy trying to squeeze out every last vote, and CNN's senior political analyst, Bill Schneider is part of the best political team on television. He is in Des Moines, right now.

So, Bill, where do the front-runners stand, right now, in Iowa and who has the most to gain?

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I'll tell you, it's hard to name a frontrunner in Iowa. For a long time it was Mitt Romney on the Republican side, but more recently Mike Huckabee has moved into the lead and right now it's a very tough race between the two of them and a very close race. They're both leading the field here. Huckabee hopes to defeat Romney, and if that's the case, he could propel himself to a national frontrunner standing.

On the Democratic side, you really have three candidates all tied. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, anyone of them can win. They're really neck and neck and neck, here in Iowa, so it's a very exciting race.

KEILAR: And was there any campaigning over Christmas or did the candidates give voters a break? I know some of them wanted a break.

SCHNEIDER: Well, there was no overt campaigning, but we did take note that Chris Dodd, who has really moved with his family here to Iowa, went ice skating. Now, that's a fine thing to do on Christmas. It sounds like a very private thing to do, but, of course, when you're running for president, nothing is private.

KEILAR: That's right. So no overt campaigning, but he certainly was out there to be seen for the cameras. I think the only candidate, so very interesting. Bill Schneider there for us there in Des Moines. Thanks.

And if you want the most up to the minute political news anywhere, cnnpolitics.com is your one-stop shop. It's the Internet's premiere destination for political news. That's cnnpolitics.com.

HARRIS: Well, when the Christmas tree comes down, the bills pour in. 'Tis the season for much-need financial advice. CNN financial guru, Gerri Willis, answers your e-mail coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Brianna, it's time for to us get a check of the markets, here. Back to work after Christmas day in the city. So, the DOW down 43 points, that's not the direction that we wanted. Hmmm. And did I get a number on -- oh, NASDAQ? I don't know that I did. Oh, NASDAQ is down nine, as well. All right, still inside the first hour of the trading day, so there's plenty of time for a big rebound. We need it. We're looking for it. Ali Velshi, "Minding Your Business," watching the markets for us throughout the morning in the CNN NEWSROOM.

KEILAR: Giving gifts, receiving bills. It's that time of year when we could all use a little extra financial advice. So here's what we're going to do, we're going to rescue a tape of personal finance editor, Gerri Willis. Here she joins our Heidi Collins to answer your questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Here is the first one now from Michael. He wants to know, "What is the best way to rebuild bad credit?"

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: A lot of people have that question. Well, look, obviously you want to start by paying your bills on time and putting away the credit cards. And, of course, it matters if you have poor credit.

Look, we're talking a score below 620, you will face higher costs on loans, more expensive insurance, and possibly even a little discrimination in the job search. So, if your credit problems simply stem from late bill payments -- maybe you're forgetful -- automate as much of your bill paying online as possible. This will keep you from missing those payments.

However, if you can't cover your monthly bills and use credit cards to make up the difference, it's time to do some soul searching. Get together your bills, look at your income. Is housing just a third of your income or is it more? How much are you spending on eating out? These are two items that people typically overspend on. Put together a budget, try to stick to it no matter what the source of your money woes are, it makes sense to really look in depth at your credit report to make sure your credit score isn't suffering from bad info. So, check those out as well -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Eating out always gets me. Always. Always.

WILLIS: Me, too. Me, too. It's tough.

COLLINS: All right. This one now.

"How can I safely freeze my credit with all three bureaus?" This is from Dave.

WILLIS: Good question. You know, a freeze is essentially locking your credit file against anybody, lenders, I.D. thieves, somebody who is trying to open up a new account in your name. It can be effective, but it can be inconvenient and it's not free.

You'll have to mail separate certified letters to each of the major credit reporting agencies. That's TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. And plus, you got to pay $30 for the privilege. And if you want to apply for credit, you'll have to unfreeze the account a few days before applying for any loans. That costs another $30.

A better solution, credit monitoring. A credit monitoring service will alert you when there are inquiries into your account, or any new accounts are opened in your name, but it's expensive -- $10 to $35 a month.

Look, for my money, I do the cheap and easy stuff. Get off the junk mail lists, shred credit card offers before tossing them into the garbage. Keep a close eye on your credit card.

COLLINS: Oh, yes, very much so.

What about this one? It's a good one along the same lines. Mohamed wants to know, "Is it good or bad to cancel the credit cards you do not need?"

WILLIS: Hey, there's the easy answer. Lenders look at two things -- how much debt you have and how much credit is available to you. When you close accounts you have less credit available to you compared to your debt. Now, that can hurt your score. Plus, you benefit from having a long credit history. So if you close accounts, that hurts your score.

On the other hand, if you find that having a lot of credit cards tempts you to spend a lot of money, or maybe you just want to simplify your financial life, closing accounts will work in your favor. Plus, you will know a little better what your debt levels are.

COLLINS: Yeah, good idea.

You mentioned junk mail a little but earlier. And Katherine wants to know, "How do we actually cut down on the amount of junk mail?"

WILLIS: Well, most of us get at least a few credit card offers each and every week, but if you want to stop these offers from coming to you, optoutprescreen.com is a great Web site to go to. You can also call 888-5-OPT-OUT.

Now, this is a free service set up by the credit reporting industry. Once you give this info, you'll be taken off mailings for five years. Now, as a note, if you signed up for the service more than five years ago already, you have to reregister.

COLLINS: Oh.

WILLIS: Yeah, the devil is in the details. If you want your name removed from direct marketing members -- this is businesses in your community, coupons, catalogs -- there are a lot of catalogs at this time of year -- dmachoice.com. You'll have a pay a one-time fee of a dollar, but Heidi, I think that's a small price to pay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Putting wives first. Japanese husbands join the "Don't Divorce Me" club, but are they trying to save their marriages or their money? CNN's Kyung Lah reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This may look like a meeting of the old boys club, but look again and listen. "I can't win, I won't win, I don't want to win." This is more their mantra to their women, married men trying to keep their wives from leaving them.

Wife first, work second, members advise. "I'm too Japanese," says this man. "Well, you're too old fashioned, change," says the group leader.

The club posts three golden rules of love: say "thank you," "I'm sorry," "I love you" and give 10 ranks of good husbandry, the highest, saying "I love you" without embarrassment. The support group of 4,700 members nationwide grew when divorce spiked in Japan this year. A law changed that entitles a wife to walk with up to half her husband's company pension. These men took notice.

(on camera): Which begs the question, are these meeting to save their marriages or save their pensions?

(voice over): For Yohei Takayama, it's a little of both. After the wedding bliss faded, the domestic doldrums followed.

"Both of us have jobs and we kept fighting about splitting domestic duties. She says Yoshie Takayama, she also says there's nothing wrong with the change to Japan's law especially if it helps women in unhappy marriages.

Unnerved by their fighting, Yohei signed up for the club to the horror of his father who called it deplorable for a man to act this way. It may seem silly, they say, but it's improved their relationship and they believe it's their guarantee against divorce.

"I can't say 'I love you' very easily," says Takayama, "but I can say 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry.'" And he's working on more. At tonight's meeting he's graduated to level four, meaning he's able to put ladies first.

(on camera): As am American, it seems so easy. Why is it so hard?

(voice over): "Look at America, there's so many divorces there," says the club, "we're trying to really change ourselves, and that's not easy." Takayama says he's still got a lot to learn, he still doesn't help as much as he could in the kitchen. But he's doing more of the cleaning and the shopping, and as he aims for the next level of husbandry, small signs of happily ever after.

Kyong Lah, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: I've just been so set up by that piece. KEILAR: So, Tony, have you reached level four?

HARRIS: Have I reached level four? Yes, but the cleaning and the cooking and the stuff around the house, I'm in negative numbers. Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, secret to a long and successful marriage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a forgiving spirit. Where he could always say "I'm sorry" and I did the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Ah, the formula has worked for this couple for 71 years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Brianna Keilar in for Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris, good morning, everyone. Our top story, an escaped tiger on the hunt. Zoo goers are its prey. One visitor at the San Francisco was dead, two others mauled. All three men said to be in their 20s. Police opened fire on the tiger.

As it turned from one victim and started coming towards them, zoo officials are trying to figure out how the tiger escaped its enclosure and how long it had been loose before it attacked. The tiger is the same cat that mauled a zookeeper last year in that attack. The 300- pound tiger bit off part of a zoo employee's arm during a public feeding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK HANNA, DIRECTOR EMERITUS, COLUMBUS ZOO: Unpredictable is the right word to use. You've got to remember that about 95 percent of our animals in zoos and aquariums come from other zoological parks, but they are wild. We tell our folks a wild animal is like a loaded gun. It can go off at any time. These animals are phenomenal creatures. They're magnificent. They're very powerful. They can leap a long ways, but, again, I don't know how the animal got out; 145 million people went to zoos last year, and, yes, accidents happen, but when you look at the numbers of people that we educate in the zoological world, you know, it's something -- it's a real safe place to go to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So at the top of the hour we will go live to the San Francisco Zoo, and an expert on animal behavior will join us live right here in the NEWSROOM.

KEILAR: Out for a ride on the new pink-and-purple bicycle that she got for Christmas and then tragedy. A 7-year-old girl in San Antonio, Texas, struck and killed on Christmas morning. Police say that Jackie Salise (ph) rode her bike into the path of a pickup truck. The family, as you can imagine, is devastated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAUL GUERRA, GIRL'S UNCLE: She was very active with all the little kids in the community. She was just a joy, just a real joy. It's just a real tragedy. It was an accident. There's just not else you can say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Police say that the driver of the truck was not speeding and will not face any charges.

Pushing the Constitution aside, a plan to fight terrorism by throwing American citizens in prison. It came from the desk of J. Edgar Hoover.

CNN's Brian Todd has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): America at war with a feared ideological enemy, and a powerful U.S. official tells the White House he has a secret plan to round up dissenters. The enemy, communist North Korea. The year, 1950, just after the breakout of the Korean War. In newly declassified documents obtained by CNN, a letter to President Harry Truman's top national security aide from J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI director says he's got a plan to arrest and detain about 12,000 people who are potentially dangerous to the internal security of the country.

Nearly all of them, Hoover says, are U.S. citizens.

RONALD KESSLER, AUTHOR, "THE TERRORIST WATCH": Hoover kept these index cards where he would keep records on what people said, anything critical about the government, if they were pacifists, if they knew someone who might be a communist.

TODD: Hoover writes that he wants to suspend habeas corpus, the centuries-old protection against illegal detention. The U.S. Constitution says habeas cannot be suspended unless there's a rebellion or invasion.

But in his letter Hoover stretches that to include threatened invasion or attack upon U.S. troops in legally occupied territory. His plan calls calls for the suspects to be held at federal prisons or military bases, that they'd eventually be allowed a hearing but the hearing would not be bound by the rules of evidence.

Ron Kessler, author of several books on the FBI, sees a big difference between the detention of suspected terrorists now and what Hoover wanted to do then.

KESSLER: The courts have allowed all of the measures that the Bush administration has used to find terrorists to continue. Congress has allowed all the measures to continue as well. So it's quite a contrast from the days of J. Edgar Hoover.

TODD (on camera): A footnote in those documents says Truman's national security aide sent Hoover a noncommittal reply to that letter. Now there's no evidence that Truman or any other president approved Hoover's plan. Contacted by CNN, an FBI spokesman said the bureau would have no comment on that letter.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Improving conditions in Iraq. The Pentagon has some encouraging numbers, including a lower death toll for U.S. troops.

Let's go now to CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. She's joining us now from Washington.

Hi, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Brianna.

Well, it's that time of year when people do assessments and report cards, and for the war in Iraq, the year is wrapping up certainly as best as the Pentagon could have hoped. One of the key indicators they look at, of course, is how many U.S. troops are killed each month. Each one a tragedy for their family, but when you look at the statistics for this year, certainly the rate of U.S. troops dying in Iraq is down remarkably. It looks like just 16 you know through the Christmas period for the month of December, on track to be the lowest month possibly for the entire war. What a change since back in May when it was 126.

For the U.S. military, this is a major indication that their military strategy of surging troops into Iraq has achieved the goal of lowering violence. The question now, of course, will be whether the Iraqi government can really take hold and keep up with this progress. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has really already set two goals, if you will, for the coming year. One will be further troop reductions.

Listen to what he had had to say about that just a couple days ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECY.: My hope has been that the circumstances on the ground will continue to improve in a way that would, when general Petraeus and the chiefs and Central Command do their analysis in March, will allow a continuation of the drawdowns at roughly the same pace as the first half of the year. It will be completely dependent on the circumstances on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So, Brianna, one goal for the new year, bringing more troops home. What is the other goal? The Pentagon is hoping that sometime in 2008 they can go back to a 15-month -- pardon me, a 12- month tour of duty, get away from that very long, very difficult current 15 months on the ground for all troops; get it back to 12 months so that in 2008 the troops can spend more time at home with their families -- Brianna.

KEILAR: And, Barbara, back to those troop casualty numbers, really amazing numbers for December, especially coming out of Iraq, but what about Afghanistan?

STARR: Well, Afghanistan the war is smaller, if you will, less troops on the ground, not quite the same combat situation, but in this past year the rate of combat, the rate of U.S. troops dying, the rate of attacks by the Taliban is up significantly in Afghanistan. Make no mistake, that is a worry here. NATO, which runs much of the combat operation in that country now says it needs about another 7,000 troops. Doesn't look at this point that NATO countries are going to contribute those extra troops. So a lot of people holding their breath waiting to see in 2008, once again, if it's the U.S. military that sends more troops into action -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, could it be American troops? That's definitely the question. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Thanks, Barbara.

STARR: Sure.

KEILAR: And if you're headed to the mall, don't miss this, where you'll find the best deals.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Preliminary tallies from the holiday shopping season are beginning to come in, and as Ali Velshi reports from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, the numbers don't look good.

Hi, Ali. Isn't this really weird, too, because predictions for this year were already modest, right?

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: All right, hitting the mall today? Come on, of course you are. Then you'll want to hear this. Earlier this week, Jennifer Waters of marketwatch.com gave me the inside scoop, where you can find the best deals. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER WATERS, MARKETWATCH.COM: I think apparel -- you're going to get the best deals on apparel, yes, because apparel has been a slow mover through the whole season. I think you're going to see a lot of that stuff really deeply discounted. We had some issues with the weather in November, which it was unseasonably warm ...

HARRIS: Yes.

WATERS: ...in most places of the country. And really, people have a tendency to buy now, wear now. Nobody buys without thought to wearing it right away. So, I think we're going to see a lot of apparel moving and really lot of retailers trying to move that stuff.

HARRIS: Well, let me drill you down on this a bit. I mean, if -- you go to the store on Wednesday and you're looking for apparel and if you don't see discounts in the what range, 10 percent, 15 percent?

WATERS: Oh, no, no, no, Tony. More, 40, 50, 60 percent.

HARRIS: Forty -- wow.

WATERS: We already saw that ahead of Christmas. So, it's kind of -- those kinds of discounts, and if the stuff didn't move fast enough, you're certainly going to see that and maybe even more after that.

HARRIS: So, Jennifer, are we going to see better deals online as opposed to in the stores themselves, in the brick and mortar stores? What are you thinking -- or are they going to be comparable?

WATERS: They'll be comparable.

HARRIS: Yes.

WATERS: I think we're going to see some really, really good deals in the stores because they're going to want to physically move that stuff out of the stores.

HARRIS: Yes.

WATERS: And most of the online stuff is coming from a distribution centers, not necessarily from your local Gap or ...

HARRIS: But they understand that they're really in competition with the online ...

WATERS: No, no, they don't think of themselves in ...

HARRIS: They don't think of it that way?

WATERS: No, no, they think of it as a boost, as a help. I'm telling you, Tony, five years ago, six years ago, retailers didn't even talk about their Internet sites.

HARRIS: That's right, you're right.

WATERS: And they weren't very good, anyway. You couldn't manipulate them, you couldn't navigate them very well. And now, retailers are much more savvy about that and really realizing that this is another opportunity for them to sell goods.

HARRIS: If we're looking at maybe buying a big screen for the Super Bowl coming up, do you suspect that we might get some discounting on that kind of a big ticket item in January?

WATERS: Absolutely, absolutely. You'd be amazed at how many people buy a big screen TV the day before the Super Bowl. I mean, it's amazing how many people do that. HARRIS: Right, yes, absolutely.

WATERS: But on the other hand, I mean, we saw Best Buy has been telling us, for example, the whole season that their sales have been really, really good, but Circuit Cities have really suffered. Having said that, we're going to have retailers like Circuit City who are going to have a lot of extra product. They're going to try to get rid of it.

HARRIS: The most popular game and I can't even find the doggone thing, my son would love to have one, he's not getting it ...

WATERS: The Wii?

HARRIS: The Wii!

WATERS: Yes.

HARRIS: I mean, are we going -- is this still going to be like a -- is this going to be a chronic problem with this under supply of the Wii?

WATERS: Well, for the near term it will be, yes. The demand for it is going to taper off some after the holidays and then, they'll get back. Inventory will be back in place. So, I think if you can promise him a Valentine's gift, you might be OK.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: And actually, Tony ...

HARRIS: Yes, yes.

KEILAR: ...thought I'd make a factual correction here.

HARRIS: Yes, found the Wii.

KEILAR: Found the Wii.

HARRIS: Arm twisting, heavy duty arm twisting. But found the Wii, shelled out the bucks. Ow, my arm, ow!

KEILAR: But this is where last minute shopping paid off.

HARRIS: Yes, because there were some Wiis around. I mean you know, the folks who were in there early trying to get it at the very beginning here with those door buster deals, took all the Wiis, but at the end of the season here, they were some Wiis available. So, if you want to go get one today, they are probably a bunch of them.

KEILAR: It was dicey, but he got it.

HARRIS: Ow, my arm.

KEILAR: Nurse that.

HARRIS: Sorry.

KEILAR: All right, a global view. Two men traveling from North Pole to South Pole under their own power. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Brianna, have you had the podcasting experience?

KEILAR: I haven't -- I have the iPod. That in itself was sort of a stretch for me.

HARRIS: OK, but you ...

KEILAR: I'm not really with it.

HARRIS: Well, no, no, no, no, no, well, we're going to get you with it happening ...

KEILAR: Yes, we got to.

HARRIS: ...today.

Well, here's what we do (ph), we podcast every day ...

KEILAR: All right.

HARRIS: ...after we wrap up and the team is working on the show right now, the podcast. And what we do in the podcast is just different stories that don't necessarily make the action-packed thrill ride that is the three hours of CNN NEWSROOM. So, what we do is we find those stories and we put them into the mix for the podcast.

What everybody knows at home right now is what you do is you go to CNN.com and you download the CNN Daily NEWSROOM Podcast. It is available to you 24/7. Jen Cook, how are you? 24/7 right on your iPod. Download it today. Brianna is participating today. It's going to be a fabulous day.

KEILAR: All right, well if I'm participating, I really should figure out how to load this thing up.

They married on Christmas day 71 years ago. A love story in the spirit of the season. Here is Bo Koltnow, now, of affiliate WFMZ.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BO KOLTNOW, WFMZ: The year was 1936.

ROY KROUT, MARRIED ON CHRISTMAS: A lot of people didn't have ...

ANNIS KROUT, MARRIED ON CHRISTMAS: Enough to eat.

R. KROUT: That's right.

KOLTNOW: Roy Krout did, working at MedEd, he had a steady job. With Annis by his side, he had a steady love. A. KROUT: People came from our towns and were on the front porch.

R. KROUT: Peeking in the window.

A. KROUT: They wanted to see us getting married.

KOLTNOW: At 1:00 a.m. Christmas morning he had a bride. The odd hour was due to a scheduling conflict with the priest. The day was part of a family tradition.

A. KROUT: Roy's mother and father were married on Christmas and so was my mother and father. Roy always said it was good for them. He thought it would be good for us.

R. KROUT: And it worked pretty good so far.

KOLTNOW: The pair met two years prior, in Mt. Wolf, Pennsylvania, at a Memorial Day celebration.

R. KROUT: Twice as many girls at Mt. Wolf as there was boys.

KOLTNOW: Good reason to go to Mt. Wolf.

R. KROUT: Yes.

A. KROUT: He had just bought a new car, kind of snappy.

KOLTNOW: An afternoon ride has since taken them on the same road, navigating the twists and turns of life together for over seven decades.

A. KROUT: Having a forgetting spirit, Roy could always say I'm sorry and I did the same.

KOLTNOW: A Krout Christmas tradition for now 71 years.

Bo Koltnow, now, 69 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And if you're wondering what kind of scheduling conflict would force the Krouts to get married at 1:00 in the morning, it was midnight mass. Wow. Should have been your time, anyway.

An expedition to spread awareness. Two adventurers traveling from pole to pole with no fuel. The story now from ITN's, Damon Green.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON GREEN, ITN: They made rapid progress by husky sled across the arctic ice. They sidled across the continents of North America. But with the epic journey almost half complete, our voyagers found themselves becalmed in tropical seas, their progress at a stand still. JAMES HOOPER, ADVENTURER: Feels pretty warm here. There's not much wind sailing along on our way to Ecuador. Seeing a whole lot of dolphins swim past, a few jumping fish. Unfortunately, they don't bite on our lines, but we're working on it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get a smaller hook. Oh.

GREEN: With no wind in their sails and determined not to use fossil fuels to get from pole to pole, nothing to do it seems but try to make the best of things.

Then, in the middle of the night, a change in the weather, and it's all hands on deck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get up, get up, get up.

ROB GAUNTLETT, ADVENTURER: We've been sitting around in very, very little wind at all and to actually be moving and making some headway towards Ecuador is fantastic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're at about, just over (INAUDIBLE) it's going to be quite fun to get past the Equator for the first time in my life. It seems very strange, actually, because we're doing a 180 degrees. And we're really just about to pass the Equator. It somehow feels, though, we've got back 75 percent of the expedition already done.

GREEN: If they feel like that, reality is, crossing the Equator only means they have it all to do again.

Damon Green, ITN news.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: If you want to keep up with their progress, you can just got to their Web site, 180degrees.co.uk.

KEILAR: Holiday cards. You know we've all made excuses for coming up short on this seasonal chore. Well, prepare to be shamed. These cards went out on time, even though the sender had the perfect excuse. He's dead. Now, before passing away two months ago, Chet Fitch (ph) made arrangements for the cards to be sent out at Christmas time. He wanted to assure loved ones that he and his late wife were finally reunited.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE HANSEN-BERNARD, POSTCARD RECIPIENT: Jesse and I have been dancing up a storm here in that big dance hall in the sky. All good squares. I ask big guy if I could sneak back and send some cards to my dance friends, family and a few others. At first he said no, but at my insistence he finally said OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Chet Fitch always wanted the last laugh, so he worked on this idea for 15 years. He made plans with his barber to mail the cards and the return address by the way, Heaven. How cute is that?

HARRIS: That is cute. That is pretty doggone cute.

All right, this isn't. A crash caught on multiple cameras. Look at this. A car plows into a convenience store. However you look at it, this is a real mess here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Police in Florida search for a hit and run driver. A car hits a convenience store and it's caught on tape by plenty of cameras. More now from Don Gavara, of affiliate WSVN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON GAVARA, WSVN: A Christmas crash caught on camera. The store, this Express Food Stop, on Broward Boulevard in Ft. Lauderdale. It's 5:45 in the morning. The owner misses the crash by just five minutes.

SALEH ALQADI, STORE OWNER: I'm lucky. And I want to find the guys who did it. When I look at the camera, I'm thinking maybe he's a drunk or something.

GAVARA: Four different cameras catch the collision. Here it looks like the passenger side air bag is deployed when the car smacks into the store. Here you can see the view from inside the store. The collision shifts shelves sending merchandise flying, costing the owner a lot of money.

ALQADI: The window, the glass is almost $25,000 minimum at least.

GAVARA: From this last shot, it appears like the driver is going the wrong way down the Broward Boulevard before crashing into the store. As for the cleanup, that's not going to be done right away.

ALQADI: (INAUDIBLE) supplies today anyway. Home Depot closed, Lowe's closed. And I have to stay the whole night today in the store.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: So of course, police have plenty of videotape to review this morning as they look for the driver of that car.

HARRIS: And good morning again, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed. I'm Tony Harris.

KEILAR: Hi there, I'm Brianna Keilar in for Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM on this Wednesday, December 26th. Here is what's on the run down.

Tiger with a bad history. He kills a man one year after another zoo attack. Ahead this hour, we'll be talking with an animal behavior expert. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com