Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Summer Olympics Finalists; Indonesia's Second Quake; H1N1 Vaccine Available Soon
Aired October 01, 2009 - 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: We begin this hour with the deadly earthquakes along the Pacific rim, a different story there. The death toll has surged past 500. Frantic rescue efforts dealt a powerful blow earlier today when a second earthquake jolted that same region.
In just a minute, our CNN crews will bring us the very latest from those disaster zones. Both regions in the Pacific's so-called "ring of fire." That's the epicenter of the seismic activity.
And CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is here to explain a little bit more about this. Rob, I'm thinking a lot of people probably have no idea what the "ring of fire" is.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I supposed one of the reasons they call it fire is because in the subduction zones eventually you get that earth to start to pretty much boil over and create some volcanoes. That's not the case here. You also get earthquakes around the zone as well.
Let's go over to the Pacific and kind of show you where it starts. It pretty much borders the entire Pacific, more so across the Aleutian Islands and then back towards Samoa, down across the southern Pacific down there. So we'll zoom in that area. 8.0 earthquake there. That was a dozy. Pretty shallow too at about 10, 11 miles. So that's enough to get the earth to move and underneath that water, that will create those tsunamis, especially the local ones. That's where all the devastation was.
All right. This is arguably outside the "ring of fire," but certainly a very active zone here in through Sumatra. The Sumatra fault very active. Back in 2004, we had the huge one there. 7.6 came roughly 24 hours after the 8.0, and then about another 12 hours later, a 6.6. These are within 200 to 300 miles of each other.
And the USGS are saying they're not really related. You think about common sense. If you jostle the earth in one spot, certainly in other spots where the earth has some weak points, and this would be one of them, and I'm thinking, that, you know, you jostle one part, and it's going to loosen the other part for sure.
Anyway, let's move on to something else that's happening internationally. I want to touch briefly on another super typhoon. This is not the same one as a week ago. This is another one. This is Parma, and it's heading to guess where? The Philippines. Right now 150 mile an hour winds in the forecast right now as they bring it north of Manila. But it will be close enough certainly to bring more in the way of torrential rains there to an area that obviously saw its fair share of flooding just a few days ago.
COLLINS: That's about the worst news possible. All right, Rob. I know that you're tracking it closely. Let us know if we need to come back to you.
We will also be getting to our correspondents who are on the ground in the region. We'll get to them just as soon as they were available, understanding they are reporting live across the world right now on some of our other networks. We'll get to them as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, missing for two weeks. A family desperate for any information. Twenty-four-year-old Mitrice Richardson, who lives in south Los Angeles, disappeared early in the morning of September 16th. Relatives say she was arrested the night before after having dinner at a restaurant in Malibu and being unable to pay for it. L.A. county sheriff's deputies say Richardson was lucid and sober when she was released. Parents believe she may be emotionally distressed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL RICHARDSON, MITRICE RICHARDSON'S FATHER: I'm upset. I'm going to keep a level head because I've been asked to. But I don't expect for these people to move because they haven't.
LATRICE SUTTON, MITRICE RICHARDSON'S MOTHER: We want our daughter found. We feel that there's not been enough effort to locate her. All we want is our daughter home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Family and police have conducted intense air and ground searches for Mitrice Richardson. So far, only unconfirmed sightings. One of the last was in West Hollywood.
A message from jail. A Sacramento television station reports that it's received a letter from Philip Garrido. He's the man accused of kidnapping Jaycee Dugard when she was 11 and then raping and hiding her in the backyard of his home for 18 years. In the letter, he expresses concern about her legal rights, saying she has repeatedly been denied access to an attorney.
A jail spokesman says the letter appears to be authentic. Both Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Death Row inmate convicted of killing nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford has died. Florida state prison officials say 51-year-old John Couey died of natural causes. Couey was convicted of kidnapping, raping, and burying Lunsford alive in 2005.
The economy still issue number one for Americans, and there are mixed signs today on a recovery. The Labor Department says the number of first-time jobless filers jumped last week. The 551,000 initial unemployment claims were up 17,000 from the previous week's revised numbers on the positive side, though. The Commerce Department reports personal income edged up a bit, 0.2 percent, last month. And personal spending jumped 1.3 percent for the same period.
Take a moment to check out the Dow now. Yesterday around this time we were down triple digits. Right now Dow Jones industrial average is down by about 90 points or so. We, of course, will keep our eye on those numbers for you.
An Olympic-sized pitch for the leader of the free world. President Barack Obama heads to Denmark trying to bring the Olympics home to Chicago.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: President Obama is off to Denmark later today. He's going to make a personal plea for his adopted hometown of Chicago to host the Summer Olympics in 2016. CNN's senior White House correspondent Ed Henry tells us about the president as pitch man in Copenhagen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If there was any doubt about whether President Obama will do anything to bring home the Olympics to Chicago in 2016, Mr. Obama pretty much put those doubts to rest last month when he played with a light saber on the south lawn.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You should have seen the president in there fencing. It was pathetic.
HENRY: White House aides are hoping his diplomatic skills are better than his fencing as he and first lady Michelle Obama embark on an unprecedented joint diplomatic mission to beat out Madrid, Rio, and Tokyo.
VALERIE JARRETT, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: What a dynamic duo they will be. I think it will be high impact. I think their presentation will be both very personal, given that they know and love Chicago so well.
HENRY: But what if they fly all the way to Denmark and enlist the help of Oprah Winfrey, and still fail to collect the gold medal?
KENNETH VOGEL, SENIOR REPORTER, "POLITICO": If he goes and does not bring home the Olympics, it's going to be kind of blow for him on the international stage.
HENRY: Republican Party chair Michael Steele questioned whether the president should take on yet another challenge amid debates over health reform and whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Who is he rooting for? Is he hoping to hop a plane to Brazil and catch the Olympics in Rio?
HENRY: White House officials privately say they had little choice but to raise the stakes with competitors Brazil, Japan, and Spain, all sending their heads of state to Copenhagen, leaving Mr. Obama to become the first U.S. president to ever make such a direct pitch for an American city. Though dating back to his days as a senator from Illinois, he's also made no bones about his personal interests, too.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I only live two blocks away from where the Olympics are going to kick off in 2016. And I also, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to let you know that in 2016 I'll be wrapping up my second term as president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Ed Henry joining us now live from Copenhagen. All right. Ed, what's the deal here? There is some criticism, as you mentioned, that the president may be taking on yet another issue when there's health care and Afghanistan and many other things, the economy on his plate. What's the mood like there where you are?
HENRY: Well, I can tell you people here in Denmark are excited about the U.S. president coming. As you know, he still has pretty strong approval ratings around the world. Not that it really matters too much politically back in the United States, but he's a popular figure. He draws large crowds when he travels around the world, and we tag along with him.
And I can tell you here people are excited to see him. That is what the White House is banking on, that his star power around the world may have an impact with these voters and members of the International Olympic Committee. About 105 of them will decide this. You need a majority of that 105, and I can tell you that Mrs. Obama told us a couple of days ago, that she thinks this is a little like the 2008 election, where voters decided at the end. They're going to decide at the end here. And that one on one lobbying from the president may make a difference, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Ed Henry is there. And Ed, remind us again, when is the announcement? It is tomorrow, correct? I want to make sure we have this.
HENRY: That's right. The voting is going to essentially be tomorrow morning Eastern time, and sometime after noon Eastern time we'll get a final announcement of who's won out of those four cities. So obviously, a lot of people in Chicago hoping, waiting, wondering what's going to happen.
COLLINS: Yes. I've noticed in some of the things I have found there will be many announcements, many different places in Chicago where everybody's going to find out at the same time. So interesting.
All right. Ed Henry, thanks so much. Live this morning for us on the Olympic story.
We do want to know what you think about this. Are there political risks involved in the president's decision to get involved in the Olympics pitch? E-mail us your thoughts, and we will read some of them in just a few minutes. You can go to my blog at cnn.com/heidi.
And in about 15 minutes we will discuss the politics behind the president's trip to Copenhagen. Is he really taking a political risk here or not?
Meanwhile, the Indonesian island of Sumatra rocked this morning by a powerful second earthquake. Officials there believe thousands of people are trapped in the rubble left behind.
Earlier today, CNN producer Mark Phillips talked with a man who was trapped inside the rubble of a hotel. And Mark is able to join us now live from Padang, Indonesia. Mark, I know you talked with this man. What is the condition now? Have you found out anything new?
MARK PHILIPS, CNN PRODUCER: Well, I haven't spoken to him for the last three hours. At the time, they actually dug a hole underneath him, and they could feel his body. They finally brought in medics, and they're bringing him oxygen as well. But this is what I said to him earlier on in the day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPS: Hello? Where are you from? Singapore. What's your name, sir? John Lee. John, are you with anybody else? John, are you in the room with anybody else?
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
OK. Sorry, John. I'm just trying - now, I know it's hard for you - do you know how badly you're hurt? Or can you move or - (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
OK. You can move your hands. All your other parts are OK. OK, John. Let me see what I can do to get you out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILIPS: Now, Heidi, I only came across John when I was actually called down there by the gentlemen who were digging him out because nobody could speak to him, and he only spoke English.
COLLINS: Darn it. We have been trying to get Mark up all along because of this story and how compelling it is. Obviously, the technical difficulties are vast when you're trying to reach these areas. Mark, if you can hear me, tell us what more you know.
PHILIPS: At the moment, Heidi, there's still a lot of devastation around on the streets. A lot of buildings have collapsed. They're still digging through the buildings. There's kind of like the hope for survivors is start to go fade a bit now. It's more kind of like finding bodies. When I was at hospital earlier in the day, I saw 20 bodies in a makeshift outdoor morgue.
And most of the patients are outdoors because they're too scared to go in the hospital because part of it has already fallen down. COLLINS: Now, this man, John, that you spoke with, it's an unbelievable story. I know you're trying to get an update on him. He actually asked you to call his two daughters, right? What did you say to them, or did you have an opportunity to do that?
PHILIPS: I wasn't able to. I had to pass the number on to CNN Hong Kong. I couldn't get through to them. But I did mention to John that I had spoken - or somebody in the office had spoken to his daughters, and he was happy with that. In fact, I asked him if he wanted to his daughters to start coming down to Indonesia, and he said no. He thought he'd be out in a day's time.
COLLINS: Understood. Mark Philips, we sure do appreciate your reporting. Obviously, from everything we're hearing in the background and what you're experiencing, we know the situation is very chaotic. Thanks so much. We'll check back later on if possible.
And if you would like to know more about the efforts of bringing aid to the communities devastated by this earthquake and the tsunami in the Samoan Islands, you can visit our Impact your World page, find it in cnn.com/impact.
Rob Marciano joining us now to talk a little bit more about the weather situation actually here in the United States, right, Rob?
MARCIANO: Yes, pretty big storm for this time of year. Our first real severe weather outbreak potentially coming into the central plains now and feeding in some moisture as far north as Minneapolis. We've got some airport delays because of that. This also brought in some cold air behind it yesterday and the day before with snow at the higher elevations of the Colorado Rockies and the Wasatch of Utah. We'll show you pictures of that in just a second.
In the meantime, daytime high temperatures will be kind of warm to the south. But the cold front that lowered the humidity levels to the Gulf Coast has made its way all the way down to the south floor. That unusual for this time of year. 86 degrees in Miami for a high. Same deal in Tampa. It will be 63 degrees in New York, and 63 degrees in Chicago as well.
All right. As far as what we're looking at for the severe weather threat. It's going to be across parts of south Texas into Louisiana and up to just to the south of St. Louis. Main threat here is going to be hail, wind, the small chance of seeing tornadoes. But right now, there are no weather watch boxes that have been put into place.
The other issue for our friends out west, whenever you get a strong system that's moving into the plains and you got cold air that filters behind that high pressure sets up in the mountains, and now will create your Santa Ana wind effect. And that especially now that we're in October, this is primetime Santa Ana wind season. I think you're going to see a fair amount of that happen today.
Mentioned the snows that were happening across parts of Colorado. This is actually out of Utah. Our friends at Park City sent this in. Always nice to see some snow on the chair lifts and then kind of framed by some golden Aspens there. The change of the seasons, Heidi.
COLLINS: I love that.
MARCIANO: It doesn't get any better than the fall.
COLLINS: I love how you're warming up those relations with your friends at the ski resorts. Right before ski season.
MARCIANO: They're just like our iReporters. They give us the picture to put on. It tells a story. We're storytellers, Heidi.
COLLINS: We are indeed.
MARCIANO: It's what we do.
COLLINS: We are indeed. All right. Rob Marciano, thank you.
MARCIANO: See you.
COLLINS: Fighting H1N1 flu. The vaccine is here, but who should get it, and do you want it? CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has some answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A look at our top stories now. Beginning today, both same sex and opposite sex couples in Nevada can register as domestic partners. It's happening after lawmakers voted to override a veto from the governor. The law means domestic partners may receive most of the same rights granted to married couples under state law but not federal law.
Another set for Michael Vick as he tries to rehabilitate his career. The quarterback has inked an endorsement deal with Nike. The sporting apparel company had dropped Vick because of his ties to his dog fighting ring. Vick served 18 months in federal prison. Last Sunday he played his first regular season in the NFL since 2006.
Senators are back at it this morning going through all of the amendments to the health care reform proposal that's before the Senate Finance Committee. Yesterday the debate centered on several Republican amendments dealing with abortion funding.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: Millions of people, even pro-choice people, do not believe that the taxpayers should have to pay for abortions, but there's a huge number of people, almost 50 percent or more - I think it actually is more - who are against abortion who really find it highly offensive that they have to pay taxes that will be used for abortion purposes.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: Both amendments proposed by Senator Hatch were defeated. All but one Democrat on the panel, Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, voted against them. More top stories coming up in 20 minutes.
We're only about a week away from actually having the H1N1 vaccine available in the United States. But now the question is do you really want it? Some people say yes. Some say no. And many others have questions they want answered before they can make a decision. For that, we bring in senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. She's been reporting on this story for months.
I know you just came from a special White House hearing on H1N1. A lot of questions being asked. In fact, we have some from our viewers. And they want to know what you think about this. Let's listen for a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've heard that 56 children have died since April from H1N1, and I was wondering if you could give me more detail about this figure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Lindsey, like many parents, is going to have to make the decision, does she want to get the H1N1 vaccine for her child? Well, let's take a look at H1N1, what the virus can do to your child. So far it's killed 56 children since April. 31 of those 56 had pre-existing health problems, a lot of neurological issues like cerebral palsy or spina bifida. 17 of these children, as far as we know, were healthy. For eight of the children, there was no data available.
So they've also tried out these vaccines on children in clinical trials. The National Institute of Health is doing this and say so far, there have been no major side effects from the vaccine.
COLLINS: Wow. It makes me wonder about when the flu shot first came out, not H1N1, but just the general flu.
COHEN: Seasonal flu.
COLLINS: If there were any numbers on children who were killed when that was brand new.
COHEN: Certainly. Every year children die from the seasonal flu. That's why children are supposed to get a seasonal flu shot as well as an H1N1 flu shot. But I think you make a good point, which is that when something is new - and the H1N1 vaccine - this is the first time that that virus has been used in that vaccine, people are understandably nervous. They want to know what are the side effects.
COLLINS: Yes, definitely. We do have time for another question. Let's go ahead and listen to this one.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: I'm 12 weeks pregnant and getting pressure from family members to get the H1N1 vaccine. I'm opposed to it mainly because it's so new. I was wondering what possible side effects are they projecting at this point?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
COHEN: Kim, like all pregnant women, is going to have to make the decision does she want the H1N1 vaccine? Now, there are two reasons why a pregnant woman might want to get it. First of all, take a look at this number. Pregnant women represent about one percent of the population, but they represent six percent of H1N1 deaths.
As you can see, they are overly represented among the group of people who died of H1N1. Another reason to consider getting it is that, if you get an H1N1 shot, chances are you're going to confer immunity to your unborn child because the anti-bodies will cross the placenta. So when your child is born, they will also have immunity to H1N1. And that baby cannot get an H1N1 shot on his or her own because little babies can't get shots. So those are two reasons to consider getting it.
But again, understandable. Pregnant women all the time are told to stay away from drugs and stay away from this. Then to be told we want to give you a vaccine. At this point, they've only tried it out on 60 pregnant women. They've all been fine, no side effects. But it's understandable people would have questions about that.
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. We also want to make sure that everybody knows where to go if they have questions about other topics.
COHEN: That's right and we have more details for kids, pregnant women, everybody. Your top 10 questions on the H1N1 vaccine. Do you want it when it comes out next week? That's at cnnhealth.com right now.
COLLINS: Terrific. All right. Elizabeth, thank you. Appreciate it.
The U.S. and other world powers sitting down with Iran. An issue, Iran's nuclear program. What the west is bringing to the table. We'll tell you about that coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Critical talks on Iran's nuclear program are under way in Geneva, Switzerland, right now. Leaders from Iran, the U.S., Britain, France, Russia China, and Germany are taking part in these talks. The U.S. and its allies looking for ways to get Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program. If the talks don't work, sanctions are an option.
CNN's Jill Dougherty explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How does President Barack Obama convince Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to give what the U.S. says are its nuclear weapons ambitions.
As Iran's negotiators depart Tehran for his stakes talks in Geneva, a skeptical U.S. and its allies demand Iran answer questions on its nuclear program. If it doesn't, Washington is threatening drastic international sanctions.
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We obviously are doing everything we can with others in the international community to make the choices to Iran very clear.
DOUGHERTY: But Iran has been under economic sanctions for 30 years, measures targeting things like banking, trade, and investment in Iran. So why hasn't it worked?
NICHOLAS BURNS, FORMER UNDERSECRETARY OF STATE: They're Swiss cheese sanctions.
DOUGHERTY: The former lead negotiator for the U.S. on Iran tells CNN countries like Russia have been dragging their feet.
BURNS: They continue to sell arms. They didn't apply the same kind of tough-minded attitude that Britain and France and the United States did.
And so I think there's an open question. And I'm rather skeptical that Russia is going to be like-minded ultimately with the United States and Britain and France on this issue.
DOUGHERTY: Now, administration officials say they're preparing an arsenal of beefed up sanctions, including stopping foreign invested in Iran's aging oil and gas pipelines and its oil tankers, freezing assets of individual Iranians acted in weapons proliferation and terrorist activity, stopping illegal movements of sensitive dual technology to Iran, things like aircraft and computers, cracking down on exports of gasoline to Iran.
But some experts caution economic self-interest could torpedo even these tougher sanctions.
STEVEN WEISMAN, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: China is the fastest growing economy in the world. They desperately need these natural resources to sustain the growth, to sustain their employment, and keep China a stable place. That is the absolute priority of the Chinese leadership.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOUGHERTY: There have been two small but significant gestures. Iran letting Swiss representatives visit those American hikers the Iranians are holding. And the U.S. allowing Iran's foreign minister to make a rare visit to Washington, ostensibly to discuss Iranian citizens living in the United States. The State Department cautions don't read too much into that. What really would be important, they say, is for Iran to make some serious gestures at Thursday's meeting.
Jill Dougherty, CNN, Washington.
COLLINS: We are getting new information about a Tennessee dad jailed in Japan over a custody case. And it puts the story in a bit of different light. Japanese authorities say Christopher Savoie became a naturalized Japanese citizen four years ago, and they say his marriage was never annulled in Japan.
Savoie is telling his story in an exclusive interview with CNN. Our Kyung Lah talked with at a police station.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a second-floor interrogation room, we waited for Christopher Savoie on our side of the glass. Police gave us 15 minutes, a stopwatch running in the corner. He took our electronic devices - no cameras, no tape recorders. And then, an emotional Christopher Savoie entered the room.
"I'm so scared," he said, carefully choosing his words and speaking in Japanese, as required by police during a jail visit. "I don't know how long I'll be in here. I want Americans to know what's happening to me. I didn't do anything wrong. Children have the right to see both parents. It's very important for my children to know both parents."
Police have charged him with kidnapping his two children as they walked to their school here in Yanagawa, Japan. Savoie drove 8-year- old Isaac and 6-year-old Rebecca to the U.S. Consulate, but Japanese police arrested him just steps from the front gate. Under U.S. law, Savoie has sole custody, but in Japan, ex-wife Nariko, who abducted the children from the U.S., is the recognized guardian.
"Japanese people think she's the victim here," Savoie told me, "In the states, my ex-wife is the one who's in the wrong."
In this rural town in southern Japan, those who heard about the case side with the mother, even knowing the U.S. courts awarded custody to the American father.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LAH: "They belong with their real mother," says this woman. That cultural divide is what Savoie's attorney says is difficult to fight. He says Japanese law clearly sees Savoie as the criminal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LAH: "He technically may have committed a crime according to Japanese law," says his attorney, "but he shouldn't be indicted. He did it for the love of his children."
Savoie wanted us to get this message to his children. "I love you Isaac, Rebecca. Your daddy loves you forever. I'll be patient and strong until the day comes that I can see you both again. I am very sorry that I can't be with you."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: We have reached out to Savoie's ex-wife, Noriko, but so far she has not responded to our requests for an interview. As far as the two children, they've been returned to her custody.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Yanagawa, Japan.
COLLINS: President Obama today becomes the nation's biggest champion of Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. He travels to Copenhagen, Denmark, to make a personal pitch for his adopted hometown. But does this come at a political risk for a president facing a variety of challenges at home and abroad?
Joining us to weigh in, Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus in Washington, and committeeman for the Democratic National Committee and CNN contributing editor Robert Zimmerman. He is in New York this morning.
Thank you both for being here. Sherry, I'll start with you. Should he be there, or shouldn't he?
CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: You know, I don't think he needs to be there. The first lady is there, and certainly Valerie Jarrett is there. She's his Olympic czar, was on the Olympic Committee in Chicago before she came to the White House.
For him to go and to make this decision is very curious, and it raises a lot of questions. It could turn out to be a disaster because, if he does fail, I think it diminishes his presidency. It raises questions why he would choose to be the first American president to go and personally lobby to have the Olympics in this country.
And then there's those questions that are surrounding him about some of the cronyism and some of the people who stand to make a lot of money in Chicago, in particular, Valerie Jarrett's former company. So it's very curious why...
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, CNN CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Sherry, if I could...
JACOBUS: ... he would go at this time with health care on the table and Afghanistan and so many issues, it's just...
COLLINS: Hang on, Robert!
JACOBUS: It's just very, very curious. For people who think we don't have a right to ask questions about this, I think they're very wrong on that point.
COLLINS: All right. So, before we pulled you up, Robert, I watched you shaking your head and laughing. This is not at all how you see things. Why not?
ZIMMERMAN: Well, Cheri's comments prove a point. Everyone wins in this debate. Cheri and the GOP have a whole slew of ridiculous talking points that give them some momentum, gives them something to talk about as a party out of power. But the reality is that there is, of course, precedent for a head of state to come there and lobby for his country...
JACOBUS: Not a president of the United States.
COLLINS: You got to let Robert talk.
ZIMMERMAN: Excuse me, Cheri, I didn't interrupt you. And I appreciate your passion. And that competitive spirit. But certainly Tony Blair as prime minister for Great Britain came there and lobbied directly at the International Olympic Committee, as did Vladimir Putin for Russia successfully as well. And with every head of state of the five finalists being there, it's only appropriate that President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama -- with Oprah, of course -- be there.
You only lose politically when you don't stand up for your country. Cheri, while I appreciate your passion, I have to wonder where was that passion about Afghanistan and health care reform...
(CROSSTALK)
ZIMMERMAN: ... when your party was in power and could do something about it?
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Guys, guys, wait a minute. Nobody can hear you when you're talking over one another.
ZIMMERMAN: I wasn't.
COLLINS: Let's keep the focus on the Olympics, OK, because that's what we're talking about today.
I'm curious to know if either one of you have heard any more about the possibility -- and this is rumor, but we've talked about it a little bit on our air already today with our correspondent Ed Henry, who is there -- that there may be an indication that Chicago is indeed the place. May already know that, and so the president goes because it's a win-win. Cheri, you hear anything about that?
JACOBUS: You know -- I haven't heard anything about that. That is a curious situation.
But it still raises the question why would a U.S. president go there when he has so many other issues on the table? He said a mere two weeks ago that he would not go because he was so committed to getting his health care...
ZIMMERMAN: Well, Cheri...
JACOBUS: ... excuse me -- health care overhaul bill through the Congress. And so that's very curious. And the other thing...
ZIMMERMAN: Here's something more curious, Cheri.
JACOBUS: Wait a minute. You've got 50 percent of Chicago residents who are opposed to having the Olympics there. So, it's not like this benefits everybody. Olympics can either make money or lose money. In several cases, they lose money for cities. It's a very curious situation...
ZIMMERMAN: Heidi, as long others I'm here, if I can throw in a thought. Because it's always a problem, Cheri, when the facts get in the way of a good spin. And the fact is the voting is electronically...
JACOBUS: Robert, that is offensive. This is not spin. I'm giving you some facts. Please show some respect for the debate.
ZIMMERMAN: Cheri, Cheri...
COLLINS: Guys, please don't tell me I have to call this interview off, OK? Because I would like you both to make your points. So, Robert, I'm going to give you the final word here, and then we're going to call it a day and continue to cover the story throughout the network.
ZIMMERMAN: OK. The facts very simply are the voting is done electronically, it's done secretly, so the assumption that the decision has already been made, I think, is in fact quite contrary to most projections, which show Brazil in the lead. And the more important point is there's an important debate to have about the role of the Olympics...
COLLINS: Got it.
ZIMMERMAN: ... I think it enhances the stature of the country to have them here.
COLLINS: Got it. All right. To the both of you, sure do appreciate it. Cheri Jacobus and Robert Zimmerman, thank you guys.
ZIMMERMAN: Thank you.
JACOBUS: Thank you.
COLLINS: Time now to read some of your comments on this. We have been asking all morning long if there are political risks involved in the president's decision to be the one who goes and gives this pitch for Chicago for the 2016 Olympics -- goes himself, that is. The first U.S. president to do so.
Interesting question, and interesting comments, too. Let's head over to Heidi Mac and take a look at CNN.com/heidi for some of your thoughts. Let's see if I can find them. Here we go.
This person said, "Obama should do his job as a president, period. Let the Olympic bid be made by the mayor of Chicago and the governor. He's into too much business he doesn't deserve to be in. He should keep his nose out of it as well as Michelle Obama." And this one says, "Plain and simple. The president needs to spend his time focusing on our domestic problems that currently exist and forget about being the ambassador for Chicago and bringing moneys back to his friends for helping him with the presidency. God bless America."
We'll continue to watch the blog comments and bring more of them to you if possible here in the NEWSROOM.
Checking our top stories now. Celebration taking place this hour at the Carter Center in Atlanta. The museum and presidential library being reopened after a five-month renovation, and just in time for Jimmy Carter's 85th birthday. Before the ceremony, the former president talked to CNN about how he sees the museum.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The main thing that this museum now shows is kind of a continuum of what you do before, during, and after the presidency. And you're right, this is the first presidential library that's really shown anything of substance after the White House years. So, I think it's going to be a fascinating thing just to see the history of one person -- that is me -- but also the history of our nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: This is the first time the museum at the Carter Center has been updated since it opened 23 years ago.
On Capitol Hill, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke -- looking at him live there -- telling lawmakers the Central Bank is well suited to oversee huge financial companies deemed too big to fail. The Obama administration has proposed tapping the Fed to regulate those companies as part of reforming the nation's financial rules. Bernanke is testifying today before the House Financial Services committee.
Who will succeed Ken Lewis as head of Bank of America? That's the question many people asking this morning. CEO Lewis is retiring at the end of the year. The bank says he will also leave the board. Lewis and Bank of America have been under fire since the bank's controversial purchase of Merrill Lynch. That happened last year at the height of the financial crisis.
The miseries of Detroit -- soaring unemployment, record foreclosures. But the indignities are not just reserved for the living.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: General Motors killing off another brand. First it was Oldsmobile, then Pontiac, and now Saturn is being shut down. Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange now with the story behind its demise. Hi there, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. And a sad story it is. You may remember that when Saturn was launched in 1990, it was billed as a different kind of car company. Unfortunately, its fate is like that now of Pontiac and Oldsmobile.
GM was set to sell Saturn to Penske Automotive. Hmm. Where did I hear that name before? That company is run by racecar legend Roger Penske. The deal was supposed to close this week. But Penske in a dramatic turn for the worse, walked away from the deal because while Penske was supposed to sell Saturn, it wasn't going to make them. It need an automotive company to make them; couldn't find one. And so, Saturn looks like, unfortunately, it will bite the dust.
And the four remaining GM brands are Chevy, Cadillac, Buick, and GMC. Penske Automotive shares right now are down 13 percent. As you can see, the first day of October, the first day of the fourth quarter, we're seeing a loss -- triple digit loss for the Dow, off 104 points. NASDAQ, meanwhile, is down 34, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes. What happens, though, Susan, to the workers and the dealers with Saturn?
LISOVICZ: And there's a human toll. There always is. There's 350 dealerships, Saturn dealerships. Obviously, they will close; an estimated 13,000 workers connected with those dealerships. This is, of course, on top of the 1,000 GM dealerships that were closed during the automaker's bankruptcy.
Good news here is that, if you own a Saturn, you can go to a GM dealership for repairs, for servicing of your car. And for factory workers, they may be in a much better position because they often make other kinds of brands as well. So, they may have their jobs salvaged here. The idea is to be nimble, and for fair purposes, they may be safe, Heidi. Happy to say.
COLLINS: That would be good news as we continue to watch those numbers there with the Dow -- scary for the moment. We will continue to watch throughout the day, obviously.
LISOVICZ: A lot of economic news today affecting sentiment.
COLLINS: True, true. All right, Susan. Thanks so much. We'll check back later on.
We do want to warn you. The images you're about to see may be hard to watch. Unemployment, corruption and abandonment are just some of the plagues eating away at Detroit. But it's the things you can't see that speak loudest about Detroit's struggle. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): Sixty-seven bodies and counting. At freezing temperatures, they wait, unclaimed. Some for up to five years.
ALBERT SAMUELS, CHIEF INVESTIGATOR, WAYNE COUNTY MORGUE: This is our freezer. HARLOW: Chief investigator Albert Samuels is in his 13th year at Detroit's Wayne County Morgue and says he's never seen anything like it. A record number of unclaimed corpses filling the freezer at 1300 East Warren Street.
SAMUELS: I have to believe it's because the economic problems that we're having. Some people don't come forward, even though they may know the people here. They don't have the money.
HARLOW: Darrell and Cheryl Vickers did come forward. And when we met them at the morgue, we this just identified their late aunt, Nancy Graham. But like more and more people in Detroit, they left their loved one behind.
CHERYL VICKERS, DETROIT RESIDENT: We tried to do everything we can, but the money's not there.
HARLOW: The money would usually be there, but with Detroit's economic struggles, Wayne County's budget for burying the unclaimed dead has ran out in June. People can apply to the state for funds, but it can take weeks, sometimes months, for the application to be processed.
DARRELL VICKERS, DETROIT RESIDENT: To be pushed to the side and say there's no financing or no help available, you know, it breaks your heart to know that you have a loved one sitting there in cold storage, and there's nothing you can do for them.
HARLOW: Dr. Carl Schmidt, the morgue's chief medical examiner, says although such destitution has become a daily reality, its ramifications speaks volumes.
DR. CARL SCHMIDT, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, WAYNE COUNTY MORGUE: One of the ways that we look back historically, look at a culture's evolution, is how they dispose of their dead. We see people here that society was not taking care of before they died, and society is having difficulty taking care of them even after they're dead.
D. VICKERS: What kind of peace is the body getting sitting in a morgue in cold storage?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: We have some good news for you, Heidi. Thankfully, their aunt will not remain in cold storage. Since we first met the Vickers, they were able to scrape together the $695 they need to cremate her. That money not from their bank account, but from social services, Social Security, and their aunt's church.
But the truth is -- the harsh reality, Heidi, dozens of these bodies remain in the Detroit morgue, and it's those corpses that tell a much darker story than Detroit's empty streets and shuttered businesses or any unemployment rate ever could. This is part of "Assignment Detroit." For more on Detroit's struggles and the city's hopes and trying to rebuild, go to CNNmoney.com/detroit.
COLLINS: Poppy Harlow, sure do appreciate that. Thank you.
Live satellite shots of the world that show actual movement on the ground in real-time. New research says this is the future.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Right now, we are following two disaster zones more than 5,000 miles apart in the Pacific Rim. This morning, a second earthquake rumbled across western Indonesia, where thousands of people are feared trapped in the rubble left behind. At least 529 people are now confirmed dead.
The death toll is also climbing in the U.S. territory of American Samoa. A massive earthquake there unleashed a deadly tsunami. At least 130 people died. The neighboring islands of Samoa and Tonga.
If you would like to know more about the efforts to bring aid to these communities devastated by the disaster, you can visit our "Impact Your World" page at CNN.com/impact.
Is it a fascinating new way to look at the world or Big Brother? Maybe a little bit of both. New technology lets you track live movement on the ground whether in parks, on roads, or even in sports stadiums. Josh Levs is watching it and joins us now. Who's watching us?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's amazing, Heidi. What we're talking about here. Basically, it's about combining two technologies.
Let me show you this. This is Google Earth as people know it now. A lot of people use Google Earth. You give it an address, it can zoom in for you, and you see a still image and see what the roads look like, what buildings there are, that kind of thing.
What if instead of using that, you could do this? You type in an address and you watch movement in real-time. You zoom in to a football stadium, and you're actually seeing what is going on right now. Who is moving where and how the game is playing out...
COLLINS: Cool.
LEVS: What if you go over traffic, and you're able to see right at that moment where the cars are going? (INAUDIBLE) You could track the weather with this application they're talking about now.
This could apply all sorts of places. You could go to a park and see who's playing there, how crowded it is. You could see how many pedestrians are in an area. That is what we're talking about right now with this technology here that's being called Augmented Earth.
And here's the idea basically behind it. Augmented Aerial Earth. What they've done, these researchers, and we can take it full if you want. You guys have it. What they've done is they've combined two technologies out there. You have this Google Earth thing, and then you have all these cameras out there that are already watching us, that are publicly available, whether they're traffic cams that out there or cameras that universities make available or cameras at beaches.
And they -- these researchers at Georgia Tech said, wait a second. What if you combine the two? Make it so all the information from these cameras becomes readable on this technology that's like Google Earth. Type in an address, and you may be able to track actual movement on the ground by animating exactly what the cameras are picking up. You can pick up all sorts of information that way, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes. But I'm a little confused only because you don't have any control, and they don't have any control over the cameras, right?
LEVS: That's right.
COLLINS: ... point them where you want them.
LEVS: So, it wouldn't be everywhere on earth, but there are so many cameras out there already watching us that you would see there are a lot of places that they could pick up that information about and be able to show you what's going on in real-time.
COLLINS: All right. Privacy concerns, I'm sure. Someone complaining about that?
LEVS: It is. I'll tell you, these students at Georgia Tech who created this, they're representing cars and people just through figures right now. But the more this grows, we could indeed see this becoming a bigger and bigger problem for some people out there who are saying, wait a second. Everywhere I go, people can find me now. Something to watch out for.
COLLINS: All right. We got it. We're watching -- a lot. All right, Josh. Thank you.
A stranger's random act of kindness saves the life of a 4-year- old boy. Amazing story and video. Stick around. We'll show you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: An incredible story of heroism in New York. Look at this. A complete stranger rescues a young boy from a burning building in the Bronx. The man was working in a nearby store when he heard a boy screaming. Smoke, as you see, billowing from a fourth-floor apartment. He raced up the fire escape, where the firefighters handed him the limp, unconscious 4-year-old.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HORIA CRETAN, RESCUED BOY FROM FIRE: I heard somebody scream. I didn't know what's happening outside. As soon as I went, I heard the screams come from upstairs. And when I looked, you just couldn't see nothing. There was too much smoke.
And I guess I just kicked in. I kicked in gear. I put the ladder down, I went upstairs, and I did the best I could.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The boy was rushed to a hospital. He is expected to survive the ordeal.
I'm Heidi Collins.
CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Tony Harris.
