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American Morning
Deadly Tiger Mauling Kills Teen; Survival Story of 12-year-old Girl; On The Hunt: Countdown in Iowa and New Hampshire; Home Prices Fall
Aired December 27, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: ...this morning and new details about that big cat exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo. It's now a crime scene after the deadly tiger mauling that took place on Christmas day. The investigation is continuing and now they're taking a look at what role, if any, the victims may have played in that attack.
The teenager who was killed has been identified now as 17-year- old Carlos Sousa, Jr. Police say that he suffered a fatal slash to the throat. Sousa knew the tiger's two other victims, two brothers who were also seriously hurt.
This morning, "San Francisco Chronicle" is reporting that one of the friends may have taunted the tiger by dangling a leg over the fence before the tiger was able to make its way out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF HEATHER FONG, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE: Because we're not certain whether this incident occurred as a result of human action or whether this was an incident where the animal was able to get out of the grotto, we have deemed the site as of last night a crime scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Police say the taunting could have inadvertently provided a way to help the tiger climb out, meaning that they say that perhaps the tiger was able to grab on to one of the body parts of one of the kids that was there at that exhibit. These are still questions that are being asked this morning. We hope to find out new details as we conduct several interviews this morning on this topic.
By the way, they say that they believe that the boy who was killed, the 17-year-old, Carlos Sousa, was just outside of the tiger's area. The other two left a trail of blood apparently that the tiger was able to follow for at least 300 yards, all the way to the terrace cafe and there you see it in our imaging. Police found the tiger attacking one of the victims. That's when they opened fire, killing the tiger.
And the parents of the teenager killed are speaking out as well. They're going to be joining us live in the next hour. Carlos Sousa, Sr., talked about getting that call from the coroner on Christmas day and having to go identify his son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CARLOS SOUSA SR., VICTIM'S FATHER: We had to go identify him. It's torture. It really is. It was him. Bloody all over the neck, but the face was still intact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: We're going to ask them how they're doing and more when we talk to them live coming up in our next hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
There are a lot of other stories making headlines overnight as well. Our Alina Cho has been following the very latest developments. Good morning, Alina. Good to see you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran, welcome back. Just an awful story out of Washington State. New this morning.
Police have in custody two people who they believe are responsible for killing six members of the same family. Now, it happened east of Seattle in Carnation, Washington, on Christmas eve. 29-year-old Michele Anderson and her Thomas McEnroe boyfriend are booked on suspicion of murder. Neighbors say there are three generation of victims -- Anderson's parents, her brother, his wife and their two young children. Wayne Anderson was an engineer for Boeing. A man who says he's related to the Andersons says it may have started with a fight over money.
New details coming out this morning about that teenager in the Omaha Mall shooting earlier this month. New court documents from two years ago show that the 19-year-old gunman, Robert Hawkins, had attempted suicide by overdosing on Tylenol and had been kicked out of drug treatment. Especially chilling a letter that Hawkins' father wrote to the court saying he could do no more to help his son. "It is beyond my ability," he wrote. He added that he hoped God would make sure nothing happens to his son that cannot be undone. Hawkins shot and killed eight people at the Westroads Mall in Omaha before taking his own life on December 5th.
CNN has learned the cause of that huge steam pipe explosion in New York City. A new report blames faulty repairs by utility company, Con Edison. Now that report which was paid for by Con Ed says putty used to seal a valve came loose and chunks of it, then clogged another valve designed to release steam. That created a backup apparently, eventually causing the pipe to explode. One woman was killed after suffering a heart attack after the blast. Two others were severely burned.
In Iraq, U.S. forces say they killed 11 Shiite fighters today. It happened about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad. The fighters were apparently part of a breakaway group of the Mehdi army. Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered the Mehdi army to freeze its activities back in August, and U.S. commanders say that freeze may be one reason why violence has dropped in Iraq.
We are getting more details this morning about how a 13-year-old girl from southern California may have survived a plane crash in Panama. Just an incredible story. Francesca Lewis's mother says she believes her daughter either fell out or was thrown from the plane as it was crashing. Francesca's best friend, her friend's father and the pilot were all killed in that crash.
Francesca's mom told CNN that rescuers found her under a wing, apparently delirious, thinking she was waking up at home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF VALERIE LEWIS, SURVIVOR'S MOTHER: So the fact that she so far doesn't seem to have any major damage is, seems incredible. She thought she had been sleeping and that she would wake up and see -- she thought she was in her home and that there was -- why was there an airplane wing in her home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Just imagine what that young girl went through. Her mom says Francesca has a fractured arm and some cuts, but she's actually up and walking around. That is heartwarming news.
And hundreds of children in Cambodia are getting an education this morning. Thanks to a teenaged girl from New York. Listen to this one.
17-year-old Rachel Rosenfeld raised $52,000 to open a school in Cambodia, bringing computers and Internet access to 300 children. How about that? Rosenfeld raised the cash by sending out letters, selling t-shirts, even offering naming rights for parts of the school. She says she got the idea while she was home sick from her own school for about a year. She read about the kids in the newspaper and decided to help. How about that?
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: That from a 17-year-old who then helps out all those people. She got the World Bank as well as the Asian Defense Bank to throw in some money, too.
CHO: $52,000 bucks. And really interesting that she -- you know, t-shirts, did all kinds of things to do it and really was in the Christmas spirit.
CHETRY: Very creative.
CHO: Yes.
CHETRY: Probably learned more organizing that entire thing...
CHO: In that year?
CHETRY: And meets the goal for a year.
CHO: Sometimes the best education is outside the classroom. That's right.
CHETRY: Good for her. CHO: Yes.
CHETRY: Good to see you, Alina. We'll check in with you in about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, we have Rob Marciano with us as well. He's been tracking extreme weather including some freezing rain we could be looking at up in the northeast. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Alina. Hi, Kiran.
Yes, we're looking at -- we got a lot to cover today actually, and it's all wintry type of weather. If you live in the New York area, you know about the rain that came through last night, in some cases mixing with sleet and some freezing rain. We saw leftover freezing rain advisories for northeastern corners of Connecticut, eastern parts of Massachusetts and northern parts of Rhode Island, so be aware of that just for the next hour or two across your morning commute.
There's some of those moisture. This storm kind of accelerating and deepening as it moves offshore, but it should be gone in a couple of hours. All right. Let's move the map over towards the west.
The big story today is going to be this developing storm system across parts of Colorado. We have winter storm warnings and heavy snow warnings for a good chunk of the state of Colorado and extends into eastern Kansas as well. This does include the city of Denver, which saw a white Christmas and the fun continues for you kids and, of course, for skiers as well. More fresh powder. It has been a great holiday week for those folks.
And the pacific northwest, pretty rare to see this type of snowfall. All the way down to the valley for the I-95 corridor should see some snow. The question is how much? Will it be kind of a wet snow? It all will depend on your elevations, kind of hilly terrain in this part of the area. Anywhere from three to five inches in spots, especially in the higher elevations so heavy snow warnings are posted for that area.
Now, we are seeing some of the rainfall move into the Portland and Salem area. Some of this falling as snow, down about 500 to 1,000 feet. Some of it will be all snow in some cases. Coast to coast, some winter weather. This is the season. First of the year just around the corner. Kiran, back over to you.
CHETRY: All right, Rob. We'll check in with you throughout the morning.
MARCIANO: OK.
CHETRY: Thanks so much.
Meanwhile, just one week to go until the Iowa caucuses. The presidential candidates pulling out all the stops in the 11th hour. Hillary Clinton getting some campaign help from both her husband and her daughter. Both of them out on the trail, trying to break out of a virtual three-way tie with Barack Obama and John Edwards.
We have full coverage from the campaign trail with Suzanne Malveaux in Iowa and Mary Snow in New Hampshire. We start of with Suzanne. You know, we talked about this virtual three-way tie, unless you look at the American Research Group poll that really showed Hillary Clinton at least over the past couple of days pulling far ahead of Barack Obama and John Edwards in Iowa.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sure, I mean, officially the holiday season is over here. These Democratic candidates are crisscrossing the state. We're going to be doing the same. We're following Camp Clinton today. She came up with a new theme called "big challenges, real solutions, time to pick a president," and we saw a new image here.
This, of the former President Bill Clinton with candidate, the wife Hillary Clinton and Chelsea, all three of them together, the former first family, and what they did is essentially are trying to show a personal support, family support, but also to kind of harken back to the days of the White House when times were good, when the economy was strong, when the country was at peace.
They talked about the time when Bill Clinton was in Arkansas as governor, and they changed the education system. This is all meant to like bring out people who really have good feelings and good memories about the Clinton family. Now, there's some political analysts who say look, there's also a risk to that strategy as well. Some may remember the tumultuous times, but they believe that putting the family out here really sends a good message, a very strong picture -- Kiran.
CHETRY: So we have Clinton, Obama and John Edwards, all of them in Iowa campaigning nonstop for the next week. So what is the priority for each of the campaigns in its closing week?
MALVEAUX: Sure. Well, the first thing obviously is to cross the state, get as many people as possible to come out and take a look at the message. Secondly is to teach people, Iowans how to caucus, to get those voters out there. Here's what you need to do. Here's how to get there. And then finally come up with a message that resonates, not only resonates but also motivates, to get people to come out there.
That's why you're seeing this kind of simplified, very punchy messages. The one from the Clinton campaign obviously time to pick up a president, meaning that she is the candidate that's electable. That is the message that they're trying to convey to people here so clearly trying to get across to as many people as possible and also to motivate them as well -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux in Des Moines for us this morning, thanks.
Meanwhile on the Republican side, the verbal shots being fired and some real shots as well. Mike Huckabee spent yesterday hunting pheasant in Iowa. After bagging a birdie, he said that he understands the culture of being outdoors. It's a knock at Mitt Romney's one-time claims of being a lifelong hunter.
Mary Snow is on the campaign trail following the Republicans this morning as well. She joins us live from Manchester, New Hampshire, with more on what the candidates are doing. Hi, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kiran.
And you know here in New Hampshire, we have the verbal shots being fired as Mitt Romney campaigns here. He's really trying to make his final push before heading to Iowa, and he's also trying to set himself apart as the candidate who has not written off New Hampshire and saying that it's crucial to win in both of these early states.
He met with voters very casual setting yesterday. There was one town hall meeting, and he has really been stepping up attacks against John McCain because he is threatened here in New Hampshire, and the issues that he has been really focusing on, immigration and taxes.
This, as Romney has lost some of his popularity in polls both here in New Hampshire and Iowa, and he's really been focusing on these fiscal conservative policies kind of staying away from some of the social issues because he has changed positions on things like abortion, gay rights. He's come under heavy criticism for that, and he's trying to set himself apart. Also, he said he taped his last closing arguments yesterday here in New Hampshire. He's trying to set a very -- in his words, positive tone. He used that word positive several times yesterday but at the same time, he's really been stepping up criticism with John McCain.
CHETRY: And John McCain firing back saying that Romney's in a bit of a tailspin. Now it looks like John McCain has gained some ground in New Hampshire.
SNOW: He really has, and that word tailspin just as indicative of how fierce, though, the competition is here. The Romney camp will say look, we always expected that the race here to become tight. However, what's in the past couple of days, Mitt Romney's been the target of two scathing editorials, anti-endorsements by two newspapers here and also those poll numbers. So Mitt Romney's trying to shore up his support here. He's spending the day here in New Hampshire before heading to Iowa.
John McCain who pretty much wrote off Iowa will be spending the day there. Mike Huckabee also, as you mentioned, he was in Iowa yesterday. He'll be traveling from there today to Florida, where also Rudy Giuliani will be and Giuliani really is concentrating on those later states, keeping up that strategy, which is really very unconventional but he's hoping to shore up his support in those biggest states, Florida, New York, California, for the big primaries after these early states.
CHETRY: All right. Mary Snow for us in Manchester, New Hampshire, this morning. Thanks.
Switching gears now, talking about the housing front. There's some news this morning on that. Home prices post record declines nationwide. Ali Velshi at the business update desk following that for us. Hey, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: Welcome back.
VELSHI: Good to see you again. This is one of those tough stories to tell because people are watching thinking didn't they already post record declines? This is called the case Schiller index. It's a report that takes a little more time to tabulate, but here's what it says.
It says out of October, we had the index of 20 major cities down about 6 percent year over year. That's a six percent decline in home prices across the country. Let's take a look at some specific centers where numbers were down.
Miami, Tampa, both getting 12 percent loss. That's October to October. Detroit, San Diego, Las Vegas and Phoenix, all having 11 percent drops or many of them with bigger than 10 percent drops. You go the other side. Home prices that were up. Of the 20 areas surveyed, only three were up, Charlotte, Seattle and Portland.
Now, before everybody starts worrying about the sky falling and I want to give you a little bit of perspective on this. If you bought a house, the median price of a single family home in October of 2000 was $146,000. In October of 2007, it was $205,000. So as far as the median price for a home in the United States goes, it's still up 40 percent. That doesn't help you if you're in Detroit or Phoenix or one of those places. This bubble is definitely getting some air out of it, but it's not a disaster. Something to keep in mind -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Ali Velshi, we'll check in with you throughout the morning as well. Thanks so much.
VELSHI: OK.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, a Christmas present with a scary surprise. What one child found inside of a toy. Her parents now demanding answers coming up.
There are also some new questions this morning in the deadly tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo. The area where the tigers were now a crime scene, and investigators are asking, is anyone to blame in that attack that killed a teen? The legal angles of the tiger attack ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Some of the best shots of the morning in our "Quick Hits."
A dramatic cliff rescue in San Diego. Two hang gliders had to be plucked off this cliff after bumping into each other when they were coming in for a landing. Both flyers are said to be doing well this morning. And a wet wreck in Miami. Police say an SUV flipped over after it hit a fire hydrant. The road was flooded and shut downs as crews flipped the truck back onto its wheels. No one suffered any serious injuries. It's not clear whether the driver will face any charges on that story.
And a tragic story out of Buffalo. An elderly man is dead and his wife is fighting for her life this morning after their SUV plunges into the icy Niagara River. Witnesses tell CNN affiliate WKBW that the SUV was idling in a parking lot and then suddenly accelerated, jumped the curb, smashed through a railing. And other witness says the couple made it out. The man was waving for help. Buffalo police say they think it may be an accident, but detectives are investigating -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks a lot, Rob.
Well, police are calling it a crime scene now. Is the zoo responsible for how it kept the tiger? Could it have done more, and did police respond appropriately?
AMERICAN MORNING legal contributor Sunny Hostin joins us now with this morning's "Legal Brief." So we're talking about the situation at the San Francisco Zoo. According to one of the local papers, "The Chronicle," there's possibly some evidence this morning that one or more of the victims was climbing that fence and that perhaps the tiger was even able to latch onto a leg and get himself over that enclosure.
SUNNY HOSTIN, AMERICAN MORNING LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. It is really unbelievable. I think what is happening is you know that the family here is going to sue. I mean, there's just no question about it. There certainly is going to be liability. We know that this tiger attacked a zookeeper just almost a year before. And so what the investigation is, I think, framing now is whether or not the victims in this case were also negligent, if they contributed to their deaths, and that really can be a defense for the zoo here.
CHETRY: The other question is, is it the city? You know, we saw with the previous, as you said, the attack that took place last year...
HOSTIN: Right.
CHETRY: ... or a few year's back, the zookeeper ultimately is attempting to sue the city.
HOSTIN: Yes.
CHETRY: But how is the -- how is the city in charge of what goes on at the zoo?
HOSTIN: Well, I have to say the city is also responsible for funding the zoo. And when you file a civil lawsuit, you are in a sense looking for deep pockets and that's what happened a year ago. Not only was the zoo sued, the city was also sued. That suit is still pending and so we don't know the results. CHETRY: Yes.
HOSTIN: But I think we're also going to see this. What is unfortunate is after this tiger attacked its zookeeper last year, there were a lot of changes that were made and so the zoo certainly was unnoticed that this was a dangerous animal. We know Siberian tigers are dangerous by their very nature.
CHETRY: Right.
HOSTIN: But they did make some changes, but apparently not enough.
CHETRY: And the other question then is when you're making this case, I mean, you have to have a reasonable assumption of safety, right? When you go into a public place like this.
HOSTIN: Absolutely.
CHETRY: At the same time, if it turns out and some of this is reporting is showing this may be the case that these kids who were attacked were pursuing the tiger, maybe going in a place with signs that said don't go there, will that change who is liable?
HOSTIN: Well, it does. And typically again, with these sort of civil lawsuits, they're sort of a balancing act and you have to find out who was negligent. Now, if the zoo is negligent and was unnoticed and didn't do enough to protect them but then they went in and did what they weren't supposed to do, what a jury or judge is going to do is decide, OK, the zoo is 50 percent liable and the kids were 50 percent liable, and that's sort of how these things are framed.
It's a tragic story. It's very sad, and the investigation will hopefully get to the bottom of what happened here.
CHETRY: Sunny, good to see you. Thank you.
HOSTIN: Good to see you.
CHETRY: Still ahead. The family of a woman in a wheelchair says that she was left all alone on an airport tarmac for hours. The airline saying that's not true. We're going to sort it out in just a bit and tell you what happened to her.
Also, unwrapping a blade, not exactly what you get your kid for Christmas. One child scared and parents are seething over something that came with a toy. What's the explanation for that. We're going to take a look ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, certainly a scary Christmas morning for one family in South Carolina. They claim their 7-year-old daughter opened the gift, the Polly Pocket Plane set and found a blade in it. Now, it's that somebody's idea of a joke. They say that they went to a Wal- Mart. The workers there didn't explain anything. Mattel, the toy maker apologized but also had no answer. Her dad says that he was left without a refund, doesn't want his money back until he starts getting some answers. And it's too bad we don't have a shot there so you can see what it looked like. But there it is.
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHETRY: I mean, was that a box cutter? It looks like a box cutter.
MARCIANO: You know, maybe a pocketknife wrapped up in electrical tape. Maybe somebody on the assembly line uses it to get the assembly line unstuck sometimes.
CHETRY: I got to tell you as a mom, I have paper cuts everywhere. I mean, there may as well have been knives in the toys when you're trying to undo all that packaging and twisting the wires. Forget it.
MARCIANO: That's what Christmas is all about, huh? Paper cuts.
CHETRY: Yes. Exactly, and eating too much.
MARCIANO: You're a mom. You remember the day.
CHETRY: Yes.
MARCIANO: Of giving birth.
CHETRY: Yes, of course.
MARCIANO: Well ...
CHETRY: It wasn't like this.
MARCIANO: Check this out. Your "Hot Shot," one big Christmas bundle of joy.
A 17-pounder. Oh, my goodness, born yesterday. Kiran is cringing right now.
CHETRY: She looks likes a mini sumo wrestler. Doesn't it?
MARCIANO: Thank goodness. It's the mother's fifth child. All right. So she's been through before, but mercifully, this one was born by c-section. Doctors say his unusual size may have been because his mom suffers from diabetes.
Hey, if you've got a "Hot Shot," we'd like to see it. Send it to us. The address is amhotshots@CNN.com. Be sure to include your name, where you're from, and of course, a little bit about the picture or video. And one more thing, make sure the image is yours and not someone else's.
CHETRY: I think she can vouch for it. That's my kid.
MARCIANO: Yes. CHETRY: She's saying it's hers.
MARCIANO: Might be her last.
CHETRY: How about it? You're born and you're on a diet immediately. I mean, the poor thing. Who would like to be on a diet?
MARCIANO: Maybe he's going to have an NFL career.
CHETRY: Exactly. Line backer.
All right. You're watching the most news in the morning, and we're going to be getting new details now from San Francisco. There are a lot of questions this morning about what happened before a tiger escaped a zoo. There are many zookeepers who say that in 100 years no tiger has been able to scale a 20-foot wall and get out. So what exactly happened with the tragedy in San Francisco? We're going to talk more about that. We got a live report from the zoo in just a few more minutes.
Also ahead, a woman in a wheelchair brought on to the tarmac for a connecting flight. She says they just left her there for hours. What went wrong and how is the airline explaining this? We'll have that and the other top stories when AMERICAN MORNING comes back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: There's a shot this morning from our nation's capitol, 41 degrees in D.C. right now. It's only going to get about eight degrees warmer than that for a high today. Cloudy and bad weather should hold off for at least for a while there, but Rob smirking so maybe I'm wrong.
MARCIANO: You're doing fine. It's a pretty shot.
CHETRY: It sure is. There you see the Washington Monument on the right. It is Thursday, December 27th. Thanks for being with us. I'm Kiran Chetry. John Roberts has the day off.
New this morning, we have some brand new details coming to light from the San Francisco Zoo after that deadly tiger attack happened on Christmas Day. The three young men attacked all knew each other. Police are now investigating what role they may have played in the tiger's escape. The teenager who was killed has been identified as 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. from San Jose. Police say he died from a severe bite to the throat. He knew the tiger's two other victims, they were brothers, also seriously hurt but expected to survive.
This morning, the "San Francisco Chronicle" is reporting that one of the friends may have taunted the tiger, dangling a leg over the fence before the tiger got out. Police say that could have provided a way for the tiger to then climb out. It's believed Sousa was killed just outside of the tiger's grotto area as they call it. The others left a trail of blood that the tiger then followed apparently.
According to police, at least, for at least 300 yards, all the way to the zoo's cafe. There you see it. Police found the tiger attacking one of the victims. That's when they distracted the tiger with flashing red lights from their patrol cars and ultimately shot and killed the tiger.
CNN's Dan Simon has new details on the investigation and is live from the San Francisco Zoo this morning. What other evidence are police and investigators looking at today?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Kiran.
First of all, there are some very legitimate questions about what role these three may have had in this attack as you alluded to the "San Francisco Chronicle" breaking some new ground this morning. The "Chronicle" first reporting that there was a shoe print found on a fence. The fence that separates the general public from the outer perimeter of the enclosure.
Now, sighting police, source of the "Chronicle" is also reporting, this is even more significant, that there was a shoe and some blood between the fence and the moat.
Now, CNN cannot independently confirm these reports but if they are true, it shows that these three may have really attracted the attention of the tiger and that perhaps, the tiger may have latched onto a leg or body part and that may have helped it get away from the enclosure or get out of the enclosure.
Now, police aren't commenting on this publicly. All they're saying is that they're treating this as a criminal investigation. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF HEATHER FONG, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Because we're not certain whether this incident occurred as a result of human action or whether this was an incident where the animal was able to get out of the grotto. We have deemed the site as of last night a crime scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: We are also hearing that the three people, the three young men, were together when this attack first took place. The tiger, of course, mauling and killing one person, Carlos Sousa, just outside of the enclosure and the other two people apparently running for their lives, trying to get away from the tiger.
We're hearing that there was a trail of blood that led the tiger to those additional victims. Of course, their testimony, these are two brothers from San Jose, they're in a hospital right now. Their eyewitness testimony of course is going to be crucial to this case, Kiran.
CHETRY: Right. So, they still haven't had a chance to speak with them about what happened. Because, it seems a bit confusing how the tiger then apparently followed them some 300 yards to that cafe, where ultimately police shot and killed the animal.
SIMON: There's still so many questions about this. First of all, if true, if this "Chronicle" report is true, they somehow got over this waist-high fence but that still doesn't explain how the tiger was able to scale this wall, this wall being at 18 feet. They are, apparently, outside of the fence. There is sort of like some level ground here and the tiger would have had to scale this wall. So how this all unfolded, we still don't know. Of course, the testimony from these brothers is going to be very important.
CHETRY: All right and maybe you'll hear more as you're out there and they continue the investigation this morning. Dan Simon for us in San Francisco, thanks.
SIMON: You bet.
CHETRY: A lot of other stories making headlines overnight. Alina Cho following the very latest developments and she joins us now.
Hi, Alina.
CHO: Hey there, Kiran, good morning again.
New details this morning in the incredible plane crash survival story in Panama. The mother of 13-year-old Francesca Lewis says she believes her daughter either fell out or was thrown from the plane as it was crashing. The crash happened Sunday on the side of a volcano in Panama. Francesca's best friend, her friend's father and the pilot were all killed. Francesca's mom told CNN that rescuers found her under a wing apparently delirious thinking she was waking up at home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VALERIE LEWIS, SURVIVOR'S MOTHER: So the fact that she, so far, doesn't seem to have any major damage is, seems incredible. She thought she had been sleeping and that she would wake up and see, she thought she was in her home and that there was, why was there an airplane wing in her home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Her mom says Francesca has a fractured arm and some cuts but she is actually up and walking around. We wish her the best in her recovery. This morning, Iran says it's getting a state of the art air defense system from Russia. Iran's defense minister claims the system is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, at ranges of more than 90 miles and altitude of about 90,000 feet. Russia had said it's better than the U.S. patriot missile system but it has never admitted that it's selling it to Iran.
News this morning from Washington D.C. The district has now lifted a nine-year ban on needle exchange programs. D.C.'s mayor says they'll now spend $1 million to provide free needles to drug users and hopes of driving down soaring rates of AIDS and HIV infection. Washington D.C. currently has nine times more AIDS patients than the national average. Bless you, Kiran. And finally this morning, questions about whether a woman in a wheelchair was left on a tarmac for hours. Her name is Jeanne Grettum. She was on her way from California to Orlando this past weekend. Just an incredible story, if it is true. She says, when she landed to connect in Las Vegas, a worker wheeled her to her next flight and then left her on the tarmac for four hours. Grettum says no one stopped to help her, until another worker wheeled her back inside. Hysterical, she says, she then called her daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAMMY NELSON, DAUGHTER: She called me at 3:00 in the morning, crying hysterical, because she didn't know what to do and nobody would help her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Well, however, Las Vegas affiliate KLAS says, U.S. Airways dispute Grettum's claims. It says Grettum was issued her next boarding pass, 22 minutes after arriving in Las Vegas and at no time was she left unattended. Well, a he said/she said situation. But if it's true, the incredible four hours on tarmac.
CHETRY: A nightmare, if it's true. Airlines taking a lot of heat and in this case, it was surprising that U.S. Airways actually released a timeline of events giving minute by minute that didn't happen. I guess, they're saying it was about maybe 12 minutes between getting picked up and getting reissued a boarding pass. We'll see how that shakes out. Thanks, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
CHETRY: Another winter mess for much of the country. A heavy snow warning in place, in and around Portland, Oregon. That's where they just had their first White Christmas in almost 20 years. Also, Denver, looking to get hit with more snow after setting its own record snowfall for Christmas. Another winter storm is in place there. That storm could be bad news for a lot of people, east of the Rockies in the days ahead. 37 minutes past 6:00 here on the east coast.
Rob Marciano joins us now and you had a chance, did you, to do some skiing while you were out in Colorado?
MARCIANO: You know, I was there for work. It just happens that it was on a Friday and, you know, I had the Saturday off.
CHO: That's right. First White Christmas in our former hometown.
MARCIANO: Yes. They showed video of the mountains to show that, you know, they just got a little bit of a dusting. By the way, when you were reporting and she sneezed on me. So, just to make sure.
CHETRY: Sorry, there were no tissues.
(WEATHER REPORT) CHETRY: Columbia pictures "Close Encounters of a Third Kind" joins an exclusive list of movies headed for special treatment today. We're going to show you why and what other films are favorites on a new list.
And who is the most admired man in America? Is it president 43? President 42? We're going to have the results of a new poll ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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MARCIANO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Loud and clear mug shots in your "Quick Hits" now. The FBI says, it plans to install 150 digital billboards showing mug shots of some of the most violent criminals along with security messages and a tip line. Feds say, the system already paid off big time in Philadelphia with 11 fugitives going on display in September. Two were caught by October. Good idea -- Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Well, still ahead, the Democrats so-called closing arguments in your "Political Ticker" today. We're one week away from the Iowa caucuses. And Democrat Barack Obama unveils his, do you believe in change message today. Trying to separate himself from Hillary Clinton, who is spending the next week talking up her White House experienced.
Meanwhile, Republican White House hopeful John McCain will make his final pre-caucus swing through Iowa today. He arrived last night delivering a speech about protecting veterans and controlling spending in Washington. Mitt Romney focusing on New Hampshire, where he once had a sizeable lead and now faces some dropping poll numbers.
Well, presidents 43 and 42 are one and two in Gallup's list of the most admired men in America. Sitting presidents usually top the list. President Bush is number one at 10 percent. Former President Bill Clinton second, but in a statistical tie with his successor at 8 percent. And you can find all the day's political news around the clock at cnn.com/ticker.
MARCIANO: Just a few moments ago, the Library of Congress released the latest films that are chosen for the National Registry. 25 in all, including "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind," "Oklahoma," "Back To The Future," "12 Angry Men" and "Dances With Wolves" congrats, Kevin Costner. The Library of Congress chooses films for the National Registry to honor them and to preserve them for future generations. They say half of the movies made before 1950 are lost and 90 percent of those, made before 1920, are unfortunately gone forever.
CHETRY: You know, you don't even think about that in the days of DVD and plugging things in and keeping things digitally. You don't think that...
MARCIANO: What would be the classic of this year you think?
CHETRY: Well, I just recently saw, I'm not saying it's a classic, I just saw "I Am Legend" yesterday. I had some nightmares.
MARCIANO: Yes. So, she looks a little tired. But it was a good movie, right?
CHETRY: Not bad. Did you see it?
MARCIANO: Not yet, but I'm going to see it during the day, so that I can sleep at night. Thank you for you advice.
"Quick Hits" now. A new report that shows American teachers are more qualified than they were ten years ago. The study says, new teachers, verbal and math S.A.T. scores are 13 and 17 points higher and 13 percent more had college grade point averages of 3.5 or above. The study says, the boost is due to tougher federal rules and the No Child Left Behind Act, as well as already educated people changing careers to become teachers.
And the U.S. Mint this morning announcing the four new faces of its presidential dollar coin series. They will be James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. The series started last February with the one, the only, father of our country, George Washington.
CHETRY: Hey, there's also the Statue of Liberty, down there.
MARCIANO: Well, it's quite the back side of it. There you go, Lady Liberty. And you got to have a tails right? And a record for the guys behind the iPod. Why Wall Street all buzz over Apple, and the power to leap over a 20-foot fence, and a kill of teenager with single swipe to the throat. The chain of events as the horror unfolded when a tiger got loose at the San Francisco Zoo. All of that, still to come on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
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CHO: Welcome back, everybody. 11 minutes before the top of the hour. Here's a look at what's new this morning. We begin with more on the tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo. Police are now trying to figure out if that tiger killed a teenager and mauled two others and got help getting out. There are reports that three victims may have been taunting the 300-pound cat before it leaped over a wall and got across a moat. The victim who died in the attack has how been identified as 17-year-old, Carlos Sousa Jr. We're going to speak to Sousa's family live in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
New details this morning about the 13-year-old girl who amazingly survived a deadly plane crash in Panama. Francesca Lewis's mother says she believes her daughter either fell out or was thrown from the plane as it was crashing. Francesca's best friend, her friend's father and the pilot were all killed in the crash. Francesca's mom said rescuers found her apparently delirious, thinking that she was waking up at home.
And a new report is out on the cause of that huge steam pipe explosion in New York City back in December. Remember that story? The report blames faulty repairs by utility company Con Edison. It says putty used to seal a leak came loose and clogged a valve designed to release steam. That created a back up that led to the blast. One person was killed after having a heart attack, two others were severely injured. Ten minutes before the hour. We send it back to you, Kiran and Rob.
CHETRY: All right. We wanted to take a moment to get a lay of the land of the San Francisco Zoo and exactly where the tiger was when he went on attack. Rob is with me now as well, in front of the Telestrator. We're showing a little bit of a video right now. But I think, it is confusing to people to explain how a tiger would possibly get over an 18-foot-high fence.
MARCIANO: Oh and quite honestly, it's still confusing to us and there's a lot of speculation that's going on and what we're showing you, really is more of a lay of the land than what we know for sure and I think as the day rolls on, Dan Simon will bring us more information. But pretty much, this walkway is where we assume those guys, the victims were hanging out, at least the one teenager where he was killed.
CHETRY: Right. There's a fence along this entire area, and this is still separated by an 18-foot-high wall and there's this 20-foot moat. The thing that seemed to be a little confusing or curious, at least according to the "San Francisco Chronicle" this morning, is that a shoe and as well as some other items were found in this area between the moat and this fence, before the walkway. So, they're trying to figure out whether one or more of the victims actually climbed that fence.
MARCIANO: So question this morning was how does a tiger, who has been in captivity its entire life, you know, get across a moat and then, climb this 18-foot high wall, and these are the questions that are going to be answered today and obviously with those little pieces of evidence that they've found in these spots here, that leads them to speculate that maybe there was some taunting or maybe they had climbed over the walls and that would have instigated this -- you know, he's a wild animal.
CHETRY: Exactly. Just a little bit of perspective. Some other zookeepers, in fact, we're talking to one in our 8:00 eastern hour say, that in 100 years of keeping tigers in zoos in the United States and 200 years in doing in Europe, no animal has been able to, on their own, scale an 18 to 20-foot wall. So, we're going to be talking much more about that throughout the morning.
Meanwhile, still ahead, the Golden Apple, the guys behind the iPod and the Mac rising to new heights. What's got Wall Street buzzing? Ali Velshi is going to fill us in on that. Also, most of us are happy with our iPod or peanut brittle. Well, one Colorado man, got the ultimate Christmas gift. The classic 1965 Corvette. This one comes with some extra special memories for the family as well. How about it? That story next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: How about that? Look how happy Anderson Cooper looks. You know why he's so happy? Because, we're having a big New Year's Eve party here at CNN, Monday night, the big night. Join Anderson Cooper. I'll be out there at Times Square as well with Anderson. It starts at 11:00 eastern. We're going to ring in the New Year live.
But we need your help to make the party even better. Go to cnn.com/iparty. You know how you send us I-reports all the time? So, this is I-party. We want you to send your photos, tell us your memory. You may be even post a shout out to friends about what you're doing or what you did on New Year's. The possibilities are endless.
MARCIANO: This could get dangerous. Censorship.
CHETRY: The possibilities are endless as we said. And we just might show them during our live broadcast. Again, 11 o'clock, an hour before the ball drops in Times Square.
MARCIANO: You got your outfit picked out there? Big night.
CHETRY: Of course, like that, like that 2007 glasses. Check out some of the contenders. How cute is this one. Kimberly Brambilla from St. Augustine, Florida. The kid is getting ready for the countdown as well and also, it's the start of seven years for him. Oh, how happy does Elaine Goodman's dog look?
MARCIANO: Not terribly.
CHETRY: From Richboro, Pennsylvania. Hey, he doesn't know. He's just hoping for a treat when all the torture is over. Dog, man's best friend.
MARCIANO: All right then.
CHETRY: So, those are some examples. Show us your I-party.
MARCIANO: And I'm sure we'll be talking about New Year's resolutions too as the New Year arrives and you know, some people just want to get a new job.
VELSHI: Yes. One of the things people think about in the New Year is what they want to do with their career and with all the talk that we've had about a recession, people might be wondering. So, there's a survey that came from CareerBuilder. I'm always careful about this because anybody who CareerBuilder is surveying probably has jobs for offers. So, it may not be as broad-based as you think. But take a look at whose offering.
According to CareerBuilder, a lot of people are going to be hiring in 2008. 40 percent of employers say they're having trouble filling jobs. Here are the industries where people say they're going to be hiring. 45 percent of people in professional and business services and information technology, say they're hiring. 37 percent of those in transportation and utilities. We know that's a big area. Believe it or not, despite 150,000 layoffs this year, 34 percent of HR and management people in financial services say, they'll be hiring in 2008, probably at lower levels. 32 percent of the hospitality industry and 28 percent of the retail and health care industry. So, those are industries where they have said they are going to be looking to fill jobs. Only 8 percent of HR professionals who were serving more than 3,000 were for the survey, said that they're planning to cut staff in 2008. 32 percent said they're adding staff. And about an hour, I'm going to come back and I'm going to show you, geographically where the jobs look like they are in the country. So, job hunting is in your New Year, stick around.
MARCIANO: I didn't see TV news industry.
VELSHI: Yes, no responses from the TV news industry about whether they're hiring.
MARCIANO: OK, then we're very happy with what we have. We love our jobs.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.
MARCIANO: Well, the holiday sales were good for Apple. The new iPods and iPhones showing up on enough Christmas lists to help Apple to record a record on Wall Street. Apple shares hit the $200 mark for the first time yesterday. Analysts' credit re-designs on the popular iPods for keeping up with demand.
CHETRY: How about it? That would be a nice stocking stuffer for next year.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now. Trail of blood.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have deemed the site a crime scene.
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CHETRY: Was a tiger taunted before her deadly attack? There's some new evidence how she hunted her victims. Plus, we're live with one of the victim's parents.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's pretty mangled up.
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CHETRY: Miracle survivor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey sweetie. We're going to see you real soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Parents reunited with their teenage daughter. How did she survive a deadly plane crash?
Plus closing arguments. One week to go in Iowa. Who is in the lead? Who is on the side lines? We're live from the campaign trail on this AMERICAN MORNING. And welcome. Glad you're with us on this Thursday, December 27th, I'm Kiran Chetry. John Roberts is taking the day off.
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