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Snowstorm Slams California; Interview With Reverend Jesse Jackson; Bhutto Investigation Continues

Aired January 04, 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: What's falling faster, the snow in California or the stocks on Wall Street? California is getting walloped by what could be the strongest storm to hit the West Coast in years. We're live in the Sierra Nevada.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: And stocks are falling as well by new signs of a sputtering economy that just might stall. The jobless rate also at a two-year high.

Hi, everybody. I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Iowa has spoken, but for now it's just a memory. Today, the presidential hopefuls in both parties are off and running in New Hampshire less than 24 hours after Iowa voters reset the race in dramatic ways.

Democrat Barack Obama is basking in the glow of his convincing Iowa victory over John Edwards and Hillary Clinton. Republican Mike Huckabee vowing to build on his Iowa victory as well, but there's no time for any candidate to reflect on what worked or what went wrong in the heartland. The New Hampshire primary is just four days away.

New Hampshire voters are proud of their first-in-the-nation primary, and, with just four days left until they head to the polls, the state's independent streak is as strong as ever.

Here's CNN's Richard Roth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The political morning after in New Hampshire, a new dawn perhaps for American voters after dramatic wins by Obama and Huckabee. But don't presume this Northeast state will just follow midwestern Iowa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New Hampshire is the prime leader in this. It's going to be our final decision that is going to make it across the United States.

ROTH: Manchester's Arrow Diner has been here long before primaries existed. This year's candidates have posed for photos and sat for food. The early hour didn't help some of New Hampshire's numerous undecided voters focus on a candidate, even after a blaze of morning headlines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's exciting, but I'm not really into specific races either. It's all about the person and what they're all about, so not really about the skin color to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody has pushed my buttons yet, nobody.

ROTH: Just hours after the Iowa returns, the candidates were already pushing for support on the ground in New Hampshire. They know New Hampshire is not Iowa, requiring different tactics.

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The one thing I have learned from all the time I have spent in New Hampshire is, the people here are a little independent-minded, a little ornery, and they don't like to be told what to do.

ROTH: But the message of Iowa may resonate in New Hampshire, a state where more than 40 percent of voters are independents, capable of voting for any candidate in either party.

JOHN CLAYTON, "NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER": Everything I have seen indicates that change is the key issue. They're expecting more than 400,000 people to vote in the primary. That's not half the electorate. That's half the population of the state of New Hampshire. In a primary election, that's huge.

ROTH: Hillary Clinton returned to the state where Bill Clinton lost, but was able to brand himself the comeback kid 16 years ago.

CROWD: Hillary!

ROTH: Some of these teenagers weren't even born then.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's not damaged goods whatsoever. We have a lot of momentum going. Just look it, it's like two degrees outside right now. It's not even 7:00 in the morning. We have been here for an hour. And look at all this energy.

CLAYTON: The former first lady has a huge following in New Hampshire largely because of her husband. Bill Clinton has a reservoir of goodwill here in New Hampshire that she can draw upon. The question is, with five days to go, how many people can she turn out?

ROTH: Hillary Clinton's main rival, Barack Obama, will benefit from the large turnout of independents. Contrary in New Hampshire ignited John McCain's win over George Bush in 2000, but now they will be forced to choose between two men casting themselves as Washington outsiders.

(on camera): This state's motto is live free or die. By Tuesday, it's possible some of the candidates' hopes will be buried.

Richard Roth, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Mike Huckabee's big win among Iowa Republicans was almost unthinkable just a few months ago.

The former Arkansas governor talked about his surge on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN MORNING")

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it was about the message. It's a refreshing thing, and I think a lot of people around America are looking at that race and saying, isn't it nice to know that a person can be elected president not because he has more money but because he has more of a message that connects with everyday Americans who are out there struggling to put food on their table and making sure their children have a better life?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Huckabee faces an uphill battle in New Hampshire. Polls taken before the Iowa caucuses show him trailing front-runners Mitt Romney and John McCain.

And before the first of this election year is over, a lot of eyes will be on three key states, Iowa's caucuses last night, of course, New Hampshire's primary coming up Tuesday. And two weeks from tomorrow, South Carolina holds its Republican primary. Its Democratic primary follows a week later.

And, next month, the biggest event of all, Super Tuesday. More than 20 states hold their primaries or caucuses February 5.

Now, to see all the Iowa results, go to CNNPolitics.com. It's your one-stop shop for the New Hampshire primary, too.

MARCIANO: Well, the winds are howling and the snow is piling up. Even some ski resorts, at least right now, are closed temporarily. Take a look at this live picture from Lake Tahoe. A fierce storm has brought whiteout conditions to the Sierra Nevada.

And our own Reynolds Wolf is right in the middle of it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, I'm coming to you from Donner Summit, 7,239 feet above sea level in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, right along I-80, which normally on other day would be just a raging thoroughfare, a lot of people coming through here.

But today that's not going to be the story, today, not a lot of cars, but a lot of snowplows doing what they can to keep this roadway clear and just making it a little bit easier for truckers.

The snow has been just coming in, currently a blizzard warning in effect. It's going to be in effect until Saturday morning. Snow down in Tahoe Valley could be anywhere from one to three feet before all this is over, but in the high elevations we're talking about something very different, anywhere from eight to 10 feet. Some places could see a little bit more.

The snow's deceptive, too. Take a look at this. Right here on the roadways, not two bad, maybe three to four inches deep, but when you step over here, all of the sudden, boom, it gets close up to your shins, then to your knees.

And the problem is, as I mentioned, we're going to be seeing a lot more of this snowfall. That's only part of the story. The second part of the story is this wind. That wind is going to rough, too. In fact, we are going to see the wind in the valley, Tahoe Valley, anywhere from 35 to 40 miles an hour, some gusts up to 60, but here in the high mountains, see anywhere from 80 to 100 miles per hour sustained, but some gusts up to 145 miles an hour.

That makes it difficult for people like this, these truckers trying to get through, this one being assisted by a tractor with some chains. And to tell you about the visibility, to give you an idea of how tough this is, imagine making your way down the road and you're trying to see this. Notice this. All you see are headlights.

You see the -- the blinking light on the top. It helps a little bit, but still very difficult in these conditions, conditions that will prove to only get worse as we make our way into the evening hours and into tomorrow morning.

Reporting from the Sierra Nevada Mountains, more exactly, Donner Summit, Reynolds Wolf, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: All right, Reynolds reaching for the oxygen. The air is thin at 7,000...

PHILLIPS: Poor guy.

MARCIANO: Oh, God, I feel -- I know how he feels.

And it's a bit lower down the hill.

Susan Roesgen is braving the elements down I-80, where it's kind of a rain/snow mix.

What can you tell us at this hour, Susan? How you doing?

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know it's slow going up to Donner Summit right now. It's about five miles from where we are, and the traffic is moving very slowly.

You can see that they're holding traffic half-a-mile up the road because of spinouts. Everybody, as Wolf mentioned there, has to have either chains or four-wheel drive. And it is a mess to try to put them on here.

This is the main east-west artery between Reno and San Francisco, a lot of truckers coming through here, a lot of people trying to get through, and they just can't, very, very slow going. You can see this car over here has chains on it. That's the main thing that's helping a lot of people. We spoke to one couple earlier that had four-wheel drive. They were close to the summit. And they had to give up, because four-wheel drive just wasn't enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We started slipping just when we came up to the summit here. So, we pulled over to put on some chains, and one of the 18-wheelers was sliding as well. So...

ROESGEN: How do you feel about making this trek over the pass?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to be happy when it's over, when we get to the other side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROESGEN: A lot of people are eager to get to the other side now.

In fact, I also talked to the folks at Amtrak. There's a train that comes through here, the California Zephyr. It comes from Chicago to San Francisco, one train heading west, one train heading east.

The Amtrak spokesman says that, if Union Pacific shuts down the railroad, then they will try to put people up in Reno, if they're on this side, on the eastern side coming up to the summit. And if they're on the western side of the summit, then they will put them up someplace before they try to get here.

So, it could be a really big slowdown, not only for drivers, but also for people on Amtrak and for skiers. This is a big ski area. Three of the major ski resorts here have already shut down. They say it's just too treacherous, too many winds, too bad conditions for people who want to go skiing -- Rob.

MARCIANO: You know it's a bad storm when the ski resorts are shutting down. But I'm sure they will take the snow when it comes and reopen in the meantime. I'm glad you put a had on, because it's nasty out there.

ROESGEN: Next time.

MARCIANO: Susan, stay warm. All right, thanks.

Let's get right over to Bonnie Schneider now to talk about how much snow, how much rain and how much wind exactly the West Coast can expect.

Bonnie, what do you have right now?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Rob, unfortunately, it's the combination of all of those elements that are going to make the situation so tough there, three to five feet of snow expected today. A lot of that snow will fall tonight. And that's why we have blizzard warnings in effect for all the counties you see highlighted here in purple. And, really, it is just going to be treacherous, as Susan was reporting.

And, as you could hear in Reynolds' voice, it's really getting worse there right now. Here's the snow at the higher elevations. And we have plenty of rain coming into Northern California. Such an intense, such a fierce storm, you can actually see the curvature well defined in the clouds. And notice that steady flow of moisture coming in from the Pacific. That's helping to energize this storm and give it that bit of energy and moisture that it needs.

The rain will be coming into Southern California as well. We're expecting quite a bit of rain. It is going to be very intense in terms of rainfall rates, possibly an inch to two inches an hour at times. In and around Los Angeles, the burn areas are at risk for flash flooding, especially because of that intensity of rainfall.

Notice the heavier amounts are right where we don't want them, in those burn areas. Well, for San Francisco, it's been rough going. The winds are absolutely fierce. In fact, we had a wind gust recorded earlier at the Golden Gate Bridge of 70 miles per hour, with sustained wind gusts there.

And you can see sustained winds right now are very, very intense. We're seeing a lot of power outages, about 170,000, according to the AP, and airport delays that are lengthy -- back to you.

MARCIANO: A lot of action, that's for sure, especially out West.

Bonnie Schneider, thanks very much.

And when the weather becomes the news, well, you can count on CNN to bring it to you first and finest.

If you see severe weather is happening in your area, well, you can help us out. Send us an I-Report. Go to CNN.com and click on I- Report, or just type ireport@CNN.com into your cell phone and share your photos or video with us.

PHILLIPS: And this coming in to us from the U.S. Supreme Court. Apparently, Supreme Court justices have accepted an appeal over the execution of child rapists.

Let's bring in CNN Supreme Court producer Bill Mears to lay this out.

Do you want to start with talking about the case that triggered this?

BILL MEARS, CNN SUPREME COURT PRODUCER: Yes, it involves a case out of Louisiana, suburban New Orleans, involving Patrick Kennedy. He's a 43-year-old man who was sentenced about four years ago for brutally raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter in her bed. And Louisiana is using this kind of as a test case to see whether capital punishment for violent crimes other than homicide really Constitute cruel and unusual punishment. They are one of five states that think it does. And they want to put certain child rapists, the ones who commit what they think are the most heinous and terrible abuse crimes, to death.

PHILLIPS: When do we expect to hear oral argument?

MEARS: April is when we expect it, and a ruling could come usually by late June.

PHILLIPS: So, what could be the domino effect from this decision, Patrick -- or Bill. Sorry.

MEARS: That's OK.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Big difference.

MEARS: It is.

Louisiana is kind of at the forefront of this. Four other have similar laws on their books, but they really haven't applied them in decades. Texas signed a bill just a few months ago, so not just Louisiana, but other states are kind of keeping an eye on this case to see what the justices do, whether there's a national consensus to kind of pull back on making certain crimes death-eligible.

The court a few years ago, you may recall, has banned the death penalty for the mentally retarded, for underage killers, and those who get unfair representation at trial. So, while we have seen the Supreme Court in recent years pull back on the use of the death penalty, we have seen certain states, like Louisiana and Texas, being more aggressive in pushing certain crimes to become death-eligible.

PHILLIPS: We will follow the oral arguments and of course the ruling.

CNN Supreme Court producer Bill Mears, appreciate it.

MARCIANO: Well, Iowa has spoken and New Hampshire beckons. We are going to hear from civil rights leader and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, see what he has to say about the winners and losers thus far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Fifteen minutes after the hour, here are three of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, the investigation broadens into last week's death of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. British investigators are now in the country and on the case. Pakistan's president says Scotland Yard detectives will solve -- quote -- "all the confusion surrounding Bhutto's death."

The International Tennis Federation bans Martina Hingis for two years. They say she tested positive for cocaine last year at Wimbledon. The 27-year-old Swiss star retired back in November. She denied the drug allegation when it first surfaced.

And President Bush has conferred with his economic experts and might announce an economic stimulus package in his State of the Union address. The idea is to head off a possible recession.

PHILLIPS: Iowa has spoken. New Hampshire beckons. We are going to hear what civil rights leader and former presidential Jesse Jackson has to say about the winners and the losers thus far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Barack Obama did what he had to do in Iowa, but he can't stop there. For him and the other candidates, Iowa was just the beginning.

Jesse Jackson, a former presidential candidate himself, joins me now live from New York with his thoughts on what the future holds for this Democratic senator from Illinois.

Reverend Jackson, good to see you.

REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, FOUNDER, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: Good to see you.

PHILLIPS: So, looking back in '84, you won five primaries and caucuses. Then, in the presidential run in '88, you won 13 primaries and caucuses. Why has it taken so long for another black leader to gain momentum like this?

JACKSON: Well, it takes a will to engage in a very courageous fight and to raise the money.

Senator Barack had the combination of message and money and machinery and a charismatic personality with youthful appeal. And that combination is not automatic. And he is due of course very special congratulations.

PHILLIPS: Now, do you support Barack Obama? Because I have gotten mixed messages, listening to a number of things that you have said. So, I want to ask you point blank if you support him.

JACKSON: I do support him.

PHILLIPS: Would you vote for him?

JACKSON: As a matter of fact, I will. And I encouraged him to run.

But I remain in contact with all the candidates, because I'm concerned that the candidate winning must in fact embody a winning message. And my concern remains that the issue of urban policy and reinvestment in America to offset the impact of jobs and investment out and drugs and guns in is a very winning message. And I think that Democrats are getting that message. And people are responding.

PHILLIPS: All right. I'm going to hit on urban policy in just a second.

But I want to ask you, you say you support him, that you are going to vote for him. And I don't mean to bring it up again, but I want to ask you, when you were quoted in the Columbia, South Carolina paper "The State" that you thought he was acting too white.

What did you mean by that? Is it because you felt he didn't talk enough about the Jena Six or about the plight of African-Americans or the civil rights movement?

JACKSON: At that time, he had about 35 percent of the black vote, not really a conventional campaign, did not reach deep enough into the pain of African-American Democrats, South Carolinians, and that he had to run a campaign with a broader message, which he has done. And it's working for him. It's now reflected in the polls that he reaches out more to churches and the black youth and comes up with what I think is a common message.

I'm impressed with the growth of his campaign.

PHILLIPS: And, Reverend Jackson, isn't that what it's all about, about moving forward, about doing away with segregation, about bringing in all ethnicities and unifying everybody in this country?

JACKSON: Well, that is true.

Racial reconciliation is a hope. But racial justice and equality is the prerequisite for having reconciliation. And there's within our country some significant disparities.

Dr. King would be very proud today of Iowa and America and Barack Obama. He would also remind us that, when people of color have high infant mortality rate and short life expectancy, that there are health disparities and there are educational disparities and there are income disparities. And these disparities must be addressed to make this a whole and a more perfect union.

PHILLIPS: Well, if he wins the presidency, can America handle a black president?

JACKSON: Oh, absolutely.

America is maturing, whether it is an African-American or a female. I made the case in '84 if Indira Gandhi could guide India, the world's largest democracy, if Golda Meir could guide Israel and Margaret Thatcher Britain, why couldn't a woman be president of our country?

In part reacting to that, Geraldine Ferraro was put on the ticket by Mondale and she did a very credible job. It became very clear that women and people of color should not be penalized because of gender or race. And when you see the contest between really Barack and Hillary and really Edwards and Richardson, one sees a certain blossoming of the American dream of inclusion. And that's just the way it ought to be.

PHILLIPS: So, I'm listening to you. I'm hearing you support him, but why haven't you or any other black leaders in this country, longtime black leaders, really stood out and stumped for him? I mean, the only black person of tremendous influence that really went out on the edge was Oprah, and she's never gotten involved in politics.

JACKSON: Well, Congressman Jackson has campaigned for him.

I have not been asked to campaign for him. And I do not make that a prerequisite for giving him my support. As one who is steering the ship, he must determine the proximity he wants his supporters to him. And, so, I have not campaigned because I have not been asked to.

I focus in the main, A, on voter registration, on the devastating impact of this mortgage foreclosure subprime crisis that is, to me, the key economic issue for this campaign. And, so, I have had a comfortable position with him and relationship. We talked late last night. No doubt we will talk more later on this week.

PHILLIPS: Final thought. If he does win, can a black president change the way that Americans see African-Americans and the way African-Americans see themselves and their potential?

JACKSON: Well, it has that potential.

But it also determines how the world sees America. It's not just how America sees the world, but, as we look through the lenses of the world, this represents a certain kind of breakthrough, a kind of openness. And, of course, if African-Americans can be a governor of Massachusetts, and it stays in the union, or if an Indian can be governor of Louisiana, and it stays in the union, clearly, there should no racial, nor gender, nor religious barriers to public service.

And, again, I think last night really was a big step for Barack, but an even bigger step, a welcome step for America.

PHILLIPS: Yes. It's history in the making, for sure.

Reverend Jesse Jackson, appreciate your time.

JACKSON: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: And, if you want to see what your favorite candidate is saying on the trail, tune in to CNN.com. Our Web site will stream campaign events as they come into CNN all today.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Kenya coming unglued. The violence levels off, but problems there are not solved, not by a long shot. Our Paula Newton takes us inside the violence. Scotland Yard in Pakistan -- British experts arrive in Islamabad to lend their expertise to the Bhutto probe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Kenya coming unglued. The violence levels off, but problems there aren't solved, not by a long shot. Our Paula Newton takes us inside the violence.

Scotland Yard in Pakistan. British experts arrive in Islamabad to lend their expertise to the Bhutto probe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: A top U.S. diplomat is in Nairobi today to help mediate some level of calm. Last month's presidential election exploded in the Kenyan government's face and hundreds of people have died in the wave of violence that followed. Now the opposition wants a new election. CNN's Paula Newton reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just a week ago they put their faith in the ballot box, but now in the distance they took to the streets. Armed with white scarves and branches, opposition protesters gave voice to a political deadlock that has this country by the throat. By the hundreds, by the thousands, they tried to piece together a million man march, chanting everywhere the word "peace." But the government says the opposition doesn't want peace, they want power. So it took them on. What orders have you been given? What are you going to do? Just watch them. At every turn, armed troops and police confronted the crowds, choking them off with tear gas.

(On camera): These are the kinds of flare-ups that have been happening all day. Government troops have been given orders to show as much restraint as they can, but they've been told to disperse the crowds.

(Voice-over): Protesters had no choice. They got out of the way. As live rounds filled the air and water cannons pursued them. There were theatrical displays.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why? Why? Why?

NEWTON: And defiance towards the president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kibaki is going to kill us if he wins this. We are not going to let him win.

NEWTON: But in the end, the government got its way, the rally never happened. Protesters were chased back to their homes and slums and bluntly warned by the president --

PRES. MWAI KIBAKI, KENYA: Those who continue to violate the law will face its full force. I urge the public to remain calm.

NEWTON: Archbishop Desmond Tutu came from South Africa to talk with both sides, but even a Nobel peace prizewinner offering to mediate, there seemed no obvious way out. The government continues to reject the demands of protesters of power-sharing government, and then a recount, moves that are now backed by the country's own attorney general. Still, the government says no way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You do not share power with losers.

NEWTON: And they're not about to surrender to any international mediation. You're telling the international community to butt out?

ALFRED MUTUA, KENYAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN: Yes, we are telling the international community that this is not the time to come and interfere.

NEWTON: But how can it not? This graphic video shows gang violence motivated by tribal warfare, the kind this election has reignited. This man is brutally murdered, another casualty of a place that more and more inches towards anarchy. Paula Newton, CNN, Nairobi.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And a team from Scotland Yard is now in Pakistan helping investigate the killing of Benazir Bhutto a week ago yesterday at a campaign rally. Bhutto supporters maintained that she was shot just before that bomb went off. In a news conference yesterday, Pakistan's president acknowledged Pakistani officials made mistakes, including hosing down the crime scene, but he denied any cover-up.

MARCIANO: Iowa has spoken, but now it's just a memory. Today the presidential hopefuls in both parties are off and running in New Hampshire. Less than 24 hours after Iowa voters reset the race in dramatic ways. Democrat Barack Obama is basking in the glow of his convincing Iowa victory over John Edwards and Hillary Clinton, and Republican Mike Huckabee is vowing to build on his Iowa victory as well. But there's no time for any candidate to reflect on what worked or what went wrong in the heartland. The New Hampshire primary is just four days away.

There's a lot of buzz today on the blogs, as you can imagine after the Iowa caucuses. Our Josh Levs checks in with more on that and your iReports and a fact check. Hi Josh.

JOSH LEVS: Yeah, hey there Rob. It's so cyclical isn't it? You know, there's this huge buildup to Iowa, and so there is this big fascination even though numerically it doesn't really advance the candidates that far. So many people want to know about it and what happened this year, because it took place so early, there were so many young people involved, which for one thing helped Barack Obama. But also meant that we get tons of iReports, because all these young people at these caucuses were snapping away on their phones. So I'm going to show you right now some of the things we have from cnn.com. We have a series of photographs that you're able to see on the site. I believe I can show them to you. That will allow you to flip through -- ok, no, we're going to show you this instead. All right, let's start with that. This right here what you're seeing, I want to show you this, because I know the numbers look really small, but if you go to cnn.com, what you're able to find is the actual delegate count that comes from what happened last night. So absolutely there were decisive wins on both sides, but when you look at the actual number of delegates, it's really small.

Control room, let's see if we can now switch over to -- if we have some of these photos, there you go. That shows the number of young people that took part last night -- or rather where the young people went to. They very, very by and large went to Barack Obama. That was a big part of his victory. And as I was saying, that's a big reason that we got so many photos and so much work in our iReport system. So if you go to cnn.com, maybe we don't have it now. Go to cnn.com, it really puts you inside the experience of the caucuses last night, because you can see videos, you can see photos and you can get a sense of what it was like for individuals. I'm going to give you a quote right now. This is one -- there you go, there they are. All right, I knew we had them. These are photos that people took. You know this is amazing to me because in America, when you vote it's generally a very private thing, but when you go there and you see what happens in Iowa, it's this huge public event. So all these random individuals, who just wanted to go express where they stand in the presidential race, actually ended up doing this, having their photos snapped by many of the young people who were there, who have been sending us iReports all day. They have been putting us in the middle of that experience. We have a long series of photos, you can check out there, beautiful.

All right, one more thing, what I wanted to do now is give you a quote from just one example, someone who took part last night. What you're seeing here, this quote is from Maggie and she's saying, "My caucus experience was phenomenal. I spent 2-1/2 hours discussing everything from feminist politics to YouTube with an art history professor and a former county attorney. I've never been more excited about politics than I was tonight." The reason I liked this, I played this once earlier, to me that quote is so striking because in Iowa in a caucus experience, that counts as politics, sitting somewhere for 2 1/2 hours having a long conversation as opposed to going into a booth pulling a lever. So, Rob, Kyra, there you go, on cnn.com right now a lot of resources to help you understand how it actually played out for individuals there, and the kind of a bit of a reality check there, the numbers to show you the delegates are not changing anywhere near in proportion to the amount of publicity Iowa is getting. How is that?

MARCIANO: I got you.

LEVS: You got it. You followed me.

MARCIANO: I tell you, it's hard to follow that whole caucus deal. It seems like a lot of work, but it's encouraging to see what a great turnout they had including the young folks getting involved, all the technology and participating on our website. Josh Levs, updating us on that, thanks very much. LEVS: Thanks guys.

MARCIANO: Hey, if you want to see all of the Iowa results, go to cnnpolitics.com. It's your one stop shop for the New Hampshire primary too.

PHILLIPS: Well, not a fun travel day in California, north or south. Back-to-back winter storms hammering the golden state.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Check out this live picture, there you go, Big Bear, California, the days gone by, Kyra Phillips reminiscing here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Many a time -- well, probably not a match, so if you probably want double diamonds, wouldn't you?

PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, and I was just telling you that KGB, the rock station there in San Diego, went on these big massive speakers before the days of iPods, would burglary this rock music at the top of those diamond slopes. And you would just go crazy, but there were no snowboarders at that time, so you know everything was calm.

MARCIANO: Oh, easy now, easy on those boarders. Any way, they're having a good time out there, they're getting some fresh pow and the winds aren't quite as bad there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: New pictures now of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson, who went for a hike on New Year's Day with her dog Ella and vanished in the North Georgia mountains. Police are also trying to find a 61- year-old man whom Emerson encountered on Blood Mountain just before she disappeared. Here's CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Search and rescue crews, some outfitted with dogs have hit the trails here on Blood Mountain searching for any sign of Meredith Emerson. Police also are desperate to speak to this person of interest, Gary Michael Hilton, 61 years old, who witnesses say was speaking to Emerson on the trail while their dogs played alongside. Police say he's not a suspect and are not bringing up foul play, but say they want to talk to one of the last people to have seen the young girl on the trail. Meantime, her godmother Peggy Bailey pleaded with Hilton to come forward.

PEGGY BAILEY, EMERSON FAMILY SPOKESWOMAN: I hope that if he realized that this would be helpful that his heart would be softened and turned to come in forward with information for Meredith, for those of us that love her.

DORNIN: It's been brutally cold here on Blood Mountain, with snow dusting several of the mountainsides. It's been tough for rescue crews who've been combing the area all night. But police do say that they are hopeful that if Emerson was hurt that she is still alive. KIMBERLY VERDONE, UNION COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We are hoping that she's out there, somebody knows any information on her, that she's out there where she's staying warm and Ella is with her keeping her warm. That's what we're looking for.

DORNIN: One search helicopter armed with infrared equipment has been combing the mountainside. There are 401 square miles that must be searched. Meantime, the satellite trucks and reporters continue to update all the details in the investigation and friends and family hope that all the attention will help find Meredith Emerson. On Blood Mountain, I'm Rusty Dornin.

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PHILLIPS: If you have information, you can contact the Union County Sheriff's Department, their number is 706-439-6069 or 706-439- 6071, those numbers right there on your screen.

Take a look at this face. That's the face of one tough character, and it's amazing that he's even alive. Alcides Moreno, he and his brother Edgar, fell from this building 47 stories while washing windows last month. Edgar died, but Alcides survived, but barely. Today, can you believe that he's awake and alert? He still can't walk, but doctors give him a good chance of getting back on his feet after months of therapy. What about him going back to a tall building? Nope, don't bet on it. His wife said his days of window washing are over.

MARCIANO: Smart move. All right, let's check on what's going on, on Wall Street. They are selling stocks today, market getting whacked, down 252 is the Dow. That is near our session lows, as they say. Boy, the NASDAQ is down 87. We're going to be updating this as the markets come to a close in the next 10 minutes, stay with us.

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PHILLIPS: A child custody hearing is set for this afternoon after the latest strange turn in the life of Britney Spears. Los Angeles police say that an overnight trip to the hospital was ordered for Spears' own welfare. She's still there today. Police cars, ambulances and a fire truck went to her house last night after some kind of custody issue erupted. It's Spears' latest battle with ex- husband Kevin Federline for custody of the couple's two children. Legal analysts say that Spears isn't scoring points with the judge.

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SUNNY HOSTIN, AMERICAN MORNING LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Judges want people to follow their court orders and we know that the judge ordered her to submit to random drug testing twice a week. What happened is that she failed to take some of those tests. Failure to take a drug test, a court-ordered drug test is the same as failing that test. So that's one thing. The other thing is she was supposed to go to parenting coaching. Apparently she did some of that, she didn't do some of that. The very important thing is that she was supposed to go to a deposition. She called in sick to a deposition and was photographed partying with a friend and driving with a friend. So she's had all these issues over and over and over again. Failing to follow court orders --

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: How long is the judge going to put up with that before they say you can't see your kid?

HOSTIN: You know, the legal standard is, what is in the best interests of the children? Lola and I have been speaking about this and Kiran we've been speaking about this as well. What is in the best interests of the children? It's very unusual for a mother to lose custody of their children, and the bottom line is the courts are loathe to do that. Judges don't want to do that, but one way that you can lose your children is by being abusive to them, verbally, physically, and abusing drugs or alcohol. And she is doing that apparently. And so the judge now has ordered that she has to submit to a test, because we now know that she was probably under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and now a psych evaluation may also be ordered. That would probably be the best thing for her in my view. Because if she's having psychological problems, then that may, may help her.

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PHILLIPS: Primary custody for Spears' two children rests with her ex-husband. When police arrived at her home last night, Spears was reportedly refusing to give the children back.

MARCIANO: Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

PHILLIPS: Standing by in the sit room to tell us what's going on at the top of hour. Wolf, I'm surprised you're still standing. You are the man.

WOLF BLITZER: You know, it's a lot of fun, everything that's going on here guys, thanks very much.

Coming up in just a few moments, the presidential candidates and what they plan to do for the nation. First Barack Obama, the day after a victory in Iowa, he's talking to CNN about why his win will have a huge impact on the race for the presidency. Also right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM," John Edwards, why he thinks he's the better candidate when it comes to health care, the economy and the war in Iraq. Also my one-on-one interview with Fred Thompson, coming in third in Iowa. You're going to find out why he thinks he's the only true conservative in this race. All that and a lot more coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

PHILLIPS: All right, Wolf, we'll be watching.

MARCIANO: And we're just five minutes away from the closing bell. Let's take another look at those numbers still down 250, my goodness, the NASDAQ down 80 plus. Susan Lisovicz is going to wrap up the day down at the New York Stock Exchange when we come back.

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PHILLIPS: The closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street.

MARCIANO: So let's check with Susan Lisovicz, she's standing by with the last look at the trading day. Still looking ugly -- not you Susan, but the market.

MARCIANO: You better clarify.

SUSAN LISOVICZ: Oh boy, that was a quick save. Well you know we're talking about something ugly as well all day and one of the things we didn't get to is the dollar which hit a five-week low against the euro. It's also been weakening against the rupee which brings us to the next story. India's foreign ministry says the U.S. dollar is no longer accepted at the Taj Mahal. For years you were able to pay in dollars or the rupee equivalent. No longer at the Taj Mahal. Just another slap in the face against the greenback, and another slap in the face for the bulls today.

Check it out. The Dow industrials, only three days of trading for the New Year, second loss of more than 200 points on a terrible jobs report, the U.S. economy created only 18,000 jobs last month. According to the Labor Department, the unemployment rate meanwhile, shot up to 5 percent. The NASDAQ is really getting pounded on a downgrade of Intel. Intel shares right now are down 8 percent. The NASDAQ is recording its worst one-day performance in more than a year. We can't wait for this closing bell to ring. It's just been a rough week and a rough start to the New Year. The Dow is down 2 percent, the NASDAQ is down 3-3/4 percent, the S&P 500 down 2-1/2 percent. Let's rest over the weekend and try it again next week. See you then Kyra and Rob.

MARCIANO: At least it's the weekend. You can put that in perspective.

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