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Two Georgia Officers Killed, Suspects on the Loose; Romney Wins Michigan; The Latino Vote
Aired January 16, 2008 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning again, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
Developments coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on Wednesday, the 16th of January.
Here's what's on the rundown now.
Two police officers gunned down, suspects on the run. A half- dozen metro Atlanta schools on lockdown right now.
HARRIS: Mitt Romney wins a big one in Michigan. Now the presidential candidates look south and west.
COLLINS: You've cut spending, the markets are wobbling, inflation is rising. Are we in a recession? Our guest makes sense of it all -- that'll be good -- in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And at the top this hour, six schools near Atlanta, Georgia, are on lockdown. Police are searching for at least two suspects accused of gunning down two fellow officers.
Fredricka Whitfield joins us now with the latest developments.
And Fred, just a short time ago, we saw some pictures indicating a lot of police activity.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, yes. From the air and on the ground, police forces are on an intensified search right now for two people believed to have gunned down those two officers you spoke of.
They were uniformed officers with the Dekalb County Police Department; however, they were working off duty at an apartment complex, the Glenwood Gardens apartments in the Decatur area, just outside of Atlanta.
Overnight, apparently they were trying to investigate a suspicious person, or reports of a suspicious person, when somehow an exchange of gunfire went down. And in the end, these two officers were on the ground. A tow truck operator actually came across the two bodies of the unformed officers and then called police. That was just after midnight. One of the officers was dead on arrival at the scene, the other officer died at the hospital.
Just last hour, I spoke with the police chief of Dekalb County, Terrell Bolton, and he said this shooting, this investigation, has hit the entire force hard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF TERRELL BOLTON, DEKALB COUNTY POLICE: Well, you know, really a bitter pill to swallow. And right now we're in grieving, and we're mourning with the family, as well as the family within the police department. And right now, my focus is to find these people involved in this horrible tragedy, bring them to justice, and do that in a swift and certain way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And Chief Bolton did reiterate to me that there were some eyewitnesses. That's how they know that there are at least two suspects that they need to be looking for. So there has been some cooperation within the apartment complex there, but the search is broad, and that is why you have got six of the schools in this Decatur, Atlanta, area that are on lockdown. But, of course, police and school officials are saying that children are fine, they're safe, but as a precaution, these schools are in lockdown, meaning no one can enter, no one can exit.
Meantime, the focus of the search is looking for these two suspects involved in the police shooting -- Tony.
HARRIS: And our thoughts are with the families of those slain officers as well.
Fredricka, appreciate it. Thanks, Fred.
COLLINS: The Republican road to the White House. There are now three winners knotted at the top. The latest showdown, the Michigan primary. The latest winner, Mitt Romney, easily capturing his native state. Coming in second, John McCain, and third, Mike Huckabee.
Michigan is seen as an important springboard to the next critical test.
CNN's Mary Snow explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was a win Mitt Romney need.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tonight marks the beginning of a comeback, a comeback for America.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: You know, only -- only a week ago a win looked like it was impossible.
SNOW: A week ago, Romney's campaign was on the ropes after losing New Hampshire to John McCain and having already come in second to Mike Huckabee in Iowa. Romney set his sights on the state where he was born, touting his Michigan roots and his father's years as a popular governor in the 1960s.
McCain was sure to mention his rival's home state advantage in congratulating him.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He and his campaign worked hard and effectively to make sure that Michigan voters welcomed their native son with their support. Michigan voters were good to the native son, and I understand that and support their decision.
SNOW: And McCain is relying on South Carolina to give him the victory he didn't get there in 2000. A South Carolina loss, combined with a series of negative attacks on his campaign, helped sink McCain's presidential bid. This time around he's put forth a so- called "Truth Squad" to debunk any smear campaigns.
But both McCain and Romney will face stiff competition from rival Mike Huckabee, who's popular with evangelicals. Huckabee came in third in Michigan. His campaign has sputtered since winning the Iowa caucus nearly two weeks ago.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It looks like that I won Iowa, John McCain won New Hampshire, Mitt Romney won Michigan. But ladies and gentlemen, we're going to win South Carolina.
SNOW (on camera): Here in South Carolina, support from social conservatives is going to be key for Mike Huckabee, and he has competition on that end from former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson. Senator McCain will be stressing his military service and national security since this is a state with a high military population. Mitt Romney is going to be campaigning here, but he is also setting his sights on picking up delegates in Nevada, with his team thinking it's more realistic to pick up support there for Saturday's caucuses.
Mary Snow, CNN, Charleston, South Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And among Democrats, we've got numbers for you. Hillary Clinton won the Michigan primary, but there were no delegates at stake. Her chief rivals not even on the ballot. The Democrats are focusing on Saturday's Nevada caucuses, courting the state's Latino voters.
CNN's Jessica Yellin reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From Barack Obama, a rallying cry made famous by the late labor activist Cesar Chavez.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (SPEAKING SPANISH).
YELLIN: From Senator Clinton; the human touch at home with Hispanic voters.
Hispanics make up 9 percent of eligible voters nationwide, but 12 percent here in Nevada. And with a race this tight, they could decide who wins the state.
ADAM SEGAL, DIRECTOR, HISPANIC VOTER PROJECT: If you have to win this state, and if this is the state that the Democratic Party set up as the example of the influence of Hispanic voters in the Democratic Party, you have to be able to demonstrate that you can win Hispanic support.
YELLIN: Obama scored a crucial boost when the state's Culinary Workers Union endorsed him. Most of their members are Latino and will be encouraged to caucus for Obama.
But Senator Clinton countered, announcing the endorsement of Cesar Chavez' brother, organizer Richard Chavez. And the Latino community has a long history of affection for all things Clinton. Their top concerns are the same kitchen table issues that worry the rest of the nation.
SEGAL: They're really focused on, you know, whether they're going to have a job over the next six months or a year, whether they're going to be able to afford health care, and whether the local education system is adequate for them and their family. Certainly the war in Iraq and immigration are also enormous issues, but the Democrats are not really using those issues as a wedge issue in the primary battle.
YELLIN: Whoever is able to win the most Hispanic voters here will have bragging rights as they head to California, New York and New Jersey, states in which the Latino vote could also be decisive.
(on camera): Stepping up their efforts to court the Latino vote, both the Clinton and the Obama campaigns have just launched their first Spanish language television ads, at the same time their organizers are going door to door speaking in both English and Spanish, encouraging people to turn out and caucus on Saturday.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Las Vegas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Looking ahead to the next battleground for Republicans, the next date circled on the calendar is this Saturday. That's when the Nevada caucuses and the Republican South Carolina primary will be held. Then it's the big stakes in Florida. Florida holds its primary on Tuesday, January 29th.
Democrats are also looking ahead to Saturday's caucuses in Nevada. Their primary in South Carolina is on Saturday, the Saturday after the Republicans, January 26th.
And the best political team on television will be there to cover it all for you.
COLLINS: In the meantime, get more on the presidential candidates and their next stops. Just go to cnnpolitics.com. It's your one-stop shop for all things political.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Want to get back to this story that we have been following for several days now, a murder suspect on the run but without his wheels. Police find a fugitive Marine's pickup truck. We'll have a live update ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: She didn't feel threatened. That's what the military says about a pregnant Marine and a fellow Marine accused of killing her.
For more on that and the search for the suspect now, Ed Lavandera joining us from Jacksonville, North Carolina.
Ed, we are hopeful that there might be word of any progress today.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's hard to say. You know, the sheriff's office here in Jacksonville, North Carolina, has canceled all press conferences. They say they'll only come back out and talk once they have confirmed that Cesar Laurean has been captured.
So, yesterday was really a day for military investigators who had been under an enormous amount of pressure to explain what they knew and when they knew it in terms of the early part of this investigation when Maria Lauterbach was first reported missing. And they say every indication proved to them that everything looked like Maria Lauterbach had just gone missing on her own.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERIFF ED BROWN, ONSLOW COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: Laurean's name was not mentioned in the report.
LAVANDERA (voice over): Sheriff Ed Brown has repeatedly said his investigators were not given Cesar Laurean's name until 20 days after Maria Lauterbach was reported missing. But after conducting a lengthy internal review, military investigators say the sheriff's office was, indeed, told about Laurean on December 19th, the day she was reported missing.
PAUL CICCARELLI, NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE: It was that particular day that an NCIS special agent that was working the rape investigation, Special Agent Megan Graf (ph), contacts Onslow County -- actually, they contacted us, and engaged in conversation that it wasn't a superior officer, it was actually a corporal, and the corporal's name was Corporal Laurean.
LAVANDERA: Military officials say every clue suggested Lauterbach left on her own. She left her roommate a note saying she was tired of Marine life and wanted out. Even though she claimed Laurean raped her, military officials say he never violated the military protective order to stay away from Lauterbach.
COL. ROBERT SOKOLOSKI, MARINE STAFF JUDGE ADVOCATE: When she was specifically asked by each of those individuals whether she felt threatened by Corporal Laurean, she responded that she was not and did not feel threatened by Corporal Laurean.
LAVANDERA: Five days after Cesar Laurean disappeared, his truck was found near the Raleigh, North Carolina, airport. But still, there has not been a confirmed sighting of the Marine since he's been on the run. Laurean's wife is also a Marine, and military sources say she's been ordered to continue her work on the Camp Lejeune base.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: Sheriff's investigators here in Jacksonville say -- have not responded to the military's laying out of the timeline that they did yesterday. They say they are focused here strictly on finding Cesar Laurean at this point, and they will continue to do so. They say tips continue to come in, but they're not sharing the details of what that is at this point -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes. All right. Probably a lot more to be done here.
CNN's Ed Lavandera.
Thanks so much, live from Jacksonville, North Carolina.
HARRIS: All right. Let's get to a topic that impacts all of us -- rising prices, falling stocks, the dreaded "R" word. So what can you do to cope with your wallet worries right now, or even ride out a recession? There, I said it.
Steve Moore is senior economics writer for "The Wall Street Journal" editorial board. He joins us from Washington.
Steve, good to see you.
STEPHEN MOORE, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Good morning.
HARRIS: I saw you last night on Glenn Beck. Good stuff last night. So let's let it rip here. MOORE: OK.
HARRIS: You know, we may be -- may not actually be talking about a national recession, but I understand that's a highly technical term, but, you know, it's clear that a lot of households around the country are in recession.
MOORE: Yes.
HARRIS: So, what should we be thinking? We're looking for a hedge now in these difficult times.
MOORE: Well, as individuals -- you know, and by the way, we are not in a recession yet officially.
HARRIS: OK.
MOORE: You know, six months from now, they may come back and tell us we were in a recession.
HARRIS: Right.
MOORE: But you're right, for a lot of Americans, we feel the pinch. You know, there's a lot of economic anxiety out there from what we learned in Michigan last night and in Iowa and in New Hampshire. And so, the inclination of Americans right now is the right one -- maybe don't rack up so much credit card debt. Now is a good time to actually start paying down some of the debt.
You know, if your job is in jeopardy or if your wages aren't rising as fast as maybe you want, now is the time to maybe cut back a little bit on your extraneous spending, maybe not going out only three nights a week for dinner, maybe two nights.
HARRIS: Right. You know what, Steve? I think that makes all the sense in a world as an individual...
MOORE: Right.
HARRIS: ... and that's what we're talking about here. But I have to ask you -- I think I'd be remiss if I didn't -- what would that mean to the overall economy? Would that push us closer to that "recession" word?
MOORE: Well, there's the paradox.
HARRIS: Yes.
MOORE: You know, there's the exact paradox, because the very time that Americans have an impulse to tighten their belts...
HARRIS: Which is the right thing to do.
MOORE: ... cut back on their spending -- right -- as individuals, if everybody does that and everybody stops spending, then it slows down the economy, and that's where this idea of a fiscal stimulus comes from, where Washington says, well, if the American people aren't going to spend money, we'll spend the money for them in Washington. I think it's a bad idea.
HARRIS: Well, Steve, what do you think of that? Oh, you think it's a bad idea.
MOORE: Yes.
HARRIS: Why? Yes.
MOORE: Because, look, first of all, we already have a $3 trillion federal budget. If spending money out of Washington would get the economy moving, we'd be booming right now.
Second of all, if you look at all these earmarked projects that we've been spending on, the bridge to nowhere in Alaska and the teapot museums and the indoor rain forests, and people are getting sick of their money being wasted. And I would just make the case that wasting money on projects that don't provide much of a return for the American taxpayer is no way to get the economy moving.
HARRIS: But wait a minute, Steve. The idea of possibly getting a $500 rebate sounds pretty good to most Americans.
MOORE: Well, I'll take it.
HARRIS: Yes.
MOORE: But you know what? It doesn't really help the economy. We tried this in 2001 when President Bush was first elected.
You know what? You probably did what I did and most Americans did -- and the studies show we did this. We took that money and we said, times are tough, I'm going to take this money and put it in the bank.
HARRIS: Yes.
MOORE: So it was exactly the opposite of what the government wanted people to do.
Look, this idea of providing a stimulus by giving people money is like the idea of sending a helicopter over New York City and dumping $100 bills out the window. I mean, we might all want to get a hold of that money, but there's no such thing as free money in Washington.
HARRIS: Yes. You know, part of the concern I have is I know there are people all around the country who are struggling right now with the rise in prices in gas and food and everything else.
MOORE: Yes. You go to the grocery store, I mean, my God, milk and eggs and all these things...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Exactly. But you know it what? It seems to me -- it feels like -- and let me have you address this -- that there is a broader cloud, and even larger storm cloud that not only targets people who might be in serious debt, but also folks who are in pretty good shape right now.
MOORE: Well, what's happening, in my opinion, is, you know, we've had this housing crisis for the last six months. First it started in the subprime industry. And now we're seeing even upper- income people having a harder time selling their house.
I live in Virginia, where our housing prices are falling. And so people are feeling poorer because their main asset, their house, is not as valuable as it was a year ago. And that has kind of had a toppling effect, and unfortunately we're starting to see that contaminate other parts of the economy.
HARRIS: That's right.
MOORE: And we've got to get that straightened out. But I don't think the government spending more money -- I mean, my goodness, it's deficit spending and all the money spending in Washington, I think, that started the recession in the first place.
HARRIS: Good stuff. Steve, great to see you.
MOORE: OK.
HARRIS: Thanks for your time today.
MOORE: See you soon. Take care.
HARRIS: And still to come, how about a delicious steak from a cloned cow? The government now says it's safe to eat.
Dig in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Food from cloned cattle is safe to eat. That's what the FDA says. But are you ready to chow down?
Here's our Brian Todd. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You likely won't know you're eating it because it won't be labeled, but here's what the U.S. government now says about food from cloned animals.
STEPHEN SUNDLOF, FDA FOOD SAFETY & NUTRITION DIRECTOR: The Food and Drug Administration has concluded that meat and milk from clones of cattle, swine and goats, and the offspring of clones from any species traditionally consumed as food, are as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals.
TODD: With that declaration, the FDA removes the last official hurdle to putting beef and milk from cloned cows on the market. They say they still need more data on whether products from cloned sheep are safe, and they say food from newborn cattle clones may pose some limited health risks. But some consumer groups say the FDA rushed to judgment about full grown cattle clones.
What are the health risks from those?
JAYDEE HANSON, CENTER FOR FOOD SAFETY: We don't actually know. But we know the studies that the FDA has relied on so far can't tell you that. I suspect that it will probably taste quite similar, but that doesn't mean they are no changes in the milk and that there are no changes in the meat that we need to be worried about.
TODD: FDA officials say they've done years of peer review testing endorsed by the National Academy of Sciences. But why not at least label the food?
SUNDLOF: We don't require labeling if there's no material difference in the food processed by one technique -- in this case it would be through the cloning process -- versus conventionally processed food.
TODD: Not every consumer group is against this. The Center for Science in the Public Interest says the FDA has answered the safety question to its satisfaction, and that group points out most consumers will never eat a cloned animal. They may eventually eat or drink products that come from their offspring, but experts say even that is three to five years away.
(on camera): While the FDA cleared the cloned animals, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is asking for a voluntary moratorium on their consumption until everyone can study all the information. Meanwhile, three of America's top meat and poultry producers told us they have no plans to use products from cloned animals.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: To get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, just log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library, and information on diet and fitness. That address, cnn.com/health.
HARRIS: Several Georgia schools on lockdown this hour. Suspects on the run after two Atlanta area police officers are killed. The update in moments.
COLLINS: Good morning once again, everybody, 11:30 Eastern Time now.
I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.
Let's get you that update right now.
Six schools near Atlanta, Georgia, are on lockdown right now. Police are searching for at least two suspects accused of gunning down two fellow officers. The police chief says it happened -- actually appeared to be an ambush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF TERRELL BOLTON, DEKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA: It hurts at the heart, and I've never seen such just brutality in terms of people that represent you every day. And how they had no chance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The shooting happened overnight at an apartment complex. The officers were off duty but were working a security job at the building. The chief says they were responding to a call about a suspicious person when someone opened fire. The names of the officers have not been released. Both had been on the force for less than five years.
COLLINS: A call for help after a tiger attacks.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the paramedics get hurt they cannot help your brothers. So you need to calm down and ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COLLINS: The 911 tapes and the San Francisco Zoo investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A bright young star goes out in Hollywood. Brad Renfro is dead. The big question -- how? Renfro was found dead in his Los Angeles home. No sign of foul play. Renfro got an early start in the movies. At age ten, he won a lead role in "The Client," then went on to star in other films. Renfro also was in and out of jail on drunk driving and drug-related charges. Brad Renfro was just 25-years-old.
HARRIS: Police release dramatic 911 tapes from that deadly Christmas day tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo. This call was made by one of two brothers who survived the attack.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
KULBIR DHALIWAL, VICTIM OF TIGER ATTACK: ...(INAUDIBLE) before they get permission to go there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, 911 DISPATCHER: OK, I understand that but at the same time, we have to make sure the paramedics don't get chewed out because if the paramedics get hurt then nobody is going to help you.
DHALIWAL: (INAUDIBLE)
DISPATCHER: I understand that, alright?
DHALIWAL: (INAUDIBLE)
DISPATCHER: OK, the ambulance is staging. I need you to understand that if the ambulance people...
DHALIWAL: What do you want me to understand? My brother is going to die out here?
DISPATCHER: OK, calm down.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HARRIS: By the time of that call, 17-year-old Carlos Sousa had already been killed by the escaped tiger. Investigators say the wall of the tiger habitat was shorter than recommended. Zoo officials have questioned whether the tiger was taunted. Police have said they would not press charges against the brothers, but today they have a warrant to search the car and cell phone records of the victims indicating their investigation is not yet done.
COLLINS: A fugitive on the run gunned down by police outside a California casino. It happened in Palm Springs. Officers were trying to arrest the man. He got away after a brief struggle. Police say they shot and killed him after he pulled a gun. A worker inside the casino was hit by a stray bullet.
HARRIS: The Michigan primary and the tale of two parties. First, the Republicans. Mitt Romney easily captured his native state. John McCain was distant second, Mike Huckabee, third. Now the Democrats. Hillary Clinton won Michigan, but there were no delegates at stake. And her chief rivals weren't even on the ballot. The Democrats did, however, share the stage for a debate last night in Las Vegas. The tone mostly cordial.
Clinton and Barack Obama blamed supporters for their racially charged fude.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to ask Senator Obama if you will co-sponsor my legislation to try to rein in President Bush so that he doesn't commit this country to his policy in Iraq, which both of us are committed to end.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think -- you know, we can work on this, Hillary, because I don't think -- you know, we've got unity in the Democratic party, I hope, on this. The notion that President Bush could somehow tie the hands of the next president, I think, is contrary to how our democracy is supposed to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well the Democrats sparred in Nevada, site of the party's next big showdown. Those caucuses this Saturday. COLLINS: A truce, they say, between the Clinton and Obama camps, both trying to get past the back-and-forth over race and focus now on South Carolina.
Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The truce flags are out in the racially heated war of words between Obama and Clinton. A few charges are still being flung and denied.
REP. CHARLES RANGEL, (D) NEW YORK: How race got into this thing is because Obama said race.
FOREMAN: But both camps seem to have concluded they have too much to lose if racial tensions define their contest, especially in South Carolina. Half of the Democrats there are African-American, and they are split between Clinton and Obama, with John Edwards, who won the state last time, barely getting a nod from African-Americans. Obama is rising because more black voters know about him now and because he won a lot of white votes up North. According to the Voter Education Project's, Jim Felder.
JIM FELDER, S.C. VOTER EDUCATION PROJECT: And so here, people begin to focus and say well, listen, if he can win in a state like Iowa and come in close in New Hampshire, then maybe we ought to give him a second look and maybe he can pull this thing off after all.
FOREMAN: Black Americans, however, helped Bill Clinton into the White House, Hillary Clinton into the Senate. And the couple remains popular in African-American communities. So, some influential black leaders are saying she is more electable and will do more for minorities.
(on-camera): Against that backdrop, it's easy to see why both sides want to tread gently on the issue of race. Clinton cannot afford to chase away her older, traditional black supporters. Obama cannot afford to turn off his younger, non-traditional white backers.
(voice-over): And the party cannot afford to alienate all the new interest Obama is generating. At the University of South Carolina, Blease Graham.
BLEASE GRAHAM, UNIV. OF SOUTH CAROLINA: He's attracting a newer generation of voter and that has to be party building. And that has, in certain ways, to define the future of the Democratic party in South Carolina, if not other parts of the country.
FOREMAN: So, like most cease-fires that work, everyone has something to gain from this one, at least for now, or until the next shot is fired.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: Have you ever wondered what's under all that ice? Scientists drilled through Antarctica's frozen plain and make a stunning discovery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Even though we try to be positive about the Stock Market, it has been a pretty miserable start for the new year for stocks. Today, sadly, no different. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange now with more details on this.
Hi, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.
We're going to ride this out together. I mean, there will be an opportunity for some courageous investors. But, yes, we're looking at another losing session here on Wall Street. Tech stocks have been among the hardest hit for this new year. And Intel shares certainly taking it on the chin today. Intel shares down about 12 percent right now. That's a huge move for a Dow component. It comes despite a more than 50 percent increase in its quarterly profit. But Intel warned of weak conditions ahead.
Other tech stocks are lower, as well, including Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, and that really does a number. And given the losses we've seen so far, Heidi, not so bad. The Dow Industrials down 45 points, at 12,454. We have some good news. Oil prices are below $90 today. The government says crude inventories unexpectedly jumped. Oil is down about two bucks on the news.
But one other factor that is contributing to oil's falling price is that traders feel that the economy is close to, or in, a recession. So, the demand for oil weakens as well. So, it's kind of a -- it's a double-edged sword in those lower oil prices, right Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes, pretty much. But I guess there's one bit of good news, possibly. And that would be when you have these lower oil prices, it doesn't cost so much to fuel up a jet. So the airline industry kind of seeing some benefits here?
LISOVICZ: Yes, they could, but not today. Airline stocks are mostly lower.
COLLINS: I'm trying. Work with me, Susan.
LISOVICZ: I am trying to see the glass as half full. But these numbers don't lie, at least today. The airlines are expected to report quarterly losses, fresh signs of a potential merger between Delta and Northwest, two companies which face bankruptcy in recent years.
The "Minneapolis Star Tribune" quotes the head of the house transportation committee as saying, talks are under way. The airlines hope some consolidation will help them remain profitable. Of course, you know, consumers don't always like mergers, but ... COLLINS: Yes, yes.
LISOVICZ: That's a different story, Heidi.
COLLINS: The airlines don't like the mergers sometimes too. Again, another story. We digress, airplane manufacturers -- Boeing actually worrying about some of its own turbulence, if you will.
LISOVICZ: And Boeing is a Dow 30 stock. Boeing says there will be further delays for its 787 Dreamliner jet. Maybe we should rethink that name, Dreamliner. The program is already behind schedule. Now Boeing says there will be an additional three-month delay, pushing the delivery of the first Dreamliner back ten months from the initial target date.
The company blames problems in the supply chain and certain assembly line tasks taking longer than expected. A Japanese airline is supposed to receive the first delivery. It was supposed to happen this year. But now won't happen until next. A spokesperson for the company calls the delay, extremely regrettable. Which is the nice way of saying they're really unhappy about this.
COLLINS: Yes, very upset. All right. CNN's Susan Lisovicz, appreciate that. Thank you, Susan.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" coming up today in about 15 minutes now at the top of the hour. Isha Sesay standing by with a preview.
Isha, good morning.
ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Tony.
We have a busy show just ahead on "YOUR WORLD TODAY" at the top of the hour. While the U.S. president may be optimistic about the prospect for a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the reality on the ground is grim this day. Tensions are rising as Israel launches fresh air strikes in Gaza City, killing at least 18 people. We'll have a live report from the region.
The Pope will be a no-show. Pope Benedict XVI has canceled a planned visit to a prestigious Italian university after protests by academics and students over past comments he made about Galileo. We'll bring you the full story.
And McDonald's is heating things up in its battle for supremacy with Starbucks. The fast-food company is planning to bring mochas, lattes, cappuccinos, whatever you fancy, to a restaurant near you here in the U.S.
Those stories and much more just ahead at the top of the hour with me and Jim Clancy on "YOUR WORLD TODAY." Back to you guys.
COLLINS: Terrific. Isha, we'll be watching. Thank you.
Making a bang on of one of earth's quietest places.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just in the last few week, these British scientists have made a big breakthrough about what's down there, and they've done it in rather dramatic fashion.
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COLLINS: Big find. At the bottom of the world.
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COLLINS: A look now at some of the most clicked-on videos on cnn.com.
Union County South Carolina, six-year-old Jonathan James is one big hero. When fire broke out in his home, he sprung into action, grabbing his two-year-old sister and carrying her to safety while leading his two other siblings to safety as well. Look at the damage on that house. Hear from this pint-sized little life-saver at CNN.com/video.
Australia, more on that teenager we first told you about yesterday who got in trouble for a wild house party. Today, he is under arrest. 500 people showed up for the party after it was advertised on the Internet, and that's where the 16-year-old has apparently developed a cult following.
And Germany's latest famous polar bear cub. Aw, everyone together, aw.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
COLLINS: Opened her eyes for the first time on Tuesday. You remember Kunut (ph).
HARRIS: Yes, sure.
COLLINS: Right? The cub gets bottle fed every four hours. It weighs about five-and-a-half pounds and screams a little bit.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: We don't have a name yet, though, right.
For more of your favorite video, go to CNN.com/video, and of course, don't forget that you can take us anywhere you go on your iPod with the CNN Daily Podcast. See some of the stories that will have you talking, that's for sure. The CNN NEWSROOM podcast available 24/7 right on your iPod.
HARRIS: That cub was being ill treated by mama.
COLLINS: I know, that was very sad, wasn't it?
HARRIS: Yes, that's the back story on that.
OK, digging deep to uncover clues to climate change. ITN reporter Bill Neely at the bottom of the world with British scientists.
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BILL NEELY, ITN REPORTER (voice-over): It's after midnight, it's minus 48 in the wind, and the ice men are at work. They're drilling down to unlock the secrets of our changing world, and nowhere is changing faster than Antarctica. Their prize: ice cores.
(on camera): Is that a good one?
ANDY SMITH, GLACIOLOGIST: It's not bad for this test.
NEELY (voice-over): Like tree rings, the cores can be read for clues to the climate.
SMITH: To measure the amount of snow accumulation that's fallen here each year over the last 50 years.
NEELY: And the evidence is the ice is melting and moving faster than ever. But their biggest breakthrough here is much deeper than that.
(on camera): We know as much about the moon as we do about Antarctica, so any discovery here is a big one. And just in the last few weeks, these British scientists have made a big breakthrough about what's down there, and they've done it in rather dramatic fashion.
(voice-over): In the most peaceful place on earth, high explosives have revealed the depth of a hidden lake.
JOHN WOODWARD, GLACIOLOGIST: The sound waves would be bounced back up to that lake surface and back to the surface.
NEELY (on camera): So, three kilometers down, three kilometers back up very quickly.
WOODWARD: Yes, in about two seconds.
NEELY (voice-over): The sound waves have now revealed a flowing lake 100 meters deep.
(on camera): So, this is the first lake in the Antarctic to be, as it were, fully mapped?
WOODWARD: Yes, it is.
NEELY: And you've done it.
WOODWARD: We've done it.
NEELY (voice-over): It seems astonishing that two miles under this ice, water flows freely. They're pulling a radar on a rope to measure how much ice is melting into the lake, crucial clues to global warming.
(on camera): What they'll do next here is to probe down into this hidden world and try to reveal some of its secrets. New life forms perhaps two miles beneath me that have been cut off for a million years. And yet have somehow survived in the cold, dark lake water way down there.
(voice-over): The British Antarctic surveyors are just a few of the many probing the 160 lakes discovered so far.
WOODWARD: What we're doing here is piecing together one small picture of the jigsaw puzzle that is this continent.
NEELY: We left to see from the air how this icy wilderness, bigger than America, is changing through global warming, the coldest continent on earth that's warming faster in places than anywhere else. The cracks and crevices clear, the melting ice and the rising sea less obvious. Scientists admit it's changing faster than they predicted. The real worry: it's a pace faster than mankind can do anything about.
Bill Neely, News at 10, Ellsworth, Antarctica.
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COLLINS: He started cutting hair when Calvin Coolidge was president.
HARRIS: What?
COLLINS: And he's still clipping.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We used to use hand clippers.
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COLLINS: Hair-raising record in the NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: The cutting edge, a barber in business since a shave and a haircut was two bits. Here's Kelley Jelinski from affiliate News 12 Westchester.
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KELLEY JELINSKI, NEWS 12 WESTCHESTER REPORTER (voice-over): He's been snipping and clipping, perfecting his craft for the past 84 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, he's the best.
JELINSKI: At 96-years-old, barber Anthony Mancinelli is still cutting away. Clients still come to his chair when they need a little off the top. JERRY DESOUZA, CLIENT: Everybody knows Anthony. Some people actually wait in line for him.
JELINSKI: Now, the records keepers at Guinness are giving Anthony's super-long career special recognition. They've certified him as being a practicing barber since 1924. His secret to longevity?
ANTHONY MANCINELLI, 96-YEAR-OLD BARBER: You have to like it. There's something you have to like, otherwise you're not going to make it.
JELINSKI: And Anthony certainly found something he likes in barbering. He started cutting hair at age 12, sticking with it all these years. He says he enjoys the hands-on work and the conversation around the barbershop.
(on camera): And in 84 years, Anthony has seen a lot of changes to the industry. For instance, electric clippers. Now, when he started as a 12-year-old boy, these were's around.
MANCINELLI: We used to use hand clippers.
JELINSKI (voice-over): And just like he still holds on to the old school tools of the trade, Anthony also hangs on to good, old fashioned work ethic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, he would work seven days a week if you asked him to.
MANCINELLI: You're all set.
JELINSKI: Does he ever think about retiring -- hardly.
MANCINELLI: You've got to -- you just can't retire, quit, and stay still (ph) because you get old fast and I'm far from that. So, I got to keep going.
JELINSKI: If he could, he'd keep going for another 84 years.
Kelley Jelinski, News 12.
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HARRIS: That's my man there.
COLLINS: Yes.
HARRIS: Keep going, just keep going.
COLLINS: You'll still be working?
HARRIS: Heck yes.
COLLINS: Right here, at 88?
HARRIS: Heck no. COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.
HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" -- you crazy -- is next with news happening across the globe and here at home.
I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. Have a great day, everybody.
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