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Government Hearing on Oil Speculation; Sarkozy Security Scare; Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Drops Out
Aired June 24, 2008 - 11:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And morning again, everyone. You're informed with CNN.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
Developments keep coming into the NEWSROOM on this Tuesday, the 24th day of June.
Here's what's on the rundown.
Security scare at Tel Aviv's airport. A short time ago, the French and Israeli leaders hustled to safety.
HARRIS: Radio host Don Imus explaining himself this morning. Hear his new remark about race.
COLLINS: It made national headlines. Now a pregnancy pact denial -- in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And at the top this hour, rising oil and gas prices. Some blame traders. Right now a hearing taking place on the role of speculators in driving up prices.
Live now to CNN's Brianna Keilar in Washington.
Brianna, good morning.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Tony.
Yes, this hearing has just begun. There have been so many hearings on Capitol Hill, different committees taking on this topic. But in this particular hearing, we're hearing about some possible solutions today. 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, in turn, the price of gas and food.
Just a moment ago, Senator Joe Lieberman, who is the chairman of this committee, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, described the landscape of the oil futures market like this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Motivated by the weakness of the dollar and rising demand for oil and food, speculators are moving enormous amounts of money into commodities markets for the obvious purpose of making more money. But in so doing, they are artificially inflating the price of food and fuel futures and causing real financial suffering for millions and millions of people and businesses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So Senator Lieberman there setting the scene accepted by many people. But again, this particular hearing about solutions.
So a couple of the solutions that this committee is mulling over, saying to certain investors, for instance, pension funds, this could be your pension fund, you can't invest in commodities, you can't buy oil futures contracts as an investment. And also another solution, capping -- or a proposed solution -- capping the total number of futures contracts that any one investor can buy so that no one investor then has an excessive amount of influence on the market.
So today this is the third in a series of hearings. This committee bringing in a panel of experts so they can bounce those ideas off of them.
Testifying today, actually who you just saw a moment ago live, the head of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That is the biggest commodity futures exchange in the world. This man here testifying today.
Now, also a former head of trading and markets for the CFTC. This is the federal agency that's in charge of regulating all of this business, a man who's very critical of how things are currently being regulated by that man to the left of your screen. He has already given his opening comments as the current head of the CFTC, the acting chairman. We're also going to hear from the head of the group that represents many of the country's largest pension funds, because they are some of the investors involved in this speculation, which is perfectly legal -- Tony.
HARRIS: Oh, good. Maybe we'll get to the bottom of a few things here.
All right. Brianna Keilar in Washington for us.
Brianna, good to see you. Thank you.
COLLINS: 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.
HARRIS: Against the backdrop of a government fighting to survive, rockets slammed into Israel.
CNN's Ben Wedeman now, live from Jerusalem.
And Ben, a lot going on today, including a scare for the French president.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony. It has been a surprisingly busy day here.
Just about an hour ago, there was this scare at the Tel Aviv airport when the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, was about to leave. The Israeli president and prime minister were there, and then suddenly, there was a bang heard. And apparently, according to the Israeli police, it was a soldier there who committed suicide.
Now, once this bang was heard, there was a lot of panic. The French president and his wife Carla were rushed onto the plane. Israeli security guards surrounded the Israeli president and prime minister, bundled them away.
Apparently now the president, the French president, has left Israel, returning to France. But the Israeli police obviously very much shaken by this incident at the airport.
In addition to that, of course, what happened this afternoon near Gaza was that several missiles were fired from Gaza into Israel, violating a cease-fire that was worked out between Egypt, the Palestinian militant groups, and Israel, that was intended to put an end to these rocket attacks, to put an end to Israeli operations in Gaza. Now, Hamas, the leading militant organization in Gaza, has said that it will continue, for its part, to respect the cease-fire. An Israeli spokesmen saying that the rocket fire was a grave violation of the cease-fire. Israel has yet to decide whether it's going to take action to retaliate for these rocket attacks -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. CNN's Ben Wedeman for us in Jerusalem.
Ben, thank you.
COLLINS: New developments in Zimbabwe this morning. A formal declaration from Zimbabwe's opposition party, dropping out of the presidential runoff election. Morgan Tsvangirai telling CNN, "This is total war and we cannot be part of that war."
CNN's David McKenzie has more now on the reaction to that decision from a refugee camp in Johannesburg, South Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here in a refugee camp in South Africa. Sixteen hundred people live in this camp. There are six camps just like this across the province.
Now, many of these people come from Zimbabwe. They had to flee their country because of economic collapse and political persecution. Many of them that we spoke to today say they are disappointed that Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC have pulled out of the runoff in Zimbabwe because it might mean they'll stay outside of their homeland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was not supposed to pull out. As you look -- you struggle, you struggle together for bringing the new democracy. But in the end, it's just for -- just for no reason.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Life is difficult in Zimbabwe. It's very difficult. No food, no jobs. Starvation, everything. So people are crying about the -- they want to change the democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The situation isn't good. You don't want to live in a foreign country. And we're hopeful that with the elections, which we believe we were robbed, would have changed the scenario, and that could definitely have seen us going back home in six months' time. We're not going to be chased across South Africa. We're going to go home freely, willingly.
MCKENZIE: This is one of the famed golf courses of South Africa. Now, the stark contrast of this humanitarian emergency is that fancy golf course. And this refugee camp is only separated by a flimsy barbed wire fence. The people here have had to live in these conditions for weeks because of the brutal xenophobic violence that spread throughout South Africa targeting them.
President Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, is the key mediator between President Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe says he will not leave power no matter what. Now, Mbeki has been criticized for having a softly -- softly approach, but analysts tell us that all Mugabe understands is a big stick.
David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: 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 AUDIO CLIP)
WARNER WOLF: Defensive back Adam 'Pacman' Jones, recently signed by the Cowboys. Here's a guy suspended all of 2007 following that shooting in a Vegas night club.
DON IMUS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, stuff happens. You're in a nightclub, for God's sake. What do you think is going to happen in a nightclub? People are drinking, they're doing drugs.
WOLF: Yes.
IMUS: There are women there, and people have guns. So there. Go ahead.
WOLF: Well, he's also -- he's 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. OK. Now we know.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right. We've been following reaction to this story with Jason Carroll. He joins us from New York.
Jason, good morning.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Tony.
As you know, when Imus talks, everyone listens. But it wasn't an apology we heard from Imus this morning. It was more of a clarification.
He 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 that Jones was a victim of racial profiling.
Listen to how Imus explained it on his show this morning.
(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, obviously they're picking on him. So I asked Warner what color he was.
Well, obviously I already knew what color he was. The point was, in order to make a sarcastic point, I asked Warner what color he was. Warner tells me.
I say, "Well, there you go." That's the point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly.
IMUS: What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Imus' co-hosts, who are black, say he was being sarcastic and his comments were misinterpreted.
Also this morning, comedian Dick Gregory spoke out. Gregory says because Imus had made racially-charged comments in the past about the Rutgers' women's basketball team, he should use more caution when discussing issues of race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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)
CARROLL: This morning, the Reverend Al Sharpton, the man who was instrumental in getting Imus fired after he made insensitive remarks about the Rutgers team, says he's in a wait-and-see mode. He'll talk to other members of his coalition to see if any action is warranted this go-around -- Tony.
HARRIS: Hard to figure out where Dick Gregory thought the joke was in that. I understand the setting up of something, but where the joke actually was.
Jason Carroll for us in New York.
Jason, thank you.
COLLINS: It didn't hold. St. Charles, Missouri, under assault right now after a levee breaks -- in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Only bodies, no survivors, found in a capsized ferry in the Philippines. More than 800 people are feared dead.
Divers got inside the ferry today, three days after it went down during a powerful typhoon. A Philippine navy spokes man says it was too dark to search the entire seven-story ship, but it's unlikely anyone was alive inside. Earlier, though, about three dozen ferry survivors were found after they drifted at sea for 24 hours.
COLLINS: The death toll rising in Myanmar. Officials now say more than 84,500 people died in last month's cyclone. That's nearly 7,000 more than the last official figure.
Myanmar's foreign minister also says more than 53,000 people are still missing. International aid organizations still trying to get assistance to the two million survivors in Myanmar's badly damaged Delta region.
HARRIS: California's first couple can't see eye to eye on this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's going to make for some very interesting dinner at night conversations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, the signs are there. He's for McCain. She's for Obama.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
COLLINS: Well, it may not lead to divorce, but it can lead to lively conversation, that's for sure. Couples split over the presidential race.
CNN's Kareen Wynter has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's backing Barack.
MARIA SHRIVER, CALIFORNIA FIRST LADY: He's about empowering all of us.
WYNTER: He's putting his political muscle behind McCain.
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: He's a great American hero.
WYNTER: California's first couple, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, partners split on the presidential ticket. They've even placed competing campaign signs outside their home.
CELINDA LAKE, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: It's going to make for some very interesting dinner night conversations.
WYNTER: Even their children are involved in that conversation. Schwarzenegger says his daughters support Obama and his sons back McCain. Democratic pollster Celinda Lake says when it comes to politically mixed marriages, Schwarzenegger and Shriver's dueling party preference isn't unique.
LAKE: You're going to see men and women disagreeing about races. But I think what's different now is it's usually been more private. I think a lot of women went into the ballot box knowing they're disagreeing with their husbands, but they weren't putting yard signs out in their yard. Now, you see it playing out publicly.
WYNTER: According to the battleground survey, Lake says more women tend to vote Democratic and men Republican, although married women are less likely to vote for the Democrats. Lake says an estimated 7.5 million married people will vote differently from their spouses in this election.
ALAN NICHOLS, MCCAIN SUPPORTER: McCain is not as good at that. WYNTER: Barbara and Alan Nichols live under the same roof but root for different political parties.
BARBARA NICHOLS, OBAMA SUPPORTER: He's gotten more vocal about it, and it does make me mad. So -- and sometimes I just have to let it go.
A. NICHOLS: I don't see this issue as a killer issue. People can still get along.
WYNTER: Sentiments this powerhouse couple also share. The governor recently discussed his secret to their political marriage saying, "I sleep with a Democrat every night."
(on camera): Schwarzenegger has also said in the past his wife isn't afraid to express her opinion and that he has a lot of "yes" people around him, and says that's the last thing he needs in a wife.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Obama and Clinton finding harmony in Unity. That's Unity, New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think of the whole world's eyes being focused on Unity on Friday?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aren't they lucky?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Their first joint campaign rally in a town with the perfect name.
HARRIS: A pact to get pregnant? That is the story we've been hearing about 17 Massachusetts teens. Their mayor now says that's not the real deal. One of the teens speaking out this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A small-town controversy grabbing national headlines. Seventeen teens in one Massachusetts high school get pregnant. Some as young as 15 years old.
Was there a pregnancy pact?
CNN's Randi Kaye has been following the story from the beginning and she joins us from New York this morning.
Good to see you, Randi.
Why don't we do this -- why don't you take us all back and then bring us the latest information on the story?
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sounds like a good plan, Tony. It was late last week actually when news of a pregnancy pact first broke. The school principal from Gloucester High School, about an hour north of Boston, used the word "pact" when talking to a "TIME" magazine reporter. And since then, officials at the school and the mayor have been trying to figure out where the word "pact" originated.
Well, this morning on "Good Morning America," one of the girls in the alleged pact tried to set the record straight. We have that clip of Lindsey Oliver responding to the question, "Is there a pregnancy pact?"
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDSEY OLIVER, PREGNANT TEEN: There was definitely no pact. There was a group of girls who decided that they were going to -- they were already pregnant before they decided this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ah, big difference.
OLIVER: Yes. That they were going to help each other with their kids so they could finish school and raise their kids together. You know, to do the right thing was their decision, not, let's get pregnant, like, as a group.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: That is exactly what the superintendent suggested at a press conference yesterday. That maybe the pact was formed after the girls all realized they were in the same predicament. He and Gloucester's mayor made it very clear yesterday the suggestion of a pact may have been widely exaggerated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (voice-over): Damage control in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
MAYOR CAROLYN KIRK, GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS: Any planned blood oath bond to become pregnant, there is absolutely no evidence of.
KAYE: Suddenly, the mayor and school officials questioning reports of a pregnancy pact at Gloucester High School. This school year, 17 girls got pregnant, more than four times the school's average. Most are sophomores, some as young as 15.
KIRK: There has been no independent verification beyond what the principal has stated as one person that there was a pact.
KAYE: Just last week, school principal Dr. Joseph Sullivan told "Time" magazine the girls were part of a pact. Now, says the mayor --
KIRK: He was foggy in his memory of how he heard about the information. When we pressed him for specifics about who told him, when was he told, his memory failed.
KAYE: Still, on Friday, Superintendent Christopher Farmer told me when the girls found out they were pregnant -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was some talk of high-fives.
KAYE: High-fives to celebrate they were expecting. This Gloucester resident told us he knew of a pact.
TED SORENSON, STEPFATHER OF GLOUCESTER TEEN: There was a tremendous amount of peer pressure, negative peer pressure, for as many girls as possible to join in this pact. Luckily, my stepdaughter was smart enough or scared enough to say no.
KAYE (on camera): But today no pact, no principal. He wasn't invited to the press conference. We tried reaching him. No luck. The mayor used the time to point fingers as to why she thinks so many girls from Gloucester High are expecting.
(voice-over): Meeting the under-funded demands of no child left behind and state budget cuts, she says, make it impossible for sex education to be taught beyond freshman year.
KIRK: Budget cuts over the last six years have forced the elimination of almost 100 teachers and staff.
KAYE: Parents were also on the receiving end.
KIRK: Parents and guardians are the primary educators of their children. They are ultimately responsible for the health and well- being of their children.
KAYE: Still up for debate is whether the school should dispense contraceptives on site. Only five districts in the state do. This isn't one of them. In fact, Gloucester High's doctor recently resigned after coming under fire for giving out birth control.
DR. BRIAN ORR, CLINIC'S MEDICAL DIRECTOR: We were on our way to try to do things that any parent, any adult, any community would want -- decreasing the initiation of having sex and decreasing the number of sexual partners.
KAYE: For Gloucester, it's a PR nightmare with no end in sight and still no clear beginning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Randi, I've got to tell you something. I've been a bit fascinated with the fascination over this story. Clearly in our business, it's something that's pretty easy for us to get a handle on and turn it into something sensational. But I have to ask you, does this really matter whether or not we're talking about a pact here? The bottom line, it seems to me, is 17 girls are pregnant in that school.
KAYE: That is true, Tony. But since the idea of a pregnancy pact was raised, officials there did want to get down to the bottom of it and find out if it's true, especially when you have the principal of the school saying there was a pact, a principal who by the way is on vacation and has not talked publicly since suggesting there was a pact. But yes, the most important thing here as you said is 17 girls are pregnant, more than four times the average number of girls who get pregnant at that school any given year. Given that, knowing that certainly, but the idea of a pact certainly caught this network's attention, as you said, many others around the world actually, and still so much of it to me doesn't make sense.
The superintendent telling me that the girls were high-fiving and celebrating their pregnancies. The man in that story said his stepdaughter was pressured. And these girls went back over and over for pregnancy tests, Tony. The nurse gave out 150 pregnancy tests. I still want some answers as to why they were celebrating and going back and back and back to get more tests.
HARRIS: OK, so you were in this town. What kind of serious discussion needs to happen there? Is it about access to birth control, school parent communication? How about school leadership?
KAYE: People there are very upset. The parents I spoke to in town are certainly very angry too. But everyone is pointing fingers at each other. The mayor says parents need to step it up, it's their responsibility. The doctor who resigned says the district needs to hand out birth control. They are considering that. The parents wonder why it took the school so long, 17 pregnancies, to figure out something was going on.
This is a very small fishing village. One girl, a student from the high school who just had a baby but was not part of this alleged pact told me that if you're pregnant in school it's a way to get status. Everyone will know your name. This is also a school that makes it easy for these girls to have babies and stay in school. They have a free day care on site. The school says it's there way of getting the girls to come back to the school. Critics say it just encourages them to have more babies.
So clearly, this is a town that needs to figure some things out. Should they dispense birth control and who is going to keep a better watch over these young girls?
HARRIS: Are you going to do some more work on this for "AC 360" tonight?
KAYE: Absolutely, we'll have another story on it tonight. The very latest.
HARRIS: Good. We'll bring you back tomorrow.
KAYE: OK, thanks, I'll be here.
HARRIS: Thanks, Randi.
KAYE: Thanks, Tony.
COLLINS: Presidential candidates putting the spotlight on energy today. John McCain in California. He'll be joining 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.
An evangelical leader accuses Barack Obama of distorting the bible. James Dobson on hi radio program this morning taking aim at a speech Obama gave to a Christian group in 2006. Dobson points to Obama citing biblical passages suggesting slavery is OK but eating shell fish is abomination. Dobson says that wrongly equates Old Testament text and New Testament teachings.
Dobson accuses Obama of distorting the constitution when he asks which biblical passages should guide public policy.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
VOICE OF JAMES DOBSON, CHRISTIAN EVANGELICAL: What the senator is saying there, in essence is that, I can't seek to pass legislation, for example, that bans partial birth abortion because there are people in the culture who don't see that as a moral issue. And if I can't get everyone to agree with me, it is undemocratic to try to pass legislation that I find offensive to the scripture. Now, that is a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution.
(END OF AUDIO CLIP)
COLLINS: An Obama spokesman says a full reading of the speech shows Obama is committed to reaching out to people of faith. John McCain distancing himself from one of his top advisers this morning. Charlie Black is quoted in Fortune magazine as saying another terrorist attack on U.S. soil would be a big advantage for McCain's presidential bid. Black is also quoted as saying the assassination of former Pakistan leader Benazir Bhutto last year helped McCain's campaign.
The presidential candidate had this reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I cannot imagine why he would say it. It's not true. It's -- I've worked tirelessly since 9/11 to prevent another attack on the United States of America. My record is very clear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: As for Black, he says the comments were inappropriate and he regrets them.
HARRIS: It is back to work today for Senator Hillary Clinton. She is returning to Capitol Hill. Aides say she will be there in time to vote on a housing bill to help homeowners avoid foreclosures.
Former rivals unite, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaign together Friday in Unity, New Hampshire, it's their first joint appearance since the hard-fought primary battle. More now from Jean Makin (ph) of our affiliate WMUR.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEAN MAKIN, WMUR (voice-over): Some townspeople in Unity say it's the biggest thing to happen in this small community, well, as long as they can recall. It was all the buzz at the town hall meeting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're first in the nation. I think that's exciting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm real excited. I'm definitely going to try to be there.
MAKIN: What do you think of the whole world's eyes being focused on Unity on Friday?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aren't they lucky.
MAKIN: Selectman Willard Hathaway received the confirmation, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will hold their first joint general election appearance in Unity. The Unite for Change rally makes sense to Unity residents. They say it's not just the town name, not just the political landscape here, where each candidate received exactly 107 votes in January's presidential primary. They give credit to the whole state, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's logical. New Hampshire is the first place, the first leader in a country for voting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I figured that's why they picked us out of the entire country to come to Unity, because New Hampshire is important.
MAKIN: Unity boasts about 1600 residents, one store, the library, fire department, town hall, and the school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just wonder how they found Unity.
MAKIN: Town historian Roberta Kallum (ph) who helped write the history book says Unity was founded in 1764 as a place for people to unite.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To all appearances, this new land was unifying these people who had no land of their own elsewhere.
MAKIN: Do you think history is being made here on Friday?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably for Unity it is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The crisis in Zimbabwe deepens. The country's long- time ruler under diplomatic fire over the upcoming presidential runoff.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Islamic jihad says it was behind a rocket attack on southern Israel today. Two people were wounded. The group says it was retaliating for the killing of one of its commanders in the West Bank. Militants fired a mortar into Israel earlier. Israel called the attacks a gross violation of its cease-fire with Hamas. Hamas leaders say they're still committed to the truce.
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.
COLLINS: Zimbabwe's controversial presidential runoff now just three days away, the vote thrown into turmoil by election related violence and the opposition leader's decision now to drop out. CNN's Isha Sesay has more for us this morning from our international desk.
Hi there, Isha.
ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi. We are carefully monitoring the situation for you here on the international desk. We are looking at online papers, we're looking at chat rooms, we're checking out the blogs. Just to try to get a sense of the feeling as events play out in Zimbabwe.
We want to share with our viewers now some blogs that we've come across that really caught our eye. Third liberation.org they are expressing bitter disappointment at the decision by Morgan Tsvirangai to withdraw from Friday's runoff vote. It says no doubt Mugabe and his cronies are out celebrating right now. All the violence and intimidation has paid off."
Strong words of criticism aimed at Morgan Tsvirangai. We found this on Kubatana blog. It says, "While participating in any civic struggle for justice is a personal choice, its abandonment, days before the final hurdle, represents a betrayal of those who have suffered at the hands of the regime."
But Moses Moyo who writes in Zimbabwe today, I think brings it all together and sums up the situation that I think many people are pondering upon, what next in Zimbabwe? Moses says, "The prospect for the next few days remains frighteningly confused and uncertain -- a factor which seems to have been a signal for world leaders of every persuasion to weigh in with their own comments on our poor country."
Heidi, just some of the sense that we're getting on the blogs about the situation as it rapidly unfolds in Zimbabwe.
COLLINS: yes, boy that's for sure. Makes you wonder what the exiled Zimbabwe media may be saying about this whole situation.
SESAY: Very interesting. We've been keeping an eye on that too. We came across this Web site, which is the online arm to a radio station called short wave radio Africa. What's interesting about this outlet is it's dependent upon not only by exiles living outside of Zimbabwe but people who live in Zimbabwe rely on shortwave radio Africa for news.
Extremely critical if you look at the Web site which you can see now it's very carefully monitoring events, every development as it occurs, it is listed there with great analysis and just basically saying to people, this is what is happening. This country is on the precipice of completely melting down -- Heidi?
COLLINS: We are watching this one very closely. Appreciate that. Isha Sesay for us this morning. Thanks, Isha.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Saved by a sports bra. A stranded hiker sends a signal by mountain cable, bra goes down, rescuers come up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: More trimmings in the nation's airline industry. United Airlines says 950 pilot jobs will be slashed, that's on top of 1600 salaried 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: You know, this may sound like an oxymoron, but the IRS is feeling compassionate? I've got to hear about this one. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange. Good morning, Susan, explain please.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, the IRS says it wants to be fair.
HARRIS: yes, OK.
LISOVICZ: Its words to taxpayers. How so? It's going to increase its standard mileage rates by eight cents a mile from 50-1/2 cents to 58 1/2 cents for all business miles driven from July 1st to the end of the year. As millions of people know, this is the rate used to compute all deductible costs of operating a vehicle for business use, including gasoline, value of depreciation, insurance, maintenance, etcetera.
The IRS usually sets rates once a year but was prompted to make a special adjustment to better reflect the real cost of operating an automobile. And that I guess is where the compassion comes in. HARRIS: yes, yes does an extra eight cents a mile really make a difference, Susan?
LISOVICZ: Well, Tony, as you and I know, every time we fill our tank eight cents a mile well it adds up, especially over time. Not just for tax purposes. The IRS rate is used as a benchmark by the federal government, many private businesses, to reimburse their employees as well for mileage. Also if you're moving or have medical needs that require a car, that's tax deductible and that rate went up eight cents a mile as well.
No luck for charitable organizations. That rate stays the same because it requires congressional approval to change. As we mentioned, the IRS trying to be fair by our calculations, it costs about 16 cents a mile in gas to drive a car that gets 25 miles a gallon at today's average price, that's up from about 12 cents a mile this time last year. So the 8 cent increase more than compensates for the rise in gas prices from a year ago. We'll take anything we can get.
HARRIS: I'll take it, yes.
LISOVICZ: And one of them is we have a little bit of a rally going on Wall Street late in the morning. Checking the numbers, the Dow Industrials tested the closing low of the year, bouncing back just a bit, up 25 points, the NASDAQ is flat at 2,385. Tony?
HARRIS: We were close to triple digits in losses for most of the morning. This is pretty good. We'll take it.
LISOVICZ: That's a rally.
HARRIS: Good to see you Susan. Thank you.
LISOVICZ: Likewise.
HARRIS: Your money, your concerns, "ISSUE #1" today at noon eastern with Ali Velshi and Gerri Willis. Be sure to check out our Web site for in-depth coverage and analysis. That address, cnn.com/money.
COLLINS: Stuck in the Alps with no support. A Colorado woman gets some attention with the help of her sports bra.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When she was out, some bad weather rolled in and I think it got cloudy and I think she became disoriented. She couldn't find the trail she had left on.
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COLLINS: The ingenious rescue, coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Saved by the bra. 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 on 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.
HARRIS: OK, stop me if you've heard this one. A woman walks into a bar holding a bear cub and a baby bottle. Well it's not a joke for one Ohio community. The city council passed a new ordinance late last night to ban exotic animals from public places. Hello. The decision is aimed at the antics of this cub. His name Pooh, of course. His owner is also a bar owner. She would routinely bring him to work with her until someone complained.
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MELODY PULLEN, OWNS BEAR AND BAR: They're not really for everybody. You have to have a lot of time to spend with them. That's why I carried him with me all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't see anything wrong with it to be honest with you. I thought the bear was cute.
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HARRIS: OK. Now, she'll have to keep the cub at home, which she says is just fine. It's getting a little too big to be lugging around any way. In case you're wondering, she bought the bear in an exotic animal sale to go along with her, listen to this, four goats, 11 horses, and two deer. Oh did I mention the arctic fox? Hello. Time to, OK.
COLLINS: Exotic, I don't know.
HARRIS: OK, CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.
COLLINS: "ISSUE #1" with Gerri Willis begins right now.
