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American Morning
City Council Shooting in Missouri; Democrats New Focus: Eyeing McCain as Opponent; Huckabee Vows to Fight; Sugar Plant Explosion
Aired February 08, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran has the morning off. A lot to get to.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: 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 10 miles southwest of St. Louis. Witnesses say Charles Thornton walked into the meeting shouting, shoot the mayor.
CNN's Susan Roesgen is live in Kirkwood this morning. Susan, witnesses say that the gunman was eager to settle some kind of score that he had. Do we know what that was all about?
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, apparently, this man, John, had been a regular city hall critic. He was well known here as someone who was anti-government. He owned a construction company, according to the local newspaper here in St. Louis post dispatch. And he was angry about something that nobody could really keep track of. What we do know is that he started in the parking lot behind city hall here, and he shot a police officer. This was around 7:00 last night. Then he made his way into the city hall chambers, and just after the Pledge of Allegiance, he started firing.
He went first for a police officer inside city hall chambers. He shot that police officer and killed him. And then, he killed the city planning director. And all of this was happening right in front of a newspaper reporter who was one of the horrified witnesses watching 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 woman sitting 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. This man went on, then, to kill a city councilwoman and to critically wound another council member and the mayor. The mayor, Mike Swoboda, is in intensive care right now. The other city council member is also in intensive care in critical condition. That all happened before the police shot and killed him. Again, his name as you mentioned, John, Charles Thornton. And as I've said, he was a regular critic. He had been hustled out of city council meetings before. But apparently, nobody thought he would get in here with a gun.
ROBERTS: Susan, what are family members of this fellow saying today?
ROESGEN: You know, it's certainly interesting, John, because his brother spoke to local reporters last night, and basically said in his opinion, the city council had it coming.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERALD THORNTON, BROTHER OF GUNMAN: The only way that I can put it in context that you might understand is that 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 as 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)
ROESGEN: Now, one of the things that you might be wondering, John, I'm wondering about as well is, were there no metal detectors in this building? Was there nobody checking, no security checking for weapons? That's something that we expect to ask the police when they hold a news conference here at 10:00 later this morning -- John.
ROBERTS: Maybe prompt some changes in the way that they do business there. All right. Susan Roesgen for us this morning in Kirkwood. Susan, thanks.
The FBI, meantime, is revealing a threat against the Super Bowl, one that was moments away from being carried out by another man angry at the government. The Feds say Kurt Havelock planned the shooting because he was denied a liquor license for his bar in Tempe, Arizona. Havelock drove to a stadium parking lot armed with an assault rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition. Apparently, though, when he got there, he 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 in it coming up in about 25 minutes time, 7:30 Eastern here on AMERICAN MORNING -- Alina.
Oh, sorry. Continuing on here, we have more breaking news this morning.
Six workers are missing after an explosion and fire at a sugar refinery in Savannah, Georgia. Dozens of people are critically hurt. In our last half-hour, I talked with the captain with the Savannah Fire Department about the extent of damage there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CAPTAIN MATT STANLEY, SAVANNAH FIRE DEPARTMENT: It was a very large blast. As I understand, it actually shook homes and 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 a portion of this building and looks like a small war zone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Coming up, we're going to talk with the police officer and his wife who were on the scene when the explosion happened. They said it was, "like walking into hell."
Now, let's go to Alina.
CHO: All right. I'll take it, John.
There's a new urgency in the Democratic race for president as the Republicans are now almost certain to nominate John McCain. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will compete in nine primaries and caucuses over the next four days. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live for us in Chicago. She's watching it all for us. Hey, Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Alina. Well, the campaigns for Senator Clinton and Barack Obama, they both say they are very much focused on the primaries and the caucuses that are coming up, not necessarily Mitt Romney. But the insiders who I spoke to, say that they are quite worried about this dramatic development. They believe that it's going to drain the Democrats of resources, of money, and potentially hurt the party.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Mitt Romney got out of the game, charging the Democrats would fail to protect the American people in the war on terror. Senator Barack Obama fired back.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's the kind of poorly thought-through statement that led him to have to drop out.
MALVEAUX: Both candidates acknowledged their new reality.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It appears as though Senator McCain will be the Republican nominee, and I have the greatest respect --
MARCIANO: But campaign insiders for Senators Clinton and Obama say Mitt Romney's exit is bad news for both. While the Republicans now coalesce around their front-runner John McCain, the Democrat candidates dig in for a long fight.
OBAMA: The children of New Orleans are America's children.
MALVEAUX: Senator Barack Obama in New Orleans, unveiled his recovery plan for the city still struggling 2-1/2 years later after Hurricane Katrina. OBAMA: We have to understand that Katrina may have battered levees, but it also exposed silent storms that have ravaged parts of this city and our country far too long.
MALVEAUX: He also shared a light moment over a bowl of gumbo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Frail baby, we've got a --
MALVEAUX: Obama is hoping this state, including nearly half of its voters who are African-American will deliver a good chunk of the 66 delegates up for grabs on Saturday's primary. Senator Clinton stumped in Arlington, Virginia, where she's confident she'll capture some of the 83 delegates at stake there on Tuesday.
CLINTON: Hello, Arlington. Hello, Washington Lee.
MALVEAUX: Both camps are competing for big cash to keep their campaigns going in the months ahead. After Clinton revealed she has to loan $5 million of her own money to her presidential campaign, aides announced after Super Tuesday, a fundraising blitz over the Internet brought in at least $6.4 million. Her loan has already been paid off. Obama's campaign says they've netted $7 million over the same period.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And now the Clinton camp is putting pressure on Obama for more debates. Clinton's campaign manager sent a letter to her counterpart challenging Obama to five debates. That is one each week before the March 4th contest. Now, Barack Obama agreed to two debates because he says he has to spend more time getting to know the voters -- Alina.
CHO: That's right. He says he wants to be out on the campaign trail. All right. Suzanne Malveaux watching it all for us. Suzanne, good to see you, thanks.
MALVEAUX: Thanks.
ROBERTS: A key endorsement is expected today for Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. James Dobson, the founder of "Focus on the Family" is ready to support Huckabee now that Mitt Romney has bowed out. But Dobson says he is strongly opposed to John McCain because he will not support a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Dobson had been holding off on endorsing anyone, but apparently, he's ready to pull the trigger today.
Huckabee spoke with reporters yesterday after appearing on "The Tyra Banks Show" in New York. He says he is the true, authentic, consistent conservative in the race for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The people of this country need a choice. And right now, I'm going to be their choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: But Huckabee is facing a big challenge, that is math. Senator John McCain has a significant lead in the delegate count after Super Tuesday. According to CNN calculations, Huckabee has 181 delegates compared to McCain's 714 -- 1,191, of course, needed to clinch the nomination, and there's only about 1,000 delegates left. So Huckabee would have to win almost every contest.
CHO: Yes, the math just doesn't seem to work out for him.
ROBERTS: Now, the end of this thing. Yes.
CHO: Well, we'll see if he'll be a VP candidate, perhaps. All right.
Moving on now to the extreme weather and the search for more tornado victims this morning. Fifty-nine people now confirmed dead from the storms on Super Tuesday. President Bush will view the damage firsthand later today. He plans to take an aerial tour, go over Tennessee. That's the hardest hit state.
States across the upper Midwest are digging out from a snowstorm this morning that shut down highways and stalled air travel. We first told you about this yesterday. Of course, flights are now moving out of Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Some 500 were canceled yesterday.
Flood warnings issued for Illinois, Indiana and Ohio after three days of heavy rain and melting snow. At least three people were killed in car crashes that were blamed on the slippery roads.
Rob Marciano is in Defiance. That's southwest of Toledo. He's tracking all of the extreme weather for us. So, Rob, it's snowing and the flood waters are rising. Not a good combination?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, not at all. It's a little bit eerie, actually, to see these flood waters continue to creep a little bit higher. It looks like it has yet to crest, but it should do so soon. We're on the Auglaize River. We're actually -- we're on Auglaize Street here in Defiance, and now the river is on the street. It should be about 200 yards that way. Clearly, over its banks and major (INAUDIBLE).
If I walked out to that stop sign, it would be easily be up to here on me, and any further than that, maybe neck deep. So all these homes are buried in water. Sixty-nine homes alone in this town have been evacuated, power cut off, gas cut off, and obviously, miserable conditions. So upstream from here, there's a couple other tributaries that feed into this area. Finley is a little bit upstream from here, and they've seen tremendous amount of flood. They've already crested, but their homes and businesses have seen as much flooding, almost as much as they saw back in August of this year.
So, for these folks there, definitely a little bit flood weary. Some of the main streets here, Second Street, which goes up and over the Auglaize River -- sandbags. It looks like, though, the river here is not going to get up and over that. But on the other side of that, we talked to folks over there. They're worried about their homes being flooded. As a matter of fact, an elderly man and his wife, his wife broke his hip yesterday, unrelated. But his son was standing there watching the river come up, hoping that he wouldn't have to evacuate his father. From the looks of it, the water hasn't gotten terribly high right now.
Take a look at the flood warnings and watch across, not only here but the entire Midwest. There are 17 rivers alone in northwest Ohio that are somewhere in flood stage. That doesn't include Indiana, which the northern half of it is pretty much painted with green on that map. And again, you couple that with the cold air. And here it is snowing, although, we don't expect a whole lot of accumulation.
You've got these flood waters that are coating some of the roadways and sidewalks with ice, and you've got snow on top of that. There is more snow coming down the pike there in northern Indiana. The leading edge of some seriously cold air is about to plunge south from Canada, and this weekend it's going to be nasty.
We started across the northern plains. We dive into the western Great Lakes, and then across this part of the Midwest and the corn belt. An arctic blast, temperatures falling from the 30s today, to the 20s and teens as we head towards Sunday afternoon. So clearly, even if this river were to recede, there's going to be some paddling and ponding not only on the streets, but in people's houses. And right now, a lot of these people do not have heat, do not have power. They are in shelters, or they're with friends and family until all this nasty flood begins to wane.
Tremendous amount of rain with that system that brought the tornadoes with the same system that brought the heavy snow across Chicago and Wisconsin has brought flooding to this part of northern Ohio -- Alina.
CHO: Yes, I know. And that arctic air you talked about, I know it's going to make it to New York as well. We're expected to be in the 20s this weekend, too.
All right. Rob Marciano, watching it all for us.
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHO: Rob, thank you. We'll check back with us later -- John.
ROBERTS: Well, just how powerful were those tornadoes that struck the south? Powerful enough to blow a street sign from Jackson, Tennessee, all the way to the town of Huntingdon. That's about 48 miles. A Huntingdon man was stunned to come across the street sign marking Union University.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLIN LAMAN, HUNTINGDON: I just couldn't believe it traveled this far. It's about 48 miles. It's quite a long way for something this big to travel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Can you imagine? The sign used to hang at the intersection of Union University Drive and the Highway 45 Bypass. Once again, 48 miles from where it landed in this back yard. It just got sucked up and just carried along by the storm.
CHO: If there was any doubt as to how strong those storms were, there's some physical evidence of the fact that they were.
All right, moving on now. Congress has finally passed a $167 billion economic stimulus package. The bill passed overwhelmingly by both the House and the Senate with some changes to the amount of the rebates. Now, Americans earning between $3,000 and $75,000 a year will get a rebate check of $300 to $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 type of check.
Are you one of those people who buys things to cheer you up? Well, pay attention. There may be some scientific evidence to back up the idea of retail therapy. A new study shows certain people spend money when they're feeling down and don't necessarily spend it wisely. The survey found that people who were sad were willing to spend four times as much on an item as those who were happy.
I can tell you something. I am happy before I buy something and even happier after I buy it. So, I'm just fine, although --
ROBERTS: I would imagine that the people who spent four times as much than someone who's happy, the next day would be depressed all over again because of how much money they spent.
CHO: John, in the retail world, we call that buyer's remorse.
ROBERTS: Oh, I've had it many times.
CHO: So have I.
ROBERTS: See the stuff that I bought. A garden tractor, for example.
They felt the concussive blast when a sugar plant exploded into flames last night. The search on right now for six workers still missing. We'll get a firsthand account from a police officer and his wife who couldn't believe what they were seeing and feeling, coming up next.
And a plot to attack the Super Bowl. The gunman changes his mind just minutes before he was set to carry it out. What set him off?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He could have taken out a lot of people, a lot of civilians, innocent civilians, and a lot of law enforcement, and it could have been worse than Virginia Tech.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The former Hollywood madam busted again. Why Heidi Fleiss was picked up this time.
Plus, from the tornado ravaged south, a small miracle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I shined the flashlight across and said, I've got a baby doll. Before I got I've got a baby doll out of my mouth, it moved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Wow. A baby boy buried in the rubble and pulled out alive. The tiniest tornado survivor ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: I want to take you to a live picture there in Washington. You can see a smiling President Bush, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky -- they're probably introducing the president. We got an advanced look at some remarks that he's going to make before the Conservative Political Action Conference there in Washington. He will say the stakes in November are high, let us go forward, fight for victory and keep the White House in 2008.
Now these comments that the president will make comes a bit earlier than expected. That is to accommodate him. He will be traveling and taking an aerial tour of tornado-ravaged Lafayette, Tennessee. That's a bit later on this morning. He will then to Camp David for the weekend -- John.
Well, they say it was like walking into hell. Port Wentworth, Georgia Police Lieutenant Alan Baker and his wife, Joyce, were on the scene of the explosion and fire at a sugar plant at the banks of the Savannah River. They are with us now to talk more about their experience. Lieutenant Baker, first of all, set the scene for us. Where were you when this explosion occur?
LT. ALAN BAKER, PORT WENTWORTH POLICE: We were just conducting a meeting. As a matter of fact, I was holding a meeting at the city hall, which is a very short distance from the scene. And we just finished the meeting and walked outside after the meeting was over and the explosion occurred.
ROBERTS: And what was that like? We were talking with the fire chief there just a little while ago. He said it shook the entire neighborhood.
A. BAKER: Well, it did. It shook the ground, and there was an explosion into the air with debris and fire, a fireball that was probably five or six times higher than the tallest trees here. It's the biggest explosion I've ever seen in my life, and we were just startled by it. ROBERTS: Wow. Joyce, you and your husband, as I understand, were the first people not associated with the plant on the scene. What was it like when you got there?
JOYCE BAKER, WITNESSES SUGAR PLANT EXPLOSION: It was like walking into hell. We had approximately 13 men that were coming out and they were burned, third-degree burns on their upper bodies. And they were trying to sit down and the only thing that they wanted was to know where their friends were.
ROBERTS: Right.
And we should point out that there are still six people missing. Firefighters haven't yet begun to go through the plant, though they hope to be able to soon.
You teach first aid at the local Red Cross there, Joyce. Were you able to help anybody out?
J. BAKER: Yes, we had one man with head injuries and I was able to stop the bleeding on the head injuries and assist him and then some other people that were coming out with back injuries and things like that. We just did what we could for them.
ROBERTS: Lieutenant Baker, what about the burn victims? Were you able to do anything for them?
A. BAKER: On my part, when I first got down there, actually my wife sort of amazed me. She's always been a little bit better at this than I have. She just jumped in there and started assisting and saving everybody pretty much. And I was asked just about immediately if there was threat of what they thought was a second imminent explosion. And they were worried about a gas main that was running into the place. So I was asked by a person -- a maintenance personnel from Imperial Sugar to please go with him and try to get those mains cut off. We then took him to a place down where the gas main was, and we had to get bolt cutters and cut inside of it and cut the gas mains off to keep what he believed from a second explosion occurring.
ROBERTS: Wow. So --
A. BAKER: We found that and we came back up and got --
ROBERTS: So you jumped right in there, not only assisting the injured people who were coming out of the plant, but you went in there to try to prevent further damage?
A. BAKER: Well, yes. We wanted to make sure that there wasn't another explosion...
ROBERTS: Wow.
A. BAKER: ... and that we were afraid of that and really didn't know if it was or not. But we didn't want to take any chances and the gate and all of the places that were locked up, we couldn't get in. So we got a set of bolt cutters and cut it and went inside and called the gas company and coordinated with them, and we just did what we thought was right. And it ended up being the right thing, I guess.
ROBERTS: Wow. Joyce, people who aren't familiar with first aid might not know the difference between first, second and third degree burns. And the people who you say suffered from third-degree burns, what was the extent of their injuries?
J. BAKER: This may be hard for people to take, but the -- some of them had no skin at all. And some of them it was on their faces. And then some had skin just dripping off of them.
ROBERTS: Wow. So what can you do for people who are in a condition like that?
J. BAKER: There's really not much that we could do initially because we just did not have the equipment. And when the EMS technicians began to arrive, they transported them. There wasn't a great deal that they could do either. But we try to keep them warm and keep them stable and talk to them and then get them in the ambulance units and get them to the hospital as soon as possible.
ROBERTS: Oh, my goodness. Lieutenant, was anyone there able to describe how this explosion took place? We understand from talking to the fire chief that it was sugar dust. It was like a dust explosion, the type that you would see in the Midwest in silos which could be very, very powerful. But they need a source of ignition. Any idea of what set this off?
A. BAKER: That's what they're saying that it was in the main sugar plant, and it was a matter of the sugar dust. Whenever there's an oxygen problem with it and the dust rises, any spark or anything can set it off. And that's what they believe caused the explosion. They said it can cause a massive explosion like this.
ROBERTS: Wow, unbelievable. Lieutenant Baker, Joyce Baker, good on you for jumping right in there, helping out those folks, and for, you know, risking your life there to get that gas main shut off. Thanks for joining us this morning, folks. Appreciate your time.
A. BAKER: Thank you. Everyone was fantastic, and we couldn't have done it without their help also. We appreciate all the help we got.
ROBERTS: Obviously, everybody pitched in last night. Thanks again for joining us -- Alina.
CHO: Yes. Oh, boy, incredible story.
Taking a bite out of organized crime. Dozens of suspects under arrest. What's next for Tommy's sneakers? The Greaseball, Jackie Nose, and other suspected mob bigs. We'll have that story coming up.
And times are tough for the U.S. dollar, but a store in New York City that won't even take it? We're going to take you inside that shop that's advertising euros only. Incredible. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: We're taking you live there to Washington. President Bush speaking before the Conservative Political Action Conference there. We got an advanced copy of his speech there, and he's going to say the stakes in November are high. Let us go forward, fight for victory and keep the White House in 2008. He's speaking now so that he can travel to tornado-ravaged Tennessee, take an aerial tour of the area, see the damage firsthand and then head to Camp David for the weekend.
Moving on now. Get ready for another round of races. There are primaries this weekend in Louisiana, Kansas, Nebraska, Washington State and Maine. On Tuesday, it's Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. A lot of them, so much it makes your head spin. The Democrats are in a battle that could go on for months, while the Republicans are one giant step closer now to a nominee.
Chief national correspondent John King is joining us now. So the big news overnight and this morning, Governor Huckabee got a big endorsement from the evangelical leader, James Dobson, as you know. But mathematically, it doesn't seem like Huckabee can win. It looks like John McCain is the presumptive nominee. So how much does this endorsement matter?
JOHN KING, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're right. Mathematically, it is near impossible if not impossible. As always, John McCain gets 20 or 30 percent of the votes. The rest of the way out, he doesn't even need to win and he would be the nominee. So mathematically, Governor Huckabee probably can't catch up. But symbolically, and as John McCain tries to heal the wounds and reach out to his conservative skeptics, Dr. Dobson has giant influence.
If you drive across the country, especially west of the Mississippi river, you listen to his radio program Focus on the Family," millions of families get his parenting magazines and his advice. So he's a very influential figure. So what it signals to social conservatives is, at least one of their prominent leaders is not yet ready to make peace with John McCain if he will at all.
CHO: Well, and as you know, John McCain spoke to that Conservative Political Action Conference yesterday, tried to mend fences if you will. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On the issue of illegal immigration, a position which --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: All right. He had to know that was coming.
KING: Yes.
CHO: You said last night that Mitt Romney had conservatives at hello. Huckabee had conservatives at hello. John McCain has had to work a lot harder for their vote, their confidence, how much did that speech help?
KING: He made progress yesterday. He did not close the sale. And with many conservative people, probably never have closed the sale. He's trying to have (INAUDIBLE) with the movement. He'll probably never have total peace, and it's very interesting. John McCain raised that immigration issue. Who's speaking to them? At this moment, you just mentioned -- President Bush. He has the exact same position as John McCain on immigration, and yet he's welcome in this room of conservatives because they view him as one of them, even though he's had some differences.
So there's no affinity for McCain. President Bush is doing something important. You mentioned how important. He will say how important it is for Republicans to hold the White House. He will say our nominee will carry the conservative banner forward, implicitly, embracing John McCain without mentioning by name. So the president is trying to help McCain this morning.
CHO: That's right. McCain, as you know, never a member of the club if you will.
KING: Not at all.
CHO: But Bush trying to rally support, party unity, of course, very important. Let's turn to the Democrats now. In terms of delegates, Clinton and Obama are really in a tight race. I mean, the total now -- Clinton has 1,033, Obama, 937. I mean, it is so tight. Could it really come down to the convention and those party leaders, super delegates who make the decision?
KING: It absolutely could. Now, mostly that won't happen. But if they continue this progression where they essentially split the delegates and the next several contests tend to favor Obama. If you look at the map, we'll see how the people vote this weekend and next Tuesday. But so, imagine next Wednesday morning, we wake up and Obama's slightly ahead. Then you go into Ohio and Texas, and maybe Clinton will be slightly ahead. It is possible you get to the point where you are at the verge of the convention and the so-called super delegates, who are members of Congress, party activists, and officials across the states. There are 796 of them, I think. It is possible. But let's have this question about a month from now and we'll know whether we're closer to the reality.
CHO: Let's look ahead to the general election to November now. Bring out your crystal ball a little bit. You know, John McCain seems to be the presumptive republican nominee. There's this dog fight going on, on the democratic Clinton and Obama. Could this - you know, could this hurt the democrats in November? I mean, if there's this race that's going on and not one presumptive nominee?
KING: There are competing debates about this. The republicans get time to raise money now if McCain can seal this deal over the next couple of weeks. On the democratic side, there are some who say, oh boy, if Obama and Clinton keep going at it, especially if she wins, there are many who think that African-Americans may still have bitter feelings about what happen in South Carolina and they may stay home. If a tiny percentage of African-Americans stay home, then Hillary Clinton is the nominee. She'll then have a time winning the election. But there are others who say you get a better candidate. If the pre- season is tough, Clinton and Obama fight it out, whoever wins that fight is a stronger, tougher candidate for the general election. So, there are competing theories. We won't know that answer for a while.
CHO: Well, some suggested that they are very similar on the issues. So, we shall have to wait and see. John King, I know you'll be watching it all. We look forward to that telestrator, again, by the way. John King, thank you.
And that brings us to this morning's "Quick vote" question. Will McCain fare better against Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama? Take a look. Right now, 47% say Clinton. 53% say Obama. So, that's close too. But keep voting, cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We're going to continue to tally your votes throughout the morning and we'll bring you the results. John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: That's 32 minutes after the hour. You're watching the most news in the morning. A massive explosion rocks a sugar refinery in Georgia. Six workers missing, the plant's CEO who was in the building when it happened is speaking out. We'll have a live report on the scene on all of that.
A man plans a deadly attack on the "Super Bowl," but at the last second, changed his mind. What set him off? And just how close was he to pulling the trigger? That story ahead.
A bundle of joy found buried under the rubble. A little baby becomes the smallest tornado survivor. We'll have his story ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Friday, the 8th of February. I'm John Roberts.
CHO: And John, good to see you. Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. Kiran has the morning off.
ROBERTS: And we have breaking news this morning out of Kirkwood, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. A man apparently out for revenge killed five people at a city council meeting before being shot dead by police. One officer was killed outside of the meeting. Witnesses say the man ran inside screaming shoot the mayor as he gunned down another officer and three council members. Two others were hit including the mayor. He is now in critical condition. Charles Lee Thornton, the shooters name had a history of interrupting these meetings, problems with the city council. Just last month, a judge threw out a lawsuit that he filed against the town.
New details this morning revealed about the threat against the "Super Bowl" that police say was moments away from being carried out also by a man who had anger against the government. Police say 35- year-old Kurt Havelock was armed with an assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He drove within site of the stadium before he deciding he couldn't go through it and pulled the trigger. But he did send a manifesto to the media. Our Justice correspondent Kelli Arena has seen that. And Kelli, what have we learned about the suspect and his plan this morning?
KELLI ARENA, CNN, JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, according to his ex-wife, his life-long dream was to open a Halloween-themed bar. So, he applied for a liquor license, which is usually a pretty routine process in Tempe, Arizona. But city council members rejected his application. What happened next is pretty chilling.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (voice-over): This could have been the scene of a massacre, if not for an apparent change of heart. On "Super Bowl" Sunday, Kurt Havelock allegedly planned to open fire on fans near the Arizona Stadium, according to law enforcement officials with an assault rifle and more than 200 rounds of ammunition.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He could have rigged havoc wherever he went. He could have taken out a lot of people, a lot of civilians, innocent civilians and a lot of law enforcement and it could have been worse than Virginia Tech.
ARENA: So, what set him off? Court document show he'd been denied a liquor license for his restaurant. The FBI says it was all spelled out in an eight-page manifesto. He wrote "I will test the theory that bullets speak louder than words, perhaps the blood of the inculpable will cause a paradigm shift." Officials say Havelock has no criminal history and they say he was evaluated and declared mentally sound.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you have a special event like this, especially the "Super Bowl," lone wolves are one of the things that scares us the most.
ARENA: Havelock's lawyer had no comment, but his father testified in court that he convinced his son to turn himself in. Even though he didn't go through with the shooting, authorities would have tracked him down anyway. That angry letter he wrote, authorities say that he mailed copies to friends and the media.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: And so far, Havelock is charged with mailing threatening communications. And to give you an idea of what was going on in his head at that time, John, he wrote another note the FBI said was found in his car. And it read -- do not resuscitate. Really sad.
ROBERTS: You know, the fact is, though, he certainly got within, you know, pretty close distance away from the "Super Bowl" there. Would he have potentially been able to make it inside? Or would the security precautions have prevented that?
ARENA: Well, the general consensus is he would not have been able to get inside. But as you saw, there are, you know, hundreds of people that are outside and all sorts of events going on at nearby businesses. So, you know, depending on how he decided to carry this out, he could have done a lot of damage?
ROBERTS: Yes, he certainly could have got people outside of the "Super Bowl," no question about that. Kelli Arena for us this morning. Kelli, fascinating. Thanks very much. Alina.
CHO: New this morning. Details released hours ago about what really killed former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Scotland Yard investigators say Bhutto did not die from a bullet wound, instead, she died when the force of a bomb blast slammed her into the rim of the truck's escape hatch, backing the Pakistani government's account. They also say the person who shot at Bhutto was the same person who set off the bomb. Bhutto's party says it doesn't believe the new results.
New details this morning also out of France -- the newspaper, "Lemond" is reporting a second arrest in connection with that massive $7 billion bank fraud, one of the largest in history. The "Lemond" says the trader worked with the affiliate of Societe Generale, the bank. Jerome Kerviel is already in custody, accused for making risky trades and covering them up.
And a terrifying ordeal in the air, a domestic air flight in New Zealand had to make an emergency landing after a woman attacked the pilots with a knife. She stabbed both the pilot and the co-pilot before finally being wrestled to the floor of the plane. Thankfully, none of the passengers were hurt but one of the pilot severe cuts to his hand. The woman also claimed there was a bomb on the plane but also that turned out not to be true. John.
ROBERTS: Well, the police put a hit on the mafia. Jackie "the nose" and 61 other suspected gangsters get pinched. And the story, that's the talk of the town in the nation. A baby boy tossed by a twister. We'll meet the man who made the stunning discovery. Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
And take the money and run. It's not a border town. It's not pesos or looneys, where the euro is taking hold here in the United States. We'll take you to a store who is asking for euros only. Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We have more now on that news that we're following out of Missouri this morning. A man bent on revenge storms a town meeting and opens fire. Five people and the gunman are dead. The town's mayor is in critical condition. Joining us live from Kirkwood, Missouri, is Alan Hopefl. He was inside the council chambers when Charles Lee Thornton took aim. Allen, tell us what you saw as that unbelievable event unfolded last night at the city council meeting?
ALAN HOPEFL, SHOOTING EYEWITNESS: Yes, it's -- it's -- they just opened up a public hearing, and the city attorney was reading the document into the record when Mr. Thornton entered the room, went down one side of the room up to the police officer that's normally there. He pulled the gun out, shot the police officer, and then he proceeded to move towards the front of the council. But by that time, I had already dove to the floor. And for a while, I was on the floor.
I heard three, four, maybe five more shots. And then within a minute or so, he was having an altercation with the city Attorney John Hassell. And while John Hassell was trying to protect himself and throwing chairs at cookie, I saw my chance to leave the premises and I bolted for the door. I was followed shortly down the stairway by Mr. Hassell and went to the parking lot. And by then the police entered the building.
ROBERTS: You called the shooter cookie -- Charles Lee Thornton. I take it that was his nickname.
HOPEFL: Yes.
ROBERTS: He was a frequent -- a frequent visitor to these meetings, was he?
HOPEFL: He had been. But I heard that he had banned him from attending the meetings, I don't know if there was a restraining order, because he tended to be very disruptive at the meetings and they had to take precautions to prevent him from doing that so they could conduct the regular business of the city.
ROBERTS: You're a frequent, Mr. Hopefl, attendee at these meetings as well. Can you sort of describe that he was disruptive at these meetings. You've seen him before, can you describe the nature of the outbursts?
HOPEFL: Yes, he would make inappropriate noises, hee-hawing like a donkey. He would make derogatory comments towards the director of public works, the city attorney, and the mayor. None of it seemed to make any sense as far as him trying to make a point as far as why he was really there and what his major complaints were. He seemed to have been filing a lot of lawsuits against city too, most of which seemed to be dismissed by the court system.
ROBERTS: So he didn't have a particular argument with the city council? He just sort of went there and was generally disruptive?
HOPEFL: If he -- if he had an argument, it was very difficult to know what it was, just because he never seemed to have a real point. He'd bring in posters and pictures and stuff, but none of them seemed to relate to anything. So it's very difficult to know why he's there, other than just to cause disruption.
ROBERTS: And had he been - I mean, when was the last time you saw him at a city council meeting before last evening.
HOPEFL: It's probably been a good eight months. It's been a considerable length of time. That's why I was a little bit surprised to see him enter the meeting last night. And I certainly never expected him to be, you know, this type of -- this kind of violence.
ROBERTS: So this was just totally out of the blue. There's no --
HOPEFL: Yes, it was.
ROBERTS: No indication, no warning signs?
HOPEFL: It was a real surprise, I think, to everybody. And probably more so to people that actually knew him well.
ROBERTS: Have you heard any news reports this morning about what kind of condition the mayor is in? We understand that he may have been shot in the head?
HOPEFL: I haven't. I know he was supposedly shot in the head, but I haven't heard any reports at all yet this morning. There is supposed to be a news conference, I think, at the police station in Kirkwood at around 10:00 a.m.
ROBERTS: Right. We'll be following that. Alan Hopefl, thanks for coming in this morning. Thanks for telling us what happened last evening and I know it was a bit of rush for you to get to our location there. We appreciate you coming in, sir.
HOPEFL: You're welcome, John.
ROBERTS: Alina.
CHO: An incredible sign of hope in a miserable situation. A firefighter said he found a little baby boy alive after a tornado picked the baby up and tossed him 100 yards. Cute little baby there. CNN's David Mattingly live in Castalian Springs, Tennessee with the miracle baby story. And it is a miracle, David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: A miracle is right. This is one for the record books, because not only did this baby survive a killer tornado that was packing 135 mile-per-hour winds. It is alive today in large part to a very timely rescue.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Firefighter David Harmon made one final search of tornado wreckage and made the discovery of a lifetime.
DAVID HARMON, RESCUER: I shined the flashlight across, I said, I've got a baby doll. Before I got, I got a baby doll out of my mouth, it moved.
MATTINGLY: In pitch darkness, in the middle of a field and covered with mud and debris, Harmon found a little baby boy.
HARMON: Since we rolled the baby over, took a gasp of air and started crying.
MATTINGLY: 11-month-old Kyson Stowell was thrown 100 yards when the tornado shattered his home. He was found shivering but with only minor injuries but his mother did not survive.
DOUGLAS STOWELL, GRANDFATHER: She was a good mother to him. They was best friends. I hate to see her go. He loved his mama and she loved him.
MATTINGLY: It's remarkable to think just how lucky this baby truly was. This entire area had already been searched once and rescuers didn't find anything. It wasn't until they started going through all of this debris that they found a baby stroller and decided they need to look just one more time.
It was a chance encounter his family calls a miracle. David Harmon says he was overwhelmed by it all and he now feels connected to the young life he saved.
HARMON: He'll always have a special place in my heart and I hope I continue to stay in contact with the grandparents and I would like to get to know the kid as he gets older.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: And thanks to that timely rescue, he may get that chance. One thing in the baby's favor the other night was that the field that it landed in was wet and muddy, so the ground was soft. That might account for how the baby got out of this without any broken bones. But how the baby managed to get through this without being hurt by any of the flying debris is a mystery to everyone. Nobody really is pondering that too much right now, they're just very happy that he's alive. Alina.
CHO: Incredible. Really, just mind boggling. But such great news amidst so much damage and destruction. David Mattingly, thank you so much for that report. And if you would like to help survivors of the tornado, you can "Impact your world," go to cnn.com/impact to find out how you can make a difference, John.
ROBERTS: The cops put out a hit on the mafia, Jackie "the nose" and 61 other suspected gangsters get pinched. We'll have that story for you. And busted again, the Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss arrested in Las Vegas. That's a picture worth 1,000 words. Why she's in trouble this morning. We're back in just a moment.
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CHO: Welcome back, everybody. At least one tabloid said it's the end of the Gambinos. Take a look at the "New York Daily News" there. That picture worth 1,000 words. 62 suspects under arrest in a massive sweep that stretched from New York to Italy. Members of the Gambino, Genovese and Bonanno crime family have been indicted on charges ranging from money laundering to illegal facing charges on money laundering to illegal gambling and murder. Deborah Feyerick joins me now with more on this story. You've covered this a lot so how big of a deal is this?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: It's a really big deal. You can tell just how huge this operation was just by looking at the number of law enforcement agencies. You have FBI, NYPD, also, the organized crime task forces. All of them working on various parts of the investigation. But there was one thing that really clinched it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: They never saw it coming, leaders of the Gambino crime family rounded up in one of the largest mafia stings in New York City history. All unaware of them unaware that they were being sold out by an informant who recorded hundreds of hours of conversations over a three-year period leading up to the arrest.
JOHN PISTOLE, FBI: To have somebody willing to put their life on the line and to make essential recordings to give us probable cause, to do other types of electronic surveillance is just critical.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors indicted 62 reputed wise guys cutting the crime family off at the waist. According to one official, they include the Gambino acting boss and underboss, a consigliere, several Gambino captains, and numerous soldiers. Men with nicknames like Joe Gag, Tommy Sneakers, and Jackie the nose.
BENTON J. CAMPBELL, U.S. ATTORNEY: This indictment is wide ranging and charges racketeering, conspiracy, extortion, theft of union benefits, mail fraud, false statements, loan sharking, embezzlement of union funds, money laundering and illegal gambling.
FEYERICK: Court papers show that several of the alleged mobsters attended the wake of former Gambino boss John Gotti in 2002. Gotti's brother, Vincent and nephew Richard Gotti were each named in the indictment. Both charged with among other things, attempted murder and distributing drugs. Prosecutors say the two biggest money makers for the Gambinos were internet gambling on college and pro sports, and construction -- specifically trucking and cement.
GORDON HEDDELL, INSPECTOR GENERAL, DEPT. OF LABOR: To be in business, they had to pay a mob tax, and for that, they got protection, at least they called it that.
FEYERICK: The now abandoned NASCAR racetrack on New York's Staten Island was one of the projects the Gambinos were allegedly shaking down for money.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And one of the Gambino soldiers arrested was charged with taking part in five murders including the killing of a state court officer scheduled to testify against them some 30 years ago. The arrests coincides with mafia arrests in Italy, specifically a crime family trying to re-establish ties with the Gambinos in New York.
CHO: So, the big question going forward is whether these cases are airtight. I mean, arrests are one thing, convictions are another.
FEYERICK: They have so much on tape right now.
CHO: All right. Deb Feyerick, thank you so much. John.
ROBERTS: Well, former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss is in trouble again this morning. Fleiss was arrested yesterday. Here's her mug shot. Let that one sit with you for a little while. She's charged with illegal possession of prescription drugs and driving under the influence. She and a friend were arrested in Nevada. That's about 60 miles west of Las Vegas where Fleiss owns a laundromat called Dirty Laundry of all things.
Actress Kirsten Dunst has reportedly entered rehab. "Entertainment Tonight" reports the 25-year-old star checked into Utah's Cirque Lodge this past week. At the same facility where Lindsay Lohan and Mary Kate Olsen received treatment for their various problems.
And British singer Amy Winehouse won't be at Sunday's Grammy Awards' celebration after all. It turns out that the American embassy in London has denied her request for a visa. Winehouse has been on rehab late last night after a home video was leaked on the internet. In the video, Winehouse is seen smoking something from a glass pipe and is heard saying that she has taken lots of Valium. Winehouse is nominated for six Grammy awards.
Oh can't make this stuff up, folks.
While plunging home prices are bad news for the seller, it's good news for the buyer. Is now the right time to buy? We'll ask personal finance editor Gerri Willis.
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ROBERTS: City hall rampage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just can't believe it, you know? It can happen anywhere.
ROBERTS: Five people killed, the mayor in critical condition. The gunman's brothers speaking out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He went to war. The people there was causing strife in his life and he ended it.
ROBERTS: Extreme weather. A river runs through it. Flood threats in four states this morning on this AMERICAN MORNING.
All kinds of problems there. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's Friday, February 8th. Thanks for joining us. I'm John Roberts.
CHO: Very busy Friday. Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho. Kiran has the morning off.
ROBERTS: We're watching all kinds of breaking news this morning. Right now, from Savannah, Georgia, an explosion and fire in a sugar refinery plant that sent dozens of people to the hospital. Many of them critically burned. Six workers are still missing. It happened last night at the Imperial Sugar Plant in Port Wentworth, Georgia on the banks of the Savannah River. Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, the captain with the Savannah Fire Department told us the huge building is still burning and unstable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPTAIN MATT STANLEY, SAVANNAH FIRE DEPARTMENT: In the blast area was sort of in the middle of this factory. It affected three or four large warehouse and mill type rooms.
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