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CNN Saturday Morning News
Extreme Weather on the West Coast; New Developments in Case of Missing Hiker; Getting Ready for the New Hampshire Primary
Aired January 05, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, good morning, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, it's January 5th, 7:00 a.m., and happy New Year to you all. If you are still hangover from that New Year's party ...
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Boy, that was a good party.
HOLMES: I'm jealous. That was a good party.
Hey, everybody, I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, welcome back, T.J. Happy New Year to you.
HOLMES: Happy New Year, Betty.
NGUYEN: Had a great one 2008, a wonderful and looking forward to it, so happy New Year everybody. Thank you for starting your day with us.
We do have some extreme weather to tell you about this morning, flash floods and mudslides around Los Angeles. Also, people preparing for the worst. Thousands of residents ordered to evacuate their homes.
And we'll check out what's happening in northern California with our Reynolds Wolf. He is there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Imagine making your way down the road and you're trying to see this. Look at this. I see your headlights. You see the blinking light on the top. It helps a little bit, but still very difficult in these conditions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We're going to be having a chat with Reynolds in just a few minutes. We'll be checking in with him also all morning.
And new this morning: developments in the case of a missing hiker in Georgia. We'll get the latest in a live report.
NGUYEN: The state of New Hampshire is a bit more crowded today. All the presidential candidates are there, and so is the best political team on television. We have live coverage of all the big events ahead on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. And we do begin in California. Look at this. It is getting clobbered right now by a massive and powerful winter storm. Blizzard conditions in the mountains are so treacherous that Interstate 80 is shut down from Applegate to the Nevada state line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK NANN, JR. CALIF. DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION: With zero visibility, we can't have our equipment out there, you know, and start constantly pulling people out of ditches and snowbanks. You know, it's a mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Even alternate routes are not much better. The Web site of the California Department of Transportation advises that only truckers with chains are allowed through.
HOLMES: And would you believe when this over, new snow will be measured in feet, as much as ten feet by tomorrow. Ten feet by tomorrow is expected. It's a crazy amount of snow to fall in such a short time. Ski resorts are closed because it is just too much to handle.
NGUYEN: Ski resorts, who make their business off snow, have too much snow. Yes, this storm is just as dangerous though at lower elevations because of excessive amounts of rain. This is especially hard for families who just a few weeks ago were dealing with raging wildfires. CNN'S Kara Finnstrom joins us now from Malibu where fires stripped some of the canyons of their protective vegetation. I imagine that means a lot of runoff.
Good morning, Kara.
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly does, Betty.
Well, the rain has let up right here for now, but we've been seeing a steady soaking rain all across southern California since about noon yesterday. Now, so far, that's triggered just a couple minor mudslides, including one right at this canyon behind me here in the Malibu area, but the real concern is what could still happen has as this storm continues to dump more rain today and tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ST. CLAIR, MALIBU RESIDENT: Up the canyon coming down corral was a wall of flames.
FINNSTROM (voice over): John St. Clair watched one of last fall's fire monsters ravaged his neighborhood.
ST. CLAIR: There's eight homes, and mine was the only one that made it.
FINNSTROM: Now, his family is dealing with the treacherous aftermath -- potential flooding and mudslides. ST. CLAIR: We still have debris in two lots (ph), and I don't know if that's coming down or not.
FINNSTROM: St. Clair is using sandbags, bricks, and gutters to the reroute rushing rainwater away from his home.
ST. CLAIR: This part, we need a little bit to build it up a little more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
FINNSTROM: But he realizes this will be useless if the earth gives way.
SUSAN CANNON, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: Sandbags and measures to that point can work for very small events, but given the forecast for rainfall for this weekend and what our modeling is showing us is that a sandbag wall would not be very effective.
FINNSTROM: Experts with the U.S. Geological Survey are setting all California burned areas. They warn those affected in Malibu that a half inch of rain within 30 minutes puts them at risk for mud and debris flows. They say, there's no way to predict how minor or major such events might be.
LUCY JONES, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: Minivans get picked up, cars get picked up and carried with this, and they can travel up to 35 miles an hour, so they are one of the most deadly phenomenon we have seen in southern California.
FINNSTROM: Emergency officials further south in Orange County issued evacuation orders Friday. But many residents say they won't go. Back in Malibu, John St. Clair's wife and children will stay in a hotel during the storm. They'll once again try to protect their home against nature's fury.
ST. CLAIR: I think we'll be OK if we can just make it through this year. I think we'll be fine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FINNSTROM: Now, all of the emergency officials we've been speaking with, say they are being very cautious about issuing those mandatory evacuation orders because they say the threats related to these burned areas of mud slides will continue for years.
That's because the fire that burned away all the trees and shrubs above the ground also incinerated many of the root systems underneath, and those roots are what hold those hillsides in place. Those will take between two and five years to regenerate, so, they don't want to cry wolf too often because, Betty, they just fear that residents will stop taking this very real threat seriously.
NGUYEN: Well, that makes sense, but the threat is still there, especially throughout today, Kara, because we're already hearing reports of mudslides in the L.A. area. FINNSTROM: Yes. There have been a couple minor ones, one up this canyon behind me, another in the L.A. area, actually not far from our L.A. bureau, but nothing major. We did checked with officials this morning, and they stressed, these were just small amounts of debris and mud, not deadly, larger debris flows that they fear could happen.
NGUYEN: Well, that's good news so far. Kara Finnstrom joining us live very early there in Malibu. We do thank you. And our Reynolds Wolf is high in the sierras, that is in Truckee, California.
HOLMES: Reynolds, we saw video of you a little earlier, it's pretty treacherous. How are things for you now this morning? And good morning to you.
WOLF: Things are going great, thing are going really well. Believe it or not, it's not a warm and sunny day here in Truckee, California. It is still, really just an icy mess. We have a blizzard warning still in effect until about 10:00 local time, and then conditions should improve greatly, the wind beginning to finally die down and the snow die down too.
Now, just a housekeeping note for viewers at home, if you're hearing that beeping, all that noise. Well, it's all coming from this big earth mover, one of two that you see behind me. They're doing kind like a big delegate motorized ballet. It's weird, the system they have to remove snow from these streets and they've been doing a bang-up job. Right across the streets also, you can see some folks with their shovels, we've got snow tractor (ph) out here. It's a team effort and a battle against Mother Nature, just trying to stay one step ahead of her as the snow continues to come down.
Let's talk about that snow for just a second. In the Tahoe Valley, we had about one to three inches, or rather one to three feet rather of snowfall. However, in the higher mountain passes above 7,000 feet, anywhere from three to five, the highest peak have seven feet and still could come down to about mid morning and then it should begin to taper off considerably.
The wind has been just incredible, too. We've had some wind gusts topping 30 miles an hour. One gust near Danner Peak, Danner Summit, we had a wind gust approaching 163 miles per hour. Folks, that's category-five for us. And we were there a few hours before that. Right on the on parts of I-80, I want to show you what we found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: The snow is deceptive, too. Take a look at this. You know, right here on the roadways, not too bad, maybe three to four inches deep. But when you step over here, all of a sudden, boom, it gets closer 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 the only part of the story.
The second part of the story is this wind. That wind is going to be rough, too. In fact, we're going to see the wind in the valley, 35 to 40 miles an hour, and some gusts up to 60. But here in the high mountains, we see anywhere from 80 to 100 miles per hour sustained with some gusts up to 145 miles an hour. That makes it difficult for people like this. These truckers are trying to get through. This one is 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. I see your highlights. You see the blinking light on the top. It helps a little bit, but still very difficult in these conditions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: And what's amazing, guys, yesterday I-80 was open, it was open with these kinds of conditions. Now it is closed. The snow continues to fall up there. But as I mentioned, it is going to taper off and then, as we get to the afternoon, only sporadic activity. Tomorrow, maybe some snow showers, but it does appear that the worst, the force (ph) brunt of this storm has begun to pass.
That's the latest we have. Let's send it back to you in the studio.
NGUYEN: Man, that's some good news considering what they've been facing the last couple of days there, Reynolds.
WOLF: Very much so. But it's going to be a really interesting thing to watch especially in parts of southern California. Here, obviously, you have to snow pack, but we're going to see, maybe a couple days we'll really see the full effects of what happens in southern California. You have all the rain, and as soon as that rain moves out, it may take a day, two, three days before you see mudslides, and that can be a tremendous issue.
NGUYEN: Yes, definitely we're watching closely. Thank you for joining us live this morning. We'll be talking with you shortly.
We also want a check of the weather here with Brad Huffines in for Reynolds today.
Good morning, Brad.
BRAD HUFFINES, METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Betty.
What we're seeing right now as Reynolds had mentioned, the basic story is now the weather shifts from where we've been seeing the tremendous snows across the sierra down to southern California now where the rain showers are really piling up. In fact, some tremendous rainfall totals in southern California. First, before the day is over, you're going to have totals -- this is event totals -- three to five feet of snow.
And as Reynolds mentioned, some isolated spots up to eight to 10 feet of new snow. Of course, that's just the snow pack. Check out the moisture coming onshore Southern California from Los Angeles up toward San Francisco. We're seeing lots of moisture, and that moisture goes well out into the Pacific Ocean.
How much rain has fallen? Again, this is why we're seeing the storm change from a snowstorm now to a rainstorm in Southern California. Up to eight inches of rain in Goleta, California; Cambria, almost seven inches of rain, that's where the story shift, just like Reynolds said and then, of course, we watch the storm trudge across the intermountain west. More on that coming up ahead this morning.
NGUYEN: All right, Brad, thank you.
Well, there are startling new information now on the deaths of two American soldiers killed in Iraq. It happened the day after Christmas. The U.S. military says they were allegedly killed by an Iraqi army soldier during a join operation near Mosul. Military officials say, they don't know why the Iraqi soldier opened fire on U.S. troops. He is now in custody along with two other Iraqi troops. Three U.S. soldiers were wounded in that attack.
HOLMES: A hiker vanishes in the Georgia Mountains on New Year's Day. Of course, the nights around here are cold, the search now desperate, and a person of interest has been named.
NGUYEN: Also, the first primary in the 2008 race is just days away. We are on the campaign trail in New Hampshire. What will it take for those who won in Iowa to win again?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: New developments this morning in the case of a hiker missing in the mountains of north Georgia. Police now have a man in custody that they are calling a person of interest in this case.
NGUYEN: It's 24-year-old Meredith Emerson disappeared after she went hiking on New Year's Day. Her dog and her car, well, they've been found. CNN's Reggie Aqui is following this story. He joins us now from Blood Mountain in North Georgia.
What's the latest in this search, Reggie?
REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, now they continue to question this man who has been a person of interest for several days. They finally, as you say, have him. They're talking to him in the Atlanta area right now, trying to get any information that may lead them to many this missing 24-year-old.
As you mentioned, she's been missing since New Year's Day. She came here with her dog and left a note for her roommate saying, she was going to go for a hike and hasn't been seen ever since.
Let's just get right down to business and show you this video that we have of the person of interest that police are now talking to. His name is Gary Michael Hilton, 61-years-old. They've been putting the word out for a couple of days now, putting his picture all over the place on national and local media, and it really helped, because we're told last night around 7:40 p.m., two people called 911 in North Dekalb County.
If you're not familiar with the Atlanta area, Dekalb County is basically a suburb of Atlanta. They said they saw a man who matched the description of the person they had seen on TV and so police went there to check it out. They saw a white van that matched the van they were looking for, went inside the convenience store, and, in fact, did find Gary Michael Hilton inside. So, ever since then, they've been talking to him and questioning him. Don't know yet exactly what they were able to get from him.
Also, I want to tell you about that other big discovery they found. They found the dog that was with Meredith Emerson the day that she disappeared. That dog was found 50 miles away from where I'm standing now. How that dog got there, we have no idea. He was inside of a Kroger Supermarket. That's when authorities took that dog to a veterinarian. They were able to scan a microchip inside the dog and find out that, in fact, it did belong to Meredith.
Shortly after this information came out, we got to hear from one of Meredith's friends.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS HENDLEY, FRIEND OF HENDLEY: Still more questions than answers. You know, Julie and I just spoke, we feel that we're going to keep looking. You know, this is not going to deter us. We have to look at it in a positive light and we're going to continue to search tomorrow here, unless told otherwise that they need some help somewhere else. And we'll go wherever they need us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AQUI: And that search is going to start in just a few minutes. I just talked to someone who is with one of the teams who is going to go fan out once again over a huge area. We're talking about hundreds of square miles that they're looking for in these forests for any evidence of where Meredith might have gone.
They are using experts right now, so, people who have been trained in this sort of search and rescue. The rest of the folks who want to volunteer and help are being asked to just pass out flyers. Authorities are saying it's too dangerous right now to go into these woods without the proper training.
Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: All right, Reggie. He's joining us live with the latest on that search. Thank you, Reggie.
HOLMES: Well, the Iowa caucuses, that's so, Thursday.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: New Hampshire. That's what everybody's talking about now.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Yes, you have to put Iowa behind, move on to New Hampshire where all the candidates are now. We've got two live reports right after a break from Manchester, how the candidates plan to battle on the trail. Stick around.
NGUYEN: Also this: yes, she's done it again. Britney Spears wheeled off on a stretcher this time and then loses custody of her kids. What is going on?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: OK. Nobody had time to keep popping champagne and celebrating their victory in Iowa. That's over. It's done. New Hampshire is on the brain now for the candidates, the primary there coming up on Tuesday.
NGUYEN: Yes, the candidates are spread out all across the state and we're keeping an eye on all of them. Today, we've got live coverage on some of the campaign events.
HOLMES: Hey, we have a tough time trying to keep up with all these candidates, actually. Each of them needs a strong showing to either keep up their momentum or maybe just to get back on track.
NGUYEN: That's right. Let's start with the Republicans now. CNN's Mary Snow is live in Manchester, New Hampshire this morning and she joins us with the latest.
Good morning, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.
And you know, on both sides, the real item here is change. Mike Huckabee is hoping to use that to gain on his momentum from Iowa. John McCain is hoping to build on his surging popularity in New Hampshire. And for Mitt Romney, the pressure is on. After the stunning victory by Mike Huckabee in Iowa, now, Mitt Romney really has to turn people out to vote here in New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice over): It was not the trip to New Hampshire the Romney camp envisioned.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We came back with a silver medal. We wanted a gold. We got the silver. But in New Hampshire, we're going to get the gold!
SNOW: Mitt Romney is putting a silver lining on Mike Huckabee's upset victory in Iowa, crediting Huckabee's win to his appeal to the Evangelicals. But after Romney spent more time, energy, and money than his Republican rivals in both Iowa and New Hampshire, the pressure is on for a victory.
DANTE SCALA, UNIV. OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: The Romney campaign was built on winning Iowa, winning New Hampshire, becoming the consensus front-runner, and gliding to the nomination. Now, he's lost Iowa and he's in danger of losing New Hampshire. So, those two pillars of his strategy could be wiped out by next Tuesday night.
SNOW: One part of that strategy, Romney is not changing, his aggressive attacks. He's taking aim at John McCain and trying to portray himself as a Washington outsider.
ROMNEY: There's no way that Senator McCain is going to be able to come to New Hampshire and say, he's the candidate that represents change, that he'll change Washington. He is Washington.
SNOW: McCain has been fighting back hard against Romney, painting his attacks as desperate. Romney plans to use one weapon where he does have an advantage -- his personal fortune.
ROMNEY: We intend to use our financial resources raised from our contributors and myself to make sure that we have a campaign that goes the distance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: And Betty, Romney has spent at least $7 million on ads alone here in New Hampshire, more than any of his rivals. His main rival here is John McCain, and they are locked in a bitter fight. John McCain has been trying to play up his experience and paint Romney as inexperienced.
As for Mike Huckabee, his challenge here is different. His base in Iowa was much narrower -- social conservatives. You don't hear him talking about some of those issues as much here in New Hampshire, such as abortion. His big challenge right now is to survive.
This weekend, there will be two debates here in New Hampshire with just days away to the primary. Certainly, voters here will be paying close attention to see how these candidates really set themselves apart on all of these issues -- Betty?
NGUYEN: Mary, let me ask you this: a lot of people looking forward to Tuesday there in New Hampshire, but aren't there some Republicans voting today?
SNOW: There are. In Wyoming and it's a primary that doesn't really get a lot of attention, 12 delegates are at stake. Mitt Romney has been actually talking about Wyoming in recent days because he is trying to show that he can win in a state he actually sent two of his sons out there to be campaigning for him. But yes, that is a primary that will be taking place today.
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Mary Snow joining us live from Manchester today. Thank you, Mary. On the Democratic side, we'll be looking at that.
HOLMES: Yes, the big three could be in for another close race. I guess some of the others in the race wouldn't appreciate not being inside the big three, but the big three we're referring to: Edwards, Obama and Clinton. They are all looking for that late edge in New Hampshire.
NGUYEN: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is also live in Manchester this morning. Suzanne, what's it going to take to win there?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's really amazing because everybody essentially is saying the same thing here, and Mary touched on it. They're all talking about change here, so, the campaigns are really melding into one message. So, we are going to see Senator Hillary Clinton, we're going to be following her today, and what she is saying is that change comes about but can only come about from experience.
So, you'll see her ads on television. You'll hear her say that on the stump speech, that she's the person who is ready to walk in day one as president and be prepared for the job. She talks a lot about the fact that she's been under attack by Republicans for years so that she can take on that kind of criticism, that she has been tested. The message behind that is that she's the one who's the most electable.
Senator Barack Obama really has a lot of momentum, a lot of excitement. Obviously, he wants to build on that, capitalize off of that. He even kind of teases his opponents for joining him aboard this change argument, this big change that everybody seems to be talking about. He's been very consistent about calling for change. And so, he is hoping to attract some of the independent men as well as the Republican women that come aboard his team. So, look out for first-time folks at the primary.
And then finally, Senator John Edwards: he's almost ignoring Senator Clinton, saying, I'm the guy and Obama's the guy, we're the ones you voted for to bring about change, not Hillary Clinton. So, stick by us. He also is trying to sharpen his attack a little bit, distinguish himself from Obama when it comes to special interests -- Betty, T.J.?
HOLMES: Well, Suzanne, is there a sense of panic just yet? We know that New Hampshire made Bill Clinton the comeback kid. She really needs to be the comeback kid, as well, because she is being not necessarily discounted but, after a third-place finish in Iowa, if she happens to not do so well in New Hampshire, then Barack Obama has to move on to South Carolina, an awfully black state, if you will, that could just propel him onto this nomination. Are we seeing panic yet in the Clinton camp?
MALVEAUX: Not yet, T.J., but it's very good point that you bring up. Obviously, there is some concern here, because what they need to do, they need a win here, and they need to build that momentum that is -- that we see on the Obama side, the Obama camp, because you're absolutely right. You're going into states where there is a higher African-American population, the percentage there. We saw the turnout when it came to Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama in South Carolina, that huge rally. So, they really need a win here, and they need at least a strong, strong second.
So, not panic, but we are going to see some familiar faces. The former President Clinton, he's here. He's going to be out three different rallies. On the Obama side, we're also going to see Massachusetts governor, Duvall Patrick, a good friend of Obama's. He is hoping to sway voters because obviously neighboring states want to push forward.
And then tonight, we're also going to see the fourth candidate. We don't mention him often, but it's Governor Bill Richardson. He is still in the race. All four of the top Democratic candidates will be debating tonight here -- T.J.?
HOLMES: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us in Manchester, good to see you, ma'am. We'll see you again.
MALVEAUX: Good to see you.
HOLMES: And remember, folks, you have got the best political team on television. That includes Suzanne Malveaux and Mary Snow you just saw. They're all working for you for complete coverage of the New Hampshire primary. Reports for all the campaigns. Tune in for our special coverage that starts Tuesday at 8:00 eastern time. And CNN's BALLOT BOWL. It's making a comeback. We're doing it again this afternoon. It's all about the candidates in their own words. Our BALLOT BOWL kicks off at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.
NGUYEN: Yes, don't miss it. In the meantime though, there are some new developments in the uprising going on in Kenya. There's new action from the government. What is it, and will it stop the violence?
HOLMES: Also: people in the Sierras digging out of the snow. And you know what? More of that stuff is on the way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody and welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, so glad you could be with us this morning.
We're talking about powerful storms this morning in Southern California, forcing some residents out of their homes. In Orange County, threat of floods and mudslides prompted evacuations orders in canyons already hurt (ph) by wildfire. (INAUDIBLE) to pay and got ready to get out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VINCE AMATO, MODJESKA CANYON RESIDENT: We don't know what's going to happen, so we saw what happened last time, saw how much water was in that creek, and we kind of got an idea because it comes down pretty fast. We had a flashflood last time. So, when it happens, it happens real quick.
STEVE WHEELER, MODJESKA CANYON RESIDENT: The dogs are evacuated, they're in their kennel and we have a hotel room reserved and we're good to go. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, authorities say about 3,000 people are under a mandatory order to evacuate. And we are getting in some pictures of the storm damage in California. Lots of downed trees. That maybe doesn't sound so bad at some point, but some of those trees are falling onto homes and cars. That is a problem.
So far, we haven't heard any reports just yet of any injuries from those falling trees or any falling limbs, so good news there. We a few I-reporters to show you here. Audrey Goodwater sent us these pictures from Davis, California. You can see huge trees on top of some cars. You can barely make out the cars.
But at least two in there and there's another shot from a different angle. Goodwater said it had been raining nonstop when she took these pictures, says there were reports of winds gusting up to 70 miles an hour. Again, thank Audrey Goodwater in Davis, California.
NGUYEN: We're going to check on the weather outside. The latest now is meteorologist, Brad Huffines. He joins us in for Reynolds Wolf who is dealing with the snow out in the sierras.
Good morning, Brad.
HUFFINES: I'm not sure who has the better assignment today, Betty, being inside here or being out with the snow. I think I'll choose inside today with Reynolds and feet and feet and feet of snow. San Francisco here, Sacramento here. Davis, California there, where you saw some of those pictures earlier. Rain showers are now moving out of that area, very quiet. I talked to someone earlier today in Monterey, California, who did witnessed a couple trees falling down near his office and one that crushed a car in a parking lot near where he works.
Meanwhile, you're looking now at the winter storm warning, all the advisories, warnings and watches still now spreading from west to east across much of Utah into portions of Colorado as well and spreading across sections of Nevada. So, those showers are moving on inland. You're seeing some pretty heavy rains now from Bakersfield all the way down to Los Angeles, and that's where the focus is really getting to be now with the mudslides possible.
We are seeing some tremendous amounts of rain now across parts of Southern California, up to eight to 10 inches of rain is possible, especially inland. And right now, we have flashflood warnings in effect for Los Angeles county and also for Northern San Diego County, and flashflood warnings mean flooding is imminent in flood-prone areas.
We're watching this story for you. We'll have more details for you all the morning long, guys.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Brad.
HOLMES: After a week of violence in Kenya, excuse me, there could soon be peace there. Kenya's president just agreed to from a national unity government.
NGUYEN: But a government spokesman isn't saying whether this includes a power-sharing agreement with the key opposition leader and that could be important.
HOLMES: Yes, chaos there broke out December 27, after the president was narrowly reelected.
NGUYEN: Riots and fighting erupted in the streets. Look at this. Angry mobs say the voting was rigged. The United Nations now estimates more than 300 people have been killed and 250,000 Kenyans are displaced.
CNN's Paula Newton is in Nairobi. And Paula, this leads to the question, what does this announcement actually mean?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It will be an improvement. If those people who right now are involved in the violence, people that are displaced, see there is a measure of good will, that the opposing sides are negotiating, it will help to cool things down here.
You know, this came about as a negotiation Condoleezza Rice started about three days ago. She has slowly but surely with the help of other governments, gotten the two sides closer together. Whether it will work or full fall apart is on the crucial question of exactly who is going to be president. Is it going to remain Mwai Kibaki, who's in power right now, or is this going to be a unity government that may even see the opposition leader become president? Or will they just rerun the election.
It is a good move in the sense that it will at least move things towards the negotiating table hopefully and not where they have been so far and that's mired in a lot of strident language and rhetoric -- Betty?
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you.
Joining us live, we want to get much more on this story. Sozan Savehilaghi was volunteering in Kenya for the past two months but the violence in the last week has made her afraid for her life and she joins us by phone today.
Sozan, I'm told you can't get out of the country for a couple more days. Are you staying someplace safe?
VOICE OF SOZAN SAVEHILAGHI, STRANDED IN KENYA: Hi, Betty. That's right.
And actually, I'm in a very safe place right now and booked on a flight out to Nairobi on the seventh in the morning. So, that was the earliest flight I could get since many people are rushing to the airport to try to get the first flight they can out. Many of the business people here have already chartered four or five planes to flee to Kampala in Uganda.
NGUYEN: Let me ask you this -- where were you when the riots broke out and what did you see?
SAVEHILAGHI: Well, actually, when the riots broke out, we were just entering the city, and so that I could take a bus, an easy coach bus to Nairobi. It was very evident immediately that that was not going to be possible since all the roads were blocked.
So, I actually joined my fellow volunteer, Jane Samuels, who is staying at the Imperial Hotel here in (INAUDIBLE), and we ended up being stranded in the interior hotel, not able to get out for about -- well, she left within two days, but I was there for about four days.
NGUYEN: What do you mean you were stranded? There were riots in the street and you were afraid to venture outside the hotel?
SAVEHILAGHI: Exactly. And we're actually told not to leave as there were orders to shoot on sight by the police anybody that they saw out there. And there were curfews out, as well, that nobody could be out past six o'clock. And for one full day, nobody was allowed outside at all.
NGUYEN: I understand that you heard constant gunfire for days on end.
SAVEHILAGHI: That's true, actually. And a lot of it is the police trying to disperse crowds. So, sometimes I can't really tell the difference between the gunfire and when they're exploding cans of tear gas. So, it could be either/or. But there aren't very many civilians here with guns, at least not that I know of.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, Kenya is not really typically known for this kind of violence, and we're hearing today of a possible unity government, what exactly that means, we don't know. What are you hearing there?
SAVEHILAGHI: Well, there's a lot -- I mean, I've been talking to quite a few locals here. You know, everybody seems to think that there's no way Kibaki is going to -- going to step down in any way since apparently, he's a very staunch follower of the law. And once he's president, you know, he's president.
So, what I've been hearing is that, you know, there's no way he's going to do that. I've been hearing other people saying an interim government for a few months until the election is held is probably the most viable thing that will happen.
But what people are calling for are the leaders, for the leaders to stand up and tell their supporters to cease the violence. And, you know, for Laila (ph) and Mwai Kibaki to come out and say that they disapproved of this violence and that this is not going to get them anywhere.
NGUYEN: And so, we're hoping for some kind of leadership in all this chaos there. Sozan Savehilaghi, a Canadian volunteer joining us by phone today. We do appreciate your time and hopefully you are be able to make out safely. Thank you.
SAVEHILAGHI: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. We will turn back to presidential politics in this country and the candidates of course sidestep on New Hampshire. Now, so what do these primaries really mean? Josh Levs what do they really mean?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you guys to stick around during the break. Here's what we're going to look at -- does New Hampshire usually follow Iowa's lead. I'll tell you if that answer brings some good news for certain candidates on Tuesday's first primary in the nation. That's coming up. T.J.?
HOLMES: All right. Thank you, sir. See you here shortly.
Also, Britney Spears taken away by paramedics. Then she gets ...
NGUYEN: But she's smiling. Kind of interesting there.
HOLMES: It's hard to explain some of this video we have seen. We've gotten used to it from Britney Spears over the past several years. We'll explain this really sad and even dangerous story. Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Well, we've got news on the tomorrow that the unemployment rate in the U.S. hit five percent the highest we've seen in a while. Well, pretty high as well in the kind of Bill Richardson camp. He's laid off a lot of his campaign staff. Richardson finished a distant fourth in Thursday's Iowa caucuses. His campaign spokesman characterizes the move as an adjustment, saying the campaign need more staffers in Iowa than they needed in New Hampshire so they had to let people go.
Speaking of New Hampshire, that state now, ground zero for the next contest among the presidential candidates.
NGUYEN: And coming just days after the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary has the potential, the potential, to shake up the race once again. Our own Josh Levs is here, Keeping Them Honest, Mr. Reality. So, what's the latest?
LEVS: You know, I've been taking to look at track record for New Hampshire because this big obsession over Iowa, right? And now, it all turns to New Hampshire all of a sudden. So, the big question is: Does New Hampshire usually follow Iowa's lead? And the short version is no.
Actually, the track record in New Hampshire is to restack the deck, and that actually spells potentially good things for people who are not Mike Huckabee or Barack Obama. Can't know for sure, but let's look at history here.
We've pulled up some of the previous races there. In 2004, it didn't go the same way, but as a rule, it does not. We'll, some of those keep coming, look, 2000, went completely different ways; 1996, completely different ways, '92 completely different ways. Back in '88, it's the same thing. As a rule, every year you find when there's an open race with no incumbent president or vice president running, New Hampshire actually goes a different way.
And while we're looking at that, I want you all to take a look at 1992. That's really important because in '92 you had Harkin in Iowa, Tsongas in New Hampshire, and guess what? Clinton was ultimately the nominee. So, I mean, if Hillary Clinton wants to take some kind of solace from that, it's always a possibility.
Now, if things were different back then, obviously, and things do change every year, the dynamics change every year, this year, you have this general sense nationally that there was a single front-runner on the Democratic side and you had Mitt Romney on the Republican side who, for awhile, was seeming like he was going to win in Iowa. That's an expectations game.
But the fact is, historically, we can keep looking year by year and we can keep seeing that usually when there's an open race, it is different in New Hampshire. So, certainly want to caution anyone against assuming that just because Iowa does something, it automatically means the Granite State is going to follow that.
NGUYEN: All right. But look at the time frame here. There's less time between Iowa and New Hampshire, so how does that affect things?
LEVS: It does affect things, and that's actually really important that those change this year. Because, usually what happened in the past is after the victory in Iowa, there's time for people to absorb it, right? So, in New Hampshire, people can think about that and decide, maybe I should learn more about this winner.
This time, it's so tight. It's only this four or five-day period in between, which means, they just found out this other person maybe who they weren't planning to support is in the lead. So, do they rush over there or decide I'm not going to change my mind? This is what the analysts are trying to figure out right now and what we really won't know until Tuesday.
We know it's different this year because there's no time to absorb Iowa victory, but does that help or hurt the people who won in Iowa? We don't know yet.
HOLMES: We'll continue to prognosticate until Tuesday.
LEVS: Just the facts. Everybody else can prognosticate.
HOLMES: Thank you, Levs.
And more on for you, folks. You'll hear more from the candidates all day. Just click on CNNPolitics.com. The speeches streaming live from today's campaign event. Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton, the first two up today. Plus: tune in to CNN today at 2:00 p.m. Eastern for "BALLOT BOWL," where you get all the news, all the candidates, unfiltered. NGUYEN: And you want to stick with CNN for the best political team on television. At eight, Mike Huckabee is on a roll, but can he harness his momentum going into New Hampshire?
HOLMES: Yes, but first, bowl games. Yes. We talk a little sports here. Not over yet, even though we're well into the New Year, we have a few more games to talk about. Are they turning out to be big money makers? We'll get some insight from our sports analyst, Rick Horrow. There he is. What is that this time? What is that? He's got a hat and a what? What is that?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: A pullover.
HOLMES: A pullover. All right, is that Ohio state I see on there? What's that thing?
HORROW: No, no, no. Ohio State.
HOLMES: Right. We'll see you in a second, Rick.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Yes, going beyond the game now, bowl season, and therefore college football season almost over, had 32 bowl games and all Monday night's national championship game between LSU and Ohio State going to wrapping it up for us. Well, has it been a successful postseason for college football after a pretty good regular season? We're going to bring in Rick Horrow, sports business analyst. Pretty Rick, what they call him. There he is. Always good to see you. Happy New Year to you.
HORROW: My New Year's resolution is to be happy and nice to you and to wish you and yours the happiest of holidays. This resolution will last 30, 40 seconds.
HOLMES: Thirty, 40 seconds, can we make it through the segment, at least? For a minute?
HORROW: So, let's try.
HOLMES: All right. Let's talk ball games. It was a great college football season. We've talked about it earlier this year, all the Cinderella stories, some good stuff out there. Bowl season. Is it a good bowl season so far?
HORROW: It's a great bowl season with all the economic indicators: 125 million people are watching, 1.6 million tickets. Here's the deal, though, yet, 6,500 athletes who participated that might not otherwise have, 13,000 band members, support staff, and here's the other thing, $2.2 billion in guaranteed payouts, by the way, for the bowls now and into the future. Whether we like it or not, it's not changing.
HOLMES: Do people -- or does NCAA and the schools, do they prefer people -- want to make sure they're buying the tickets and going to the games or they prefer people are at least at home in front of those flat screens and watching it in HD?
HORROW: Well, they like all of that. They like them going, they like them watching and corporations like them buying, $7 billion, names, they put out in the Independence Bowl is now Petrosun, 25 of the 32 had corporate names on it. Corporations love this, this is the most efficient way to get their message across during the holidays. So, watch, buy tickets, watch TV and buy. Those are your four action steps during bowl week.
HOLMES: Does that work, or does it get sill toy to you with some of the names of the bowls? No offense, but you know, some of the names of these bowls ...
HORROW: Be careful. They could be future sponsors. Be very careful. Here's the bottom line of all of that. As silly as it may be, we now know that Roadies is a national truck stop chain after sponsoring the humanitarian bowl there in Boise. And the bottom line of all of these is that corporations as we know fuel the business of this college football, which is, by the way, my friend, a $5 billion business, so suck it up and watch.
HOLMES: All right. Let's talk New Orleans here. Bowl games happening there. But also the championship game happening there with LSU and Ohio State. There was some disappointment, actually, that LSU was in that game because it's in New Orleans, so many people had just drive to the game, they won't spend the night in the hotels and may not spend as much money, but still a good news, a good thing for New Orleans?
HORROW: Especially disappointing to Georgia, Oklahoma, and other different places that didn't get to play in the game, but it's a $500 million economic impact blowup for bowl games in Louisiana.
Two years ago, we were digging out of Katrina, now a $300 million renovation of the superdome, and in fact, there's even a flag football national championship played in New Orleans, and they can't play it at UNO where they were going to because FEMA trailers are still there. Let's remember, though, 45,000 families still displaced. And let's focus on the good stuff but remembering there's a lot more work to be done in New Orleans.
HOLMES: Absolutely. Absolutely. And finally here, some of the athletes. I mean, we're used to folks like yourself. Your types, you're sports analyst, you big wigs running around, pundits and all that stuff.
HORROW: Careful. Careful.
HOLMES: You get swagged when you go to some these events, but these athletes getting swagged as well for these bowl games. What kind of stuff are they picking up?
HORROW: Well, we're not supposed to pay them. Not so fast, $1,000 limit for an athlete, $6 million given away on all of these stuff. Boise, Idaho, they have Parkas because of the cold. Hawaii, Oakley sunglasses. In New Orleans by the way, the Ohio State and LSU, they got the pullover and they got a hat and a Nintendo Wii. I'm looking all over for a Wii, I can't find one of those and the madden games that go along with it. No matter who wins or loses that game, they all got Wiis and we should be all excited about that.
HOLMES: They all getting Nintendo wies?
HORROW: Absolutely and $1000 worth of (INAUDIBLE), 850 is their limit, so, they're right at $850. So, even if someone doesn't play very well, he gets to take home his Wii.
HOLMES: I'll be danged. All right, is that all right with you?
HORROW: That's fine with me. You know what? Because they're whole line about amateurism and over-commercialism, that's for another day, but, we all know we pay student/athletes one way or another. And one of those days the laws and rules will be very clear about what we can do and we can't do. Right now we're playing around the edge.
HOLMES: We will debate that one later.
HORROW: Yes, we will.
HOLMES: And that's just the way people have been talking about for a long time. Rick Horrow, Pretty Ricky what they call him, always good to see you, sir. Have a good New Year.
HORROW: Happy New Year. I love you.
HOLMES: Thank you. I love you, too.
NGUYEN: Man. That's love going around. Talking about Wii gets you guys in the mood for love. All right.
HOLMES: All right. That's enough, Betty.
NGUYEN: Hey, there are more problems and we're going to talking this for pop star, Britney Spears. Her ex-husband has been given sole custody of their two children. Spears' visitation rights have been suspended. The court ruling came a day after Spears was taken away from her home by paramedics. Police were called there Thursday to intervene during a standoff over custody of her children. Spears was take on the hospital, where she is reported to be undergoing a three- day mental evaluation. So, we'll stay on top of this for you.
Also, our own Reynolds Wolf is braving the freezing temperatures in Truckee, California. We're going to hear from him in a minute. And we're following the mudslides threat in Southern California where residents are preparing to leave their homes. CNN SATURDAY MORNING will continue in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Talk about severe weather, Reynolds Wolf, you have bear the brunt of a lot of it throughout the nation, and today we're talking feet of snow. Correct? WOLF: Absolutely. Here in Truckee, anywhere from one to three feet of snow, but in the higher mountain passes they got upwards of some places around seven feet of snow. We're still under a blizzard warning here in Truckee and toward much of the Sierra Nevada, although the heavy snow fall has begun to move off.
So, looks like things are going to settle to get better. As we mentioned, 10:00 a.m. is going to be the cutoff time, and by that point, we should be in a big-time state of improvement. Roads are starting to clear up a little bit but still I-80 remains closed. I'll give you the full scope coming up.
NGUYEN: All right, looking for to that. Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. Got a few stories need to tell you about here. First: The previously unheard of Islamic group has claimed responsibility for the killing of U.S. diplomat, John Michael Granville in Sudan. The group put the statements on several Islamic Web sites making that claim. Granville has stood in his driver was shot and killed earlier this week.
NGUYEN: Well, Colombia's top (INAUDIBLE) says initial DNA tests suggest that a three-year-old boy who was thought to be held by rebels is not a captive after all. Officials say the child of the hostage, Clara Rojas has been living in a foster family or with one in Bogota under an assumed name from one to two years and last night, rebels admitted the boy is not in their custody.
Well, in the high definition technology battle of blue ray has won yet again. Yes, Warner Brothers entertainment now says, they will stop using Toshiba's HD DVD format and from now on, they're movies will only go on Sony's Blue Ray discs. Warner Brothers which is owned by CNN's parent company, Time Warner is the fifth movie studio to back Blue Ray.
CNN SATURDAY MORNING rolls on.
Hello and good morning from the CNN center right here in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, hello to you all. Thank you for starting your day right here with us.
It is a big day, big weekend in politics. All the attention now on New Hampshire.
NGUYEN: The candidates are there and so are we, live coverage of all the big events this morning.
HOLMES: I got another big event going on right now, a big storm out in California. We start with that weather out there making life miserable for folks in (INAUDIBLE).
NGUYEN: Listen to this. There are reports of early morning flooding and mudslides in southern California. Still though, the worst may be yet to come. People there have been trying to prepare with sandbags and hay bales and so far about 3,000 people were ordered to evacuate.
HOLMES: Heavy rains and strong winds made travel treacherous in the San Francisco area. Trees limbs down all over the place and sometimes they're finding targets like that vehicle you see. More than half a million people still without power this morning in northern California.
NGUYEN: Up in the Sierras there's a whole lot of snow. Look at this. Forecasters say as much as 10 feet of snow could fall up there. Already the main interstate through the area has been closed. The Red Cross has opened a shelter in Truckee, California to help travelers stranded by all that snow.
HOLMES: All that snow is what CNN's Reynolds Wolf is in and he is on it for us in Truckee, California. Good morning to you, again, sir.
WOLF: Good morning to both of you.
I got to tell you right now if you're obviously watching, not to (INAUDIBLE) all across America, you're seeing a lot of snow moving right in front of the camera, right across your television screen. Much of that that we're seeing is actually blowing snow. In terms of precipitation, steady precipitation, much of that for now has left.
But it certainly left plenty on the streets, anywhere from one to three feet here in the Tahoe basin here in Truckee. We had a whole lot on the street here moments ago. It now has been cleaned up and we got some great video to show you of the people, men and women out here doing all they could just to push away all that Mother Nature dropped on this town and it wasn't just these big earth moving machines. You had people using just the old elbow grease, using the shovels, old fashioned way, also a few snow blowers, a team effort to do a great job, just staying one step ahead of this big storm.
This storm is really a rare thing. As I mentioned earlier, guys, this was a blizzard, we had blizzard warnings across the Sierra Nevada. That is very rare. It's not rare to have snow. You have snow here quite often during the winter time, obviously. During the spring you can get some snowstorms here in the fall.
However, to have the combination of that heavy snow and this extreme wind with some gusts, again on the highest peaks, up to 163 miles an hour, that's a very rare thing. It doesn't happen all that often here in the Sierra Nevada, but it did happen and it does appear that the worst has passed.
However, we're still going to see some intermittent snow showers. Right now just the blowing snow is coming through. The wind is going to be anywhere from about 25 to 35, with gusts up to 40. But still on the high peaks, they could see anywhere from say 60 to 80 maybe even more, gusts approaching that century mark once again.
Guys, let's send it back to you in the studio.
NGUYEN: All right Reynolds, thank you. To the latest now from Brad Huffines, he is following this storm in California. He joins us live now at CNN center. What are you seeing, Brad?
HUFFINES: Well Betty, as that storm now continues to move inland, the heavier snows are now moving into intermountain west and the rain showers now down south. But as that storm pushes across parts of Utah into Colorado, several areas, wind warnings, wind advisories being issued. I want to take you now to Denver, Colorado, where we're seeing a very calm and fairly serene picture right now.
Inside of Denver, KUSA courtesy of, you're seeing the really light winds, fairly nice weather there this morning in Denver, but up in the mountains and across the mountains through I-70, some wind profiles or high profile vehicles could see some real problems due to the wind threat that continues to move toward portions of inland and high elevation Colorado.
Now as you're looking now at all the winter storm warnings, still as they're spreading from the west coast to the intermountain west, you're seeing snow advisories and winter storm watches and warnings from Salt Lake City up into just about Denver, but again, most of the highest elevations seeing those problems.
And the other issue with this continues to be the very heavy rains, two to four inches of rain possible today across the coastal section and valleys of southern California, five to 10 inches of rain in the mountains. And of course you can imagine what that will do to the burned, scorched areas and the mudslides that are going to be likely across parts of southern California as that storm continues to push in.
How much rain so far? So far, this is not including what will fall today, up to eight inches of rain in Goleta, California, Cambria, almost seven inches, Santa Barbara even about seven inches of rain. So as you can imagine, the rain that has no place to go will soak in and eventually guys, the mud is going to come down with it, so people in Southern California need to be really careful with this storm. More on that coming up later this morning.
NGUYEN: All right, Brad, thanks.
Police this morning are questioning a man that they are calling a person of interest in the case of a hiker missing in the mountains of north Georgia.
HOLMES: Twenty-four-year-old Meredith Emerson disappeared after she went hiking on New Year's Day. Family and friends have joined rescue teams combing a 400 square mile area, looking for her now.
NGUYEN: And CNN's Reggie Aqui joins us live from Blood Mountain in northern Georgia. Talk to us about this latest development in the search.
AQUI: Right, well, Meredith Emerson was last seen on New Year's Day here. She came here with her dog to go hiking and that was the last time anyone saw her. Now we do know that several witnesses saw her with a man, that person of interest. We'll get to that in just a second.
But first I want to show you, as people begin gathering here once again this morning, you can see that folks are here from the Georgia defense force. They're going to go out and search once again. We're talking about a 400 square mile area that they have to comb through to try and find this missing 24-year-old.
Now let's get to these big developments that happened late last night. Now just north of Atlanta in a suburb of Atlanta, police are telling us they got two 911 calls around 7:40 last night. They got a call that someone had seen a man that looked to be the person police were looking for, the person eyewitnesses say they saw Meredith Emerson with the day that she disappeared.
Turns out those people who called 911 were right. Police got to a gas station, they went inside a convenience store and found Gary Michael Hilton, the 61-year-old they have been trying to find for the past couple of days. They're interviewing him right now. Exactly what information they're getting from that we don't know yet, and hopefully we'll get more information from the investigators later today.
There was a second big break in the case. As I mentioned at the top, Meredith came here with her dog Ella, a black lab on New Year's Day and we're told that her black lab was actually playing with Gary Michael Hilton's dog at the time when they were last seen on the trails here.
I just talked to Meredith's roommate a few minutes ago. She was telling me her reaction after hearing that that dog was found 50 miles away from where I'm standing today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIE KARRENBAUER, MEREDITH EMERSON'S ROOMATE: We're all obviously hoping that the dog was still with Meredith. But at some point, you don't know if you're an animal that you stay with your owner or do you try and go get help. That's the situation that we don't know. And, you know, I mean it's just like Ella to stroll into a Kroger and say, here I am. It's a little concerning that they're not together, but you can't draw too many conclusions from that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AQUI: And you heard her say that the dog just walked into a Kroger. That's exactly what investigators are saying. They found this dog, they took it to a vet. The vet was able to scan that microchip that some dogs have and they were able to positively identify that dog did belong to this missing 24-year-old.
Now I should tell you Betty, after talking to that roommate, I thought it was remarkable how well she has been able to keep it together. She's been out here every day. It's been extremely cold during the day and during the night, hoping and waiting for someone to come back with some good news that her roommate is out here somewhere and that she's somehow able to survive and is in good condition.
NGUYEN: It's been very cold overnight. But back to the dog walking into the Kroger store, I got to ask you this, that store wasn't exactly close to where Meredith and the dog were last seen, what, about 50 miles away.
AQUI: Fifty miles away and so you can see just how far this is now reaching, because the dog was 50 miles away and then the man, the person of interest, Hilton was close to Atlanta. And just to do some quick geography for you, it takes about 90 minutes to go from Atlanta up here to the mountains. So now investigators are moving to comb out at least three locations, trying to figure out how all these pieces come together.
NGUYEN: And a lot of work ahead of them, thank you, Reggie Aqui joining us live today. We do appreciate it.
HOLMES: And now disturbing new information to tell you about on the deaths of two American soldiers killed in Iraq. It happened the day after Christmas. The U.S. military says they were allegedly killed now by Iraqi army soldier during a joint operation near Mogul. The military said they don't know why the Iraqi soldier opened fire on U.S. troops. That Iraqi soldier now in custody along with two other Iraqi soldiers. Three U.S. soldiers were wounded in that attack.
NGUYEN: Let's move onto politics now because Iowa is so yesterday's news, we want to tell you about New Hampshire. It's now the focus of the presidential candidates with just a couple days left until Tuesday's primary.
And as our Dana Bash reports, the granite state is offering a new challenge for one early front-runner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's something you don't hear much from Republican presidential candidates.
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And let's rock the house.
BASH: Three songs on bass guitar with "Mama Kicks," a favorite New Hampshire band. Mike Huckabee may look like he's just celebrating his big Iowa win. But he's also trying to convince New Hampshire voters to give him a chance.
HUCKABEE: This coming Tuesday, you have an opportunity to take a stand and I hope send a message to the rest of America, there's a fresh, new wind blowing in this country.
BASH: He's hoping to put to rest questions about whether he can harness his momentum.
HUCKABEE: I have been listening to the television pundits who said, well, Huckabee did well in Iowa, but he won't do that well in New Hampshire. Why not? I have not lived here. I have not perhaps run for office here before. I have not spent gazillion's of dollars trying to convince you what a wonderful person I am.
BASH: Huckabee's biggest challenge -- proving he can prevail in states like New Hampshire that don't have the kind of big evangelical base that fueled his Iowa upset, so he's changed his pitch. Noticeably absent were frequent promises in Iowa to oppose abortion and same sex marriage, instead an appeal to granite state live free or die libertarians.
HUCKABEE: I don't trust the government or the private insurance companies to take care of me. I want to take care of me. I think...
BASH: And a staunchly anti-tax Republican base.
HUCKABEE: Scrap the tax system, get rid of the IRS, end all of the taxes on our income and productivity and move to a consumption tax that everybody has to pay including all the people who are operating the multi-billion dollar underground economy.
BASH (on-camera): Huckabee advisors admit the next presidential contest states that's most fertile ground for the former preacher is not New Hampshire. It's South Carolina, which has a big evangelical base. The reason they tell us he's staying here in New Hampshire until next Tuesday's primary is a practical one because we in the national press corps are here and for a campaign still struggling for cash, they want what political strategists call free media.
Dana Bash, CNN, Henniker, New Hampshire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And the New Hampshire scramble is on for the Democrats as well. The big three there, no disrespect to the others in the race, but you see what we're getting at. Those three are all in different parts of the state this morning. Obama is in Nashua, Clinton in Pinnekook (ph) and then Edwards kicks off things in Portsmouth. We'll keep an eye on all of them, bring you parts of those events as they happen.
And CNN's Ballot Bowls, we're in the season of football and bowls, so we're having the ballot bowl. We're bringing it back. We're doing it again this afternoon. It's all about the candidates in their own words. Ballot bowl kicks off at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.
NGUYEN: All right T.J. So we all would love to live our lives by the golden rule, treat others like you would want to be treated.
HOLMES: Yes. We all do that. We do that around here.
NGUYEN: Pretty much. But that's not actually the case for many folks.
HOLMES: When we come back, we're going to introduce you to this gentleman, who was a good example of that golden rule. Let's see if you would do what this guy ...
NGUYEN: ... which is so refreshing I was going to say. And here's a preview of today's "HOUSE CALL" as well with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning everybody.
Could you be a medical hero? Today on "HOUSE CALL," we introduce you to everyday people doing small things that make a huge impact, stories that prove that anyone can make a difference.
Plus, are you prepared for a medical emergency? Tune in for tips you can use to avoid confusion if you find yourself rushed into the emergency room and your e-mail questions answered in our ask the doctor segment, all that and more coming up on "HOUSE CALL" at 8:30.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, let's get to our quick hits now, more news in less time. First off, Columbia's top prosecutor says initial DNA tests suggest that a three-year-old boy who was thought to be held by rebels is not captive at all. Officials say it appears the child of hostage Clara Rojas has been living with a foster family in Bogota. Last night rebels admitted that the boy is not in their custody.
HOLMES: Wesleyen (ph) Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas having to turn patients away because its beds are filled up with sick children, four or five kids at a time showing up with respiratory viruses. They got coughs, runny noses, congestion, all kinds of things like that. The hospital is making sure it finds treatment for those children it does not have a bed for.
NGUYEN: She is wheeled out of her home on a stretcher. Take a look, placed in a hospital for a three-day mental evaluation. And now Britney Spears has lost custody of her two little boys and had her visitation rights suspended. The court awarded sole custody to Spears' ex-husband Kevin Federline, following the pop star's latest meltdown.
The thing that just really surprises me, when you look at these videos, she's smiling. She seems kind of bewildered and out of it.
HOLMES: She was possibly intoxicated or thinks she was and this is just a sad spiral. You hate to see it. It went from being funny, some of the antics for a while we see and then it went to this. It's comes to this, so it's not funny anymore. It's scary. Let's hope...
NGUYEN: ... she gets some help.
HOLMES: ... she gets some help right now. That's our Britney news for the day.
We'll turn to politics now. First out of Iowa, look at the focus now in New Hampshire but does all the attention on the early states mean that your vote later is less likely to matter?
NGUYEN: Or maybe Iowa and New Hampshire show just how important each vote really is. CNN's Josh Levs is here and you are keeping them honest. Hey, Josh.
LEVS: And really if I were doing this, it's going to be quick, but we have talked about this before. A lot of people feel like they're irrelevant in the process of choosing a presidential candidate because of the hyper focus on these early states and a lot of people feel disenfranchised, not literally because you can vote, but effectively because you feel a lot of people feel like their votes just don't matter.
So what I want to do, reality check now, let's take a look at the actual numbers. We have a chart for you here that shows what actually happened in Iowa. The number of delegates that these people actually got out of Iowa, Obama is around 16. Clinton is around 15. Edwards is around 14. So the actual process toward -- and there we go, Republican side now, Huckabee 17, Romney 12. So the actual process toward getting the nomination numbers wise is barely even affected by Iowa.
Iowa, a lot of people refer to it as a political beauty contest. It's a chance to show how you handle victory, how you handle defeat, how many people you can convince in one state. But the process, folks, what you can do to understand how small those numbers are, we can bring you to cnn.com where we show you the delegate track. Democrats need more than 2,000 delegates in order to become the nominee. And Republicans need more than 1,000.
So what we're talking about is a fraction of a percent here and that's the whole idea. Keep in mind, whenever you hear this hyper focus on early states, no one gets any nomination until the Democrats get more than 2,000, the Republicans get more than 1,000 delegates. It's a ton. They have a long, long way to go. Even the early states don't even begin to tackle that, which means in all literal ways, everybody around the country, certainly for Super Tuesday, will have a chance to vote. They need your vote. So indeed your vote will in fact matter.
NGUYEN: Let's talk about New Hampshire, because that's coming up. How's that going to change all of this?
LEVS: New Hampshire could change things a little bit in a couple ways. First of all numbers wise again, New Hampshire is just 1 percent of the amount that they need.
So New Hampshire itself doesn't, but what happens is if there are different victors in New Hampshire, then all of a sudden instead of assuming that someone is going to steamroll to victory, in terms of people's psyches, a lot of people start to assume that their votes do matter and all of a sudden, what happens is, in terms of advertising, reach out campaign events, you find that all these candidates increase their visits to other states because they keep going. Fewer people give up if there's a new victor in the next state. So that could increase the reach out everywhere.
If you find for example, Obama winning New Hampshire again, then you're going to find a lot of people assuming he'll ultimately get it probably overall, voting going down. But just keep those numbers in mind. No one has an actual nomination until they get into the thousands of delegates and that means votes from all over the country.
NGUYEN: So there's a long time to go in this race.
LEVS: Yes, there really is.
HOLMES: It's good you're breaking it down like that, because people don't realize. Iowa is so important and we're paying all this attention. They need 2,000 delegates. He's got 16, 17.
NGUYEN: In the grand scheme of things it's so small.
LEVS: It's nothing.
NGUYEN: Thanks, Josh.
HOLMES: Folks stay here, we'll have the latest news from the best political team on television coming up right here. Don't go anywhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: For a home-made power boat, this one is very cool looking. Looks can be deceiving.
HOLMES: A little bit. Your pleasure craft probably can't do what this thing -- look at that, dive under water, come back up. A Florida inventor says he's been dreaming of making a so-called hyper sub for more than 30 years.
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE) thinking of how can I make a hyper sub.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: This is true. It must work pretty good though. The owner says he's spent about 45 hours tooling around in it. Investors put it nearly at $2 million to make.
HOLMES: Congratulations on your 30-year dream there, sir.
We've seen lots of buildings moved over the years. (INAUDIBLE) transported by barge. This might be a first for us here, Betty.
NGUYEN: This barn in Wisconsin was hoisted up on wheels and rolled about 2 1/2 miles to a new location. The (INAUDIBLE) faster than that. The trip took -- get this, eight hours. What do they think, it's a shuttle or something (INAUDIBLE) ?
HOLMES: I was just thinking that, how long it takes the shuttle to get from the hangar to the launch pad.
All right, well, treat others as you would like to be treated. The golden rule taught to kids in schools everywhere.
NGUYEN: But more on this and the good guy behind it. You have got to stick around for this story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: All right, that's Reggie Damone, folks, he needs cash as much as the next man. He gets by with a job at McDonald's and food stamps. But he found a live check that was worth $185,000. He didn't even think about keeping it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REGGIE DAMONE, RETURNED $185,000 CHECK: So I walked in and I said to the teller, I say I'm just here to meet -- I was supposed to meet a lady here and she said you must be Reggie. And I said -- the lady -- I said I am. She was very thankful when I handed her the check. My mother told me when I was a kid, she always told me that. You always said if you take something from somebody, you're going to probably lose three times that much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That's right, Reggie.
HOLMES: He didn't really take it, he found it. His mom might give him a pass.
NGUYEN: But it's not his and he knew that and that's why he did the right thing.
HOLMES: He found it. My momma taught me finders keepers.
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE) Your mom is calling right now.
HOLMES: All right, well Reggie, now how we think about this. What did he get in return? $50.
NGUYEN: $50.
HOLMES: Does that sound about right?
NGUYEN: I personally think he should have got a little bit more. But, hey, it wasn't mine to give.
HOLMES: We're going to be talking to Reggie and find out why he returned it and more about this whole story, talk to him tomorrow on CNN Sunday morning.
NGUYEN: Can't wait for that. In the meantime though, former pop princess Britney Spears has lost visitation rights to her two children.
HOLMES: This comes after a bizarre standoff at her house that ended with her being restrained and taken to a hospital in an ambulance.
CNN's Randi Kaye has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Britney Spears in restraints, this after she refused to hand over her children to ex- husband Kevin Federline. Paramedics and police rolled her out of her Studio City, California home tied to a gurney. At one point police said she appeared to be under the influence of some unknown substance. Celebrity Web sites report Spears wouldn't come out and locked herself and one son in a closet.
Now, guess who's on lockdown. She is, a minimum 72-hour hold at LA's Cedars Sinai Medical Center where she will undergo psychological testing. When she arrived, she was sitting up even smiling, though she appeared dazed.
(on-camera): Why such strange behavior? Imagine what life is like for Britney Spears. She can't even walk down the street without tripping over the paparazzi. She could never do what I'm doing right now without a photographer snapping her photo and selling it to any tabloid more than willing to write something nasty about her. Life under the microscope is a lot of pressure. Could you cope with all those people watching and waiting for you to mess up again?
(voice-over): Spears' downward spiral began about two years ago. That's her in February 2006, driving with her baby, Sean Preston in her lap. A few months later, a pregnant Spears nearly dropped him, two reasons why Britney has earned the nickname Unfitney.
GAIL SALTZ, PSYCHIATRIST: If you're told you're an unfit mother, you fail at this identity, it's really very devastating.
KAYE: Still how can one explain all this, baiting photographers by going pantiless. She shaved her head, checked in and out of rehab, attacked an SUV with an umbrella and ran over a photographer's foot with her car.
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