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Blast in Israel Near Tel Aviv Airport; Zimbabwe's Opposition Leader Has Pulled Out of the Election; Don Imus Under Fire Again
Aired June 24, 2008 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Can you can you imagine the U.S. government telling people, we want you to go down to a waist size 33?
JOSEPH JASPER, NEC, AMERICAN EMPLOYEE: It's difficult to imagine.
LAH: American NEC employee, Joseph Jasper, says, sure, it seems a little extreme, but maybe there's a lesson here for his home country.
JASPER: There are things we can learn from each other. And this happens to be something that is, you know, good for your health.
LAH: NEC says they can't force employees to slim down, but it has issued Naoki Wata a pedometer, hoping he'll walk in next time with a lighter load.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning once again, everybody. 10:00 Eastern time now.
We begin with breaking news this hour. French president Nicolas Sarkozy in the Middle East sounds of an explosion nearby Tel-Aviv Airport in Israel.
CNN's Ben Wedeman with us now on this breaking news from Jerusalem. Ben, what happened?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Heidi. It was just about half an hour ago, President Sarkozy was at the airport near Tel- Aviv about to return to France when, as the honor guard was out there, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, the President Shimon Peres, were on hand to say good-bye, a blast was heard.
Now, what we saw on live television was a bit of panic ensuing. The French president and his wife, Carla, were bundled up to the entrance of the plane. The Israeli Prime Minister and the President were quickly moved away by their security escort. And what we're hearing from Israeli media that an Israeli soldier may have committed suicide at the airport and that's what the blast heard. It's not clear at this point, whether the soldier is dead or still alive, but that appears to be what happened. Shortly afterwards, calm was restored. The Israeli Prime Minister and the president went onboard the plane to reassure the French President that everything was under control. But obviously in a tense region like this, that really shook a lot of nerves at the airport -- Heidi.
COLLINS: I imagine so. Understandable. Quickly, Ben, you said the French president and his wife did go ahead and get on that plane and take off?
WEDEMAN: I'm not quite sure at this very moment whether the plane has taken off at this point. But we did see that the doors of the plane were closed and they were scheduled to leave shortly thereafter -- Heidi.
COLLINS: OK. Understood. All right, Ben. We're going to watch this story alongside you. Thanks so much for the live reporting. Again, some breaking news there out of Jerusalem. We'll keep our eye on the story.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A political meeting in Baghdad bombed. Ten people dead, two U.S troops and two American embassy workers among them. It happened in the Shiite militia stronghold Sadr City. Six Iraqis also were killed and a number of people wounded. The bomb exploded at a municipal building right before meeting to elect a local council chairman. The U.S. military blames Shiite extremists. It says three people have been detained.
New developments in Zimbabwe this morning. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has formally pulled out of Friday's runoff. He has announced earlier this week and now it is official. Tsvangirai said he feared for the lives of his supporters. His own life was in danger over the weekend.
Senegal's president say Tsvangirai fled to the Dutch embassy in Zimbabwe's capital because he was chased by government groups, all of this comes just three days before the controversial runoff. It is a vote the United Nations says can't be considered valid.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: Conditions do not exist for free and fair elections right now in Zimbabwe. There has been too much violence, too much intimidation. A vote held in these conditions would lack all legitimacy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Zimbabwe's U.N. ambassador says his country plans to go ahead with Friday's vote. The U.N. fears an even greater problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: The security council further expresses its concern at the grave humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe and condemn the suspension by the government of Zimbabwe of the operations of humanitarian organizations which has directly affected 1.5 million people, including half a million children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Now, American and European ambassadors are pushing for the U.N. to consider Tsvangirai the legitimate leader until a fair election could be held. Meanwhile, the "Times" newspaper in London reports the British Ministry of Defense has a contingency plan in place to send troops into Zimbabwe.
COLLINS: Radio host, Don Imus under fire again more than a year after racially charged comments cost him his job. Imus now faces a new firestorm. And again, issues of race are fanning the flames. Here's yesterday's exchange between Imus and sportscaster Warner Wolf.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARNER WOLF, SPORTSCASTER: Defensive back Adam 'Pacman' Jones, recently signed by the Cowboys. Here's a guy suspended all of 2007 following that shooting at a Vegas night club.
DON IMUS, RADIO HOST: Well, stuff happens. You're in a night club, for God's sake. What do you think is going to happen in a night club, people are drinking, or doing drugs, there are women there and people have guns. So there, go ahead.
WOLF: He's also been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.
IMUS: What color is he?
WOLF: He's African-American.
IMUS: Well, there you go. Now we know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: We want to get the very latest now from New York and CNN's Jason Carroll who has been following this story for us this morning. Hey there, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Heidi. You know, Imus says the last time he made a racially insensitive remark, he was wrong and he should have apologized and did. But this morning he is not apologizing because he says an apology isn't necessary but a clarification is.
This morning, Imus made it clear when he made those comments about NFL star Adam 'Pacman' Jones and his run-ins with the law. He was actually trying to defend him, trying to say Jones was a victim of variable profiling. Imus also did so while he said this in front of his black co-host.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) IMUS: The producer of Imus' morning program, Tom Bowman, is black. Two of the co-hosts, cast members of the program are black Carol Foster and Tony Pennell (ph). How insane would I have to be -- what would I be thinking -- what would I mean -- why would I sit here and go, well, there you go. How do you get that -- make that connection?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Imus' co-hosts say he was being sarcastic and his comments were misinterpreted. This morning I spoke to the Reverend Al Sharpton, the man who was instrumental in getting Imus fired after he made those insensitive remarks about the Rutgers women's basketball team. He was not as supportive, Reverend Sharpton, saying, 'given Imus' history, it's not unreasonable to scrutinize comments he makes about race.'
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: My advice would be that you should always be very clear since you have acknowledged that you have said insensitive things in the past. You should be very clear, go out of your way to make sure people cannot misunderstand what you're saying. And if you don't do that, then you shouldn't be concerned, or upset when people are concerned or upset that maybe you have had a relapse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: A bit of advice there from the Reverend Al Sharpton. Comedian Dick Gregory said this morning that he also believes that Imus should have been more clear, but he accepts Imus' explanation. Sharpton now saying he is in a wait and see mode. He's going to talk to other members of his coalition to see if they'll end up taking any action -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, CNN's Jason Carroll. Thanks so much, Jason.
CARROLL: All right.
HARRIS: Oil and gas prices, everybody wants to blame somebody. A hearing under way this hour on the role speculators might be playing in the runaway prices. We will speak to Brianna Keilar in Washington in just a couple of minutes.
COLLINS: More trimming in the nations' airline industry. United says 950 pilot jobs will be slashed. That's on top of 1,600 salary job cuts already announced. The airline says the pilot furloughs will begin next month. Workers disappointed but not surprised.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think they have a choice. I think the industry has taken a dive. If it happens, it happens. It's unfortunate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: United, along with the rest of the industry, has been looking for ways to cut costs and raise money in the face of higher fuel prices.
HARRIS: It didn't hold. St. Charles, Missouri, under assault right now after a levee breaks. The story in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Some reaction to the latest Don Imus controversy online. Veronica de la Cruz uncovers the web in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A tale of two parts of a river, one section of the Mississippi where floodwaters are receding and downriver where there is still a significant danger. New video this morning shows a weakened levee giving way in St. Charles, Missouri.
The National Guard, look at this, and volunteers have been sandbagging along this levee for days. The "St. Charles' Journal" reports that at least 600 residents are at risk of being flooded. There is relief, at least some in sight for the region. Forecasters expect the last stretch of the Mississippi to crest later this week. Levees unable to hold back floodwaters in the Midwest, now a flood of questions. Why didn't residents have flood insurance? Isn't anyone to blame?
CNN's David Mattingly has the story from Gulfport, Illinois.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When the levee crumbled and the river came crashing in, the village of Gulfport, Illinois, never had a chance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It almost looked like a tidal wave coming to us. Almost like the end of the world is what it looks it.
MATTINGLY: And for Gulfport, it may well be the end. Only 28 people of this river town of about 200 had federal flood insurance, the rest trusted the levee. Resident like Rick and Gina Gerstel lost everything.
Did anyone ever suggest to you that you were taking a risk, your bank, any city officials, any federal officials?
RICK GERSTEL, GULFPORT RESIDENT: No.
MATTINGLY: Did FEMA ever approach you saying, maybe you ought to have flood insurance?
GERSTEL: No.
MATTINGLY: Gulfport was protected by a levee that wasn't strong enough to hold back the catastrophic 500-year flood that hit. But it was rated to withstand 100-year flood. That was enough that FEMA did not require homeowners to purchase flood insurance. Is that tacitly sending a message to people that they might be safe there?
Keeping them honest, I called FEMA, wanting to know if mistakes were made.
TERRY REUSS FELL, FEMA FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT: We do our best to advertise the availability of flood insurance and encourage people to purchase it.
MATTINGLY: I'm looking at the town right now. It's completely under the river. Most of this town may not be able to be salvaged. At what point was this town failed by this system? That only 28 people had flood insurance.
REUSS FELL: We implement the laws that are given to us, and the laws right now deal with the floodplain management regulations within that 100-year flood plain, and the insurance purchase requirements in that area also.
MATTINGLY: But changes may be coming. Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut wants a law requiring flood insurance for everyone living in levee-protected areas.
SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: I don't know how you define "protected," but I don't know how you call that protected when you're telling people they don't have to have this, they don't need it.
MATTINGLY: As bad as this looks, FEMA says its risk analysis for Gulfport was accurate. The agency is now working on a billion dollar upgrade to outdated maps as well as a reassessment of flood dangers all over the country. Some say that can't be finished soon enough because of climate change.
STEPHEN FLYNN, AUTHOR "THE EDGE OF DISASTER": Some estimates are by 2050 the 100-year storm will become the 10-year storm.
MATTINGLY: This police video from inside Gulfport shows the village hall pushed off its foundation, the flag flying in a swirl of muddy water. This is all that's left of the house the Gerstel left behind. Will you ever go back to that house?
GERSTEL: No, sir. I would not go back to the town. I would never live there again.
MATTINGLY: David Mattingly, CNN, Gulfport, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: One lightning storm ignites more than 800 wildfires in California. Here's some new video of one of those fires in the rural area of Solano County. Thousands of firefighters are on the ground and in the skies.
A California fire official calling the lightning storm unprecedented. Up to 6,000 lightning strikes hit during a thunderstorm setting off some of these, the largest of them is threatening about 1,200 homes. California's neighbors are helping out. Crews from Nevada and Oregon are part of the fight against the flames.
HARRIS: And Jacqui Jeras, we've got our fingers crossed today that weather conditions will improve out there. Maybe the winds will die down a bit and give firefighters a bit of a break in fighting those wildfires.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know what, weather conditions not too bad. Our heat has suppressed. We've got a little bit more of a marine layer and onshore flow. So, weather or not really not hampering things too much yet.
But take a look at this satellite detection picture that I found from NOAA. All of these red dots that you see here all across California, those are the heat signatures being detected by infrared satellite. And all the gray that you can see here, this is the smoke and where it's been dispersed.
And check that out. You are just choking here in places like Las Vegas, over toward St. George in Utah. Look at the smoke up into Pocatello and Boise, Idaho. So, this is really traveling a long way and certainly impacting the air quality.
So, take a look at the air quality forecast now for today across California. All the orange dots means that's unhealthy for sensitive groups, really seeing that in the San Joaquin Valley. And the red dots means it's unhealthy for everybody. So, we're seeing that in the Napa area where the biggest fire continues to burn. So, use a lot of caution. Don't stay outside for a long period of time if you can help it at all today, particularly not between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00 p.m.
Our satellite picture here showing you that marine layer, all the nice fog and moisture moving in from San Diego towards Los Angeles and then all the way up into areas like San Francisco as well. That's been creating some delays at the airports, by almost an hour now trying to get to San Francisco. These are arrival delays, not departure delays. Also some 30-minute delays out at Newark. We got some low clouds and kind of foggy conditions, a little bit here into the northeast, but that's starting to lift now. And the picture is not looking too bad.
In New York City at this time, you started out pretty cloudy and overcast. You can still see a little bit of haze there. Looking at 73 degrees right now and a chance of thunderstorms later on this afternoon could hold you up at NYC. And make sure that you do call ahead. And the air quality, by the way, in New York City, if you're wondering is moderate today. So, not too terrible.
A real stormy weather will be focused in the nation's midsection today. Showers and thunderstorms started out here in Nebraska early this morning, moving into southwestern Iowa and also into northern parts of Missouri. And take a look, not too far away from the flood areas, but we don't think the rainfall totals are going to be enough to cause any significant problems.
We've been tracking one storm, moving towards Columbia along I-70 corridor up here that has been producing some hail. We could see hail, maybe three quarters of an inch in diameter, or perhaps the size of pennies. Kansas City may also see some of these storms become strong later on today. And we'll be watching the Dakotas for that threat, extending to the panhandle of Nebraska, the atmosphere destabilizes a little bit more this afternoon.
Guys, the chances of severe weather this time of the year starts to focus away from the southern plains states. Of course, we can still get them there, to watching things more towards the northern tier of the country. So keep that in mind as we head into the month of July and then into August.
HARRIS: And then the tropics as well.
JERAS: Yes. You know, it's been mighty quiet, knock on wood, thus far.
COLLINS: Yes, shhh. Don't tell anybody. There's a lot of dust, we saw great satellite pictures the other day with all kinds of dust in the Atlantic, and that kind of inhibits some of that development.
HARRIS: OK.
COLLINS: Ah, interesting. All right. Jacqui, thank you.
JERAS: Sure.
COLLINS: An energetic John McCain, he wants the government to pay you for a great idea.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We'll take another check of the big board New York Stock Exchange. Yes, this is sort of what we, I guess anticipated today. All of the futures were in negative territory to begin the day, and the Dow started off in negative territory. And here we go, down 93 points inside the first hour of the trading day. We're going to talk to Felicia Taylor in just a couple of moments and find out what might be driving the market today. We'll do that right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Rising oil and gas prices, some blame traders. This hour, a hearing gets under way on the role of speculators in driving up prices. Live now to CNN's Brianna Keilar in Washington. And Brianna, we're getting a fact finding mission here or are we simply looking for someone to blame, maybe a bit of both?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRSPONDENT: There's been a lot of the blame game going on with this hearing, but the whole point of this senate hearing today is going to start in a few minutes is to talk about some possible solutions. This committee has some ideas about how Congress can curb excessive oil speculation that may be contributing to the increase in the price of oil and, then in turn, to the increase in the price of gas and food.
So, a couple of these ideas being floated, saying to certain investors, for instance, pension funds, yes, it could be your pension fund. You can't invest in commodities, you can't buy oil futures contracts. And then another idea, capping the total number of futures contracts that any one investor can buy. So no one investor has an excessive amount of influence on the market.
So today in this third of a series of hearings, the Senate committee on Homeland Security and governmental affairs is bringing in a panel of experts so that they can bounce some of these ideas off of them. Testifying today, we've got the head of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the biggest commodities future exchange in the world, also the former head of trading and markets for the CFTC, this is the federal agency in charge of regulating all of this business. This is a man who has been very critical in past hearings of how these things are currently being regulated.
And also, we're going to hear from the head of the group that represents many of the country's largest pension funds because something, Tony, that many people might not realize is that their pension fund manager could be using their retirement funds to speculate in oil futures. It is perfectly legal.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
KEILAR: And it's a safe bet, right, since oil keeps going up? And we've heard from many experts that many investors are doing this to protect their other assets which are losing value because of the weak dollar, Tony.
HARRIS: That's a great point. I'm just sort of curious, Brianna, could some of these ideas actually end up in legislation?
KEILAR: Well, that's really the hope. And there are so many ideas being floated around on Capitol Hill coming from the House and the Senate. But this particular committee headed by Joe Lieberman hoping to introduce some bipartisan legislation soon after the July fourth recess, very soon.
HARRIS: OK. Brianna Keilar watching this hearing for us in Washington. Brianna, good to see you. Thanks.
COLLINS: Presidential candidates putting the spotlight on energy today. John McCain in California, he'll join Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for a discussion on the environment and energy efficiency. That event taking place in Santa Barbara.
Barack Obama heads to Nevada, he will talk about energy issues in Las Vegas. A challenge from John McCain, come up with a revolutionary energy idea and get paid to do it.
More now from CNN's Dana Bash, part of the best political team on television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John McCain wants to reduce America's dependence on oil with an age-old idea, a contest and the promise of a lot of cash.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A $300 million prize for the development of a battery package that has the size capacity, cost, and power to leapfrog the commercially available plug- in hybrids or electric cars.
BASH: $300 million for a new battery that delivers power at 30 percent of current costs.
MCCAIN: $1 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.
BASH: Throughout McCain's Central California speech, a new tone that underscores the urgency of gas price politics. He also proposed something that he usually shies away from, a tax credit.
MCCAIN: For every automaker, who can sell a zero emission car, we'll commit a $5,000 tax credit for each and every customer who buys that car. For other vehicles, whatever type they may be, the lower the carbon emissions, the higher the tax credit.
BASH: And he pushed stiffer fines for car companies that pay rather than abide by so-called cafe fuel efficiency standards.
MCCAIN: Cafe standards should serve large national goals and energy independence, not the purpose of small-time revenue.
BASH: McCain also blasted barriers to sugar-based fuel from Brazil and government subsidies for ethanol saying it distorts the market.
MCCAIN: Corn-based ethanol, thanks to the money and influence of lobbyists, has been a case study into the law of unintended consequences.
BASH: That a not so subtle hit at Barack Obama, a supporter of ethanol subsidies whose ties to lobbyists were detailed in the morning's "New York Times." Obama advisers insists he's always supported ethanol subsidies, and that's just one area that candidates differ on energy ideas. McCain now opposes an oil company windfall profits tax. Obama supports it. McCain now supports offshore drilling, Obama does not.
McCain often warns that Obama would bring another term of Jimmy Carter. He is now linking President Bush to Jimmy Carter. McCain said today's time feel like the 1970s, the era of "stagflation."
Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Daughters of Iraq, a new group, hopes to ensure that more daughters and sons are not killed in suicide bombings.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A political meeting in Baghdad bombed, 10 people dead, two U.S. troops and two American embassy workers among them. It happened in the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City. Six Iraqis also were killed and a number of people wounded. The bomb exploded at a municipal building right before a meeting to elect a local council chairman. The U.S. military blames Shiite extremists and says three people have been detained.
Checkpoints back up, countering women suicide bombers in Iraq with female security guards.
Here's CNN's Jill Dougherty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a checkpoint in Yusufiya, Iraq southwest of Baghdad, a woman dressed in the traditional long, black abaya approaches security. Iraqi cultural norms forbid a man to pat down a woman, so a U.S. female soldier carries out the check. Is she a peaceful, local woman, or could she be hiding a bomb?
In mid-May, an Iraqi army officer was killed in this town by a female suicide bomber.
CAPT. MICHAEL STARZ, U.S. ARMY: When he came out to meet her to help her with a problem that she was having, she detonated the vest and killed him and injured some of his soldiers.
DOUGHERTY: Now, in a U.S.-sponsored pilot program, Iraqi women are being hired and trained to carry out security checks on females. It's called Daughters of Iraq, a spinoff from the Sons of Iraq program which hires local men to run checkpoints. Each woman is fingerprinted and has biometric data registered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just did a square knot.
DOUGHERTY: Their training includes first aid. An Iraqi colonel explains what the job entails. They'll work two to three days a month and will be paid $200 to $300 a month. Here in Yusufiya where families struggle to survive, that's good money.
(on camera): These are farm women from local towns, many of them are widows with numerous children and almost no income.
(voice-over): Fawzia has six children. Her husband was shot to death when his car broke down. "I am ready to work as long as it helps me financially," she says. "I have five children in school. My daughter is at home. She's sick. She's very weak, and her medication is so expensive."
Having women work in this tradition-bound society is a social revolution, Fatima, a volunteer leader woman tells me. "Many women would like to do it," she says, "but their parents would not agree because it's a rural society and it's shameful for girls to go outside the home."
Increasingly, Iraqi insurgent groups are using women as suicide bombers and to smuggle weapons because they know women are rarely checked. The U.S. and Iraqi military hope the Daughters of Iraq will help solve this critical security gap.
Jill Dougherty, CNN, Yusufiya, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Three days until Zimbabwe's controversial presidential runoff, the vote thrown into turmoil by election-related violence, a U.N. condemnation and the opposition leader's decision to drop out.
CNN's Isha Sesay has more now for us this morning from our International Desk. Boy, an awful lot going on in Zimbabwe, Isha.
ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Heidi. And we are, of course, carefully monitoring all of it from the here on the International Desk. As you just said, fast-moving events, Morgan Tsvangirai as we know dropping out of the election on Sunday, taking refuge in the Dutch Embassy.
A very short time ago, he spoke to my colleague Colleen McEdwards on CNN International. Here's a little bit of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, MDC LEADER: This is almost impossible to call it an election. This is total war, and we cannot be part of that war. When the election conditions were inevitably (ph) in March, we participated in that election. But this is not an election. Everyone agrees it's not an election because the conditions are just horrendous for a party election (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SESAY: And with that in mind, Heidi, a couple of hours ago, the movement for Democratic change, the opposition party that were to take part in that runoff election with Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, hand- delivered their letter formally dropping out of the vote, hand- delivering it to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
So, how is the rest of the world responding to events playing out in Zimbabwe? We want to bring you some editorials from various newspapers just to give you a sense of the very strong feeling that is playing out.
This first one from a South African newspaper, the "Mail & Guardian," and it says, "African civil society must make a clear stand. Our voice must be clear, precise and loud enough to be heard by our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe. Imagine if Barack Obama was arrested and detained repeatedly on his way to address some rallies. No doubt the scale of the outrage among the American people and worldwide would have claimed the careers of many people in the administration." Heidi, we've also been checking out some Web sites. Short-wave Radio which has its own Web site that is carefully monitoring the developments there, very strong feeling playing out there.
But also, very, very quickly, we want to wrap up for you the situation there on the ground that we are hearing. According to the MDC, the figures we're talking about, almost 85 people from their party have been murdered. They're claiming 200,000 people have been displaced, they're claiming thousands of people have been driven from their homes.
A dire situation, we're monitoring it. We'll come back to you from the International Desk a little bit later. We have to toss it back to you, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, we appreciate that. Isha Sesay for us on everything that's happening in Zimbabwe. It's a tough one to track because the -- it's incredibly complicated and disturbing story. Appreciate it, Isha, thanks.
HARRIS: You know, it is not just oil and gasoline that are soaring these days. So are natural gas prices and for millions of Americans, that means one thing: higher energy bills.
Cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" from New York. Poppy, good morning.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Tony.
You know, as you said, oil and gas prices have been -- what are making the headlines lately, but natural gas is nearly as important. It's used by more than 60 million residential customers for heating and cooling their homes. And just like oil, natural gas prices are surging.
Get this, they're up 75 percent since the beginning of this year. One reason, Tony, is the weather. Meteorologists are predicting temperatures in many parts of the country to be above average over the next few weeks, and for many people, that means higher utility bills at a time when families' budgets are already stretched.
The Consumer Advocacy Group says about 15 percent of households are at least 30 days late on their utility bills. That works out to about 16 million people owing a total of nearly $5 billion as of the end of March. And because of that, a growing number of people are having their utilities disconnected.
Imagine that in the summer months when it is very, very hot in a lot of parts of this country. Now, the group says nine percent of those surveyed had their electricity or their natural gas shut off, Tony.
HARRIS: So Poppy, what can people do to save some money on their energy bill this summer? We don't want folks disconnected. HARLOW: Of course. You know what they have to do? First of all, they have to turn the temperature up a little bit on the air conditioner. Now, the alliance says to save energy that for each degree you raise the thermostat, you're going to save about three to five percent on the cooling costs, so watch that temperature.
And also, this is very interesting. It's a common misconception that if you turn the air conditioner to a lower temperature, the room will get cooler faster. That is simply not true. Another energy fix: insulate your attic to keep the cool in. Of course, that will also pay off in the winter when it keeps the heat in the home.
But when you come home from work and it's sweltering outside and you're in the house and you just want to turn the air conditioner on 50, think about it before you do that. A lot more more tips on our Web site, Tony, CNNmoney.com.
HARRIS: That's terrific. Poppy, good to see you. Thank you.
HARLOW: You too. Sure.
COLLINS: Take a moment now to head on over to the severe weather center. Jacqui Jeras standing by with the very latest. A lot happening still in the Plain states, Jacqui.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Reaction to the latest Don Imus controversy online. Veronica de la Cruz uncovers the Web in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Radio host Don Imus on the air and under fire again, just one year after racially charged remarks killed his nationally syndicated show. Imus has ignited new outrage and again, the issues of race are fanning the flames.
Here's yesterday's exchange between Imus and sports caster Warner Wolf.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
WOLF: Defensive back Adam "Pacman" Jones, recently signed by the Cowboys. Here's a guy suspended all of 2007 following a shooting in a Vegas night club.
IMUS: Well, stuff happens. You're in a night club, for God's sake. What do you think's gonna happen in a night club? People are drinking and doing drugs, there are women there, and people have guns. So, there, go ahead.
WOLF: He's also been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005.
IMUS: What color is he?
WOLF: He's African-American.
IMUS: Well, there you go. Now we know.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COLLINS: This morning, Imus says he was merely being sarcastic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IMUS: Warner and I were talking yesterday about "Pacman" Jones being arrested six times in which I think was just, you know, it's obviously they're picking on him. So, I asked Warner what color he was. Well, obviously I already knew what color he was. I felt that (ph) the point was, in order to make a sarcastic point, I asked what color he was, Warner tells me. I said, well, there you go. That's the point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.
IMUS: Yes, what people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That explanation drew a mixed reaction this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF DICK GREGORY, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I know humor. I know comedy. I know Imus knew who "Pacman" Jones was. So when he said, what color, as a comic, I know he's setting up something.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
GREGORY: And when he comes back and says African-American, oh, well, here we go again, I take that as he's talking about racial profiling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. AL SHARPTON, PRES., NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: If now Imus is saying he's joined the ranks of those that are raising the questions of racial disparity in the criminal justice system, then he's taking a correct position. I don't have any record of him saying that in the past.
So again, I think that, you know, when you look at the climate just from the presidential election, we've had major candidates have to defend their pastors' remarks. I think it would be very naive of people not to make Imus defend his own remarks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Sharpton helped lead the charge to get Imus fired last year. Imus' current employers say they do not expect any action will need to be caken.
HARRIS: So, outspoken radio host Don Imus, this morning trying to explain his on-air comments. Veronica de la Cruz joins us with reaction online. Not hard to find reaction, I'm sure, Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Oh yes, definitely right about that. We just saw the latest controversy revolving around what Imus meant in regards to the race of this football player Adam "Pacman" Jones.
So, yes, Tony, the Web this morning ripe with reaction. Let's go and take a look at this. Kevin Craft (ph) submitted this video to YouTube.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN CRAFT: If they get suspended and arrested from professional basketball or NFL, they're black, that's basically what he's saying, I wouldn't doubt. I'm not mad at you for saying that, man, because racism things -- you know, racism happens all the time, you know. You ain't going to be the first or you ain't going to be the last person to do something like this, you know what I'm saying?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: So, Kevin goes on to say here, Tony, that he knows what's going to happen next. Imus is going to offer this insincere apology and he calls his video "Don Imus, Racial Profiling Like Always."
An anonymous sports blog, the Bleacher Report, someone posted this comment, "Mr. Imus, you've had a nice long career but it may be time to hang it up. You simply can't come on and broadcast to the world your racist and degrading thoughts to other people. I think even Howard Stern is embarrassed for you right now!"
HARRIS: Hey, Veronica, any support for Don Imus out there?
DE LA CRUZ: Well, there is. You know, blogger Stephen Kaus is from the "Huffington Post" is an Imus fan. He says that it is Imus who is being profiled. He writes, "Any fair minded person listening to the exchange with Warner Wolf must conclude that what Imus meant was that he was arrested because he was black, not that he committed bad deeds because he was black, the exact opposite of the meaning implied by those desperate to do Imus in and deprive me of my morning entertainment. Imus is being profiled."
And then, Mitch Gatewood has a positive take on the situation. He posted this comment to a Dallas Cowboys blog. He says, "As a man of color, I find Imus's remark disgraceful, yet important. You see we, as a nation, need people like Imus to remind us all that racism and sexism and any other "ism" still exists. We need to be reminded so that we can confront it in order to stamp it out of our society."
So Tony, we are asking you now, how do you out there feel about this issue? HARRIS: Oh good, good.
DE LA CRUZ: Go ahead and let us know. You can put yourself on camera, send us an i-Report. All you have to do is logon to ireport.com.
HARRIS: Terrific. OK, Veronica, see you next time. Thank you.
COLLINS: Saved by a sports bra? A stranded hiker sends a signal by mountain cable. Bra goes down, rescuers come up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It seems the price of almost everything is going up with one big exception. Felicia Taylor is on the floor of the New -- oh, Susan Lisovicz, it's you, so sorry -- on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to explain a little more.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
HARRIS: Saved by the bra. Hey, now, a Colorado hiker stranded in the Bavarian Alps for three days used her sports bra to grab attention. Jessica Bruinsma was perched on a narrow ledge after suffering injuries in a fall. But when a nearby cable line went back into service, she strapped her bra onto it. Workers down the mountain saw it and alerted rescue officials. A helicopter crew followed the cable line to find Bruinsma and lifted her to safety.
COLLINS: A one-time thing drawing fire on the campaign trail. Was this a sign of the times or a step in the wrong direction?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Sealing the deal, Barack Obama adds to his campaign arsenal and gets a strong reaction.
CNN's Jeanne Moos has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No, Senator Obama, don't sit. Don't sit there.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, good morning, everybody.
MOOS: Uh-oh, his fate is sealed. Does this remind you of anything?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Presidential seal.
MOOS: Same layout, same eagle holding arrows and an olive branch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's very presumptuous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, he's assuming he's already president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He ain't president yet. He ain't nowhere near it.
MOOS: Maybe not. But just like the presidential seal, Obama's has a Latin inscription, "Vero possumus," loosely translated yes, we can, the campaign slogan.
The Obama seal is already being sold on T-shirts and mugs, but the opposition is up in arms. "The audacity of him!" "Ego gone wild." One person commented by posting that old Carly Simon song.
CARLY SIMON (singing): You're so vain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so, whoever said a presidential candidate's humble?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing wrong with him being optimistic.
MOOS: But some right wing blogs question the legality of Obama's seal. It's illegal to display a likeness of this seal that conveys a false impression of government approval.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's smart marketing, that's all it is.
MOOS: But the critics weren't just the usual opponents.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a tinge of presumptuousness and I am a Barack Obama supporter.
MOOS: On the other hand --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I myself am an arch conservative, and I think that's marvelous. I think it's funny. It's out of "MAD" magazine.
MOOS: Reminds us of a flap about John McCain's lime green background which the campaign dumped after much ridicule and a challenge by Stephen Colbert for viewers to come up with more exciting backgrounds, ranging from the Three Stooges to the Hindenburg.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: ...the entitlement programs approaching bankruptcy ...
MOOS: But when it comes to Obama's seal --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't think there's a touch of hubris here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the brother's confident.
MOOS: As for the "yes, we can" Latin slogan, the "Baltimore Sun's" political blog suggested, "They may want to rethink the Latin inscription "vero possumus," however. It made me think of opossum. I don't think the campaign wants people thinking of opossum when they look at Obama." But it was the seal that ended up as road kill. The Obama campaign says it was "one time thing for a one time event." So, hold that criticism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a mistake.
MOOS (on camera): Wait, wait, I wanted to show you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get lost.
MOOS (voice-over): Cutting the seal, get lost, is what the Obama campaign is doing.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
