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Stock Investors Nervously Eye Board; Obama/Clinton Joint Fundraiser; Nroth Korea Destroys Reactor Cooling Tower

Aired June 27, 2008 - 09:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony actually has the day off today.
See events come into the NEWSROOM live on Friday, June 27th. Here's what's on the rundown.

Thirty minutes to the bell. Nervous investors eyeing stocks today. The Dow at its lowest point in almost two years.

Exclusive cell phone pictures. Obama meeting with Clinton fundraisers. Today, one-time rivals look for harmony in Unity, New Hampshire.

And North Korea destroying a symbol of its nuclear program message to the world. In the NEWSROOM.

The U.S. economy: battered, bruised and bracing for another tumultuous day. Let's begin on Wall Street. At the bottom of the hour, the Dow opens at its lowest level in almost two years. Yesterday the Dow plunged 358 points before it was all said and done. That is more than 3 percent of its value. And a jaw dropping loss of 19 percent since its record high just in October.

One big reason, yet another surge in oil prices. Overnight trading sent oil futures to a new record, more than 142 bucks a barrel. And OPEC adds to the anxiety now by saying it could hit $170 before the end of summer.

And here's another disturbing snapshot -- the nation's largest automaker at its lowest level in more than 33 years. General Motors tanking almost 11 percent just yesterday.

Harmony in Unity. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- their first joint campaign appearance a few hours from now in Unity, New Hampshire.

Our Candy Crowley about to get on the Obama campaign plane. She is headed for Unity, of course, and she is on the phone with us now from Washington.

Good morning to you, Candy. Big day.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Absolutely. We are actually on the plane waiting for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. This will be one-stop shopping for them just the trip to Unity. They'll be in an elementary school.

Obviously, this is -- what in the business we call the money picture. This is what Obama certainly has been waiting for so he and Hillary can be out there and have that picture together, hands raised above their heads.

So this is symbolic more than anything else they have gradually in the days since she conceded. Move closer and closer there's some outstanding problems. But nothing looks like a wall too high to climb.

COLLINS: Sure.

CROWLEY: She has said that she will campaign for him and he says I want her to. And there you go.

COLLINS: Yes. And just so people know, Candy, and I know that you can't see a monitor right now, but we're looking at pictures there from last night, this fundraiser in Washington there, where we saw both of them. We saw Terry McAuliffe. We saw them all gathered in the same room trying to raise some money here.

Interesting pictures -- cell phone capture there. So I guess, Candy, the question would be for today, what's the take-away going to be? What is the whole goal in Unity, New Hampshire?

CROWLEY: The whole goal is to say to those Clinton voters who may still be reluctant, who may say I'm going to sit on my hands, or I'm going to vote for John McCain, to say, listen, there is a larger picture here.

The primary was the primary. We understand there are hard feelings on both sides. Nonetheless, the larger picture is we need to take the White House. We need to add to our majority in the Senate. We need to add to our majority in the House.

So it's trying to get people to kind of look forward instead of looking back. And both them carry that message.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we sure do appreciate it.

Our political correspondent Candy Crowley on the plane getting ready to take off for Unity, New Hampshire, where that event will take place a little bit later on today. We will have it for you, of course, here on CNN.

Candy, thank you.

Let's get back now to the markets. Your wallet could actually be in for another topsy-turvy day. So buckle up for a white knuckle drive. Boy, that's for sure, especially after yesterday.

Here to set that stage for us, CNN senior business correspondent, Ali Velshi.

Ali, we can't take anymore. Come on. ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes. I -- and that's actually the interesting part. How much can you take? Because when the economy starts to grind -- or at least slow down because of these high oil prices, we'll see the effect.

But we got a bunch of things going on. First of all, we had a massive jump in oil prices yesterday, settling more than $5 higher to $139.64 a barrel. That's a big jump for a day...

COLLINS: Yes.

VELSHI: ... although in the last few weeks we've seen moves like. How here's the thing. Overnight, went higher across $140, then $141, then it crossed $142. And it's pulled back a little bit. We're now back to around where we settled yesterday. But, I mean, honestly, 139 bucks, that's a 47 percent increase in the price of oil since the beginning of the year.

Now that has an impact on stock markets, because a few things combined. But if people stop buying things because they're paying for oil, look at what it did to the Dow. That's, by the way, not the worst drop this year. It's the third biggest drop this year. 358 points on the Dow. That's about 3 percent on the Dow, the NASDAQ and the S&P 500.

That caused Asian markets to dip overnight, some cases almost 5 percent. We were looking at a lower open on the market today because of these oil prices.

Now you mentioned some of the reasons why oil is low, Heidi. Let's just go through. The U.S. dollar is lower again today and will probably be lower for the next week while there's speculation that -- European interest rates will rise. That usually causes the dollar to drop.

When the dollar is lower, oil prices go up. Libya has threatened to cut output. And the president of OPEC says oil could be at $170 within a few months. So those are the reasons oil is higher.

Now I'll tell you one piece of good news right now.

COLLINS: Please.

VELSHI: The Dow looks to be having a positive open in about 25 minutes. Why is that? Because we had one piece of news earlier today that those stimulus checks had a very substantial effect on people's income in the month of May.

It did not have a very substantial effect on their spending which means they took it. They didn't necessarily use it. But the bottom line is that's a piece of good news. They went out to people. People got it. And the market seems to be reacting a little bit (INAUDIBLE).

COLLINS: It's weird, though, isn't it? Because we certainly did expect that once those stimulus checks made it into people's wallets that would go right out of their wallet... VELSHI: Right.

COLLINS: ... and into the economy.

VELSHI: Yes.

COLLINS: So that's the thing...

VELSHI: But in many cases it went out toward debt or higher gas prices which didn't really count in terms of -- it's not like buying a new TV set...

COLLINS: Right.

VELSHI: ... or a new piece of furniture. So you know, I don't know how good that news is. We knew how much money would be in to the economy because they got the checks. But they didn't spend them the say way.

So bottom line is, there's a lot going on in the markets. These Dow numbers when they fluctuate like this, it's hard to make a judgment as to what that means. But I can tell what you oil prices mean, we're at 140 bucks again.

COLLINS: Good lord. All right. But we are watching it closely. Glad you're there.

VELSHI: OK.

COLLINS: Ali Velshi for us this morning, "Minding Our Business." Thank you, Ali.

VELSHI: See you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Another story we're watching here today -- nuclear destruction. The most visible symbol of North Korea's nuclear weapons program blown to smithereens.

CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is one of the few U.S. reporters to witness the implosion. She's reporting from Pyongyang.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: North Korean officials took the international press corps to a hillside overlooking the Yongbyon nuclear plant. And after a series of signals and warnings, they blew up the cooling tower.

They did this in view of the press corps and the U.S. State Department delegation as well as U.S. technical experts and IAEA monitors who maintain a continuous presence here as Yongbyon has been systemically disabled since last summer. The explosion caused a massive cloud of smoke and, as people were watching, there was a stunned silence. Afterwards, the U.S. officials gave a quiet handshake to the North Korean director of safeguards at Yongbyon. The U.S. official said that this was a significant moment and a significant move towards disablement. He also said that this move puts the U.S., North Korea, Japan, China, South Korea and Russia on the road to the next phase.

The next phase involves full dismantlement of Yongbyon and also handing over and fully accounting for the plutonium including weapons that Yongbyon has produced.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in Pyongyang, North Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And we are going to be talking with Christiane again a little bit later on in the program live from Pyongyang. So it's a very interesting story. In fact, with North Korea dismantling its nuclear program, President Bush says he'll lift some sanctions against Pyongyang and remove the country from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

We want to go live now to the CNN's State Department correspondent Zain Verjee.

Zain, we talked with you about this yesterday and now it's happened. The U.S. also engaged in a nuclear standoff with Iran, though. And Iran must be watching all this right? Is it going to have an impact?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Right. I mean Iran is watching very closely to how the U.S. is dealing with North Korea. Many diplomats, Heidi, are wondering that -- wondering whether the North Korean nuclear strategy shouldn't be applied to Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE (voice over): With North Korea, the U.S. is slashing a diplomatic green light, lifting sanctions in response to North Korea's actions.

With Iran, the red light stays on. The U.S. wants Iran to stop its uranium enrichment before it will sit down and talk.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: If Iran cannot make the right choice, then it will face consequences.

VERJEE: Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is holding firm, using the official Iranian new site to blast what he calls the U.S. language of threat and bullying.

Experts say leaders of both Iran and North Korea use the nuclear issue to cement their hold on power. But unlike North Korea, which is totally isolated and poor, Iran is rich in oil and a powerful force in the Middle East. It's getting even richer and insulated from sanctions, thanks to rising energy prices. JAMES PHILLIPS, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I don't think Iran is likely to follow North Korea's lead because it doesn't have the same need to lift economic sanctions. Its economy is much stronger. And it doesn't need international aid to the same degree that North Korea's embattled regime did.

VERJEE: Experts say Iranian leaders are running out the clock on this White House.

AFSHIN MOLAVI, NEW AMERICAN FOUNDATION: Iranian leaders like leaders around the world are playing a waiting game right now, waiting out the Bush administration, waiting to see who the next president is going to be, before they make their next strategic move.

VERJEE: And one of Barack Obama's foreign policy advisers says the administration missed the chance to engage Iran in tough negotiations.

WENDY SHERMAN, PRINCIPAL, THE ALBRIGHT GROUP: I think what we've seen in North Korea and what we've seen in Libya is, one, having direct talks between the United States and these very difficult countries does and can produce results.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: The Bush administration also points to Libya as a success story where Moammar Qaddafi did eventually decide to give up his weapons of mass destruction -- Heidi?

COLLINS: That's right. All right, CNN's State Department correspondent Zain Verjee -- Zain, thank you for that.

Midwest flood zones facing another threat. Heavy downpours could drench the region today making this situation even more dangerous. You're looking at new pictures of a levee in Winfield, Missouri. A portion of it just giving way. The pictures probably look familiar because, yes, in this area we have seen it before.

Officials say eventually the water pouring through there will inundate a rural area and rain could push swollen rivers in Missouri and Iowa back up, possibly triggering flash floods. There are also health concerns now. Test show floodwaters contaminated with bacteria. Officials warn everyone to stay out of that water.

That really is a concern isn't it, Reynolds? Reynolds Wolf joining us now from the Severe Weather Center with more on all of this.

And you had predicted this that they would be seeing more rain in the area. But still, obviously, something that they are dreading today.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There's no question about it. I mean I know that we mentioned so many times that a lot of this is taking place in farmland. But still, you know, you have people that live there. You have communities. You've got families that have been there for generations. And the last thing they want to be dealing with, obviously, is this kind of deal.

What we've been seeing, if you look right here, if you're tuning in from home, or if you're listening through, you know, just by satellite radio, what we have is it looks like little bit of a wall. Kind of like the wall of, say, a castle. And this wall of the castle is trying to hold back the invader, that being the water.

What you have is a big split in that levee, that wall. And the water is roaring on through. And I'm telling you this is awful for people in Winfield. But at the same time, what is bad for one community is going to be very advantageous for other places, say, because this water is flowing into Winfield, we're not expecting the crest to be quite as high in places like St. Louis farther down river and places like, say, Cape Girardeau, even into Memphis, as it moves farther south.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Absolutely. And the agricultural losses, the incomes for these people as well, certainly, (INAUDIBLE) talk about.

WOLF: No question. You bet.

COLLINS: All right. Reynolds, we appreciate it. We'll check back with you a little bit later on.

In the meantime, that salmonella outbreak we've been telling you about -- well, which tomatoes are taboo and which ones are safe to eat now?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta drops by with an update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Hungry for a summer tomato but a little afraid of salmonella? The number of people sick now tops 750.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with more on this and kind of an update, because we've been talking about this story, it seems, for quite a while.

How do you know that you're eating a safe tomato now? We don't even know the source, right?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I know. And these outbreaks, they can be hard to figure out. You know we've actually tried to follow along some of these investigators as they've done this.

Here's a good way of describing it, the investigation is on- going. But they've mitigated some of the risks. They decreased some of the risk of actually getting sick from the tomatoes.

And we've tried to make it even simpler for people, to try and break it down into what are safe tomatoes and not-so-safe tomatoes. People who know tomatoes pay attention to this. I had to look some of this up.

But take a look at one of the list of safe tomatoes are. Cherry tomatoes, popular this time of year, especially, grape tomatoes. Tomatoes that actually have the vine attached. That's something you can see. Of course, tomatoes that you grow at home. Those are things that you know for sure are going to be safe.

There are also unsafe tomatoes. And again, these are things that you might look for the signs when you're in the grocery store. Raw red plum tomatoes, red Roma tomatoes, red round tomatoes. Figuring out what the tomatoes are and from where they came seems to be the most important thing.

Now you don't always know from where you're getting your food, where it actually was grown. So there's actually a Web site, Fda.gov. You can go to the "In the Spotlight" box. And they're going to give you a list of safe states. You're going to sort of do a little bit of homework yourself to try and figure out where some of this food is coming from.

Now here's a piece of trivia maybe you didn't know. The type of salmonella we're talking about here, Heidi, is called salmonella St. Paul. The reason that's significant is because you just eat a little bit of it, it can get you quite sick pretty quickly.

So within 12 hours, sometimes, people start to get the -- that awful feeling. They get fever. They don't feel well. And oftentimes it's (INAUDIBLE) from these tomatoes.

COLLINS: Wow. All right. Well, so the type of tomatoes that are safe and the ones that we're looking out for, not so safe, has not changed. It's just the fact that 750 people are now sick and we're still working on that source.

GUPTA: That's right. I think the vast majority of people who are eating any kind of tomato still are going to be OK. You know, we're still talking about relatively small numbers here. But if you want to sort of pinpoint and decrease your risk as much as possible, you know, those are the types of tomatoes you avoid.

COLLINS: Got you. Got you. All right, well, it's interesting, because I know that you are sort of investigating, in the process of that anyway, of how the FDA tracks down poisoned or tainted food. It's like a CSI. I mean we talked about it before.

And you are going to be airing a special that we look forward to. In fact, it was going to be this weekend. But now you're doing something different which -- love this story. Tell us something about the organization.

GUPTA: Yes, you know, I've been down in New Orleans several times like most of us have, covering some of these stories after Hurricane Katrina. Mostly I was covering the hospital systems. But there was something sort of nagging at us. And that is that it's incredibly hard for these families just to keep up with daily fitness and exercise. So we wanted to actually do something about it as opposed to just talking about it on TV all the time.

COLLINS: Love that.

GUPTA: So we're actually going to build a playground, a really big playground, a $150,000 playground. That's going to service about 10,000 children in this particular area of Metairie, which is an area that was particularly hard hit after the hurricane, especially by the floodwaters.

This area was just devastated. They don't have a place to actually go outside. There is no safe place to play. No place that they can actually go and get the exercise to ward off the childhood obesity epidemic.

We kept talking about it, Heidi, and they said, well, that's great advice, except we have no place that we can actually do the things you're telling us to do.

COLLINS: Yes.

GUPTA: So we said, you know, we'll partner with this organization called KaBOOM! that builds playgrounds around the country. Their goal is to build a playground within walking distance of every child in America. That's what they want to do eventually.

COLLINS: Wow.

GUPTA: Hey, we said, this is a good place to start. I mean take a look at what we're hopefully the schematic is going to look like...

COLLINS: So these are the plans.

GUPTA: ... ultimately. And this is huge. Again, this is a very big area. You saw some of the groundwork being laid there.

COLLINS: It's great.

GUPTA: But this is going to service a lot of children.

COLLINS: All right. It's great, Sanjay. We got to run, but I want to point out there's some very interesting little architects on this plan?

GUPTA: That's right. The kids themselves, the best architects of all. We said crayons and paper, draw us your dream playground. Hopefully, kids, you'll think we actually -- we'll show your drawings come Monday.

COLLINS: Love that. Look at it. It's very detailed. It's great.

Sanjay, thanks so much. We look forward to hearing some reporting on that as well.

GUPTA: All right.

COLLINS: Thanks a lot.

GUPTA: Thanks, Heidi. Sure.

COLLINS: Appreciate it.

And you can be sure to watch CNN all day tomorrow for live updates from Sanjay as the playground gets built. You can also visit CNN.com/health on Saturday to see some updated pictures.

Interesting. Thanks, Sanjay.

Gas prices, though, driving higher. Are you driving less? Americans curb their automotive appetite. A look at your alternatives down the road.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Feeling the pinch of high gas prices? Well, consider this -- a sign of the times. California's first retail station to offer hydrogen. State officials call the emerging network the Hydrogen Highway.

Carmakers say the more stations motorists see, the more quickly they can mass produce hydrogen fueled cars. Right now, all those cars are part of an experimental program. So the fill-ups are free.

Well, who says you can't put a price on love? With gas costing more than four bucks a gallon, the American love affair with cars may be hitting a new bump in the road.

Are you driving less? CNN's Allan Chernoff takes the pulse at a train station in New Jersey.

Hey there, Alan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

You know, traveling in your own car, the comfort, privacy -- that appeal isn't there so much anymore. Lots of people are leaving their car in the garage and taking the train or sharing a ride.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice over): Jen Castano (ph) parks near her home and shares a 40-minute ride with co-worker Sicily Robinson (ph) to their office in Danbury, Connecticut.

With gas prices so high, car pooling is a big money saver for both of them.

JEN CASTANO, MOTORIST: What does it cost to fill this up, Sicily?

SICILY ROBINSON, MOTORIST: Oh my gosh, it's like 60, 70 bucks. CASTANO: Oh, my God.

ROBINSON: I know.

CHERNOFF: Rich Levee (ph), a pharmaceutical executive, doesn't have to worry too much about gas. He's got six vehicles sitting in his driveway, including a motor scooter.

Even so, he still takes the train whenever possible.

RICH LEVEE, PHARMACEUTICAL EXECUTIVE: I think it's ridiculous. I think it's not only the monetary but it's the principal of it as well.

CHERNOFF: Which Jen and Sicily reflect what's happening around the country.

As gas prices soar, Americans are driving less. For six months in a row, motorists have been curving their driving, logging nearly 30 billion fewer miles between November and April -- the latest month on record -- then during the same period a year earlier when gas prices were averaging well below $3 a gallon.

(On camera): The expensive gas is the primary motivator for Americans to drive less. But there are other reasons as well. They're trying to avoid traffic, high tolls and, they say, they want to be more environmentally conscious.

MARY PETERS, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We are all are much more conscious about the environmental effects and much more conscious about energy and what are our sources of energy today.

CHERNOFF: $4 gas seems to have sparked something in the psyche of our car-loving nation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: If gas prices keep on rising or even remain at their sky high levels, then this trend away from driving may have just begun -- Heidi?

COLLINS: All right. We're watching the capacity of those trains as maybe they go up. We'll have to make sure. Thanks so much, Allan Chernoff. Appreciate it.

CHERNOFF: They're getting crowded.

COLLINS: I bet.

Surging oil prices put Wall Street in a funk, too. Will the Dow bounce back from a new two-year low? The market is just minutes away from opening. We are following the numbers and we're going to have the opening bell for you right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: For whom the bell tolls. Right now Wall Street is ringing in a new day. So will this be another bruiser for your wallet? That's what we really want to know.

CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis keeping an eye on your bottom line as we look at that live picture there. The bell about to ring. And also Alison Kosik take us out the New York Stock Exchange.

We're going to begin, though, with Gerri. Gerri, it seems like whenever we have those huge plunges like yesterday, down 358, by the time of the close, people start thinking about their 401K.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, absolutely. You know, as I always say, now is not the time to sell. Guess what? The futures now indicating possibly, possibly, a higher open for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

COLLINS: And there it is, Gerri, the bell rings.

WILLIS: There we go. Yes, there we go. So we're going to get a sense very soon here which way the markets will be going this morning.

Heidi, I got to tell you, three percent sell-off yesterday. Pretty scary stuff to a 21-month low, but it often happens after a sell-off that you see the market rebounds a little bit.

And we got some great economic news this morning. Personal spending and incomes up. Personal spending, single biggest gain since November. They're attributing it to the money from the government, the stimulus checks, making an improvement there. So that said, what we're expecting to see. And, of course, we always tell investors that you don't want to react in the heat of the moment, selling off your 401-K, as we saw yesterday. That was a nightmare scenario.

You could have been selling at lows and being forced to buy back in at highs. But Heidi, the big news here, bad day in the markets yesterday mostly due to oil prices.

COLLINS: Right.

WILLIS: Oil prices rising to $140. And they're about there this morning -- Heidi?

COLLINS: I know. All right, Gerri, thanks for that.

Also, we want to get over to Alison Kosik now. We just heard the opening bell, Alison. You're there at the New York Stock Exchange. The mood of investors today could be characterized as what?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: As I get hopeful at this point, Heidi. Good morning you to. Let's go ahead and show you how the numbers are doing right now. The Dow Industrials up a bit, a little over seven points. You know, that's good news after yesterday's huge plunge. The NASDAQ is also off a bit, just about a fraction. You know, investors got a bit of good news today after some economic reports showing that consumer spending was up. That was helped by those economic stimulus payments. But, you know, any bit of good news at this point, you know, is great for the markets -- Heidi?

COLLINS: All right. We certainly do appreciate that. We're going to be checking in with both of you later as this trading day goes on. And we will all be keeping our fingers crossed. Thanks to Gerri and Allison.

North Korea now destroys a water cooling tower at this main nuclear facility. Take a look at this massive implosion. CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour was one of the few Western reporters on the scene when it happened. She says they fired a warning flare and then in three minutes the whole thing came tumbling down.

The implosion seemed as a powerful symbol of Pyongyang's move to end nuclear activity. It comes just one day after North Korea released details of its nuclear program.

Slow going at polls in Zimbabwe today. Reports of low voter turnout for a controversial presidential runoff.

CNN's Nkepile Mabuse is in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is watching the vote now with Zimbabwean nationals. Tell us about that, Nkepile.

NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, I couldn't hear you very clearly. But we are on the outskirts of downtown Johannesburg where many Zimbabweans who had fled the dire political and economic situation in their country. Now, here, they say they didn't even bother to go home and cast their vote because they see this election as a total farce. As you were just saying, voter turnouts very, very low for this election.

Morgan Tsvangirai pulling out of this election and this election becoming a one-man race. Robert Mugabe despite international condemnation and a call by African leaders for him to postpone this election have gone ahead. And many here are saying it's a total joke and they are not going to recognize Robert Mugabe as the leader and the president of Zimbabwe.

We're hearing that Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition, is about to address a press conference. He has called this election illegitimate and he said it's an exercise of intimidation. He says many of his supporters we hear are being force to go to the polls and vote for Robert Mugabe. And if there isn't that (INAUDIBLE) indelible, (INAUDIBLE), they have been threatened with retribution.

COLLINS: What type of retribution are we talking about, Nkepile?

MABUSE: Well, we've seen reports of torture, of beatings, of people being killed in the lead-up to this election. And the violence is just intensified. Human rights groups saying now in the cities, in capital city of Harare, that torture camps, there are roadblocks all over the place.

And people are under attack. People -- anybody who is perceived to be a supporter of the opposition is under attack.

COLLINS: All right. Nkepile Mabuse coming to us live from Johannesburg, South Africa. We're going to keep an eye on that story. Appreciate that, Nkepile.

Now back to the United States. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, their first joint campaign appearance just a few hours from now. The former rivals will appear together in Unity, New Hampshire, in hopes of uniting divided Democrats.

At a private fundraiser last night, these are the pictures that you're seeing. Clinton introduced Obama to her top donors. Exclusive cell phone pictures from inside that meeting. Both Clinton and Obama appealed to their supporters to come together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It is still possible I think for both of us to win and the American people, but only if we are unified and if we understand the stakes involved and understand that there are people who need this country to change far more than any of us in this room.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to make it a priority in our lives to elect Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And another show of unity, Obama and his wife each donated $2300 toward Clinton's campaign debt. Well, the view, inside that private meeting between Obama, Clinton and her top donors, long- time Clinton supporter Bill White was there. Those were actually his cell phone pictures. He is joining me now on the telephone to talk a little bit more about it.

Bill, what was it like to be inside that room?

VOICE OF BILL WHITE, CLINTON SUPPORTER: Well, it was very exciting, Heidi. I mean, Hillary Clinton was so gracious and so eloquent. And just so right on target. You know, that's why she's a hero to me. She really was fantastic. And Barack Obama spoke from the heart, I believe, in trying to tell people that, listen -- you know, you can't just transfer the support from one person to another. It takes time. So I do give him credit for that.

And I think, as you mentioned, one of the most important things that would allow Hillary Clinton to help Barack Obama and to be able to focus her attention is that she does want to pay this debt off. She is an honorable woman. And she is somebody who cares about these vendors. And she wants to get them paid. So I think that's a great gesture from Barack Obama. And I think -- I hope -- that Senator Obama will continue to ask his supporters to write those checks to Hillary Clinton because we cannot do that. We've already maxed out. And I think that's what really unifies Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama over the next couple of weeks is helping her to pay this debt off.

COLLINS: Is that something that you think will happen? I mean, when the check came in, it was the maximum contribution, was it not? I mean, we are talking about $2300 from each Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. That is $4,600. Were they hoping for more or just --

WHITE: Well, yes. I think you hit it right on the nail. You know, they have done what they can do and that is very gracious. They have written a maximum check. $4,600 is a lot of money for anybody.

But I think with the fundraising prowess that Senator Obama can bring to the table and asking his supporters who do share the values that Hillary Clinton espouse during this campaign, that that would be a very good thing to keep the pace up. Keep the pulse on this because, you know, he wants her to focus on helping him become the next president. And that's a great way to show support back to her.

COLLINS: And Bill, I want to show one more of your photos here. It gives -- it's a picture that we haven't seen yet that you took from your cell phone. It gives us an idea of kind of how many people were there inside the room.

We, of course, can't tell how many of them were Hillary Clinton supporters like yourself versus Barack Obama supporters. But as someone who has been friend with her and has supported her for 16- some-odd years, are you going to write a check to Barack Obama and his campaign?

WHITE: Well, that's a very good question. I haven't decided that yet. But I know that Hillary wants me to do that. And I heard Barack Obama tell us that he needs us. And that was a very nice message to listen to. I certainly am going to be considering that. But I haven't made a decision yet.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we will check back with you as well as many other supporters of Hillary to see what happens next in this very interesting race. Appreciate that, Bill White.

And one more political note, John McCain campaigning in Ohio today. He hold a town hall meeting this morning with workers at a General Motors plant in Warren, near Youngstown. The area is a Democratic stronghold. Hit very hard by tough economic times.

In fact, the region lost more than 16,000 jobs between 2000 and 2007. This is McCain's second visit now to the Youngstown area in the last three months.

One of the big stories we've been talking about this morning. North Korea telegraphing its latest nuclear signal. An explosive message to the world. We're going to be talking live with our Christiane Amanpour. She saw it happen coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

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COLLINS: You already know to catch us weekday mornings from 9:00 until noon Eastern. But did you know you can take us with you anywhere on your iPod? The CNN NEWSROOM podcast, available 24/7 right on your iPod.

A wildfire in Arizona so bad smoke can be seen miles away in Phoenix. Check out this new video. Just into the NEWSROOM now. The blaze has burned 2500 acres. Fortunately, no homes are threatened at this point. Yesterday the fire got so close to the Phoenix International Raceway. Firefighters really had to move quickly. They did, however, manage to stop it from advancing.

A ferocious wildfire inching closer to Big Sur. A scenic tourist town in the Central California Coast. Right now, the fire is burning in Los Padres National Forest. That's just about a mile, south of Big Sur. Nearly 600 home are threatened.

Firefighters beefed up the lines near these populated areas and closed along stretch of Pacific Coast Highway. The Big Sur blaze is just one of hundreds scorching northern and central parts of the state.

Reynolds Wolf is joining us now in the weather center with more on rain in the forecast. We're talking, unfortunately, though, not in California, it's just where we don't want it to be.

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COLLINS: And now to the North Pole. No ice. An inconceivable idea, scientists say it could actually happen within months.

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COLLINS: A North Pole with no ice? Can you imagine it? It might sound pretty strange, but scientists say it is a possibility in the very near future. Forecasters at the National Snow and Ice Data Center say the odds are 50/50, the thin arctic sea ice at the pole will completely melt away by September. They blame climate change.

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VOICE OF MIKE SERREZE, NATIONAL SNOW AND ICE DATA CENTER: What we've seen through the past few decades is that the arctic sea coverage is becoming thinner and thinner as the system warms up.

Well, now, this spring we have what we call first gear ice at the North Pole. This is ice that formed last autumn. And this ice tends to be quite thin. This is the sort of ice that could tend to melt out in the summer. So we're really looking at a possibility that we may lose the ice at the North Pole.

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COLLINS: Scientists say the brief lack of ice at the North Pole won't have any immediate consequences for the rest of the world.

Gun laws in the crosshairs following that landmark Supreme Court decision yesterday. The high court overturned the District of Columbia's handgun ban. And now the National Rifle Association is planning lawsuits targeting gun restrictions in Chicago and San Francisco. Chicago's ban is similar to the one struck down in D.C. Mayor Richard Daley predicts violence will increase if the law is overturned.

A story of survival for a small California child. Police in Sacramento say a toddler survived on his own for nearly six days after his mother died. Police say a social worker had gone to the house and called police when no one answered the door.

The 36-year-old mom had a history of medical problems and lived alone with the toddler. Police believe the child survived by eating food within its reach. The toddler now in protective services and said to be doing fine.

More questions than answers in the mysterious death of a pregnant soldier in North Carolina. An autopsy on specialist Megan Touma now completed, but no word on when the report will be released. Her body was found in an off base hotel. The Army, apparently, never noticing she had been missing for more than a week.

CNN's Randi Kaye with the latest.

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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Could Army Specialist Megan Touma had been dead for more than a week without the Army ever reporting her missing?

MAJ. ANGELA FUMARO, U.S. ARMY: We're shocked, first and foremost. And, you know, it's always sad when you lose a soldier.

KAYE: Officials at Fort Bragg believe the last time anyone there saw her was at roll call nine days before her body was found at this Fayetteville hotel. Police have not named any suspects. Touma was seven months pregnant, her first child. Her aunt said she had a boyfriend but didn't know if he was the father.

(on camera): A search warrant says the hotel maintenance man went inside Touma's room Saturday morning. He smelled a foul odor, saw her badly decomposed body in the bath tub and called police. Her bed was slightly pushed away from the wall and the night stand and lamp on top of it were out of place.

EL SAYED TOUMA, SPEC. TOUMA'S EX-HUSBAND: The Army knows that she stayed in that hotel. And then, they didn't even bother to check on her to make sure that, you know, she was OK.

KAYE (voice-over): Touma's ex-husband said someone should have looked in on her.

TOUMA: Where are the cleaning people, where is maintenance, where is the front desk? How come nobody checked on her?

KAYE: That we don't know since hotel staff and police are not talking.

(on camera): Here's what we do know. Touma arrived here at Fort Bragg June 12th from Germany where she has been stationed for three years. The Army says she signed in at base at 2:00 a.m. and later that day around 3:15 in the afternoon, she arrived for roll call. That is the last record of her at Fort Bragg. She was supposed to return for roll call Monday, June 16th. But the Army says it has no indication she ever showed up.

Keeping them honest, we asked Fort Bragg why Specialist Touma wasn't declared AWOL. Officials declined to speak on camera but told us if someone is reported missing, it's policy to declare them AWOL within 24 hours.

The Army says Touma was not properly accounted for and is investigating why proper procedures were not followed. It is still not clear if Touma's commander ever reported her missing, even though five days had passed since she skipped roll call without a word.

The Army did not call her cell phone. Adding to the mystery, police document show a "Do Not Disturb" sign had been on Touma's door for four days. Touma was scheduled to check out the morning her body was found. The keys to her rental car on the dresser. Fort Bragg wants to know where she was headed. Police want to know who stopped her.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Fayetteville, North Carolina.

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COLLINS: It's hard to imagine Microsoft without Bill Gates. But after today, that's the way it will be.

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COLLINS: Good-bye, Bill Gates. The computer visionary led a worldwide revolution, forever changing the way we work and communicate. Today is his last official day with Microsoft.

CNN's Maggie Lake reports.

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MAGGIE LAKE, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's the boy genius turned billionaire. For 33 years, Bill Gates was Microsoft and Microsoft was Bill Gates. The public face, the spiritual leader, the driving technological force. And, yes, crowd geek no. 1.

Under Gates, Microsoft helped redefine how people do business and really how we all live our lives.

ROBERT CYRAN, BREAKINGVIEWS.COM: He was disruptive at the same time he was an amazing businessman. He understood that you've got a computer and everyone said at that time -- oh, people don't need computers. And he said -- well, we do need. Everyone needs a computer on every single desk. And that takes a lot of drive to just say that and actually deliver software that can do that.

LAKE: Gates' departure is symbolic at best. He has long since handed over day to day control of operations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This new collaboration relationship --

LAKE: To his old university friend and current CEO Steve Ballmer. He even poked a little fun at himself in a video aired at the Consumer Electronics' Show in Las Vegas in January, speculating on life after Microsoft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dude, wasn't that the craziest rift you ever heard?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We talked about this before. And we're full up in the band. All positions are filled.

LAKE: While Gates jokes in the video that he won't have much to do after he leaves his Redman Washington-based office, he'll keep plenty busy. Gates plans to spend nearly all his time and energy with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest such charity in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just really exciting now to be in this phase.

LAKE: While Gates is off trying to make the world a better place, it falls on Steve Ballmer to make Microsoft a more competitive company in the Google-led world. To try to gain ground on Microsoft's current arch rival, Ballmer made a high profile $45 billion plus bid for Yahoo! He got turned down. It was a blow and some say a sign that Microsoft is not the industry force it once was.

CYRAN: I would say the Gates period was dominant and technological savvy. Now it's more like selling soap in a way. It's become almost a boring, utility sort of day to day business and Ballmer may actually be the right person to run it.

LAKE (on camera): Gates isn't completely leaving Ballmer flying solo. He'll fill chair board meetings and he's technically only just a phone call or e-mail away. But the star of the Microsoft drama is finally stepping off the stage, leaving Steve Ballmer to feel the full heat of the spotlight more or less on his own.

Maggie Lake, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony is off today.

An awful lot going on this Friday morning. In fact, three developing stories we're watching. Down and out on Wall Street. Stocks sinking again this morning. And nervous investors push stocks to a near two-year low just yesterday.

Exclusive cell phone pictures, Obama to Clinton fundraiser. Show me the money. Today, the Democrats appear at a joint campaign rally. Their first. That's taking place appropriate enough in a town called Unity, and it's live on CNN of course.