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American Morning
City Council Shooting in Missouri; Sugar Plant Explosion in Georgia; What Killed Bhutto?
Aired February 08, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you. Thanks very much for being with us on this Friday, the 8th of February. I'm John Roberts.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Alina Cho. Kiran Chetry has the morning off. Boy, a lot of news overnight. If you went to bed early, it's a very busy news day.
ROBERTS: We've got it all for you this morning. We start with breaking news in Missouri.
A senseless and horrific crime scene at city hall. Witnesses say a man with a grudge against civic leaders stormed in, shouting "shoot the mayor" and he did, along with six other people before officers shot and killed him. Now, two police officers, two city council leaders and another person are dead. And the mayor is in critical condition this morning. It all happened in Kirkwood. That's about 10 miles southwest of the city of St. Louis.
Witnesses say the gunman, Charles Thornton, had a long and angry history inside those chambers and came back to settle the score. Susan Roesgen is live in Kirkwood this morning and joins us now with the latest. Good morning, Susan.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. I think people here want to know how could this guy get in and kill so many people. Apparently, the city council and the mayor had just started their meeting. They had just said the Pledge of Allegiance when this gunman came blasting away. It turns out he had already killed a police officer in the parking lot behind city hall behind me, and then he made his way into the city council chambers at about 7:00 last night.
Witnesses say that he methodically moved from the back of the room to the front of the room, targeting specific people. A newspaper reporter, Janet McNichols, was one of the horrified witnesses who watched it happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET MCNICHOLS, POST-DISPATCH CORRESPONDENT: I had heard him yell something about a gun, and I looked up, and I saw Officer Bauman (ph) had been shot in the head. And then I looked right in front of me, and Mr. Yost had been shot in the head too. He'd fell over. I could hear him breathing, and the women said next to me, another reporter, we crawled under the chairs and just laid there. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: But that was not the end of it, John. This gunman, Charles Thornton, then went on to kill a city councilwoman and then to critically wound another city council member and Mayor Mike Swoboda. They remain in critical condition in the hospital, and that's what happened before the police were finally able to kill Thornton -- John.
ROBERTS: Susan, what do we know about this felon in terms of his record of being angry, upset at members of the city council, the mayor himself?
ROESGEN: Really, John, that's about all we know right now is that he was a city hall regular. People were used to seeing him at the city hall here behind me. That he would come and be a critic, that he'd complain, that a lot of city council members that he was seeming -- be getting progressively angrier as the meetings went on. He had to be hustled out by security a couple of weeks ago. And then he lost a federal lawsuit in which he was claiming that his constitutional right to speak was being violated. The federal judge had thrown that out. I think that everyone knew that he was sort of the city hall crank, but they didn't think that he would show up with a weapon -- John.
ROBERTS: Susan Roesgen for us this morning in Kirkwood. Susan, thanks very much.
And the FBI is revealing a threat against the Super Bowl, one that was moments away apparently from being carried out by another man angry at the government. The Feds say Kirk Havelock planned the shooting because he was denied a liquor license for his bar in Tempe, Arizona. Havelock was in the stadium parking lot armed with an assault rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition before he apparently changed his mind. He had already mailed a manifesto to the media describing his plan.
Our justice correspondent Kelli Arena has the manifesto. She'll tell us what was laid out. That's coming up in our next hour here on AMERICAN MORNING -- Alina.
CHO: All right, John,
We're also following breaking news this morning near Savannah, Georgia. Right now, rescue crews are searching for six workers missing after an explosion and fire at a sugar refinery plant. At least 42 people were hurt, many in critical condition. Some with burns over 90 percent of their bodies. It happened last night at the Imperial Sugar Plant. That's in Port Wentworth, Georgia.
CNN's Don Lemon is there for us. Don, I know it's early, but are you hearing anything about a cause?
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is very early, but you know, the most interesting thing, Alina, the headline here -- it was like walking into hell. That's what some witnesses who saw this described the situation at the Imperial Sugar Plant. The plant is, if you can turn this way, it's dark here as you said early. It's probably maybe a couple of hundred yards on the other side of these trees over here, so we can't really see what's happening in there, but they have been giving updates to us this morning.
Also, very interesting here -- the coast guard looking in the river. They closed the river around the port and also around the plant. Just behind me, another couple hundred yards on the other side of the port is over my right shoulder, there are family members inside of a school, inside of a church, waiting to hear word from their loved ones. At least six people, according to authorities, believe to be missing. Sadly, to say, some of the witnesses say there were people who were walking around with their skin hanging off of their bodies. Their clothes were burned. They saw it was on fire.
Again, the headline, it was like walking into hell. Still looking for six people. Family members still awaiting to hear some of them. Some of them we've met and we'll share their stories with you a little bit later on -- Alina.
CHO: All right. CNN's Don Lemon live for us. Thank you very much, Don. John?
ROBERTS: Five minutes after the hour. And some breaking developments on what killed former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. A report released today by Scotland Yard says she died from the bomb blast, not a bullet. British investigators in Pakistan say Bhutto suffered a fatal head injury when a suicide bomber attacked her car.
Investigators also shed light on the number of assassins involved. They now think the same person both shot at Bhutto and then blew himself up. Scotland Yard was called in when Bhutto supporters refused to accept the results of the Pakistani investigation. Pakistani officials insist that Bhutto died when she hit her head on the lever of a sunroof of the car that she was traveling in.
Breaking news in France this morning. A French newspaper is reporting a second arrest in connection with that $7 billion bank fraud case. Le Monde (ph) says that another trader is in custody this morning. Jerome Kerviel is already in custody accused of making risky trades and covering them up.
New this morning in politics, now that it is a two-man race for the Republican nomination. Evangelical Christian leader James Dobson says he is endorsing Mike Huckabee. Dobson is the founder of the group, "Focus on the Family." He says he was strongly opposed to John McCain because he won't support a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The announcement came after Mitt Romney bowed out. He spent a year campaigning for president, $35 million of his own money to finance it.
Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are furiously raising money since nearly tying in the race for delegates on Super Tuesday. He has raised over $7.5 million in two days. She has raised nearly $6.5 million. Our Veronica De La Cruz takes a closer look at the fundraising coming up in just a couple of minutes here. The check is in the mail. More likely will be anyway. Congress finally passing a $167 billion economic stimulus package. The bill passed overwhelmingly by both the House and the Senate, and here's how it ended up. Americans who pay no income taxes but who earned at least $3,000 and those who earned up to $75,000 will get a rebate between $300 and $600. Parents will also get $300 per child. Couples earning up to $150,000 will get $1,200 rebates. And millions of Social Security beneficiaries and handicapped veterans and their widows can also expect some kind of check.
President Bush will be getting a first hand look at the twister damage in Tennessee today. At least 56 people died in the string of tornadoes, Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, 32 of them in Tennessee. The president declared major disaster areas in five Tennessee counties. That is going to free up money for temporary housing, home repairs and low-cost loans to the uninsured -- Alina.
CHO: More on the weather now, John.
Right now, people in the Midwest are digging out from a snowstorm that closed highways and stalled air travel as you can see there. But three days of heavy rain and melting snow are now prompting flood warnings across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, even New York. The flooding especially heavy in northwest Ohio, as you can see in those pictures there.
Rob Marciano in Defiance, Ohio. So Rob, looking there, I can't quite see -- are you in knee deep or ankle deep water there?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I wanted, Alina, but they were out of waders last night when we got into town. Talking to a lot of folks, this flooding is certainly bad. We are on the Auglaize River, which should be about 200 yards back in its banks. By the way, we are talking about major flooding here, very close to where the Auglaize meets the Maumee which flows into Lake Erie.
So, right now, we've got about 69 homes that have been evacuated, their power cut off, their gas shut down. And no word yet when they'll be let back in their homes. Surely, we have to wait for the water to crest. The problem is this thing was supposed to crest last night. Got into town, called the emergency manager and say, you know what? This river is a little bit higher than where it's forecast to crest tomorrow. So we think that forecast is wrong. And sure enough, this morning, the water is higher. Those forecasts have been upgraded, and this river is likely not to crest until later on this morning.
Now, upriver in the city of Finley, they had bad flooding just a few months ago in August. So it's deja vu for those folks across the Blanchard River. All that water has to feed this way before it gets into the Maumee, before it gets down into Erie. And all 17 rivers across parts of northwest Ohio are in some sort of flood stage. That doesn't include Indiana. It doesn't include Illinois and all the other rivers that have seen a tremendous amount of rain with this storm that brought the tornadoes down south and now the cold air coming in behind. Quick check on the radar to show you what's going on right here. It is snowing. It's 25 degrees, so not exactly the most pleasant flooding conditions for sure. Snow won't be the biggest issue over the next 48 hours as folks deal with this slowly falling water. The cold air is going to be the big issue. Here's a look at some of the flood watches and warnings that are posted across parts of the Great Lakes and the Midwest. And just a plethora of counties affected by all the rain that was brought up on this massive, massive storm system.
Well, you get water, you get cold, you get ice. So that's a problem and you've got wind chills that over the next couple of days are going to be similar to what we saw just last week. Could touch 30, 40, even 50 below at times. And that weather is supposed to get here, Alina. Saturday night into Sunday, looking for a high Sunday of about 10 degrees above zero. So certainly, we want a lot of this water to get out of here. Hopefully a lot of it will, but there will be ponding. There will be water in folks' houses and a lot won't have electricity or gas to heat their homes. So certainly here across northwest Ohio in Defiance, it is not the most pleasant of conditions. They're comparing it to the floods of '05 and 1985, which folks that we talked to last night said was just a nightmare. Alina, back to you.
CHO: All right. So I think it's time to get a warmer hat and some waders. And I know you're watching it all, so we'll check back with you later, Rob. All right. Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: OK.
CHO: John?
ROBERTS: ExxonMobil takes on Hugo Chavez. The U.S. oil giant scores a big court victory on an ongoing dispute with Venezuela. Our Stephanie Elam in for Ali Velshi. She's got more on that for us this morning. Good morning, Steph (ph).
STEPHANIE ELAM, BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Yes. This is definitely something that a lot of people have been watching what was going to happen here. And Exxon Mobil has now been granted the right to go ahead and have $12 billion in assets related to the Venezuelan state-owned oil company frozen. This is coming from the high court of England.
They're disputing the nationalization of some major oil projects in Venezuela. You may remember back in 2007, last year, when Hugo Chavez came out and said that he's nationalizing these four major oil projects. Obviously, as oil prices have gone up, some of these nations have really gone really hard core to get more stake in some of the oil coming out of there with this publicly traded companies. Exxon really fighting back here. Exxon and ConocoPhillips actually walking away from some contracts rather than take a minority stake.
But at this point, further hearings are scheduled for February 22nd. Obviously, the company out of Venezuela saying that they don't need to have a freeze at this point. But Exxon Mobil also has attachment orders from courts in the Netherlands and the Dutch Caribbean looking for another $12 billion each, John. So they're really going after them hard core to say, hey, we are already in there working on these projects, we intend to stay in them.
ROBERTS: All right. Stephanie, thanks. We'll keep watching that story.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." We're hearing more about just when a spy satellite is expected to rain down on earth. When to mark your calendars, coming up. Potential locations as well.
And Republicans are facing new choices today, now that Mitt Romney is out of the race. We'll talk to conservative Bill Bennett about what he's hearing from his listeners. That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Sky watchers, mark your calendars for the first week in March. That's when the spy satellite is expected to hit earth. It weighs 5,000 pounds and could scatter dangerous debris over several hundred miles. U.S. officials say they have no control over the satellite and don't know where it will land -- John.
ROBERTS: Well, now that it's a two-man race for the Republican nomination, the race has got a little more interesting this morning. Mitt Romney said that he is suspending his campaign for the sake of the Republican Party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In this time of war, I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for country. I'd forestall the launch of a national campaign. And frankly, I've been making it easier for Senator Clinton or Obama to win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Mike Huckabee is earning a big conservative endorsement. How will the shakeup affect the GOP race? Joining us now is Bill Bennett, CNN contributor, also host of Bill Bennett's "Morning in America." He's in his radio studio there. Bill, good to see you. Are you surprised that Romney didn't carry on at least through the contest into next Tuesday? I mean, was there any pressure for him to get out or do you think he just realized that it wasn't going to happen?
BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, John. I think it was internal pressure. I think he looked at the situation and saw it would be very hard for him to win. He's at the point where he's spending a lot of his money. And he's a businessman, you know, sooner or later, he's got to look at return on investment. But I think he decided it just wasn't going to happen. I don't discount what he said either. I think he thought a long drawn-out race that he could not win would not be particularly good for the party or for the country. So I think that's serious. But there's still two guys in the race, and that Dobson endorsement is going to be a fairly big deal for some people.
ROBERTS: Yes, I'm sure it will. John McCain was at the CPAC conference yesterday...
BENNETT: Yes.
ROBERTS: ... to try to win over conservatives. Listen to some of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Surely, I have held other positions that have not met with widespread agreement from conservatives. I won't pretend otherwise, nor would you permit me to forget it. On the issue of illegal immigration, a position which -- which --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So there you hear an awful lot of boos there, Bill, for John McCain, when he mentions the word immigration. A lot of disapproval on that issue. Others like McCain-Feingold. Where does he really stand on bedrock conservative values?
BENNETT: Well, I think if you look at the whole record, the American Conservative Union rating is pretty accurate -- 80 percent. Now, some conservatives who are very unhappy with John McCain will focus on that minus 20, if you will, you know, the 20 where they say he's wrong.
ROBERTS: Right.
BENNETT: But if you rate the American Conservative Union's -- compare their rating of John McCain at 80 to the rating of Hillary Clinton at nine, there's a big difference. So, you know, a glass four-fifths filled or one-fifth empty sort of thing. But let me say, he did -- you know, I'm sure he had advisers, John, telling him do not bring up illegal immigration, and he did anyway, and he got the boos. But overall, he was very well received. I have to say I was surprised.
This is the conservative wing of the conservative movement, CPAC, and he was well received. I was there for an hour and a half afterwards signing books. I talked to probably 100 people. I would say 80 of them said he did a good job. It's a beginning. It's a start. It's not settled. But, you know, it's the first date and he did a good job.
ROBERTS: Some -- many conservatives are still taking shots of him, though. Listen to what Laura Ingraham said when she was introducing Mitt Romney. BENNETT: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA INGRAHAM, CONSERVATIVE TALK SHOW HOST: I don't think it's enough to say that, you know, you were a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution. I think the question is, what have you been doing for conservatism lately?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Bill, is there any way that John McCain can win them over? Bay Buchanan was saying on "360" last night, that in addition to talking, he needs to do something. What could he do to win them over?
BENNETT: I think he started to do it yesterday. Look, Laura Ingraham used to work for me, John. I was secretary of Education. She was one of my speech writers. She's been a great star in talk radio. But there's a direct answer to what John McCain has done for conservatism lately.
Conservatists care about this war. They care about victory in Iraq. He stood up for the surge. You remember that. He said I'd rather lose the war -- I'd rather lose the election than the war.
ROBERTS: Yes.
BENNETT: So that's something he's done lately. I think without John McCain standing up, I'm not sure George Bush gets the surge. So there's a direct answer to Laura's question. Some people will not be convinced, and some people will take the intransigent, in my view and position, that no matter what, we're not going support him. Most other people have an open mind. They're ready to be persuaded.
ROBERTS: One of those intransigent people is James Dobson, founder of "Focus on the Family," one of the biggest evangelical leaders in this country. He's throwing his support behind Mike Huckabee. So what does that do to the race? And is Huckabee really a viable candidate?
BENNETT: I don't think Huckabee can get the nomination. This is all very interesting, by the way. These are a lot of my best friends, you know, and the waters are really royaled on the conservative side. A lot of people listen to Jim Dobson. A lot of people will hold their vote for John McCain because of what Dobson says, and I think it's unfortunate, because I think you have to -- you know, we've had races before...
ROBERTS: Yes.
BENNETT: ... where people weren't thrilled with the alternatives, Nixon-McGovern, Ford-Carter -- I mean, you know, we haven't always had, you know, Reagan versus FDR. You know, it just doesn't often turn out that way. So people need to look at it. But, yes, it will make a difference because Jim Dobson is listened to by a lot of people. Justifiably, I think he's wrong on this one.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll see where the races go this weekend.
BENNETT: You bet.
ROBERTS: We got the important ones and then the so-called Beltway primary on Tuesday. Bill Bennett, good to see you.
BENNETT: Right.
ROBERTS: Thanks very much for coming on.
BENNETT: Thanks, John. The early morning club, that's us, right?
ROBERTS: The no sleep club, that's us. All right.
(CROSSTALK)
BENNETT: That's what it is. That's what it is.
ROBERTS: Plenty of other people -- plenty of other people in that club, though. All the ones who are joining us this morning.
BENNETT: You bet.
ROBERTS: Bill, thanks a lot. We'll see you again soon.
BENNETT: You bet.
ROBERTS: Still ahead, more from the best political team on television. Radio host Roland Martin joins us from Chicago. Plus, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux and John King will join us a little bit later on to talk about where the Democrats go in terms of delegates and whether their fight could go all the way to a brokered convention in August --Alina.
CHO: Best political team on television. Coming up, is ethanol really a better choice for the environment? Wait until you hear the results of a new study. That's coming up.
And every delegate counts. So does every dollar. How the Democrats are trying to get a financial edge on the web. Our Veronica De La Cruz takes a look. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. The two Democrats vying for the presidential nomination are not only fighting for delegates, they are also duking it out for dollars. Veronica De La Cruz explains how they're doing that online. So Veronica, just in Super Tuesday, Barack Obama raised $7.2 million.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton, $6.4 million. (CROSSTALK)
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, and that's so far behind.
CHO: How much of that is on the Internet?
DE LA CRUZ: A lot of it.
CHO: Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: Especially when it comes to Barack Obama. And like you were just saying, it is all about the Benjamins. You know, the two of them are definitely engaged in this fundraising frenzy. And both campaigns are reporting a huge influx of cash collected online in the wake of Super Tuesday. Obama's camp said they raised more than $7.5 million on the Web in the past few days. Clinton's camp says they have taken in $6.4 million over the Internet in that time. So, not too far behind.
How did it all happen? It started with the news that Obama outraised Clinton in January, about $32 million to $13.5 million. Much of Obama's cash coming in from small online donations which have really been a strong suit, each donation averaging $200.
CHO: Plus, the young people.
DE LA CRUZ: A lot of young people, yes. After Super Tuesday, Clinton's people started on in this online drive. She raised about $3 million in 72 hours. So, they've taken so much money that they doubled the goal for themselves.
We're looking at her Web site, and on it, her manager pleads -- her campaign manager says Hillary needs you right now. "Let's reach a new milestone. Help us raise $6 million by midnight Friday." And, of course, like I just said, they doubled it. They surpassed that goal. Now, there is speculation on a blog that Clinton was able to draw sympathy from donors when she announced -- someone said that that she was a bit cash strapped.
You probably remember that she wrote herself this check for $5 million. And after hearing that, Obama started publicly questioning why Clinton never released her tax returns as he has, although I do want to mention that the Senate doesn't really require her to do so. Now, Senator Clinton has asked Senator Obama to join her in at least five debates before the beginning of March. Online fundraising may be his strong point, but she feels that debating is probably hers. So far, Obama has agreed to two of those debates.
CHO: All right. Veronica De La Cruz watching it all online.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, of course.
CHO: Thank you very much.
ROBERTS: So much for all those people who wondered post-White House how the Clintons would ever going to get by in the world financially, huh?
DE LA CRUZ: Oh, yes. I think that their assets are estimated at $20 million to $50 million. I think Obama released his. What he and Michelle made last year, $991,000, which is why he's asking to see those tax returns.
ROBERTS: That's still a lot of money.
(CROSSTALK)
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, it is.
CHO: Those Clinton book deals don't hurt either.
DE LA CRUZ: Oh, yes.
CHO: Or else he's kind of -- that's right.
ROBERTS: Twenty-seven minutes after the hour. So with the shake-up in the Republican race, we wanted you to weigh in on the impact and possibilities. John McCain, now the front-runner, so who do you think he would fare better against in the November election? Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama? Cast your vote. It's cnn.com/AM. We'll have the first tally of votes coming up later on this hour.
Breaking news out of Missouri this morning. Was revenge the motive behind this deadly rampage in a town hall meeting? His brother says so.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He went to war with the people there was causing strife in his life, and he ended it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: What made a man open fire on a city council meeting? That story is just ahead.
And a massive explosion rocks a sugar refinery and sent dozens of people to the hospital. It happened just outside of Savannah, Georgia. The blast so strong, investigators fear a number of missing people may have been thrown hundreds of feet into a nearby river. We'll talk with the fire chief ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Back in AMERICAN MORNING with breaking news on this Friday, February the 8th. I'm John Robbers.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Alina Cho. Glad you're with us.
ROBERTS: Six workers in a sugar plant near Savannah still missing after an explosion and fire last night. Dozens of people are injured. Many of them in critical condition. Rescue workers are now searching the Savannah River for victims who may have been thrown into it by the force of the blast.
Captain Matt Stanley is with the Savannah Fire Department. He joins us now this morning. Captain, what can you tell us? What's the latest on the search for victims here? Do you have any kind of an idea where this missing people might be?
CAPTAIN MATT STANLEY, SAVANNAH FIRE DEPARTMENT: We don't. At this time, we are still searching for them. Fire operations are continuing. We've had boats in the river all night long, partly to shut down the river to keep private traffic -- boat traffic from coming through but also to look for victims. We have not had any reports that victims may have been blown into the river. The explosion was a considerable distance from the waterfront.
ROBERTS: Right. So any idea where those reports are coming from then?
STANLEY: No. At this point -- this is actually the first I've heard of that. We haven't heard it. We don't know where these six are at this point. But we are searching the buildings. We also -- of course, we're still searching the community to make sure they didn't turn up at area hospitals.
ROBERTS: Right, because of possibility -- I guess, with all of the chaos from that blast that they may have gotten out some other way. Can you describe the scene for us there on the ground?
STANLEY: Yes, sir. As I explained, the firefighters are still working the scene. This is a large factory-type building. Tin, heavyweight construction on the inside, tin walls, tin roofs. Several hundred thousand square feet of buildings that are sort of tied together. Some of them, four, five stories tall.
The area -- the blast area was sort of in the middle of this factory. It affected three or four large warehouses and mill-type rooms. Most of those buildings are heavily, heavily damaged and have had some collapse. So our crews are having a tough time getting in there.
ROBERTS: How big was this blast? We've received reports from eye witnesses on the ground who was saying it shook the entire area?
STANLEY: It was a very large blast. As I understand, it actually shook homes in communities neighboring in South Carolina, which are, you know, several miles away across the river. It was enough to certainly take some floors out of a couple of buildings or out of portion of this building and looks like a small war zone.
ROBERTS: Yes. Do you have any idea -- apparently, there was a fire that started somewhere in that refinery. Do you have any idea what had actually ignited in that blast?
STANLEY: We don't at this point. The managers of the refinery believe that it may have been sugar powder. When that is aerosolized, it can get ionically-charged and light off, which is a bit of static electricity. It's very rare but it can happen. ROBERTS: So that would be similar to those dust explosions that we've seen in green elevators in the Midwest?
STANLEY: Exactly. That same sort of scenario, yes.
ROBERTS: They could be very powerful. Well, Captain Matt Stanley, we'll let you get back about your business. Thanks for taking time to join us this morning. Appreciate it, sir.
STANLEY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: All right.
Alina?
CHO: All right. If you're just waking up, we also have breaking news in Kirkwood, Missouri. That's a suburb of St. Louis. A man apparently out for revenge kills five people at a City Council meeting before being shot dead by police. One officer was killed outside of the meeting. Witnesses say Charles Lee Thornton then shouted shoot the mayor as he gunned down another officer and three council members.
Two others were hit including the mayor. He's now in critical condition. Thornton apparently had a history of interrupting meetings and just last month, a judge threw out a Federal Lawsuit he filed against the town. His brother says that's what set him off.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERALD THORNTON, BROTHER OF GUNMAN: My brother went to war tonight with the people that were -- the government that was putting torment and strife into his life. And he has spoke on it as best he could in the courts and they denied him all access to the rights of protection. And therefore, he took it upon himself to go to war and end the issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: We're going to hear more from police at a news conference this morning and we'll have a live report at the top of the hour.
Also new this morning, 130 million Americans will be getting rebate checks as the House and Senate passed a $167 billion economic stimulus package. The IRS will send out the checks starting in May. Here's how much you'll get. Take a look.
Couples and individuals earning between $3,000 and $75,000 will get a check for between $300 and $600. They'll also get an extra $300 per child. Couples who earn more than $75,000 but less than $150,000 will get a rebate of $1,200. Social Security beneficiaries and disabled veterans will also get rebate checks. President Bush still has to sign the bill, but of course, that at this point, is considered a certainty.
CIA Director Michael Hayden defends the use of waterboarding but says he doubts it would be legal. Hayden telling the House Intelligence Committee, Thursday, that the CIA has used waterboarding on at least three terror suspects. Hayden says the controversial technique which simulates drowning is necessary to keep Americans safe from terrorist but insists it's no longer being used.
Congressman John Murtha says he's ready to give President Bush the war funding he want but on the condition that U.S. troops leave Iraq by the end of the year. Murtha wants the House to vote by March. The president has requested $189 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And a new study says using ethanol, instead of gasoline, could actually be worse for the environment. Listen to this. Ethanol, as you know, is made from corn. Researcher say growing more corn means plowing more fields and plowing up those forests and grasslands means the carbon stored in those plants was released into the air causing, the study says, nearly twice the green house gas emissions as the gasoline the ethanol is supposed to replace. The Renewable Fuels Association disagrees of course with the study's findings.
John?
ROBERTS: Everybody has an argument. 37 minutes after the hour. Extreme weather this morning. Flood warnings are up in four Midwest states after days of heavy rain and melting snow. Our Rob Marciano in Defiance, Ohio right now -- that's southwest of Toledo.
Rob, you were ankle deep in it before at the very least. I see you've got the higher ground now this morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHO: Snow and high water is not a good combination with snow.
All right. Stay with us. Still to come, we'll talk to a tornado survivor about what comes next after your home is destroyed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My God, and what people do. They just rebuild here and clean all this up one piece at a time, I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Rebuilding, that's the right attitude. A report from storm ravaged Huntersville, Tennessee. That's ahead.
And it looks like a fight for the finish for the Democratic presidential nomination while the GOP appears a bit closer to a nominee. What's the new primaries this weekend could mean for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton? That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. Democratic voters are bracing for a marathon. The race is on for every last delegate and donation. And the race's next phase gets going tomorrow. CNN contributor Roland Martin joins me now live from Chicago.
Hey, Roland. Good morning.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
CHO: So Super Tuesday essentially didn't decide anything on the Democratic side. I mean, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are running neck and neck. So who has the edge in these upcoming contests?
MARTIN: Well, some folks say that Senator Obama has the edge because you're going to states that have highly-educated, high-income voters, African-American voters. You talked about Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. We look at Washington State. They look at some of in Louisiana. But the reality is also Senator Clinton, her strong suit is low to middle income Democratic voters women.
We have not had a single primary to date that has not been majority women. That is one -- that is one of her strongest areas. So it's very difficult to say that. This boils down to strategy. Who picks all certain areas? This is not all about who pick the whole state. It's a matter of what delegates you could get. So strategy comes into play more than anything else.
CHO: Let's talk a little bit about -- more about this horse race, because it is a horse race on the Democratic side. I mean, in your estimation, could it go all the way to the convention and those Super Delegates? Could they really decide this?
MARTIN: I mean, look -- when you have two people who are literally 100,000 votes apart, when you look at the count on Super Tuesday, when you look at the delegate count, of course, it can. Because we factor in money, we factor in a certain state. I mean so far, Senator Clinton has been very strong when it comes to Latino voters. There's only one state left when you have significant Latino voters. That's in Texas. And, so, it's all about pairings right now.
Who can take a piece of what from the other person? And so, if you look at Clinton, her job to say what percentage can I get from African-Americans, what can I get from white women and men? Obama is looking at what her strengths are. How can he pull and so strategy is the most important thing. So when you talk about money, it's how you deploy resources right now. Where do you put your money? Where do you put your time? Do you really go a lot of places where, frankly, you might not do well? Or you focus your strength, your money in places where you know you can do well? So it is really a strategy game for these two, right now
CHO: And it really also depends too on whether those Super Delegates vote for what their constituents want or what they want. And that may not be compatible, right?
MARTIN: Right.
CHO: So, yes.
MARTIN: The super delegates do not have to vote along the lines of the people. You know, what, I had Congresswoman Maxine Watters on my radio station, WVON in Chicago on Monday. And I asked her. I say look, if -- she's a Clinton supporter. If your constituents vote for Obama, are you going to vote the way your constituents voted. She said -- well, I'm not going to talk about it on the radio. But she did say -- you know, I may negotiate it. I really don't know.
And I said, wait a minute. I think the people should decide, not some super delegate. And so I think it's grossly unfair in a democracy for an elite group of people to literally make the decision if it comes down to that. The people should decide who their nominee is.
CHO: All right. Roland Martin, CNN contributor. Always nice to see you, Roland.
MARTIN: Thanks so much.
CHO: Thanks for waking up. I know you've got to get to your radio show.
MARTIN: Going right now.
CHO: We'll catch up with you later.
John?
ROBERTS: CNN is your home for the most political coverage. Join me in primetime tonight for CNN's election center. We'll be talking with conservative leaders about the shake-up in the Republican race and whether John McCain can win over conservatives. That starts at 8:00 p.m. Eastern
ROBERTS: Can acupuncture help a woman's chances of getting pregnant? A new study says, yes it can. We'll tell you how. And President Bush visits the tornado disaster zone today. What next for people who've lost everything? Are they seeing any help yet? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: 49 minutes after the hour. If you're just joining us, here's a look at the stories making headlines this morning. Rockets fall on Israel. Israeli Defense Forces say a small barrage of short range rockets and mortars were fired from Northern Gaza this morning. Four landed inside Israel. No word on damage or injuries. Earlier in the week, militants in Gaza managed to hit a house directly across the border. Nobody was hurt.
A frightening Super Bowl plot coming to light this morning. Federal agents say a businessman was angry he was denied a liquor license for his bar. He mailed a manifesto to the media. Even drove within sight of the stadium, armed with an assault rifle before changing his mind and eventually turning himself into authorities. We're going to have a live report in this story in our next hour.
And a new study says acupuncture can help women with fertility problems. Researcher says it improves the odds of successful In-vitro fertilization if done right before or after embryos were implanted. That boosts a woman's chance of conceiving by 55 percent, because they believe acupuncture can increase blood flow to the uterus and reduce hormones that can reject the embryo. Incredible.
John?
ROBERTS: President Bush will visit storm-damaged Tennessee today. Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff is already there surveying the damage. Chertoff said he was struck by the random nature of the storm. How some homes would be destroyed while other houses were untouched.
AMERICAN MORNING's Ed Lavandera is in Huntersville, Tennessee for us this morning.
Ed, any signs of relief yet or recovery for folks there?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are in a neighborhood just outside of Jackson, Tennessee. And what we have seen here yesterday were crews coming through and picking up. This is an area that has huge trees, for example. And that we've seen a lot of trees being hauled away and starting to be burned. Whether or not that's part of the Federal process is hard to determine at this point.
But, you know, across this county, for example, where Jackson is -- officials estimate that there are some $47 million from the damage. That doesn't include the damage at Union University that we've talked so much about. And because of that, it's really hard to find any official who would say how long this rebuilding process will take.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Regina Cooper spent the last two days in the hospital getting storm debris removed from her body.
REGINA COOPER, STORM SURVIVOR: Yes, I really didn't want to keep it, but the doctor that -- a piece chunk of wood he took out of my arm.
LAVANDERA: At the same time, she was checking out of a Tennessee hospital, Homeland Security chief, Michael Chertoff, was touring the devastation just a few miles away promising help.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We're all standing shoulder to shoulder with the governor, with local communities, so that we can begin the process of rebuilding.
LAVANDERA: But even before the storm's fury had died down, pressure was building on the government to react swiftly.
BLANCHE LINCOLN, (D) ARKANSAS: Moral support is important but a commitment to provide financial assistance is absolutely critical. And I hope that we will move forward in that direction.
LAVANDERA: As we rolled in to Regina Cooper's neighborhood, the magnitude of the damage shocked her.
COOPER: Well, that was where the front door was then.
LAVANDERA: This is the first time she's seen what her home looks like.
COOPER: My God, and what people do. They just rebuild here and clean all this up one piece at a time, I don't know.
LAVANDERA: Cooper has reason to worry because rebuilding after a violent storm has proven, time and again, to be a long, slow journey.
COPPER: That was my room.
LAVANDERA: Last year, a twister all but wiped out the town of Greensburg, Kansas. It's population has dropped from 1300 to about 800 and businesses and homes are just now starting to be rebuild. And in places like Deland, Florida, local officials have to fight the Federal government to get financial help, slowing down the recovery. And of course, thousands of storm victims from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are still struggling to rebuild their homes.
COPPER: Oh, my goodness.
LAVANDERA: Regina Cooper isn't thinking about the past right now, but she does wonder if she's ever coming back home.
COPPER: We were thinking, may be on May, we can have something else built here. But looking at this now, I don't see how we could. All the cleanup work? I don't see how we could. We lived here all my life. It's hard to imagine not living here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: John, President Bush has already declared five counties in Tennessee disaster areas. And that means that these areas would be qualified for moneys to help people with temporary housing and also debris removal among other things. And of course, that could go off to other parts of these storm-ravaged areas as well.
John?
ROBERTS: Yes. I think that that young woman's idea of rebuilding by May -- she said be a little bit overly optimistic. But is there hope there, Ed, that in this post-Katrina world that the Federal Government may be quicker to react and those people may see some help more quickly than they might have pre-Katrina?
LAVANDERA: I think the sense, you know, it's been a little too early, I think, for people to think maybe in those terms. But I do think that there is definitely hesitation when people stand. You stand with someone next to a scene like this. That you get that exact same response that Regina Cooper had. Where they sit there and look and start to realize that this isn't something that's going to be solved or fixed any time soon. ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, if you look at the amount of devastation behind you there, you think all of the money in the world is not going to change it immediately. Ed Lavandera for us this morning in Huntersville. Ed, thanks very much.
Alina?
CHO: Well, you just saw the damage, the homes, buildings, and lives destroyed. But coming up, a sign of just how powerful the storm really was. Wait until you hear, just how far that sign flew. That's ahead.
And we're following breaking news right now outside of Savannah, Georgia. An explosion rocks a sugar refinery. Workers are missing. The plant CEO speaking out just moments ago. A live report coming up in our next half hour. That's here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Check of this morning's "Quick Vote" question with John McCain now looking more and more like the Republican nominee. Who do you think he would fare better against in the Democratic side? Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.
Right now, 60 percent of you say McCain would do better against Clinton, 40 percent say against Obama. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We will continue to tally your votes throughout the morning. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
ROBERTS: Deadly shootout at city hall. Cops, council members, and neighbors killed. Today, the gunman's brother speaking out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERALD THORNTON, BROTHER OF GUNMAN: He went to war with the people that were causing strife in his life and he ended it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Like walking into help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like a small war zone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Explosion and fire at a sugar plant. The desperate and dangerous search ahead.
And the smallest survivor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since we rolled the baby over, he took a gasp and the baby is started crying. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: A baby boy alive after a ride on a killer tornado is the talk of the town and the nation, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
That is just such an extraordinary story.
CHO: Talk about a miracle baby. I mean, they thought it was a doll. Incredible.
ROBERTS: And he'd been there overnight too in the freezing cold. It was cold after these tornadoes came through. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Friday, the 8th of February. I'm John Roberts.
CHO: Nice to have you back in the studio, in New York.
ROBERTS: It's good to be here.
CHO: Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. Kiran has the morning off. A lot to get to.
ROBERTS: And we begin with breaking news this morning in Kirkwood, Missouri. It's a suburb, southwest of St. Louis. Five people are dead. The mayor in critical condition after witnesses say a gunman with a grudge stormed the City Council meeting. Kirkwood is about ten miles southwest of St. Louis. Witnesses say Charles Thornton walked into the meeting, shouting shoot the mayor.
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