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Pyongyang May Be Preparing For a Nuclear Test; House Expected to Vote on Tobacco Control Bill Today; Business Groups Meeting to Talk About Obama's Proposed Health Care Reform; Large Turnout at Iranian Polls Said to be Unprecedented
Aired June 12, 2009 - 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: It is a busy NEWSROOM morning. That's for sure. And CNN crews are in place ready to go this morning.
First off, Iran. The anti-American government could actually be on its way out. Voters are turning out in huge numbers, and the world is tuning in.
Then to North Korea. Does the country have its finger on the button? The U.S. official tells CNN the communist country may be getting ready for another nuclear test.
And also, big tobacco could be seeing much of its power go up in smoke today. What does it mean for your rights? History potentially being written on Capitol Hill.
It is Friday, June 12th. Hi, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We begin with a developing story this morning out of Pakistan. At least six people are dead and dozens wounded after suicide bombers hit two mosques. Both were in the northern part of the country. You see the map there.
In Lahore, the apparent target was a moderate cleric. He had supported the government's military offensive against the Taliban and recently condemned militant attacks.
We're going to be following this developing story, and of course, we'll bring you updates here just as soon as we get them.
For now, let's turn to North Korea and rising tensions over its nuclear defiance. A U.S. official tells CNN Pyongyang may be preparing for a nuclear test. Our source says Washington has, quote, "indications" that planning is now underway.
It comes as the United Nations moves closer to tough new sanctions for last month's underground test. North Korea has vowed to retaliate if such punishment is adopted.
Here's a quick look now at North Korea's nuclear history. The communist nation held its first underground nuclear test in October 2006. It conducted its second test just about three weeks ago.
Now that test was followed by a barrage of missile launches. And that raises concerns for two reasons. The missiles could be used against U.S. allies in the region like South Korea and Japan. And there are concerns North Korea could sell that technology to other countries or even militant groups.
In Iran now, the wait is long, the turnout said to be unprecedented. So far, though, no major snafus reported in today's hotly contested presidential election. The streets are pretty quiet, unlike in past days.
Polls are set to close about half an hour from now. But several places have asked to stay open for two more hours so that everybody can vote.
Three candidates are hoping to unseat President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The former mayor of Tehran was elected four years ago on a promise of sharing the wealth. Since then, prices have skyrocketed. Personal freedoms have plummeted, and his views have prompted more international sanctions.
His main opponent, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, a reformist. His supporters often wear green rallying in the streets of Tehran earlier this week. Now the other two in the race, former parliament speaker, Mehdi Karroubi. Another reformist and hard liner Mohsen Razaie. If no one gets a simple majority, you can expect a run-off for next Friday.
In about 10 minutes from now, we're going to be taking you to a polling place in Tehran. Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is covering the election from the inside. Very interesting story this morning.
Now let's go ahead to the major new rules for the tobacco industry. The House is expected to vote on a bill today giving the Food and Drug Administration unprecedented controls over tobacco. The Senate passed it yesterday.
The bill gives the FDA final say on everything from packaging to the amount of nicotine in cigarettes.
CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now live with more on this potentially landmark legislation.
Elizabeth, thanks for being with us here. Pretty remarkable when you dissect this bill. It essentially allows the government to regulate all tobacco products.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Heidi. And I think that people thought, oh, well, of course it's already regulated. I mean, gosh, it's tobacco. But it's not true. Tobacco really has been relatively unregulated. But this bill really would change all of that.
Let's go through some of the basics of what this bill would do. First of all, it would allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. Secondly, it would allow the FDA to tell cigarette manufacturers hey, there's some hazardous ingredients in your products and you are going to have to remove those.
Thirdly, you know how some cigarettes say light or low tar?
COLLINS: Yes.
COHEN: Well, they -- this will allow the FDA to say no way, get those off of those. And here's one that's kind of controversial. Some people say that the tobacco industry markets to children. The tobacco industry says it doesn't. But this bill would allow the FDA to say, hey, we think this is marketing to kids and you shouldn't do it.
I want to read you the response from the Altria Group, which owns Phillip Morris. They said this is an important first step in this legislation, but they also added something interesting. They said they had First Amendment reservations about certain provisions, including those that could restrict the manufacturer's ability to communicate truthful information to adult consumers. So they are definitely saying, hey, we don't like this so much.
COLLINS: Yes, well, it sounds to me like they're talking a little bit about the choice to become a smoker or not.
COHEN: Well, I think what the industry would say is look, we're just -- we just want to tell adults the truth about tobacco and they say this legislation will keep them from doing this. Believe me, there are a ton of people who would say that's completely not true.
COLLINS: Yes, because it's very clear there are supporters and opponents of this bill. But the supporters say that this is really the first big step in reducing health care costs. Any legitimacy to that?
COHEN: Yes, of course, cigarette smoking causes certain kinds of health problems and that costs the people who get sick and really a cost to all of us because we all end up paying for it in our insurance.
In fact, it's estimated that in this economy, people spend -- the economy as a whole spends hundreds of billions of dollars taking care of people's cigarette-related health problems. And of course, if you can get fewer people to smoke, you cut those costs down.
COLLINS: Yes, there -- I mean, I imagine the folks on the other side of things will say, well, that's true of smoking, but it's true of other things, too. Drinking and eating really poor, fatty, fatty foods. It's interesting how this whole thing is going to line out, and the president has been pretty candid.
COHEN: And then...
COLLINS: And his personal struggle to quit smoking, and it's a tough addiction to break.
COHEN: Oh, it is a tough addiction to break. But the good news is that even if you've been smoking for, let's say, 20 years and you quit, there are going to be advantages. I think a lot of people think, oh, I've smoked for so long, I'm just going to keep going. The damage is already done.
And that is not completely true. So let's talk a bit about some of the advantages. Just 12 hours after you quit smoking, carbon monoxide levels go down back to normal. One month later, you'll have major decreases in shortness of breath, and within one year, your risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker's.
So in other words, there are immediate effects. And Heidi, you were saying before that the industry would say well, a lot of things are bad. Eating too much fast food is bad, drinking too much is bad. I think doctors who put smoking in a different category that the hazardous effects of smoking are just sort of off the charts.
COLLINS: So is smoking going to be banned?
COHEN: Oh, I don't think so. That's not what this bill is about.
COLLINS: OK. Understood. All right. Elizabeth, lots to talk about on this one, of course. Thanks so much for being here.
COHEN: Thank you.
COLLINS: We do appreciate it.
Fixing health care. Business groups are meeting today to talk strategy in how to respond to health care reform measures being proposed by President Obama and Democratic lawmakers. Now the president held a town hall-style meeting yesterday in Wisconsin pitching ways to reshape the nation's health care system.
CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is joining us with more on that.
Hi there, Suzanne. Does the president have the kind of support he needs to pass some type of health care reform?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: At this point, Heidi, he really doesn't, and that's why you see him on the road. That's why we saw him in Wisconsin yesterday. He's going to be inviting a couple members of Congress to try to push forward a health care reform agenda.
But he's saying this is a make or break period. He wants legislation on his desk in two months or so. It's a big fight. There are essentially three proposals that seem to be jumping out that people are paying attention to. One of them the Democrats -- some Democrats are taking a look at those tax-free health care benefits.
And they're saying well, let's limit the tax-free health care benefits for the wealthiest American. That's something that candidate Obama was against. As President Obama, he may be a little bit more flexible.
We are also seeing the president push forward his own idea. That is government or public health care insurance, actually offer an alternative to private health care insurance. That's something that Republicans don't want to have anything to do with. They say butt out of the insurance business -- they don't think that's a good idea.
Heidi, what seems to be emerging here is some sort of compromise, a co-op if you will, it would be a privately run insurance company or a plan, at least, a health care insurance plan that would be publicly funded.
And that is something at least that is getting some bipartisan support. We expect that that is something that the president is going to be taking a look at in the weeks to come, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Weeks to come being the key words there. We'll be following the story very closely with you, Suzanne Malveaux. Thanks so much.
CNN has the first pictures now from inside Washington's Holocaust Memorial Museum after Wednesday's shooting there. Plus we'll have an update in the case.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The Dallas area yesterday. I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. We'll have that video, plus where the storm is going to form today when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Polls are closing in Iran in just a couple of hours in the payoff to a passionate Western-style political campaign. Iranian voters have been in long lines all day to choose a president and having a clear choice between a hard line incumbent and a reformist challenger.
CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is outside one of those polling stations in Tehran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Turnout at the polling stations we have visited is heavy. And we're getting word that it's heavy around other polling stations, as well. People have been waiting in line since 8:00 a.m. when the polls opened. It's unusual because generally people start coming out mostly in the mid- morning and in the afternoon.
This time around, though, they've been lining up even before the polls open. And many have been standing in line already under the boiling sun for several hours and they expect it to take even several more hours before they can actually cast their vote.
In a very unscientific personal exit polls that we've been doing, we can see at the stations that we've been at that more people seem to be voting for the challenger Mir-Hossein Mousavi than for the president, Ahmadinejad.
And if the rallies and street demonstrations or street campaigning are anything to go by, many are saying that it could be decided in the first round. Mousavi's campaign himself has said that they've conducted their own poll overnight. They expect a record turnout by perhaps more than 80 percent with some 79 percent casting votes for their candidate.
It's way too early for us to be able to say anything close to who's going to be the winner or whether or not it'll be decided in a first round. People who are coming out and telling us that this by and large is not a vote for a candidate, but a vote against the president's last four years in power.
This is shaping up to be a referendum on President Ahmadinejad's four years in office. They say that he has not met his promises to improve their economy and to improve their ability to get a living wage. Others say they don't want to see their country held in contempt by countries in the international community.
The proud people, they say, they want to be able to travel, they want to be able to have good relations with the rest of the world, including, they say with the United States. Many, many of the voters we're talking to, whether they're men, women, older or younger, say they want a change.
Now President Ahmadinejad's support comes from mainly the rural areas, the poorer areas, the more religious areas. He spent the last four years traveling around the provinces, handing out cash benefits, making life in terms of benefits for retirees slightly easier, helping build hospitals and schools and that's where he's been wooing his support, and we're waiting to see how the vote goes in though areas.
Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Tehran.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: So how will women and young voters affect the outcome in Iran? We're going to talk about that with an Iranian-born U.S. citizen who actually runs a production company publishes an online magazine, both dealing with Iran so make sure you stick around for that.
The suspect in the shooting at Washington's Holocaust Memorial Museum remains in critical condition. James von Brunn is charged with murder in Wednesday's killing of a security guard Stephen Tyrone Johns who had opened the door for von Brunn.
The white supremacist and holocaust denier was wounded from shots fired by other security officers. Von Brunn could face the death penalty if convicted in the killing.
CNN cameras were the first allowed inside the museum after the shooting. The museum is scheduled to reopen this morning. The museum director tells CNN Johns, the slain security guard, will not be forgotten.
CNN goes inside the mind of the Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting suspect. "AMERICAN RADICAL: THE LONE WOLF" airs tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360". That's coming your way 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. On the political front now, Representative Patrick Kennedy is in the hospital this morning. The congressman who has struggled with addiction, alcoholism, and depression checked himself into an undisclosed facility for treatment.
The congressman issued a statement saying he is temporarily stepping away from his normal routine, adding that his recovery is that lifelong process. The Rhode Island Democrat is the son of Senator Ted Kennedy.
The cost of the recession. Your home has lost value, your stocks have lost ground. We'll give you more than a trillion reasons why misery loves company.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Wow, remember that song? The delayed digital switch over deadline is today. This affects people who still have their older analog TVs hooked up to those rabbit ears still. Well, those of you watching us right now, of course, don't have that. But if you have friends who haven't embraced the wonderful world of cable, feel sorry for them.
And tell them they better get a converter box or they can't watch anything except maybe the Betamax. Congress delayed the original February deadline because they ran out of money in the converter box coupon fund.
$1.3 trillion, it came from your pocket and then evaporated into thin air. Christine Romans takes a closer look now at how much the recession cost Americans as a whole.
So, Christine, welcome. Break it down for us a little bit. I'm sure that won't take very long, there's trillion of dollars, right?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. And how much -- OK, let's just remember, how much is $1 trillion?
COLLINS: I don't know.
ROMANS: $1 trillion if you stacked a bunch of one dollar bills on top of each other, it would go up 68,000 miles toward the moon, about 1/3 of the way to the moon. That's how much...
COLLINS: How did you figure that out?
ROMANS: I did a little math but...
(LAUGHTER)
I know, and I asked a mathematician.
COLLINS: OK.
ROMANS: But that's how you get -- that's how much $1 trillion is. America's net worth $1.3 trillion evaporated in the first quarter. So that's pretty much how you measure how much poorer we're getting because of the recession.
You can see that this chart shows you that in 2007 American's net worth was a record high and since then for actually seven quarters in a row, more than two years now, you have seen again and again our net worth evaporated.
Why? Because the stock market and because of your house value. That's what's happening here. That's how bad it hurts. One thing I will point out, a small silverlining is the stock market has been going gang busters for the past 10, 11, 12 weeks.
COLLINS: Yes.
ROMANS: So this is the first quarter. We only hope that in the second quarter, we didn't lose as much because your 401(k), your retirement investments might have had a little bit of a recovery.
COLLINS: OK. So we're spending less, saving more, is this a new reality for American consumers? And do you think it'll last?
ROMANS: I think it's going to last, Heidi. I think it's going to last for a while for a couple of reasons. We're spending less because we can't get the money on our credit cards, we can't get the loans to spend money we don't have anymore. We're saving more because we feel so uncertain about our jobs and our future and about what's happening with the housing market.
When you look back at the '80s when that terrible painful recession of the '80s, people saved about 10 percent of their paycheck, they saved about 10 percent of their money to try to build up their cushion. Right now we're saving about 5 -- between 5 and 6 percent.
I think people are going to keep trying to save more until they feel better about things. And if history is a guide from the '80s, they could keep saving. It's not necessarily good for the economy because we're driven by consumer spending. But it's good for your economy and my economy, and for our peace of mind if we build up the savings, get the debt under control and then move from there.
It really is getting back to a much more rational way of living, don't you think?
COLLINS: Well, yes, I hope so. I still worry about the housing crisis and all those other things. But that being said, "Romans Numeral." What do you have today?
ROMANS: Well, we've got this "Romans Numeral" and it's 7 1/2 is this number here. 7.5, somebody's making money. 7.5 percent. Somebody's making some moment, Heidi. 7.5 percent is the return on something. Care to guess?
COLLINS: Ah...
ROMANS: There you go.
COLLINS: Are taxpayer investment in Citigroup bailout? ROMANS: Yes, this is, believe it or not, you're not making much in the stock market, you've lost money in the stock market, but our investment in Citigroup has actually returned $1.6 billion in dividends to the federal coffers. So we are making money somewhere, Heidi, and it's on that much maligned investment into Citigroup. We're actually -- taxpayers are actually making money on that.
COLLINS: OK. All right. Christine, sure do appreciate it.
ROMANS: A little company. It's something. All right, thank you very much.
I want to take a moment now to head on over to the severe weather center because Rob Marciano is standing by, and we have some weather to talk about today.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Can you say the name of that airport one more time in the...
MARCIANO: Oh would you stop? It's hard for me.
COLLINS: OK. All right, thanks Rob. We'll check back later.
MARCIANO: Thank you.
COLLINS: Big story today that we are watching very closely. Iran's election day. How will young voters and women affect the outcome? A unique perspective from a U.S. citizen born in Iran with family and friends still there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: OK. So health care reform is a big story, big topic today and will be for a couple of weeks to come, I'm sure. Because that's what President Obama is working on right now. It's also a big topic on our blog, I want to take you over here and let you know how to get CNN.com/newsroom.com. CNN.com/newsroom. Sorry, I always screw that up. It's much easier once you get on.
So here's what it looks like. Here's our blog. You can find out what the story is and give me a little synopsis right here and then also what we want to do coming up very shortly at 10:30, I believe we're going to be talking to three different people, their views on what might work with health care reform.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: On Wall Street, better than expected reports on retail sales and jobless claims sent the stocks higher yesterday. But today we are set for a lower open.
Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with a preview on the day's trading. There's the opening bell, hi, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, declines we're expecting aren't so bad. Investors may be waiting for reading on consumer sentiment, that's throughout at the top of the hour. Sentiment expected to rise showing Americans are growing more confident about the state of the economy.
And that has huge repercussions if they take that sentiment into action and start buying. Despite that oil prices pulling back a bit, crude dipping below $71 a barrel this morning. A new forecast shows OPEC is anticipating oil demand to fall this year.
American Airlines, which certainly monitors oil prices, is cutting 1,600 jobs. Most of the layoffs will affect flight attendants. The carrier is also cutting capacity by 7.5 percent this year as a way to cope with the drop in air travel. So that means fewer seats available and fewer flight attendants.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: OK.
LISOVICZ: Meanwhile, rival Delta also cutting capacity by 10 percent. In Washington, the House Energy Subcommittee will hold a hearing on GM and Chrysler's dealership closings and restructurings. Part of GM's restructuring includes the sale of its SAAB brand. The Swedish unit says is moving closer to finding a new owner. An announcement could come as early as today. SAAB isn't naming anyone just yet.
And in the first minute of trade, we're seeing a little bit of a pullback. The Dow is down 18 points. The NASDAQ is down 10. The Dow once again pulled over the break even point. Closed yesterday just six points away from it. It can't seem to close there. We'll see if it can do so today.
Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: OK. All right. Well, we're watching closely. Thank you, Susan.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
COLLINS: A protest vote appears to be shaping up in Iran's presidential election. Voters are telling CNN's Christiane Amanpour, they want change. And they've been lining up by the thousands to cast their ballots, some of them waiting for hours. The polls were supposed to be closed right now, but officials are actually keeping them open another two hours in order to give everyone a chance to vote.
Of the three candidates hoping to unseat President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi. He's been seen as having the best chance, actually. In fact, many observers say the vote could depend on how many young people and how many women turn out at the polls. They are some of Mousavi's biggest supporters.
Shabnamn Rezah was -- excuse me, Rezaei. Sorry about that. She was actually born in Tehran. Her parents still live there, now as a U.S. citizen. She's joining us today from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Thank you for being here. Because I know you have a really interesting perspective on all of this. You have been able to talk with some of your family and friends. What are they saying about how this election is shaping up?
SHABNAM REZAEI, NOROOZ PRODUCTIONS: Hey, Heidi, thanks for having me. My family and friends are all very excited about the elections. I was talking to a friend of mine last night who is a female journalist. And she's just been very excited about the rallies on the streets. And I don't know if you know, but in Tehran and in Iran in general, a lot of the celebrations take place in the privacy of people's homes and the last few days, it's given cause for people to celebrate and be on the streets until 4:00 in the morning.
COLLINS: Oh, yes.
REZAEI: You know, have that party atmosphere that makes the place feel really safe.
COLLINS: We've actually seen quite a bit of that video on our air here. In fact, I find so much of this very interesting because there is a majority of women there. And this now appears to be something that is really having an effect in this particular election this time around.
Why? What's the significance?
REZAEI: Well, I think what Mousavi has done, which is brilliant are two things. He had Khatami on his side, who is the reformist. So all of his fans will come over to the Mousavi camp. And his secret weapon I like to call is Zahra Rahnavard, who is his wife. She's an educated academic. She's run the university, Alzahra University. She's a professor. Very well-respected, charismatic leader and speaker. And she's gone out on the campaign trail with him, which is a first in Iran's history.
And so that has caused all the women and youth votes to swing over to Mousavi because for the first time they see that someone is actually, you know, actively going after the woman vote, which is more than 50 percent of the population.
COLLINS: That's right.
REZAEI: As you know, 2/3 of the student university, university students are female. So that vote is critical. Now, the incumbent President Ahmadinejad, his wife has not, obviously, gone out on the campaign trail. But they've caught on and all of the other candidates as well as the incumbent president promised that they will bring on female leaders once they get elected. Clearly these candidates are going after the female vote.
COLLINS: Yes, very interesting. I have, in fact, have never seen Ahmadinejad's wife. But, listen, we do have a little bit of sound that came in from Mousavi's wife. I want to go ahead and listen to that here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZAHRA RAHNAVARD, MIR HOSSEIN'S MOUSAVI'S WIFE (through translator): I'm here to say that men and women are equal, she tells us. We've made this promise to the women and we'll standby it, she says.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: There she was speaking to our Christiane Amanpour who is actually in Tehran right now. Is she really the candidate here?
REZAEI: I think you could say that. I mean, it's sort of -- I hate to compare it, but Michelle Obama and President Obama or Hillary Clinton, and when Clinton was running, she's clearly more charismatic when she speaks. She clearly gets the youth and the woman vote, which is very, very important in this election given the demographics of Iran, the population being more than 70 percent is under the age of 30. And Mousavi's campaign has been very nicely managed in that they're using Facebook and Twitter and text messaging to get to the young voters.
COLLINS: Yes, so interesting. I think probably the biggest difference, though, is that we did see Hillary Clinton actually run for president. Why didn't she run for president?
REZAEI: Well, I think it's difficult still. I mean, the Guardian Council still has to approve the candidates. Mousavi has a great, great track record. He was PM from '80 to '88, and his track record was strong. He's not as charismatic a leader, sort of maybe a John Kerry would be our equivalent, but he certainly has picked the right people around him and that's what's important for an election campaign.
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. Well, we sure do appreciate your perspective very much. Coming to us via broadband out of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Shabnamn Rezaei, thanks so much. Appreciate that.
REZAEI: Thank you, Heidi. See you later.
COLLINS: To the story now in Pakistan. Suicide bombers today targeting two mosques in northwest Pakistan. The dead include a moderate cleric who had supported the army's current defensive against the Taliban.
CNN's Reza Sayah is following the story for us now live from the capitol of Islamabad.
Reza, what's the very latest here?
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, there's all sorts of indications in Pakistan that the militants are changing their tactics, getting more aggressive and raising the stakes. Rarely have we seen a 24 hours with this many attacks. A half a dozen over that span.
And what's striking about today's attacks, both of the targets, mosques, the attacks happening almost simultaneously around Friday prayers. A time when oftentimes the mosque is packed.
One of the attacks taking place in Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city. The attack targeting the Jamia Naeemia mosque. It's a mosque and religious school led by Imam Sarfraz Naeemi.
Now, this is a mosque and an institution that has a reputation of being moderate. In fact, the Imam was the first to issue a, Fatwa. A religious edict against suicide bombings.
Officials say right after Friday prayers, the Imam walked into his office. He was followed by suicide attacker. Inside the office, the attacker exploded. He was killed. The Imam was killed, in addition to two other people.
Then we take you to Nosierra (ph), which is a city about an hour and a half west of Islamabad, another suicide attack. This one a car bomb targeting a mosque right in the middle of an installation, cluster of military installations. In that attack also three people were killed. This, of course, follows a bloody night in Peshawar last night. In a span of five hours, we had four attacks. In one of those attacks, you had gunmen opening fire on the home of the regional military commander in Peshawar when that attack was quelled. Two hours later, gunmen came back and attacked it again.
So, Heidi, all sorts of indications that these militants are getting more aggressive. These are in your face attacks and analysts say this is retaliation, pay back on the part of the militants, a response to the military offensive going on in Swat.
Back to you.
COLLINS: All right. Very good, Reza. We know you're watching it closely.
Thanks so much. Reza Sayah for us coming out of Islamabad this morning.
Tornadoes, we know they can be awfully powerful, dangerous and deadly, but why? Our own weather guy, actually meteorologist, Rob Marciano talked to some of the storm chasers. We'll have it for you, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A unique compromise in Washington. That's a look at this morning's headlines from The Hill.
A crucial war funding bill back on track, but only after a personal guarantee from President Obama. He's told lawmakers he will never release controversial photos of terror detainees allegedly being abused. Moderate Democrats in the Senate have locked horns with House liberals over the issue and that has kept the bill from going anywhere.
Now the House and Senate could vote on the $106 billion measure next week. We'll keep our eye on that. Meanwhile, Washington's Holocaust Memorial Museum will open again today after the deadly shooting there on Wednesday. CNN was given exclusive access to the building as the staff tries to go on now without a beloved coworker. Here's CNN's Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The violence began with a gesture of kindness.
SARA BLOOMFIELD, DIRECTOR, U.S. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM: He saw an elderly individual and his first response was to help this individual to enter the museum. That's what he thought he was doing.
STARR: Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns -- "Big Johns," his friends called him -- opened the door for the man who shot him.
BLOOMFIELD: It all happened very quickly -- I think in a matter -- it was, you know, like a minute-and-a-half, the whole thing, something like that. It was extremely quickly. But it happened outside the museum.
STARR: Sarah Bloomfield is the director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. CNN cameras were the first allowed inside. She told us how Holocaust survivors were in the museum when the shots echoed around the somber building.
BLOOMFIELD: Yesterday, one of our survivors, Nessie (ph), who was a young girl herself -- a young teenager in Lithuania and was in and out of several ghettos and labor camps. And, of course, she heard the shots. And you can imagine what -- what hearing guns for these people is.
STARR: Nessie, Nessie Godan (ph), now in her 80s, jumped under this desk when she heard those gunshots.
And as the floor was clean, and the glass door crack by bullets taken away --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big Johns.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Big Johns.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was a big guy.
STARR: Sarah Bloomfield says Steven Johns will never be forgotten.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A contagious smile. He could just make anybody's day really happy no matter what was going on. And we will really miss him. His legacy will live on forever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Boy, it's just such a terribly sad story. Barbara Starr joining us now live with more on this.
So, Barbara, what about the holocaust survivors who actually worked at the museum? Are they going to be coming back to work?
STARR: Well, that's really the question in a couple of hours when the museum opens again today, Heidi. There are so many of them. Nessie, just one of these very elderly frail people who survived the holocaust, of course, 65 years ago. They are said to be very upset about what happened. Not feeling very good at the moment. The museum hopes they come back.
You know, they want them back. They want to help them through any of that. But this is apparently, and quite understandably, something that's very, very tough for these elderly people to deal with at this point in their lives. That last shot you saw was a T-shirt that Officer Johns', fellow security officers have already had printed up on his memory. They're all going to start wearing them. They want him not to be forgotten.
COLLINS: Yes. Wow, great idea. Very, very good.
All right. Barbara Starr, the Pentagon for us this morning. Thanks, Barbara.
STARR: Sure.
COLLINS: Over the severe weather center now, meteorologist Rob Marciano standing by.
Hey, you did some storm chasing.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We did, about a month ago. You may remember, I went out to the plains and met up with the Vortex 2 research mission and four days of storm chasing with them. An unprecedented tornado research project that wraps up tomorrow. Take a look at what they've been up to.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all decide to move. Please let us know on the radio. Thank you.
MARCIANO (voice-over): The mission, chase storms, surround them and try to understand how and why tornadoes do what they do.
DR. HOWIE BLUESTEIN, VORTEX 2: The biggest I learned in storm chasing is that I know very little. Every year I go out, I see things that I haven't seen before.
MARCIANO: That coming from one of the best forecasters in the severe weather business. Howie Bluestein is a professor and high-risk radar team leader.
BLUESTEIN: We'll stay here until it gets really close.
MARCIANO: Grad students from across the country armed with an arsenal of severe weather gear. Long and short-range Doppler radar scanned the sky. Mobile mesonets minivans for close-in drive byes and tornado pods placed directly in the path of the storm. The Doppler on wheels gets the most attention and its developer Josh Worman from the Center for Severe Weather Research wants to know why some storms produce strong tornadoes while others don't.
DR. JOSH WORMAN, VORTEX2: We suspect that there are subtle differences in the temperatures and relative humidity in the air surrounding the tornado that's feeding into the tornado, that's wrapping around it. But we haven't been able to measure those yet or document them. If we can learn those subtle differences, then we've really had an accomplishment here in Vortex 2.
MARCIANO: The first three weeks of the mission gave them little more than a few thunderstorms. Then finally on the 26th day --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Awesome.
MARCIANO: Tornado in Wyoming. Cool pictures, and a complete data send.
BLUESTEIN (via telephone): It will show the complete life history of the tornado. And hopefully after analyzing the status that we may learn quite a bit of about why tornadoes form. But it will be years before we have any conclusions.
MARCIANO: Conclusions that Bluestein hopes will help forecasters more accurately warn those in the path of these killer storms.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: And that is the main goal here, have a better forecast, be able to really predict when a tornado is going to drop out of that cloud and how long it's going to be on the ground, and how strong it's going to be. And as Howie kind of alluded to, it's going to take a long time before they have a true understanding of that.
A couple of still pictures. This is Howie's group out of UMASS, where the radars that they were using. They are at really high resolution. They can get real close to the storm. There's that tornado they found. So they were scanning that.
These guys are out of Texas tech. They actually go in there and stick these stick nets into the ground, right in front of the path of the tornado to take measurements there. So they've also got drones flying around this thing. They've got three levels of radar. They've got those Mesonets that drive right up close. Really interesting. And, boy, there was a serious sense of relief, Heidi, when they finally nailed down this tornado.
Because, you know, they were pretty nervous. I mean, it was almost four weeks where they had practically nothing to go by. And they're spending a lot of money to get this done, and they finally got the data they need. They're going to do it again next spring and get it, hopefully, a better round of tornadoes to --
COLLINS: OK. So you got to get the guy upstairs to cooperate, I guess. I don't know. MARCIANO: That's certainly are.
COLLINS: All right. Rob, thank you. Cool piece. Appreciate it.
MARCIANO: You got it.
COLLINS: Happy birthday President George H.W. Bush. The former president is celebrating his 85th today in Kennebunkport, Maine. He is also going to mark the occasion by sky diving again.
Mr. Bush will be joined by members of the Army's Golden Knight Parachute team. President Bush also jumped out of a plan on his 75th and 80th birthdays, as well as a couple of other times just for fun. Also along for the ride, Robin Meade, host of HLN's "Morning Express."
Terrific. The landing was good.
Little League Baseball, the toughest challenge isn't on the mound, it's actually in the economy. We'll tell you how the recession is taking the luster off the diamond.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We have a lot going on this morning, as usual. And CNN crews are in place to bring it all to you.
Let's go ahead and begin now with Susan Lisovicz in the New York Stock Exchange.
Hi, Susan.
LISOVICZ: Hi, Heidi. Well, stocks are slumping here and so, unfortunately, is our net wealth. I'll tell you about the $1 trillion dollar first quarter decline. Heidi, more on that in the next hour.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, the FDA is now this close to regulating tobacco. What does this mean for smokers and for the rest of us? I'll have that at the top of the hour.
MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN severe weather center. And, boy, Dallas has got rocked yesterday with heavy rains, flooding on the Trinity River. When is that going to crest, and where the storm is going to form today?
We'll have that at the top of the hour, Heidi?
COLLINS: OK, very good. Thanks, guys.
Also, we want to know your thoughts on health care reform. We are blogging about it today because it is, obviously, a big topic in Washington, and will be affecting all of us. What you do, just go to cnn.com/newsroom, and then click on my name, Heidi, just click right there, and then you can find, as I said earlier, a little bit of a synopsis on this story so you know what's happening.
And also, we are telling you that we've got about three guests, I think it is -- yes, coming up at 10:30 Eastern this morning, talking about health care reform. Some of their ideas and perspective. One gentleman was actually in the room the other day where the president was unveiling some of his plans. So we'll bring that to you in just a moment, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Skipping school to see the president. One young girl in Green Bay, Wisconsin, did just that. But her father tattled on her, which led the president to offer some help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FATHER: I'm fortunate enough to be here with my 10-year- old daughter who is missing her last day of school for this. I hope she doesn't get in trouble.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, no.
UNIDENTIFIED FATHER: Yes.
OBAMA: Do you need me to write a note?
(LAUGHTER)
No, I'm serious. What's your daughter's name?
UNIDENTIFIED FATHER: Her name -
OBAMA: Huh?
UNIDENTIFIED FATHER: Her name is Kennedy.
OBAMA: Kennedy, all right. That's a cool name.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Love this. There she is.
The president handed 10-year-old Kennedy Corpus a hand-written note excusing her absence from school. Kennedy says she will give a copy of the note to her teacher -- there it is -- but she is going to frame the original.
Good idea.
Little League Baseball, for millions of American kids, it's a very magical part of summer. But in some towns, the recession has actually caused long-time sponsors to disappear. Even a pair of cleats is beyond the reach of some families.
CNN's Ted Rowlands takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This field of dreams has been hit by an economic nightmare.
DANNY RUIZ, COACH, RIALTO MINOR PIRATES: We've had some sponsorships that we used to get every year, a nice substantial check to help out the league. This year, they just couldn't. There's no extra funds for them to help us out.
ROWLANDS: What used to be $45,000 in sponsorship every year has shrunk to just $3,000.
RUIZ: It's just difficult this year. We had a couple of kids that have signed up and, you know, the parents don't have the funds to support them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I grew up here in this league, played in this league and these we're all people I've known for 30 some years. They were all in the same boat.
ROWLANDS: The same boat means more than just trouble on the field. This part of San Bernardino County consistently ranks in the top five for highest foreclosure rates in the country. The county's unemployment rate is 12.5 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, life was good, work was good, economy was good. And then all of a sudden, you know, bills come due. All of a sudden, there's not enough money. And it happens really fast.
STEVE THOMPSON, COACH, LAID OFF AUTO TECHNICIAN: This is my outlet, you know. This is where I come, you know, to be with the kids because it's not about me, it's about them. But I could tell you that even Little League -- we're seeing a punch in the Little League with the way the economy is and the slowdown and everything else just by the lack of kids that are signing up, you know. So it's hard all the way around. And I'm trying to find work. It's not like I'm sitting at home doing nothing. But there's just nothing out there.
ROWLANDS: The families and the league had no choice but to rally around each other.
RUIZ: We got to ask some of the parents to gather up some of their, you know, cleats that maybe their kids have outgrown or some used gloves. Then we have to supply some of the kids with used equipment so they can play.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did a candle sale. We'd go candy and candle. We've had parents bring water and Gatorade, and then we sold the water and the Gatorade. And then we also have a pancake breakfast, and we washed cars for the first time.
We have 17 teams and the kids are in uniform. And everyone is having a great time, and that's what it's all about.
ROWLANDS: With everybody pitching in, not a single game has been missed because of hard times. A life lesson these players can take to the bank.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Here's some other stories we're following this morning now. The woman accused of killing an 8-year-old girl in northern California is due in court again today. Melissa Huckabee still hasn't entered a plea in this case. Prosecutors say she killed Sandra Cantu and stuffed her in a suitcase.
American college student Amanda Knox is testifying in a murder trial in Italy this morning. She is accused of taking part in the murder of her roommate two years ago. On the stand today, Knox said she was confused and under the influence of drugs when police interviewed her shortly after the killing. She said she was also bullied by police.
Suicide bombers in Pakistan targeted two mosques this morning. At least six people are dead, dozens more are injured. One of the victims was a moderate Muslim cleric who has spoken out against suicide attack. The other mosque attack is known to have a lot of military personnel among its congregation.
It looks like sweeping changes are on the way for the tobacco industry. The president could sign a landmark piece of legislation as early as today giving broad new powers to the Food and Drug Administration. The House expected to vote shortly. The Senate passed the bill yesterday.
The bill gives the FDA the power to control content in tobacco products like the amount of nicotine. Cigarette makers have to drop the word light or mild from their packaging. The bill also bans flavorings that may make cigarettes and cigars more attractive to teenagers, and gives the FDA much greater control over tobacco advertising.
