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Convict Escapes Maryland Hospital; Iowa Prepares to Caucus

Aired January 02, 2008 - 15:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Find the prisoner stat. A convict shoots his way out of a Maryland hospital. Now the manhunt centers on the nation's capital. We will have the latest.
And it's finally happened. Oil hits $100 a barrel, and Wall Street hits the skids. We have got the stories behind the numbers.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN Center. And you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

This just in to CNN: We're getting word that the Justice Department is naming an outside prosecutor to launch a criminal investigation into the destruction of those CIA videos. You may remember that those tapes were made in 2002 of al Qaeda suspects being interrogated in an unnamed country.

They were destroyed in 2005, and only came to light in late 2007 in the pages of "The New York Times." Well, today, "The Times" is running a blistering op-ed piece titled "Stonewalled by the CIA" written by the two men who headed the 9/11 Commission.

Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton reveal that they asked the CIA many times for any and all information about the 9/11 plot and al Qaeda suspects, but were never told about videotaped interrogations. As they put it, "Those who knew about those videotapes and did not tell us about them obstructed our investigation."

Well, a manhunt is under way right now in Maryland, where jailers say that 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 now.

Gary, I know there's been a lot of developments since we last chatted.

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really moving quickly, Kyra.

We're outside Laurel General Hospital in Laurel, Maryland, which is between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Within the last few minutes, a CNN crew has been able to provide pictures of a 1993 Toyota Camry which was found in Washington, D.C., near a public housing complex.

This is the car that police believe 45-year-old Kelvin Poke carjacked here in Laurel early this morning, shooting the driver of that car, before he made his way to Washington, D.C., where the investigation is now centered.

He was brought to the hospital complaining of chest pains, accompanied by two officers from the Maryland Corrections Department. He was able to overpower one of them this morning on the fourth floor, took her gun away and shot his shackles off his legs. Other corrections officers in the hospital with another inmate responded.

Poke was reportedly able to overpower another one of them. Now armed with two guns, he made his way from the fourth floor, where he confronted a security guard at the hospital. That's where the story is picked up by a spokesman for the Maryland State Police, Greg Shipley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG SHIPLEY, MARYLAND STATE POLICE: I had said earlier that we believed he had told the security guard to lay on the floor in the hospital entrance.

We now know that he actually took him out at gunpoint outside the hospital, and as he approached that Toyota Camry and saw the driver sitting behind the wheel, he released the security guard and immediately went to the Camry and fired a shot into the driver's side window of the Camry that struck the 51-year-old man who was behind the wheel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NURENBERG: Remarkable. That man was struck in the head, but now is talking to police officers. His prognosis is good. He's expected to survive that gunshot wound to the head.

But obviously the search has now gone to the Washington, D.C., area, where after that Camry was found, there was another carjacking within several blocks, that car, a White Ford Explorer 2005 Sport Trac with D.C. tags 3690, D.C. tags 3690, indicating that the Sport Trac was owned by the D.C. government.

Police are now there with mug shots of Poke, asking the person involved in that carjacking whether in fact he's the person who stole that car. The presumption at this point is that he may be, but the manhunt is on, Kyra.

Schools in the Laurel area were locked down, but we're now told that the hospital has returned to normal operations. This is happening fast. We will watch it throughout the afternoon and bring you up to date with details.

PHILLIPS: Appreciate it, Gary. Thanks a lot.

Well, a final frenzied push for votes is under way in Iowa. Caucus-goers gather tomorrow tonight in homes, schools, and other places across the Hawkeye State. By tradition, their votes will be the first in the presidential nominating process.

We have got live coverage of the candidates as they crisscross the state, and we're going to find out what's on the voters' minds, as time runs out to make up their minds.

And pop quiz, would you know the presidential candidates if you saw them? How about some of the candidates?

CNN's Richard Roth hit the streets of New York, well, with photos in hand.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So is everyone now finally ready to vote?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been a while since I voted, so.

ROTH: They call it voter apathy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it does make me upset when people don't vote. I mean that's our right.

ROTH: Some apathy analysts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lazy, stupid.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's much too long and it's very confusing for everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, it gets to be like whose hair do you like today or something ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think people get tired of seeing these faces.

ROTH: Ah, faces.

Does the public really know who is running for president?

(on camera): Who is this man?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Huckabee.

ROTH: Correct.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cheney.

ROTH: No. John McCain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes.

(LAUGHTER)

Cheney. I said Cheney. Yes, John McCain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I couldn't tell you who it is.

ROTH: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I couldn't tell you.

ROTH: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's his name?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's the Mormon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's Chris Dodd. If you ever want to try to...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's Chris Dodd?

ROTH: Do you recognize the name?

Mike Huckabee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LAW AND ORDER")

FRED THOMPSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I ever wanted a yes man...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: People recognize Republican Fred Thompson's other jobs, but not his name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the actor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the actor. Oh, yes. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like his acting better than his...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disappointed in his campaign.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. He needed to get out there sooner. He waited too long. I think he let the opportunity go by.

ROTH: You're describing my dating life.

(voice-over): There is a Republican from Texas running.

(on camera): How about him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's George Bush.

ROTH: No. Ron Paul.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey! He looks like George Bush.

ROTH (voice-over): But turnout grew when George Bush ran against John Kerry in 2004 -- the highest percentage of voter turnout in 40 years. And polls say interest is running higher among Democrats and Republicans this year.

In our Democratic street quiz, everyone knew two of the leading contenders.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's Barack Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barack Obama. That's the king right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's Hillary, the queen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hillary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary baby.

ROTH: Is she your baby?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, she's not my baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's not my baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hillary Clinton.

ROTH: How come you got her, the woman?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because she's a woman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, God, do I have to say her name?

ROTH (voice-over): The frustrated blame the photo messenger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one I don't know.

ROTH (on camera): Mitt Romney.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh. It's your -- your pictures don't resemble them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, I'm drawing a blank.

ROTH: Mitt Romney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, that's Mitt. Well, these aren't very good photos. I know who Mitt Romney is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John McCain. He's the Arizona. Giuliani.

ROTH: The photos are getting better, I see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's you.

ROTH: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's you.

ROTH: Please. You're right, these pictures are bad quality.

(voice-over): And just like one of the candidates, this pollster can change his mind, too.

(on camera): John Roberts?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

ROTH: John Roberts!

John Edwards.

(LAUGHTER)

ROTH: Hello, he's...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See, you don't know them, either.

ROTH: Richard Roth, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, CNN's I-Reporters are covering the campaign trail as well. Take a look at this one.

Pat Palmer sent us proof that Iowans really do have a chance to meet most, if not all of the candidates before the caucuses. He submitted six photos of himself with six different presidential contenders. He says he's been collecting them over the past few months like baseball cards.

Pat's brother-in-law Ben is a die-hard Fred Thompson supporter. In fact, Pat's Christmas present to Ben was Thompson's autograph on some campaign literature. However, Pat plans to support John Edwards, we're told, at the caucus, because he feels Edwards will fight hard for what he believes in.

We want to hear from you, too. If you're attending the caucuses or any campaign events, send us your photos and videos. You can share all your I-Reports by visiting us at politics.com.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

PHILLIPS: Well, a pregnant woman and her young family wiped out, her father accused of burning the apartment down around them -- what police say sparked that fatal fire coming up.

And 36 (sic) later, still trying to find D.B. Cooper. The feds release fresh info on one of the America's most mysterious and dramatic crimes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Quarter past the hour now.

Here are some of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A manhunt enters its sixth hour in Laurel, Maryland, after a prison inmate overpowers a hospital guard, grabs his gun, and fires his way to freedom. Forty-five-year-old Kelvin Poke is believed to have carjacked two vehicles already. And he's thought to be in the Washington, D.C., area.

More hospital trouble. This time, it's a fire at London's highly regarded Royal Marsden Hospital. The facility appears heavily damaged, but all 79 patients and staff are OK after being evacuated.

And we're monitoring a horrible traffic accident that happened just a few hours ago outside of Raleigh, North Carolina, involving a Greyhound bus and a tractor-trailer truck on U.S. Highway 1 near Henderson. As many as 49 people were sent to the hospital. We are going to have the details as the information comes in.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, talk about a great, great grandkid stepping up and saving a special lady's life.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CULTURE AND ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brooke Anderson in Hollywood.

Late-night talk show hosts will cross pickets lines to put on new shows tonight -- those details and which Oscar-nominated actor tied the knot on New Year's Day when CNN NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Late-night television is finally coming out of rerun land.

Entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson joins me now to explain.

Hey, Brooke.

ANDERSON: Hey there, Kyra.

Finally. It's been two months. And if you have been pining for your late-night talk shows to return with all new programs, you are now getting your wish. Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, and Craig Ferguson are back. All are slated to air their first new episodes tonight, despite the ongoing writers strike.

They have been in reruns since November 5, when the strike began. Leno, O'Brien and Kimmel will work without their writers. Only Letterman and Ferguson will have their writing staffs back. And that's because production company Worldwide Pants reached an independent agreement with the Writers Guild to allow Letterman and Ferguson to return with their writers.

Actor Robin Williams will appear on "Letterman" tonight, while Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is slated to appear on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." And listen to this. Guests will have to cross those picket lines. The Writers Guild tells CNN they plan to picket the studios of some of these programs, not to protest the hosts, but to protest their production companies.

All right, with a new year comes the same old stuff for Britney Spears. A misdemeanor court hearing was held this morning in Van Nuys, California, in connection with Britney's alleged hit-and-run traffic incident back in August. She was charged with driving without a valid license.

The public information officer at the courthouse tells CNN that Britney was not expected to show up, and did not show, as it was a misdemeanor. Proceedings will continue on January 25.

Kyra, if she's convicted, Britney could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

PHILLIPS: Oh, boy.

All right, well, a bit of blissful news now. I hear a major celebrity just got married in Tahiti? That's not a bad place to tie the knot.

ANDERSON: You're right about that.

I will bet it was beautiful, right? Actor Eddie Murphy, producer Tracey Edmonds rang in the new year by getting hitched. CNN has confirmed the two married on New Year's Day on a private island just off of Bora Bora in the French Polynesia.

This is the second marriage for both. Murphy was married to former model Nicole Murphy, has five children from that marriage. He also has one child with Spice Girl Melanie Brown. Edmonds was once married to singer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, has two kids from that marriage; 46-year-old Murphy and 40-year-old Edmonds became engaged last July.

Congratulations to them.

All right, coming up tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," startling stories that have everybody saying, are you kidding me? What was Paris Hilton doing out with Britney Spears' ex-husband? And why did a 6-year-old girl claim that her father died in Iraq so she could see Hannah Montana in concert? Find out. TV's most provocative entertainment news show, that's "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. We hope to see you then.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Brooke.

ANDERSON: Thanks, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: A U.S. volunteer picks the wrong time to visit Kenya. We are going to hear that story. And you won't want to miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the search for escaped Maryland prison inmate Kelvin Poke has moved into the Washington, D.C., area. Poke was serving life plus 40 years on charges of kidnapping, carjacking and robbery.

On New Year's Eve, Poke was admitted to the Laurel Regional Hospital, complaining of chest pains. This morning, police say that Poke overpowered several guards, took two guns, and then fled. He then carjacked a vehicle at gunpoint, shooting the driver. That car has been found nearby in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIPLEY: The condition of the man who was driving the car is apparently good. He is doing well. He was -- he was struck in the head by the shot, but, apparently, it is not life-threatening.

And, so, we do have encouraging news from the hospital on his condition. He's a 51-year-old man. We don't have his I.D. at the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The driver Kelvin Poke carjacked was wounded in the head, but he's said to be in good condition.

A nasty wreck today on Highway 1 near the Virginia/North Carolina line, it happened about 11:00 this morning. A Greyhound bus slammed into an 18-wheeler, left the road, and wound up down an embankment. The bus was full. About 50 people are hurt, but amazingly no one was killed. Response vehicles shut down US-1 in both directions about 45 north of Raleigh.

The man accused of killing five people in a wrong-way crash made his first court appearance this morning. Michael Gagnon said little as he was ordered held on a $1.25 million bond. He's charged with five counts of aggravated vehicular homicide. In Sunday's horrific accident on Interstate 280 in Ohio, police say that his blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit when he entered the highway against traffic and plowed into a family's minivan. A mother, three young girls and a newborn were killed, and three other family members were hurt.

Family tensions and a cultural sleight allegedly combined to ignite a triple murder. Police in Illinois say a man burned down his pregnant daughter's apartment because he hated her husband. The weekend blaze killed the couple and their 3-year-old son. According to prosecutors, it all stemmed from social differences in the family's native India.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MILAN, COOK COUNTY FIRST ASSISTANT STATE'S ATTORNEY: He did not like his son-in-law, that his son-in-law married his daughter without his permission, and, then, on top of that, in his country, his son-in-law grew up in a caste lower than he and his daughter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the suspect's sister disputes all of that. She says that the family was fine with the marriage and didn't put any stock in the caste system. Well, reheating a very old case. The FBI is asking, do you know this man? The bureau is releasing new sketches of the skyjacker known as D.B. Cooper. Cooper commandeered a Northwest Airlines plane in 1971, claiming that he had dynamite. He demanded and got $200,000 and four parachutes, then jumped out over Washington State. It's a mystery whether he even survived that jump. A tie that he left on the plane was recovered and later tested for DNA. It helped ruled out a couple of D.B. wannabes.

Now it's political, it's ethnic and it's out of control and hundreds of people are dead because of it. Rioting in Kenya, just imagine being caught in the middle of it. Jane Samuels, an American aid worker was. She spoke to CNN just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAYNE SAMUELS, WITNESSED KENYA RIOTS: When we drove into Kusumu (ph) the morning of the 29th, that's when the rioting started to break out, and we were faced with burning roadblocks and were blocked from going into the city and sent to the Kusumu airport to find out what was going on. And so we could not get into the city. We could not drive on the main road at all.

The entire city was pretty much on lockdown. People stayed home. There was no transportation whatsoever in the city the only vehicles that went were the riot patrol and some of the police. All the gas stations were closed, there was no food, all the stores were closed, there was no way to access banks.

So what I did on the morning of the 31st, because I knew there were no flights on the 1st, because it's a national holiday anyways, and I was scheduled to fly out on the 31st, I went down to the front of the hotel, and I held a riot patrol car and I got in the back of that's correct and they got me to the airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, more than 300 people are reported dead in clashes between supporters and opponents of Kenya's newly reelected president. A huge opposition rally is set for tomorrow in Nairobi. You can hear more of Jayne Samuels' account and see more I-Reports from Kenya at our Web site, cnn.com.

No one tribe makes up a majority in Kenya, and for the most part the 40-plus tribes get along. For decades, that unity allowed Kenya to be a beacon of democracy in Africa, until now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Kenya gained independence from Great Britain in 1963, and formed a republic the following year. Since then, it's been one of the more stable nations in Africa. In recent years, supporters credit President Mawai Kibaki for helping to booths boost Kenya's bottom line and it's grown into a regional economic powerhouse, but the benefits have not trickled down to Kenya's poor. Born into poverty in Othaya, Kenya, Kibaki later won scholarships to colleges in Uganda and Britain. Upon his return, he played a role in the early years of Kenya's independence as a powerful member of the country's only party, the Kenya African National Union. Kibaki held a series of government jobs under Presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Arap Moi, s, serving as vice president from 1978 until 1988 when Moi removed him.

After two unsuccessful bids for the presidency, in 2002 Kibaki, supported by the powerful Kikuyu tribe, won Kenya's first multiparty elections. The election was a turning point in Kenya's democratic evolution, but Kibaki's campaign promise to end government corruption was largely unsuccessful.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, he's all smiles in this family photo, an American diplomat, a Peace Corps veteran today mourned by his family in New York. John Granville was shot dead in a drive-by yesterday in the capital of Sudan, Khartoum. Granville worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development. U.S. and Sudanese authorities are investigating his death. John Granville was 33-years-old.

Two U.S. servicemen dead in West Africa and the Navy is not releasing the names of the two noncommissioned officers. They were found yesterday in a hotel room near the capital of Ghana. A military official told CNN today there was no sign of foul play and the two men appeared to have been drinking heavily, maybe to the point they died of alcohol poisoning. The sailors were on liberty, and their ship, the USS Fort McHenry is ported in Ghana on a training mission.

Expect the price of a lot of things to keep going up with crude oil prices hitting $100 a barrel for the first time. The New York futures price later settled back, closing at $99.62, still a record, analysts say the latest violence in Nigeria fueled concerns about supplies.

These are interesting times for oil traders. Here's a look at the life in the trading pit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christ Patrone (ph). I'm an independent trader here on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the crude oil options pit.

I was brought up in this business. At 15 I had my first summer job here.

If you are trading right, you're making rights decisions, you're saying this is a good trade, there's good value here. That's the way you want to look at it.

You're supposed to scream from your stomach. You actually contract down here and you can project better. If I didn't know that, I would have a very raspy voice, like a lot of these guys do, because they scream from their throat.

Since it's so loud in here, you have to come up with essentially a sign language so that you can understand each other. For every month there's a hand signal. This is dix (ph), this is March, April, May, June, July, Augie, Sep, and then even the numbers are different. It's one, two, instead of doing three this way, you do it this way, because this can be misconstrued.

We're a big fraternity. As much as it is cutthroat and competitive, is almost as we still respect each other.

People say, oh, you work five hours. Try it. Come here and stand what I do and try it. If you come in and work hard, you're going to get rewarded on every level. If you come in and work 50 percent, you're going to get 50 percent rewarded.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A political dispatch from the frozen campaign trail.

Better bundle up. Jeanne Moos is taking the temperature in Iowa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Leading our political ticker, a look ahead to New Hampshire, a new CNN/WMUR poll shows that both parties' primaries in the Granite State are too close to call. Among Republicans, John McCain has surged into a tie with Mitt Romney at 29 percent. A month ago, McCain was 13 points behind. Trailing them Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has a slim lead over Barack Obama, 34 percent to 30. Last month Clinton's lead was only one point. John Edwards was third. New Hampshire votes next Tuesday.

A whack heard around the world 14 years ago is being heard again on the campaign trail. Two of the candidates have been talking about the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan and the involvement of the rival -- her rival, rather, Tonya Harding.

At a stop at Grand Rapids, Republican Mike Huckabee talked about his decision to pull a negative ad against Mitt Romney, said, quote, "Tonya Harding's school of politics needs to stop and we'll be Nancy Kerrigan this week."

And today in Des Moines Iowa, from Democrat Barack Obama, he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When we were down 20 points in the summer, all the pundits and all the smart folks, they were saying, OK, his only chance, he's got to knee cap her, he's got do a Tonya Harding on the front-runner. But you know what, we resisted, we kept a positive messages. We pointed out differences, but we rejected the politics of slash and burn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Harding was spared a prison sentence, pleading guilty to conspiracy.

Barack Obama getting a boost from a rival. Fellow Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich is urging his supporters to back Obama in Iowa caucuses in Kucinich falls short in the first round. The Ohio congressman says he and Obama have one goal in common -- change.

Political reporters must really love their jobs to be out and about with the candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire, especially in January, this morning's wind chill in Iowa City was minus 15. CNN's Jeanne Moos takes a closer look at campaigns on ice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is an icy land of forlorn elves. Wait, that's a CNN photojournalist covering a hot story in a state that's ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cold.

MOOS: How cold?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wuhuh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brr.

MOOS: You'd whistle too, even dance trying to stay warm when it's 10 degrees.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Up down, up down, it's all about the dance.

MOOS: Sure, the candidates, can wear just their suit jackets to walk to the car ...

MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is the slip on the ice shot you didn't get again.

MOOS: But the guys getting or not getting those shots are out there for hours.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a hood. I need that puppy, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My double-double gloves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody loaned me a hat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bird feathers in this jacket. You have to man up, gut it out.

MOOS: Man up. Even if you're not a man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to make it, don't worry. I got it. MOOS: Iowans take pity on unprepared outsiders, bringing journalists hot cocoa. After all, it's cold enough here to freeze a coke.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's iced up.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You can pretend like you can smoke.

MOOS: TV reporters have to worry about their appearance, but the ones behind the scenes forgo vanity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get a lot of girls with that hat?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely, they dig it.

MOOS: This CNN producer doesn't have to dig for his BlackBerry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got my BlackBerry right here attached to my ear.

MOOS: Covering the caucuses is like a reality series.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Survivor" Iowa, absolutely.

MOOS: And to help their equipment survive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes we use the lights to warm up.

MOOS: To thaw you out frozen gear, and while they are out there sniffling, the anchors are either praising them.

PHILLIPS: She makes cold look good.

MOOS: Or rubbing it in.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Candy, is it cold out there?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: A little bit, Wolf.

Warm in there, is it?

MOOS: Ricky, I can hear the wind whipping. I tell you, I'm warm in here.

And the best news a frozen reporter can hear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ten minutes, OK, good, I'll go in the bus.

SEN. JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Your hands are freezing. Tell them to warm this bus up.

MOOS: So if you cover the caucuses, put on your polar parka.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll keep carrying the network on our shoulders.

MOOS: On their feather-filled padded shoulders. Forget the polls. A forecast high of only eight degrees that panics a candidate.

HUCKABEE: Oh.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, not in Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And if you'll be caucuses in Iowa tomorrow, we want you to know what it's like. Bring us your cameras, send us photos, videos from inside. We'll air some of the best I-Reports during our special coverage tomorrow night. Just go to cnnpolitics.com.

A new election date for Pakistan, amid word, rather, that an outside team of investigators will help probe the killing of a former prime minister.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: This just into CNN. We're not quite sure if this has been completely confirmed, but the Prince George County public information department is saying that a person has been arrested at Cedar Hills cemetery, and they believe it is Kelvin Poke. The department is still waiting confirmation, but there has been an arrest made.

And if you're just tuning in, Kelvin Poke is the inmate who escaped. He was actually going in for medical care at Laurel Regional Hospital in Laurel, Maryland. He overcame a guard, shot off his handcuffs, and has been on the loose, he has been involved in a couple carjackings. Now police believe he may be the man arrested at Cedar Hills Cemetery at Prince George County. We're working for confirm that. We'll let you know if indeed Kelvin Poke is in the hands of authorities.

Pakistanis have demanded it, several counties have offered it, and today Pakistan'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 said he hopes forensic experts from Britain will remove any doubt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTANI PRESIDENT (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 they won't help investigators, because they don't have any faith in the government. Her party will take part in parliamentary elections though now are scheduled for February 18th, even though party officials object to the six-week delay.

Now, the government says the election delay is necessary after all the chaos that followed Bhutto's assassination. It's still not clear just how she was killed. CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance is in Islamabad sifting through all the clues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dramatic images of Benazir Bhutto's assassination. Revealing new clues about how Pakistan's former prime minister was killed. As she waves to supporters from the sunroof of her armored car, a gunman steps from the crowd, his face and pistol clearly visibility. And he fires three shots. The suicide bomb explodes.

Now take a closer look as the shooter fires his gun, Bhutto's head scarf lifts up into the air before she slumps into her vehicle. Only then does the explosion take place. The suggestion is Benazir Bhutto was not killed by shrapnel, nor as officials once claimed, by a violent knock to the head caused by the blast, but by a gunshot. Survivors close to Bhutto say that's what they saw.

SHERRY REHMAN, CLOSE BHUTTO AIDE: There was clear bullet injuries to her head.

She did fall, slumped right into the car the minute she was shot and there was a huge amount of blood.

CHANCE: And now clues about the attackers, too. A government appeal for information splashed across Pakistan's newspapers, showing the head of the suspected gunman decapitated in the bombing.

The government is offering a $165,000 reward for information as it struggles to explain what happened.

RET. BRIGADIER JAVED IQBAL CHEEMA, PAKISTAN INTERIOR MINISTRY: The shots are being fired from the left side. The explosion takes place from the left side, but she receives an injury on her skull on the right.

CHANCE: But Bhutto family and supporters have accused the government of a cover-up, saying it was responsible for her death. The government denies it, and instead says this camera-shy tribal leader ordered the assassination. Authorities say they're hunting for Baitula Masoud (ph), a pro-Taliban warlord they say was recorded having this conversation with a fellow militant just after Bhutto's murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

CHANCE (on camera): All this comes at a time of mounting pressure on the Pakistani authorities amid bitter accusations enough was not done to ensure Benazir Bhutto's security. Pakistan is reeling from its latest political killing.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's time to see what's clicking with all you one of you cnn.com-ers. This sweet dog is among our most viewed videos of the day. Do you recognize her? She was pulled from the middle of Pensacola Bay, worn out from swimming so long and not wearing a collar.

And a Connecticut fast food worker finds and returns a check for, get this, $185,000. Reggie Damone (ph) says his mother always taught him honesty is the best policy. Way to go, Reggie. Good karma.

And a Florida man builds his dreamboat, one that can operate on top of and under the water. All these stories and much more at cnn.com.

Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He's standing by in the SITUATION ROOM to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour.

Hey, Wolf.

BLITZER: Hi, Kyra, thanks very much.

Only one day until the Iowa caucuses. I'll be speaking live with the Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. He's raised a lot of cash, $20 million in the last three months alone, but he's still lagging in the polls, can he, though, pull off an Election Day surprise?

Also, a major reversal in Pakistan, the government there now saying it will accept international assistance in the investigation into the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. We'll have a full report from Islamabad.

And oil topping $100 a barrel in trading in New York. We'll take a closer look into what's driving the latest surge and how it will affect you, all that, Kyra, and a lot more coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

PHILLIPS: I always expect a lot from you, Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, the shopping season isn't over yet. We're going to tell you about gifts for Three Kings Day. Plus the closing bell, a wrap of action on Wall Street and then our favorite Wolf Blitzer at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Great grandson by relation, hero by reputation. An eight-year-old boy ensures a medical crisis has a happy ending. Story from Patrick Usinik (ph) of our affiliate News 12 Connecticut.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

INGRID MOTLEY, MOTHER: He did a good job, he did a good deed for a special person and he does deserve it. He did something big that most kids probably couldn't even do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bridgeport mom Ingrid Motley praising her son Kyan for his heroic action in helping to save his great grandmother, Lindy Jean-Charles. On Sunday Kyan was staying with Jean Charles when he found her passed out on the floor. He immediately called for help, and while he waited, Kian moved some furniture out of the way so paramedics could get to her.

KYAN KEEL, CALLED 911: I moved the couch and the chair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kyan says he called 911 out of fear.

KEEL: I was like, hello? (INAUDIBLE) on the floor. Then I had to stay there forever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Norwalk police dispatcher Eric Giddiens took the emergency call.

ERIC GIDDIENS, 911 DISPATCHER: I had to calm him down. Once he calmed down, he was able to talk to me and I gave him direction on what he should do, unlocked the door for the EMS and police and fire. He was very helpful afterwards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jean-Charles is a diabetic. She passed out after her blood levels dropped. She says she was very lucky that Kyan was there in her time of need.

LINDY JEAN-CHARLES, GREAT GRANDMOTHER: When I woke up, the police and ambulance was all here. And they took me to the hospital and told me everything that he had done, and I said thanks to Kyan that I'm alive today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Local police say they'll recommend Kyan for a Civilian Heroism Award. Well deserved.

All right. We are getting word now from the Prince George's County public information department. They have confirmed Kelvin Poke has been captured. He was arrested, we're told, about 3:15 Eastern Time, that was just about 45 minutes ago at Cedar Hill cemetery. Police did open fire, we're told. Poke was struck and is currently being transported to a hospital.

As you know, if a suspect like this becomes a threat, police shoot to kill, so we don't know the condition of Kelvin Poke now but we know he is headed to a hospital. You remember he escaped from prison today. He was in for a life sentence and was able to break out. Overpowered a deputy. Had carjacked a few cars and has been told he was shot by police. Has been captured. Don't know the condition. We're following it.

Closing bell about to ring on Wall Street. Susan Lisovicz standing by with a final look at the numbers. And another wild day of trading. Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's a new year, but it's the same old fears and actually a day for the record books, Kyra, oil hitting $100 a barrel for the first time. A big spike in oil prices, up about $3.50 in one session alone, everything from unrest in Nigeria, a big oil producer, to cold weather here in the U.S. There you see stocks dropping more than 200 points, dropping below 13,000 at one point, broad-based sell-off. Let's hope for better things tomorrow. See you then, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, have a great rest of the day, Susan. See you tomorrow. Now let's take it to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf?

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