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Help for Colorado's Tornado Victims; Unknown Object Captured the Attention of one Airline Pilot and FBI; Next Step for the Clinton Campaign; Sydney Pollack Dead at Age 73
Aired May 27, 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: Truckers parking their rigs to protest soaring fuel costs. Gas, yes, the new record high today.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Did you know just one sleepless night can make your brain go a little wacky? Yes, we actually knew that. An eye-opening study right here in the NEWSROOM.
A major threat this morning in China's earthquake zone. Tens of thousands of people are being evacuated right now because of the potential for massive flooding.
CNN's Hugh Riminton is joining us now live from Manyang, China.
So Hugh, tell us a little bit about the immediate evacuations and whether more are actually in the works.
HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well said. Well, just behind me, Heidi, is the Pingwu River, flows through the city of Manyang. There's about five million people who live here, and this is downstream from the largest of the so-called quake lakes.
To give you some idea of how large the body of water is now that has built up behind a landslide, the experts are telling us, it is now half a mile deep. That's how much water there is behind there. The obvious fear is that that could break through that unstable rock barrier and then burst down these valleys and it'd be a staggering sight as -- some would say, to watch it, that all this water would go downstream.
Potentially, they say, in the worst case scenario that could affect 1.3 million people downstream. At the moment, they're not going to evacuate with evacuation plan, but they have issued an immediate order for 158,000 people. They want them all on higher ground by midnight. That's in three hours from now -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, boy, and when you look at the topography here of this land, you can't imagine what could happen if all of that flooding really does take place. It sounds like, Hugh, that there must be more contingency plans in place if that flooding should occur.
RIMINTON: Well, they've got more than 30 quake lakes, a they call them, across this region, so the one that they're really focusing now is the one that scares them the most. They have done all kinds of things. You can't get through this thing. It is such a remote countryside that you have to hike in there or alternatively fly in in massive air-lifting helicopters these bulldozers that they put there to try to clear away a bit of a spill way so they can release some of the pressure.
They put 10 tons of explosions into all this rock to try to make it controlled explosion, but they say, if that doesn't work, they've got a contingency plan to bomb this enormous massive rock from the air with any blunt instrument. But they seem to think that would be better than the natural catastrophic collapse of this rock wall.
HARRIS: Yes, sure, maybe a little bit more controlled. Quickly, I bet people are wondering, Hugh, if, in fact, there are still after shocks going on.
RIMINTON: Yes, certainly. There are two big ones in the course of last few hours. One was 5.4 magnitude, the other 5.7 magnitude. That puts more tension, more fear through many, many people and, of course, heightens the anxiety of the engineers who are trying to deal with these quake lake issues. They know this is a very unstable situation there -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Boy, it sure looks like it. All right, CNN's Hugh Riminton.
Thanks so much, Hugh, coming to us from Manyang, China.
By the way, you can help. At CNN.com, we have a special page on the devastation in China and in Myanmar as well. There are also links to aid agencies that are organizing help for the region. It's a chance for you to "Impact Your World." Let us be your guide.
HARRIS: And let's take everyone to Midlothian, Texas right now. This is a town of about 7,500. A Midlothian steel mill on fire right now. And these are pictures from just a short time ago. A pretty stubborn fire by all accounts here.
The flames were sparked in a trash pile near some shredded steel and that's what's burning right now. The shredded steel sending flames, we understand, high. Dozens of feet into the air, producing thick, gray smoke. Early morning hours, obviously, and Highway 67, we understand, also impacted by all of the smoke.
No reports right now of any injuries. When we get some new video in and more details on this story, we will certainly update this for you right here in the NEWSROOM.
Let's talk about your money, your concern, as new numbers are out this morning and they're giving us a better snapshot of the economy.
Here's what we know: U.S. motorists hit the brakes in March. The government says Americans cut back their driving at the steepest levels ever recorded. The reason, ever climbing gas prices. It seems obvious.
Today's national average, almost $3.94 a gallon. That is the 20th straight day of new records. Also out this hour, ugly new numbers on how much your home is worth. A private index shows U.S. home prices fell a record 14.1 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Next hour, another measure of your largest investment, the federal government releases numbers on new home sales.
Also ahead, how do you feel about the economy? Consumer confidence predicts whether you will spend or save. The health of the economy may be riding on your answer.
OK. Let's talk about it in more detail here, another day, another set of records. For the gas that keeps going higher and higher, a closer look now, CNN senior business correspondent, Ali Velshi, is in New York.
Ali, good morning. You know, it feels like it's just a matter of time before the country is averaging $4...
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
HARRIS: ... a gallon for gas. Just a matter of time.
VELSHI: At the pace we're going...
HARRIS: Yes.
VELSHI: ... it could well happen within the week. We're $3.937, so almost $3.94 is national average for unleaded gasoline. But take a look at how it breaks down across the country. There are 11 states in the District of Columbia now that are averaging above $4 -- $4 or higher for a gallon of gasoline.
There are four states, Maine, Ohio, Oregon and Rhode Island, which are less than a nickel away from that $4 average. Two states, California and New York, have diesel that is running higher than $5 a gallon, which, Tony, as we've discussed, is particularly important because everything we buy that comes on a truck is fueled by diesel.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
VELSHI: Everything that grows on a farm is processed by diesel machinery. So that's a big deal.
AAA says fewer people drove this past weekend than they did last year, which is a very interesting shift in the trend. And the U.S. government says that, on average, Americans will drive 4.5 miles less this year...
HARRIS: Wow.
VELSHI: ... than last year. Doesn't sound like much, but guess what? We have not driven fewer miles in a year than the previous year since 1979. So bottom line is, that round number of $4, while many Americans are already paying it, the significance of that trend and those round numbers, Ford said it, $3.50, its pickup truck and SUV sales fell off a cliff, so we know that these numbers are important to few.
HARRIS: And tell you something, that number about all of us driving less, that feels like a lagging indicator. Does it feel that way to you?
VELSHI: Yes.
HARRIS: That the price of gas and...
VELSHI: Absolutely. We -- you know, it's kind of a chicken and the egg thing. We talk about it a lot. Everybody already knew what they paid for gas before they heard it from us.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
VELSHI: If we gave you an average, you know what you already paid. But at some point, the discussion of the trends leaves the average consumer to say, all right, do I sell this gas guzzler or is this something that's going to change and actually go down a little later?
I think what people are realizing is that the fundamentals, particularly of cost of a barrel of oil, above $130, means that these gas prices are at least here to stay for a while, so they may want to change their behavior. And they are doing it.
HARRIS: And Ali, one more quick one here. The new numbers in on the housing value index giving us an indication of what our homes are worth.
VELSHI: This is a Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller index. It's 20 cities. It's an index of cities, which is -- it's an interesting study, but remember, these cities, it indicates that in those cities, housing prices are down in the first quarter of this year more than 14 percent compared to the same quarter last year. So fairly dramatic drop.
It's not an average across the United States, but it is 20 cities across the United States and it shows us, again, what a lot of people know, that housing prices continue to go lower.
HARRIS: And there he is tracking the dollars and cents of it all. Ali Velshi for us this morning.
Ali, great to see you. Thank you.
VELSHI: See you, man.
HARRIS: Are record gas prices killing your personal budget? You may be downright right grateful when you learn what is fueling this particular protest. It is among our next stops in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Cleanup today in the heart of tornado alley. Severe storms packing tornadoes and hail hit Kansas last night. But there are no early reports of damage or injuries. And it is official now. The National Weather Service confirms it was a tornado that hit the town of Hugo, Minnesota over the weekend. A 2-year-old boy was killed. The agency says the storm packed winds up to 165 miles per hour.
And Iowa -- officials say Sunday's tornado there stretched 43 miles long through the northeastern part of the state. At least six people were killed in the town of Parkersburg. Some 600 homes destroyed or damaged. That, in fact, is half of the homes in the town.
Jacqui Jeras standing by now to talk a little bit more about this. Boy, you sometimes forget just how incredibly powerful these things are.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. The video that we've seen is just absolutely incredible. You know homes that are just completely gone where there's nothing left of them anymore. And it's going to take a long, long time for these communities to recover.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Boy, yes, we'll knock on all the wood that we can find. That's right.
HARRIS: Exactly.
COLLINS: Thank you, Jacqui. We'll check back a little bit later on.
Meanwhile, when the weather does become the news, remember to send us your iReports. Just go to CNN.com and click on iReport or type ireport@CNN.com right into your cell phone. But, of course, please remember to stay safe.
HARRIS: Boy, amazing pictures here. A fiery six vehicle crash kills five people in Los Angeles and injures 19 others. Police think it started when a van ran a red light. Look at this. Another driver with a green light that crashed into it, that sends the van flying. The van burst into flames and collided with four more vehicles.
A chain reaction is what we're talking about. Three people including two children died at the scene. Two others died at the hospital.
Memorial Day shooting spree. This morning, New York police are looking for whoever shot and wounded at least seven people in Harlem. It happened around 10:00 last night. Police say they got a call about a large group of teens leaving a park about the same time shots were fired. The victims were found in different spots within a six block radius.
There were two other unrelated shootings at that same park yesterday. COLLINS: A runaway balloon ends a world record free fall attempt this morning. Look at this now. French skydiver -- now bear with me -- Michel Fournier...
HARRIS: Nice.
COLLINS: ... was supposed to beat 130,000 feet in the air over Canada. However, his balloon took off without him. It separated from his transport capsule -- sounds very "Jetson" -- just after being filled with helium.
So the 64-year-old -- yes, 64-year-old -- was attempting to break the record for highest free fall. That's him there in the bright yellow suit after today's attempt.
Yesterday's planned flight was grounded by the weather, so we don't really know when or if he'll try again.
HARRIS: A planet calls it something strange. Was it a model rocket?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we can't see clear air space and already have permission to be in that air space, we're not allowed to watch and we don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Mystery at 5,000 feet in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins.
But hey, you know what? You're going to need more than coffee to get you through the day. How your lack of sleep is all on your head.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: With Memorial Day over, summer campaigning begins. What a summer it could be. All three candidates stomping in western states today fresh from a weekend swing in Puerto Rico.
Hillary Clinton is in Montana. She holds a town hall style meeting at a native American reservation. Montana's primary one week from today.
Barack Obama talking about the mortgage crisis and foreclosures in Nevada. Obama marked Memorial Day with veterans in New Mexico.
McCain is criticizing Obama for not having been to Iraq lately. He tells the Associated Press they should visit the war zone together. McCain is expected to turn his attention to nuclear security in a speech in Denver. That's at noon Eastern.
COLLINS: President Bush and John McCain make a rare appearance together today.
CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano on their somewhat complicated history.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When it comes to raising money, nothing beats the power of the presidency. Supported in part by taxpayer dollars to pay for the trappings of the office, a president can draw big donors to fundraisers. And Senator John McCain's cash-strapped campaign wants to quietly make the most of it.
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The McCain campaign has a practice of having their fundraisers to -- as closed press.
QUIJANO: There will be some airport pictures of the president and Senator McCain together, but as he noted when he endorsed the senator in March, President Bush understands, with his low approval ratings, he'll sometimes need to keep his distance.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If by showing up and endorsing him helps him or if I'm against him and it helps him, either way, I want him to win.
QUIJANO: The two men have a long history, stretching back to their bitter rivalry during the 2000 Republican primary fight.
BUSH: I'm also disappointed in John McCain. This is a man who paid for telephone calls in the state of Michigan implying strongly that I'm an anti-Catholic bigot. And I don't appreciate that kind of campaigning.
QUIJANO: And over the next eight years, they worked to bury the hatchet, from campaigning together in 2004 to celebrating the senator's birthday.
And now they have formed a marriage of political convenience. President Bush is still popular morning among poor Republicans whose support and money the senator needs, while a Republican presidency could ultimately boost President Bush's legacy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Quijano joining us now live from the White House this morning.
Good morning to you, Elaine. So we know we won't see them at the fundraiser. What pictures are we expecting?
QUIJANO: Well, at the airport, first of all, we're expecting just a few pictures and they're going to be coming late because of fundraiser in Phoenix at a private residence isn't scheduled to get under way until 8:00 p.m., around 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. That puts the on-camera appearance at the airport with Senator McCain and President Bush somewhere in the 9:00 p.m. Eastern hour. And Heidi, that's, of course, well past the time for the network newscasts -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes, yes. Well, do we know how much Senator McCain expects to raise?
QUIJANO: That's an excellent question. We certainly posed that question to the McCain campaign. You know, President Bush, of course, is well-known for his prolific fundraising abilities, but the McCain campaign is not disclosing how much money is expected to be raised at the three fundraisers, one tonight in Phoenix and two more tomorrow in Utah that Senator McCain won't be attending.
A McCain aide will only say that the amount is, quote, unquote, "sizable" -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Sizable. All right. That tells us nothing. All right, Elaine, nice to see you. Thanks so much.
QUIJANO: Sure.
COLLINS: Interest in potential vice presidential candidates is heating up now. You can find out about all of them as well as information on the presidential candidates at CNNpolitics.com, your source for everything political.
HARRIS: He lost his home and war medals to a tornado.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED TORNADO SURVIVOR: It was kids, it was adult, it was Boy Scouts, and one of them came up to me and says, "Here you go". Whoa, I thought yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Hope and heart in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Sleep deprived? Losing a night of sleep may cause your brain to suddenly shut down. Try to figure out how this is new. But there are new findings this morning and chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us with more.
So Sanjay, what's happening to my brain? I mean, the brain.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, there was this belief that if you went without sleep for some time, your brain would sort of gradually start to shut down with the gradual process and what they're finding out now is, in fact, you have these sudden changes in your brain, the sudden sort of instability where you're sort of flipped back and forth between being awake and having periods of micro sleep.
Like you said, some people may have sort of noticed this before but now there's some actual proof showing what happens here. We have some images here of the brain. This is what it sort of normally looks like. A person is awake, he's looking at something. Several different parts of the brain sort of lighting up here. People are looking.
And this is an area of the brain that's sort of responds to vision and sends signals to this part of the brain letting you know that everything's OK. Take a look what happens when someone is sleep deprived, though. All of a sudden different parts of the brain lighting up, fewer of them.
For example, you're still seeing, your eyes may be wide open, but it's not sending signals anywhere, so you're not getting that signal sent to the port of the brain actually processing that information. And that is so critical. Your eyes are open, your lights are on, but no one's home supposedly. You know, that's one way of thinking about it.
Also, you know, if you think, well, gosh, you know, how do I know if I'm sleep deprived? One thing the study has pointed out as well is that typically it takes about 10 minutes for somebody to fall asleep once their head hits the pillow. If you're falling asleep in five minutes or less, you're more prone to having some of these unstable sort of effects.
COLLINS: Wow. I didn't know that. It takes me about three hours but -- is the brain actually giving out on you, though, when it's fatigued? Is that really what happens?
GUPTA: Well, we have this sort of involuntary drive to fall asleep. You haven't gotten enough sleep, your body and your mind is constantly telling you, go to sleep, get some sleep. Your ability to sort of fend that off sort of starts to decrease over time.
So, yes, call it fatigue, call it giving out, call it whatever you want, but that's what's starting to happen. And also if you measure some of the electrical signals here, it's fascinating. It sort of -- for example, you listen to a heartbeat and you hear that beat, beat, beat, hopefully it's pretty steady, it's pretty consistent.
In your brain, you sort of have electrical signals like that as well. When you start to lose sleep, you start to have erratic changes in those electrical signals -- Heidi.
COLLINS: So sleep deprivation is something we all know a lot about. I mean everybody feels it at one point or another, I'm sure. Is everybody, then, prone to these types of lapses in brain function?
GUPTA: Well, that was one of my questions as well. I think an important one. What we find is there's about 15 percent of the population that appears to be immune from this.
COLLINS: Really?
GUPTA: They don't get enough sleep, but they do OK. They don't go into these periods of micro sleep.
COLLINS: Yes, you sleep about what? Two hours a night?
GUPTA: Right. I think maybe I'm more prone than I thought after reading the study. There's about 115 percent of people who are very susceptible. So they get just even one hour of rest than typical, and some people, they're falling asleep during the day, having these periods of micro sleep, most of the people sort of fall in the middle there.
If they go a night, for example, just one night without good sleep, they can have this period of instability where their brain shuts down, wakes up, shuts down, wakes up, over and over again.
COLLINS: I want to talk to you about that infant care and sleep deprivation later.
GUPTA: Right. You have a good excuse for the time being. That's right.
COLLINS: Yes. Dr. Sanjay...
GUPTA: Welcome back, by the way.
COLLINS: Thank you, Sanjay. Appreciate it.
GUPTA: All right.
GUPTA: We'll see you shortly.
CNN's senior medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta.
HARRIS: Want to save on gas? Well, try taking a dip in the car pool. Veronica De La Cruz uses the Web to show you how. That's coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins and Tony Harris.
COLLINS: I'll make sure I remember how to use it.
HARRIS: Come on.
COLLINS: It's been a long time.
HARRIS: Get back on the bike again. (INAUDIBLE) lose a step, look at you.
COLLINS: You didn't see me fall on the way...
HARRIS: Oh you did?
COLLINS: Yes.
Good morning once again, everybody. Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: Welcome back. I'm Tony Harris.
Over the past three week, Americans have seen a new record for gas every day really. And can you believe this? We may actually be getting off cheap. Truckers in Great Britain paying about nine buck as gallon and today demanding relief.
CNN's Mallika Kapur is in London.
And Mallika, got to ask you, what are the truckers doing there to push back, to fight back?
MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have been protesting this morning. About 150 truckers came down here to Marble Arch in central London to really drive their point across and they had a rally this morning to draw awareness about the high fuel prices.
As you mentioned, over here, truckers do pay about a pound 20 to a pound 30 for a liter for their diesel and that does roughly translate into about $9 a gallon. At the moment, the truck drivers have taken a letter to Downing Street, which is the office of the prime minister, and they do hope that the government will step into help them because they say without the government's help, many of these businesses could be forced to go bankrupt and actually to shut down.
I have with me Joe Cook. He is the founder of J.S. Cook Transport and he's been one of the people who's joined the protest this morning.
Joe, do tell us, has -- in your 20 years that you've been in this business, have fuel prices ever put you under so much pressure?
JOE COOK, OWNER, J.S. COOK AND SONS TRANSPORT: No. I mean we have a bit of a problem in 2000. But this is really bad now. In 2000, it was -- you know, it was grim, but this is -- boy, we just can't believe how bad it is at the moment. It's really, really bad. We're under (INAUDIBLE) -- big pressure at the moment.
KAPUR: How bad is it? I know you have about 17 Lories. How much does it cost for weeks, say, roughly to fill them up?
COOK: About 21, 22,000 pound a week to fill those 17 trucks up. So since January, more -- over 3,000 a week.
KAPUR: And how are you coping with this? Have you had to downsize your business? Have you with your family belt side things. How are you coping?
COOK: Well, it's a struggle. I mean, you can't downsize. More vehicles won't finance it. More staff and you have to keep on working and just do the best you can. And you know, you can't cut corners in this job. You control and trim things up a little bit, but now to get more money for the business of keeping yourself afloat, but it's just -- the money is not in it for the 0moment. KAPUR: Joe, thank you very much for your time. And Tony, as you can see, it is a very difficult time for truckers and they do hope that the government will step in and help them.
Tony?
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, well, Mallika, maybe we'll get to that question in just a moment. But I'm curious as is the case here in the states, there is the price of gas and then there is the tax on top of that that pays for everything including highway and road repairs. I'm wondering what the gas tax is like in Great Britain.
KAPUR: It is up to 60 percent. It's as high as 60 percent. And that's really what the truck drivers are upset about and that's what they're calling on the government to do. They want to see the government give them a tax rebate and to really cut down on the tax level because that's really what's driving the price up over here in Great Britain.
HARRIS: OK. That answers the other question of what the truckers want the government to do right now. Mallika Kapur for us in Great Britain. Boy, great to see you. Thank you.
Record gas prices, you're getting less for your money and now even a gallon isn't what it used to be. An explanation ahead in the NEWSROOM.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: There you go. Just a short while ago the opening of the New York Stock Exchange as we look at the numbers from yesterday. I'm sure you saw it down about 146 points to rest at 12,479. Today, we're looking to positive just off the start there at 12,489. We will watch those numbers as well as many other numbers. You just heard about gas, so obviously we're all watching that very, very closely.
Also keep watching CNN because our money team has you covered on all issues affecting your wallet. And join us for a special report. It's called "ISSUE #1," the economy, today at noon Eastern only on CNN.
HARRIS: Well, a major new threat this morning in China's earthquake zone. Emergency workers are rushing to evacuate tens of thousands of people right now because of a potential for massive flooding. Landslides after the quake created so-called Quake Lakes.
Our Hugh Riminton tells us the water behind the landslides is about a half mile deep. Officials fear it could break through the unstable rock barriers sending waters. You can imagine down stream and the problems that would cause. Emergency teams are trying to carve a channel to drain the water. They hope to finish the evacuations in the next three hours or so.
If you'd like to help, do this 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 is a chance for you obviously to impact your world. Let us be your guide. COLLINS: Well, take a look at some of these pictures coming in from Colorado. Help now for Colorado's tornado victims. President Bush has approved federal aid for the areas hit last week. Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed. Residents devastated, their memories scattered in the rubble. More now from Adam Chodak. He's with Denver affiliate KUSA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAM CHODAK, KUSA REPORTER (voice-over): The last Monday in May is a time to stop and think about all those who gave. For Peter Ambrose, it's an important day.
PETER AMBROSE, TORNADO VICTIM: I was in Vietnam from '68 to 1970.
CHODAK: Ambrose himself gave, not his life nor his limbs, but he gave. That is why he has two Purple Hearts.
AMBROSE: One was up in Kasson when a rocket landed.
CHODAK: Thursday, it was a tornado that landed.
AMBROSE: There was noise. I had everything breaking, tree branches.
CHODAK: Since then, it hasn't been about what Ambrose gave, but what he lost.
AMBROSE: I couldn't say where it's at.
CHODAK: Ambrose hasn't been looking for his house. It's gone.
AMBROSE: There's nothing on it except a few cinder blocks that held up the mobile home.
CHODAK: He's been looking for what was inside.
AMBROSE: Something I just always kept in my drawer and my dresser.
CHODAK: His Purple Hearts.
AMBROSE: You have thousands of items but then you put importance on maybe one or two items.
CHODAK: On Saturday, the worth medal met the medal of man.
AMBROSE: I must have had, you know, 100 to 200 people. It was kids, it was adults, it was boy scouts. And one of them came up to me and said here you go.
CHODAK: He handed over two boxes. In one of them, this.
AMBROSE: I thought, yes, it was a happy, you know.
CHODAK: In the other box.
AMBROSE: Had the ribbon and didn't have Purple Heart in it.
CHODAK: In its place, there's hope.
AMBROSE: Maybe find it, maybe not. I don't know, but you just keep looking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Wow. Peter Ambrose is not alone. As many as 78 homes in the area were destroyed. Hundreds of others had major damage.
HARRIS: I got to tell you, it seems we've been talking about tornadoes since January and February, and there should be the weather forecast and then there should be the tornado forecast.
COLLINS: Maybe he's got something, Jacqui.
HARRIS: Yes. Jacqui, good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Yes, absolutely.
COLLINS: All right. Very good, Jacqui. Appreciate that. We'll check back with you later.
HARRIS: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You're not --
(CROSSTALK)
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I haven't seen you in so long.
HARRIS: Where has she been? Where has she been, Jacqui? Wait a minute.
JERAS: Look at that. Beautiful bambino. All the NEWSROOM is oohing and ahhing -- how cute.
HARRIS: Well, he's gorgeous.
(CROSSTALK)
JERAS: Baby Owen.
COLLINS: Baby Owen, yes. Look at him.
JERAS: Congratulations.
HARRIS: Can we just sort of staring at a mirror.
COLLINS: Let's cancel the last hour, what do you think?
HARRIS: You got any other pictures?
COLLINS: Yes, yes. I got to show you the bucket.
JERAS: How about the bucket?
COLLINS: Oh, my gosh. The video in the role.
HARRIS: That's great. That's great.
COLLINS: I got to tell you the story really fast. On the Internet, there's this product, it's European, I think it's French actually, and they're trying to sell a pail. It's just a pail --
HARRIS: Daddy, don't let me go.
COLLINS: To bathe your baby in. And they want $50 bucks for it. So we were up in Minnesota -- there's my Riley -- to give the bath. We thought well, let's get our own darn pail. It was about $4.99. And still, you just stick him in there and they feel very secure because it's so small and -- this was right before my dad's 70th birthday party, so we had to get him all spruced up for that.
HARRIS: Nice.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Hey, Heidi, Heidi.
COLLINS: I always bathe the baby in a dress, you know.
JERAS: Who doesn't?
COLLINS: Thank you guys for rolling that. It's so funny.
HARRIS: You are something else.
COLLINS: Jacqui, what do you think? Is it great?
(CROSSTALK)
JERAS: It is and I just, you know, that's my Minnesota sister right there, you know. A $5 bucket instead of spending $50 bucks on the Internet.
COLLINS: Exactly.
JERAS: God love you. There you go.
HARRIS: Oh, I've got about 100 snappy one liners. They won't let him go. That's good stuff. Welcome back.
COLLINS: All right. We'll talk to you later, Jacqui.
JERAS: Good to see you, Heidi.
COLLINS: Thank you so much.
HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning. A pilot calls him something rather strange. Was it a model rocket?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we can't see clear air space and already have permission to be in that air space, we're not allowed to launch and we don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Mystery at 5,000 feet in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: An unknown object in occupied air space captured the attention of one airline pilot and the FBI. The story now from Jeremy Diesel of Houston affiliate, KHOU.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIESEL, KHOU REPORTER: John Etgen could have been doing plenty of things this holiday.
JOHN ETGEN, MODEL ROCKET HOBBYIST: I was outside doing some yard work at the time.
DIESEL: Being on the business end of a phone call from the FBI wasn't on the radar.
ETGEN: A little bit of a shock.
DIESEL: Agents found Etgen because of his hobby. So how do the FBI and John Etgen come together? Let's start at Bush Intercontinental. The pilot of Continental flight 1544 took off at 10:17, 148 passengers and six crew on board the Boeing 737 800 en route to Cleveland.
Not long after, 11 miles east of the airport and climbing through 5,000 feet, the pilot reported back to the tower reported seeing a fast moving object with a thick smoke trail nearing his air space. While the plane continued on without incident to Cleveland, both the FAA and Houston area Joint Terrorism Task Force immediately launched investigations.
The regional FAA spokesman based in Oklahoma City told me he believed that the object was some kind of high powered model rocket. That's what led us and the FBI to John Etgen.
ETGEN: This is completely outside of all of our safety codes and all of our practices. We actually behave a lot like visual flight rules pilots and so that is if we can't see clear air space and already have permission to be in that air space, we're not allowed to launch, and we don't.
DIESEL: Model rocketry is supposed to be fun, but it's also regulated from the explosives used to power the rockets to the FAA who regulates high flights. Pilots get a little shaky seeing something like this at 5,000 feet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: So the FAA plans to use radar history to determine how close the object came to the plane. Are you ready for this? Time now to take a look at some of the most clicked on videos at cnn.com. Officials at Heathrow Airport in London are working with a charity to help find alternate shelter for homeless people and many are pretending to be passengers so they can avoid being bothered by police or airport security.
South Korean police had to hold back protesters in Seoul. Take a look at these pictures. They were opposed to a beef import deal with the United States.
And head over heels for cheese. This annual tradition at Brockworth, England. I just want to watch these pictures. Tumble, rumbling, bumbling, stumbling, face blunt, lovely. Coopers Hill, the location. All that over a block of cheese. You block heads.
And for more of your favorite video, just go to CNN -- I love that --cnn.com/mostpopular.
And of course, don't forget to take us with you anywhere on your iPod with the CNN daily NEWSROOM podcast. See some of the stories that will have you talking like a cheese roll. The CNN NEWSROOM podcast, available to you 24/7 right on your iPod.
The next step for the Clinton campaign, not giving up. Supporters holding out for a spot for her on the Democratic ticket.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A question of respect. Hillary Clinton's campaign pushes on and pushes back against pressure to drop out. CNN's Brian Todd explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The former president tells voters to ignore calls by quote, "people on television" for Hillary Clinton to drop out and says she's been getting a raw deal throughout the campaign.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running.
TODD: Pleading for time, he tells an audience in South Dakota his wife still has a chance.
CLINTON: Why have all these people tried to run her out of this race? They're trying to get her to cry uncle before the Democratic Party has to decide what to do in Florida and Michigan.
TODD: The former president says he also sees an effort afoot to strong-arm undecided superdelegates to make their choice fast.
CLINTON: I can't believe it. It's just frantic, the way they're trying to push and pressure and bully all these superdelegates to come out.
TODD: The superdelegate count has recently tipped in favor of Senator Clinton's rival Barack Obama. In the last week, he has picked up 17 to her part. Obama for his part is trying to take the high road, praising Mrs. Clinton in every opportunity.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She has set the standard. She has broken through barriers, and will open up opportunity for a lot of people, including my two young daughters.
SUSAN PAGE, "USA TODAY": Well, he doesn't want her to feel disrespected and her followers to feel that she's been disrespected.
TODD: Will that be enough for Obama to win over her voters if he becomes the Democratic nominee?
ROGER SIMON, CHIEF POLITICAL COLUMNIST, THE POLITICO.COM: A lot of her supporters, women supporters, feel that she definitely has not been treated respectfully, and they believe that the best sign of respect that Barack Obama could deliver is to pick her as his vice president.
TODD: Even Bill Clinton reportedly believes that if his wife doesn't win the nomination, she's at least earn a shot at the number two slot. But for now, the Clintons are focusing on the top job. Campaigning together in Puerto Rico. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Interest in potential vice presidential candidates is also heating up. You can find out all about them as well as information on the presidential candidates at cnnpolitics.com. Your source for everything political.
HARRIS: You know, the cost of gas is causing a lot of us to hit the brakes, but before do you that, consider taking a dip in the pool, the car pool, that is.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: The car pool.
HARRIS: Veronica is here. Boy, we're happy to have you on loan from AMERICAN MORNING. Check out the web? That's not something I would think of doing for a car pool.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. You wouldn't think of doing that at all. But you know, the ride sharing could actually be a pretty good alternative to ditching the car all together. So many of us are getting desperate. We're trying to figure out how to cut down on those commuting expenses. Plus, bonus, it is environmentally friendly, Tony, you know?
HARRIS: I like that. DE LA CRUZ: Yes. So a couple of things to show you. This is carpool.com. It's a Web site that will match you up with someone for free and then you can scan this message board, find a partner. Some people might be looking for one way trip, others full-time rides.
For example, let's go to read a portion of this woman post right here. She says, "Hey, hello, hate to drive, of course to save on gas these days would be great. I could do a 7:00 to 4:00 shift for someone who needs to get to their destination earlier. I'm friendly, but I can be a bit quiet in the mornings since my brain doesn't really awake until around noon." So lots of, you know, real people, real issues here. People want to save some money -- carpool, maybe.
HARRIS: Yes. Sounds good. The idea of a full-time partnership, though, I don't know about that. Bottom line for me here, if you would, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: It's a relationship. You know, it works a dozen ways.
HARRIS: Building a community, right?
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
HARRIS: OK. So if you're bottom line this, how much money can I hope to save on something like this?
DE LA CRUZ: OK. Let's check out this Web site. It's called commutesmart.info. Partners with transportation agency in Southern California. It offers you rebates and incentives for ride sharing and also has an online calculator to see how much you're going to save, Tony.
For example, let's say that you drive 17 miles to and from work everyday. You car gets 20 miles of the gallon. You spend $4 a gallon on gas. $4 because that's the average.
HARRIS: That's right. That's right.
DE LA CRUZ: Just about. And then on top of that, you spend about --
(CROSSTALK)
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, it's all the same. You spend about $50 a month on parking. You are spending over $250 a month by commuting alone. That is more than $3,000 a year. Now, if you partnered up with somebody just one person that's going to cut your commuting expense in half. $1500 a year. So many of us are getting desperate looking -- exactly, we're looking for ways to cut back.
HARRIS: In every aspect of your life, you're looking for savings.
DE LA CRUZ: In every aspect, yes.
HARRIS: But here's another critical question. Is this whole idea of ride sharing, car pooling, is it safe?
DE LA CRUZ: Well, I know. It might be a little bit scary. You're partnering up with a stranger. Some good sites out there to check out. Erideshare.com is another popular car pooling site. It says that you should meet your prospective ride in a public place. Get their license, identification information. You can do background check that way.
Also, once you start ride sharing, don't forget to exchange any important information, emergency information, also medical information. So since the cost of gas is so high, instead of traveling, lots of people unfortunately had to stay home this Memorial Day weekend.
I wanted to show you this from our I-reporter Michelle Carpenter. She actually took the time, Tony, instead laying on the beach -- she decided to go car shopping. Yes, she traded in her gas guzzling SUV for something a little more economical and she bought this. This is her brand new baby.
HARRIS: What is that?
DE LA CRUZ: It's a Toyota Zion. And now she's getting 33 miles for the gallon whereas before she was getting 13. She had a big SUV. So she's saving some money when it comes to the cost of gas. And don't forget, if you want to go and send us I-report, you can do so. Let us know how the cost of gas is affecting you. Share your stories. If you car pool, let us know.
HARRIS: Boy, if you're not upside down on your SUV or your gas guzzler, it makes sense to go ahead and trade it out and get one of those gas zippers.
DE LA CRUZ: And you can also share a ride. Something maybe you and Heidi want to consider doing, you know?
HARRIS: Different side of town. I guess we could meet at some place there.
COLLINS: I didn't tell you, I've been biking in.
HARRIS: Really?
COLLINS: I get about 20 minutes earlier and very fast. And I just bike in in the dark.
HARRIS: That explains a lot. Thanks, Veronica.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Thank you, Veronica. Thank you.
DE LA CRUZ: Good to see you.
COLLINS: We want to tell you a little bit more about this story in case you may not have heard. Hollywood loses a visionary. Sydney Pollack, entertained TV and movie fans for five decades. We'll look at his biggest contributions coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Award-winning director and actor Sydney Pollack is dead. A victim of cancer at age 73. CNN's Kareen Wynter looks at this successful run in Hollywood.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SYDNEY POLLACK, ACTOR: Just scare him to death, come on. The man was a bull.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sydney Pollack's ability to go toe-to-toe with stars on camera as with George Clooney and last year's Michael Clayton was matched by his talent at guiding them from the director's chair. Pollack met Robert Redford in the early 60s and round up directing him in seven films. Most notably 1985's "Out of Africa".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you heard (INAUDIBLE)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I haven't. Have you?
WYNTER: The last drama brought Pollack Oscars for best director and best picture. He also steered Paul Newman to an Oscar nomination for "Absence of Malice." And sent Tom Cruise sprinting through the streets of Memphis in "The Firm".
POLLACK: I can't help but get affected by this place, too. It's still looking pretty grand place.
WYNTER: Even when Pollack's films weren't hits, they often broke new ground. His 2005 thriller "The Interpreter" was the first film ever permitted to shoot inside United Nations headquarters in New York.
POLLACK: You're a tomato. A tomato doesn't have logic. A tomato can't move.
WYNTER: His most famous double duty may have been "Tootsie," battling with Dustin Hoffman both as director and the title character's exasperated agent. The gender bending comedy earned ten Oscar nominations, including one for Pollack.
As a director, producer and actor, Pollack enjoyed both critical and commercial success over distinguished five decade career.
POLLACK: My biggest achievement? Surviving, I would say.
WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. You will stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the run down.
Home prices take a steep dive in the first quarter. More economic numbers do in minutes. It is issue number one.
COLLINS: China getting thousands of people out of the way of a possible flood. Dams created by quake landslides to blow.
HARRIS: Young newlyweds shipped off to Baghdad. Their home facing difficult new challenges today. Tuesday, May 27th. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
