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Earthquake in the Midwest; Pope Benedict Arrives in New York; Court Hearings Continue in Texas Polygamy Case

Aired April 18, 2008 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

HARRIS: You will see events come into the NEWSROOM live on Friday, April 18th.

Here's what's on the rundown.

WHITFIELD: Shaking news for the morning news team. An earthquake felt from Chicago to St. Louis to Cincinnati.

HARRIS: Pope Benedict arrives in New York this hour for a U.N. speech. It comes a day after he embraced church sex abuse victims.

WHITFIELD: And polygamists back in a Texas court this morning. Custody of hundreds of children on the line in the NEWSROOM.

New this morning, a shocking wakeup call. An earthquake rocked the Midwest early this morning. The 5.2 magnitude quake was centered about 38 miles north-northwest of Evansville, Indiana. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the region in 40 years. People felt it hundreds of miles away, all the way to Iowa and Tennessee.

The building you're looking at right now in Louisville, Kentucky was damaged. And skyscrapers were shaking in Chicago and Indianapolis as well. No injuries and very little damage reported, but in an area that doesn't often get earthquakes, nerves were certainly rattled.

The news station in Evansville, right near the epicenter, was on air when the quake hit. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETH SWEENEY, ANCHOR, 14 NEWS SUNRISE: Well, we're in for another warm day in the tri-state but sounds like some rain is on the way, Byron.

BYRON DOUGLAS, METEOROLOGIST, 14 NEWS SUNRISE: Yes. We're hearing some shaking here. It sounds like we have an earthquake here. So I'll have to check that out here. I'm just guessing or maybe we have some brief gusty -- is that an earthquake? OK. So we're seeing a little shake here. It's not uncommon. We live here along the new Madrid fault here.

All right, 73 and 50, 68 and 44 here, 87 and 26.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Whoa. How do you handle that?

WHITFIELD: Well, he handled it well.

HARRIS: He did a nice job. I believe -- well, it's an earthquake.

Straight to the scene now. Janelle MacDonald from our affiliate WAVE in Louisville, Kentucky.

Janelle, you know it's one thing when we're talking about rain, severe storms. It's something different when the ground starts moving.

JANELLE MACDONALD, WAVE REPORTER: Tell you what, Tony, people here in Louisville are coming up, looking around, kind of with a look of disbelief on their faces. Did we really just have an earthquake that we felt here in Louisville? We're actually about 150 miles away from West Salem, Indiana -- or Illinois. And definitely we felt it here.

A lot of people were awakened from their sleep. And the most major damage we've seen around town was right here behind us where they are just finishing cleaning up behind us. Basically it's a facade of a building that fell to the ground. There were bricks and everything on the ground. All morning long crews have been out here trying to clean that up.

Now we've checked around in other places. And really, there are -- haven't been very many reports of injuries. Mainly people that had pieces of their homes or things like that falling but very minor injuries. And so that's the good news here. And also as far as damage here in Louisville, this seems to be the worst of it.

HARRIS: Janelle, I have to ask you, what do you do -- here's a test for you this morning. What do you do when an earthquake strikes? Where do you go, how do you respond? I see how you do in that one.

MACDONALD: I really can't personally think back because I slept through the whole thing. I did talk to some other people who said that they were awakened. And other people said, well, I have dogs on the bed sleeping with me, we didn't wake up at all. So I guess it kind of -- you know, because we're not used to earthquakes.

HARRIS: That's the point. Yes.

MACDONALD: Yes. You don't know what is.

HARRIS: What to do in the Midwest when you're not used to earthquakes. How do you respond?

Janelle MacDonald for us this morning. Janelle, appreciate it. Thank you. WHITFIELD: Yes.

Well, now let's get another firsthand account of that quake. Joining us by phone Helena Gramlich. She lives in Springfield, Illinois and was awakened by this loud boom and then what?

VOICE OF HELENA GRAMLICH, ILLINOIS RESIDENT: Hi.

WHITFIELD: Hi.

GRAMLICH: It was just really weird. I mean I was laying there and -- you know, we're more used to tornadoes here in Springfield, and it was a loud boom. It shook for a little bit. And I was like, well, maybe somebody hit our building. I live in a townhome. And -- so I went to the window to look out to see if something was hit or maybe it was a gas explosion or something.

And the neighborhood across the way from us, there's another townhomes, were outside and they like, did you feel that? I'm like, yes. So then I tried to call the police department. The police department numbers were busy. And I tried to call the fire department, they were busy. And I was like, maybe it was an earthquake because -- you know, I really started thinking, I'm like, well, maybe it was an earthquake.

And I called FEMA and FEMA did tell me that there was a magnitude earthquake and where it was at. And...

WHITFIELD: How long did it seem to last?

GRAMLICH: It was over as soon as it hit. Just like a tornado. It came through and it was gone.

WHITFIELD: Really? And so...

GRAMLICH: And it woke up from sleep.

WHITFIELD: Yes, but it was aggressive enough to wake you up. And then you mentioned other neighbors were already commenting. So just that quickly people started emerging and...

GRAMLICH: Yes.

WHITFIELD: ...talking about what they were feeling and asking, what was that?

GRAMLICH: Right. Yes. I mean, it was a loud boom and it was just -- I mean it woke me out of a dead sleep.

WHITFIELD: And so what about items in your home? Anything move besides you?

GRAMLICH: No. It's my bird, (INAUDIBLE) parakeet in the other room went crazy. But other than that, no, I didn't see anything that was knocked off the shelf or anything like that.

WHITFIELD: Wow. What an experience.

Helena Gramlich, thanks so much for staying awake with us and sharing your story on the phone from Springfield, Illinois.

HARRIS: Isn't that something?

WHITFIELD: It really is.

HARRIS: Well, let's get to Rob Marciano now. And Rob been tracking this throughout the morning, "AMERICAN MORNING," and now with us here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And Rob, reports of this earthquake being felt in Wisconsin...

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

HARRIS: ...and in Georgia.

MARCIANO: How about that?

HARRIS: Are you kidding me?

MARCIANO: Yes, I know. It's crazy, isn't it? 5.2 magnitude. So that would be a moderate earthquake. But a pretty shallow one, about seven miles in-depth. So the shallowness will let the thing ripple a little bit but from what I've heard from the USGS guys, I read on their Web site, this area of the country, unlike the California area where there's an active fault where you've got tectonic plates kind of slamming and diving under each other, you've got more heat, you've got more lava, you've got more movement there.

Here it's more dormant. You got a lot of cold rocks so it's like hitting a hammer on a steel plate. That's going to shake that plate so from Chicago, yes, towards Wisconsin, in fact, through even north Georgia, it's the main reason we've seen this ripple so much. And this -- what I've -- dug back, Tony, this is the strongest one in Illinois. It's the strongest one in this region in the last 40 years. So certainly a historic event by any standards.

HARRIS: Whoa, that was my next question, the last time something like this has happened...

WHITFIELD: Forty years.

HARRIS: ...in the middle of -- what, you know, the country?

MARCIANO: Yes. It's about -- been about 40 years.

HARRIS: Yes.

MARCIANO: But on top of that, Tony and Fredricka, this is an area that has seen stronger earthquakes than San Francisco. Back in the 1800s...

HARRIS: (INAUDIBLE) MARCIANO: Yes. We had the worst set of three earthquakes in like three months that were eight plus. Did all sorts of nasty damage, hundreds of miles away from this thing. So this is the San -- new Madrid fault which is more active than you think. It can do a lot more damage. And those earthquakes, the big one, tend to have one or two little ones before the big one comes.

HARRIS: That's right.

MARCIANO: So it will be interesting to see, you know, if (INAUDIBLE) get any more earthquakes and then the Madrid fault...

HARRIS: I got to tell you something, I was teasing Janelle MacDonald there, our affiliate from -- an affiliate reporter from Louisville, Kentucky about what do you do? Folks in the Midwest don't necessarily know what to do when the ground starts -- and maybe...

MARCIANO: Yes.

HARRIS: It is the freakiest thing when the ground starts to move. And what's the advice? I remember the Northridge quake, and it is reporting in the aftermath of that, it was door jams and that sort of thing.

MARCIANO: Yes. Doorjambs is always a good -- you don't want to go running outside.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

MARCIANO: So the same advice as a tornado, I suppose.

HARRIS: Yes.

MARCIANO: You want to get in the interior of your house where there's a solid doorjamb.

HARRIS: Yes.

MARCIANO: And just, you know, cover your head and hope for the best. But it is an absolutely frighteningly hopeless feeling...

HARRIS: When the ground starts moving.

MARCIANO: ...to feel the earth starts moving.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And it happened so quickly, so sudden and it's clearly unpredictable. It's hard to kind of take note and do all of those right things.

MARCIANO: It is hard to think -- yes.

WHITFIELD: Hiding in that doorjamb area. All right.

HARRIS: OK. Rob, appreciate it. Thanks.

MARCIANO: Thank you. All right, guys. WHITFIELD: All right. Pope Benedict just minutes away from touching down in New York. A full schedule awaits. But it may not match the drama or heart wrenching gravity of a closed door meeting in Washington last night. There the Pope met with the victims of sexual abuse by priests.

Earlier on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," we spoke with three of those victims who met with the Pope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAITH JOHNSTON, SEX ABUSE VICTIM, MET WITH POPE: I had so much I wanted to say, and then I got up to him and I just started -- I just burst into tears. But I think my tears spoke louder than words. And when I think in that moment, I almost felt like that 14, 15-year-old face, the victim's face. And then he, the Pope, just started talking to me just so kindly, so lovingly, congratulating me about my upcoming wedding. And I suddenly felt this hope and confidence. Even -- I felt even stronger than I did before.

OLAN HORNE, SEX ABUSE VICTIM, MET WITH POPE: I spoke to him and I talked to him about my hate toward the church. I talked of my hate towards the administrations and the bishops and all that needed to be done. I asked him to forgive me for having such hate.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And how did he respond?

HORNE: He was amazed. He just couldn't believe it. And he bore a difficult responsibility. When he first presented himself to us, he stood in front of us almost like in front of a jury. It was -- it had a moment to it. It was extremely -- it was more difficult for him.

BERNIE MCDAID, SEX ABUSE VICTIM, MET WITH POPE: We struggled for six, seven years now in trying to be heard. It's always been -- about the church, the lawyers, the money, or whatever, the lawsuit. Now it's about victim survivor community and the damages. It's finally coming full circle to the real problem here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The sex abuse scandal has fed a growing crisis in the American church, a stifling shortage of men entering the priesthood.

CNN's Jason Carroll reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Evidence of a dire priest shortage in the United States is clear at New York St. Joseph Seminary. Ten years ago, these pews were filled with seminary students, not anymore.

The rector partly blames the shortage on a shift in values.

BISHOP GERALD WALSH, ST. JOSEPH'S CHURCH: Success is measured today by how much money do you have, how many people do you control, what do you own?

CARROLL: Another major cause, the priest sexual abuse scandal. It deeply wounded the Catholic Church, testing the faith of young men considering the priesthood. But not these three.

BRIAN GRAEBE, SEMINARY STUDENT: You look at a scandal like this and a crisis, and there are two things that can happen. You can you either stick your head in the sand and walk away and, you know, wipe your hands of it, which is all right. Now it's time for good men to step forward and say we need to take back this faith.

CARROLL: Consider this: in 1965, just 549 parishes in the U.S. were without a resident priest. Today there are more than 3,000. So the church is importing priests from overseas.

REV. ERNESTO TIBAY, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST: The church here realizes the need of people like us coming from foreign countries to serve.

CARROLL: Foreign-born priests now make up 16 percent of those serving U.S. churches.

So the church launched a new ad campaign to reach out to help with recruitment. Church reformists say one solution to the priest shortage is to change the vow of celibacy.

JOAN KOECHLER, FMR. ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN: I did fall in love with Joe. And I remember I came to a point of saying, "Do I go forward with this?"

CARROLL: Thirty years ago, Joan Koechler married Joe. She gave up being a nun, he a priest. Both say they miss being able to serve.

JOE KOECHLER, FMR. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST: I still think I have the vocation. I still think I have something to offer. And I wish I could do it. Do I think it will happen in my lifetime? I do not.

CARROLL: Pope Benedict is not open to the idea of married priests, neither are the priests we interviewed who say they wish more would take a vow of celibacy in exchange for something more divine.

REV. MANUEL DENAZ, ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST: When I were young, I wanted to marry. I wanted to marry a pretty girl, to be successful, buy a nice red BMW with white leather seats. And yet I have discovered that in the end, God is able to make me happy in a way that the woman cannot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Wow.

Jason Carroll joins us live from New York. Jason, great to see you. Has the Pope addressed the issue of the priest shortage recently?

CARROLL: No, not recently and certainly not on this trip. But you know, there are a lot of folks there in the Catholic Church who are hoping that when he addresses those thousands of young people that are expected to attend that youth rally at St. Joseph's Seminary, the very same seminary where we spoke to some of those young men entering the priesthood.

The hope is that once he's there, Tony, and once he's speaking to people, he can somehow inspire. Even if he doesn't directly address the priest shortage, his words will somehow inspire young people to come out and to join the priesthood.

HARRIS: That's so interesting. OK. Jason Carroll for us in New York.

Live pictures now New York City waiting for the arrival of the Pope.

We are talking to a Catholic archbishop who spent the last two days alongside the Pope. Witness to history coming up in minutes right here in the NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: Also making news this morning, a massive custody hearing resumes next hour in Texas. It involves 416 children from a polygamist sect.

Susan Roesgen in San Angelo, Texas covering the hearing this morning.

Susan, I imagine today it's going to be just as complicated as yesterday.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just as complicated and probably just as interesting or even more so, Fredricka. The lead investigator, the woman who led the investigation on the ranch back on April 3rd took the stand yesterday, and by 9:00 last night she was still up there. They were just beginning the cross-examination. This lead investigator Angie Voss said that within a few hours of being on the ranch, of talking to the girls on the ranch, she could establish what she called a pattern of children having children.

She says that very quickly she realized that she believes she needed to get everybody off of that ranch. All the children need to get them into protective custody. And that's really what this hearing is about. Was the state of Texas right to remove the children and should the state of Texas continue to keep them in protective custody?

Now, there were three things that -- in particular that I think were especially compelling from Angie Voss's testimony yesterday. First of all, she said that the young girls told investigators that no age was too young to be spiritually united. According to the girls on the ranch, no age was an underage marriage. Also she said that the girls told her the mothers who complained for any reason would be moved away. If they fell out of favor, they would be moved away. And one girl said she hadn't seen her own mother in two years.

But perhaps most chilling of all, I think, was when Angie Voss said she believed that the boys, the young boys from a very young aged, are groomed to be perpetrators, are groomed to grow up knowing that they are supposed to have multiple wives and young wives. So that's why the state moved in and took everybody, all the children off of this ranch. And then after Angie Voss had given her testimony, after the state talked her through her investigation, some of the dozens of lawyers for these children, more than 300 children, began the cross-examination.

The judge wants to keep things going here, Fredricka. She kept it moving pretty quickly. She only allowed the defense -- really the lawyers representing the children and their mothers a couple of questions last night. But one thing that many of the lawyers wanted to know was, why can't the 130 children who are under the age of 4 be allowed to go back to their mothers? Why would they be in any danger of sexual abuse?

And the answer from Angie Voss was, this is like any other investigation of child abuse. Once investigators determine that there's been one child abused in a situation, they remove all the children from that environment regardless of their age.

Now, she's probably going to be back on the stand again today. More cross-examination as they go through this incredibly big custody hearing.

WHITFIELD: All right. Susan Roesgen, thanks so much, in San Angelo, Texas -- Tony.

HARRIS: Dallas, nearby Dallas taking a bit of a pounding. Dare I say it? Hail of a storm in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

A hard day's night in San Diego. A baseball game that turned night into day.

HARRIS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: We'll count the innings in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Just in to CNN, I believe it was about or maybe it was a week, maybe 10 days ago, that we were announcing the resignation of Alphonso Jackson as the head of HUD, Housing Urban Development. And now the president announcing today that he has chosen an administrator with the small business administration, Steve Preston, to head up HUD.

Again, that is Steve Preston. It is as I recall, I believe the president has an event this morning where he is speaking with small business owners. The person who is one of the administrators of the small business administration, Steve Preston, is being named by the president to head up HUD. And that is a position that has to be confirmed by the Senate. That news just in to CNN. Four days and counting to the Pennsylvania primaries. The Democratic candidates are crisscrossing the state. Barack Obama has a morning town hall meeting in Erie, Pennsylvania, another this afternoon in Williamsport and the nighttime rally in Philadelphia. Hillary Clinton also in Williamsport. She got a morning town hall meeting on her agenda as well as an evening event in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain began his day at a prayer breakfast in Washington. Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama wants to focus more on campaigning, less on debates.

Find out more on the candidates at CNNPolitics.com. CNNPolitics.com is your source for everything political.

WHITFIELD: All right. Vaccine risks, parents worry about a possible link to autism. And today the CDC has new information about the rotavirus vaccine.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta checking in with us now.

First, what's the rotavirus and what's that vaccine? And is that something my kids and your kids already have gotten?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

WHITFIELD: That vaccine?

GUPTA: I don't know about your kids. My kids did receive the vaccines. It's interesting. You probably know about the rotavirus without really knowing about it because it's one of these ubiquitous viruses that make your kids sick and it gives them a few awful days of the stuff that we don't talk about on morning television typically.

WHITFIELD: OK. I get it.

GUPTA: But it's one of those viruses that's sort of around. And then they get sick. And people don't typically die from this, although there have been a few deaths reported. And now there's been a vaccine, there's been a vaccine for sometime. But now a newer formulation of the vaccine makes it a little bit easier for kids to get vaccinated.

In the past, it was a vaccine we had to get three doses over a period of several weeks. Busy moms, busy parents, hard to get the kids there three times and get all three doses. We found out about half the people weren't getting all the doses. Now there's a new formulation still requires two doses between the ages of 6 and 24 weeks. It was pretty effective against this particular virus, the rotavirus.

WHITFIELD: So this is one of those in the clump of, say, 20, sometimes 30, depending on what state you live in, of the kids, you know, generally get. They kind of give you a package or -- these are all the things that your kids maybe get under age one. GUPTA: That's right. And you know, again, there's lots of different vaccines that parents are paying attention to. A lot of -- as you pointed out, a lot of parents are worried about some of these vaccines.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

GUPTA: This is one of the ones that a lot of people, doctors, pediatricians will recommend.

WHITFIELD: OK. There have been previous problems with this rotavirus vaccine. What have they been?

GUPTA: Well, we've talked a lot about autism. Autism was not one of the concerns particularly with this vaccine. There was another concern that was pretty significant, something known as RotaShield. Actually it was taken off the market. But they found that little kids' intestines were actually becoming blocked. They sort of telescoped on itself and it caused a blockage, which can become a life-threatening problem. That formulation was taken off the market.

There have been some concerns, to be fair, about the newest formulation, as well, in terms of pneumonia, in terms of some significant infections that could develop. But again, relatively small numbers and hard to directly link to the vaccine itself.

WHITFIELD: Parents are so concerned about vaccines these days. And so a lot of parents are saying, you know what, I want to take it upon myself...

GUPTA: Right.

WHITFIELD: ...to kind of stagger these vaccines.

GUPTA: Yes.

WHITFIELD: A, is that a good idea? And B, is that something that parents are going to start doing?

GUPTA: Well, you know, we've talked to a lot of people about this, especially in our autism coverage as you know, Fred. And a lot of pediatricians out there, reputable ones, say, yes, it's something that's reasonable to do. What the science will say is, look, even if you add up all the vaccines and give them at once, it's -- even though it seems like a huge chemical load, it really is no bigger a chemical load than kids typically get just from being outside, just from, you know, coming into the world.

All the bacteria that they're immediately exposed to are a much bigger sort of chemical load, if you will, to the body. So the science will say no but a lot of pediatricians say yes.

And I got to tell you, just as a parent, watching your kid just get stuck over and over again...

WHITFIELD: Whoa. One after the other. GUPTA: ...is tough to watch. Now as far as the rotavirus, you could try, Fred, you try and keep their hands clean and not let them put their hands in their mouth. But if you figure that one out, let me know.

WHITFIELD: Yes, really. Make them wear mittens not just for these first few weeks until they're six-years-old.

GUPTA: That's right. Even older.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

GUPTA: No vaccines, mittens instead. There you go.

WHITFIELD: Right.

GUPTA: I'll quote you on that.

HARRIS: Oh, I love it. OK.

WHITFIELD: That's my recommendation.

HARRIS: No, that's terrific. That's terrific.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Freddie here.

All right. Thanks a lot.

GUPTA: OK.

HARRIS: Let's see. What are we going to start with? Live pictures? Let's do that. Live pictures, New York City preparing for the arrival of the Pope, Pope Benedict. John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Pope is scheduled to land aboard Shepherd One, oh, in the next 20, 25 minutes or so, at 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time.

There he will be greeted by Edward Cardinal Eagan, the archbishop of New York, and children will be on hand to present the Pope flowers. It should be terrific. Everything along this -- during this six-day visit has been absolutely magnificent.

Coming up we are talking to a Catholic archbishop who spent the last two days alongside the Pope. Witness to history in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello again. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

HARRIS: Sorry, Fred, we've got breaking news -- this is the NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: That's right.

HARRIS: This is where it happens.

WHITFIELD: Things happening.

HARRIS: Just -- good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

The breaking news just in to CNN. Citigroup, job cuts, my goodness, 9,000 just announced moments ago. Let me read it to you here. Citigroup plans to cut 9,000 jobs over the course of this year.

Clearly Citigroup, one of the financial organizations hit hard by the subprime mortgage meltdown. There are other issues at play here. We know that Citigroup over the last three to four months has received cash infusions from overseas investors. Try to keep the business floating and keep things going at Citigroup. But clearly difficult times now for Citigroup announcing just moments ago plans to cut 9,000 jobs over the course of this year.

The CFO says no real specifics just yet on the cuts in the areas of the business. But an additional note here, the cuts will take place across all businesses, both in the United States and abroad.

Our friends at CNNMoney keeping us up to date with the latest information on this developing story.

So once again, breaking news, again, just sign of the times right now, apparently, Fred, of the troubles right now being faced by the financial sector of the U.S. economy. Boy, if you can exclude the financials -- the financial sector, other areas of the economy doing pretty well, at least holding, you know, its own. But when you factor in financials, and we're talking about housing and we're talking about mortgages...

WHITFIELD: I mean it's a huge ripple affect.

HARRIS: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: You can't pay your mortgage. And now you lose your job.

HARRIS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: I mean there are a lot of other industries that are going to be impacted, industries that we're not seeing huge numbers or that are reflecting how they are being impacted just yet. It really is a downward spiral with so many industries and sectors.

HARRIS: You think of the Bear Stearns story of a month, maybe six weeks ago. A lot of the criticism that came to the federal government because of what many perceived as a bailout. You look at what was happening here, what's been happening, obviously with Citigroup, and clearly you have a developing story here in the financial sector that is not good and continues to spiral a bit downward with this announcement from Citigroup. We'll continue to follow this.

We're going to watch the markets and reaction of the markets. Susan Lisovicz, part of our great money team following the markets for us throughout the morning right here in the NEWSROOM. WHITFIELD: Bad news there is bad news when you try to fill your tank. Talking about the oil. All going up. Gas price issue number one as well. All of that, as I mentioned, is going up, costing you more. AAA reporting a nationwide average for a gallon of regular. Take a deep breath now, just over $3.44 and premium $3.79. Some of you already pay $4 a gallon and are learning to make due.

Now in Doraville, Georgia, a gas customer, Barney Jacobs there filling up. What kind of vehicle do you have? And generally how much does it cost you to fill it up?

BARNEY JACOBS, GAS CUSTOMER: Well, it's a Yukon, it's running me about $80 to fill up the tank.

WHITFIELD: How quickly are you exhausting that $80 tank? How often are you having to fill up per week?

JACOBS: Well, what I'm doing now is I'm filling up every half a tank so it doesn't look so bad. It's costing me about $150 a week. You know, you're very aware of where you're going now because of the cost of fuel.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel like you have any options? Meaning can you modify your driving? Can you drive less? Or is all this kind of vital driving that you're doing?

JACOBS: Well, I'm not going any long distances. I used to like to travel. I'm semi-retired. In fact, right now I take my wife back and forth to work and her car sits in the garage, because that way we don't have two gas guzzlers, only one. It really affects you every time you go to the pump. You just close your eyes and pump the gas and just wait until the next time you have to fill up.

WHITFIELD: Are you even paying attention to how much you're paying a gallon? Like for example, how much are you paying a gallon right now for regular or premium? What does the tank say behind you or the pump, I should say.

JACOBS: Luckily, this RV takes regular gas and it's $3.39 a gallon at the low side. On the part of town I live at, most of the stations are now close to $3.49 and some as high as $3.69.

WHITFIELD: Do you even shop around or do you feel like it just doesn't matter. You know you're going to pay, what difference does it make how much per gallon. Are you watching the numbers, in other words?

JACOBS: Yeah, I watch the numbers. What's unusual to me is that there's not a lot of difference anywhere. It's like the prices are the same all over. There's no competition as far as one station being that much lower than another that would make you drive a long way to get that couple of cent savings.

WHITFIELD: Given, Barney, before I let you go, given we all are recognizing the numbers are going upwards, have you considered whether it's time to let go of your Yukon or do you feel like that's not an option for you right now?

JACOBS: I feel it's not an option. I still have to get a couple of years out of this to make it break even. And going into a new car or one of these hybrids right now is just an economical wash. It wouldn't make any sense. So you've got to live with what you've got and just cut back.

WHITFIELD: Exactly. Everyone is in the same boat. Barney Jacobs, thanks so much there in Doraville. Thanks for taking time at the pump for us.

JACOBS: You're welcome. I appreciate your interest in helping us. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Jacobs. All right. Certainly painful at the pump for Mr. Jacobs there. It's painful at the pump for all of us, frankly.

HARRIS: Yes, it is. Yes, it is.

WHITFIELD: Of course we're keeping watch of your money. It is, indeed, issue number one, whether gas prices, job, debt, housing, savings, all of that. Join us for a special report. It's called "ISSUE #1," the economy all this week noon eastern on CNN.

And of course we mentioned, you know, the bad news with Citigroup with 9,000 jobs they are letting go. Look at the Dow, remarkably the numbers are up at least for now 192 points.

HARRIS: That's partly because of the earnings report from Google after hours yesterday where just a huge surge in revenue, profits from Google. I'm just wondering what happens to that number when the numbers and the information from Citigroup comes in and is factored into the pie of this day, if this might turn around a little bit. My theory is as long as the pope is in country, positive.

WHITFIELD: Things are good. All right.

HARRIS: Speaking of the pope.

WHITFIELD: Let's take a look right there. At JFK, his plane, Alitalia, that has just made its landing and of course the moment that everyone there is poised and anxiously awaiting to happen as the pope emerged. It looks like they are just taking that portable gateway to the doors right now. He has a full plate in New York. He'll be quickly shuffled over to the U.N. where he'll be speaking to the general assembly there.

He also has an engagement both days on his three-day visit, both days meaning Saturday and Sunday. Of course today he's got a busy plate. He's got a busy plate all three days there in New York. Highly anticipated especially after his rather earth shattering visit to Washington, D.C.

HARRIS: What an occasion. WHITFIELD: Making the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church priority number one to tackle after meeting, very intimately, with victims of abuse who spoke very candidly of their discussions with him and how they felt that he was very forthright in his emotions and very committed to helping the healing of these individuals and the church as a whole as a result of this scandal. We're going to continue to watch the developments there at Kennedy Airport there in New York as the pope is soon to emerge.

HARRIS: And another story we're watching pretty closely this morning, boy, an earthquake in the Midwest. The story came to this news team. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're in for another warm day in the tri- state. But it sounds like some rain is on the way -- Byron (ph)?

BYRON: Yes. We're hearing some shaking here. It sounds like we have an earthquake here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Talk about a set shaker. The story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Live pictures right now there at the Kennedy Airport. Pope Benedict XVI making his way now to New York City, just arriving there after full days in Washington, D.C. now he has very full days, three of them, being greeted there by Cardinal Egan and Cardinal Patterson as well there at the bottom of the steps.

Full three days in New York City. A very different greeting then, perhaps, over at Andrews Air Force Base with the president greeting him there but nonetheless, folks very excited. You can see that. It's very apparent from the hands reaching out, the hugs, kissing of the hand to the pope, with folks getting a chance to be this close.

HARRIS: Two children just a moment ago, presenting the pope with flowers. This is a very different pope that we're talking about here. I recall Pope John Paul would have stepped down those stairs and would have kissed the ground in that grand gesture. Different man, different style with this pope that we're talking about.

Wonderful pictures again. Another warm greeting here in New York. We understand that Mayor Bloomberg, New York Mayor Bloomberg will be receiving the pope as well. Maybe Governor Paterson as well but as you mentioned, Fred, a full day today. The pope will eventually give a speech to the general assembly of the United Nations. But a very full three days to come.

WHITFIELD: There's Bloomberg there and the governor and certainly a host of folks who have come out in large numbers to greet him. It will be interesting to hear his U.N. address at the General Assembly taking place later on this morning as well. We'll try to cover as much of that live as possible. Now you can hear the throngs of all the supporters who come out, the fans of the pontiff. I wonder if this is another one of those spontaneous moments.

HARRIS: I was thinking the very same thing.

WHITFIELD: For folks to shake hands and impart a few words.

HARRIS: Just a note on the speech this morning, before the general assembly, the United Nations. The pope will highlight the morale foundations of the 1948 U.N. universal declaration of human rights. Those rights represent values that are in the view of the pope but non-negotiable, the basis of social institutions. Richard Roth will be joining us at some point this morning and he can certainly shed some more light on the pope's speech before the general assembly.

WHITFIELD: We're encouraging people to send in their i-Reports. Perhaps you were in Washington, you were part of the remarkable mass or had a moment perhaps on Pennsylvania Avenue where you got a chance to watch the pope in the pope mobile parade down the nation's capital or perhaps you're in New York City and you've got your own moment that you are poised in which to capture through i-Report. Send them to CNN.com/ireport.

HARRIS: A helicopter trip for the pope to a Wall Street heliport. He will then leave the heliport by vehicle to the United Nations. Boy, here is where I get in trouble. Looks like one of the president's helicopters. A number of Marine One helicopters. We're sure of this. But again as the pope will take the pretty short helicopter trip to Wall Street and then by car to the United Nations.

WHITFIELD: He also will be taking a moment at Ground Zero and also meeting -- this is part of his schedule -- to meet with a number of 9/11 victims as well. I'm not sure whether those are going to be -- if those are very private meetings. We know his Ground Zero shot will be that, indeed, a photo opportunity where many will be able to see that. It's unclear exactly what kinds of dialogue, what kinds of meeting that will be with 9/11.

HARRIS: Emotional to be sure. We will follow this picture, and, of course, follow the pope's travels into New York City and ultimately to the United Nations. When we get pictures up of the pope, we will bring them to you right here in the NEWSROOM.

Something else we are following this morning, a shocking wakeup call, an earthquake rocked the Midwest early this morning. The 5.2 magnitude quake was centered about 38 miles north northwest of Evansville, Indiana. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the region, Fred, in four years. People felt it hundreds of miles away, all the way to Iowa and Tennessee.

The building right here in Louisville, Kentucky was damaged as you can see. Skyscrapers were shaking in Chicago and Indianapolis. No injuries, thankfully. And very little real damage reported. But in an area that doesn't often get earthquakes, nerves were definitely rattled.

The news station in Evansville right near the epicenter was on the air when the quake hit. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we're in for another warm day in the tri-state but sounds like some rain is on the way. Byron?

BYRON: Yes, we're hearing some shaking here. Sounds like we're having an earthquake here. I'll have to check that out. I'm just guessing or maybe we hit brief gusty winds. Is it an earthquake? OK. Seeing a little shake here. It's not uncommon. We live along the new Madrid fault here. We're at 73 and 50.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Pretty cool and collected and poised there, wasn't he?

MARCIANO: He went right through his weather cast, just shaking around.

WHITFIELD: But there's more now apparently, right, Rob?

MARCIANO: We've had a few aftershocks, which is to be expected. Thankfully they have been pretty weak. Here they are on the map. All centered very close to where the initial 5.2 happened a few hours back. We're centered in the southeastern parts of Illinois, Wabash County. These are 2.4 to 2.6. There have been three aftershocks. Nothing too earth shattering there but there probably will be a few more before the day is done. If they get more than that, maybe slightly stronger than the 5.2 that already was shaking, we may have something to worry about down the road.

All right. Down the road down I-10, you have something to worry about as far as damaging winds, potentially some hail, maybe a tornado or two possible. This line of thunderstorms and rains extends to the Canadian border. Area of low pressure right there, Omaha, Lincoln, Nebraska has had nasty weather.

Houston, you've had no picnic. Dallas had heavy thunderstorms. Now this line is moving eastward down I-10, across southwest Louisiana into central Louisiana. This looks pretty quiet at the moment. Be aware as you go through the day, these things can fire up a little bit more.

There's a swirl in the atmosphere. There's Omaha, rainfall pushing through already soaked Missouri and Iowa. And this is going to be slow to move out. You see the back side of this convection, potentially heavy rain.

Speaking of cool air, I guess we weren't speaking about it, but cool air across parts of Montana. 18 inches of snowfall expected with this late winter, early spring storm diving into the Pacific Northwest, it will be cold and nasty there. Meanwhile beautiful across parts of the northeast today. Temperatures 15, 20 degrees above average. Folks in New York, 78 degrees and sunny.

WHITFIELD: Nice.

MARCIANO: Be nice to have that kind of pull with the big guy, wouldn't it?

WHITFIELD: Yeah, the sunshine is following him.

MARCIANO: Good stuff.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Rob.

The pope, indeed, on the world stage even though there are a lot of folks still around his plane there. He is now on his way, presumably, to lower Manhattan and later on to midtown Manhattan where the U.N. is located. We're continuing to watch the developments here for the pope's arrival in New York City. More right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You've got your fastball, your curveball, your knuckleball. The story is all about the long ball. The Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres played the longest game in the majors in nearly 15 years last night, 22 innings, six hours 16 minutes. It started at 7:05 and didn't end until 1:21 Pacific Time this morning. Fifteen pitchers took to the mound but catchers for each team may have had the worst of it. Each caught the whole game. The Rockies finally won 2-1. The man grew his beard during the entire game.

HARRIS: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: If you're wondering, the longest game May 9th, 1984, Milwaukee Brewers versus Chicago White Sox, 25 innings, 8 hours, 6 minutes. Endure that.

HARRIS: Slowest game in the world to begin with. The national pastime.

Orson Charles high school coach dubbed him a bull in a china shop. The coach probably never realized what a great judge of talent he is. Flash back to a little more than a year ago when the University of Florida Gators raised college football's championship trophy.

Look closely because you can't see that trophy. It was shattered into hundreds of pieces by Gator recruit Orson Charles. It was an accident. Charles apparently bumped into a table where the trophy was resting, and the trophy was insured, of course. A replacement has been ordered.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank goodness for insurance.

Speaking of gators, steel you later, alligator. An attempted gator napping caught right here on tape. The suspect caught and arrested.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Gator caper caught on tape. Five Florida college students face attempted theft charges. They are accused of trying to steal a baby alligator from a miniature golf course. What were they thinking? Police in Daytona Beach shores have surveillance video of the actual incident. They say two of the students climbed down into the exhibit, as you saw, to try and snag the gator. No word on why they wanted it. The exhibit holds about two dozen baby alligators, some up to three feet long. Bold news.

HARRIS: Man. All right. Victims of predator priests their secret meeting with Pope Benedict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HORNE: His sermon and policy about sexual abuse pulled me away and I had tears in my eyes that I wasn't ready to have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: A church tries to heal in the wounds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)