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Crane Collapse: Accident Death Toll Rises; Wallet Worries: Latest Ripples of Financial News; McCain, Cheney in Baghdad
Aired March 17, 2008 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Unfolding this hour, a fifth body recovered about an hour ago from the site of a construction crane accident in Midtown Manhattan.
CNN's Jim Acosta is at the scene of the accident now with an update -- Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Yes, we have just learned within the hour that workers here on the site of this crane collapse recovered the body of a man within the last hour, and we believe from talking to officials here with the New York Police Department, as well as construction workers, that that was one of the missing construction workers who was believed to be at the bottom of the rubble. That would leave, according to officials here on the scene, one additional construction worker who is unaccounted for and a woman who was visiting the town house that was demolished by this falling crane who was here in New York visiting from Miami for a St. Patrick's Day parade here in the city today.
Again, one person recovered, and at this point, officials are still on the scene trying to figure out exactly why the crane's top bracing on Saturday suddenly broke loose, causing this entire crane to fall on top of itself, crushing that townhouse and damaging other buildings here in Midtown Manhattan -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, Jim, I was actually there this weekend staying one block away and saw certainly all of what we are looking at right now. And it's taken a very, very long time to begin sort of clearing things up and trying to get through all of that debris because of this humongous crane.
Obviously, they have made this progress now by removing that broken crane, but how do they do it? I mean, those streets are so tight. It seems very, very difficult to get something that large out of the city.
ACOSTA: That's right. They have hundreds of construction workers here, countless emergency crews. They've been working through the night.
They removed, you're right, that main portion of the crane overnight, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg predicted over the weekend that once they removed that main section, that that would speed up and intensify their search. And it was within a good six to seven hours after that main portion of this crane was removed that they were able to find the body of this individual who was just recovered within the last hour.
So, as this process moves forward -- and they're being meticulous and very careful about it, because as we're talking right now, Second Avenue in Midtown Manhattan has been reopened. There are cars, there are pedestrians coming through the area now, so that absolutely they have to be very careful about this. That's a painstaking process as they get to the bottom of this pile -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, certainly don't want to have another accident.
Quickly, before we let you go, Jim, is there any sort of investigation going on into the crane operator or into this construction company that was doing all the work there?
ACOSTA: Well, I think more is being uncovered by city officials. You know, it was learned over the weekend that there were some violations cited at this site just late last week, but this crane was given the all-clear. So it's not clear, and it seems not to be the case that those violations had anything to do with this collapse.
But at this point they simply just don't know why this top bracing that was holding this crane up, 19 stories up, somehow came loose. And when that piece of the crane came loose, it really just sort of pancaked on top of itself, and that's when it went out of control, started clobbering the other nearby buildings before it came right down on top of that townhouse. But at this point it's still a part of this investigation.
COLLINS: Yes. Wow, I couldn't believe it myself.
All right. Jim Acosta, thanks so much for the update.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: So you hear that drip, drip, drip? It is the ripple effect of the nation's economy, and it is hitting you square in the wallet.
This hour, we are watching Wall Street. It got off to a pretty shaky open 90 minutes ago. Right now the Dow Industrials stand at -- well, they were up in a positive area, and now they're down again, down 27 points.
And markets in Asia absolutely tanked overnight. Japan's Nikkei closed down 3.7 percent.
One of the reasons, the stunning collapse of Bear Stearns, one of the world's largest investment banks. Its rival, JPMorgan Chase, has agreed to buy it for a fraction of what it was worth just days ago. The concern? America's credit crisis only getting worse.
Also overnight, oil prices hit yet another record in Asian trading, but that number is now down. And the Federal Reserve shows how serious the concerns are. It took the extraordinary step of lowering its discount rate this weekend. And it's expected to cut interest rates again when it meets tomorrow.
All this brings us to issue #1, making the most of your money in this rocky economy.
Here to break it all down for us, CNN's money team. Gerri Willis is CNN's personal finance editor. And Ali Velshi is our senior business correspondent.
Ali, let's start with you.
Boy, cnnmoney.com prepped us for the open, said it would be down, shaky. It was. And then we were up. And now we're slightly down.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I don't know. I'm going to pack it in. Just like hand it back to you.
HARRIS: No, you can't. We need you.
VELSHI: This is very complicated.
Now, I'll tell you, it gets complicated when we're at this point, you know, a turning point in the economy, where some people are thinking we're heading into a recession, others are thinking, you know, maybe we're going to see the bottom of whether it's housing or the credit crisis. It's a turning point.
The bottom line is something is happening out there, and investors have got to make decisions about are they -- do they think we're coming around a corner? Do they think things are getting worse? And that's why you're seeing money moving around from large pots of investment to others.
So, for instance, we saw oil hitting the highest price it's ever been at this morning, $111.80, but now oil's off -- you know, it's given up about $5. People have moved their money out of it.
Gold has come down. The U.S. dollar hit the lowest point it's ever been against the euro, $1.59 at one point. It's now coming off of that.
The Dow, which was off almost 200 points, has now come back. Why? Because this whole thing with Bear Stearns, the fifth largest investment bank in the country, was going to go under. It had money problems like a lot of other banks we've heard about. But didn't have enough to pay, so the Fed and JPMorgan moved in on Friday to give the company a loan. Then JPMorgan, with the help of the Fed, decided it's buying the company yesterday for $2 a share, even though it was worth $70 a share one week ago.
And overnight we had Asian markets and European markets really unhappy about this. They just thought it was, you know, the last shoe to drop. This thing is really getting bad. Now even banks are going under. And the Fed's move and JPMorgan's move seem to have been a little bit more reassuring.
So right now people are thinking, one more day. Tomorrow afternoon we're going to hear from the Fed.
HARRIS: Yes. VELSHI: We're expecting them to cut rates by another half a percentage point. Maybe, maybe all of this action that the Federal Reserve has been taking could start to shore up the economy.
Maybe this week we'll see the worst out of the banks. This doesn't solve the mortgage or the housing problem.
HARRIS: That's right.
VELSHI: And Gerri's going to talk to you about that. But at least on the financial market side, markets are calmer right now than you might expect that they would have been.
HARRIS: You don't want to run on the banks, do you?
VELSHI: You do not want to run on the banks. That makes people worry.
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: It just -- you know, banks and financial markets are about trust because you give them your money.
HARRIS: Exactly.
VELSHI: So you need to sort of trust that it's going to be there, and that's why the Federal Reserve has stepped in to say, we do not need banks going under.
HARRIS: Ali, appreciate it. Thanks.
VELSHI: All right.
COLLINS: And Gerri Willis is standing by to talk a little bit more about this, too.
Because, Gerri, we do know that coming up this Tuesday, as in tomorrow, there's a chance that interest rates could be cut again. What does it all mean for consumers? People are probably looking forward to that, but should they be?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, you know, there's widespread expectation that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by half a percent to three-quarters of a percent. That's what they call the Fed Funds Rate. It affects the prime rate, and that typically affects you.
It will come on the heels of a discount rate cut this weekend. And as you know, making these cuts, there's a lag time for it to actual percolate into the economy of nine to 18 months.
COLLINS: Right.
WILLIS: It's been six months since they started cutting rates. And the devil is in the details here, how much effect it's really going to have on things that matter to your wallet. So, let me just detail that just a little bit.
We're not expecting a big impact on mortgage rates. They're at 6 and change right now. You know, they haven't come down that much since the fall. So, you know, keep an eye on that 6.37 percent right now. It could come off a little bit, but probably not a ton.
Adjustable rate credit cards, probably come off a little bit. Not a lot. If you're a saver out there, you could be a loser because lower rates means lower returns for people who are using certificates of deposit at banks.
COLLINS: Yes. And boy, my parents always told me to save, save, save. And now...
WILLIS: Well, there are better -- you know, there are lots of ways to do it.
COLLINS: Yes, definitely.
All right. So, obviously we want everybody to know about issue #1.
WILLIS: That's right.
COLLINS: We're going to have a great show all week long, talking exactly about these issues.
Tell me more about that, Gerri.
WILLIS: Well, we'll be answering your questions at noon today on issue 1. What do you want to know about? Is it your mortgage? Is it debt? What are you concerned about?
Send us an e-mail. We want to hear from you. We'll answer those questions live on air -- Heidi.
COLLINS: OK. That's what Gerri is going to be doing.
Ali, remind me again, what are you going to do? Ali?
HARRIS: He's going to eat. He's going to snack a little bit...
COLLINS: Oh Ali?
HARRIS: ... to get his strength up for the show at noon.
COLLINS: Hey, Ali.
VELSHI: Yes? Sorry, I'm eating my green -- hold on a second.
HARRIS: He's snacking to get ready for the show.
VELSHI: I've got a green bagel in my hand.
COLLINS: It's good to know that you have enough money to be buying food and...
VELSHI: It's the only green I got.
HARRIS: But it's green.
VELSHI: No one told me you were going to come back and talk more.
COLLINS: Hey. So, are you working this show at noon, or are you just going to be eating at the noon hour? We want to know what you're going to have. Issue 1.
VELSHI: I'm getting my strength up so that when we get to issue #1, I'm strong and able to bring good information to our viewers.
COLLINS: What is the green -- it looks like kiwi. It's green...
VELSHI: It's just a green bagel.
COLLINS: That's nasty.
VELSHI: Isn't that nice?
COLLINS: No, it's nasty.
All right. You know what? We're done with you.
HARRIS: We've got to go.
COLLINS: We will watch the show just to see what type of green food you'll be eating.
WILLIS: We won't be eating during the show. No eating during the show.
COLLINS: Gerri is going to handle the show. She's going to coordinate it and tell Ali what to do.
HARRIS: But to my man Ali, way to take absolutely nothing and turn it into something. All right?
VELSHI: There you go.
HARRIS: Way to go.
COLLINS: Thanks guys. We will be watching.
We certainly want to hear from you in the NEWSROOM this morning. How is the economy affecting you, your family and your wallet?
HARRIS: Well, the Franklin family in Georgia writes, "We as a family have stopped eating out, doing more home cooking, and reducing the fat in our diet, literally and figuratively. We consolidate our errands to save on gas and we concentrate on making the mortgage and utility payments." COLLINS: From Lisa in Oregon, "My family and I own a small trucking company. Fuel prices are killing us and rates for loads are the lowest they've been in years. And we'll lose everything we own if the economy does not turn around soon."
HARRIS: And from Karen in Pennsylvania, "I now have to get a second job at night just to pay for the extra cost of food and gas. I also have to shop at discount grocery stores with food that is expired and a day old. And I haven't bought my family anything since Christmas. When will it end?"
COLLINS: Please e-mail your thoughts to the CNN NEWSROOM at CNN.com. We're going to be reading more comments like these throughout the morning right here.
HARRIS: Iraq is back in the political spotlight this morning. Vice President Dick Cheney showed up unannounced just hours ago in Baghdad. He is meeting with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain is there also. He flew in with a congressional delegation over the weekend. McCain says he's there to see how the so-called surge is working.
Senator Hillary Clinton is in Washington delivering what she calls a major policy speech on Iraq this hour. Her Democratic rival Barack Obama will be out mining for votes in Pennsylvania.
Following events in Baghdad today, our chief national correspondent, John King.
And John, good to see you.
Tell us about the vice president's visit, if you would, please.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An interesting trip by the vice president, Tony. We knew he was coming to the Middle East. There was know announced stop in Baghdad, but that is often the case on these trips because of security concerns.
The vice president arrived this morning on Air Force Two. He did have some meetings with General David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces on the ground here in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador.
Mr. Cheney appeared in public with both of those gentlemen saying he appreciated their updating him on the military and the diplomatic strategy here on the ground in Iraq, but he also made clear that the most important meeting for the vice president was with Iraqi government officials. He met with several different levels and layers of the Iraqi government, including the prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki. And it is no secret that the Bush administration is frustrated by what it views as a slow and lack of progress on the political reconciliation front here, or legislation to share the oil revenues, legislation to put the rule of law and a stronger judiciary in place. Legislation, frankly, and other steps to root out corruption across the al-Maliki government.
So, Vice President Cheney said he wanted to come and encourage Prime Minister Maliki to move more quickly. He says again he believes the United States can and should have faith in Prime Minister Maliki. But with 10 months left in the Bush administration, Tony, it was a reminder, number one, that the administration has a lot of business still to do here in Iraq, but it is not all that far away where this will be another president's war and another president's problem, if you will.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I could run down a long list of problems with you. Among them, either failure to declare provincial elections, oil-revenue sharing. There's still corruption in areas, particularly amongst Shiite parts of the government. There's a couple of people that should have gone to trial that didn't in the last week or two.
But when you look at what's happened over the last year in the view of most objective observers, it's a pretty remarkable improvement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That obviously Senator John McCain. He is also here, as you noted, Tony. And we sat down with him on the balcony that was once Saddam Hussein's palace.
And Senator McCain was quite upbeat and optimistic about the security gains here in Iraq, but he also did say, as the vice president would note -- and McCain was much more candid about it in public -- about the problems here in Iraq going forward. But Vice President Cheney says he will go back with an optimistic message, that, yes, there are still problems, but progress being made. And Senator McCain saying much the same.
The stakes for Senator McCain of course significantly higher. He not only has to make that case in the United States Congress, but to the American people as the Republican candidate for president. And as you noted, Senator Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have vastly different views on what should be done in Iraq, but Senator McCain saying security is improving here, and despite the political problems, he says this is no time to withdraw U.S. troops in any large numbers -- Tony.
HARRIS: Our chief national correspondent, John King, for us from Baghdad today.
John, thank you.
COLLINS: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Washington this morning laying out her plan for the war in Iraq and criticizing Republican rival John McCain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Despite the evidence, President Bush is determined to continue his failed policy in Iraq until he leaves office. And Senator McCain will gladly accept the torch and stay the course, keeping troops in Iraq for up to 100 years if necessary.
They both want to keep us tied to another country's civil war, a war we cannot win. And that in a nutshell is the Bush/McCain Iraq policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Clinton heads to New York today to attend the swearing in of that state's new governor. David Paterson is taking over for Eliot Spitzer. Spitzer resigned after being linked to a prostitution ring.
HARRIS: The ballot's in the mail. We will talk to a guest about mail-in voting and how it actually works.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Florida Democrats stalled over proposals for a primary do-over. Today an appeals court here in Atlanta is hearing a lawsuit filed by two Florida voters who want January's primary to count. But the head of the state's Democratic Party was talking about a mail-in re-vote last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREN THURMAN, FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRWOMAN: Yesterday I got a call from a former colleague of mine who is from Washington that said, you know, we've been doing mail-in ballots for 10 years and we think it's a great way to vote. So I think that's the advantage we would have, is that we do have states out there that have done this and have the time and expertise that they've put into it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: One state that uses mail-in voting is Oregon. Secretary of State Bill Bradbury is with us from Portland.
Bill, finally we get to talk. We've wanted to do this segment for a couple of days, but breaking news has intervened. But it's great to talk to you finally.
BILL BRADBURY, OREGON SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, it's great to be here.
HARRIS: Well, I have to ask you, how long has Oregon been using a mail-in system?
BRADBURY: Oregon has been using vote by mail in local elections since about 1980, and we've been doing all of our elections by mail since 2000. HARRIS: So how long ago -- how long did it take for you to feel and for the state to feel that it was getting it done properly -- in short, getting it done right?
BRADBURY: Well, so basically it started in smaller local elections.
HARRIS: Well, that's smart, yes.
BRADBURY: And everybody got a better understanding of how it worked. And then finally it went statewide, and by the time we went statewide, people were very confident in the vote by mail system.
Eighty percent of Oregonians love vote by mail. We have a very secure, very secure system where we could really prevent fraud and really conduct elections fairly.
HARRIS: So, Bill, that's great. So starting it small gave you an opportunity to see some of the problems and work out the kinks and the bugs in the system, right?
BRADBURY: Yes, a very good point. And that's really my concern about Florida just jumping into vote by mail, is that you really need to learn how to do this system, and then it can work very well. If you just jump into it, there's the very real potential with the hanging chads problem of 2000 would become the vote by mail problem of 2008.
HARRIS: Ah, don't even say it. Bill, don't even say it. Don't even mention that term.
So I have to ask you, you mention that you rolled it out slowly beginning in 1980. What were some of the problems that the state encountered?
BRADBURY: Well, I mean, you know, you have to learn how to -- for example, we verify every signature. You get your ballot in the mail. You sign your ballot when you return it. And we verify every signature that comes back against your voter registration signature.
HARRIS: Wow.
BRADBURY: So you have to learn how to do signature verification.
HARRIS: Well, Bill, how do you do that? Is it a computer system that does it for you? You can't do that by hand.
BRADBURY: No. No, it's done by individual election workers in each of the counties.
HARRIS: Wow.
BRADBURY: And they get training from signature verification experts at the state police. So you've got people who really know how to understand and measure whether that's the right signature. And so they do that, and that's something that takes a little time to develop some expertise in.
HARRIS: Well, I've got to tell you, Bill, I pulled up the Web site for "The Miami Herald" this morning just to see where the process was going in Florida. And there's a quote in one of the articles from a spokesperson for Florida's secretary of state who says, "There is no authority under Florida law that would allow county supervisors of election or the state to verify signatures in an election of a state party."
That cuts to your point. If you can't verify the signatures, how do you move forward? Why would you move forward?
BRADBURY: I don't think you can do a legitimate vote by mail election without the ability to verify signatures. We use a centralized database...
HARRIS: Yes.
BRADBURY: ... that includes a digital signature for every voter when they register to vote. That's in the database, and you've got to have that to have a vote by mail election.
HARRIS: All right. There apparently are some other issues.
Here's Congressman Wexler from Florida with Wolf Blitzer last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ROBERT WEXLER (D), NEW YORK: To disenfranchise seniors that might be up in New York State or North Carolina, to disenfranchise college students to not be able to find those that are renting because we don't have the right address, to not be able to authenticate significance because the only database that the state has is one that Katharine Harris contracted for, these are problems Florida does not need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Hey, Bill, how big an issue was the general idea that perhaps you would disenfranchise some voters?
BRADBURY: Well, actually, we have much greater participation with vote by mail than we had...
HARRIS: Really?
BRADBURY: ... in polling place elections. The reality is that it doesn't disenfranchise people because people, once they are registered, get their ballot at home, and they have 2.5 weeks to fill out their ballot and get it back to the elections office. So it really -- we have last presidential election, 86 percent of the people in Oregon voted.
HARRIS: That's great. That's great.
Well, one quick one. Has anyone from the Florida Democratic Party called you?
BRADBURY: Some folks have called us from Florida, have talked to my elections director. My elections directors really walk through all the processes with them.
HARRIS: Yes.
Bill, good to see you.
BRADBURY: OK. Thank you.
HARRIS: You sure your folks didn't simply say don't do it? All right, Bill. I've got to go.
BRADBURY: OK. Thank you.
HARRIS: Bill, appreciate it. Thanks.
BRADBURY: Bye-bye.
COLLINS: After the storm in Atlanta, cleanup is pumped up. Traffic backed up. Many workers urged to stay home.
A live report coming your way next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A deadline in Tibet. China is telling anti-government protesters to surrender by midnight tonight or face the consequences. Workers are cleaning up from several days of rioting against Chinese rule. Shops, schools and businesses are open, but the situation is far from normal.
The Tibetan government, in exile, claims at least 80 people were killed by police in Lhasa. The regional government now puts the number of dead at 13.
Tibet's governor says protesters who surrender will be given leniency. Protesters have been reported outside the capital, Lhasa, as well as in three other nearby Chinese provinces.
Some incredible pictures coming in as well from the area. In fact, one of the people taking some of those pictures is a freelance journalist. He has actually been kicked out of the region, if you will. He joins us now by phone to tell us a little bit more about what he saw.
We are keeping his name to ourselves for security reasons there. He's not comfortable with sharing that with us.
But if you are on the line, sir, tell us more about where you are now and what you saw when you were in Tibet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sure thing.
Well, I was -- we were up in Shiahu (ph), which is an area in Ganzu (ph) province, the neighboring province to Tibet, and home to (INAUDIBLE) monastery, which is pretty much the second most influential monastery outside of Lhasa.
And as we were doing some work there, I was with some other people. And we were with government officials the whole time. And as troops and police in kind of full riot gear started rolling into town to -- I think to deal with some of the monks that were protesting -- in the buildings that were protesting there, we were basically escorted out of the province. And so now I'm actually on a bumpy road in a faraway province from there now.
But it's -- we actually were not allowed back into the town of Shiahu because it was -- I think it got pretty ugly with a lot of things getting smashed up. A lot of government buildings getting smashed up and then, you know, we just saw convoy after convoy of troops and police in full riot gear entering the town.
COLLINS: Are you still in contact with people who are there? I mean, do you know the very latest situation of what's happening? Has it quelled a bit? Is it ramping up more? I mean, we have this deadline now to consider, as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. From what I'm hearing, it seems to be escalating a bit. You know, and that's coming through a couple different sources, but it -- yes, you know, I think I'd be surprised if everyone sort of ended up surrendering by the deadline that they've been given, or even backing down.
COLLINS: So, in your opinion, and from what you have seen in the video that you have shot, what do you see as happening next?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I'm not really sure. I think it's a pretty interesting situation. I think it's, you know, almost on the scale of some of the stuff that happened in 1989, you know. It is definitely a lot different from a lot of the usual protests in China. I think it's a much bigger deal than probably being reported as outside of China because they're doing such an incredible job of keeping people out and keeping it under lock.
COLLINS: Well, obviously are going to keep our eye on the situation. We continue to look at these pictures that have been coming in over the weekend, and early this morning, as well. We appreciate your insight on all of this. Freelance journalist, photographer I should say, who was in the region and no longer is. You can hear everything in the background. He says he's on a bumpy road now. Yunnan province, China, is where he is travelling to. So we'll Continue to follow this story out of Tibet, where things certainly seem to be ratcheting up there.
HARRIS: Bottom of the hour. Welcome back everyone to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi there, everybdoy. I'm Heidi Collins.
(WEATHER REPORT) HARRIS: I'm going to stall a little bit. I think we want to get to the president here in just a couple of moments. I know we're inside the window here. The president is going to make some remarks on St. Patrick's Day today and I'm wondering...
COLLINS: Guess what color he's wearing?
HARRIS: No. What do you think?
COLLINS: I see him.
HARRIS: You see him. Oh, OK.
COLLINS: A green tie.
He's not at the podium, though. yet. The other guy has a green guy.
HARRIS: So the president is going to be making some comments on this St. Patrick's Day. And maybe we can loop in pictures of the big parade there. And have you ever -- Well, sure you have.
COLLINS: I marched with the grand marshal a couple of years ago.
HARRIS: Did you really?
COLLINS: Yes, and I'm not even Irish.
HARRIS: OK. I don't know. Well, so we're sort of just -- maybe we'll come back and take some of the comments from the president in just a couple of moments, but if we could, let's -- all right. Let's talk about the storm.
COLLINS: More weather, yes.
HARRIS: Absolutely. Parts of downtown Atlanta still in a dangerous place right now. Police want people who work there to take the day off while cleanup from the weekend tornado continues. Just east of downtown, the historic Cabbagetown neighborhood was hit hard. And CNN's Cal Perry is there.
Cal, unbelievable pictures from the last time we had an opportunity to talk to you, but look at that right behind you, that huge tree where it's not supposed to be.
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Tony. And I wanted to give you a little perspective here on how big these trees are. This area of town was really settled about 100 years ago. And that's when these trees were built, and that's why they became so big. They became so powerful, and these houses, as you can see, they didn't stand a chance when these trees came tumbling down on the houses. What's
Now Happened since we last spoke is we've started to see some construction workers trying to get these trees off these houses. You can see this house here in particular, they removed the tree. They said yesterday, they said it was a two-day job to get this tree off this house. And obviously, Tony, it takes a very big crane to get a very big tree off of these houses.
Some of these houses may have to be demolished totally because the damage is so bad. And they're in the neighborhood where we're talking about between 30 and 40 houses utterly and completely destroyed up and down the street. I haven't seen a single house without some kind of destruction.
In fact, we were talking to some neighbors here who had a fireplace from their neighbor's house come straight through their wall. So really when this storm came through, an F-2 tornado, 130- mile-an-hour winds, debris everywhere, just swept through this neighbor, tore up these houses.
But really the key for this neighborhood were these trees, these huge oak trees that just came crashing down on these houses, either crumpled them or split them completely in half. Now, as you mentioned, police said, please stay out of areas like this so they can get people cleaned up, they can get people out here, but we've seen all day, people driving up and down this street, slowing down, taking pictures, coming from all over the state of Georgia, so it doesn't seem like they're heeding the warnings of police. People really want to get a look at this damage, Tony.
BOLDUAN: You know, I can understand the curiosity, we all can, but it certainly isn't helpful for the efforts going on right now.
Cal Perry for us. Cal, appreciate it. Thanks.
COLLINS: Stay out of the tornado zone. That's the message for Atlanta commuters this morning. In fact, after that weekend tornado ripped through the heart of the city, it damaged buildings that make up Atlanta's skyline. Yes, that's our building, including the CNN center, as you see.
Meteorologist Rob Marciano is on the scene now not far from where we are, and, Rob, boy, you have a lot to show us there.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We do. The damage here is widespread. And I Mean, I could toss a baseball at the CNN center. Workers are out, utility crews are out trying to patch together something here. They're all strewn about town trying to pick up the pieces, and workers, as Cal -- and onlookers have been kind of cruising through this area, taking a little glimpse of what has turned out to be a historic event here in Atlanta.
I'm standing on some rubble. I mean, this feels like a war zone here. You see some of the traffic. A lot of streets here in downtown have been cordoned off because they're too dangerous for cars to go through, so they've been rerouted and it's been a real big pain for folks who are trying to get to work. That's Centennial Park right there. Two of those towers came down, and then there's CNN center. You can see a lot of the windows have been boarded off. About half of them, it seems, have been broken. Huge crane brought in, just seemingly right after the storm came through. Millions of dollars of damage done, mostly to the roof, so they're already starting to work on that.
You know, we're in the core of downtown where there are old buildings here, but well-built buildings built out of brick. Look at this one. It looks like either a wrecking ball came through or a bomb went off in here. And you can see right through the two or three stories that lie above me, and brick and steel girders everywhere here in Atlanta.
We're talking about -- they're estimating now anywhere from $150 million to $200 million of damage in downtown alone. This is the first ever tornado to hit downtown Atlanta since pretty much Atlanta has been here. And, you know, it does happen, Tony and Heidi, but we think about downtown areas not getting hit. Really the main reason is because they're such a little small speck on the map, and the odds are a city's just not going to get hit. But it does happen in here Friday night when this F-2 tornado came ripping through Atlanta. Folks here who live in this bustling city of Georgia certainly felt the brunt of the storm. Unreal, isn't it?
COLLINS : Absolutely unreal. It doesn't really look anything like Atlanta when you look at pictures like the ones we're looking at right now, that's for sure.
All right, Rob Marciano, thanks so much.
HARRIS: Squeezing the most out of your dollars when it comes to groceries and gasoline. Advice from "Consumer Reports" straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: The sputtering economy. You've cut the budget to the bone; you're doing everything you can, but what about the necessities of groceries and gas? Believe it or not, there are some things you can do to trim those costs, as well. Here with some advice, Amanda Walker, senior editor at "Consumer Reports."
Amanda, we're trying to sort of understand where we are. Anecdotally, we understand that from our e-mails Friday and again this morning, that there are a lot of people suffering but those are the folks that take the time to write in. What do you want us to get a real handle, empirically, on where we are? Is there a consumer price index. What do you look at to sort of gauge in your own mind where we are right now?
AMANDA WALKER, CONSUMER REPORTS: Yes, you're talking about prices at the grocery store and at the pump. A lot of it does have to do with fuel costs. Transportation issues, just getting those items to the grocery store. We've seen items go up 20, 30, 40 percent just in the past few months so it's really tough.
HARRIS: OK. So let's break it down then. Let's talk about food. Where are some areas where we can save and how do we go about doing that?
WALKER: One thing you can do is you can shop online for coupons. We did this. They went to coupons.com --
HARRIS: Whoa! We're back to coupons now.
WALKER: -- and coolsavings.com. But not just what comes in your circular on Sunday. You can actually go sit online, do some searching for grocery coupons. And we found some significant savings.
You can go to manufacturer's sites, as well. We found a dollar, $2 off items at tide.com, for example, polandsprings.com. So that's a great way to save a significant amount of money. Just make sure your store does take online coupons because some don't.
You want to see UPS, it's a sticker -- a bar code sticker on it and an expiration date to make sure they're legit.
HARRIS: So you can go beyond just what you get in the Sunday newspaper. You can actually go online now.
WALKER: Well you can check both so you can save even more.
HARRIS: And your second tip here is to avoid spending traps. What do you mean by that?
WALKER: Yes. When you go in the supermarket, the things that are piled up at the beginning, at the front and the back of the aisles aren't necessarily on sale. Maybe the store just needs to move them out of the warehouse. What's in the circular isn't necessarily on sale and the things they place at eye level they want to move as well, but they're not necessarily the best prices.
The best prices are usually found above eye level and below. So you have to do your research ahead of time and know where the best deals are.
HARRIS: So the best deals above eye level or below, not at the eye level --
WALKER: Generally speaking. You want to compare unit prices.
HARRIS: OK. Stock up on sale -- items that are on sale. That makes sense.
WALKER: Whenever you can. Yes, you certainly want to make sure you use them by the use by dates. And, when items are big savings like 10 for $5, you don't necessarily have to buy 10 to get that savings. You should be able to buy two, three or four and the store should adjust.
HARRIS: OK. So that takes care of food and some areas where you can save there on your purchases.
What about gas? Boy, we all have to get to work these days.
WALKER: That's true.
HARRIS: And one of the tips is drive smoothly and slow down. Again, a lot of this feels like common sense.
WALKER: Right, but we actually have done tests, of course on our cars and we found that you can slow down from 75 to 55 miles an hour and save up to 33 percent on your fuel bills. Stopping and starting also costs you $2 to $3 per gallon, in some of our tests, so that's another way to save. And, of course, roof racks slow you down -- making sure your tires are properly inflated.
HARRIS: This is great. Use regular gas when possible?
WALKER: Yes, even if your instructions say use premium for optimal performance. Well, try regular. If you don't hear a lot of pings, you can probably stick with it.
HARRIS: What's a fuel sipper? Where are we going with this one?
WALKER: There are a lot of prices out -- a lot of products out there that say they'll save you some money. But in fact we've found that they don't tend to work too well, so you can probably avoid those.
HARRIS: Amanda, that's great. Let's have you back in another week or so. Let's talk about other tips, other advice for folks so that we can help folks get through these difficult times.
Amanda Walker, "Consumer Reports." Good to have you, Amanda. Thanks.
WALKER: Thanks, good to be here.
HARRIS: And you'll want to keep watching CNN because all this week our money team has a special report on money issues. It is called "ISSUE No. 1," the economy. Today, we will tell you how the struggling economy impacts your job, your savings, debt, your home. That's at noon Eastern only on CNN.
Actor Dennis Quaid warning about hospital mistakes. He says what happened to his twins could actually happen to you.
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HARRIS: Happening right now, Senator Barack Obama trying to put last week's difficult week behind him. What a firestorm caused by comments from his pastor in Chicago. The Senator, as you see, speaking in Monaca, Pennsylvania.
Let's take a listen.
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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... You know, you seem like you're a relatively young man, why are you running so soon? You can afford to wait. And what I told people at that time was I recalled what Dr. King had once termed the fierce urgency of now. You see -- that's why I explained that's why I'm running. I'm not running because of long-held ambitions or because I think it's my term. I'm running because of the fierce urgency of now because there is -- because I believe there's such a thing as being too late, and that hour is almost upon us.
We are at a defining moment in our history. Our nation is at war; our economy is in a shambles. The dream that so many generations fought for feels like it's slowly slipping away. And many of you see it in your own communities, in your own lives. People are working harder just to get by.
They've never paid more for college. They've never paid more for gas at the pump. Never paid more for healthcare. In fact, we've got a healthcare system that leaves 47 million people without health insurance, and if you've got health insurance you've seen your copayments and your deductibles and your premiums going up and up and up every single year.
It's harder to save. It's harder to retire. We've got senior citizens who are taking half a prescription because they can't afford a full dose. Our education system, despite the slogans, leaves millions of children behind, unable to compete in a global economy.
So in such circumstances, we can't afford to wait. We can't wait to fix our schools. We can't wait to fix our healthcare system. We cannot wait to bring back good jobs and good wages that pay decent benefits to the American people. We can't wait to bring this war in Iraq to a close. We cannot wait. We can't wait.
And so when I decided to run, it was because I thought that the size of our challenges had outstripped the capacity of a broken and divided politics to solve. I believed that the American people were tired of politics that is all about tearing each other down instead of lifting the country up. And that the American people were tired of P.R. and spin from their politicians, that they wanted straight talk and honesty and truthfulness about how we're going to solve problems.
Most of all, when I decided to run, I was betting on you, the American people, because -- and, you know, some of you know I now live in Chicago, but I'm not originally from Chicago. I moved to Chicago after college because I wanted to do something to help neighborhoods that had fallen on hard times. And there were a group of churches, a group of parishes out on the far South Side of Chicago that had come together to try to deal with the devastation of steel plants that had closed. Thousands of people had been laid off of work, and the communities had fallen on hard times.
And so for three years I worked to help set up job training programs for the unemployed and to bring economic development to these neighborhoods, try to improve the school system in the area. And it was the best education I ever had, because it taught me ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they're given a chance. But -- and it also taught me that the change doesn't happen from the top down, it happens from the bottom up. It happens because the American people decide it's time for change. And so, I continue to believe that we are a decent people and that we're a generous people and we're willing to work hard and sacrifice for future generations. And -- that if we could just come together, all of us, get past the divisions, if we could come together, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, young, old, rich, poor. If we could come together, if we could come together to challenge the special interests that have come to dominate Washington, the banks and the insurance companies, the drug companies and the oil companies and all those who, you know, are able to hire fancy lobbyists and get their laws and their interests represented, if we could challenge them but also challenge ourselves to be better, better neighbors and better citizens and better parents.
You know -- then I believe there was no challenge we couldn't solve, no destiny we could not fulfill. And I am here to report that after running for the last year and some months, after crisscrossing the country, talking to hundreds of thousands of people and shaking tens of thousands of hands and kissing hundreds of babies and eating hundreds of chicken dinners, I am here to report that my bet has paid off, my faith in the American people has been vindicated because everywhere I go, people are ready for change. They are ready for something new. They want to turn the page and write a new chapter in American history.
Now, I -- what I've told people is that we can bring about change, but we're only going to be able to do it if -- if the American people insist upon it. See, you know, it's not going to be enough to just change political parties and the White House. And this is a debate that I've been having with Senator Clinton for quite some time.
You know, I respect Senator Clinton, but what I've also said is that we can't keep on doing business in Washington the same old way. We can't just have Democrats in there instead of Republicans, but we're doing the same things. So that's why I don't take PAC money and I don't take lobbyists' money. Because if you do, then you're caught up in the same old thing.
Now, and what I've told people is if you're ready for change then we can go ahead and tell the lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over, because they have not funded my campaign. They will not run my White House and they won't drown out your voices, the voices of the American people, when I'm president of the United States of America. If you're ready for change --
HARRIS: Senator Barack Obama at what's described as a town hall meeting in Monaca, Pennsylvania. I think I said Monica, Pennsylvania earlier. I'm sure that folks of Monaca are just thrilled and the other small towns and big towns in Pennsylvania are thrilled at the idea of anchors like that Tony Harris mispronouncing their town's names for the next five weeks or so
COLLINS: They've been calling.
I think they're fine.
HARRIS: OK. COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.
HARRIS: "ISSUE No. 1" with Gerri Willis and Ali Velshi is next.
I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. Have a great day, everybody.
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