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Flooding Emergency Worst in Illinois in 30 Years; Mideast Future Hinges on Gaza; Pregnant Marine Vanishes

Aired January 10, 2008 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It is definitely winter, and these are definitely storms. But they're not winter storms by a long shot.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Spring-like super cells spread the risk of tornadoes from Louisiana to Tennessee to Georgia. Our Chad Myers has all the watches and warnings in our severe weather center.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don lemon.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: School buses, construction equipment, boats, anything that can get through the rising waters in central Illinois is being used to rescue people and their pets. It's the worst flooding there in 30 years.

The mayor of Pontiac, Illinois, has declared his city a disaster area. And he's also making headlines after grabbing his own camera and recording a dramatic rescue.

Reporter Kelli Watson of CNN affiliate WEEK has that for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI WATSON, REPORTER, WEEK (voice over): Pontiac police, fire and area agencies work quickly to rescue a woman who has fallen into the Vermillion River. Who is behind the camera? Mayor Scott McCoy, who has been documenting emergency situations for training.

MAYOR SCOTT MCCOY, PONTIAC, ILLINOIS: It gets kind of personal when you run into a situation where it's a person who is in trouble and, you know, you're a little nervous and kind of want to, you know, jump in and do something yourself.

WATSON: But that's what rescue crews are for. The woman tirelessly fought a rapid current for more than a half-mile while emergency personnel made several failed attempts to throw her a lifeline. That's until she went under the Route 66 bridge.

LT. DARREL SHOOP, PONTIAC FIRE DEPT.: One of the Pontiac City police officers has what we call a life ring. He threw that as a last resort with direction with the guys telling him to go left, right, whatever, because he couldn't see her. And he threw her and he hit the target. She grabbed it, and they started pulling her to shore.

WATSON: Officials say the recent rains and melting snows made the current a rescue obstacle.

(on camera): With anticipated flying over the next few days, the fire department is keeping their water rescue unit rigged up in case of emergencies.

SHOOP: Measure at the Mill Street Dam, it's 113 inches over there, and I believe in the flood in 1982, I believe it was, it was up 140-some inches. So it's moving up pretty quick.

WATSON (voice over): And so did emergency personnel to rescue the woman. And when they show this footage in training, Mayor McCoy says efforts like this get you an A plus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And the woman was taken to a medical facility in Pontiac. The mayor says that he's heard that she's been released, but we haven't been able to confirm that yet.

Now, when weather becomes the news, count on CNN to bring it to you first. If you see severe weather happening in your area, just send us an I-Report. Go to CNN.com and click on "I-Report" or type ireport@cnn.com into your cell phone and share your photos or video with us.

LEMON: A big-name Democrat chooses sides, another is dropping out. Two big developments on the presidential campaign trail.

The man who carried the Democrats' banner four years ago today endorsed Barack Obama and his battle for the party's nomination. John Kerry spoke at an Obama rally in Charleston, South Carolina.

For another Democrat, the apparent end of the line. It's New Mexico governor Bill Richardson. He's expected to announce next hour that after coming in fourth in both Iowa and New Hampshire, that he will be quitting the race.

The race could be in for another shake-up. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican who's now a registered Independent, has launched a so-called research effort to assess his chances in a third-party bid. Money wouldn't be a problem. Bloomberg is a billionaire. A source tells CNN has set a March deadline to make a final decision.

And for more on the presidential candidates and their next stops, go to cnnpolitics.com. It is your one-stop shop for all things political.

PHILLIPS: You may having been following this story with us, an Air Canada flight that had requested to make an emergency landing at Calgary Airport. Medical assistance was requested apparently because of the turbulence. About 10, possibly up to 15 people, were injured.

We just got to hear from some of those passengers just a short time ago. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lady in front of me bounced off me a couple of times, hit the floor, and banged her head pretty bad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was she unconscious?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No, she woke up and she was definitely in shock because she was showing off her dislocated finger to everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was in your head?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My feet, basically. I really didn't know. I was half awake at the time.

I didn't know what it was. I was pretty sure I was asleep when it started, and it just kind of shook me awake. And I put my feet against the seat in front of me and kind of held myself that way. And I just saw all these people that didn't have seat belts on who were flying right out of their chairs and then back down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So, when you think about turbulence, you know, could this have been prevented if you just wore your seat belt? We' re going to talk about how to prevent injuries like this, in addition to, can turbulence actually cause an aircraft to crash? It's a question a lot of you have been asking since we've been reporting this story. We're going to talk to a commercial airline pilot coming up in about 20 minutes.

LEMON: In the nation's capital, police have charged a woman with murdering four girls whose bodies were found in her apartment. Now, the woman appears to be have been the mother, but the decomposed bodies of the victims have not yet been identified. At a news conference today, authorities said the girls probably had been dead at least two weeks and the bodies showed signs of trauma.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MARIE PIERRE-LOUIS, WASHINGTON, D.C., MEDICAL EXAMINER: At this time we cannot positively identify them. We have some -- some possible causes of death.

In one child, the oldest one, it seems she might have sustained some stab wounds to the abdomen. The older three children, there's the possibility of asphyxia or poisoning.

At this time we are conducting a toxicological examination. We have very limited material to work with. The bodies were very desiccated. So we are trying our best to see what we can find. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Those victims range in age from 5 to 17. Thirty-three- year-old suspect Bonita Jax (ph) is due in court today.

Police in Daytona Beach, Florida, say they may have a new clue in a string of unsolved murders. Investigators say they found the vehicle belonging to 30-year-old Stacy Gage (ph), whose decomposing body turned up last week. She's believed to be the fourth victim of a possible serial killer.

Police are hoping gage's (ph) van will point them toward a suspect. The other three killings happened about two years ago.

Later today in the NEWSROOM we'll talk live with Daytona Beach police chief, Mike Chitwood (ph).

PHILLIPS: Well, we're learning more about a 20-year-old pregnant Marine who's been missing since mid-December. Authorities say that Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach was expected to testify as a crime victim at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune. Lauterbach is eight months pregnant. Her phone and her car have been found separately off base.

CNN's Nancy Grace discussed the case with a reporter from Lauterbach's home state of Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST, NANCY GRACE: With me is Mandi Sheridan with CNN affiliate WDTN.

You say the cell phone was found. My understanding is a cell phone was found on December 20, near the gates to Camp Lejeune. Yes, no?

MANDI SHERIDAN, WDTN REPORTER: Her mother just told me that her cell phone was found near the gate at Camp Lejeune. She did not tell me what day.

GRACE: OK.

SHERIDAN: She just told me it was near the gate.

GRACE: I also learned that there was suspicious bank activity around the date that she disappeared. Has there been any other activity on that bank account?

SHERIDAN: All that we have heard at this point, all that's been released to us, is that the sheriff down there is saying there is some suspicious activity on her bank account. Her mother said that as well. Said they are looking at their financial -- her finances, but she did not go into any detail when I asked her, you know, more specifics.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Well, we're listening to the Onslow County Sheriff's Department and we're going to bring you an update with Susan Candiotti later in the hour.

LEMON: Poor and isolated, often overlooked in the Middle East peace process. Even the very young in Gaza are caught up in the cold, hard grip of power, politics.

We'll get an inside look.

PHILLIPS: And then to beautiful but troubled Kenya. Our Zain Verjee joins us live with more fallout from Kenya's post-election violence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: 2:12 Eastern Time right now. Here are some of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Frightening moments aboard an Air Canada jet. That flight from Victoria was headed to Toronto when it ran into severe turbulence. It made an emergency landing in Calgary. Nine people were hurt, six of them badly enough they had to be taken to a hospital.

Now, we're going to have a live report from Calgary in just a few minutes.

And New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has scheduled a news conference for about 45 minutes from now. He's expected to announce that he's dropping out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Richardson finished fourth in Iowa and New Hampshire.

And one of inmates who stated that "Shawshank Redemption" style jailbreak due back in New Jersey today. Otis Blunt was arrested in Mexico without incident. His fellow escapee was captured on Tuesday. We should have his arrival live within minutes.

LEMON: Well, today, the Palestinians. It's President Bush's visit to the other side of the Middle East conflict. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas played host in Ramallah, where President Bush said he not only sees a possible peace deal, he set a timetable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In order for there to be lasting peace, President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert have to come together and make tough choices. And I'm convinced that they will.

And I believe it's possible. Not only possible, I believe it's going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office. That's what I believe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Mr. Bush held talks with Israel's prime minister yesterday. A White House spokesman says the president plans to return to the Middle East at least once, maybe more times, this year.

And for now, at least, Mr. Bush won't be visiting Gaza, which more than ever, is a cauldron of everything that's gone wrong between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Farah (ph) is only 3 weeks old and desperately needs to get out of Gaza for an operation in Israel. The paperwork has been sent to Israel, but as yet, there's no response.

(on camera): If this girl does not have the operation, what happens?

DR. ANWAR KHALIL, NASSER PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL: Yes, this one, of course, she will go -- more complications. Heart failure, and she will definitely die after that.

WEDEMAN (voice over): A third of the incubators in the Nassau Pediatric Hospital are out of order due to lack of spare parts. Medicine in short supply. The wards frequently go dark when the power is cut. The lives of newborn babies held in the cold grip of power politics.

Israel and the United States spearheaded an international embargo on Gaza after Hamas, which they consider a terrorist group, won parliamentary elections in January 2006. The embargo was tightened last June, when Hamas drove its factional rival, Fatah, from Gaza. Since then, Israel has reduced fuel and electricity supplies, severely restricted imports.

The embargo, or siege, as Palestinians call it, has had a devastating effect. The economy is close to collapse. Four out of five Gazans depend on food aid.

Hamas, however, is not losing its grip. It's built up its own army, allowing militants to use Gaza as a launching pad for rocket attacks against Israel, which for its part has carried out dozens of air strikes and ground operations in Gaza against its foes. Yet, the rockets keep coming.

Tuesday, Gazans protested against the embargo and the Bush visit. The marchers carrying mock coffins with the names of more than 60 people they say have died because they couldn't get out of Gaza for medical treatment.

(on camera): Isolated and impoverished, Gaza is clearly not on President Bush's itinerary, but Gaza is very much at the heart of the problem here.

(voice over): Here, they say, as Gaza goes, so goes the rest of Palestine. IYAD SARRAJ, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Without Gaza, you cannot have Palestine. That's number one. Without Gaza, you cannot have peace.

WEDEMAN: Veteran human rights activist Iyad Sarraj warns the embargo isn't working.

SARRAJ: You have to be careful when you talk about desperate people. You don't -- you don't isolate people. You don't isolate them and put them in a cage and then demand of them peace and tranquillity.

WEDEMAN: Ignore Gaza at your own peril.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Gaza.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Live to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, right now. Onslow County Sheriff's Department taking questions about Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach, that missing pregnant Marine. Apparently, she was supposed to testify about something that she witnessed on base at Camp Lejeune. She's now missing.

Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm straddling the fence.

QUESTION: Are you hopeful that she's alive somewhere?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, anybody would be a fool not to hope somebody's alive and missing. Most likely, these officers who are working around the clock. You pray that she's alive. Don't just hope. You pray that she's alive.

QUESTION: Where are you searching for her, or are you searching for her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're searching for her all over the United States and out of the United States. And you all are helping us do it, and I appreciate it.

QUESTION: Sheriff, you said yesterday...

QUESTION: Sheriff, can you confirm (INAUDIBLE) different than what's on the incident report. D-U-R-H-A-M, is that right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what I've been told.

QUESTION: OK. Thank you.

QUESTION: Do you know where in California (OFF-MIKE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the San Diego -- where is it, San Diego? It's one of the military training bases out there, 29 Palms or something like that. Yes.

QUESTION: The state of California?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct.

QUESTION: Sheriff...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope he's in the air on the way back here right now.

QUESTION: ... yesterday you said that the new evidence, things that you found in the last couple of days, had you concerned about the direction the case was taking. Based on what you learned in the last 24 hours or so, do you still feel that way, or has that changed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really, I have -- the needle may be pegging more to the positive rather than the negative over the last 24 hours.

QUESTION: What has led you to believe that in the past 24 hours?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't give you that information.

QUESTION: Has there been some type of communication possibly between her and some friends?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cannot expound on that. I'm just telling you right now, I may be leaning on my right foot on the fence.

QUESTION: If Maria's listening, what would you want her to know if she's scared?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Maria is missing and gets this, I want her to know that sometimes people do things. If they could turn the clock back, they wouldn't do them the way they've done them.

Regardless of the issues -- if she's listening to this, regardless of the circumstances, this has got to stop. She needs the assistance of loved ones and friends in her circumstances, both if she was not pregnant or pregnant.

People need people. And you can't run from, you know, those things of life that you have to stand up and face forever.

QUESTION: Do you think...

QUESTION: Sheriff, what kind of contact have you had with the family?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I, myself, have had none. The family have come here, from what I understand, and have talked with the officers. But the mother herself, I haven't had any contact.

QUESTION: Sheriff, you said if she heard this, that this needs to stop, she needs to bring this to an end. Does that mean she is by herself?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, you asked me a question and I answered you. And I'm just telling you, you got my answer. If she's hearing this, she got my answer and you got my answer.

QUESTION: Do you think she's possibly traumatized?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on. I'm not thinking about nothing.

I'm telling you about what we know, and I'm not speculating about what I think. Thought a lot of times is like opinions, everybody's got them. We don't deal with opinions, we deal with facts and what we can prove, and stick with that.

QUESTION: Sheriff, were you suggesting that you're no longer following leads or details of an alleged sexual assault in relation to her disappearance?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, I'm not suggesting we're discontinuing anything. We're continuing full speed ahead, 100 miles per hour, to determine what the location is of this missing person, Maria Frances Lauterbach.

QUESTION: So you're saying that the sexual assault was a military...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a military issue. We're looking for her, if she had been or had not been. We're looking for her, and that is the other side of it. We have not backed off of our investigation and should not be read into what anything I've said.

QUESTION: Sheriff, you met with the base yesterday. What kind of role are they playing to move this investigation forward? I know you're doing your part.

QUESTION: Well, it may let you know the role that the base is playing. We met with them yesterday. Today, I believe we got a young Marine probably back in the air, on the way back to Jacksonville -- or Camp Lejeune.

It is as important to the base that this thing gets resolved. Either way. You know, imagine you send a Marine out to get trained and it takes a major event to disrupt that training process. So they've disrupted that training process in getting him back here so we can talk to him as a close and friendly associate of this girl.

QUESTION: Sheriff, could you clarify one thing? I know her mother reported her missing -- her mother reported her missing on December 19th. And then earlier this week we started getting pictures and news releases. There are some people that have asked why we didn't see a more aggressive information campaign until this week if she disappeared on December 19th.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there is media here that has had experience with close relationships with the sheriff's office. If we went to you with every time somebody is reported missing and an hour and a half later we go back and tell you they had come home, they were out with your boyfriend, you're going to have a media that the people, viewing audience, is not going to be very concerned when they see you up there with a missing person.

We have been investigating this full speed ahead, full bore, since the 19th. We reached the point, we reached the point that this begins to not look as just a missing person who over the Christmas holidays went home with her boyfriend, but could be something else involved. And we have asked you to come help us, and you have. And I believe it's going to pay off.

QUESTION: Sheriff...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

QUESTION: Thanks. Has your office interviewed the Marine accused of assaulting Maria as a person of interest in this case?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That Marine...

PHILLIPS: All right. You've been listening to a live news conference there via our affiliate, WRAL, from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, a spokesperson there from the Onslow County Sheriff's Department.

We're talking about Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach. She is a pregnant Marine. She has been missing apparently from the base.

We're learning about this missing case and that she was expected to testify about something that she witnessed there on base at Camp Lejeune. Some of the reporters tossing out questions about a sexual assault case.

We've not been able to confirm that or not, but that could be the case that she was involved with and expected to testify. She has gone missing.

She's 20 years old. And sheriff's deputies are now on an all-out search for her and any information that may lead to her whereabouts.

We are following this case. We'll bring you all the details as we get them.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Several passengers are hurt, some hospitalized after an extremely rocky flight on Air Canada. The plane was flying from Victoria, British Columbia, to Toronto, but had to make an emergency landing in Calgary.

And that's where we find our reporter Bruce McAllister of Global TV.

A rocky flight, I guess that's an understatement? BRUCE MCALLISTER, REPORTER, GLOBAL TV: Well, put, Don. That's exactly what it was. It was a harrowing experience for those 85 people on board that Air Canada Airbus 319.

It was just before 10:00 Eastern Time when the call came in. The flight needed to make an emergency landing here in Calgary.

Something had gone horribly wrong on the flight. The plane shifted violently from one side to the other. And as I say, it had to make a stop here.

There were several ambulances waiting on the tarmac when the plane arrived. And many people taken to hospital.

Here is some of what was said shortly after the plane touched down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first, it just felt like turbulence. And then it felt a lot -- obviously we realized suddenly it was a lot more than that.

I fly a ton, and so you realize quickly that it was more than that and the plane probably was at about a 60-degree angle that way. Shoes, jackets, people screaming bloody hell, bloody murder, you know, on the plane.

And the service cart like hit the roof and oxygen masks dropped out. And it kind of felt like you've been rear-ended in a car accident, or like a mini earthquake, that's kind of what it felt like to your body or your physical self -- yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCALLISTER: It was a nightmare, as you get a great sense of from listening to those people on board.

One of the other passengers, Don, telling us that the shift happened so suddenly and so violently, the armrests on the plane in some cases were actually bent from people falling into them. So, it was a very violent shift.

Initially, the medical staff here had 10 people taken off the plane, six on stretchers who were said to be stable, but life- threatening. I believe their conditions have since been upgraded.

But nonetheless, some very serious injuries -- spine, neck, and back -- although we're still waiting official word. But safe to say, Don, it was a harrowing experience for those people aboard that Air Canada flight today.

LEMON: I bet it was, Bruce. And I heard the person there that you interviewed mention seat belts in all of this, and he said the people who weren't wearing their seat belts went flying. Did you hear any of the other passengers talking about that?

MCALLISTER: Just having trouble hearing the last part of your question, Don. But I think...

LEMON: Did you hear any of the other passengers talking about not wearing a seat belt and what have you?

MCALLISTER: Right. Not officially, but speculating, again. And just guessing.

As you know, quite common, I'm sure, guessing what happened. People were probably up and about. Maybe those using restrooms. And off and on flights here, and I'm assuming the same in the United States, that seat belt sign is off for a certain periods when everything is going smoothly. One can only guess that that was the situation at the time.

But certainly, those people that fell and went from one side of the plane to the other were not wearing seat belts. And you would gather obviously, are wishing they would at this point, but that is the unofficial confirmation that we can give you.

LEMON: All right, Bruce McAllister from Global TV. Thanks for checking that story out for us and bringing those sound bites from the folks who were on the plane. We appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: Well, a horrifying flight over Canada today, as you just saw, an Air Canada jet that encountered heavy turbulence as you heard from that reporter leaving a number of passengers injured. At least half a dozen were taken to hospitals after that Airbus A-319 made an emergency landing in Calgary.

Let's talk more about turbulence and what that means and could it happen to us? Commercial pilot Len Anderson, also former -- well, I guess once a marine, always a marine.

LEN ANDERSON, COMMERCIAL PILOT: That's right.

PHILLIPS: But former marine pilot.

ANDERSON: Yes, thanks.

PHILLIPS: No, great to have you with us and it worked out perfectly because you're actually flying through Atlanta today and the weather is affecting your flight.

ANDERSON: Sure.

PHILLIPS: We were talking about this story, and basically, give us a 101 about turbulence. I think a lot of people are wondering or thinking to themselves, well gosh, how does it even get that bad? You know, what exactly causes turbulence like that?

ANDERSON: Right, and it's quite simply bumps in the road. In this case, the road being the air, a lot of air currents up there, and they're especially stronger this time of year, during the winter months where the jet stream is coming down from the north. There's quite a big gradient of winds and that's really it. It's just currents in the sky and sometimes you cross through those and it gets a little bumpy.

PHILLIPS: So, what does a pilot do to try to prevent what we saw happen here? I mean, is there a way to completely prevent a situation like that, or is it possible that you do all your checks and balances and all of a sudden, you hit an area and you just don't expect it to be that bad?

ANDERSON: That's right, Kyra. We do pre-flight planning, we can see some of the suspicious areas of turbulence and, of course, we'll plan for that. And airborne, sometimes it's what we call clear-air turbulence and ...

PHILLIPS: And you can't see that, right?

ANDERSON: You can't see it, hence the clear air. So, you may get other reports from other aircraft or maybe from the air traffic controllers as to what to avoid. And typically, you can either maybe climb or descend a couple thousand feet and you're fine. So, sometimes this'll sneak up on you.

PHILLIPS: Well, and today people are saying, gosh, could turbulence like that ever bring a plane down?

ANDERSON: Like completely bring a plane down?

PHILLIPS: Like completely bring a plane down.

ANDERSON: Oh, very rare, obviously, Kyra. The airplane engineers and their design nowadays, obviously, they're very, you know, adept at maintaining more than just the 1G flight.

PHILLIPS: So, you noticed as we were listening to that report ...

ANDERSON: Right.

PHILLIPS: ...I noticed, too, one thing you said, they weren't wearing seat belts.

ANDERSON: Yes, and that's the big thing. You know, you'll hear a lot of the announcements from the pilots saying hey, if you're not in your seat, please just you know, refasten your seat belt as you're sitting there because we may encounter unexpected turbulence. So, it's obviously a very important factor. Just a simple thing such as a seat belt can prevent a lot of airborne injuries.

PHILLIPS: So, if it turns out that all of those passengers that were injured were not wearing seat belts, is it possible with that kind of turbulence and how violent it was, if they had their seat belt on, could that have prevented, for example, we're hearing even spinal injuries.

ANDERSON: Yes, that's tough. And of course, some of the turbulence could be that straight drop down where you might -- that might affect spinal injuries. But, of course, a seat belt is going to keep you secured to the seat. You might not get that sort of, you know, rise and then fall onto the seat there. So, it definitely prevents injuries.

PHILLIPS: So, and I guess we put together a map that actually ...

ANDERSON: OK.

PHILLIPS: ...shows the -- the turbulent areas.

ANDERSON: Right.

PHILLIPS: If I'm looking at my notes right, it's -- oh, we're having problems with that map, OK.

ANDERSON: OK.

PHILLIPS: It actually shows the turbulence. I guess it shows up on the radar. It's like when you're flying ...

ANDERSON: Right.

PHILLIPS: ...you've got obviously a number of radars, right?

ANDERSON: We do have radar, but most weather radars can't particularly pick out that clear-air turbulence. You need some -- you know, usually we get that forecast from the ground where we typically see the jet stream. Now, here's a very good schematic. And this is something that we take a look at before we go flying. And you can see up in the upper northwest there, where this particular case was, there's some forecast of turbulence there today. Now of course, we would avoid ...

PHILLIPS: Now, which is the turbulence, is it the orange areas?

ANDERSON: Now, you can see -- yes, the orange areas are the more highlighted areas of severe turbulence there being that red line in particular is a good example of where you'd avoid as a pilot you would fly. There's nobody that would want to or specifically or purposely fly through anything like that. It obviously caught these pilots off- guard.

PHILLIPS: Well, I know when I've flown with you, we haven't had to worry about turbulence.

ANDERSON: That's right, you know.

PHILLIPS: It's always smooth sailing.

ANDERSON: That's right.

PHILLIPS: Len Anderson, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

ANDERSON: Thanks, Kyra. PHILLIPS: All right.

LEMON: Fun and games at the Houston Zoo, a little second- guessing in the wake of a tiger attack out in San Francisco.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's long been an area of instability, an oasis of calm in Africa, but today Kenya is neither but another veteran diplomat is joining efforts to stop the violence sparked by a disputed presidential election. Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has agreed to get involved.

CNN's Zain Verjee has been in the thick of things today. She's in Mombasa. Zain, what can you tell us about what's happening about the talks between two sides and how they failed?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically, it was hoped that the two sides would get together under the auspices of the president or the chairman of the African Union, John Kufuor. They got together but they couldn't come to any agreement. John Kufuor only met individually with each side, and finally, the talks appear to have collapsed, and they failed. They never had that three-ways.

So, it appears that Kofi Annan is now going to mediate. And it's a big blow to Kenyans and a big blow to the U.S. -- Kyra?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: This is Mombasa Port, it's actually the biggest port in East Africa. The problem here is that after the violence with the election results and the disputes, many of the ships have been coming in and unloading their cargo, but the thing is they haven't been able to take it out of the port. They've just left it here.

So, you have stacks and stacks of containers here. They're above capacity. You've got 19,000 containers just sitting here, and there are even more ships waiting to unload out at sea. It has really been a problem for the entire region, because what's happened is that its disrupted shipments to places like Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, southern Sudan that really depend on this port for their goods as well as for their exports.

We talked to a few officials here and what they're telling us that it's going to take about six weeks or so if there's no violence to clear out the containers in this port. The transporters are coming in, but it's going to take a while.

But in the meantime, Kenya and the region is hurting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: I apologize for that. We had a little miscommunication. We were talking about -- or you were talking about, rather, how the talks between the two sides have failed, which, of course, leads into what we're seeing here and you were pointing out the export situation has been affected and that's a big part of Kenya's economic survival, as well as other countries' as well, right, Zain?

VERJEE: Yes, exactly. It's really key, and that's one of the major problems that's arisen here. The other really important thing is why is it that Kenya is so important to the United States? Why is it so important that it's stable? The number one reason, Kyra, is because Kenya is a really key partner for the U.S. in fighting the war on terror.

Kenya shares all sorts of intelligence information on al Qaeda. Kenya also allows the U.S. to use its airspace, and the United States really relies on Kenya to patrol that dangerous and porous border between Kenya and Somalia.

The other key reason is that Kenya is a logistical corridor for billions of dollars in aid. The United States, for example, sends a lot of aid into southern Sudan and it really relies on Kenya to be able to do it -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: This is obviously your home country. You grew up here. And back in '82 you lived through the coup. And you talked about the violence, particularly in Mombasa. Has that subsided since you've been there in the past week or so?

VERJEE: Yes, it has. I mean, the violence and the looting really has stopped. We heard one interesting story today, Kyra, where a bunch of looters returned a lot of the things that they had stolen to one man. Simply because that man said, if you don't return it within six days, I'm going to cast a spell.

So, all the stuff that was taken was returned. And the police are scratching their heads going, wow, if only everybody could do that, we wouldn't have to chase these things down.

PHILLIPS: So superstition plays a big part in this?

VERJEE: Yes, it seems so.

PHILLIPS: All right, Zain Verjee. Appreciate it. We'll be talking to again tomorrow. Thanks, Zain.

LEMON: All right, we want to get over to the weather center, because it's a very trying time for folks in the south. Two states being bombarded by tornadoes. Mississippi and Louisiana, Chad. What do we have?

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Held hostage no more, six years of captivity in the jungles of Colombia is over for two women. We're going to tell you about their release.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, checking the headlines on our political ticker right now, first he won Iowa and now he's looking for a running mate. Republican Mike Huckabee showed up on "The Colbert Report" last night to plug his candidacy and have a little fun. Before he left, he almost had a partner to form a very unconventional Republican ticket with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now Stephen, please, be my running mate.

STEPHEN COLBERT, THE COLBERT REPORT: Yes. Yes, 1,000 times yes. I've got my hooks in you, mister. I will city you at the altar.

HUCKABEE: We're not taking it that far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Stephen Colbert volunteered his foreign policy credentials, which he said included trips to various Caribbean resorts.

LEMON: And New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg has launched a research effort to gauge his chances in a third party presidential bid. Money wouldn't be a problem for the Democrat turned Republican who is now registered as an Independent. Bloomberg is a billionaire. A source tells CNN Bloomberg has set a March deadline to make a final decision on that.

PHILLIPS: And Democrat Barack Obama showing some frustration with recent comments by former President Clinton. On the eve of New Hampshire primary, Clinton said Obama's stands on -- or his stands on the war in Iraq were identical to those of his wife, Obama's presidential rival.

Later on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING Obama said that he called the war a bad idea from the start, and the former president, was, quote, "taking some liberties with his statements about Iraq."

LEMON: Held hostage no more. Six years of captivity in the jungle of Colombia is over for two women. We'll tell you about their release.

PHILLIPS: Stool pigeon, blue bird, hero, find out how (INAUDIBLE) macaw stopped a criminal dead right in his tracks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures right now of Westfield, New Jersey. As you know, the hunt for the New Jersey inmates who staged a "Shawshank Redemption" style jailbreak is over. U.S. marshals and Mexican authorities caught 32-year-old Otis Blunt in Mexico City last night.

This is the video of him arriving about an hour and a half ago at JFK airport. In about ten minutes, he's going to be headed back to where we had that live picture at Union County police headquarters in Westfield, New Jersey. We've been following him from Mexico all the way back here. We'll give you an update on what is up next for him.

LEMON: And we turn now to some much lighter news, but serious stuff happening in Hollywood. A story about a Hollywood drug overdose normally brings to mind overindulgent celebrities. But this one involves Dennis Quaid's family, it is certainly not a typical one. And "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's" A.J. Hammer is here and he's going to give us the latest on this case.

A.J., this story about Quaid's young twins, right. It is very disturbing.

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. And as you said, Don, not typical at all. The report released by the California Department of Public Health said that Cedars-Sinai Medical Center followed what they're calling, "deficient practices," when they almost administered a fatal overdose to Dennis Quaid's twins.

Now, you may remember the story broke last November, just after Dennis Quaid and his wife Kimberly had twins through a surrogate mother. When they were just 10-days-old, the newborns were being treated for an infection at Cedars-Sinai when they were accidentally given an overdose of a blood thinner called Heparin. Well, a normal dose for a baby is 10 units per milliliter, the Quaid twins were given two doses of 10,000 units per milliliter. That's 2,000 times the recommended dose.

This investigation found that the staff at the hospital was not adequately informed about the use of Heparin and the labels on the drug were not properly checked. The Quaids do have a lawsuit in the works against the makers of the drug for being negligent with their labeling. And they also blame the hospital for not being candid about exactly what happened.

And one last thing, Don, there was actually a third child who overdosed at the same time. The silver lining to this story, however, all three children have recovered.

LEMON: Yes, at least that's good news.

Let's turn now. Is there anything new about the writers' strike?

HAMMER: There's something new every day. Minor, major, I got always got something for you. A couple of writer's strike items that did catch our eye today. Now we told you yesterday about how the People's Choice Awards went on despite the strike. Well, the show was not a hit. The ratings came out yesterday, they were down almost 50 percent from last year. The awards were certainly hurt by the lack of writers.

But, it was really the refusal of the actors to cross the picket line that truly hurt them. People just don't want to see an awards show without all the stars and all the glamour that comes with them.

Another group that is starting to feel the pinch of the strike, Hollywood agents, a major agency announced that there will be a salary reduction of 20 percent across the board and that several agents had been suspended. They'll be receiving strike pay instead of the normal salary. Some smaller agencies have already laid off assistants and low-level agents.

But there was good news for a group of striking writers. CBS News has reached a tentative agreement with the Writers' Guild that will give 500 news writers a new contract with CBS News.

Now, this agreement does not specifically have anything to do with the larger entertainment strike. But it's at least a hopeful sign that negotiations can succeed with the WGA. It is fair to point out that the news writers have been negotiating with CBS News now for almost three years. Certainly, we all hope that the Hollywood side can come to an agreement much sooner than that.

Now, coming up tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT", where in the world is Britney Spears? Has Britney really fled to Mexico? And if so, why? Plus, are her parents trying to have her committed? We've got the big, breaking Britney news on TV's most provocative entertainment news show. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" is on at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on "HEADLINE NEWS." We look forward to you joining us at that time.

LEMON: You know, it's just amazing, A.J. Because, you want to feel sorry for her and for her to get her act together. But it seems like she's feeling and it the media's feeling it. So, where does it end? Who knows?

HAMMER: I don't know. I said the other night on the show, I'm starting to get to the point where I'm not going to call any developments amazing anymore. Certainly not surprising.

LEMON: She enjoyed that, didn't she?

All right, all right, thank you very much for that, A.J.

PHILLIPS: All right. Fun and games at the Houston Zoo. A little second-guessing in the wake of the tiger attack out in San Francisco.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. We want to get you now to Union County, police headquarters in Westfield, New Jersey. This is the man that we've been talking about. Just a short while ago, Otis Blunt believed to be in the back of one of these police vans. He arrived at JFK Airport just a short time ago. Of course the story behind this, he, along with another man, escaped from a New Jersey jail by digging their way out and putting up girly posters to hide the hole in the wall.

Here's the information on that. He is the second of two men who pulled off that daring escape in that county jail in New Jersey. He was taken into custody on yesterday. Otis Blunt is 32-years-old. He was arrested in Mexico City by marshals there. They notified the Union County, New Jersey prosecutor, that they had taken him into custody. He escaped from the Union County jail, that was back on December 15th, along with another inmate. Was sent back to the United States as soon as possible.

We're, again, following these pictures for you. As soon as he steps out of that van, you won't miss any of that. You'll see him right there. They traced Blunt to Mexico, the investigators in this case. He was hiding in, get this, a $10-a-night hotel and U.S. marshals in New York and New Jersey and the regional task force there spotted him when he looked out of a window. And then the Mexican immigration authorities converged on that hotel room and then they got him out of there.

There was also an interesting turn in this with the Reverend Al Sharpton who went to Mexico and our Jason Carroll went along with him to try to negotiate some sort of surrender with Otis Blunt. That was unsuccessful in all of this. And then later, somehow, the authorities, with the information I gave you before, spotting him there, were able to get him to -- were able to arrest him and bring him back to the United States.

But, again, this is the Union County jail, and he is being brought back here now. So, we're just sort of looking and waiting to see exactly what's going to happen with this. Again, as you can see, they are talking with the media there. Probably giving them some instructions about staying back. Obviously, everyone armed in this to make sure that there are no other incidents when it comes to all of this.

But, again, this is the Union County jail. It's in Westfield, New Jersey -- Union County police headquarters, I should say in Westfield, New Jersey. They are opening up the van door now. And Otis Blunt, 32 years old, should step out, there he is, at any moment. Let's just sort of listen here a little bit. Reporters may throw out some questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold the line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold it, hold it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything you want to say?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anything you want to say, Mr. Blunt?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your mom says you're not guilty. Are you ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you hope to get out of this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you want to say to your family? Your wife, your mom?

OTIS BLUNT, JAIL ESCAPEE: I love them. I wasn't trying to get away. I could have gotten away if I wanted to.

LEMON: So, you heard him. Reporters asking questions -- what do you want to say to your family? He responded, I love them. Also asking about him trying to get away. Why didn't he -- why did he try to get away, talking about in Mexico. And he said there was no trying to get away. If he wanted to get away, he could.

But 32-year-old Otis Blunt, back from Mexico, into the United States, to face those charges and to face authorities, to talk about exactly why he escaped that jail along with another person. Again, this case very interesting, and shortly, possibly, coming to close to find out exactly what happened in all this -- 32-year-old Otis Blunt, back in custody in New Jersey.

PHILLIPS: Also, we expect to be taking you live to Santa Fe, New Mexico, coming up just shortly. We're getting word that Governor Bill Richardson should be stepping up to the mics, making a big announcement. We are assuming that he is going to be pulling out of the presidential race. But then again, after hearing Duncan Hunter's news conference the other day, never assume. So, we'll see what he has to say, coming up via our affiliate, KOAT, out of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Appreciate these live pictures.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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