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Israel and Syria Holding Indirect Peace Talks; Senator Ted Kennedy Leaving Massachusetts General Hospital; Barack Obama Struggling to Win White Votes; Crude Oil Crossing $130 a Barrel Mark

Aired May 21, 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: I'm Tony Harris.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: You will see events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Wednesday, May 21st.

Here's what's on the rundown.

WHITFIELD: The battle over disqualified delegates. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigning in Florida today. They split primary wins Tuesday.

HARRIS: One colleague says he is in a fighting mood. Senator Edward Kennedy considering medical options today. His doctors find a cancerous brain tumor.

WHITFIELD: And severe weather in the south. More than 100 homes damaged. Cleanup time in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And our top story -- presidential politics. The Democrats in Florida today after a split decision. Obama wins Oregon and marks a milestone. Clinton takes Kentucky and vows to keep going.

Jim Acosta live from Lexington, Kentucky.

And Jim, you know, in the neighborhood where I grew up, as we start with Kentucky, Senator Clinton put a bit of a beat down on Senator Obama in Kentucky last night.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That she did, Tony. That is right. And we are in Lexington, so the race goes on, the horserace goes on. Hillary Clinton is staying in as Barack Obama is closing in on the Democratic nomination.

Hillary Clinton scored a huge victory here last night. She crushed Obama by some 35 percentage points. But the Illinois senator -- he scored a decisive victory of his own up in Oregon, essentially locking up the majority of the pledged delegates up for grabs in this race.

But at her victory speech last night in Louisville, Kentucky, Hillary Clinton -- she had two other states on her mind, and no surprise there. She talked about the states of Florida and Michigan and the disputed delegates there. And her message to the supporters at that rally last night -- she still sees a path to the nomination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I'm going to keep standing up for the voters of Florida and Michigan. I am going to keep making our case until we have a nominee, whoever she may be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now one thing that Hillary Clinton's victory did here in Kentucky is that it underscored once again Obama's challenges appealing to white working-class voters, not only here in Kentucky but in several states, which are going to loom large in the general election fight.

What she also did was emphasized the importance of winning over women voters. And we heard some of that from Barack Obama last night as he praised Senator Clinton for breaking barriers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No matter how this primary ends, Senator Clinton has shattered myths and broken barriers and changed the America in which my daughters and your daughters will come of age. And for that we are grateful to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And as Fredricka mentioned, both of these candidates are heading to Florida. Barack Obama will be spending much of his time in the central part of that state where he has his work cut out for him in this general election fight should he become the nominee.

As for Hillary Clinton, she will yet again be talking about those disputed delegates in Florida and Michigan, taking that case directly to the sunshine state. And she has an ally on her side, in her husband, the former president, Bill Clinton.

Yesterday here in Kentucky, he applied some pressure on the Democratic Party, accusing Democrats of behaving like Republicans back in 2000, in his words, Tony, "decapitating" those voters down in Florida by not honoring...

HARRIS: Oh boy.

ACOSTA: ... their delegates and seating them in her column.

HARRIS: More strong language from the former president.

Jim Acosta for us from Lexington, Kentucky.

ACOSTA: Yes.

HARRIS: Jim, good to see you. Thank you. Eleven days until the next contest for the Democrats. Here is a look at what's still in play and what's at stake. June 1st, the Puerto Rico primary. Obama and Clinton will be competing for 55 delegates. The final two contests for the Democrats take place on June 3rd. The Montana primary with 16 delegates at stake and the South Dakota primary with 15 delegates up for grabs.

WHITFIELD: All right. If you were in the southeast last night, you know it was very stormy. You probably heard the thunder. And look at that. You can hear in this video just the...

HARRIS: Boy.

WHITFIELD: ... emergency response crews. Well, it's been a busy morning cleaning up in Georgia all together.

Tornado sirens wailed in and around Atlanta last night. Reports of twisters, one possible tornado touched down, not yet confirmed, however. The storm toppled trees and damaged about 100 homes north of the city. Just take a look at that.

HARRIS: Boy.

WHITFIELD: Thousands lost electricity. And a local elementary school is closed today serving as a command center. Amazingly, no one was hurt in the storms.

How about where you live?

HARRIS: Well, the amazing thing is that you get these warnings and they flash on the televisions and whatever else, and then the next great thing that happens, Rob, and you know this, folks get on the phone and they start calling friends, hey, look out, look out.

WHITFIELD: How are you doing?

HARRIS: Are you OK? And that's what happened in my home last night. I'm sure in yours and Rob's as well. Good to see you, sir.

WHITFIELD: No phones rang in our house. Nobody cares.

HARRIS: No? Well, I'll call you. I'll call you.

WHITFIELD: Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I would have called you from the rooftop of my building...

WHITFIELD: I can see our problem in our household.

MARCIANO: ... because I was out there checking it out, man. It was wild.

HARRIS: I'm sorry for asking.

MARCIANO: That was crazy stuff. HARRIS: Wow.

MARCIANO: Dark luminous cloud about as scary...

WHITFIELD: Oh yes.

MARCIANO: No, I shouldn't say that. But it was crazy.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Mr. Rob, I'm going to get Fred's number so we can call Fred and the Johns...

WHITFIELD: So someone can act like they care...

HARRIS: ...and make sure that...

WHITFIELD: ... about us at home.

HARRIS: ... Fred and family are covered, all right?

MARCIANO: Because we care.

HARRIS: Because we care.

WHITFIELD: Good to hear. Thanks so much. Thanks, Rob.

All right. Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy facing the fight of his life now after a brain cancer diagnosis.

Our Dan Lothian outside Massachusetts General Hospital where the senator is this morning.

Dan, what's the latest?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that Senator Kennedy had been undergoing additional testing as doctors do try to figure out the right treatment action. They're looking at a combination of chemotherapy and radiation. But they do want to perform more tests.

And we are getting word that perhaps the senator will be leaving the hospital here sometime this morning. We hope to get more information on that in a little while.

In the meantime, Senator Kennedy has been surrounded by his family members and friends. We saw his wife, Vicki, arriving here at the hospital shortly after 7:00 this morning. The family also releasing photographs showing Senator Ted Kennedy smiling, surrounded by his children.

And you know, this is a story, obviously, that's big across the country, but certainly here in Massachusetts, a huge story. We wanted to show you the headlines this morning. "The Boston Globe," "Kennedy Has Malignant Tumor, Prognosis is Uncertain at Best." And then the "Boston Herald" kind of echoing what a lot of people have been saying, "We're with You, Ted."

He has been getting well wishes not only from Capitol Hill but from people right here in Massachusetts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENT: It's awful. It's awful.

UNIDENTIFIED MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENT: Absolutely stunned.

UNIDENTIFIED MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENT: I am shocked. I know it's an awful thing to go through. I had brain aneurysm and it's -- having that done is scary. It's scary. And I hope for the best. I hope it's operable. That's a big thing. But he's at the best place you possibly could be. So we're praying.

SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: I don't know a better fighter I've ever met in my life, in or out of public life. I think of the causes that he's championed over the years and the battles he's been through, the tremendous courage he has shown throughout his public life and on so many issues, on so many occasions, having been through as much as he has.

And his family -- I get a little worried that people start talking about he's no longer with us. This is a tough guy who knows how to fight. He's demonstrated that on so many occasions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: We're now getting confirmation that Senator Kennedy will be departing the hospital here at around 10:00 and will be returning to Cape Cod. Again, Senator Kennedy will be departing the hospital here at 10:00.

And I wanted to bring up one other thing. Doctors in their release have not really specified or talked at all about surgery as being an option, but we do know from a Democratic source who's close to the family that both Senator Kennedy and his wife, Vicki -- both want to see the results of the tests that have been conducted to see if surgery is a viable option -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right.

So Dan, in addition to the fact that the senator will be departing there, leaving the hospital at about 10:00 a.m. this morning, it really could take a matter of a few more days before he and the family and doctors decide on the best way to try and treat this cancer? Am I understanding that correctly?

LOTHIAN: That is correct. They wanted to talk to other doctors, as well. According to sources, Vicki really wants to reach out to other doctors, get additional opinions before they settle on what is the best course of treatment. As I mentioned, doctors in that release really didn't talk about surgery at all. It was more this combination of chemotherapy and radiation. Perhaps that's some indication as to the size of that tumor, where it's located, perhaps, but certainly, according to sources, the Kennedy family wants to look at the tests that doctors are conducting to find out if perhaps surgery will be a viable option.

WHITFIELD: All right. It will be interesting to see if the senator decides to address cameras there upon his departure at 10:00 a.m. We'll keep checking back with you, Dan. Thanks so much.

Well, Senator Ted Kennedy just diagnosed with brain cancer, so the question a lot of folks are starting to wonder now, how exactly do you treat it? Dan kind of explained some of the options. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to be here with us in the NEWSROOM to explain a bit further.

HARRIS: Well, the grim process of identification under way in China, the last three days of official mourning. Teams are now starting to take DNA samples from quake victims. Those samples will be matched up with family members. This mark's China's movement from rescue operations. Officials now saying the emphasis is on helping the homeless. There are about five million of them in the quake region.

Here are a few other important numbers. The Chinese government now saying 41,353 were killed in the quake. There are more than 274,000 injured and 32,000 still missing.

An amazing story this morning for one of those thought missing. A woman was found alive in a tunnel a full nine days after the quake. And there is also word this morning on a rebuilding plan for one of the worst-hit cities.

These are pictures from Beichuan. The government now says the city will be completely rebuilt somewhere else. Can you imagine that? Totally rebuilding a city. But the new location has not been determined.

WHITFIELD: China's quake left survivors with very little. No homes, no food, little hope.

CNN's Hugh Riminton takes us to one shelter in the quake zone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The eternal resilience of children, but the strange here finds their own way into play. Night and day, this stadium is now home to 8,000 people who scrambled alive from the mountain towns.

Wu Shaoqing nurses a broken husband. At 64, they had their family before China's one-child policy. But that has just left them now with more children than most to mourn.

"My two daughters died. My younger daughter's husband died. Our two grandchildren died. My family lost five people," she says. "We lost our house. We don't even have clothes. I took only my sick husband. We have nothing left."

Her husband made it out only because Chinese soldiers carried him across the mountain. His head and legs were hit by rubble. He hasn't stood up in days.

"Why has such a tragedy hit my family," she says. "I can't bear to think about it anymore."

The camp has no showers, but it does have food. The lines for instant noodles are disciplined and orderly. Senior politicians arrive now grappling with big questions, whether to abandon forever the worst hit of the mountain cities, how to find schools for children, jobs for the parents, shelter for millions.

Already there is a sense of permanence here in the small routines -- the organization of life beneath plastic. But it is not for Jiang Xianping. He is leaving his 9-year-old son here to go back on the dangerous mountain trek. His parents were too weak to leave.

"There is food for them to find in the roads," he says. "But after three days that will be gone. I have to go and settle them somehow. I'm leaving tomorrow."

Millions of people burdened with consuming losses and difficult choices.

Hugh Riminton, CNN, Chengdu, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And of course, you can help. At CNN.com, we have a special page on the devastation in China and Myanmar, plus links to aid agencies that are organizing help for the region. It's a chance for you to "Impact Your World" and let us be your guide.

HARRIS: The U.N. chief calls it a critical moment for Myanmar. Can the nation be convinced to accept desperately needed aid?

ANNOUNCER: "Weather Update" brought to you by...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, so many people anxious to see Senator Kennedy just to sort of assess for themselves how he looks in the aftermath of, first, the seizure and then the diagnosis of the brain tumor.

We will get an opportunity to see Senator Kennedy this morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time when he leaves Mass. General Hospital.

And I was wondering whether or not we would actually get a moment to get a photo-op, but in reading the note and the guidance here, the media is being instructed that the senator will be leaving from the wing entrance of the hospital, which means there will be cameras permitted. It will be a photo opportunity, and maybe, you know, reporters will do what reporters do, which is to ask questions. Maybe we will get a sense from the senator himself how he's feeling. That's at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time right here in the NEWSROOM.

The other question of the morning: what are Senator Kennedy's medical options? We will take that up with Dr. Sanjay Gupta right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live breaking news, unfolding developments, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Myanmar's cyclone victims in desperate need. Can the U.N. secretary-general pry open the door a little wider? He is in Bangkok, Thailand right now.

CNN's Sara Sidner joins us live.

Sara, good to talk to you. The question is: will the secretary- general be able to convince the military government to allow not just more aid in but highly trained, international aid workers?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is the main goal, Tony. We arrived here in Bangkok a few hours ago. He's here for the night and (INAUDIBLE) to prepare to fly into Myanmar early tomorrow morning. He has a big day ahead of him tomorrow.

He told us that basically he was going to go into Myanmar in the morning. He plans to first fly into the hardest-hit areas of the Irrawaddy Delta. He wants to see for himself, he says, the devastation and he also wants to give his condolences to the people who have suffered so much from cyclone Nargis.

And then the secretary-general says he plans to meet with senior officials of the Myanmar government, including the often reclusive Than Shwe, the senior general of Myanmar's military junta. And at that point, it will be his very first meeting in person to try and persuade Than Shwe and his generals to allow in a massive international aid effort, which, of course, includes aid workers who have expertise in dealing with these kinds of disasters.

You know, it's now been almost three weeks since the cyclone hit the country and it left more than two million people in dire straits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Our aim is to make sure that our immediate relief and longer-term efforts are well coordinated, efficiently delivered and effective in helping Myanmar's people overcome this terrible tragedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Ban says in Myanmar, we talk about 60 percent of the infrastructure in the Irrawaddy Delta has been damaged or completely destroyed. He also mentioned that three-quarters of the schools in that region have also been destroyed. A real big problem, something that may take years to fix.

But he also mentioned something very interesting, and that is the agriculture, and what's happening with agriculture there. The cyclone devastated much of the agriculture, and that can obviously cause a problem for food production for the people of Myanmar.

So he talked about long-term plans as well as short-term plans that need to be put in place. But, of course, the most important plan right now is to get to these people who have not gotten aid yet. The U.N. estimates about 1.4 million people are still in an emergency situation, still needing emergency aid.

Just recently the U.N. World Food Program was allowed to use nine helicopters. That just came by -- in in the last day or so. They're now allowed to use nine helicopters to get to those devastated areas. But really, this is a test...

HARRIS: Yes.

SIDNER: ... to see if more aid will be let in after Ban Ki-moon is there -- Tony?

HARRIS: OK. Sara, let me -- I hesitated to do this because your signal is breaking up just a little bit. But let me try. As we drill down on this, is the ultimate hope here in terms of getting personnel in the country that the military junta will allow NGO personnel in?

Or is it the hope that it doesn't seem likely that the U.S. aid representatives will be allowed into the country? Is the idea maybe that the secretary-general will win the approval for the aid workers from other countries to be allowed into Myanmar?

SIDNER: I think it's both, Tony. There's really a push from Southeast Asian nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is made up of 10 different nations, from their end, to send in doctors. Myanmar has already agreed to let in 270 medical personnel from those nations.

Ban Ki-moon's push will be to let in international aid workers from all over the world. It's the most important thing that they have expertise in dealing with these kinds of disasters. So you have to think it's a combination of both. The push really is to save the people of Myanmar...

HARRIS: Yes.

SIDNER: ... those who are still struggling to find food and clean water -- Tony?

HARRIS: Sara Sidner for us this morning. Sara, appreciate it. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Senator Ted Kennedy diagnosed with brain cancer reviewing his treatment options right now. And we learned just a few minutes ago that the senator will be released from the hospital in the next hour.

Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is also a brain surgeon joining us from New York. He's operated on this very kind of tumor, a glioma, and has some very dramatic images to show us now.

Sanjay, explain.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a GE advanced workstation. It's not FDA approved, but I'm about to show you, which is a pretty rare look inside the brain, not Senator Kennedy's brain, but take a look here as we sort of recreate all these various images of the brain.

You can see the person's eyes now here, the mouth. Take a look at this image over here, so crucial, Fred, for actually trying to figure out what -- where exactly this tumor is and what its relationship is to other parts of the brain.

So expand that up a little bit. And this particular area over here is called the left parietal lobe. It may be close to an area over here known as the motor strip, which is responsible for motor strength on the right side of the body. This area over here is where some of the speech centers are located. That is what surgeons are going to be very concerned about.

Let me give you just one more sort of look at this, Fred, so you could sort of orient yourself. If you take a look, you sort of spin this around. You can really do a lot with this particular station here. Take a look now, take this image. You can rotate it. And here, you're looking, again, at the eyeballs over here. Here's the mouth, here's the spine.

It's this area over here, again, Fredricka, which is the area of concern. That left parietal lobe, how close is it to some of those other important areas of the brain. Often it looks like an octopus sort of spreading its tentacles throughout the brain in that particular area.

WHITFIELD: And that's why it's not simple to just say, OK, we've located the tumor, it is here. We're going to surgically remove it because one of the dangers or the risks involved in removing that -- that tumor in that location is potentially damaging his speech. But when we're talking about a life or death issue, you know. What's the order of importance here?

GUPTA: You're absolutely right. And again, when you're talking about this specific area of the brain, you're talking about an area that could possibly have some damage to his speech. That's a discussion that doctors often have with the patient, the patient's family to try and determine, should they take out some tumor while, for example, leaving the senator awake, do that operation, check his speech and his motor strength throughout the operation to see how he's doing.

If none of those are an option, then you sort of go to chemo and radiation to give you a better sense of basically how to treat this thing hoping that the tumor will shrink over a period of time.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. Now he had a seizure on Saturday, and that's what really precipitated this discovery. You know he has -- he's been in the hospital several other times for other things including like a clogged artery.

Was this likely the first sign for the senator that he had this kind of malignant tumor, a seizure?

GUPTA: Yes. Oftentimes it is. And I think that's surprising to a lot of people, but the first time they have any idea that they have a brain tumor is because they have a seizure. About half the people with brain tumor will actually have a seizure first.

Regarding that particular operation that he had in October as you asked about, let me show you something here very interesting. First of all, let's strip away some of the skin here, get a look at something here important. You see this artery over here starting to become very clear. Strip away some more of the muscle now, just look at the bone specifically.

This is the carotid artery, the artery that was operated on the senator's left side back in October. Doctors were concerned about this particular area that was operated because sometimes it will have a stroke and that can look like a seizure in the beginning as well.

But this sort of gives you that sort of rare glimpse at what surgeons were doing in this part of his artery and up here in this part of his brain.

WHITFIELD: So when they were looking at that artery, that portion of his neck, would they have done an MRI at the time? Would they have seen this kind of activity or some kind of strange pattern in his brain scan?

GUPTA: That is a...

WHITFIELD: Or is that a brain scan?

GUPTA: That's a great question. He probably would have received a brain scan back in October. Two things: one is that maybe there was no tumor at all present. Again, in this particular area, which would mean that it has grown really since October.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

GUPTA: So it's grown rather rapidly, or they saw something there and they didn't think it was a tumor at that point and they just decided to keep an eye on it, and it became a malignant tumor at some point over the last seven months.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so these malignant gliomas are actually very common, if my research is correct. And that given the case, is -- has it also been learned that they can be that fast growing, that in that short amount of time, it can pop up? GUPTA: When you talk about malignant gliomas, you're really talking about four different types typically. You know, there's malignant, there's benign. But within malignant, there's four grades. Grade four is the worst, grade one is the best. When you talk about that grade four tumor, something that might appear as example in the senator's case here, they can be very aggressive. There's no question about it.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

GUPTA: This is a tough tumor to treat and they can grow very rapidly. The grade ones are also malignant, also tough to treat, but oftentimes don't have the same sort of invasiveness, if you will. Again, that...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

GUPTA: Think of that octopus sort of spreading its tentacles out from this part of the brain. That's what happens with those grade fours. They are hard.

WHITFIELD: Wow. That's really fascinating.

GUPTA: Yes, it is.

WHITFIELD: Well, of course, we wish the best to Senator Kennedy.

Thanks so much, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Thanks, Fredricka.

HARRIS: Boy, that was helpful.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, a blowout in Kentucky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I'm going to keep making our case until we have a nominee, whoever she may be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: What's next for Hillary Clinton? She's in Florida today. Obama is there, too. Find out why in the NEWSROOM.

ANNOUNCER: CNN NEWSROOM brought to you by...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone, I'm Tony Harris. We're going to get you back to Mass General Hospital. Our Dan Lothian is there. And Dan, the breaking news, again, I'll give you an opportunity to remind us of the breaking news is that Senator Kennedy is set to leave the hospital at the top of the hour.

Is that correct?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is correct. In about 30 minutes. We have been getting some indications throughout the morning that he would probably be leaving sometime today. We saw some public relations folks out here doing some planning, which we assume that the time, perhaps. It was the way they were going to bring him out of the hospital and then drive him out of this driveway.

Then we received confirmation that indeed Senator Ted Kennedy will be leaving the hospital in about 30 minutes or so. He'll be leaving from that door right behind me, by the way, Tony. Now we did get a statement from his doctors. And I want to read that statement to you. It says, quote, "Senator Kennedy has recovered remarkably quickly from his Monday procedure and therefore will be released from the hospital today ahead of schedule.

He will return to his home on Cape Cod while we await further test results and determine treatment plans. He's feeling well and eager to get started. And of course, Tony, as you know, doctors have been doing these additional tests to determine what is the best way to treat this tumor. They're looking at this combination between chemotherapy and radiation.

But, of course, as we've been reporting since yesterday -- sources telling CNN that his family -- the Kennedy Family -- Senator Kennedy and his wife, Vicki, also want to look at the results of those tests to determine whether or not surgery will be a viable option.

Doctors, so far, in the release yesterday and certainly in this release today have not talked at all about surgery as an option. Perhaps that could be telling about his position. But nonetheless, these tests, they're waiting for the results of these tests and also the Kennedy Family searching for other options as well as they determine the best way to treat this tumor.

HARRIS: Well, Dan, you were discussing an area that I think a lot of us are particularly interested in right now. We still, for example, don't know -- what, we don't know so much, but we don't know, for example -- the type of malignant glioma the senator has right now.

We also don't know the particular grade of the tumor. I'm wondering, we will get an opportunity to see the senator presumably at the top of the hour. I'm wondering if there are any other briefings from his doctors scheduled today that you're aware of. LOTHIAN: We are not aware of any additional briefings. Obviously, that is something we have been asking for for quite some time. Yesterday, when doctors came out with that information, it was sort of the basic information and we wanted to find out more details. Sanjay Gupta has been talking about the grades that you just pointed out, between one and four -- four being of course the most serious.

And that is something we do want to talk to doctors about perhaps after Senator Kennedy leaves the hospital. Doctors will come out and talk to us. We don't know that at all. That has not been confirmed. But we're told that he will only be coming out this door and we'll be able to get a shot but he will not be talking to us.

HARRIS: OK. Just wanted to put that clearly on the record as a couple of questions -- there are many more obviously -- but a couple of questions that we're really concerned about this morning, concerning the health of Senator Kennedy.

Dan Lothian for us outside of Mass General waiting for the senator's appearance at 10:00 a.m. -- around 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Thanks, Dan.

WHITFIELD: Meantime, Israel says it's true, it is talking indirectly to a neighbor about peace. Middle East development in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Fred, what do you say we get the business day started? The DOW starting the day 12,828 as we take you to the New York Stock Exchange. Pause for the bell. OK, a big sell off yesterday, Fred. Man, oh, man. The DOW losing nearly 200 points.

So, what are the chances for a recovery today? Well, here's a thing. NASDAQ, S&P futures higher this morning in spite of the ever surging price of a barrel of oil. The DOW, as you can see, well, it's up four. That's positive. We are checking the markets throughout the morning. Susan Lisovicz with us. Right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Enemies forever? Well, maybe not. Long time foes Israel and Syria are holding indirect peace talks.

CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us now from Jerusalem.

So, Ben, Syria is not the only enemy Israel has been talking to actually, right?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Fredricka. In fact, there's a lot of talk going on in this part of the region between various foes. What is significant, of course, is this announcement from the Israeli prime minister's office that Israel is now in indirect negotiations through Turkey with Syria. So, that is significant. But what we have to keep in mind, of course, is that we've known since basically February of 2007 than there have been messages being passed back and forth between Syria and Israel through the Turks. So, no real surprise there. You also have to keep in mind that Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, is facing his fifth corruption investigation since coming to power just over two years ago. So he really needs all the political capital he can get. But the fact of the matter is when it comes to talks in the region, rhetoric notwithstanding. There is a long history of contacts between Israel and its staunchest enemies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): His speech before the Israeli parliament was punctuated with enthusiastic applause.

BUSH: Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals as if some ingenious argument would persuade them they have been wrong all along. We've heard this foolish delusion before.

WEDEMAN: There's just one problem. As Israel's deputy prime minister conceded Monday, Israel is negotiating with what it and the U.S. calls terrorists. For more than a year and a half, Israel and Hamas have been exchanging messages through Egyptian mediators. Israel wants Hamas to release a soldier captured in 2006 and it wants an end to rocket fire from Gaza into Israel.

Hamas wants Israel to release some of the approximately 9,000 Palestinian prisoners it's holding and military operations in Palestinian areas and open the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

GERSHON BASKIN, ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND INFORMATION: The reality on the ground is that Israel is negotiating with Hamas.

WEDEMAN: Jerusalem think tank director Gershon Baskin is involved in back-channel talks between Israel and Hamas. He says President Bush's rhetoric is at odds with Middle Eastern real politic.

BASKIN: Again, it's populist politics. It's playing to the media. It's playing to what the public wants to hear. George Bush is the great friend of Israel in the public eye here because of these speeches of backing Israel. In reality the situation is always much more complex.

WEDEMAN: And there's more. Through European diplomats, Israel is also speaking with Hezbollah, which is holding two Israeli soldiers. In the past, Israel held secret negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization at the same time it called it a terror group.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: So, really, the situation is so complicated. Now, Israel -- it does work out an agreement with Syria. It wants Syria to cut its ties with groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and also with the country of Iran. So, if there is something in the works, it would represent a major geopolitical shift in the Middle East.

Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Wow. We'll be watching. All right. Ben Wedeman, thanks so much.

HARRIS: And back here at home. What a system we're all through the southeast, Georgia in particular last night.

Rob Marciano, boy, a bit of a cleanup going on in parts of Georgia today.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll move to tears on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dear friend, Ted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Here with some of the country's most powerful people are saying about Senator Ted Kennedy's startling diagnosis. New this morning, Senator Kennedy will be released from the hospital in just a few minutes from now out of Boston. And of course we'll carry that live.

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WHITFIELD: Exteriors of live pictures of the Massachusetts General Hospital because momentarily we understand Senator Ted Kennedy will be discharged from the hospital. He has been diagnosed with malignant glioma brain tumor. Still unclear exactly what kind of treatment he will be moving forward on -- whether it will be surgery, chemotherapy, radiation --

HARRIS: Of course, yes.

WHITFIELD: It's unclear exactly. But the hope is when he emerges from that hospital perhaps he'll have a word or two for the many people out there who are awaiting his arrival. Of course, we're going to carry this story live as it happens.

HARRIS: On Capitol Hill, shock and disbelief. Senator Ted Kennedy diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor. CNN's Tom Foreman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Capitol, where Senator Kennedy has served longer than most Americans have been alive, the outpouring was instantaneous, overwhelming.

SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), PRO TEMPORE: My dear friend, I love you and I miss you. FOREMAN: Robert Byrd, the longest serving of all senators was badly shaken, as were so many other Democrats, Republicans, and friends.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R) MINORITY LEADER: This was a development of great concern and sadness.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D) MASSACHUSETTS: We're pulling for our pal. And I know that he is determined to fight this.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: I know I speak for all of my colleagues when I say that our prayers and thoughts and good wishes are with Senator Kennedy, with his wife, Vicki, with our colleague, Patrick, his son, and with the entire Kennedy Family.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Senator Kennedy is a real fighter. We all know that.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), MAJORITY WHIP: We also know that Ted has spent his entire life caring for those in need. It's time for those of us who love Ted and his family to care for them.

FOREMAN: Kennedy rattled the presidential race by endorsing Barack Obama in January. All three candidates, however, are wishing him well now.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He fights for what he thinks is right and we want to make sure that he's fighting this illness.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have described Ted Kennedy as the last lion in the Senate because he remains the single most effective member of the Senate if you want to get results.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There isn't anybody like him. He gets up and goes out and does battle on behalf of all of us every single day.

FOREMAN: In Massachusetts, the news hit voters hard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's awful. It's awful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely stunned.

FOREMAN: But at the end of an emotional day, there was little anyone in his home state or his home away from home could do, except wish him well and hope.

SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: He's a strong guy and has great heart, and we're confident he's going to be back.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Once again, Senator Ted Kennedy diagnosed with brain cancer. So, how do you treat it? Brain surgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta with us in the NEWSROOM. And live pictures right now outside Massachusetts General Hospital because momentarily, possibly in about nine minutes or so from now, Senator Kennedy is to be discharged from the hospital. However, still unclear what kind of treatment he might be carrying out for this brain tumor. Much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: Just wonder at some point how high can it really go? Concerns over the skyrocketing price, that's accurate, isn't it -- skyrocketing price of oil on the Senate Judiciary Committee's agenda.

Next hour, five top oil company executives will testify. The hearing comes as new records have set again today. Crude oil crossing the $130 a barrel mark and closer to your tank. AAA says the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded is almost $3.81. Heard this story before? This is the 14th straight record high.

WHITFIELD: I'd like a record low.

HARRIS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, we saw it in West Virginia, and now Kentucky. Barack Obama struggling to win among white voters. But it depends on which white voters you're talking about, they say. Senior political analyst Bill Schneider looked at the exit polls earlier on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Take a look at white voters in Kentucky. There, Clinton over Obama by three to one. These are Appalachian whites, more rural, less liberal, more religious. Now, look at white voters in Oregon. Again, overwhelmingly white, but these are what I would call Coastal white voters. They are more urban, more liberal, less religious, Obama, 57 percent over Clinton, 43 percent.

Will white voters support Barack Obama? Well, you know, it depends. Yes and no. What white voters are we talking about? I don't think there's any such thing as a typical white voter.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Yes, I mean, he really won -- as you said, white voters in Oregon did the same thing in Wisconsin, Virginia-- I think he won in Maryland, too, and Georgia. But just a couple of places around the nation. So overall, does that suggest he's got some problems come November?

SCHNEIDER: He has some problems with certain kinds of voters. And most conspicuously Appalachian white voters in places like West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.

ROBERTS: Yes. We also talk about this idea, too, that there has been such polarization in the Democratic Party that if one or the other becomes the nominee those supporters will not support the one who eventually becomes the nominee. How did our exit polling show that stack up last night?

SCHNEIDER: We asked in Kentucky. We asked Obama voters. Will you support Hillary Clinton if she's the nominee against John McCain? The answer is 71 percent of the Obama voters said, sure. They will support Clinton. Only 15 percent would vote for McCain. But look what happens when we ask Clinton voters, would you vote for Obama over John McCain?

ROBERTS: Wow.

SCHNEIDER: The answer is no. Only 33 percent, a third of Clinton voters would vote for Obama if that's the choice. More would support McCain. Two-thirds would not vote for Barack Obama. The Obama voters would vote for Clinton. A lot of Clinton voters would not vote for Obama. We see this in state after state. And that is why Clinton claims she's more electable. Obama voters would stick with her, but many of her voters would not vote for him.

ROBERTS: That's really surprising. Bill Schneider, thanks very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: All right. We are just moments away from the time we've been told we will see Senator Ted Kennedy leaving Massachusetts General Hospital there in Boston. 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time straight up is the hour.

Doctors in a statement a short time ago saying that Senator Kennedy has recovered remarkably quickly from his Monday procedure and therefore will be released from the hospital today, in minutes, ahead of schedule. We should see the senator shortly right here in the NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

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