Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Inmate on Run in Maryland; Historic London Hospital Burns; Oil Reaches $100 Mark; Candidates Make Final Iowa Push; Bus Accidents in South Carolina, Texas; Dodd is Trailing the Frontrunners in the Democratic Race in Iowa, Deadly Crisis in Kenya, Alleged Groping on Plane, U.S. Diplomat Killed in Sudan, Pakistan Sets New Election Date, Sunday School Teacher Charged with Molestation, Caucus 101
Aired January 02, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Prison inmate, hospital patient, fugitive. It's been a busy day for Kelvin Poke. The police in Maryland hope it doesn't get any busier.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: We're also following two big bus accidents: a Greyhound bus and an 18-wheeler mix it up in North Carolina, and a charter bus from Mexico wipes out in Texas.
PHILLIPS: And a new year brings new heights for oil: $100 a barrel in New York trading. Susan Lisovicz working the surge.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano, in today for Don Lemon. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
PHILLIPS: It's happening right now, a manhunt under way in Maryland, where jailers say a prisoner, serving a life sentence, overpowered a guard at a hospital and shot his way to freedom.
CNN's Gary Nurenberg is live with the latest.
Gary, what do we know?
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, there are late- breaking developments in this story. Moments ago, a law enforcement source told CNN that the car which the suspect here, 45-year-old Kelvin Poke, carjacked this morning from Laurel Regional Hospital between Baltimore and Washington, that car has now been found in Washington, D.C. It's been the last several minutes.
The search is now concentrating on that area for this 45-year-old inmate who began serving a life-plus-40-year term in November of 2005 at one of the state's maximum security facilities, the Jessup facility here in Maryland.
What happened, Mr. Poke complained of chest pains yesterday and was accompanied to the hospital by two corrections officers. As he was being -- taken a look at here -- he overpowered one of those corrections officers. Maryland state police spokesman Greg Shipley picks up the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG SHIPLEY, MARYLAND STATE POLICE SPOKESMAN: The inmate was on the fourth floor of the hospital, overpowered a correctional officer and disarmed that correctional officer, took his handgun.
There was a second team of two correctional officers in the hospital, who responded to the room. One of those correctional officers was also disarmed by the inmate. Shots were then fired in the room.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NURENBERG: Shipley says what happened when those shots were fired, Poke apparently took the officer's gun and shot the shackles off his feet, then went down a staircase from that fourth floor, encountered another corrections officer, took the weapon away from him. And as he was making his way down the staircase, set one of those weapons down to open the door.
Then, armed with a .38 caliber pistol that he took from that Maryland state corrections officer, he went to the opening, the main door of the hospital -- there's a breezeway there -- and then took his gun, fired through the window of a 1993 blue Toyota Camry, striking the driver of that car in the head, took the Camry and got his way out of the area.
Remarkably, the driver of that car did not suffer life- threatening injuries and is being treated today, is expected to survive.
The hospital immediately went on lockdown, as did three area schools. This happened between 8 and 9 a.m. this morning. And a massive search took place. The area was inundated with police. There is a volunteer fire department just down the road.
At one point, there was a report of a man in a shed. Police responded, surrounded the area en masse, found this was not the guy. But as we went on the area, we got that word that police found the Toyota in Washington, D.C. Right now, Kyra, that is where this search is taking place.
PHILLIPS: And what type of resources are we talking about, Gary? I understand a number of schools are in lockdown, too. Is that correct?
NURENBERG: Yes, it is. Three schools in the area in the Prince Georges County, Maryland, area between Washington and Baltimore were locked down earlier this morning.
A number of law enforcement agencies involved. As we came, we saw a number of road blocks, police helicopters in the air. But in the last few minutes, with the discovery of that '93 blue Camry in Washington, forces have begun to move that way. Although the suspect is from this area of Maryland, between Washington and D.C. So the search is relatively widespread. The focus now, though, on Washington, where the car was recovered just a few minutes ago.
PHILLIPS: All right. Gary Nurenberg, we'll stay on top of that story and that search for the suspect. Appreciate it.
MARCIANO: A nasty wreck today on Highway 1 near the Virginia/North Carolina border. It happened about 11 this morning, involving a Greyhound bus and an 18-wheeler.
We don't know many details, but respond vehicles shut the highway down in both directions. It happened about 45 miles north of Raleigh. More information on that crash as we get it.
PHILLIPS: An old building built in the 1850s, but it housed a world-renowned cancer hospital in southwest London. Today, a shocking sight, as the top floor and the roof of the six-story Royal Marsden Hospital burned.
CNN's Max Foster is in London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to one leading expert, this is a major setback for cancer treatment not just for the UK and Europe, but for the world. This is a leading center, the world's first cancer hospital.
No patients were injured today. Some minor injuries, perhaps, but nothing too serious. But a major logistical exercise when a key part of the hospital caught fire, the roof caught fire, the entire hospital, which is a very large hospital, had to be evacuated.
Patients requiring extremely high levels of care were transferred to other hospitals around London. They seem to be coping with a lot of pressure on other hospitals around London today.
And also, other cancer patients around the world hoping for treatment will be wondering, can they still come here. Well, the truth is the hospital isn't up and running at the moment. And the area that was affected was the modern part, the really high-technology part where the surgical theaters are. Those are closed. A lot of the equipment may well be damaged. And that's a major concern.
This is what the chief executive came over and told us.
CALLY PALMER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, ROYAL MARSDEN HOSPITAL: We had a major fire at the Royal Marsden today. But the most important thing is that all patients and staff have been evacuated safely, and our patients are being cared for in neighboring hospitals by our specialist teams.
We're still trying to assess the extent of the damage that the fire has caused, but it's mainly affected one part of the building.
FOSTER: Well, no patients have been too badly affected by this, as long as the other hospitals can cope with their treatment, very high levels of treatment. Some concern about the high-tech equipment here and the damage done to that; it is a world-class facility here. Also some concern about some of the research being lost. But hopefully, there will be backup systems in another hospital, and they're checking that right now.
But a big logistical exercise for the authorities here in London. This is a large part of West London that's been affected. Roads have been closed, and hundreds of firefighters and ambulance crews have been involved here. But overnight, there will be efforts made to at least open some parts of the hospital, reopen them.
Max Foster, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Well, we knew it would happen. Some day. Apparently, today is the day. Oil hits $100 a barrel. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us about the spike.
I thought a few weeks ago, we at least touched 100. Did we never do that, though?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We were about a hair way from $100 a barrel. So yes, we all knew the day was going to come. Let's hope it's not an omen for 2008.
For the first trading day, oil did, indeed, Rob, hit $100 a barrel. And a very sharp spike. You're looking at, I believe, the NYMEX right now. Sharp spike, $3.50, brought it there. So there's a few factors that really took crude so much higher.
One is deadly violence in Nigeria, which is Africa's biggest oil producer. Another is the inventory on weekly supplies we get tomorrow. It's been delayed because of the new year's holiday. We're expecting the seventh weekly decline of about two million barrels in crude stockpiles. We expect that tomorrow.
And finally, something that was already pressuring stocks. You're seeing a big sell-off in stocks, which of course, was exacerbated by the big jump in oil prices. But we got a very weak manufacturing report.
Follow me on this. If -- if it puts more pressure on the Fed to cut interest rates. When the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, it puts pressure on the dollar. So it's a trading strategy. Traders bail out of the dollar, and they go into commodities like crude, and crude hit $100 a barrel today.
And by the way, gold hit a 28-year high today. It's trading at just under $850 an ounce right now. So, big moves.
Also, we're seeing a big move in the bond market, which is considered a flight to safety. So, a lot of concerns on this first trading day of the year. Could be another tumultuous year, Rob.
MARCIANO: Seems like it. And as you described it, a lot of things to think about other than the international news, but these traders get involved, and they could send it one way or the other, I suppose.
LISOVICZ: That's right. I mean, it's very -- it's highly speculative. So they make -- they tend to make big moves. But they don't make moves in a vacuum. And so there's a lot of news out today, and oil -- oil prices are reacting.
MARCIANO: And we've got stocks, the Dow down 200, NASDAQ down 48.
LISOVICZ: We had already seen, Rob, a sell-off right at the get- go. But it was exacerbated by the big jump we saw in oil prices.
MARCIANO: OK. Busy day for you, no doubt about it. Happy second day of the year.
LISOVICZ: Happy new year.
MARCIANO: See you later.
PHILLIPS: Well, final frenzied push for votes underway in Iowa right now. Caucus-goers gather tomorrow night at homes, schools and other places across the Hawkeye state. By tradition, their votes will be the first in the presidential nominating process.
We've got live coverage of the candidates as they crisscross the state. We're going to find out what's on the voters' minds as time runs out to make up their minds.
Barack Obama is fighting for every last independent, undecided Iowan he can get right now. He's campaigning in the eastern part of the state. CNN's Jessica Yellin is following along.
Hey, Jessica.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.
For a change, we're actually very early to an event. So it hasn't quite started yet. Traveling around Iowa, sometimes it takes time to get here.
But Barack Obama has not just tried to win over independents and Republicans; one very influential new poll shows he is succeeding. In fact, at event after event that I've attended, Republicans stand up and say, "You know, I've been a lifelong Republican, but I'm going to vote for you and caucus for you this time around."
So his appeal partly is that he is going to bridge the red/blue divide, heal the bipartisan bickering in Washington, D.C., because he hasn't been part of those fights of the past. So, he can bring fresh perspective.
But I should make it very clear both the Edwards and the Clinton campaigns and all the other Democrats dispute the polls showing that all these independents are flocking to Barack Obama. They say they have strong constituencies. And really, all three of these Democrats are in a dead heat in many of the polls, and they are struggling to get out as many voters as they can tomorrow night, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Jessica Yellin. And work on that microphone for us. We could barely hear you there. We're trying to figure it out, but we had you for the most part. We'll check in with you again. Thanks, Jessica.
MARCIANO: There's always the telephone. And I think that's how we're going to do our next interview. That's right.
Mike Huckabee is battling for a last-minute edge over Mitt Romney. Huckabee had two events in northern Iowa this morning. And CNN's Dana Bash joins us. Are you live? Yes, we can see you.
Hey, Dana. Dana, tell us...
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Can you hear me?
MARCIANO: I can hear you, I can see you. You're on.
BASH: Well, I'll tell you what's happening on the Republican side. Here in Ft. Dodge, this is the town that Mike Huckabee started his day, his final push to try to convince voters that they should come out for him and caucus tomorrow, to try to really stoke the passion that does exist in some corners of the Republican Party here for him because of his stance on -- really basically on social issues: on abortion, on same-sex marriage and so forth.
But his closing pitch really is going back to what he really thinks has worked for him, has made him a surprise serious contender here. And that is his authenticity. In various ways, he told the crowd here in Ft. Dodge that he believes that he is somebody who is honest, he is somebody who's consistent on the issues that matter to them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People are looking for some consistency when it comes to the support of the Second Amendment. They're not going to find that I once supported some gun control measure and now changed my mind because the polls say I should or because the playbook says I should.
I do it because it's a conviction. I think that that is a constitutional right. It's not about hunting. It's about our freedom. It's about protecting ourselves, our families and our future. And we don't have the Second Amendment, we lose the First, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: There you heard him talking about the Second Amendment. He said the same thing about abortion. He said the same thing just about -- generally about honesty and consistency.
Now, again, that is sort of his pitch, talking about why people should choose him. You remember, it was very controversial just a couple of days ago, he decided to pull a negative ad, but then played the ad anyway at a press conference. A lot of people sort of looked at that as a stunt. I was there. It was very bizarre.
But since then, he had promised not to negative -- negative campaign and not to attack his chief opponent here, Mitt Romney. So, he's not doing that. But if you listen very carefully to what Mike Huckabee is saying in these final hours here, he is saying, basically, "I am somebody who is consistent on the issues that you are for." The absolute understanding here, there's no question about it, is he's trying to say that Mitt Romney simply is not -- Rob.
MARCIANO: It's very interesting the way they piece together their words, isn't it?
BASH: It is.
MARCIANO: You are inside for a change of pace, with all that cold weather outside. I know you'll be chasing down the candidates over the next day and a half.
Dana Bash live for us. Thank you once again.
Well, the caucuses coming up. Are you clueless about the caucuses? I am, too. But we're here to help. We're going to show you how you can take part, you know, what the rules are, exactly how many things come together. We're also going to have a live interview coming up with Democratic candidate Chris Dodd. So lots to come.
And we may be just one day away from the Iowa caucuses, but anything can happen. For the freshest polls, the final push, the political ticker blog and much, much more, check out cnnpolitics.com, your one-stop shop for the presidential race.
PHILLIPS: Driver fatigue, was it the reason for this deadly crash of a charter bus on a Texas highway? We're going to have the latest.
And he's a man with high hopes. We're going to hear from Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd, who's counting on surprises in the Iowa caucuses.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Getting more information on this developing story out of North Carolina, this bus crash. On the phone with us now, First Sergeant Steve Green with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
Sergeant, what can you tell me about the situation right now?
FIRST SERGEANT STEVE GREEN, NORTH CAROLINA STATE HIGHWAY PATROL: The information that I've received is that the tractor trailer was headed south on U.S. 1. And it was slowing to make a left turn. The Greyhound bus was behind the tractor trailer, failed to reduce speed, colliding into the back of the tractor trailer.
After impact, the Greyhound bus went to the right of the road and went down an embankment, where it overturned. The numbers I have that were on the bus is 48 passengers on the bus. And they were transported to the local hospital by two county school buses and EMS units.
PHILLIPS: Do you know the extent of the injuries? Were there any deaths?
GREEN: At this time, there seems to be no life-threatening injuries to the passengers on the bus. But we do know that the driver of the Greyhound bus was air-lifted. To what hospital, I'm not sure of at this time.
PHILLIPS: What about the driver of the tractor trailer?
GREEN: There was no injury to the driver of the tractor trailer.
PHILLIPS: And so do we know exactly what went wrong and how this happened? I mean, you sort of gave the layout of how the tractor trailer was traveling and the Greyhound bus. But do we know if anything failed or if it was due to the driver of either one of those vehicles?
GREEN: No, not at this time. All the information I have at this time is that the driver of the bus failed to reduce speed and he collided with the back of the tractor trailer.
PHILLIPS: All right. First Sergeant Steve Green, state highway patrol there in North Carolina. Appreciate your time and information. We'll follow up on exactly what happened with this tractor trailer and Greyhound bus. Forty-eight people from that bus taken to various hospitals.
MARCIANO: And another bus accident and an overnight emergency on a highway near Victoria, Texas, southwest of Houston. A charter bus full of passengers on its side, and there are casualties. CNN's Ed Lavandera is in our Dallas bureau with the latest.
Ed, what do you know?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Rob.
One person was killed. It was just after 4 a.m. this morning, Central Time, when a passenger bus chartered from Monterey, Mexico, making its way to Houston. These are popular bus lines throughout parts of Texas, coming into northern Mexico into cities like Houston and Dallas.
A bus this morning, just after 4 a.m. Central Time, as I mentioned, fell over onto its side. One person was killed, dozens more injured. And last check we had, there were nine of those passengers that were still in critical condition.
At this point, Texas investigators say that they believe a driver fatigue might be one of the issues that led to this accident. Witnesses describe that the bus had veered off the road and then tried to get back on, overcorrected and then flipped onto its side. So, those crews are still working that scene down there in Victoria, which is about 125 miles southwest of Houston. And they will continue to work on that throughout most of the day, we're sure -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Scary pictures there, thinking about being on that bus. All right. Ed Lavandera, live for us in Dallas.
Thanks, Ed.
PHILLIPS: Well, Iowa's so important to Senator Chris Dodd that he's moved his entire family to Des Moines. We're going to ask him about that and a lot more in a live interview.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Pakistanis have demanded it, and several countries have offered it. And today Pakistani's president agreed to it. Help from abroad in tracking down the assassins of Benazir Bhutto. In a nationally televised speech, President Pervez Musharraf blamed Bhutto's death on the terrorists who have been active throughout Pakistan. He says his hope is that forensic experts from Britain will remove any doubt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN (through translator): we have decided to request a team from Scotland Yard. And I'm very thankful to Prime Minister Gordon Brown that when I made this request, he accepted that and, with the grace of God, this team will immediately be coming to Pakistan. And will be helping in our investigations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Bhutto supporters say that they won't help investigators, because they don't have any faith in the government. Her party will take part in parliamentary elections, now rescheduled for February 18, even though party leaders object to the six-week delay.
Just getting word in now here to CNN about foreign affairs committee chairman Tom Lantos, also as you know, a long-time congressman. Apparently, he is putting out a statement -- and I'm going to read just the beginning of it here -- that routine medical tests have revealed that he has cancer of the esophagus. He goes on to say that, "in view of this development and the treatment it will require, I will not seek reelection."
Tom Lantos was elected to Congress in 1980 and is in his 14th term in office. His Democratic colleagues elected him chairman of the House Committee of Foreign Affairs in January of this past year. He's also a senior member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government reform.
You may remember Lantos is the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress. He's also the founding co-chairman of the 24- year-old Congressional Human Rights Caucus, for which his wife had directed as a volunteer since its inception.
Tom Lantos coming forward, not seeking reelection due to cancer of the esophagus.
MARCIANO: Well, oil prices to $100 a barrel, sending stocks sharply the other direction. Susan Lisovicz on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, amidst all the action.
What's happening right now, Susan?
LISOVICZ: Well, you know, so much for a nice mellow start to the new year, Rob, right? I mean, we have Dow -- the Dow Industrials are down more than 200 points. And oil prices are hitting $100 a barrel for the first time.
And, of course, there is a reason for all of this. One of the reasons, Rob -- and you know this very well yourself, and a lot of us know it firsthand, too -- is that it's cold. It's cold in a large swath of the United States. That creates a lot of demand for things like heating oil.
Another factor is that we have very deadly problems in Africa's biggest oil producer. That is Nigeria. We have an inventory report that comes out tomorrow. We're expecting the seventh consecutive weekly decline in oil stockpiles.
If that's not enough for you, we also had a weaker than expected report on manufacturing. And that just triggered a lot of concerns about the strength of the U.S. economy going into this new year. And a lot of traders simply bailed out of the dollar and went into oil.
Now, one other thing I want to mention now. Oil never hit $100 a barrel before. A lot of folks say it's psychologically important. A lot of folks in the industry say it's more important to us, the press, because of that big round number, than it is to them.
The real -- the real concern here is the trend that we're seeing. Oil prices just keep going higher. One guy that I just hung up with said, really, the only reason that he waited -- he could see oil coming down is that the U.S. gets into -- goes into a recession. Obviously, we don't want that. Or if there's a whole big new supply of oil that comes onto the market. That's unlikely. Or if there's some huge, massive, massive conservation program.
So you can see that those three factors, whether they're going to happen overnight, is probably unlikely.
MARCIANO: It seems like a stretch. And none of them seem to be a good or at least feasible. So what, obviously, it's going to cost more to fill up my tank of gas, I suppose, down the road there, maybe heat the house. What does it mean for the average person?
LISOVICZ: Well, since you talked about filling up the pump -- filling up the tank, let's give you some numbers. AAA, Rob, says the average price traditionally -- or nationally, rather, for a gallon of regular is $3.05, about 17 cents shy of the record set back in May. And for those of us who -- well, heat our home with his heating oil, obviously they're going to go much higher, as well.
And of course, this also creates a dilemma for the Federal Reserve. Let's not get too wonky here. But we have a U.S. economy that is slowing down. The Fed has been cutting interest rates to try to stimulate growth.
But on the other hand, you have oil, which is at record-high prices, and that trickles down to a lot of the things that we consume. And the Fed usually fights that by raising interest rates. So it's a big dilemma for the Fed. And what it decides is going to have ramifications for all of us, most likely.
MARCIANO: I wouldn't want to be Mr. Bernanke nowadays. Tough...
LISOVICZ: No. It's a tough seat. But you know what? We're going to warm things up a little bit in the next hour. We're going to talk about Caribbean getaways...
MARCIANO: Oh, I like it.
LISOVICZ: ... at a price. At a good price.
MARCIANO: I like it even better.
LISOVICZ: I thought so.
MARCIANO: Now we're looking forward to your next segment.
LISOVICZ: Good. Now we're talking.
MARCIANO: All right, Susan. We'll check back with you. Thank you very much.
LISOVICZ: OK. You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Well, Democratic hopeful Chris Dodd has gone the extra mile to try to connect with Iowa voters. The senator from Connecticut and his young family have set up housekeeping in Des Moines.
Senator Dodd joins me now live from his new state.
I have to say, Senator, you've put all your eggs in one basket. You've packed up that young family of yours. Why did you do it?
SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD, (D-CT) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it's not -- it's only for a few weeks out here. And very simply, I wouldn't have seen them otherwise. It was a personal reason, not political reasons, to have a 6-year-old and a 3-year-old be with their father and mother instead of them having them go through airports or me going through airports getting back and forth. So we rented a little house here in Des Moines. It was a great choice. Couldn't have been received more warmly or graciously by the people of Iowa over the last number of weeks. So I'll -- I've enjoyed it immensely.
PHILLIPS: I can't blame you, those two adorable daughters. I wouldn't want to be away from them either.
DODD: No.
PHILLIPS: We'll get back to the family in a second.
DODD: Yes.
PHILLIPS: How do you feel about the fact that you're not resonating in the polls right now? You're taking this big step, going to Iowa. But this is not a real positive time for you in the polls. What are your thoughts? What's your strategy?
SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, look, I don't want to get down to all processed questions here. I think Iowans take it very seriously. Polls don't mean a great deal in this state and Iowans don't want to be told this race is over or it only involves two or three people. I've been working hard across the state, in a 26- city tour of Iowa before the caucuses tomorrow night. And Iowans have been showing up. We had great gatherings this morning and yesterday in various cities around the state.
I'm very optimistic that on Thursday night there will be a number of tickets out of Iowa. People will be able to go forward into these other primary states, caucus states in the coming weeks. And Iowans care about results. They care about a candidate who can win, not only energize Democrats but attract Independents and Republicans. Not any Democrat wins on November 4th of this year. People would be terribly naive to make that conclusion. And then secondly, people want to have a president that can also bring Democrats, Republicans and others together in our country.
People are tired of the demonization of people in politics here. We need to get busy about solving the problems that people face here at home as well as around the world. I've done that the last 26 years, reaching out to Republicans and Independents to get that job done. That's what I'll do as president as well.
PHILLIPS: Well and you bring up an interesting point about the polls and how you feel about the polls and that you don't think it means much there in Iowa.
DODD: No.
PHILLIPS: I mean we could look at Mike Huckabee, literally, in a small amount of time, he was able to pick up his numbers and truly turn things around for his situation. Do you think you could do the same thing?
DODD: We'll see what happens. We've got wonderful people. The firefighters are in my corner out here, endorse my campaign. A lot of them are out working this very hour on the phones. People across the state have become energized. A lot of people were very excited about the fact that I went back and stood up to the Bush administration over this effort to give retroactive immunity and to the phone companies.
People like their Constitution defended and they like the idea that there was a senator who went back and defended the Constitution. So we've had a tremendous lift from people across the state who care about that issue. People care about family medical leave. They like the idea there's a senator who doesn't just talk about families, but actually has done the work of making it possible, in that case for 50 million people in this country to take family and medical leave.
I wrote that piece of legislation and I'm making a difference. Last week, I got them to take that bill off floor of the senate that would have trampled even further over our constitutional rights. Iowans like to hear these things. They want to know what you've done, not just what you promised to do.
PHILLIPS: I think they want to know what you're like as a person as well. We've been trying to do that here at CNN and personalize all of you, the candidates.
DODD: Amen.
PHILLIPS: Let's get personal for a minute. Your dad, he was a senator, an ambassador -- not too personal, don't worry, unless there's something you want to tell me. But your father, he was a huge influence on you. Talk to us about him. I mean this is someone who took on the KKK in the '30s. He was the lead prosecutor at Nuremberg trials. Pretty amazing man within his career.
DODD: He was. And I think people want to know about you, not just what offices you've held or what bills you have, but who you are, where you've come from, your family, your background, the influences in your life. My father was a huge one for all six of us, his children. The Nuremberg experience was a huge one. I grew up around a dining room table listening about the rule of law, the constitution, those transcended universal eternal rights incorporated in our own Constitution.
So my decision to go back and stand up on the floor of the senate for 11 hours to lead the campaign wasn't because I was urged to by staff or a briefing book. It's who I am. It's my DNA. It's where I come from. I come from a family of teachers. My sister Carolyn spent 41 years teaching as an early childhood development specialist. My brother, Tom, was the ambassador in Uruguay and Costa Rica and Georgetown University. My father's three sisters taught for 40 years a piece. I was in the Peace Corps. I'm the only candidate that served in the National Guard, Army Reserves, who wore the uniform of our country.
I don't claim hero status. These are all influences that combine, I think, the people are interested in knowing about you before they make that decision tomorrow night.
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Kyra, I've got to tell you, has had a huge influence out here. It really caused people to pause and really recognize that we nominate and elect someone that is not naive or doesn't have the background or experience in dealing with international relations, as I have for 26 years, deeply involved in the Middle East and Latin America. I think people want that kind of candidate and we want that kind of president.
PHILLIPS: Finally, the female influence in your life, your wife, Jackie, two young daughters. We came across this picture you and Grace. She's covering your mouth.
DODD: Yes.
PHILLIPS: We were very curious to know, what exactly were you saying there, Senator?
DODD: I'll tell you what it was. Actually, it's very funny. It was at the end of one of the debates. She patiently had been listening to a lot of talking going on and this was her way of demonstrating her reaction to an extended amount of debate. So they're great.
I'm a late arrival here in this parenting business. It's been a great joy. I tease some audiences and I tell them I'm the only candidate running that actually gets mail from AARP and diaper services.
PHILLIPS: And I know your wife was relieved to hear you were running for presidency and that you didn't want a third child, Senator Chris Dodd.
DODD: That, she was glad to hear that. She's been great. Jackie has done a great job. She was the youngest person first woman to be the vice chair of the export import bank in the United States, a specialist in international affairs and is really a very competent individual and a wonderful career in her own right, as well as being a very good mother. So she has done a great job out here in Iowa. People have really gravitated and been attracted to Jackie and her message and her personality. So, she has been a great asset as well.
PHILLIPS: Senator Chris Dodd, appreciate your time, sir.
DODD: Thank you, Kyra, very much.
MARCIANO: We may all want to do that to our politicians out there by the time the year is over. How about those Iowa caucuses, how do they work? Don't feel bad, I'm still trying to figure it out. I have no clue but Tom Foreman will spell it out for us.
And also, a convict sentenced for life grabs a gun and shoots his way out of a Maryland hospital. It sounds like a movie but it's what happened today. We're live on the scene with the latest in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MARCIANO: Machete wielding mobs, a slum in flames, hundreds dead and others homeless. This is Kenya. What's happening there is being felt across the African continent.
CNN's Paula Newton is in Nairobi. Paula, Kenya relative to other countries in Africa relatively calm. What brought about this violence? What do you know right now?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rob, what's at stake right now is an election. But much more than that is going on. The issue of the election, people's lives, their livelihoods are on the line right now.
It has been somewhat of a quiet day. We have still seen some clashes. We still have reports of dead and wounded, perhaps dozens. People are still wielding machetes. What's gone on here is that the government, the incoming government, declared victory in an election. The opposition says the election was rigged. The opposition is planning a massive rally here, Rob. I have to tell you, tomorrow, which is worrying everyone. They're calling perhaps as many as a million people to the streets here in Nairobi tomorrow and that has everyone unsettled.
The government says it's an illegal protest. They are not allowed to hold it. They say that their security forces will not allow it to happen. We were in the slums today where a lot of the base for the opposition stands. They told us they don't care what the government says. They'll come to the city center tomorrow and make sure that they demand that the government step down and that their president, the opposition leader, they call them, the people's president, the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, is sworn into office -- Rob?
MARCIANO: Paula, you know Kenya's a big tourist destination. What if I have a friend or family over there who is on a vacation? Should I be worried about them getting caught up in this?
NEWTON: This is always a very weird situation. We were coming in and we saw many tourists coming in. We saw many people who live here, expatriates who live here, again coming in. I think while everyone has to take a deep breath and be very cautious about what they're doing here. Certainly the advisories are out for many countries saying that tourists should stay away right now.
What we have not seen, Rob, are full scale evacuations of embassies or expatriates or people working for multinational companies. Everyone is taking a wait and see attitude and right now we have to say things did improve today here in the capital.
MARCIANO: That's certainly good news and we hope that trend continues tomorrow with a million person protest expected in Nairobi. Paula Newton reporting live for us. Thanks, Paula -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I apologize. We're having some technical difficulties. We're going to have to leave live programming. We're going to go to Larry King Live for some taped programming while we try to figure out what's going on. We'll try and get back to you as soon as we can.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Passengers are giving us some new details about what happened on a flight when a man allegedly groped another passenger nearby. The United Airlines flight was diverted Sunday to Pittsburgh to remove 46-year-old Michael Holland.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Marshall ran back to where he was and handcuffed him and brought him to the rear end of the plane where I guess they kept him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In court documents, another witness said Holland stroked the woman's hair while she was asleep. Federal Air Marshals say he didn't appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Holland was released on bond. He goes back to court next week.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Britain's foreign secretary are appealing for calm in Kenya. A warning, some of you may find these pictures disturbing. The Associated Press reports more than 300 people have been killed in rioting that followed last week's disputed presidential election. Young people waving machetes marched through parts of the capital Nairobi today. Dozens of people were burned alive in a church yesterday.
A drive-by shooting in Sudan has left a U.S. diplomat and his driver dead. Police are questioning witnesses to the attack in Khartoum. Sudanese officials say 33-year-old John Granville was being driven home when another vehicle cut off his car and opened fire. Granville died after surgery from multiple gun shot wounds. The FBI is sending in a team to Sudan. Granville had been working toward restoring peace there. Investigators say they don't know if Granville was targeted or if it was an isolated or random attack.
Pakistan has set a new date for parliamentary elections. It's now February 18th. That vote was originally set for Monday. But it was postponed after Benazir Bhutto's assassination and the ensuing chaos and violence. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf said he's asking Scotland Yard to help with the investigation. In a televised address, he also asked for political reconciliation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTAN (through translator): I'll ask the political parties to understand the fragile moment and think about their individual interests and their politics. Think about Pakistan. Pakistan comes first. We are in great danger at the moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bhutto's PPP opposition party criticized the Election Day delay, but says it will take part in the vote anyway.
Phoenix police have charged a 62-year-old Sunday school teacher with molesting a 5-year-old girl. The teacher is blaming his actions on his high blood pressure or even mental problems. According to the police report, Terence Greenwood first denied the claims and then admitted exposing himself to a 5-year-old girl. Police were investigating the possibility there may be other victims. Greenwood is being held without bond.
Not the way you want to start the New Year. Crude oil prices hit the $100 a barrel mark today for the first time ever. What's behind the surge? Allison Costic joins us in New York with the story.
Allison, hi.
ALLISON COSTIC, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You said it. What a way to start the New Year. Crude oil prices have reached $100 for the first time ever. That's a record. Crude jumped $4 during trading today on the NYMEX, but has since retreated now hovering above $99 a share. Supply concerns are to blame. Analysts estimate that U.S. crude inventories may have fallen for a seventh straight week and there are renewed concerns about violence in Nigeria. Nigeria is Africa's biggest crude producer.
Cold weather over the next couple of weeks in the Northeast, the world's largest heating oil market, has propped up oil prices as well. What does this mean for you? Gas prices are already expected to head higher in the spring and that seems to be a certainty now.
All of this hurting stocks. Dow Industrials take a look on Wall Street. The Dow Industrials are down, about 204 points. A rough day today, to start off the New Year.
And if today is any indication, fasten your seat belts and get ready for a bumpy ride in 2008. Market analysts are expecting a volatile year for stocks. Experts say get ready for more housing trouble and a slight rise in unemployment. S & P predicts the housing market will finally bottom in October and home prices are expected to fall 11 percent over the course of the year. Analysts say we're seeing the worst numbers at the end of 2007 and the first half of this year. Look for improvement in the second half of the year.
So, Chuck, some good news to end on. Back to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But 11 percent for the year, that's a lot.
COSTIC: I know, it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really is. Allison, thank you.
All right. Billions of gallons head downstream in east Texas. The problem there is a broken dam. Residents say the lake is literally disappearing. So far, no homes have been damaged.
PHILLIPS: We apologize for that. We have a little issue with our live program. We had some technical difficulties. We got those fixed. You had a little bit of headline news there. You are watching CNN domestic right now. We are in the CNN NEWSROOM and we're going to continue now with our live coverage. Iowa caucuses. Unless you're from the Hawkeye state, you don't have a clue how they work, right? You may be scratching your head, even if you lived in Iowa all your life. Our Tom Foreman though checks in now from Des Moines, Iowa, with a little Caucus 101. He never scratches his head, folks, because we always go to him with these questions.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm scratching my head. This is very puzzling.
PHILLIPS: It is.
FOREMAN: Yes. I have my little blue pen here. We're going to explain the caucus system.
PHILLIPS: In a nutshell?
FOREMAN: Confusing if you're from a primary state. Yes it's tough but in a nutshell, this is how it works. This is unlike something where you go to vote like we do -- 7:00 precisely in the evening -- thousands of people in the state will go to churches and to schools and to living rooms, in some cases, and they will gather to talk about the issues and to talk about the candidates, and this is what happens. Look, I've got my little board here. We'll mark it off and show you exactly what's going to happen.
PHILLIPS: We've upgraded from a telestrator.
FOREMAN: Here's a candidate Bob. This is more old school. Here is Sam and here is Mary and here's a candidate, Don. So, these are your four candidates. People come into the room and they physically decide I'm going to go stand in Bob's corner, and I'm going to stand in Sam's corner. A lot of people like Sam. Look at that. Don only has a couple of people here. Mary, she's got one.
That's really tough for Mary because the boss is going to walk around the room and he is going to say, are 15 percent of the people in your corner, Bob, Sam, Don, Mary? Uh-oh, Mary, you don't have 15 percent. The boss is going to say to all these people, you must pick someone else or go away. That takes Mary off the board. That's why your second choice is so important when you go to a caucus because the supporters of Don, for example, if they're still not at 15 percent, they turn to their second choice and their second choice may be Bob.
If all of Don's supporters and Mary's supporters go there, then both Bob and Sam get a reasonable amount of support and they will get some of the delegates from the caucus when the Democratic party announces this is the division, this is how many delegates will go for Bob, this is how many for Sam. That's how it works on the Democratic side, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Is it the same for Republicans?
FOREMAN: No. Funny you should ask. No, it is not.
PHILLIPS: I've been scratching my head. This is what everybody else has been asking.
FOREMAN: I brought a red pen for this. On the Republican side, you show up, take a piece of paper and you write "Bob" in case there's a Bob running on that side, too. You put it in the box. The Republicans count it and that's pretty much it. That's like primary voting as most of the rest of us know it. It's much simpler, much more transparent there. The democrats run it as a much more Byzantine system. When you deal with the smaller precincts, it's even harder to figure out who is going to wind up where in the whole process.
PHILLIPS: Tom, do most Iowans understand the caucuses?
FOREMAN: I think most Iowans seem to have a general sense. They probably have as much understanding as I gave you there about that. But many of them haven't been before. In the last election, only about 125,000 registered Democrats took part in this process. That's a lot of people, yes. But compared to the state it's not a whole lot of people. So, many people here have never been to a caucus.
I was out on the street this morning, in this bitter cold, person after person after person told me they've never been to a caucus before -- these are people we stopped on the street. And almost all of them said never been to a caucus before, but I'm going this year, because they think this is a very important election.
PHILLIPS: Did you have your board, your blue and your red pen? Let's gather --
FOREMAN: Freezing up.
PHILLIPS: Exactly. Now, something interesting. A little bit of history. You know how much I love this stuff, this connection to the Algonquin tribes.
FOREMAN: It's funny you should mention that. My vast knowledge of Algonquin history helps us out here.
PHILLIPS: I want to go to the Algonquin Hotel, that's it. Dorothy Parker and the New Yorker Magazine.
FOREMAN: Round table.
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly.
FOREMAN: Basically what it comes down to is the word caucus derives from an Algonquin word which means meeting of the tribal chiefs. There you go. Here in beautiful, cold Iowa right now, the meeting of all the tribal chiefs all over the state is happening.
PHILLIPS: I love it.
FOREMAN: That's what a caucus is. They're going to discuss it. They're going to decide who they like and then through this really incredibly complex, mathematical formula, that will be turned into a sense of who the delegates will represent when they go to the national convention. There's a lot of steps between here and there, but that's generally what a caucus is and that's why it's different than a primary.
PHILLIPS: Very good. A little 101 there. Algonquin tribe and hotel. Chiefs used to gather. It all makes sense, minus the martinis.
FOREMAN: It's that circle of life thing.
PHILLIPS: Tom Foreman, appreciate it. Thank you.
FOREMAN: See you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right -- Rob?
MARCIANO: Glad I came to work. I learned something new today.
PHILLIPS: No longer scratching your head, Rob.
MARCIANO: Well, a little bit.
Iowa voters try to make up their minds. No better place than to gauge their thinking than the Hamburg Inn, in Des Moines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a great place. This is such a friendly and fun atmosphere.
DAVE PANTHER, OWNER, HAMBURG INN: I think they really do come out because in this type of a venue, you don't know what kind of question you're going to get. Joe Biden was up on all the issues, former President Clinton came in and Obama came in, unannounced. And great for us. Because he was starting a speech at the university and started with I had a great omelet at the Hamburg Inn.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in the middle of Johnson County which is a very democratic area of Iowa but over here, we have found a group of Rudy Giuliani supporters. And these Giuliani supporters happen to be sitting at the official Ronald Reagan table. He was here back in 1992.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Iowa or in this election year, we have such a good slate of democrats, it's very hard. I'll be happy with any one of them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Part of the caucus is strategy, who is viable and who's not. So, I think you do one candidate to start, but you may change as groups are not viable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, what will it be that helps you make up your mind?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I'm probably going to end up being a Hillary supporter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For what reason? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Partially gender, partially experience. I think she can hit the ground running and we are -- we really do have some major problems.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(WEATHER REPORT)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
