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Obama Campaigns with Virginia Governor; Fay Continues Flooding Florida; Ponzi Scheme at University of Miami
Aired August 21, 2008 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning once again, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris has the day off today.
Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown now.
He's campaigning with Virginia's governor this hour, and that is fueling new talk of a Barack Obama-Tim Kaine ticket. Live coverage.
Fay lollygags off the Florida coast, dumping buckets of rain on the state. The governor calls the flooding catastrophic.
Keeping warm this winter. It's going to cost you. Summertime tips to avoid those monster heating bills today, Thursday, August 21st. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Waiting for a decision and watching for clues about Barack Obama's running mate. He campaigns this hour with a possible VP choice, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine. Jessica Yellin is on the VP watch in Chester, Virginia, that's where it's all going to happen.
So what's on top for Obama today, Jessica?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.
Barack Obama is going to show up here with Tim Kaine and talk about the economy. On his two-day swing through the state, Barack Obama has been fighting to link John McCain to the Bush economy and Bush's economic policies. We've seen him ramp up the campaigns' sharpened attacks, a more critical approach to John McCain and to responding to some of the McCain campaign attacks on Obama. The message is that he will do more for economically hard-hit people in this state.
Now, Heidi, you know the state has been red, a Republican state for years, and the Democrat is hoping to win it this time. Tim Kaine, the state's Democratic governor, not only on the VP short list but also a top Obama supporter who has been campaigning for him hard and says he thinks Obama will win here in Virginia. Let's listen to what he said this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: The polls in Virginia are a dead heat and we're seeing tremendous enthusiasm for the Obama camp. I don't have any doubt that it's going to be close, I've always thought this race would be a very close one, but I think Senator Obama is going to do just fine. If he can take a state like Virginia, which has been noncompetitive for 44 years and put it in play and we feel like we got a great chance of winning here, I think he's going to be our next president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Now, Kaine also made news, you know, John McCain said the other day, he was asked how many houses he owns and he says you know, I'll have to get back to you on that, well on AMERICAN MORNING this morning, Tim Kaine said John McCain probably can't count that high. They're trying to paint John McCain as something of a wealthy elitist and Barack Obama as a man of the people, Heidi. And you know, Tim Kaine, he is on that VP short list. So we'll watch the body language closely.
COLLINS: Yes and we hope you can do that for us, because we're all waiting and watching very closely. When do you think we're going to get that announcement? I know it's the $64,000 question, but we all want to know.
YELLIN: It's all rumor at this point. The good money is on possible maybe we'll know something tomorrow and a formal unveiling Saturday with the two candidates together. So I would put my money on knowing something tomorrow night and then seeing them together on Saturday, but I could be wrong.
COLLINS: You think it's weird they're doing that on a Saturday?
YELLIN: No, you know, actually there's been a lost talk about Obama unveiling this earlier, but I've been hearing from sources for weeks now that this is what the Obama campaign had been planning, to roll it out days, just days before the Democratic Party Convention starts to get real momentum going into the convention and to keep the media from, frankly, tearing apart any VP candidate in the days between.
COLLINS: OK. Well.
YELLIN: Less time to pick him apart.
COLLINS: Understood. And we would never, ever do that anyway. All right. Jessica Yellin, thank you. Appreciate it.
I want to get back to tropical storm Fay now, and we're getting the very latest from meteorologist Rob Marciano in the extreme weather center.
Hi there, Rob. What's the progress?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's starting to move a little bit. So that's good, except it's not really moving on shore yet. We still have well-defined cloud canopy here and seeing with that fanning of the clouds at the upper levels, that outflow. So if this thing was any further offshore we'd be really looking at a decent hurricane. Right now, we're looking at another tropical storm. It's a decent tropical storm at 60 miles an hour, and the track is to take it across Florida. Right now, we're starting to see, even though this says stationary, we're starting to see a bit of a northerly drift.
All right. I wanted to show you something else, but we'll get to that in just a second. Back to this. Here's what's going on with the radar. See how it's moving? Starting to move to the north now? So I wouldn't be surprised if in the next advisory that will be out within the hour that they'll show some northerly or northwesterly drift. Just scraping the coastline here heading towards Jacksonville, will probably head towards Gainesville but you can see, it's well-developed feeder bands around this and a core of rainfall that is going to continue to dump a tremendous amount of rain from as far south as Palm Bay to as far north as Savannah, Georgia.
These are interesting. Here's some winds. There's Jacksonville's winds, anywhere from 20 to 30 miles an hour out of the northeast. Here's Melbourne, south southwesterly at 20 miles an hour. Then here's Flagler beach, which goes from about 30, in the last hour, down to four, six miles an hour. So basically, Flagler Beach into Daytona is getting into the center of the circulation. This was officially a hurricane, we would call this an eye, where the winds are calm. So that's definitely an interesting note there. Flagler seeing some gusty winds the past couple of hours, and now things are beginning to calm down, albeit briefly, until the backside of this thing comes in.
And we've seen, we're getting reports from our friends at hurricanetracker.com. They're traveling just to the west of Daytona, and they had a report of an unofficial wind gust of 72 miles an hour. So still seeing some gusty winds with this. Certainly heavy rainfall is going to be the main focus as this thing slowly marches northwesterly, trying to get onshore. That will help weaken it somewhat at least.
COLLINS: Yes. All right. We've seen a lot of video of all that heavy rainfall. So we've got our eye on it and we'll come back to you, Rob, should we need to do that.
Meanwhile, areas in Fay's path from Daytona to Jacksonville could see rainfall totals of 30 inches. Flood waters have swallowed hundreds of homes. And our crews are fan out across the state to bring you the very latest. We want to get to CNN's Sean Callebs now in St. Augustine.
Looks even worse now, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I can confirm that it is much worse than it was last hour. You know, we were standing down here in the surf. I told you we still had a few hours before high tide, now only a couple of hours from high tide. I think of this one to be simply irresponsible to get in that water, so we're here at the base of the bridge just to show you. This wind is blowing in from the northeast pushing the surf right up on to this sea wall here. You talked about Melbourne getting, what, 20, 30 inches of rain last night, significant flooding, well this area is simply getting hammered here today. There are a lot of warnings to stay outside, stay inside rather, but not everybody listens to them. So let's hope these guys stay safe throughout the day.
Look at these palm trees, you can see the wind whipping around now, it's probably gusting about 40 miles an hour. The wind has been pretty steady here throughout the day, but man, the rain has gotten significantly worse in the last couple of hours. Fay has been a storm that has just been moving extremely slow across Florida, first touching the keys, in the southwestern part of the state. And then that long, painful zigzag across, sitting out in the Atlantic.
Now the bands that Rob talked about simply punishing this area. But still, you get these little places like this, you can see a little bit of light creeping through. But if the forecasters are right, we're going to get a tremendous amount of rain in this area. The question is, just how much, and with the low-lying area like this, it just started, how much flooding will we see? Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, Sean. I just wonder, you mentioned the people, are you seeing anybody out and about?
CALLEBS: A couple of people. There was somebody out on the pier earlier, which you know, I just think is completely irresponsible. I mean, with the wind gusting like this, you lose your footing and it could get a lot worse. There's a folks over here, if you can pan the camera and look at these guys out walking around. Try and stay safe. What are you doing out here? I got to ask you. What are you doing out here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm a hurricane hunter. I love it. I'm from Virginia.
CALLEBS: You found it. Now what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not really a hurricane, it's a good tropical storm, more than I was expecting, and, you know, certainly I'm impressed. I'm very impressed by the weather and the wind more than I expected.
CALLEBS: Well you stay safe. I don't want these palm fronds to come off and impale you. See you guys. Stay safe. Get off this board walk. We wouldn't be out here unless we had to, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. And we appreciate it, Sean, very much. Keep in touch with us. OK. Sean Callebs for us today on the sea wall at St. Augustine. Appreciate it.
Much of Texas also reeling from heavy rains and widespread flooding, up to nine inches of rain fell in Collin County, that's north of Dallas. For much of north Texas, it was the sixth straight day of heavy rains. In South Texas, hundreds of people are trying to clean up homes damaged by floodwaters over the weekend.
Breaking news right now out of California, police say a murder suspect is held up in an apartment complex. You can see it here now on the screen. A lot of crews around trying to resolve the situation. The man is being described as a 28-year-old Asian male. Police say he shot and killed a 60-year-old Sacramento woman and severely beat her husband. Police say the suspect knows the victims but they are not related. We will continue to monitor this very tense situation and bring you the developments as they happen.
Identifying the bodies and grieving the dead. Spain begins three days of mourning for victims of yesterday's plane crash in the capital of Madrid. Officials say 153 people were killed, 19 injured in the crash. The Spanair jet went down in flames on takeoff. It's owners says the plane reported an air intake valve overheating before at first attempt at takeoff. It's not clear if that was a factor in the crash.
The future of U.S. troops in Iraq on the agenda as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Baghdad today. Top diplomats from both sides say they are close to striking a deal.
It would respect Iraqi sovereignty and have Iraqi troops in control of the security of their country. Rice calls what's been so forge so "a very good agreement."
The sudden death of Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, a sharp blow to her home district of Cleveland. She had the distinction of being the first black woman to represent Ohio in the House of Representatives. But as Josh Levs can tell us, she certainly stood out in many other ways.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fascinating woman. Does it feel like we've been doing a lot of these lately, losing a lot of major public figures.
COLLINS: It really does.
LEVS: Yes, it really does. A difficult time.
COLLINS: Health concerns. Yes.
LEVS: I know, exactly. And yet again we were hearing about that yesterday with the aneurysm. And obviously this woman has a lot of popularity, beloved by so many people and you know, it's an opportunity to those of you who don't know a lot about her to learn a little bit. Let's start off with this. We have video of her.
She was fond of wearing red. She wore it all the time, the signature color of her sorority, Delta Sigma Beta. Now, since '98 she represented about half of Cleveland and also some of the eastern suburbs in Congress. There's an article last year in the "Cleveland Plain Dealer," it says when she would go grocery shopping back home in her district, it would take hours because she would stop to talk to everyone. People would line up to talk to her.
Hugs, smiles, autographs. And a lot of people praised her sense of humor. And she often had that big smile you were just seeing. But she also experienced a lot of private grief while she was a public figure. Nine of her close relatives died while she was in office. That included her husband of 27 years, Mervyn. Actually, her biography at CNN.com notes that he, Mervyn, was convicted of manslaughter back in '76. That was the same year they were married. Now, a lot of Americans remember her as the firebrand who challenged Ohio's electoral votes in the last presidential election. That cemented the reputation for her as a fighter who takes on the status quo. And she continued that in this election. She was very prominent and outspoken leader of Hillary Clinton's campaign and some Barack Obama supporters attacked her for that, for being such a big supporter. She really stood her ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. STEPHANIE TUBBS-JONES (D), CLEVELAND: This is a fantastic group of young people who I think can hold their head high. They've worked on the campaign of a woman who stood tall, who worked hard, who got 18 million votes and nobody can take that from her. I think in the course of it, she gave them an opportunity to understand where she stood, what the next move was and the importance of what would happen on behalf of the Democratic Party if we all stuck together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Days from now, she was going to be a superdelegate at the Democratic Convention. And as a lot of you have been sharing your memories of her, I know, we have some quotes here. You can see what people are writing at .com. "We loved your spirit. You'll be missed." "Denver won't be the same without her, it'll be bittersweet to say the least." And the last one we pulled up, "Adieu, heroine." So obviously a lot of popularity there, people leaving their remarks there at .com, thinking about her and her family today.
COLLINS: Yes. Absolutely. All right, Josh. Appreciate it. Thank you.
LEVS: Thanks a lot.
COLLINS: A major football figure both on the field and off has died. Gene Upshaw was a hall of fame guard who may have earned even more fame after retiring. He became the head of the NFL Players Association and help paved the way for free agency. That created competitive bidding and eventually turned everyday players into millionaires. His cause of death has not been made public. Gene Upshaw was 63.
The White House race, the long time speaker of the house offers strategy from the sidelines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: John McCain is gaining in the polls, closing the gap with Barack Obama and McCain is also closing in on his VP choice. Joining us from New York to talk about politics and the GOP, former House Speaker, Dennis Hastert. Mr. Speaker, thanks for being with us today.
DENNIS HASTERT, FMR. HOUSE SPEAKER: You're welcome, Heidi.
COLLINS: I want to begin with the poll of polls that we have here at CNN, kind of taking into account several different polls and coming up with the numbers that you see on your screen now regarding voters' choice for president. Barack Obama at 45 percent, McCain at 44 percent. Still have undecided voters at about 11 percent. But this is different than what we've been seeing in past months. What's behind McCain's jump, in your opinion?
HASTERT: Well, I think people are coming to the realization that they need somebody who can really govern that's been in the crucible of government, has formulated policies, legislated, have gone through and negotiated these issues out and John McCain has been the guy who has done that for almost 30 years.
On the other hand, Obama is a fresh face and really is a fresh face and really hasn't done a lot of this taking the test of the time and the issues and trying to work issues out into fruition of really - of real policy. He just hasn't had that experience. I think the American people are beginning to see that.
COLLINS: But I think it's not really all that arguable that Senator Barack Obama has found a way, whether it be charisma or really not sure how everyone would characterize it but he has found a way to resonate with people. He has a relationship with people. Does John McCain have that same sort of thing, that familiarity?
HASTERT: Yes. Well, for a great base of Republican voters and I think for the middle of the road voters, independents as well, John McCain has developed that credibility over a long period of time. He has been a favorite for the "independent types." And I think John will take everything from center right to the far right. Those people are locked in. And they're not going to vote for Obama no matter what. So what he has to do is be able to pick up the center, the independents, the northeast moderates, and I think that's his challenge. And I think you'll see focusing in on this vice presidential pick, focusing on that type of a theory.
COLLINS: And certainly that 11 percent undecided that we just showed on the screen, how is that fight going to weigh out in the days to come? Obviously we have this vice presidential announcement coming, we believe Senator Barack Obama, any minute, is going to do it first. What's that going to mean for that 11 percent that doesn't know what they want to do yet?
HASTERT: Well, you know, I think, first of all, you'll find that a lot of those folks are independent. So I think some of them have also been somewhat disaffected or disenchanted with Hillary supporters, but you know, I think they'll make their mind up and I think they have a good chance of breaking John McCain's way.
COLLINS: All right. So you know what I'm going to do here, right? I'm going to ask you who your pick is for both.
HASTERT: Everything we know as well is speculation, but I think certainly you can't discount Lieberman. If you look at the moderate and independent choice, it has to be out there in the mix. But I think a fresh face like Gary Canter, something from Virginia, a conservative, somebody who can work on both sides of the aisle or somebody that I think McCain has to look at. Or Rob Portman from Ohio, certainly brings a cadre. And, of course, Mitt Romney is out there. Mitt Romney's been my choice all along, but I'm not sure he'll get that consideration.
COLLINS: All right. We are watching very closely, obviously. Hey, I want to ask you one last thing before we let you go, given, obviously, the work that you did with the U.S. Congress. Right now, never been less popular. Why do you think that is?
HASTERT: Well, you know, Congress has gotten an awful partisan place. And everything is all politics all the time. And I don't think - I think the American people want to see Congress do things, they want to get things done. We have economic problems. We have energy problems, and they want solutions, not people taking ideological positions and saying, well, you know, this is the best of all worlds but we can't do this.
COLLINS: All right. Well, once again, we're watching all of it.
HASTERT: My pleasure.
COLLINS: We do appreciate your time very much.
HASTERT: Thank you.
COLLINS: Former speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. Thank you.
And we just want to let you know, on the campaign trail and on the VP watch, we are awaiting a campaign event with Barack Obama in Chester, Virginia. He campaigns with Governor and possible VP candidate Tim Kaine. So we're going to take you there live when it happens.
Home energy costs, they could be ugly this winter. Gerri Willis has advice to shave a few bucks off your bill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: This summer we saw record-high gas and oil prices, and this winter season is gearing up to be just as expensive. If you're sick of paying so much, personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with money-saving solutions.
Just in time, Gerri, thank you.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: I know, it is that time. All right. Heidi.
COLLINS: Hit it. What's our first tip?
WILLIS: All right. OK. Well, this winter we're expecting the government says record-high heating costs. Bills will be 20 percent higher than last year, plus it's going to be a colder than normal winter, and that's according to the farmer's Almanac. So if you use heating oil to heat your home, you can expect an increase of 36 percent. If you use natural gas to heat your home, you're still looking at a big jump of almost 24 percent.
COLLINS: Wow.
WILLIS: So the costs are high and higher.
COLLINS: I didn't realize it was going to be that bad. What are some of the big fixes though that people can do?
WILLIS: Well last year at this time we never would have advised switching to natural gas if you heat your home with oil, but that's changing because oil prices have climbed so much. You can actually save big bucks if you're going to stay in your house a long time. The conversion from heating oil to natural gas costs you about 10,000 bucks but you'll save $1,000 each and every year on your energy bill. So the pay-back time as ten years could be even less if the cost of oil rises more. Plus your heating appliances like your furnace or your boiler run more efficiently on natural gas. Get in touch with your utility company if you're thinking about the switch.
And if you've always wanted to go solar but you're not sure about taking such an expensive step. It costs a lot of money.
COLLINS: Yes.
WILLIS: Consider investing in a solar water heater. It costs about $5,000 but you cut your utility bills by as much as 50 percent to 80 percent.
COLLINS: Wow, yes. That's an awful lot. But as you mentioned, those fixes can be pretty expensive.
WILLIS: Yes. Those are the big-ticket items.
COLLINS: Yes. What can you do if you just don't have the cash for all of that?
WILLIS: Insulate your hot water pipes. These are pipes located off your water heater, which is usually in the basement where the temperatures are cooler. Buy some insulation at any home improvement store. Insulation helps water stay warmer when it gets cold in the basement. It could drop your water bill by as much as 25 percent, and check the filter on your furnace. That air filter should be replaced every six months. If the filter is clogged, it could drop your furnace's efficiency by 20 percent. A new filter will cost you only $20. Ask the person who maintains your furnace how you can purchase one and get one installed.
And finally, replace all your lights with energy efficient bulbs. Each bulb saves you between $5 and $10 a year. So small steps, big savings. And, of course, if you have any questions, send them to us at toptips@cnn.com. We love hearing from you and we answer those questions right here every Friday.
COLLINS: All right. Gerri, very good. And also we have "Open House" coming up on Saturday. What do guys are going to be talking about. WILLIS: You know, we're going to talk about the very latest on the troubled housing market, are there any silver linings? Plus, we're going to take a look at college kids and credit card debt. That's "Open House" 9:30 Eastern, right here on CNN.
COLLINS: All right. Gerri, thank you.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
COLLINS: Well, he's one of the VP contenders, Virginia Governor making a campaign appearance shortly with Barack Obama.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good morning, once again, everybody. 10:30 Eastern time now. I want to let you know, we are awaiting an appearance by Barack Obama. He's campaigning with Governor and possible VP candidate, Tim Kaine. You see him on the left there. This is tape from a little bit earlier. We are going to take you to that event when it happens live.
We are bringing you more of what the candidates are saying in their own words. It's part of our effort to help you make an informed choice come Election Day. Here's John McCain now talking to supporters in New Mexico about Barack Obama's judgment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, on Iraq, Senator Obama says he wants peace, but he still opposes the surge that succeeded. He opposed the surge, he said that it wouldn't work, he announced his policy towards Iraq the day before he left for the first time in over 900 days to visit Iraq and then refuses to acknowledge that the surge has succeeded. Remarkable. Remarkable. I mean, no rational observer could go to Iraq and see what we've succeeded in doing in the last two years and say that the surge hasn't succeed. That's what this is all about, my friends. This is what it's all about, securing our nation. Even in retrospect with all we know today, he'd still choose a path of retreat and failure.
Yesterday, Senator Obama got a little testy on this issue. He said I'm questioning his patriotism. Let me be very clear. I am not questioning his patriotism. I am questioning his judgment. I am questioning his judgment.
(APPLAUSE)
I said on Saturday night that I have a proud pro-life record in Congress, and I am proud of that. I respect the views of others, but I also happen to believe that the noblest words ever written in history were those that said, "We hold these truths to be self- evident, that all of us are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life." I think liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- I believe that life applies to those that are not born as well as those that are born.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Senator John McCain in his own words on the campaign trail in New Mexico.
I want to let you know something that we've gotten in here to the CNN NEWSROOM regarding the presidential debates and the vice presidential debates. There will be three. The first one going to be on September 26th, as you see there. The topics -- foreign policy and national security. The next one, actually this will be the second presidential debate, October 7th, and that will be held at Belmont University. It's going to be moderated by Tom Brokaw. And the third presidential debate, October 15th, and that topic will be on domestic and economic policy.
Also, the vice presidential debate that I mentioned, October 2nd, going to be happening at Washington University and moderated by Gwen Ifill. So there you have that.
Tropical Storm Fay, a massive rainmaker that has unleashed widespread flooding across Florida. In St. Lucie County, hundreds of homes have been flooded, dozens of homeowners rescued.
CNN's John Zarrella is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Misery for people and animals. It's the only description for what Tropical Storm Fay has left behind in St. Lucie County. Some neighborhoods reachable only with air boats.
Eleven inches of rain turned streets into lakes. Water from the swollen St. Lucie River raced across roads.
MEG DEFORE, HOMEOWNER: Everybody's car in the area is under. It's pretty bad.
ZARRELLA (on camera): You've never seen it like this?
DEFORE: No. It's pretty bad.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): In this neighborhood, the water was at least six feet high in places. Some homes sitting on high ground looked like islands. Susan Thoole (ph) lives here. She's not leaving.
(on camera): What's your plan?
SUSAN THOOLE, HOMEOWNER: We have the boat, so if we need to get out the cars are up at the end of the street. We still have power, so we're going to stay.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): For hours, volunteer rescuer, Rodney Hall, tried convincing people like Susan to get out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just try not to wait too late. It's easier to do this in the daylight than it is at night and it always -- everything bad always happens at night.
ZARRELLA (on camera): The problem rescue workers are having in this neighborhood is that, while many people want to bring their belongings out they don't want to stay out; they want to come back and stay in their homes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This family right here, we have -- I've hauled them in and out about five times just getting their belongings -- just to bring stuff out. This is their last load, he told me.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Most of what they left behind, the young men tell us, is ruined, sitting in a foot of water.
(on camera): Authorities say they have no idea how long these floodwaters will last, because, they say, they have no idea how much higher the creeks and rivers might get.
John Zarrella, CNN, St. Lucie County, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Quickly, this just into the CNN NEWSROOM now, want to get you some video of what took place a few minutes ago. A huge media circus in Orlando, Florida, because the mother of that missing 3-year- old Florida girl, Caylee Anthony, has been released from jail. This has been a highly-publicized case. $500,000 was the bail. So Casey Anthony, the mother of Caylee Anthony, the 3-year-old little girl who has been missing in Florida, has now been released from jail.
There was a bondsman who posted that bail. He's a person from Texas, and there's been quite a bit of controversy about why and how all of that went down. So we are following the story for you.
But again, Casey Anthony is now out of prison at this point, the whereabouts of Caylee Anthony, the 3-year-old girl, are of course still unknown. We'll be following that story for you throughout the day here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Want to get more now on Tropical Storm Fay, the very latest from meteorologist, Rob Marciano, in the extreme weather center.
Hey there, Rob. Now where is it?
MARCIANO: It's -- (INAUDIBLE) -- check this out, Heidi. Our friends at hurricanetracker.com, this is live streaming video as they're driving down the roadway obviously in the storm, they are near St. Augustine.
Let's pop it up, Dave or Brandon, if we could. So this is a map of where they actually are. What is that, Brandon? Route 16? Heading west? St. Augustine heading toward St. Johns. So that's kind of cool, and then the radar, you can see where exactly he's -- the video that you saw, this is the radar that's coming in with pretty heavy rain right now.
So big time squalls there, and certainly got the windshield wipers on high. Looks like that video may have stalled a little bit. This has not stalled, it looks like. It looks like our friend Fay is on the move, drifting north/northwesterly now, don't have an official reporting, and we haven't got a vortex message from the Hurricane Hunter aircraft yet, but I suspect when the next advisory comes out in the next few minutes, it will have a little bit of movement. But it's not really going inland, it's just kind of raking the coastline, and continuing to pour tremendous amounts of rain both north, south and west.
The eye was east of Daytona. Looks like it's just to the northeast of Daytona, and hopefully will begin to move inland as per forecast this afternoon.
Couple other interesting notes. Northeastly winds near Jacksonville, Melbourne, south-southwesterly winds, gusty at times. By the way, the hurricane tracker -- they've got -- very sophisticated instruments on top of the vehicle. They had a 72 mile an hour wind gust near Flagler Beach earlier. But look at it Flagler Beach now. Winds are shifting and they're decreasing from 20, 30 miles an hour to 4 and 5 miles an hour getting into the center of that circulation. So that's kind of cool stuff. If this was a hurricane it would be the center of the eye, which is pretty much clear and calm and certainly a familiar sight on the radar signature.
Real quick, I know I'm running out of time, Heidi, but I want to show this forecast track which will be updated in the next few minutes, does bring it westerly over the Florida peninsula with heavier rain throughout the day today.
COLLINS: Not what they want to hear, that's for sure.
All right, thank you, Rob.
CNN's i-Reporters are following Fay. Veronica De La Cruz has some of their good work to share with us and good pictures look at here.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and Heidi I think it goes without saying that the flooding from Fay has definitely been a huge, huge problem.
I want to share some pieces of video that we just got in from some of our i-Reporters. Heidi, take a look here, take a look at what's happening. The flooding on this road is actually so bad that it stopped a postal truck from delivering mail right in its tracks. The truck behind him has to lend him a hand. He tries to push him through all that water.
We just got this video in from Bryah Wynacht in Palm Bay, Florida, and obviously he says that the rain has made it absolutely impossible for drivers to commute.
COLLINS: Yes, but they're still trying to do it and we keep telling people, don't do that if you can't see the roads.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, stay off the roads. And that's what is going on here. You can't see the road. This is Port St. Lucie. John Teneriello gave us this tour of his flooded neighborhood. Just take a look at all that water. You can't see the roads, like you were just saying, and he says that he probably will need a boat if he wants to leave his house.
So it's not really a boat, but it's a bike that Craig Boileau used to document the flooding here. Here he is pedalling around in waist-deep water. And take a look behind him, Heidi. You see all of those cars that have kind of been flooded out, they're just stalled, left behind, so kind of a creative way to document the flooding there.
If you have pictures or video that you would like to share with us, go ahead and logon to ireport.com. We're going to continue to get those on throughout the day, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, very good.
Thank you, Veronica. Appreciate that.
A multi-million-dollar scam allegedly operating out of a well- known university. CNN's Special Investigations Unit uncovering the scandal rocking one of the country's top research schools.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Quickly want to show you the live shot there where we are awaiting Senator Barack Obama and this campaign event that he's holding in Chester, Virginia. He is holding it with Governor Tim Kaine, so lots of speculation, as you might imagine, about that being his potential vice presidential pick. So we'll watch that, once Senator Barack Obama comes to the microphones, then we will go ahead and listen in for a few minutes.
Well it promised a way to make a lot of big money with big returns. But as you might imagine, it was a scam, and now the FBI is investigating.
CNN's Special Investigations Unit correspondent, Abbie Boudreau, reports on a multi-million dollar investment scheme and its connection to a major American university.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the University of Miami, one of the nation's leading research schools. But investigators and alleged victims say that computers, employees and offices on campus were used in a massive fraud scheme that lost investors tens of millions of dollars.
WAYNE BLACK, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Accountants, lawyers, retired law enforcement officers, business people -- it's a shame. Some dipped into their 401(k) for the quick turn around.
BOUDREAU: Those investors say the scheme, complete with detailed flow charts and fake invoices, was masterminded by this man, Andres Pimstein, a University of Miami business school graduate.
(on camera): These court papers from lawsuits filed against Pimstein outline how it allegedly worked.
(voice-over): Pimstein told investigators he was running a company called the Bottom Line of South Florida, selling perfumes and electronics to a big department store chain in South America called Ripley. There is no indication the chain knew anything about the alleged scam.
Instead, investigators say the Ponzi scheme was paying off early investors with late investors' money.
(on camera): How much more did you put in?
VICTOR GONZALEZ, INVESTOR: About $2 million.
BOUDREAU: $2 million.
GONZALEZ: Yes.
BOUDREAU: Wow.
GONZALEZ: Yes.
BOUDREAU: That hurts, huh?
GONZALEZ: Yes, hurts a lot.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Victor Gonzalez is a real estate investor. When he heard Pimstein was offering an 18 percent return, he bought in.
(on camera): And do you think you'll ever see that money again?
GONZALEZ: Probably not, probably not.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): And other investors likely won't either. Overall, investigators tell CNN investors lost some $30 million.
BLACK: This Ponzi grew like a virus.
BOUDREAU: Gonzalez hired Wayne Black, a former public corruption supervisor in Miami who now owns a private investigation firm. Black found the links between the investment scheme and the University of Miami.
BLACK: Pimstein was able to convince a couple of people there to use their computers to control the bank accounts that he had laundered the money through.
BOUDREAU: Black says several university computers were used to monitor the bank accounts, and as many as three dozen investors worked for UM, including two former senior officials of the school.
This building on campus is where some of the alleged victims told us the investment meetings took place. CNN learned Pimstein even had a joint bank account with the university's director of contract administration, a man named Alan Weber.
GONZALEZ: One time we met, just me, Pimstein and Weber the University of Miami in a conference room. There were specifics about what the interest rate was going to be. They wanted me to be on the board of directors of this company.
BOUDREAU: But Weber's wife told us her husband was also a victim and no longer works for UM.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I can't comment on anything. Thank you.
BOUDREAU: The university told CNN it's, "...aware that authorities are investigating an investment program involving a few current or former employees." It went on to say, ".. university funds are not involved and will cooperate fully with the investigation."
(on camera): We did have one interview set up with an employee at the University of Miami who told us she lost $25,000. But at the last minute she canceled the interview, saying university officials told her she's not allowed to talk to CNN about her case.
(voice-over): Victor Gonzalez says he probably won't ever get his money back and can't believe Pimstein convinced so many people to invest.
GONZALEZ: I guess my biggest question would be, why? I don't believe you needed the money to do this, so why -- why did you do this?
BOUDREAU: Abbie Boudreau, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Some news to get out to you just into the CNN NEWSROOM, a very troubling story out of Knoxville, Tennessee. A school shooting has left a 16-year-old dead. Here's what we know at this time. Again, happened in Knoxville, Tennessee. Apparently the shooting was in the high school cafeteria. And police say that they do have a suspect in custody now, got this person about six minutes after the incident happened and also recovered the gun. The school is of course on lockdown after the shooting happened. And those students are now being released one by one out of their classrooms, one classroom at a time, I should say, to a nearby church so that parents can come and pick them up from the church.
But once again, a very upsetting event that has happened here in Knoxville, Tennessee, where a 16-year-old has been killed in a high school cafeteria shooting. We will give you any updates that we should get on this incident here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Meanwhile, want to get you back to Chester, Virginia, where we are awaiting Senator Barack Obama. He is there, we understand, but hasn't quite taken to the microphones just yet. He is appearing at this event with Governor Tim Kaine. Of course there has been some speculation about whether or not Governor Kaine is Barack Obama's choice for vice president.
So as soon as the senator takes those microphones, we'll dip in for a little bit and listen in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Quickly we want to take you back to Chester, Virginia, now where we are awaiting Senator Barack Obama to take the microphone out of the hand of Governor Tim Kaine. As you know, we are watching this closely today because we are -- I think, anyway, -- getting closer and closer to hearing who the vice presidential pick will be for Barack Obama.
And obviously a lot of speculation about that man standing up and getting ready to introduce the senator, Governor Tim Kaine. So, we'll watch it for you and go back just as soon as Barack Obama begins talking to the group gathered there.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
COLLINS: Quickly a reminder. Back from Chester, Virginia, Governor Tim Kaine at the microphone getting ready to introduce Senator Barack Obama. We will check in just as soon as the senator takes the state. We're back in a moment, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Once again now, as we've been telling you, Senator Barack Obama has now taken the stage in Chester, Virginia. He is making this appearance with Governor Tim Kaine who you see sitting on a bar stool on the stage, as well. Doing some of his thank you's right now.
So, we will go back to him and take some of his comments live, just as soon as he gets into some of the topics he'll be discussing today.
In Australia, there's sad news about an orphaned baby humpback whale. Veterinarians are calling the calf Colin. It was found Sunday, trying to nurse from this yacht. Today, they say the whale will have to be put to sleep. We are told Colin has severe injuries on his body and his health is rapidly deteriorating.
Good morning, once again everybody. You're with CNN. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris has the day off.
Developments keep coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM on this Thursday, the 21st of August. Here's what's on the run down.
Tropical Storm Fay practically at a standstill. Some parts of Florida may see a remarkable 30 inches of rain.
Barack Obama and Tim Kaine -- an appearance this hour. You're seeing it live now, with Virginia's governor fueling new VP chatter. Police say she did not report her daughter missing for over a month. Florida mom Casey Anthony finally walked out of jail. Media circus in the NEWSROOM.
Directly to Chester, Virginia, now as Senator Barack Obama.
Let's listen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And naturally people ask me, what have you learned about America? What do you know about America after having traveled through the 48 states in the continental United States. Been to Hawaii, haven't been to Alaska yet. But we got that in the works at some point.
And I tell them, well, first of all, America's really big. I mean, you go from sea to shining sea and you realize what a magnificent land this is. And obviously there are very few states as beautiful as Virginia, but, everywhere you go you just realize we're lucky. We are blessed to have this piece of real estate. It is a magnificent country.
Number 2, you rediscover just how wonderful the American people are. I know it's a cliche and politicians are always talking about how wonderful Americans are, but I feel as if after 19 months, and speaking to hundreds of thousands of people, and shaking hundreds of thousands of hands, and kissing hundreds of babies, I've got some pretty good credentials to talk about just how decent and generous and hard-working the American people are. You know, they are tolerant, and they contribute to their communities, and they look after their families, and they're not looking for a handout from government. They are self-reliant and they are independent.
And when you talk to the American people, whether it's in an inner city community or a rural area or a suburban neighborhood, you just feel proud. And you get a sense that people really have a set of common values and common ideas that we share as Americans. That's the second thing that you learn.
The third thing you learn is that people are worried. As wonderful as the American people are, these are anxious times. And they're anxious times for good reason. I'll just give you a couple of quick statistics.
When Bill Clinton was president in the '90s, the average family income went up $6,000. Since George Bush has been president, the average family income has gone down $1,000. That's a $7,000 swing. So at a time when the economy had been expanding, when corporate profits had reached record levels, where the Dow Jones was doing better than ever, ordinary families were falling behind.
Your wages were flat. Your incomes were flat. Jobs were being shipped overseas. People were losing their health care. They were losing their pensions. Now, people, because they don't complain, because they're self- reliant, they try to piece things together. A lot of folks saw that their home values were rising and they took out home equity loans as a way of bridging the gap between the amount of money coming in and the amount of money going out.
Except what happened? Washington was asleep at the switch. Nobody was overseeing these predatory loans that were going out into neighborhoods, people being induced into loans that they couldn't pay back, and eventually it caught up and the housing market collapsed. And so now you can't take out a home equity loan.
People took out credit cards to try to make sure that things balanced at the end of the month, except you start off with a teaser rate, you end up with a 29 percent interest rate. Eventually, your credit cards max out, we start seeing record bankruptcies all across America. We have more home foreclosures than at any time since the Great Depression.
And as Tim said, we're seeing inflation like we haven't seen in over a decade. And so understandably, people are anxious because this has all combined with rising gas prices and rising food prices and rising costs for college tuition and rising costs for health care. At the end of the day, it's harder to save and it's harder to retire.
And there are some people who are poor and are hurting and really bad off, but there are a whole bunch of folks who are still hanging on in the middle class but they feel the ground shifting under their feet. And there are a lot of those people here today under these trees, people who are making it and who are doing everything right, but still feel like somehow the best we're doing is treading water. And we're not sure whether or not we are going to be able to pass on a better life to our children and our grandchildren, which is the essence of the American dream.
The American dream has always been not just about us, but about the future and about our children. And we're going to make sure that if we work hard that they're going to inherit an America that's more prosperous and more unified than the one that we received from our parents and grandparents.
That's the essence of the American dream, and people feel like it's slipping away. And that's why all across the country when you talk to folks they're unsure of the future and they're worried.
That's a single mom I meet who is working two jobs and still doesn't have health care for her family. Or the guy I met who worked at a factory for 20 years and now is packing up the equipment that he worked on because that equipment is being sent to China, the plant is up and gone. And he loses not just his job, but he loses his health care, his pension, and most of all, his sense of self-respect, because he's not sure whether no matter what he does he can still support his family. Or the young people I meet who have the grades and the will and the drive to go to college but still don't have the money, and are having to defer their dreams further and further into the future until maybe those dreams just go away. Now, those are the individual stories behind the statistics. And that's what this election is all about.
Are we going to make sure that the American people have somebody in the White House that is fighting for them? And that's the reason I'm running for president of the United States of America, to fight for those families.
(APPLAUSE)
Because frankly, over the last eight years, they don't feel like people have been fighting for them. You don't feel that. You don't feel like you've been heard.
The special interests have been heard. The banks, the insurance companies, the drug companies, the oil companies, they've been heard. But your voices have been drowned out.
Nobody is asking you what direction America should be going in. Nobody's hearing you. And that's why people have been so frustrated with our government.
That's why people want change. That's what this election has been all about, because we've got a clear choice in this election.
Let me talk for a moment about Senator McCain. Senator McCain -- let's be honest -- has a compelling personal story.
He's been a POW, went through some things that none of us can imagine. And that requires great fortitude. And we have to honor that service. But the fact of the matter is, is that John McCain is offering more of the same.
He said a while back that he thought that we had made great progress economically during the years that George Bush has been in office. Now, that raised some eyebrows.
Great progress economically. Who is he talking to?
And it turns out that you get a sense of who he's talking to because some of you saw the Saddleback forum with Rick Warren. He was asked, well, who do you consider rich? And he thought about it for a second -- I don't know, maybe if you make $5 million.
Five million dollars, then you're rich, which means, I guess, if you're only making $3 million a year then you're middle class. I guess that's what he meant.
His top economic advisers said the other day that Americans should stop complaining, they have become a nation of whiners. That all these economic problems everybody is talking about, it's just a mental recession. And if you would just change your mind, everything would be OK.
Somebody who's been laid off, their plant's closed and gone to Mexico or China, change your mind. It's all good. Then yesterday he was asked again, "What do you think about the economy?" He says, "Well, I think the economy is fundamentally strong."
COLLINS: All right. There you have some of the comments from Senator Barack Obama, this event that he is holding alongside Governor Tim Kaine, who you see there, in Chester, Virginia.
