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President Bush Talks About FISA Bill; Defense Secretary Hurt; Roger Clemens Testifying on the Hill; Valentine's Day Cyber Threat; Hollywood Writers End Strike
Aired February 13, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday morning, February 13th. Here's what's on the rundown.
Did he juice? Baseball great Roger Clemens eye to eye with his accuser. Before Congress, under oath and live in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Barack Obama, three for three in the Potomac primaries. Can Hillary Clinton steal his mojo? We ask the political sages.
COLLINS: The suspected mastermind behind the 1983 marine barracks bombing in Beirut and the hijacking of TWA 847 two years later, assassinated -- in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: All right. And we are standing waiting, as you take a look at a live picture there of the White House for the president to enter the Oval Office and give some remarks this morning about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That's the FISA act.
As you know, the Senate has passed its version, its latest version, of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which provides greater protection for Americans targeted for surveillance. And the president right now in the Oval Office.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Director, thank you for joining me. Good morning. At this moment somewhere in the world terrorists are planning new attacks on our country. Their goal is to bring destruction to our shores that will make September 11th pale by comparison. To carry out their plans, they must communicate with each other. They must recruit operatives and they must share information.
The lives of countless Americans depend on our ability to monitor these communications. Our intelligence professionals must be able to find out who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they're planning.
To help our intelligence agencies do this, Congress passed the Protect America Act last year. Unfortunately, Congress set the law to expire on February 1st and then failed to pass new legislation that would keep these tools in effect over the long run. And so at the 11th hour, Congress passed a temporary 15-day extension of the current law which will expire at midnight this Saturday. I signed that extension. I did so to give members of the House and Senate more time to work out their differences.
Well, the Senate has used this time wisely. I am pleased that last night, Senators approved new legislation that will ensure our intelligence professionals have the tools they need to make us safer, and they did so by a wide, bipartisan majority. The Senate bill also provides fair and just liability protections for companies that did the right thing and assisted in defending America after the attacks of September the 11th.
In order to be able to discover enemy -- the enemy's plans, we need the cooperation of telecommunication companies. If these companies are subjected to lawsuits that could cost them billions of dollars, they won't participate; they won't help us; they won't help protect America. Liability protection is critical to securing the private sector's cooperation with our intelligence efforts.
The Senate has passed a good bill, and has shown that protecting our nation is not a partisan issue. And I congratulate the senators.
Unfortunately, the House has failed to pass a good bill. And now House leaders say they want still more time to reach an agreement with the Senate on a final bill. They make this claim even though it is clear that the Senate bill, the bill passed last night, has significant bipartisan support in the House. Congress has over six months to discuss and deliberate.
The time for debate is over. I will not accept any temporary extension. House members have had plenty of time to pass a good bill. They have already been given a two-week extension beyond the deadlines they set for themselves. If Republicans and Democrats in the Senate can come together on a good piece of legislation, there's no reason why Republicans and Democrats in the House cannot pass the Senate bill immediately.
The House's failure to pass the bipartisan Senate bill would jeopardize the security of our citizens. As Director McConnell has told me, without this law, our ability to prevent new attacks will be weakened. And it will become harder for us to uncover terrorist plots. We must not allow this to happen. It is time for Congress to ensure the flow of vital intelligence is not disrupted. It is time for Congress to pass a law that provides a long-term foundation to protect our country. And they must do so immediately.
Thank you very much.
COLLINS: So there you have President Bush, as we promised. He would be coming to those microphones in the Oval Office there to talk about FISA, the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act.
At issue is now what will happen in the House. The Senate, as you heard him say, passed this bill, what he called a good bill, last night. I'll give you the numbers on that, vote of 68-29, will now go on to the House. They've been asking for another extension. You also heard the president say, I will not accept any temporary extension. At issue, one of the things controversial about this bill is the immunity provision and what that allows for is a retroactive immunity to any telecommunications company that helped the intelligence community sort of monitor or eavesdrop, as some people would say, on suspected terrorists.
So that is something that there is still quite a bit of discussion about, but some will say that this is an effort to update this 30-year-old bill by putting in the immunity provision. We will hear a lot more about this in the coming days I'm certain. So we'll keep our eyes on it for you.
Once again, the president from the Oval Office on the FISA bill.
HARRIS: Steroids in baseball. Star testimony this morning, Roger Clemens knows all about the bright lights and pressure, but he's usually the one throwing the fastballs. Today he's fielding some tough questions.
CNN's Gary Tuchman on Capitol Hill for us this morning.
Gary, good to see you. Why is Congress talking to a baseball pitcher about steroids?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'll tell you why, Tony. And I'll tell you why the story is so important. You may not be a sports fan whatsoever. But here's why it's important.
If you have a son or a daughter or a niece or a nephew who plays sports and wants to get great and goes to high school and college, they get great, there's incredible pressure to use banned and illegal and dangerous substances. That's why this is important. That's why congressmen are taking this up.
Roger Clemens is no stranger to showdowns. I mean he throws 150 in a baseball games, it's 100 different showdowns each game, but this showdown is much different, much riskier, and that's because a man who accuses, and not only accuses him, but says he injected Roger Clemens 16 times with steroids, including growth hormones, will be sitting right next to him in the hearing room here on Capitol Hill within an hour.
Roger Clemens, the Rocket, says he has never used steroids, never used human growth hormones. One of these men, Brian McNamee, the trainer, or Roger Clemens is lying big time. Could face charges ultimately from the Justice Department, could face perjury charges, could end up going to jail. But Roger Clemens says he is not the liar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER CLEMENS, MAJOR LEAGUE PITCHER: I don't need the hall of fame to justify that I put my butt on the line and I worked my tail off. And I defy anybody that says I did it by cheating or taking any shortcuts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Brian McNamee, his ex-friend, definitely his ex-friend, his trainer, Brian McNamee, the star witness, says in 1998, 2000 and 2001, he injected Roger Clemens 16 times with steroids of human growth hormone and he's presenting to congressmen -- he is presenting evidence, syringes that he says he saved, syringes that he says he used on Roger Clemens. Why did he save syringes? Pretty strange thing. His lawyer says he saved it in case a day like this would arise.
What could hurt Roger Clemens more than anything is one of his friends, a good friend and ex-teammate Andy Pettitte. Andy Pettitte has admitted that he was injected by Brian McNamee. McNamee did claim that in the Mitchell report. Pettitte has testified under oath in a deposition. He won't be testifying today, but the Associated press is reporting that Andy Pettitte has said that he had a discussion with Clemens about a decade ago and Clemens, at that point, acknowledged that he did didn't use - did indeed use human growth hormones.
Once again we bring up the Senator George Mitchell reporter. Senator Mitchell is a respected lawyer, a respected former senator, a respected diplomat. In his report he mentions Roger Clemens's name 82 times. If Clemens is right, if Clemens is being railroaded, basically he's saying that Senator Mitchell was sloppy and not careful, that he made Clemens a star of his report.
But the fact is, Roger Clemens is in trouble. He has to come here today, convince congressmen that he is indeed not lying. He's made the rounds at Capitol Hill, Tony. It's something very interesting, and perhaps disturbing to some of our viewers, when he made the rounds of Capitol Hill lobby, some of the congressmen staff members asked him for autographs. Doesn't seem that appropriate to do that.
HARRIS: No, it doesn't. OK. Gary Tuchman for us on Capitol Hill. What a morning this is shaping up to be and we invite you to stay in the NEWSROOM.
We are going to go a bit further into this story. Coming up we will speak with a member of the congressional committee asking the question. That's about 10 minutes away. Of course, we will be bringing you the Roger Clemens hearing live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM shortly. That hearing expected to get underway next hour.
COLLINS: Barack Obama claiming a new American majority. John McCain warning of the dangers of a Democrat in the White House. Both candidates looking down the road after sweeping Tuesday's Potomac primaries. Obama racked up resounding wins over Hillary Clinton in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. That put Obama ahead in the overall delegate count and he's trying to keep the momentum going.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And though we won in Washington, D.C., this movement won't stop until there's change in Washington, D.C., and tonight we're on our way. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Hillary Clinton has moved on to Texas. She hopes to get back on track with wins there and in Ohio next month. She describes herself as the underdog in the Wisconsin primary next week.
On the Republican side, John McCain fended off a challenge from Mike Huckabee in Virginia to win all three Potomac primaries. McCain turning his campaign toward the general election now and his Democratic opponent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't yet know for certain who will have the honor of being the Democratic Party's nominee for president, but we know where either of their candidates will lead this country, and we dare not let them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: McCain widened his delegate lead over Huckabee who says he is staying in the race.
John McCain says Mike Huckabee is keeping the Republican race interesting. Sometimes a little too interesting. McCain's victories and what's ahead for the GOP race. Dana Bash, live from Washington this morning.
After last night's results, Dana, where do the Republicans stand?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you where John McCain stands, and I'll tell you where I am right now. I'm at, in a building where the House Republicans are all meeting. They have their weekly meeting today. This -- actually this is where they're doing it. John McCain is attending. And that sort of gives you an indication of what the McCain campaign is trying to do, and frankly, what the Republican Party is trying to did at this point, which is try to help John McCain, you know, unite the party, as he talks about over and over again behind him.
Now actually, John McCain, we're told, is meeting with the House Republican leader, John Boehner. The McCain campaign is hoping that they're actually going to get his endorsement today. We're waiting to hear if that's actually going to happen from inside the Boehner campaign. We may hear it behind me in a press conference in just a short while.
But big picture, what John McCain learned last night is that he obviously had three big, big wins and that made it pretty much impossible. It was already very, very hard for Mike Huckabee to catch up, but now that he has racked up about 100 more delegates, he is -- John McCain is much, much closer to actually clinching the nomination. And so you've played a little of what John McCain was doing in his speech last night, pivoting much more to the general election, much more to talking about the Democrats. But it wasn't just the Democrats in general. What was really fascinating is that he really was in a subtle way drilling down on Barack Obama as a potential rival, talking over and over about hope, a subtle way of kind of digging at Barack Obama, who talks over and over about the issue of hope on the campaign trail. Of course, his book is "The Audacity of Hope."
Listen to what John McCain said last night and there's no question who he's talking about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: To encourage a country with only rhetoric rather than sound and proven ideas, to trust in the strength and courage of free people, is not a promise of hope. It's a platitude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, when John McCain, again, is going to do today is going to try to continue to shore up support inside the Republican Party for him. You know, but one thing that we do know based on last night, Heidi, is that John McCain did win the state of Virginia, but it was very, very tough win for him. It was very competitive, much more than the McCain campaign thought it was going to be and it did show the fact that Mike Huckabee got the kind of support he got, again, amongst conservative, social conservatives in the state of Virginia.
It was just one more illustration of how tough it is going to be for John McCain to get Republicans behind him. And as one Republican strategist said last night, he's not going to be able to take Republicans for granted even as he tries to look towards the general election, look towards the independents who have historically gone for him and that's something that he's going to have to focus on, independents and his own party -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes. Still a lot of challenges ahead.
All right. CNN's Dana Bash coming to us from Washington this morning. Thanks so much, Dana.
HARRIS: And developing overseas this morning, one of the FBI's most wanted killed in an explosion in Syria.
CNN's Brent Sadler is in Beirut following the new developments.
And Brent, I guess the simple question is, how big is this?
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Oh, the assassination of Imad Mugniyah, one of the most wanted terror suspects on American books for more than 20 years is indeed a very important development in the war against terror.
Imad Mugniya, Lebanese born, is essentially, was essentially, top Hezbollah operative and he was wanted in connection with crimes that led to a trail of blood across the Middle East and as far away as South America, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.
Cast your mind back, Tony, to the mid-1980s and a truck bombing against the U.S. Marine barracks during one of the bloodiest periods of the Lebanese civil war. 241 U.S. service personnel died in that attack, then President Ronald Reagan beat a hasty retreat from Lebanon after the attacks on U.S. forces. Again, mid-1980s, the hijacking of TWA airliner on the tarmac at Beirut, vivid images that many of our viewers will remember.
Imad Mugniya, the terror suspect killed in Damascus, associated with those kind of high-level terror activities that shook the world at the time, now dead obviously seems the target (INAUDIBLE) of assassination - Tony?
HARRIS: OK. Brent, yes, indeed, a major development. Brent Sadler for us in Beirut.
Brent, thank you.
COLLINS: Still ahead, dude, where's my skateboard?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit down! Sit down! I'm not a dude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: No skateboarding zone, dude, and they mean it. Roughed up in the NEWSROOM.
ANNOUNCER: CNN NEWSROOM brought to you by...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Breaking news, revealing developments, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Steroids questions, baseball great Roger Clemens faces a congressional hearing at the top of the hour. He'll be side-by-side with his accuser, Brian McNamee.
Congressman Elijah Cummings is on the committee that will be asking the questions.
Elijah, good to see you.
REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), MARYLAND: It's good to see you.
HARRIS: Yes, I got to ask you something. I'm a little confused here. What is this about for you today? It may be something different for other members of the committee. Do you want an admission from Roger Clemens that he used performance-enhancing drugs? Is that what this is about for you today?
CUMMINGS: Yes, for me. I just want Roger Clemens to come in and tell the truth. The fact is, is that Bud Selig, the head of baseball, ordered this report, had it commissioned and a person who we've respected tremendously in the Congress, Senator Mitchell, headed up that investigation. Certain allegations were made with regard to against Roger Clemens using steroids and illegal substances.
And to be frank with you, he came out, that is Roger did, said, look, this is absolutely not true. And so the committee is concerned that we want to be able to close the books on this report, but as long as we have Roger Clemens out there saying that the...
HARRIS: Yes.
CUMMINGS: ...report isn't true, we want to get to that. But the other thing, too, Tony, and -- one of my biggest concerns is, and the reason why we even got involved in this issue from the very beginning is our children. Our children are using steroids trying to emulate their sports heroes...
HARRIS: Right.
CUMMINGS: ...which is -- I mean, and it's gotten worse and worse and worse. And so we're trying to address that at the same time.
HARRIS: Well, Elijah, here's my problem with it. It feels like, it feels like a bit of a game of gotcha this morning. It doesn't steam me that you need Roger Clemens to say, yes, I used performance- enhancing drugs, for him to come forward before the committee and say, to do that is wrong. You see what I'm getting at?
CUMMINGS: Yes, I understand what you're saying, but the thing still is that we wanted baseball to address its issues with regard to steroids. And I think Bud Selig has done a fairly decent job since we've gotten involved in this. Selig then asked for this report. Well, if Selig had not asked for the report and the research, we would have done it ourselves.
So then -- he then submitted the report to us and we're saying, look, we want to close the book on this but we've got Roger Clemens. I got to tell you, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes.
CUMMINGS: Roger brought a lot of this on himself. And so...
HARRIS: Well, you know, let me stop you there and play the sound bite from him. That's one of the key sound bites that probably gets at the point you're making here.
Here's Roger Clemens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLEMENS: I don't need the hall of fame to justify that I put my butt on the line and I worked my tail off and I defy anybody that say I did it by cheating or taking any shortcuts. I cannot wait to go into the private sector and hopefully never have to answer it again. I've said enough. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. Elijah, do you consider the Mitchell report unassailable fact?
CUMMINGS: Yes. I think it's...
HARRIS: You do?
CUMMINGS: I think it's an outstanding report. But that's why we have to have the hearing. We've got to allow Roger - I think we're going Roger a favor in a way, because he says he wants to clear the air, wants to get it out there. Now he'll have that opportunity. And I said to Roger, we want one thing.
HARRIS: Yes.
CUMMINGS: I said, Mr. Clemens, we simply want the truth.
HARRIS: Yes.
CUMMINGS: This is a very serious hearing. Very.
HARRIS: Well, I will tell you something, if you consider it -- the Mitchell report unassailable fact, I don't know what Roger Clemens can produce that satisfies, that argues against that negative that he only can say, really, is that I didn't. I -- everyone else can say what they want to say, I'm telling you I didn't.
I don't know what he can produce. I don't even know what the standard of proof here is. Is it beyond a reasonable doubt? Is it beyond a shadow of a doubt? I don't -- I'm not really sure how Roger Clemens wins today.
CUMMINGS: Well, I can tell you...
HARRIS: And I'm not trying to defend him. But I'm just trying...
CUMMINGS: I understand. I understand. We're trying to be fair to Roger Clemens and what I would say to you, Tony is, stay tuned.
HARRIS: Yes.
CUMMINGS: It's going to be an interesting hearing. He's going to have an opportunity to state his case. He has his attorney. And it's going to be interesting. But that's what the hearing is all about.
HARRIS: Yes. I think you're right. I think the best word here is to stay tuned. And guess what? We will, right here in the NEWSROOM.
CUMMINGS: That's why I understand.
HARRIS: Elijah, good to see you, as always, my friend. CUMMINGS: Good seeing you, too.
HARRIS: OK.
COLLINS: Most of us will feel it every now and then. A nagging pain in the neck or back. Well, a new study says we're throwing billions of dollars at the pain, but is it really just money wasted? Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here.
Boy, what a great question because I know so many people who have back trouble. The billions of dollars spent on back pain, where exactly is that money going?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's sort of amazing, because the study looked at exactly how many billions of dollars are spent, $80 billion, which is roughly similar to what people spend on cancer every year. But there's really no significant change in outcomes. People aren't getting better more quickly because of all this money spent. Typically where the pain occurs, a lot of them in the neck, pain in the neck. We know a lot of that, right?
COLLINS: Yes. A lot of that around here.
GUPTA: About 14 percent of the time we're here, most of the time, though, it's in the lower back. This is typically where a lot of pain occurs, that's where a lot of the stress on your body is placed. A lot of times people rush to the doctor. They'll rush to take medications, they'll rush to get some sort of imaging study.
What the study today that it shows that that doesn't make a difference. People don't get better any more quickly. In fact, take all people with back pain 80 to 85 percent will get better on their own within two to three weeks without any of those interventions, and like you point out, without a lot of that money being spent.
COLLINS: Yes, definitely. But then there's always that the ones that don't get better and linger. And you know, back pains, it's like, you can't get away from it. You know, it seems like it's a different kind of pain. A lot of people go to chiropractors.
GUPTA: Yes.
COLLINS: Good idea?
GUPTA: Well, you know, I mean, in full disclosure, you know, I'm a neurosurgeon so I work at the opposite end of the spectrum.
COLLINS: So no. No. I'm kidding.
GUPTA: No, I mean, you know, I think chiropractors, I think massage therapists, I think a lot of those types of modalities are actually very beneficial in the shorter term usually, but as you point out, if you have some sort of persistent problem or you have numbness or you have weakness in your legs or something like that, that may be indicative that something else is going on here. You may have a pinched nerve something that needs looked at. So you don't want to sort of mask the symptoms with some short-term fixes.
COLLINS: Yes. And there are some short-term fixes that sometimes work for people. There are epidural, there are these injections that you can do. Is any of that valid or they're just kind of like a band-aid?
GUPTA: Well, it's something I prescribe all the time. And I think for people who have lots of inflammation in their back, for one reason or another, they pull a muscle and they have all the inflammation around that muscle, epidural is basically a very potent anti-inflammatory. So you know you could take care of a lot of the inflammation pretty quickly with an epidural. So it can be very effective. But again, you know, you want to make sure if this is something that continues, despite that treatment, or if you have numbness or weakness, those are usually signs of something a little bit more serious and you want to get that checked out.
COLLINS: Yes, obviously, you want to go to the doctor if you are feeling, what?
GUPTA: Yes, you can take a look at those things there. You know, older people contend they have problems that are more arthritic related that may be more persistent. The numbness, again, that usually says that the nerves is involved and somehow it may be getting pinched. Two weeks, that's a rough guideline, Heidi. I mean there are people - and these are big muscles we're talking about.
If you pull one, if you stretch one, it can take a long time to recover. So it could last two weeks, maybe a little bit longer. But the point is, if it's getting worse or just not getting better, you may want to talk to somebody about it. We get way too many tests. People with back pain, they get an MRI test, they get narcotics. I think the point of this study was, that's oftentimes not necessary. This is like a cold. You got to grin and bear for a little bit it usually gets better on its own.
COLLINS: Yes. Boy, that some great information. PT seems to really do a lot of great work, too.
GUPTA: Yes. It strengthens those back muscles, those core muscles.
HARRIS: There you go.
COLLINS: We need to...
HARRIS: I wonder when you'd get to it.
COLLINS: The core.
HARRIS: Hello?
GUPTA: The core muscle. Mr. Core Muscle over there, Tony. HARRIS: Thank you very much for noticing, Sanjay.
GUPTA: As I'm slouching here in this segment the entire time.
COLLINS: I don't think you were slouching.
GUPTA: Yes, a little bit.
COLLINS: All right. We got to go. Thank you very much.
GUPTA: No problem. Any time.
COLLINS: A lot of people (INAUDIBLE) this story.
GUPTA: I broke my spine.
COLLINS: Yes. I like those spines.
GUPTA: I never leave home without it.
COLLINS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Thanks, Sanjay.
HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, home foreclosures up almost 80 percent nationwide. Find out where the worst-hit areas are coming up for you in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: What do you say we get the business day started? The Dow starts its day at 12373, after picking up 133 points yesterday. You know it looked like it would be better for the Dow yesterday before some late-day selling. But still a pretty good rally. And if you look at the futures market, it could be another nice opening this morning depending on how investors respond to a couple of key economic reports including retail sales numbers from January, which were up. We will be following the markets throughout the morning for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. First we want to get to our Jamie McIntyre standing by at the Pentagon for some information, kind a strange story about Defense Secretary Gates.
Jamie I understand that he's had some type of accident were he fell. What is the extent of the injury? What happened?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Heidi. You're aware, of course, in the Washington area, there was very bad weather last night. Ice storm, and the secretary of defense, Robert Gates, apparently slipped on some ice last night and fractured his right shoulder.
The Pentagon is saying, not saying exactly where it happened, although they did say it didn't happen here at the Pentagon. And they say that he has been examined by doctor and is receiving treatment, but they're not saying where that treatment is.
Presumably he may be at nearby military hospital, but they're not disclosing that information. They are saying that he is still carrying out the duties and responsibilities of defense secretary. Even though he suffered this fractured right shoulder, but he will not be appearing as scheduled to today on Capitol Hill. He was going to be testifying before the senate appropriations committee on the Pentagon's budget for next year.
That duty will now fall to the deputy defense secretary, Gordon England, but, again, Defense Secretary Robert Gates slipped on some ice last night here in the Washington area, where we had a bit of ice storm last night, injured himself by fracturing his right shoulder. The defense secretary is 64-years-old, but he's in pretty good shape.
We just returned with him from a trip to Iraq and to Europe, where he was talking with NATO allies, and he was in very good spirits. Again, a treacherous situation last night with very slippery sidewalks all around the Washington area and apparently it got to the secretary of defense.
COLLINS: Wow. Ouch. All right, Jamie. We know you'll stay on top of that one for us. Appreciate it as well. Jamie McIntyre from the Pentagon this morning.
HARRIS: Home foreclosures make a big jump. Filings up almost 80 percent nationwide last year, hardest hit California and the Midwest. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
Ali, everyone is asking, when we know when we hit the bottom? I don't know when.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Afterwards.
HARRIS: Oh, yeah. Yes, yes. I mean, I'm wondering, any chance as you look into your crystal ball and talk to your analysts that housing could bounce back this year?
VELSHI: It depends on a few things. It depends on whether people are confident about the economy. People that come and ask me when will things turn around? There are people who are prepared, may have gotten mortgage financing ready, they are ready to buy a house. Now we deal with a company called Reality Track, which tracks foreclosures.
Now, the numbers for all of 2007 have just come in. They're kind of what we thought they would be. About 2.2 million homes went into foreclosure. That's anywhere in the process from the foreclosure filing until losing your house. More than 400,000 people -- 404,000 homes were lost to foreclosure last year and of the 100 major cities in America that are measured by Reality Track, 86 percent said they had an increase in foreclosures in the whole year versus the previous year.
Let's talk about the major metro areas.
HARRIS: OK.
VELSHI: The average for the United States, Tony, is 1 in 97 homes were in a foreclosure filing. It doesn't mean 1 in 97 homes were lost.
HARRIS: Right.
VELSHI: That's in the filing. Look at the numbers, Detroit and Stockton, California are number one with 1 in 20; then Vegas, 1 in 24; Riverside, San Bernardino, California 1 in 26; Sacramento, 1 in 31. But you see those extreme numbers are way higher than the national average of 1 in 97.
Is 2008 going to be as bad? It might be in terms of housing pricing and it might be in terms of resets. Maybe this thing that we heard from the government yesterday, Project Lifeline, could help on that.
HARRIS: Yes. But I think you mentioned something that was interesting at the top here that there are people who have their financing kind of in place now and are waiting for the moment to jump in.
VELSHI: Yeah.
HARRIS: Which could sort of argue that we could see something of a bounce later in the ...
VELSHI: These things turn on a dime.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: They turn on a dime. Let me show what you mortgage rates are. For those who have financing in place, take a look at this. Mortgage rates have actually started creeping up a little bit. The 30-year fixed now, five and three quarter percent, 5.72. That's not bad. Historically they've only been as low as 4.9. A 15 year fixed 5.18 but look at that. One-year arm, Tony, at this point is 5.72.
If you're getting into a house, very little benefit in taking a risk on an adjustable rate mortgage at this point when you can lock in for a 5.18 on a 15. It's one of those like if you're betting that the mortgage rates are coming down, could they? Absolutely. These are still pretty good rates.
HARRIS: That's a good change range. I've been sitting here arguing, as you know, for some of that 5.0 to 6.0 money. There you go.
VELSHI: Yeah. It's worth thinking about. I definitely think 2008 is the year to be ready to pounce when it happens but you know housing prices don't turn overnight. You'll know when it's happening. Get in and take advantage.
HARRIS: That sounds good. All right. Ali Velshi, "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good to see you.
VELSHI: You, too, my friend.
COLLINS: Also in the headlines this morning, performance- enhancing drugs in baseball, a star pitcher on the hill, Capitol Hill that is. Roger Clemens is finally set to testify in front of everyone. A congressional hearing begins in about 30 minutes. Clemens spoke to several members of the questioning committee in their offices yesterday.
Today, the committee hears from Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee. They'll appear side-by-side under oath. McNamee has said he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormones. Clemens has strongly and repeatedly denied using anything illegal. He is expected to contradict parts of the Mitchell report. In fact, there's a live shot for you now. If he does that today, his attorney says Clemens could face a federal perjury investigation.
We are all over the Roger Clemens testimony this morning. And you can also watch it live and uninterrupted at CNN.com/live. We'll be streaming the hearing just as it happens. And watch continuous coverage on our sister network as well, "Headline News."
HARRIS: The writers strike is over. What does that mean for your favorite TV shows, other than CNN NEWSROOM, of course.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Wind, fog, snow, even a tornado or two. This morning, thousands of you are cleaning up or waiting for the power to come back on. The bad weather leading to plenty of traffic problems, too. Almost 20 cars slammed into each other on a foggy freeway in California. About ten people went to the hospital. Five people died on icy roads in New Jersey, Missouri and Tennessee.
Maryland extended voting in yesterday's primary so drivers stuck on icy roads could, drivers that is, stuck on the icy roads could actually cast their ballots. And piles of snow blocked people into their homes in central Colorado. Snowmobiles delivered food and fuel. Then there were strong storms that hit the south. A tornado ripped the roof off this building in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Another tornado killed a woman near New Orleans.
HARRIS: Weather conditions so bad it took out the defense secretary, boy!
COLLINS: Can you believe that?
HARRIS: We knew it was rough. Jacqui Jeras, good to so you. I know you're following storm. Southern Florida?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. We're still watching the Miami area. Of course, Fort Lauderdale, because these thunderstorms could be getting a little bit strong. You can see on the live picture from WSBN TV those pockets of sunshine in there. As that sun continues to come out, that's going to help destabilize the atmosphere and we could have more tornadoes, just like we did yesterday, but we're going to be focusing more on central and southern parts of the state. It is a cloudy, ominous look there across south Florida. Not a great looking start in Miami.
Let's go ahead and show you over here what's going on with the radar picture because these storms continue to line up feeding in here. You could see gusty winds on the range of maybe 40 or 50 miles per hour. Nothing severe out there now but be aware that that threat is going to be lingering through the afternoon today. We could also see some stronger storms up here into the Outer Banks of the Carolinas, on up towards the Delmarva region, as a strong cold front pushes off to the east.
The same storm system, responsible for all the icy conditions in Maryland, across parts of Pennsylvania, on up into upstate New York. The freezing rain becoming less widespread right now. We're really watching I-80 and the Massachusetts Turnpike, seeing a lot of ice. That's starting to transition back over to rain. Even if it's not nice your neighborhood, into the northeast, we've got a lot of problems at the airports as a result of this. Winds are locked.
The airport in Connecticut still closed because they can't get the runway cleared of the ice. Washington Dulles, ground stop until 10:00 a.m. reporting light, freezing drizzle but having gate issues as well. Look at these delays, guys. This is the worst of it. It doesn't get much worse than this, does it? LaGuardia, four hours, 50 minutes. I could read three books probably sitting there waiting for it.
HARRIS: Throw in video games. I hope you brought them along.
COLLINS: Sitting around La Guardia, too.
JERAS: You don't have to be in New York, by the way, to be affected by the delays. You could be in Atlanta, Dallas, maybe trying to get into New York. That's going to be a problem for you.
COLLINS: All right. Jacqui, thanks for that.
Well, a love note that could be really mean. We're talking Valentine's Day e-cards. Veronica De La Cruz shows us what to watch out for.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A Valentine's Day warning from the FBI. Veronica De La Cruz is here to tell us why an e-mail from a secret admirer might actually be a secret threat. Veronica, you're smiling but it really doesn't sound very good at all.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: You know Heidi, I mean as if we don't have enough to worry about on Valentine's Day. I mean if you're a woman you're worried about chocolate and now -- that, too? If you're a man, just worried about remembering the day, period.
HARRIS: How much is it going to cost me?
COLLINS: Oh, boy. I was waiting for that.
DE LA CRUZ: You know, the FBI is saying we have to be on the lookout for a Valentine's Day cyber threat, in the form of a valentine e-card. You might think you're getting a love note, Heidi. Once you click, opened e-mail, clink the link, it's going to launch a botnet, giving personal information, anything stored on your computer. Botnet can also launch attacks. They can also flood your e-mail with tons and tons of spam. So something you definitely want to be careful of. Don't want to open them up, especially it's from a sender that is unknown.
COLLINS: What can you do to protect yourself?
DE LA CRUZ: It might be tempting. You might get a valentine's e-mail from that special someone. It is tempting, but you can't open these e-mails. I'm telling you. If you do, just don't click the link. Don't open attachments. Make sure your computer has a firewall, that it's up and running and check your security software, make sure it's up to date, make sure that's running as well. I'm talking about anti- virus ware, patching, make sure your security software is up and running, the most important thing here.
COLLINS: What do I do if I come across something like this? Can I send it to a trash pile or do I send it to the FBI?
DE LA CRUZ: Send it to Tony.
COLLINS: To Tony! Ooh!
HARRIS: That's nice. Wonderful.
DE LA CRUZ: Do not send it to Tony. Do not open it. You know, if you actually do open it, it's difficult. The computer affected one of the signs starts operating slower than usual. Also, the FBI behind this is urging that you report any of these suspicious e-mails to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. We've thrown the Web site up there for you. It's Ic3.gov and then you can read more about this valentine storm worm. Check out the FBI's Web site. That is FBI.gov. No love for your computer on this Valentine's Day. You don't want to see that valentine's mail.
COLLINS: Kind of sad. What about the day when it was just Valentine's Day, a lucky day, we were all excited.
DE LA CRUZ: I know.
COLLINS: All right. Oh, well. Veronica De La Cruz, thanks so much.
HARRIS: Skating on thin ice, a teenager goes too far, or the police. Dude!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit down. I'm not a dude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Wow! See it all for yourself, dude. In the NEWSROOM, dude.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It's back to work today for Hollywood writers. They voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to end their 100-day strike against producers. Their walkout virtually shut down the entertainment industry. At issue, paying for work aired on the Internet and other digital media. The new deal is for three years.
HARRIS: In Baltimore, what is going on in my hometown? A 14- year-old skateboarder -- oh, Roger Clemens on Capitol Hill right now. Let's see the pictures right now. Roger Clemens set to testify at the same table with his former friend, former trainer, Brian McNamee.
Heidi, in my hot little hands here I have a bit of the opening statement, that Roger Clemens is going to deliver this morning. If anyone thought he was going to, oh, give some half measures to explain this away somehow, I didn't knowingly, you've heard that out there. No, no, no, no, no.
Roger Clemens is going say I appreciate the opportunity to tell this committee and the public under oath what I have been saying all along. I have never used steroids, human growth hormone or any other type of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. That's what he is prepared to say as part of his opening statement this morning.
10:00 hour is when it all gets underway Eastern Time right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. As you see the committee room there. We will, of course, can't wait, we will bring you the hearing live right here in the NEWSROOM.
Let's back to Baltimore now and the story of this 14-year-old skateboarder who ran into a bit of trouble, as you've about to see here, but here's the question, was it the veteran police officer who crossed the line? See it for yourself. Dude, video of the confrontation is on the Internet.
Here's Kathleen Cairns of affiliate WBFF.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OFC. SALVATORE RIVIERI, BALTIMORE POLICE: Obviously your parents don't put a foot in your butt quite enough because you don't understand the meaning of respect.
KATHLEEN CAIRNS, WBFF REPORTER: It's posted on YouTube.
RIVIERI: Sit down! Sit down. I'm not dude. You're damn right you're calling your mother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't take my skateboard. I didn't do anything.
MAYOR SHEILA DIXON, BALTIMORE: He's one bad apple and he's going to be investigated and he'll be disciplined.
RIVIERI: First of all you disrespected me, this badge and my department. You understand me? When I'm talking to you shut your mouth and you listen.
STERLING CLIFFORD, BALTIMORE POLICE SPOKESMAN: Obviously the clip raises some concerns. We don't know what happened before and after. That's something we'll look at.
The police officer is identified as Salvatore Rivieri who spoke with Fox 45 in 1996 after capturing a bank robber.
RIVIERI: Just seemed to be hanging around and just didn't look right.
CAIRNS: Then a hero, a decade later, now suspended and under investigation. But the video only raises questions with the police union.
PAUL BLAIR, BALTIMORE POLICE UNION: Did the kid make any actions that weren't caught on the videotape that the officer might have considered it a threat to him to throw the kid down? I don't know.
CAIRNS: The union says the video does not show the whole story.
BLAIR: Let's not throw the officer to the wolves until we did a complete investigation.
DIXON: It is very clear on that video he was out of line and incorrect how he handled and dealt with that child.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK. Police say no complaint has been filed against the officer. Investigators now want to talk to the skateboarder.
COLLINS: Tough talk on steroids.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even if you were really trying to ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Allegations against Roger Clemens providing important lessons for kids and their parents.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Happening right now, Washington, D.C., the proceedings about to get underway. Roger Clemens under oath and in front of everybody going to be testifying on Capitol Hill. Very interesting proceedings today. We've actually seen some of the opening statement from him, and another part that will be interesting about this is who's going to be sitting next to him. Brian McNamee. Remember him? His former trainer who actually says that he injected Clemens at least 16 times with human growth hormone or steroids.
I want to go ahead and get to the story that we have prepared on these proceedings, because they are happening right now. We will keep our eye on those for you. In fact, Roger Clemens on Capitol Hill, going to be talking about that drug use in baseball, and all of the kids will be watching. Something we've talked about a lot here. What does it mean to them? CNN's Richard Roth has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 12-year-old Alex Kleinfeld (ph) practices but on his birthday, he's going to watch a former New York Yankee pitcher, one of baseball's biggest stars ever, testify on television in front of Congress.
ALEX KLEINFELD (ph): I'm just going to watch it and hope that Clemens gets exposed.
ROTH: Roger Clemens has denied the accusations of steroids use.
ROGER CLEMENS, FORMER YANKEES PITCHER: This is not about records and heroes and numbers. I could give a rat's ass about that. This is about my health. I've always been concerned about my health and what I put in my body.
ROTH: Do you think he's a liar?
KLEINFELD (ph): Yes.
ROTH: Big liar?
KLEINFELD (ph): Yes.
ROTH: The owner of this suburban New York training center, Dan Gray, a former player, once met the great Clemens. Gray says the next generation can't escape hearing about steroids in the sport called America's past time.
DAN GRAY, BASEBALL INSTRUCTOR: We're really getting down to the essence of the game which is the integrity of the game and it's being compromised. There's no doubt about that. I see it on a daily basis with the kids that come into me because the kids comment on it everyday.
ROTH: Kids such as Robert Scherl.
ROBERT SCHERL, BASEBALL PLAYER: Greater hitters and pitchers that they're not doing steroids.
ROTH: Jack Zenkel is a huge Yankees fan. MICHELLE ZENKEL, MOTHER: They have all of these baseball heroes that they look up to and they all -- Jack still dreams about being a professional baseball player, and all of a sudden all their images are tainted.
ROTH: Parents have to talk about the birds and the bees, but before that, it's baseball.
MICHELLE DECKER, MOTHER: Matt and I have talked about steroids and how steroids are drugs and drugs are bad.
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