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Missing Woman Murder Charge; Nationwide Search for Suspected Killer in Marine's Murder; Beirut Explosion

Aired January 15, 2008 - 11:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You're with CNN, everybody. Hi there.
I'm Heidi Collins.

Want to get you the very latest right here in the CNN NEWSROOM on Tuesday the 15th of January. Here's what's on the rundown.

Breaking developments. An explosion in Beirut rips apart a car owned by the American Embassy. There are casualties.

Michigan voters at the polls right now. It looks like a tight race between John McCain and native son Mitt Romney.

And federal experts ready to talk about why a Minneapolis bridge collapsed last summer. Design flaw -- in the NEWSROOM.

Late breaking developments this hour in a missing woman's case that is now a murder investigation. An arrest has been made in the disappearance of Stepha Henry.

CNN's Susan Candiotti has the new information now live from Miami.

Good morning to you, Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

And you know, the man who has been arrested was a man that police were very careful about never calling a suspect, but now it turns out they do believe that he is responsible for the death of Stepha Henry, a 23-year-old young woman who was visiting south Florida from New York back over the Memorial Day weekend in May.

She went missing after she went to a nightclub with an acquaintance of hers who picked her up at a relative's home and drove her to this nightclub. Police say that she was left behind there. That's the story that the suspect gave, that he left her behind and he didn't know what happened to her.

He is the one who is now charge with second degree murder. His name is Kendrick Williams. He was arrested by authorities in Brooklyn, New York. That is where he is now being questioned.

Stepha Henry, only 23-year-old when she went missing. Police looked for her the longest time for her, couldn't find her. This man had given a story at the time that he left her behind at the nightclub, he had driven her in his car. He said it was someone else's car and he didn't know what happened to it.

Well, police say now that that was a lie. They say that it was his car the whole time, that he sold it to someone who had no idea what was going on. They found the car in September, impounded it, and say in that vehicle they found substantial evidence that Stepha Henry was in that car, information that leads them to believe that she was murdered.

So we will find out more as the day goes on about more of the circumstances leading to the arrest of this young man. But again, we don't know where the body of Stepha Henry is -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Susan Candiotti live for us from Miami.

Susan, thank you.

New this morning, a positive identification and cause of death revealed in the case of the murdered Marine.

We want to go live now to CNN's Ed Lavandera. He's in Jacksonville, North Carolina, with the latest.

Good morning, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

Well, in the words of the autopsy report, it was blunt force trauma to the head that killed Maria Lauterbach. And investigators here say that that took place inside the home of Cesar Laurean, who continued to look for -- authorities here are continuing to look for Cesar Laurean. They say that they are receiving leads into his whereabouts, but they do not want to get specific as to where those leads are coming from or where those leads -- in which direction those leads are pointing them in.

And, of course, if you've been following this case closely, there's been a great deal of attention focused on just what kind of information the civilian authorities here in Jacksonville, North Carolina, were given from Marine investigators. The Marines say they are in the process of reviewing what information they had and when they had it, and when that was passed along to the civilian authorities in relation to the case that Maria Lauterbach had against Cesar Laurean, a sexual assault case. But the sheriff says that even if they had got that information early on, it would not have made any difference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF ED BROWN, ONSLOW COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: The best evidence in this case suggests that Maria Lauterbach was already dead before she was reported missing on December the 19th. After December the 19th, 2007, the only thing that any investigation could have accomplished was to bring to light sooner what had already occurred. I thank God, and I am perfectly comfortable with the knowledge that nothing my office could have done would have prevented the death of Maria Lauterbach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And of course, now the main part of this investigation continues to be the search for Cesar Laurean. It has been five days since he left the Jacksonville, North Carolina, area. The sheriff's deputies here and the investigators are not ruling out that maybe somewhere along the way he's getting some sort of help.

Remember they did find the ATM card belonging to Maria Lauterbach. They found it several days ago in Durham, North Carolina. And they were also investigating some sightings and some reports that his truck had also been seen in that area as well, but they don't have any new information to update that truck -- those truck sightings.

So, they are saying that they're getting a lot more calls. They've reached out to "America's Most Wanted" television show. They've been generating tips through that as well. So, it is a nationwide search.

As we've been reporting, the FBI has a $25,000 reward. There's some private citizens who have been coming forward, wanting to increase that amount as well. And they've got Cesar Laurean's picture splattered on highways across to country. So, they say that they feel confident they will catch him soon -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Ed Lavandera following the story for us out of Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Ed, thank you for that.

And now back to a breaking story that we are following out of Lebanon. A bomb blast rips through a U.S. Embassy vehicle near Beirut, killing four people.

We want to go straight to CNN's Anthony Mills. He is on the telephone for us out of Beirut.

Good morning once again, Anthony.

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Let me give you the latest.

I've just been speaking with a Lebanese government minister who told me that he had lunch today at a farewell party hosted by the Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, a farewell lunch party with the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman.

Now, the government minister couldn't confirm to me that the U.S. Embassy vehicle that appears to have been hit in this blast was part of a convoy accompanying the U.S. ambassador. He told me that he has spoken to him following the blast and that the U.S. ambassador is OK. But that, as far as the actual blast is concerned. The government minister also told me that the four people who were killed in the blast were Lebanese citizens. Lebanese maidia has been describing them as bystanders, civilian bystanders. So we understand that no foreign victims were among those killed in this blast -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Anthony Mills watching the situation for us as we continue bringing in live pictures that we are looking at right now from this situation where at least four people have been killed in a car blast there just north of Beirut.

Anthony, thank you for that. We're going to stay on top of that story as well.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Cashing on economic concerns, the presidential candidates are making big promises. So we're going to crunch the numbers and give you the Democrats' bottom line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Democrats focusing on Las Vegas tonight and statewide caucuses on Saturday. High stakes at play for all of them.

CNN's Jessica Yellin joining us with a closer look now from Vegas.

So, Jessica, how are the Democrats targeting Nevada voters?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.

Well, they are campaigning aggressively here and have been for several days now. The stakes couldn't be higher and the tension is getting more tough here in Vegas, with a number of issues at play.

First of all, there are two unions battling against each other over where people can caucus on Saturday. A teachers' union in the state is suing to ban any caucusing at casinos. Well, it's believed that many of the workers who would go and cast -- have their voices heard at those casinos would actually be Obama supporters, and there are accusations that this teachers' union is trying to essentially disenfranchise these Obama supporters. That's just one of the struggles going on.

At the same time, Senator Clinton is out with a new add. It seems to be playing on her message out of New Hampshire that she found her voice there. Her ad is called "Voice," and she talks about when she's president, she'll give Americans their own voice in the White House.

At the same time, Senator Obama is facing some new scrutiny of his experience and ability to run a bureaucracy. One of the newspapers here in the state is running an article about some comments he said yesterday when he said, you know, I'm not great at managing paper or managing a system, I'm good at inspiration. This newspaper interpreted that to mean he's admitting he wouldn't be great running a bureaucracy or doesn't know that he would be, something I'm sure the Obama camp would rather he rephrase, or at least they reinterpret the way that newspaper made sense of that.

But you know, behind the backdrop of all of this remains this big question of race, the debate over race. Yesterday, both Barack Obama and Senator Clinton's campaigns, they asked for a truce on this issue, saying it's time to move on and focus on the pocketbook and real world issues that matter to most voters.

Still, some of their surrogates are going at each other. It doesn't seem to be an issue that's going to die just yet. And tonight, yet another debate, this one focusing on minority issues.

So no doubt we will hear much of this talk discussed this evening. And also, I should note a lot of discussion tonight expect on Latino voters. This is the state in which Latinos will weigh in for the first time in this primary season, and it's expected as Nevada goes, so will go the Latino vote in the other primaries to come -- Heidi.

COLLINS: But the bigger question, Jessica, where is that Latino vote going? Who is going to get those votes?

YELLIN: Well, we don't know yet. I mean, there's -- many of the culinary workers are with Obama, and it's believed that that will help him get some of that Latino vote. But there's an enormous popularity in the Latino community for the Clintons. And so she has that strength historically. And they're really vying for it as we speak.

COLLINS: Yes, no question about that. All right.

CNN's Jessica Yellin coming to us from Las Vegas.

Thank you, Jessica.

And voters at the polls today in Michigan. The economy, center stage.

Here now, CNN's Mary Snow, part of the best political team on television.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The sleek new models showcasing in Detroit are the talk of the town, but it's the struggles of American carmakers that are the talk on the campaign trail. It's one of the reasons Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country. With widespread fears of a recession, Michigan has forced the economy into the forefront and the candidates to offer solutions.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Clearly, we need to make the tax cuts permanent. We need to do some things right away.

SNOW: Republican presidential hopeful Senator John McCain wants to make President Bush's middle class tax cuts permanent. As for Michigan, McCain says old jobs are gone. The answer now is to retrain workers and invest in new technology. He also thinks cutting government spending will help.

Mitt Romney has a different approach.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, the pessimists are wrong. The auto industry and all its jobs do not have to be lost.

SNOW: Romney wants a fivefold increase in spending on research into new technology and energy sources, and a tax cut for anyone making less than $200,000.

Mike Huckabee says for immediate help, gas prices need to come down.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We also need to be looking at our oil reserves to try to do everything we can to old hold the price of fuel down.

SNOW: Huckabee says breaking America's dependence on foreign oil is key to boosting the economy. In the long run, he wants the so- called fair tax that would replace income taxes with the national sales tax. While one economist applauds some of the pledges on the campaign trail, he says the time for action is now.

PROF. JOEL SLEMROD, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: These policies should be happening in 2008 and early in 2008. By 2009, the cycle might be reversed, and it will be certainly too little and probably too late.

SNOW (on camera): Michigan's plight poses a challenge to Republicans who often look to the free market to work out economic issues. But in this case, say some observers, that options won't wash.

Mary Snow, CNN, Detroit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: For more on the presidential candidates and their next stops, go to cnnpolitics.com. It's your one-stop shop for all things political.

French fry meltdown. An unfilled order pushes one man right through the wall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A new study casts shadow on a popular cholesterol drug. Millions of you take it every day.

Earlier, I talked with CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Vytorin is a cholesterol-lowering drug that actually works in two ways. It's a combination of Zocor and Zetia. The reason that was so important is that Zocor actually is a statin drug that sort of keeps the liver from producing a lot of cholesterol, and Zetia actually reduces some of the absorption of cholesterol from your gut, from the foods you eat.

What this study showed was interesting. While it reduced bad cholesterol levels by a significant amount, it did not seem to stop plaques from growing, those artery-clogging plaques.

They tested that as well, and what the study found was those plaques kept growing, still, even on this medication, even more so than with just with a statin medication alone. That's what we're talking about here, Heidi.

Let me just point out a couple of things. This was a two-year study. There were 720 patients.

All these patients had what is known as familial or hereditary high cholesterol. So very high levels of cholesterol. They had already been treated with a statin medication as well, and there was really no significant difference between Vytorin and the statin medications.

So, a lot of people paying attention to this. They expected Vytorin to have a significant effect on plaques, but it just doesn't seem to be there, at least in this first study -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, then, does that mean that patients should stop taking Vytorin?

GUPTA: No. You know, I think that's not the answer. And again, this is an early study, and the Vytorin did seem to reduce cholesterol levels by a significant amount.

This is something you should talk to your doctor about, possibly switching to another medication if Vytorin isn't quite doing it for you. But you know, Heidi, sort of just taking a step back from this, what people really want to know is, when I take these cholesterol- lowering medications, am I reducing my chance of having a heart attack or a stroke in the future? And the answer to that question is we don't know yet.

This was a small study, it was an early study. There's going to be larger studies necessary to sort of answer that question. Those will be coming down the line.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: To get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library, and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health. It wasn't a Big Mac attack. Instead, a Florida man freaked over his fries. The story from Kristin Smith with affiliate WTLV in Jacksonville, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIN SMITH, REPORTER, WTLV (voice over): This is the result of one really unhappy customer.

KEN JEFFERSON, JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Well, he got angry because his order was incorrect, and he rammed his car into the kiddie play area of this particular establishment.

SMITH: Police say Thursday night, David Scott Spillers (ph) didn't get the two orders of fries he asked for and was so angry, he not only rammed his car into this McDonald's play area, he went on to smash into the side of the restaurant where customers normally sit.

JEFFERSON: It's a lot of damage, but what's worse is that people could have been killed as a result of this guy's poor decision because of an order that wasn't correct.

SMITH: Police say Spillers (ph) drove on but was tracked down easily.

JEFFERSON: Well, the officer, when -- after he responded to the scene, kind of tracked the glass that was there at the scene all of the way to an adjacent apartment that was not very far away. He tracked it right to the car.

SMITH: McDonald's sent First Coast News this statement: "The safety of our customers and employees at our restaurant is very important to us. Fortunately, no one was injured in this unfortunate isolated incident." It goes on to say, "It would be inappropriate for" them "to comment on what may have prompted the incident."

JEFFERSON: People are human. They're going to make mistakes with orders and what have you. But you know, you've got to manage your anger. And clearly, he didn't in this case.

SMITH: When police confronted Spillers (ph), they say he confessed.

JEFFERSON: At that point very remorseful as to what he had done and said, that he was actually going to go back up to the restaurant to apologize.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A plea for more oil. What President Bush had to say in Saudi Arabia, could it affect what you pay? .

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. 11:30 Eastern Time now. Good morning to you once again. We are following several stories here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And new right now, a positive identification and cause of death revealed in the case of the murdered Marine. Last hour, authorities positively identify the remains found Friday as those of Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach.

She was eight months pregnant when she disappeared. An autopsy shows she died from blunt trauma to the head. Lauterbach's remains were discovered in the back yard of her accused killer, Marine Corporal Cesar Laurean. He's been on the run for five days now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: We are still working very hard to locate and arrest Laurean.

Mr. Laurean, if you're watching, I urge you to surrender yourself to local law enforcement officers.

We have teamed up with the FBI and "America's Most Wanted," and anyone can go on to their Web page for more information on the murder of Maria Lauterbach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Laurean has been charge with first degree murder in the case.

We'll continue to follow that for you. Also, words of praise for Iraq coming from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She's on a quick unannounced visit to Baghdad. Rice met with the prime minister and other Iraqi leaders. She said efforts to reconcile the country's Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds are moving forward quite remarkably.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: This is a new Iraq, a sovereign Iraq, an Iraq that will leave, we hope, after this year behind, it's past with the international community, with the bad times, when the United Nations had to sanction Iraq for the bad behavior of the last regime. And, that we can move forward to now one based on equality, respect and the sovereignty of Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Rice split off from President Bush's Mideast tour for the Iraq visit.

And President Bush says high gas prices hurt American families. Today he calls on the country with the world's biggest oil supply to do something about it. Mr. Bush spending his second day in Saudi Arabia he met with Saudi entrepreneurs, and he appealed to OPEC to put more oil on the world market.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE BUSH, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I talked to the ambassador and will again talk to his majesty tonight about the fact that oil prices are very high, which is tough on our economy, and that I would hope as OPEC considers different reduction levels that they understand that they're one of the biggest consumers, it's economy suffers, it will mean less purchases, less oil and gas sold

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Saudi's oil minister said he would raise output only when the market justified it.

Paying more at the pump, a surge in gas prices could be just around the corner. But don't blame OPEC for that. The Associated Press reports a special commission will recommend a federal gasoline tax hike. As much as 40 cents a gallon over five years.

The idea, ease congestion on highways and repair crumbling bridges and roadways. The commission is the first to recommend broad changes after the devastating bridge collapse in Minnesota last summer.

In fact, behind the collapse now, federal investigators giving an update later today on that bridge accident. Some key details are already out. CNN's Susan Roesgen in Chicago now for us with the very latest. Susan, what are we learning here?

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're finding, Heidi, is as you mentioned The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a news conference later this afternoon, but various sources involved in the investigation say that right now the team is focusing on steel plates called gusset plates that are used to hold the steel beams of a bridge together.

The I-35 bridge right in downtown Minneapolis collapsed in just six seconds last August. And when that bridge collapsed it fell more than ten stories, taking more than 100 cars with it. 13 people were killed. If you remember in that accident, there was a lot of wreckage. It took a long time to recover the vehicles and to recover the victims in that.

In the months since the accident, The National Transportation Safety Board has been looking very carefully at pieces of the wreckage. They have even designed a computer model to study it, to study what sort of structural stresses might have been involved in that collapse.

What they're saying again now is that dozens of those metal plates, the gussets that hold the steel beams to the on that bridge, were apparently weakened. And even worse, Heidi, they're saying that there are hundreds of bridges with those steel gussets in them in Minnesota and thousands across the country.

So the NTSB is now advising states to go and check the gussets in bridges all across the country. And in Minnesota, the governor is promising the money to either do that, to check those bridges and/or to replace them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR TIM PAWLENTY (R), MINNESOTA: This bill contains $225 million worth of local bridge money. This will replace 600 local bridges in the state of Minnesota. Heightened concern about bridge safety and bridges in Minnesota, and this is an appropriate time, I think, to take the money that's available, that we would otherwise be spending on other things, in my view, probably less important or less needed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROESGEN: Again, the investigation is really not over. This is just a sort of in progress update that we're going to get, Heidi, this afternoon. A news conference at 1:30 east coast time, to talk more about what seems to be what they're focusing on right now, those gusset plates that hold the beams together. Heidi?

COLLINS: Susan, you may not know the answer to this yet. Maybe we'll learn more in that news conference. I wonder back when this happened way back in August there was a lot of talk about the time about that construction that was taking place on top of the bridge.

Are they saying -- is there any information at this time about those gusset plates, and whether it was just regular wear and tear as in age of the bridge or if, in fact, it could have been compromised because of that bridge work?

ROESGEN: Well, you are absolutely right. They are talking about the -- these plates possibly being weakened by the bridge work. They say that there was 275 tons of construction material, piles of sand, of concrete, of equipment, in addition to the 18 construction workers who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse.

But others are saying on this team that that would not be a factor, Heidi, because while 275 tons sounds like a lot of extra weight on the bridge, that's actually what you might expect from four or five semi trailers loaded going across the bridge. So they are indeed considering that extra weight, but they say that might not be a factor after all.

COLLINS: All right, we appreciate that, the update. CNN's Susan Roesgen. We'll be watching for that news conference a little latter today. Thank you, Susan.

At this hour on Capitol Hill, baseball and steroids. The House Committee is hearing testimony right now, first to testify was former Senator George Mitchell, he's the author of last month's report that named names. CNN's Brianna Keilar is in our Washington bureau this morning with more on this.

So, Brianna an update now. We checked with you last hour on what had been said so far. What are we at now in these proceedings?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a really interesting development coming out of this. We've learned that Congress is going to ask the Department of Justice to investigate Miguel Tejada. Shortstop for the Houston Astros, former American League MVP.

They want to know if he lied to Congress when Congress interviewed him about the Raphael Palmero steroids case. You may recall that Palmero told this very committee that's having it's hearing today, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, he was so adamant that he did not take steroids, only to later test positive for them.

Well, Tejada was interviewed about that case and Tejada told Congress he didn't know anything about any players taking steroids or even talking about taking steroids. This Mitchell report makes people very much doubt those claims. So we're still awaiting comment from the Department of Justice to see if they really are going to investigate Tejada, Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, obviously, another player that everybody is watching closely and hoping to hear from is Roger Clemens. His name actually came up this morning. What was said about them?

KEILAR: Well, there was a crucial moment in exchange about Clemens' chief accuser in the Mitchell report. This guy's name is Brian McNamee. He's a trainer who says that he injected Clemens with steroids, human growth hormone as well as testosterone.

On several occasions McNamee also said he injected Andy Pettitte with HGH. Now, Pettitte admits using HGH, but Clemens is adamant that he has not used any of these performance enhancing substances. And now about a month after this Mitchell report was released, Mitchell himself was asked what he thinks now and the voracity of McNamee's claims. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Despite the public presentation by Mr. Clemens that the testimony was not accurate, you continue to feel comfortable with Mr. McNamee's credibility?

GEORGE MITCHELL, AUTHOR OF STEROIDS REPORT: We believe that the statements provided to us were truthful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And stay tuned because we're going to be hearing from McNamee himself, as well as another source who says that he provided performance-enhancing substances. That's going to be in a separate hearing on February 13th.

Clemens' lawyer says he will also be testifying at that hearing and also called Pettitte as well as chuck Knoblauch, a former player, is supposed to be at that hearing February 13th, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Brianna Keilar from Washington this morning. Thank you, Brianna. Now to a breaking story that we are following out of Lebanon. The State Department is reviewing security measures now at its Beirut embassy after a bomb blast hit an embassy vehicle. These are some of the pictures of the aftermath there. The State Department says four Lebanese bystanders were killed.

This i-report image now coming in from one of our viewers on the scene. A number of injuries also being reported, including the driver. We will continue to watch that situation for you.

Scientists at the end of the earth, looking to save the planet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's ice, they've come for, to study it changing, thinning here. The frigid cold freezes their faces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A rare look inside a mission to Antarctica.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Consumers aren't spending any money, a major bank is bleeding money and inflation is soaring. Well, it all adds up to a big sell off on Wall Street. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details on this.

Hey there, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.

Well, the trouble in the economy, of course, began with the downturn in the housing market. But the problems didn't end there. Retail sales were weaker than expected in December. Government reports of sales declined slightly. November sales were revised lower as well. Meanwhile, in 2007, in all of the year, wholesale prices rose more than they had in more than 26 years. All of this while Citigroup announced a nearly $10 billion fourth quarter loss. That was worse than expected.

It also reported a more than $18 billion write-down in mortgage related investments. In response, Citi will slash its dividend and sell off another $12.5 billion stake. How is it playing out? Predictably. The Dow Industrials, which had a nice triple digit gain yesterday on news out of IBM, is off today. Not only because of Citi, but the other economic reports as well. Down 223 points, or one and three quarters percent. The NASDAQ is down two percent, as is the broader S&P 500, Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow. The downturn we're seeing on Wall Street is a reflection, isn't it, of what we're seeing on Main Street?

LISOVICZ: No question. That's what Wall Street mirrors. It mirrors what it's hearing both anecdotally as well as these large- scale economic reports and there are many places in the country that are hurting right now. One of the hardest hit is Michigan, where Republicans are holding their primary today. Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country by far, more than seven percent. And today the auto industry, so important to Michigan, is warning of more trouble down the road. One auto exec told "The New York Times" the mood at the annual auto show in Detroit is somber.

One surprising area that has industry analysts concerned, the luxury end. Michigan also has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country, sixth overall in the most recent report from Realty Track. But unlike areas of the country where people over-extended themselves, Michigan's situation is different. People are simply leaving. "The L.A. Times" says the state has lost 30,000 people in the last 18 months. And that is one of the reasons, of course, Heidi, why all the Republicans are talking about the economy today. Back to you.

COLLINS: Yes, no question about it. All right, CNN's Susan Lisovicz.

Thank you, Susan.

LISOVICZ: Your welcome.

COLLINS: Lots happening this morning. Our Betty Nguyen is keeping an eye one things over at our national desk now.

Hi there, Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Heidi.

I'm here at the national desk where you can see our assignment editors are working very hard to bring the latest information and video into the CNN NEWSROOM and to our affiliates all over the country. And you have to take a look at this video. We're going to put it up right now. Watch it very closely. You see the girl behind President Clinton? Watch her for just a second, and you will see something very interesting.

What's going on? She fainted. Yes, a high school student faints while standing behind former President Bill Clinton. He was campaigning for his wife, Hillary, in Henderson, Nevada. The student was helped off stage, actually, by Chelsea Clinton. So what happened? Well, that's what we're still trying to figure out. We'll continue to follow this story.

Lets take you now to Key Biscayne, Florida, where 13 Cubans came ashore by boat this morning. The nine men and four women may be able to legally stay in the country, thanks to the Wet Foot/Dry Foot policy. It lets any Cuban who reaches American soil to remain in the U.S. But those caught at sea are sent back to Cuba. All 13 are in good health.

And take a look at this. Huge flames erupted from a fertilizer plant in Lynchburg, Virginia. More than 100 9-1-1 calls came in on this fire. And as you can see, that plant destroyed. And damages are estimated, listen to this, Heidi, $2.5 million. The cause of this fire is still under investigation.

So, that is the latest from the national desk. We'll still try to get you some more information on why that student fainted behind former President Clinton. What a sight, though.

COLLINS: Yes. And the people behind her didn't really rush to her.

NGUYEN: No, they didn't even skip a beat. And they went on with questioning. Wait, hold up, somebody just fainted here.

COLLINS: Back to the economy.

OK, well, Betty, we will talk to you soon. Thanks so much for that, we appreciate it.

NGUYEN: No fainting here.

COLLINS: We want to get over to Jim Clancy right now. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is just about 15 minutes away, or so. Find out what more you will be talking about which I imagine, Jim, will be Beirut, Lebanon.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's absolutely right. Rosemary Church and I are going to be continuing to follow that story. A bomb blast near Beirut, targeting a U.S. embassy vehicle. Four people are killed. Still big unanswered questions about who was the target really. What was the point of this? Who was behind the attack?

Also, is eating meat from cloned animals safe? The U.S. government says it has the answer, but how will the rest of the world respond? It's making some people nervous. I'm going to tell you why.

And remember when oil was about $10 a barrel? Well the Saudis went to the U.S. and said, why not set a political price of around $30 a barrel and the U.S. responded it was better to let market forces determine the price. Well, that reply is echoing around President George W. Bush and his entourage in Saudi Arabia today. We'll tell you more about the price of oil and what's being done about it. Join us in just a few minutes at the top of the hour, "YOUR WORLD TODAY."

Back to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Jim. Very good, we'll be watching. Thank you.

Too good looking for his own good? Well, could the perception of perfection hurt Mitt Romney's chances at the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: British scientists go to the bottom of the world to get on top of global warming. ITN reporter Bill Neely braves the extreme weather to visit their camp.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL NEELY, ITN REPORTER (voice-over): From the front of a plane, the last place on earth, Antarctica and touchdown on a runway of ice with no brakes. The runway was a long one. It's 2:00 in the morning. The sun is blazing. We're on our way to the most remote British space on earth, through some of the world's most extreme weather. The windchill is minus 69 degrees.

(on camera): Antarctica is already the windiest place on earth. 70-mile-an-hour gusts today, and this is mid-summer. But every year, for the last 25 years, the winds have been getting wilder and stronger and it's pretty cold here today. Climate change is making this place ever more extreme.

(voice-over): The scientists analyzing it are one more flight away in a blizzard. It's the highest continent on earth. The air is thin. Suddenly, in the whiteout, we see dots in the distance: four scientists who've been here for two months.

(on camera): Hello, Bill Neely from ITN. Very nice to see you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) have a good journey?

NEELY: Great to be here.

(voice-over): We are their first visitors. The pilot doesn't wait. He's off, and we're stranded in the middle of nowhere. It's off to our new home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're really reluctant to start using petrol stoves just because of the extra risk with the fuels.

NEELY: A strong tent, a warm meal and a cup of tea.

(on camera): This is the most remote field base British scientists have ever set up and it's the closest yet to the South Pole. It's about 600 miles over there. And right now, there isn't a single human being between me and it, no one.

(voice-over): It's the ice they've come for, to study it changing, thinning here. The frigid cold freezes their faces. The glacier we're standing on shifting all the time.

(on camera): Right now, we are on moving ice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right, yes. The ice here is moving at about three centimeters a day, which is not very much. By the time this ice sheet reaches the coast, the ice there will be flowing out about a meter a day.

NEELY (voice-over): Far from man, they're asking if the changes in climate here are caused by man, and they're doing it against the odds. The ice freezes our camera. We're getting early frostbite. But their work goes on. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: ITN reporter Bill Neely with an incredible look at what's to come in his series.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEELY (on camera): I'm in a crevice about 60 feet down. As you can probably see, the ice is melting, under glacier all around me is moving. Now, the big scientific question is how fast is it melting, how fast is it moving. The answer seems to be faster than anyone predicted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Secrets of the ice, what scientists have discovered in a lake two miles underground. That's tomorrow in the NEWSROOM.

A developing story out of Lebanon. A car owned by the American Embassy hit by an explosion. Who was inside? "YOUR WORLD TODAY" at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Can looking too good keep you from looking good to voters? CNN's Jeanne Moos has her eye on Mitt Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may be do or die for Mitt Romney in Michigan. But could perfection do him in?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He looks very done.

MOOS: Just perfect enough, Mr. Perfect, perfect 10.

BILL MAHER: No one looks more like a president than Mitt Romney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, that's true.

MAHER: Is he human?

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: He gets mocked for being robotic.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I support the second amendment.

MOOS: Journalists sneer at his lack of imperfection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually made a point of getting really close to him, see if I could identify pores in his face. Just a completely smooth service, like a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) cereal box, it was unbelievable. MOOS: When the former CEO of General Electric was asked on MSNBC which candidate would make the most competent president, he said Romney, then added ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he's got this perfectness (ph) to him that doesn't seem to -- it misses a connection somehow with people.

MOOS: What should Romney do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sweat a bit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sweat a bit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sweat, run ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mess up his hair.

MOOS: Ah yes, that perfect hair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got a little gray hair on the sideburns, full head of hair.

MOOS: When we showed folks the Republican candidates ...

(on camera): Who looks most like a president?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Romney does.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, do you want to look at the rest of the pictures?

MOOS: You're not even going to look at the other ones?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

MOOS: You don't have to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because if I never got (ph) married, I think he's the best looking man in the world. He's stunning.

MOOS (voice-over): Truth be told, almost half of the folks we asked thought Fred Thompson looked most presidential.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, he has applicable experience.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For some reason, I don't think Mitt looks wizened enough.

MOOS: Once, just once, we actually saw a strand of Mitt Romney's hair out of place though he brushed it back. The unruly lock returned to dangle.

ROMNEY: Without raising taxes, without adding debt.

MOOS: Given his reputation for physical perfection, we wondered what the announcer on ESPN meant when a Boston Celtics player made a slam dunk and the announcer yelled ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitt Romney!

MOOS: Mitt Romney's five sons even posted the clip on their blog, thinking ESPN had coined a new basketball catch phrase.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitt Romney! Mitt Romney!

MOOS: But instead of it meaning the perfect slam dunk, ESPN says it was an unfortunate reference, made merely because the former Massachusetts governor is a Celtics fan. Romney fans can buy campaign paraphernalia that says "Mitt Romney, scruples and good looking."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he smiles a lot. I think he's got nice teeth. But I think he looks really fake.

MOOS: Guess she won't be buying the "Mitt Romney is Hot!" thong.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now. I'm Heidi Collins. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" begins now. We'll see you tomorrow.

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