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Market Madness; Heath Ledger Dead at 28 Years Old; Red Meat Alert; Recession Fears Continue; Palestinians Flooding from Gaza into Egypt; Legal Tactic by Texas Town to Keep Out Illegal Immigrants; Fugitive Marine Spotted in Mexico
Aired January 23, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everyone. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday morning, January 23rd. Here's what's on the rundown.
Thirty minutes to the opening bell. Will sanity return to Wall Street? "YOUR MONEY" and ways to make yourself recession-proof.
HARRIS: Thousands of Palestinians bore into Egypt for food and medicine. Gaza is under Israeli lockdown.
COLLINS: One of Hollywood's promising young talents. Why did Heath Ledger die so young? The autopsy today in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: What a day we're going to have today, Heidi.
COLLINS: I'm not saying a word.
HARRIS: What kind of day are we going to have today? The markets open and -- you think? Bracing yourself for more market madness. The opening bell less than 30 minutes away. Asian stocks rebounded today following the fed's spry rate cut. Will Wall Street do the same? Susan Lisovicz is watching the market. Ali Velshi is aboard the CNN Election Express and Gerri Willis is watching out for "YOUR MONEY." Let us start with Susan.
Great to see you, Susan. What are the NASDAQ and S&P futures indicating about the day's open?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're hearing growling, OK. In a big way. We had a bear sighting yesterday. And despite, Tony, a dramatic emergency, historic interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve yesterday. We are expecting another ugly open. It could get downright bearish. We're expecting a plunge in the Dow Industrials in less than 30 minutes that could be 250 points or more. One trader just said to me a couple minutes ago, everything is for sale.
What's going on? Well, we're in the midst of earnings season, which compounds the wicked volatility we've been seeing lately. Apple after the bell yesterday, a darling on Watt Street, reported its quarterly earnings. They were superb. Their profits rose nearly 60 percent. Strong sales of the iPhone and iPod, but its guidance for this quarter was weaker than most analysts expected, and that stock is getting whacked. Right now it's down. Apple shares are down about 11 percent.
Motorola, another tech company that has had problems of its own, never mind a weak consumer spending environment, its shares are down 13 percent. Pfizer pharmaceutical, bright spot up 2.5 percent. A couple levels to watch here, Tony. One trader told me watch to see if the Dow gets to the lows of yesterday, and it can hold it. If not, it could be more trouble ahead. The level we're looking at is 11,332. If we reach that level, the Dow Jones industrial will have fell 20 percent from October highs. That is the classic definition of a bear market -- Tony?
HARRIS: Wait a minute, Susan. What's that number? We'll watch it here.
LISOVICZ: 11,332. We're at 11,971 so that would be one big drop but it could happen.
HARRIS: OK. Susan, appreciate it. I know you'll be there for us. We need you.
LISOVICZ: I'll be there.
COLLINS: Ali Velshi, on the road today; he's on a cross-country trip talking to you about the economy and your concerns. He's joining us now by broad band hookup. A bit of a delay we understand, from the CNN Election Express just west of Birmingham, Alabama.
So, Ali, what are folks along the road saying about the economy?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, I'll tell you first of all that bit of delay, using new technology. We are in the CNN Election Express and we're moving. We're motoring along at highway speed west, just west of Birmingham, Alabama going from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where we were yesterday all the way to California by the weekend. I'll tell you, we are about as far removed from New York as you can be here in Alabama.
We are not talking to people about trading stocks. They're not talking to us about the stock market. They're talking about gas prices. They're talking about jobs, a number of people have discussed minimum wage as a concern with us. We're talking about health care. We've been stopping along the way, and discussing specific issues with ...
COLLINS: Well, via broadband. You saw it on the screen there. That sometimes happens. But it's very cool that we've got Ali on the road and we are able to broadcast from the Election Express. Very interesting we can do that. You heard what he said. He said people are not talking about the numbers. They're talking about what pertains to them, which is gas prices and their jobs at this moment.
HARRIS: Your personal economy. Perhaps, in recession, in free fall right now. The market madness probably has awe bit worried about investments like your 401(k), maybe that Roth I.R.A. Personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, is live from New York.
Gerri, great to see you. What should investors be doing now?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCIAL EDITOR: Well, great question. Good morning, Tony. Good to see you. Can I just add a little, you know, an upbeat note here? Come on. If you're the average investor, you probably have a mix of investments. It's not all in the stock market, probably 60-40 stocks and bonds. Your entire portfolio is not in free fall right now.
Secondly, take a really long view here. The most stock jockeys look back is a week, maybe an hour and a half. Right? Take the long road. Look back to the low. Low, low, lows, post the stock market crash in the tech boom. Guess up? Up 69 percent from 2002, 69 percent. The moral of the story here, Tony, is on a down day, you don't want to sell your stocks. Don't panic out there. There's reason to think that things are going to get better eventually. But you have to be patient. Now is the time to think, is there something I want to be buying out there, not something I want to be selling.
HARRIS: Really? Because you also hear advice that now is the time to get liquid. Get your savings in order and have a drink this morning! You hear that. Now is the time to have cash on hand.
WILLIS: Well, look, I think that at the end of the day for the average investor who is going to be in the market a very long time. They're saving for retirement. It's a few years away. It's decades away, look, if you take your money out now, what are you going to do? Put it back in when stocks are going back up? You'll do exactly what the pros say don't do. You're going to buy high and selling low. It just makes no sense. So I say stand pat, because you cannot -- there's no way you can market time here. I can't tell you. No one can tell you when stocks will actually make that move higher.
HARRIS: Good point.
WILLIS: It's a fool's game.
HARRIS: Yes. Great to see you, Gerri. You're back in a couple of minutes with -- boy, great to have you here.
WILLIS: Good to see you, Tony.
COLLINS: We want to take a moment and get back to Ali Velshi, as we've been telling you, on the CNN Election Express. He's somewhere near Birmingham, Alabama, on the move this morning talking to people about their concerns with the economy, and he's joining us now by telephone to finish up some of his thoughts.
Ali you were talking about personal concerns people are sharing with you, like the gas prices, like their job security. What else do they have to say?
VELSHI: We talked to one restaurant owner who was saying that he has people who work for him. They work 40 hours a week. They make a good wage, but between the increase in gas prices and the increase that they're paying in food prices. We know milk prices and cheese prices and wheat prices and cereal prices, all of that have gone up. He knows people that can't make it and he's wondering what the government can do to try and as he said, reward people for their hard work.
He also wondered whether the rebate, this economic stimulus plan that President Bush is proposing, is it worth putting $500, $600 in everybody's pocket it will help, but there were a lot of concerns about people making enough money, having proper housing, job creation. You know, we're very much away from the discussion of 401(k)s and stock markets. We're really here talking to people who are concerned about how to make a daily living and how to pay for the increased expenses that they have on a daily basis. It's not a -- not a sophisticated look at global world markets. That's a world away. They're looking at how they make money and how they spend it.
COLLINS: No question about it. Tony and I were just talking during the break here. I think it cost me about $65 just the other day to fill up my tank of gas, and then went to the grocery store the day before that, Ali. It was like $200, but I hadn't really bought anything. No meat in there. There was no nothing.
VELSHI: Well, that's the problem with inflation is that you pay more money but the bag has the same amount of stuff in it. That's what concerns people. I don't think people here we've been talking to were talking about opportunities to the next get rich quick scheme or what stock will pop in the next year.
They're talking about daily issues and would like the presidential candidate to speak specifically how they create job, manage energy prices and specifically one of the things that came up particularly in South Carolina, health care. What can they do to get more people covered when they live on meager incomes?
COLLINS: Sure. Absolutely. By the way, we are looking at your face again. All right. Glad you got to stick around and we got to see you again. Thanks, Ali. Traveling as you can see on the CNN Election Express. We'll check in later, Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: See you.
HARRIS: All right. Breakfast meeting on Capitol Hill. On the menu, ways to juice up the economy, plans that could put more money in your pocket. House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and minority leader, John Boehner, meeting with treasury secretary, Henry Paulson. They're hoping to find ways to stimulate the economy. Tax rebates expected to be at the heart of those plans. President Bush and congressional leaders say they are confident they can quickly reach an agreement. One lawmaker says the goal is to get a deal through congress in three weeks.
Buckle up, hang on. We will see whether today is another wild ride on Wall Street. Almost guaranteed. Isn't it? The opening bell at the bottom of the hour and we will watch it for you. Remember, CNN is your best source for information about this unpredictable market. COLLINS: Was he sick or did he O.D.? An autopsy today may tell us why up and coming actor Heath Ledger died so young. He was 28 years old. CNN's Jason Carroll is following developments now from New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A tragic end of a promising acting career captured by a crowd of paparazzi outside a New York City apartment building. Heath Ledger's fans gathered outside as well. Some still in shock over the loss.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a mess. I've been crying all day. I just -- I can't believe something would happen to someone so talented, and --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a good actor. I mean he had the potential to be a fantastic actor. So, to do so many things, and it's just sad to see how it ended. You know?
CARROLL: It's not clear yet just what caused Ledger's death. Fire department spokesperson says that he died of a possible drug overdose. Police would not speculate on the cause, only to say there was no indication of suicide. The 28-year-old actor was found by a housekeeper and massage therapist around 2:45 yesterday afternoon.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER PAUL BROWNE, NEW YORK POLICE: He was found face down on the floor at the foot of the bed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was naked?
BROWNE: He had no clothes, correct.
CARROLL: The housekeeper and therapist tried to revive Ledger but could not. Paramedics arrived at the fourth floor SoHo apartment around 3:30 and pronounced him dead. Police say they found several bottles of prescription medicine in the apartment including sleeping pills found near the actor's bed. Ledger is perhaps best known for his Oscar nominated role in "Brokeback Mountain" and while his career was a success, privately, the actor struggled. Recently Ledger had broken up with actress Michelle Williams, whom he met while filming "Brokeback." The two have a baby girl. In the actor's hometown of Perth, Australia, the star's family tried to make sense of the loss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a down to earth, generous, kind- hearted, life-loving and unselfish individual. Extremely inspirational to me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Wow. It's so sad. CNN's Jason Carroll joins us live from New York.
Jason, how are New Yorkers reacting to Ledger's death?
CARROLL: Well, as you can imagine, the fans are completely upset. Heath Ledger's fans about what happened. They started to leave flowers and cards and candles in front of his apartment building. I've been waiting for some of them to come by this morning. So far none have shown up. What we've seen out here, a lot of press, you can imagine. This story is having an impact not just here but throughout the world, Heath Ledger, being from Australia. A lot of interest coming from overseas as well -- Heidi?
COLLINS: It really did come as such a surprise. All right. CNN's Jason Carroll for us in New York this morning. Thanks, Jason.
HARRIS: What do you say we get a check of weather? Where is that Rob Marciano? He's in the severe weather center for us this morning.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Cold across a lot of the country. I want to start by highlighting Florida. How's that? Sunshine state?
COLLINS: I like to think that.
MARCIANO: Let's go right to a live shot of Orlando. We've got a shot for you from our affiliate out that way, Central Florida, cable -- channel 13. Thanks for that shot. You had some rain earlier in Orlando, a couple of inches of it. But now it's starting to clear out. 67 degrees, still a shot worth seeing showers later today, but most of the heavy rain has moved offshore.
All right. Let's move the map up to a harsher reality as another cold punch of air is about to drive down from Canada. These are not wind-chill values. These are actual temperatures measured in the protected shades, minus eight in Green Bay, seven in Chicago. This is all driving south. A reinforcing shot of cold air here is highlighted on the surface map, frigid air. That's where it's headed, down to the southeast.
On another note, southern California. This is a very potent storm system that won't move rapidly. So it's tapping some moisture. Going to throw it into California. Already seeing that across much of the coastline in through San Francisco, the bay area and Sacramento as well. Up and over I-80, through the Sierra Nevada turning to snow at the higher elevation but a heavier concern or a greater concern, heavy rain across parts of southern California, the Santa Barbara coastline.
This is going to turn to snow at higher elevations -- 3,000 feet. 4,000 people, seeing 12 to 24 inches of snow. You might be able to see snow-capped mountains from the Simi Valley or maybe even the beach by the time Friday rolls along. Interesting weather happening out west. Everybody getting a little winter weather today. It is winter. So --
COLLINS: A wintry mix.
MARCIANO: Yes. Smorgasbord.
COLLINS: They always say that when it's winter. A wintry mix. Never quite understood that, but we can talk about it later. MARCIANO: Good to see you guys.
COLLINS: You too.
MARCIANO: See you in a bit.
HARRIS: Still ahead, a Texas town makes it illegal to rent to illegal immigrants. Will this law hold up in court?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Sand, surf and stumping, republicans fixated in Florida, and the candidates aren't wasting time on the beach. CNN's Dana Bash is in Estero, Florida, for a Rudy Giuliani event later today. Dana, good to see you. Let's see here.
What impact will Fred Thompson's departure have on the other campaigns?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know Tony, it's hard to tell primarily because of the fact that Fred Thompson was not polling much more than single digits which obviously is a big part of the reason why he pulled out of the race. Behind the scenes all of the campaigns, you talk to them, they're jockeying Tuesday that it's going to help them. The fact Fred Thompson will not endorse a candidate, we're told, any time soon certainly is a big blow to John McCain who is a longtime friend and supporter of Fred Thompson.
So that is sort of hurtful to him. You talked to Mitt Romney's campaign and they say that they think it could help them the most because the fact that what Fred Thompson did is he actually flipped the social conservative vote. That no longer exists without Fred Thompson in the race.
Mitt Romney's campaign also saying they hope that the people who did support Fred Thompson, the Reagan conservatives who were socially conservative but also fiscally conservative will fluctuate to Romney. Mike Huckabee had a pretty candid comment yesterday, Tony. He said that he wished Fred Thompson dropped out of the race before South Carolina, because he knows Fred Thompson actually siphoned a lot of Mike Huckabee's votes away from him.
HARRIS: We all know the fire wall for Rudy Giuliani is right where you are in Florida. How's it going for Giuliani in Florida?
BASH: You know, not the way he had anticipated it. I've got to tell you. I was here campaigning, following his campaign back in November and Rudy Giuliani was riding high. He was way ahead in the polls here in Florida. They were very, very confident at that point that they were going to make Florida his firewall what they've been calling it since he had not been actively campaigning and competing in the early contests.
But now, if you look where he is, he's actually fallen behind in some polls to John McCain and to Mitt Romney, and he seems to sort of be trying to find his sea legs in a place where he thought that he was absolutely fine, because the issue base he thought was very beneficial to him. He thought the moderate republicans here in Florida would be helpful to him, because he is somebody who admits that he is for abortion rights which didn't play well in some of the more socially conservative early contest states.
He actually last night went back up to New York. He's trying to raise more money, as all the campaigns are doing, in order to stay afloat here in Florida. His crowd, we are told, from our producer, who has been following him. We'll see in a little while have not been that big. It will be interesting to see how Rudy Giuliani makes Florida his make it or break it state, since he is not doing that well against his opponents who got some big bumps on an early contest wins.
HARRIS: There she is Dana Bash with the Giuliani campaign in Florida. Dana, great to see you. Thanks.
COLLINS: Raising a red flag on too much red meat. Before you load up on steak you need to hear from Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: This morning, a new reason to skip the burgers and steaks. A new study says too much red meat can raise your chance of heart disease and diabetes. It finds middle aged people who eat two servings of meat a day increase their risk of metabolic syndrome by 26 percent. We want to go live to CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta in New York.
So guess what my first question is. What is metabolic syndrome?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's a good question. I think a lot of people are wondering that. When you talk about the risk of heart disease, there's often a sort of cluster of symptoms that puts you at greater risk for heart disease. People point to blood pressure, increased cholesterol. If you have this sort of syndrome of symptoms, look at the list there; obesity, high blood pressure, high sugar levels, abnormal cholesterol levels. These things together collectively put you at higher risk. You take this as an aggregate. They question, what puts you at high risk of developing the syndrome in the first place?
As you pointed out, Heidi, it's an interesting question. How much meat is too much? They say having two servings of meat a day actually puts you at 25 percent, 26 percent greater increase of this metabolic syndrome. One of the most common questions we get is how much is too much of anything? Having more than two servings a day does increase your risk.
I should add as well Heidi in all fairness, that fried foods for example, as you might expect, increase your risk of metabolic syndrome. Diet soda increases your risk of metabolic syndrome as well by about 34 percent. They're not quite sure why. Could be because people who drink diet soda also have unhealthy eating habits otherwise. Who knows? There are things that increase your risk. It's important to take note of how much is too much.
COLLINS: I feel like you're calling me out. You know I have that steak and diet coke.
GUPTA: But you look great.
COLLINS: Right. Seriously, though, benefits of eating red meat you can't get in the other food? I'm thinking of iron, right?
GUPTA: Absolutely. One of the things we always talk about is that you find thresholds where things become more problematic or put you at higher risk but it's not to say if you abstain completely from these foods. You're right. Iron can be a huge value when it comes to red meat. Protein as well, obviously.
Dairy in general can be a great tool in terms of maintaining weight if you do it appropriately. B12 is something that people start to lose levels of as you get older. Red meat can be a good source. As with everything, don't overdo it. Don't have two servings a day. That's simply too much. Cut back a little bit.
COLLINS: All right. Having to cut back on everything. Can't eat anything but dirt. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, nice to see you, Sanjay. Thank you.
GUPTA: All right. Take care.
HARRIS: Buckle up and hang on. How about the variation about the line from Bette Davis? Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy ride for stocks today, minutes away. The opening bell. Watching it right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Here we go. Coming up on the half hour. The bell, the bell, the bell. What's going to happen? What's going to happen? What's going to happen?
Hi, everybody. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins.
Hanging on, trading about to get underway on Wall Street now, any minute that bell will go. Should be in for another wild ride. We have several people covering
COLLINS: Hi, there, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins. You know, we're talking about trapping ourselves in today and hanging on, that's for sure. Trading about to get underway on Wall Street now. Any minute that bell is going to go. It looks like we could be in for another wild ride.
We have several people covering all the angles. Susan Lisovicz is watching the markets for us. Ali Velshi is aboard the CNN Election Express and Gerri Willis is watching out for your bottom line. Let's go ahead and begin with Susan.
Seconds away again, Susan. LISOVICZ: Oh no, the opening bell has now rung and we're already seeing a lot of downward arrows. One trader said to me a few minutes ago, he said, Susan, do you have your script from yesterday? Because we are expecting a terrible open.
In fact, we're not even 30 seconds in and we're already down 136 points on the Dow. That is the fear of recession that continues to spook investors. And you know, I just want to say, look, I mean, we are in a period of discovery right now. That's open has term you here for lawyers. But that's what's happening right now. Investors are trying to get a handle on what's happening and we're getting a lot of corporate earnings. Among them Apple.
Apple came out after the closing bell yesterday. It's a darling on Wall Street. It's got to blow-away devices. The iPod, the iPhone. Never mind, it's very popular max. Well, Apple brought its forecast down for this current quarter and Apple in the free market was getting slammed. It shares were down 11 percent. That's the kind of fear that's going on. So we have a couple of critical weeks to get through.
I'm just going to tell new in advance. We're down 184 points right now in the blue chips. We're watching two levels. We're watching 11,650. That's approximately where the Dow is at its low yesterday. We'll see if we hit that and if we can hold that. That would be a good sign. Maybe rally from there.
But the other one we're watching is the bear market territory. And that's 11332. If the Dow gets to that level or lower, it will have plunged 20 percent from its October high. And that is bear market. The common definition of a bear market. Three major averages are fairly close to it right now in percentage terms -- Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, Susan. We're going to continue to watch those numbers -- 11332 is when the bear shows up. All right. Susan, thanks.
HARRIS: Boy, traveling cross-country, talking about your economic concerns. CNN's Ali Velshi is aboard the CNN Election Express. He is with us by way of broadband hookup.
And you know, Ali, I've channeled your look today. I'm coming out of the jacket to the vest. Yes, because it's a little chilly in here.
COLLINS: About 400 below.
HARRIS: Oh, we don't have, Ali? We're going to try to get him back up in just a second.
COLLINS: Can I still have your jacket?
HARRIS: Yes, you absolutely can. Because we need all of this powers here as we try to tell them this Wall Street, this market story today. But we will try to get back to Ali in just a couple of moments here. COLLINS: Excellent. Not sure if you can still hear my microphone. With all the market matter, so it is pretty hard to know what to do. Personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, live from New York now.
So, Gerri, mortgages are on a lot of people's minds. Is it a good time to refinance? That's seems to be what everyone in the morning news was talking about.
WILLIS: Well, let's look for the silver lining here. I was talking to mortgage brokers yesterday. They were saying, hey, we're getting inundated with phone calls. People know that the Fed cut rates yesterday at three quarters of a point. Guess what its helping mortgage rates right now.
We take a look at the bank rate numbers. A 30-year fixed rate mortgage, 5.3 percent is the average, according to banks right now. We use their numbers because they average these daily -- 30 jumbo fixed, 6.4, as you can see, right here.
Now, of course, it's not free to get a refinance. It can cost you as much as one percent to three percent of the loan amount. What's more, the rates are luscious right now, but bankers are a little stingy. They have higher requirements than they used to. They used to require that you put down ten percent equity. Some of them now required 20 percent equity. That you have 20 percent in your loan. And they want to see a higher credit score. You can't get away with 660 anymore. You got to have a score of 720.
And of course, one thing to know here. If you're in one of those markets where prices, home prices have dropped sharply, you know, you go out and get an appraisal when you get a new home loan. And that's going to lock in that level of wherever your house is right now. So if the price falls dramatically, you may not be able to get a new loan.
Once more, you may find out that you owe more than the house is worth. So you want to think through what you're doing when you're getting a new home loan, because these are great rates. Remember, the long-term average, really about eight percent. So this is looking pretty good, and particularly if you're in one of these adjustable rate mortgages out there. You know, you're seeing such an increase in your loan amount.
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. What about your investments? We talked a little bit yesterday about really taking this opportunity to educate yourself and make sure that you are invested in the right stocks and possibly buying some of the ones that you don't have right now at this time because they're cheap.
WILLIS: Well, look, you have to see what you're invested in. Is your asset allocation right for your age and the amount of time you have until you retire? If you go to cnnmoney.com, you'll find a great calculator that will help you figure if you're invested in the right things. But I don't think this is a time where you sell willy-nilly. Look, you know, you're going to have to reinvest that money at some point. This is your retirement fund, your 401(k), your I.R.A. You want to make sure you got your money working. Because when you're buying right now, you're buying on lows. You're getting these stocks on the cheap. Now is the time to start thinking about, is there anything else I want to buy. Is there anything else I should have in my portfolio that makes sense now?
Now, I'm not calling a bottom to the market. I don't think anybody wants to do that, but you know, I never get these questions, like, last October when stocks were up 14,000, people weren't saying to me, Gerri, I'm worried about the market. Should I move my money out? Now is when people are worried. Now is when the fear is the highest and you really have to have a strong stomach to stay invested.
COLLINS: A strong stomach. That's what I don't have. That's for darn sure. But I know, there are other ones out there.
WILLIS: Well, you got to fake it. Heidi, fake it.
COLLINS: All right. Gerri Willis, thanks so much.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
HARRIS: So what do you say, we try this again. Let's get back to Ali Velshi on the CNN Election Express traveling the country through the south right now. And Mississippi, is that correct, Ali? Again, take a look at me here. I channeled your look here with the vest, because we need all of your powers to try to explain what's happening with markets today.
Good morning, Ali.
VELSHI: I got to tell you one thing. I got to explain one thing to you, Tony. I'm going to be back in New York next week, so my vest better be back when I get there.
HARRIS: It will be back. You can count on it.
VELSHI: You guys are looking good. I'm in Alabama at the moment. We were in Georgia. We moved into Alabama. We've just passed Birmingham, a little while ago. We're headed to -- I guess, you're look at my crew here. We're headed to Memphis next and then into Little Rock and we're talking to people, Tony, about what -- how all these things that are going on in the economy are affecting them. What exactly does it mean to them?
And to most people, we are talking about gas prices, what Gerri just said. Home prices, mortgage prices, inflation and jobs. Those are the concerns. That's the way it translates to people. Yes, yesterday people did know that there was a Fed rate cut. They did know that there were massive drops on the stock market and they have been, but that's not the -- they're taking that as an indication of how things are going in this country.
Their economy is very (INAUDIBLE) for some counties where they've got unemployment rates in excess of 10 percent. So getting jobs and the wages of those jobs pay and health care benefits seem to be the most important thing to people that we're talking to right now -- Tony?
HARRIS: All right. Ali, I'm going to let you go, because you're starting to break up just a little bit. This is a great idea in theory. We're going to make it work practically for us any moment now. Ali Velshi on the CNN Election Express. Ali, great to see you. Thanks.
VELSHI: All right.
HARRIS: An autopsy today may clear up the reason for Heath Ledger's sudden death. He was just 28-years-old. The actor's body was found in his New York apartment. Police are investigating the death as a possible drug overdose. It is shocking news for Ledger's fans and the stars who worked with him.CNN's Brooke Anderson joins us from the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
Brooke, good to see you. Give us some of the reaction from stars there in Park city.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, friends and former co- stars of Heath Ledger, Tony, are reeling from the news of his death. Here in Park City at the Sundance Film Festival, some are really opening up about their sadness and thoughts about Ledger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUKAS HAAS, ACTOR: He was a wonderful, wonderful actor and a wonderful person, you know. I met him several times and just a really genuine, lovely guy. And it's just really, really sad.
JACQUELINE BISSETT, ACTOR: I met him briefly in Venice at the festival and always thought he had a lot of potential and -- I don't know the details. So, I just am in shock like everybody.
PATRICIA CLARKSON, ACTOR: I just saw him in "I'm Not There" and he was a very, very gifted young man. Incredibly talented.
STANLEY TUCCI, ACTOR: I can only say he was a captivating person. The performance in "Brokeback Mountain" was beautiful. But every time you saw that guy on screen, you just wanted to watch him and it's sad. Well, it's just sad that he's gone. Too young. Too young.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Yes. People are just stunned here at the Sundance Film Festival. And Tony, many people don't want to talk about it. In fact, former girlfriend and co-star Naomi Watts cancelled interviews today. We had one scheduled with her for her Sundance Film "Funny Games", it's such a terrible tragedy. It's understandable she wouldn't be up for an interview today.
HARRIS: All right. Brooke Anderson for us, Park City, Utah, home of the Sundance Film Festival. Brooke, great to see you. Thank you.
COLLINS: Overseas this morning now. By foot, car and even donkey. Palestinians flooding from Gaza into Egypt. The desperate to get food, medicines and other basic necessities. CNN's Ben Wedeman reports from the border at Rafah.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The walls in Gaza have come tumbling down in the early hours of the morning. Militants here in the town of Rafah used an acetylene torches and high explosives to eventually blow this wall down. Large stretches of this steel or iron wall are now completely flat.
In other areas they used explosives to blow part of the concrete wall away, and what has followed is tens of thousands, if not more, Palestinians streaming over the border without any controls whatsoever. Nobody checking passports, visas, IDs, not even any questions. They're going into Egypt to buy the things that in Gaza are now in short supply.
We've seen people coming back with cooking oil, with diesel, with food, with furniture, with dish washing liquid. Anything you can imagine. They have brought back, because the situation in Gaza has been particularly dire for the past week, following Israel's tightening of the blockade. And certainly Gaza has really been cut off from the rest of the world since last June when Hamas took over the strip.
After that, both Israel and Egypt completely sealed the borders. The Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, is allowing the Palestinians over the border to buy their necessities. The question is, now that the border is gone, are they going to be able to close it again? I'm Ben Wedeman reporting from no-man's-land between Gaza and Egypt.
HARRIS: As if you needed one, another example of why you need to be careful when you are sending an e-mail or even leaving a voicemail these days. Our Veronica De La Cruz shares the cautionary tale straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: That's some Rock 'n' Roll.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: We're going to look at the markets for you again here. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now down 216 points, about 15 minutes or so into the trading day. Resting at 11754. The reason why that number is important today, it's because it sort of hovering a little bit around what we're calling the bear market. It's got a quite way to go, actually. 11332 is the number we're looking for there. Yesterday, we got down to 11650. So we have been warned today going to be very, very similar to yesterday's day of trading. So we'll watch it for you.
HARRIS: OK. You've heard this one before. This morning another example of why you need to be very careful when you're sending an e- mail, writing a text message or even leaving a voicemail these days, it seems.
Our Veronica De La Cruz is here with a story about -- Veronica, this is about a snow day phone call that really has snowballed on the Internet. Good morning.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to you. It started last week when a senior, Tony, at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Virginia called the listed, that is the operative word here, the listed home number of the chief operating officer of the county school system. Dean Tistadt, he's seen right here in this photo.
About three inches of snow had fallen, Tony, and then the student left a message wanting to know why classes weren't cancelled. Later in the day the student's phone call was returned, not by Dean Tistadt, but by his angry wife. The student decided to post the voicemail on the Internet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN TISTADT: Don't you ever call here again! My husband has been at the office since 6:30 this morning. So don't you even suggest that he purposely didn't answer his phone! He is out almost every single night of the week at meetings for snotty-nose little brats. And he may not have called you, but it's not because he's home. It's because it snowed. Get over it kid and go to school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: The recording is on YouTube. Has received more than 11,000 views, Tony. The student also created a Facebook page with a photo of Mr. Tistadt. He's work e-mail address and phone numbers and a link to that voicemail recording. And the group has more than 1,000 members. And Mr. Tistadt says that he is getting even more harassed by phone calls and e-mails.
HARRIS: Sure, sure.
DE LA CRUZ: What a mess here.
HARRIS: Well, this is something. I just want to ask to cue that phone call up again. We needed to just cue it up again, just to hear it, when we wrap our segment here. Is the student, Veronica, faces any disciplinary action?
DE LA CRUZ: Well, we were calling to the school's principal. We have yet to hear back. But we did speak with Mr. Tistadt. He said that he didn't think the kid's behavior necessarily warranted punishment. It is felt the school would handle this matter appropriately, however.
HARRIS: I just want to check on this. Are we close, someone in the control room to having that phone call kind of cued? We do have. OK. Let's listen to the call once again and I have one more question for you, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TISTADT: Don't you ever call here again! My husband has been at the office since 6:30 this morning. So don't you even suggest that he purposely didn't answer his phone! He is out almost every single night of the week at meetings for snotty-nose little brats. And he may not have called you, but it's not because he's home. It's because it snowed. Get over it kid and go to school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK, all right. So does Mr. T believe his wife made the right decision in calling this kid back?
DE LA CRUZ: Well, Mr. T believes that the student did cross the line by calling at home. To challenge these decisions, Tony, that are business related, he says that his wife was very emotional when she responded. She perceived this to be an attack on her husband. Mr. Tistadt says that the student's phone call suggested that he left early, because he's worried about his own safety in the snow and that he didn't care about the students, which really wasn't true. But I think, Tony, the lesson learned here; make sure you have an unlisted number. What was his number doing in the phone book, anyway?
HARRIS: Well, I think, it's required. Well, I'm not sure.
DE LA CRUZ: No.
HARRIS: I shouldn't say that. But I believe that it's often the case that these administrators have to have listed phone numbers. I'm not sure, but I think that's the case.
DE LA CRUZ: I think, seriously, I think, the lesson learned here is think before you speak.
HARRIS: Oh, my goodness. There you go, Veronica. , appreciate it. That was fun. Thank you.
DE LA CRUZ: Nice to see you.
HARRIS: Just another reminder, you can also see Veronica, every morning on AMERICAN MORNING, 6:00 until 9:00 a.m. Eastern time.
COLLINS: I'm kind of for the wife.
HARRIS: Hot?
COLLINS: Yes.
HARRIS: Whew!
COLLINS: Anyway.
HARRIS: You wouldn't have...
COLLINS: I wouldn't have used, maybe that language, but you know.
HARRIS: On principle level, an outrage.
COLLINS: Yes. Talk about a power nap. Well, Bill Clinton might not be the only politician caught napping. You remember these pictures? They snooze, they lose, when it's on tape.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Podcasting, later today. Hey, is it feeling better to you?
COLLINS: I cannot do the podcast today. I will be frozen solid.
HARRIS: Is it getting a little warmer? Because -- I mean, if you're comfortable in the jacket, keep it, by all means. But -- you're all right with it?
COLLINS: No. It's a little big.
HARRIS: Yes, it is. I'm sorry.
COLLINS: I'll give it back to you.
HARRIS: All right.
COLLINS: TV time. Screaming at you. Thanks for the jacket.
HARRIS: Sure. We're podcasting later today. It isn't going to help. Here's what you do. You can go to cnn.com and you download the CNN NEWSROOM daily podcast, available to you 24/7 on your iPod. Just (INAUDIBLE) like this in the podcast today.
COLLINS: Oh, look. Now, we're shooting on the floor. That's cool. All right. You need a license to drive, to fish and marry, but to rent a house? It's the latest legal tactic by a Texas town to keep illegal immigrants out.
Craig Civale of affiliate WFAA reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CRAIG CIVALE, AFFILIATE WFAA (voice-over): It is believed to be the only ordinance of its kind. A city law that would require renters to register get a license prior to leasing.
HAROLD FRALICK, RESIDENT: People won't come here who have something to hide when this ordinance is in place.
CIVALE: This cleaned up version puts the responsibility on the Federal government. Renters who would pay Farmers Branch $5 and fill out a form. That would be compared to a federal database to see if a person is here legally.
GENE BLEDSOE, LANDLORD: I believe that whites, Hispanics, African-Americans are not going to go through the rigors of trekking down to city hall, filling out the questionnaire, doing all -- paying the $5 to get a vista to live in Farmers Branch.
CIVALE: And some say driving away clients, means driving away business. The city's 4600 rental properties would have a harder time filling up and it would have a domino effect in the community.
GERRY HENIGSMAN, APT. ASSN. FO GREATER DALLAS: They're going after a very small segment of what they consider is a problem to their city but they're punishing substantial number of other people and they are really hurting an industry.
CIVALE: Farmers Branch residents overwhelmingly supported the prior ordinance in May and some say this downsize are just a small price to pay for the city's future.
TOM BOHMLER, RESIDENT: The proposed ordinance will reduce on a go and for basis. The tidal wave of illegal aliens who overcrowd our schools and suck dry the wide array of community resources allocated for legal residents.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: A federal judge blocked a previous ordinance that would have required landlords to review the status of renters.
HARRIS: A fugitive marine spotted in Mexico, a cousin of Corporal Cesar Laurean says the marine stopped in his liquor store but Laurean didn't tell him where he was headed. The cousin says that at that time, he didn't know that Laurean was wanted for the murder of pregnant marine Maria Lauterbach.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck talked exclusively to Laurean's cousin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Have you been in touch with your cousin lately?
JUAN ANTONIO RAMOS RAMIREZ, LAUREAN'S COUSIN (through translator): Yes. The other day.
WHITBECK: He called you?
RAMIREZ: No. Stopped by.
WHITBECK: Cesar, the one who lives in the United States, came to see you here?
RAMIREZ: Yes, just a few days ago, last week.
WHITBECK: And what did he tell you?
RAMIREZ: Just, hi. I'm just passing by. He told me he was here with some buddies for a few days and you know, it's not the first time he's come by to visit, say hi to the family.
WHITBECK: Is this he? RAMIREZ: Yes, it is he.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A law enforcement source tells CNN, Laurean, mailed three letters to his wife since he disappeared. Two of them sent from Houston. The source also told us someone wired money to Laurean in Houston but wouldn't say who it was.
COLLINS: Coming up, so much potential. What happened to actor Heath Ledger? The autopsy, today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We're talking about avoiding airline security and making it on an airline. No terror is here but a cat. Who finally let the cat out of the bag? Reporter Stephanie Gailhard of affiliate WPEC has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good girl.
STEPHANIE GAILHARD, AFFILIATE WPEC (voice-over): Cuddling with their cat, the Levy, won't let Gracy May (ph) out of their sights for too long these days. The cat mysteriously disappeared three days ago. When Seth Levy was packing up his suitcase for a business trip. And it turns out, Gracy May, had crawled into Seth's bag. He had no idea, neither did security at Fort Lauderdale Airport.
SETH LEVY, FLEW WITH CAT IN LUGGAGE: She went through whatever process the bags go through. Whether that's x-ray or whatever the process is. She went through the process. She was loaded on to the airplane and she flew on the plane with me in baggage to Dallas.
GAILHARD: More than eight hours later, at Seth's destination, another passenger accidentally grabbed his suitcase from the airport carousel, with Gracy May inside. Meantime, in Palm Beach Gardens, Kelly was ripping apart their home looking for the cat. She was really worried. The cat had never disappeared before.
LEVY: Upstairs all the cabinets are all taken apart trying to find her.
GAILHARD: But then, a day later, Kelly got this call from Texas. It was a man who picked up the wrong bag full of Gracy May.
LEVY: They have nine lives. Well, she's definitely like to number four or five. I don't know.
GAILHARD: The family can now joke about this. They say Gracy May deserve some frequent fire miles for her 1300 mile trip.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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