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Nuclear Talks With Iran; Higher Charges on Checking Accounts

Aired October 01, 2009 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. It is Thursday, October 1st.

And here are the stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The scramble for survivors in Indonesia after a second major quake. There are fears today the toll could reach into the thousands.

The U.S. and five other world powers open nuclear talks with Iran today.

A Chicago family plans a funeral for an honor student. Police ask the Secret Service to enhance the shocking videotape of his attack.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Iran is at the negotiating table today with six major world powers. The U.S. wants Iran to open its nuclear facilities to U.N. inspectors and to suspend uranium enrichment, but Iran says its right to nuclear fuel is not up for discussion. Israel is closely watching the talks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem.

Israel is not directly involved in talks with Iran, but you can guarantee it will be watching for any potential progress very closely. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has made his views abundantly clear, consistently staying that he believes a nuclear Iran is the biggest threat to the world right now, and time is running out.

While Israel has publicly endorsed the U.S. negotiation road, Israel has also publicly said that all options are still on the table. And there are very few experts who doubt that Israel could carry out a preemptive military strike against Iran's military facilities if it believes the time was seriously running out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Let's fast forward now to other headlines in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A funeral for 16-year-old Derrion Albert will be Saturday. The Chicago honors student was attacked with a piece of lumber. Four teens are charged with his murder. Police are looking for three other suspects and want the Secret Service to enhance a tape of the beating.

On CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER 360," Chicago's police superintendent wondered why the person behind the camera phone didn't call 911.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JODY WEIS, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: I think what we have to ask is, why didn't the person filming this incident, this horrific incident, call 911?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: It's a good question.

Now to Indonesia, where people are reeling after back-to-back earthquakes there. The first struck Wednesday evening local time, at 7.6 magnitude. Then, Thursday morning, a second one at 6.8.

Officials say 521 people have died and thousands could still be trapped. It is unclear how many people are missing.

At least 139 confirmed dead in Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake Tuesday sent a towering tsunami crashing down on low-lying villages. This is Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa. iReporter Manny Lagafuaina shot these images Wednesday night. Another quake struck the region overnight but did not trigger a tsunami.

And as we've seen, the Samoa islands were devastated by Tuesday's massive tsunami.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is in the U.S. territory of American Samoa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are in Leone, which is one of the more devastated parts of the island. And you can look around and see how devastating this tsunami really was, where the waves just came crashing in. And locals say they really didn't have warning at all.

They had maybe five minutes, not the 20 minutes that has been reported. They say that just simply isn't true. That after the 8.0 earthquake, they had about five minutes, and then the wave came in.

This is the post office and you can see the debris here. This isn't debris that you would find in a post office. This is a mixture of debris from around this area. It's the same sort of thing we saw during Hurricane Katrina, especially in the Mississippi Gulf Cast, where, literally, the waves just crashed in, took down homes, and then mixed it up in a soup before the waves pulled back out.

There's also a smell of fish in the air because of the amount of fish that came in, and then as the waves and the water pulled out, the fish were left to die. And unfortunately, there were humans that died as well.

This is Joseph. He lives in this area. And apparently, there's a 6-year-old boy still missing out here, which obviously is heartbreaking. And I guess his sister actually died.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. But right now we're still looking for him. But we think we're not going to find him, because he's just a little boy. A 6-year-old, if you think about it, a little boy, man, in the back of the mud, like, there's -- man, we can't even find him right now.

ROWLANDS: Probably didn't make it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, probably didn't make it. But tomorrow we'll try. We'll try. We'll try our best tomorrow. But today we can't find him.

ROWLANDS: It's the middle of the night here, and most people are...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Middle of the night. But, like, today, we found three dead bodies today. But we can't even find him because he's just a 6-year-old little boy.

He's just a 6-year-old little boy. But I don't know, man, because I can't even think about this.

It's our village, and it's too hard for me to say anything. I can't even say anything. If I think about it, I will -- I don't know. It's hard for me to say anything...

ROWLANDS: It's difficult.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very difficult to me to say anything.

ROWLANDS: Thanks, Joseph.

Obviously, a lot of emotions here. The pure fact that so many people just in an instant lost their lives and their livelihoods, just destruction everywhere you look in this part of the island.

Ted Rowlands, reporting from Leone, American Samoa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: If you would like to help with relief efforts, you can go to "Impact Your World," the homepage, at CNN.com. There, you will find links to aid groups in the United States and overseas. That's CNN.com/impact.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Renewed international pressure on Iran over its nuclear ambitions. We will show you worldwide reaction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: At a secluded villa outside Geneva today, six major world parties are at the table with Iran. And away from the table, on the sidelines, the United States and Iran held private talks. The U.S. and its allies are pushing Iran to back off its nuclear agenda.

Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance reports from Geneva.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the major powers gather in Geneva for urgent nuclear talks with Iran, the Islamic republic has been ratcheting up the tension. This week's series of missile tests, including long-range rockets capable of striking Europe, sending a chilling message of no compromise from Tehran. A message echoed by its hard-line president.

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Of course, we have prepared ourselves for any situation. The Iranian nation, throughout history, particularly over the last 30 years, has learned well how to stand on its feet and turn any situation into its advantage and benefit from that.

CHANCE: But the shocking revelation that Iran has been building a second uranium enrichment facility near the Shia Muslim holy city of Qom has put Tehran under intense pressure. Senior U.S. officials are headed for Geneva talks, say there is now a strengthened sense of unity and purpose among the international community to bring Iran to heel.

MIKE HAMMER, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESMAN: The onus is on them to demonstrate that their program is a peaceful program. The onus is on them to end their pattern of deceit.

CHANCE: U.S. officials have been outlining steps they now want the Iranians to take to restore confidence, including full access for the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, to the site at Qom, as well as to key personnel and documents. An offer to freeze sanctions in exchange for a freeze on uranium enrichment activities remains on the table, but U.S. officials say that talks in Geneva may be just the start of what they describe as a very difficult process.

(on camera): These talks are the first time the United States has fully participated in nuclear negotiations with Iran. It's a big policy shift from the Bush to the Obama administration. U.S. officials say they're only here to try and work out whether Iran is ready to change its stance or preparing to face renewed calls for a much tougher sanctions regime.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Geneva.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Other nations at that gathering are pressing Iran to change its stance as well.

For a global perspective on this, Senior International Correspondent Paula Hancocks in London, but we begin in Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Bittermann, in France, which has taken one of the toughest positions against the Iranian nuclear program. President Sarkozy has gone so far as to call for a December deadline against Iran, after which he says strict new sanctions should be imposed.

And it's not just the nuclear issue which is poisoning relations between the two countries. Iran accuses a French researcher of spying and is refusing to let her leave the country. And there's been a nasty name-calling spat between Sarkozy and his Iranian counterpart, Ahmadinejad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: We are at Downing Street. Prime Minister Gordon Brown will be watching those Geneva talks closely. And the reason is that in the past, Iran has been able to perfectly choreograph its diplomacy in order to exploit the differences between the European allies and China, Russia, and the United States. Britain's job at the table, to make sure, especially among those European allies, that there is a united front, to make sure that Iran knows that this time, they are serious that. That if they do not comply and fess up on their nuclear program, that strong sanctions are sure to follow.

Now, what's interesting here, too, is that Britain may go further than it's ever gone before in releasing intelligence that it has that may prove that Iran is further down the pipeline in creating a nuclear warhead than even the U.S. intelligence agencies have released so far.

Paula Newton, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The so-called "Miracle on the Hudson" pilots are back together in the cockpit this morning. Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles piloted their first flight together since the crash in January. The two are credited with saving all 155 people on board the US Airways flight that crashed into the Hudson River.

They're holding a live news conference in New York right now. Here's what Captain Sully had to say just a few minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHESLEY SULLENBERGER, CAPTAIN, US AIRWAYS: It's good to be back in New York. It's good to be back at work.

(APPLAUSE)

I should say it's good to be back to work at US Airways. I've been working for quite a while.

But New York and New Jersey have been very good to us. Not only on January 15th, but since.

On Saturday morning, January 17th, after my first interview with the investigators, US Airways officials asked me what I needed from them. And I had only one request, and that was, when I did return to work, I wanted to be reunited with my crew from Flight 1549 on January 15th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: It's all about team.

So, you say you want to know who this year's top CNN Heroes are. Well, in two hours, Anderson Cooper will begin introducing you to this year's CNN top 10 heroes. Then tune in tonight to see all 10 heroes on a special edition of "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A quick check now of our top stories.

The H1N1 vaccine should be available in some areas beginning next week. But will Americans line up for the shot? A new poll from Consumer Reports suggests the majority of adults are now either reluctant or simply not sure if they or their children will get vaccinated.

GM is pulling the plug on Saturn. Penske Automotive has backed out of a deal to buy the brand. It says it can't find a manufacturer to make the car. Three hundred fifty Saturn dealerships will close. GM hopes to save many factory jobs by increasing production on other models.

Consumer spending rises, but so does the number of first-time jobless clamss. Here's a look at some key economic reports out today.

The Labor Department says first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose to 551,000 last week. That's up 17,000 from the previous week. The Commerce Department says personal income inched up jus just .2 percent in August.

On a positive note here, consumer spending jumped 1.3 percent, fueled by the popular Cash for Clunkers program.

Higher charges on your checking account, you can bank on that. A new study finds bank fees have reached an all-time high.

Christine Romans of our CNN Money team live from New York with details.

I'm going to bite my tongue just a bit here. I'm going to allow you to explain what's going on.

Now, Christine, some of the big banks last week announced they were doing something about overdraft fees.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

HARRIS: Are we talking about those fees and others?

ROMANS: We're talking about those fees and others. And, you know, consumers and, frankly, people in Congress have been howling, howling about this.

BankRate.com doing a survey of the banks, finding that, big surprise, record amounts of these fees -- let's look at what they are. For bounced checks, you're going to pay on average a fee of $29.58. Overdraft fee, it's up to $36.

And Tony, if you are a repeat offender, if you have more than five or six overdrafts in one billing cycle, in a month, for example, you could see an even higher rate than that. I mean, they charge you more, the more you do this.

ATM surcharge, $2.22. I'll tell you right now what I think of those ATM surcharges. You are giving your money away.

Do not go to an ATM machine of a bank that is not your bank, period. You're just giving money away when you do that.

Service fees, about $12.55. How to avoid them? Greg McBride at Bank Rate says, look, you've got to take back control. You have got to take back control.

You cannot be bouncing checks. You've got to check out the differences between your accounts and realize that there are fees attached to some of these accounts. You've got to read the fine print and start looking around.

You've got to set up overdraft protection so that, for example, they take some money out of a savings account if you're overdrawn on your bank account. But remember, they could still charge you a fee for that, but it's likely less of a fee. And use your bank's ATM.

You can also just call your bank and say, look, if I don't have money in my act, don't let me keep charging. It's almost like you're set up to fail here. Like, they can charge you numerous times in a single day. They can also reorder your charges so that you can get hit with an overdraft charge four or five or six times right in a row.

That being said, this is an interesting statistic. According to the FDIC, 75 percent of people with bank accounts do not pay these fees, Tony. Seventy-five percent of us are not paying these fees because we're not overcharging.

It's a quarter of the people are racking up tens of billions of dollars of these charges, either because they're living so close to the edge because they have to, or because for 15 or 20 years, credit was so cheap and easy, people just always thought there was going to be money there at the other end, even if it wasn't their money, it was borrowed money. Remember, when you're overdrawn on your account, you're getting an emergency loan to help you pay, and then the bank is charging you a fortune.

I mean, the interest on a $20 overcharge, Tony, $20 overcharge, you pay it two weeks later. You've got a $27 fine on it. That interest is about 3,500 percent.

HARRIS: Force me, Christine, to opt in for overdraft protection. Don't force me to opt out. I don't even know that I have it.

ROMANS: Yes. Almost everybody has it. That's why I say call your bank and say, look, I don't want you to help me out if I'm overdrawn. I want that card to be -- I want it to be rejected right there.

And you can do that. You can call and say, I don't want you to give me that emergency loan at 3,500 percent interest. And I think that people in Congress are going to make sure that that's -- I honestly think that that's going to end up happening over the next weeks and months.

HARRIS: You just described the opting out scenario. I want to start a new account at a new bank, and I want to be forced to ask for it.

ROMANS: Yes. And I think that's what Congress is going to make them do.

But there's two ways to look at this. You're either being robbed, or you're giving your money away. Think about that.

HARRIS: Yes. All right, Christine. Appreciate it. Thank you.

ROMANS: Right.

HARRIS: The rich are getting poorer. Forbes' new list of the 400 wealthiest Americans is out, and even the people with the fattest wallets are taking a hit in this recession.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

HARRIS: Are you tired of paying Uncle Sam? Well, listen to this. Forty-seven percent of Americans may not have to pay federal taxes.

Find out why simply by logging on to CNNMoney.com.

The president leaves this afternoon for Denmark in hopes of bringing the Olympics back to the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The Senate Finance Committee back at work today and moving close to approving a health reform bill. Committee Chairman Max Baucus says, quote, "We are come to go closure." He expects to have enough votes for the measure to clear the committee by week's end. Democrats hold a 13-10 majority on the finance committee. A Democratic congressman is refusing to back down from a combative comment in the health care debate. Representative Alan Grayson says the Republican health care plan calls for sick people to, quote, "die quickly." On "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer, Grayson said his point is that Republicans have no plan, and he stands by his statement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALAN GRAYSON (D), FLORIDA: Everyone has been overwhelmingly positive about it. Overwhelmingly positive...

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE SITUATION ROOM": You're talking about Democrats?

GRAYSON: ... particularly people from the district. Yes, but the phones are lit up with people who wanted to comment on this, including the oldest surviving AIDS survivor in this country. He called me, and he said, thank you, God bless you. God bless you for fighting for health care and for fighting for survival.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Republicans are sort of comparing you to the Joe Wilson situation, the congressman...

GRAYSON: That's not the same.

JOHNS: Well, how is it not the same?

GRAYSON: Because I didn't insult the president in front of 40 million people.

BLITZER: But you did insult Republicans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every Republican.

GRAYSON: No, what the Republicans have been doing is an insult to America. They've been dragging their feet. These are foot dragging, knuckle dragging neanderthals who think they can dictate policy to America by being stubborn.

And I think the time is over. We had an election. That's it. Now we have to move ahead in just the way the president wants us to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. The Senate Finance Committee is the hotspot right now in the health care debate. And next hour, we will talk with two members of the committee, Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

President Obama leaves for Denmark later today to make a personal pitch for Chicago's Olympic bid. Critics question the decision, and some observers consider it a political gamble. Details now from senior White House correspondent Ed Henry.

(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.

(LAUGHTER)

M. OBAMA: 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 would 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 a 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's 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 interest, too.

THEN-SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: 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 -- have to let you know that in 2016, I'll be wrapping up my second term as president.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Ed Henry joins us live from Copenhagen. And Ed, look, I have had enough of the crazy hype around the Chicago or Rio debate. The president flies to Denmark because it is a done deal, not because it's still an open question. Where am I wrong here?

HENRY: So, you think it's precooked. You've already got it all worked out in your mind there (INAUDIBLE), Tony.

HARRIS: It's like the American Music Awards. Absolutely. It's like the American Music Awards. You invite the stars because you -- and the stars show up because they know they've won.

HENRY: OK, the music awards, pro wrestling, they may be fixed. But top White House aides insist to me they have no intelligence telling them that if the president shows up, it's a done deal.

And I can tell you, I just spoke to a source within the IOC, the International Olympic Committee, who tells me that behind closed doors, they've been talking to a lot of people who have votes in this. And he says, in his words, it's close as hell between Rio and Chicago, that this is neck and neck right now.

Now, if you're telling me you know it's a done deal, maybe these guys are doing it for show. But they insist that behind closed doors it's close. And I know if you had a vote in this, Tony, while you probably love Chicago, you'd probably vote for Rio. The scenery's not bad, I'm told.

HARRIS: You were watching the show yesterday. All right, Ed. I'm going to go with your intel. You're there on the scene.

Ed Henry in Copenhagen for us. We appreciate it.

HENRY: It's still close.

HARRIS: Yes, thank you.

HENRY: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: So, which city do you think will win the bid to host the Olympics in 2016 -- Rio, Madrid, Tokyo? Come on. It's Chicago. It's cooked. The deal's done. The fix is in.

Give us your quick vote. Just go to CNN.com/tony. So, let's take a look now at the results so far. Chicago, bang. Tokyo, 0? Really? How about Rio? Where are we on Rio? Let me see the number. OK. Madrid. It's done. People, it's done. America is with me on this one. All right, CNN.com/tony.

Take a look at this mess. It's what happened after a grandmother in Vail, Colorado, found herself face to face with a big black bear in her bedroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALLY REBEHN, FOUGHT OFF BEAR WITH PILLOW: Raised up on her hind feet and was hissing at me. And I grabbed this pillow, and I just swung it as hard as I could. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Sally Rebehn says she called 911 after the bear and her two cubs took off for the kitchen.

All right, you want to know who this year's top CNN heroes are? Starting in 90 minutes, Anderson Cooper will begin introducing you to this year's CNN top ten heroes. Then tune in tonight to see all ten heroes on a special edition of "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A quick check of our top stories now. Growing pressure on Iran today. Iran's nuclear chief meets with representatives of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany. The U.S. wants Iran to give monitors unrestricted access to a recently revealed nuclear facility. France wants a December deadline for Iran to comply or face strict new sanctions.

A California judge dispatches sheriff's deputies to the post office to fill out his jury pool.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm standing in a post office getting stamps and told that if I don't go to jury duty, I'm going to jail. I don't know what land I'm in right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Deputies served summons on 50 post office customers in Mariposa. They were told to show up in one hour or face arrest. The judge took the action after a third of prospective jurors failed to show.

China throws a grand party to celebrate 60 years of communist rule. Mao declared the People's Republic on this date in 1949. Modern China has seamlessly embraced a capitalist economy while holding fast to one-party rule.

The Indonesian island of Sumatra in shambles. Hospitals, schools and homes all came crashing down around residents. Now, rescuers are desperately searching for survivors in the rubble.

CNN's Dan Rivers is in Padang on the west coast of Sumatra, and he joins us on the phone. And Dan, if you would, take a few moments and describe what you're seeing.

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, we just are coming into the center of Padang. And there are certainly buildings collapses as we're seeing. But there are a lot of buildings that are completely intact as well. We're just making our way into the kind of worst affected areas. The worst situation really is the complete lack of electricity...

HARRIS: Why don't we do this. Dan, I apologize, but our connection is absolutely horrible. We will try to get a better connection with you and get back to you when we can.

You know, we are also getting new and powerful images of the devastation in Indonesia. Josh Levs has those for us. And Josh, what are you seeing?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Tony, part of what's been happening is the difficulties of getting information out from these stricken regions in recent days. We're seeing that when it comes to video and photos and sometimes our reports.

Let's do this. I want to show you some of the photos we've just been getting in. These are some of the latest Associated Press photos that show the devastation in Indonesia. Some of it is absolutely amazing, and you can see buildings that have been destroyed.

This is one of the most powerful images. Look at this. I mean, you can see an entire street...

HARRIS: Oh, boy.

LEVS: ... that has been reduced to rubble. You can see what appears to clearly have been people's livelihoods along there. And as we know, there are people who have been caught under this rubble. In fact, they say this picture shows people trying to get inside this rubble to help a victim who was trapped underneath there.

And you and I have seen a lot of pictures like this in the wake of such tragedies, Tony, but you never get used to it, you know?

HARRIS: Yes.

LEVS: I mean, it's amazing what has happened afterwards. All this coming to us right now, just some of the latest AP photos from Indonesia. And we're going to keep bringing them to you.

HARRIS: Well, I don't know, are we getting anything from Samoa, American Samoa? Anything from our iReporters?

LEVS: We are, yes. Our iReporters have been sending us a lot from there. Let's zoom back in. I have a whole bunch to show you here. And we'll be -- I'll just show you, you know, throughout the tragedy there as well and the difficulties people are facing, we actually have been managing to get a lot of photos and videos.

These come to us from our iReporter Sue Scanlon (ph), who's been sending us, again, some powerful images. This is again showing in American Samoa what's going on. And I'll end with these from Steve Atwell (ph), who's showing some of the clean-up efforts and, again, some areas that have just been devastated throughout that region, Tony.

And they keep on coming...

HARRIS: Right.

LEVS: ... more photos and videos each day at ireport.com. HARRIS: They begin to look the same, don't they? The devastation looks eerily similar whether you're in Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa, Indonesia at this point.

LEVS: Yes, and in the big picture, you still need the same things afterwards, don't you?

HARRIS: Yes.

LEVS: You still need the people to come in and do the rescuing that they can and help get everyone out of there.

HARRIS: All right, Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.

LEVS: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: Let's check in now with Rob Marciano. And Rob, you're tracking Typhoon -- is it Parma?

ROB MARCIANOA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Typhoon Parma, you know, and it just -- it kind of makes you scratch your head when you think about the earthquakes that we had over the last three days and the latest one, actually a smaller one coming in through California. And now this typhoon, which is pretty much lining up to hit the Philippines.

This is a week after Ketsana hit the Philippines with all that deadly flooding. The difference with this is, this is actually a typhoon, at one point a super typhoon, whereas Ketsana was a tropical storm. What did all the damage there was plain old rain.

And if this thing takes the track that the forecast -- that it's forecast for, it will take you just north of Manila. But what it does once it gets past the Philippines, it may very well stall out and sit here for a while, and that would not be good. So, we'll keep you posted on that.

Right now the winds are 150 miles -- 40 miles an hour. That's down from 150, but regardless, that is a deadly, deadly storm coming towards the Philippines.

All right, a little bit closer to home, we do have a pretty strong system that's moving out of the Rockies now, dumped some low- elevation snow the past couple of days. And now it's starting to pop some rain. The center of it is right here, Minneapolis down through parts of Chicago. And further south towards St. Louis and more importantly towards Houston we're expecting to see thunderstorms there.

Also one other note for our friends who live in southern California, Santa Ana winds are expected to blow again today.

HARRIS: Oh, yes. We know what that means.

Rob, thank you.

MARCIANO: All right, man. See you.

HARRIS: Chicago's deadly violence. We're hearing from city leaders and police next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSE BRAXTON, DERRION ALBERT'S AUNT: Good afternoon. I would like to thank everyone for the outpour of condolences and support and well wishes and prayers for our family. I wish that we could all come together as a family, a community and city in peace. And also to say that our family appreciates all well wishes and asks for you to continue to keep us in your prayers. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The family of 16-year-old Derrion Albert calls on a community to heal. The funeral for the honors student is set for Saturday. Chicago police are asking the Secret Service to enhance a video of Albert's beating death. They've arrested four suspects and are still looking for three others.

Another Chicago boy, this one 14, is clinging to life this morning with severe head injuries. The attack on him similar to the one endured by Derrion Albert. A witness says three males chased the boy through the streets early last evening. Once they caught him, the witness says they beat him in the head with a shiny object.

A woman coming home from work find the boy in the road. She said there was blood everywhere.

Just how do you deal with so much teen violence in Chicago? CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman goes looking for answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's become an agonizing ritual in Chicago, the makeshift memorials to young people killed. Angry town halls. This time gathering because of what we're seeing on this cell phone video camera, 16-year-old Derrion Albert beaten to death by other kids. Four youths have been arrested.

Dr. Steven Salzman knows all about it firsthand. Since we first met the surgeon three months ago...

DR. STEVEN SALZMAN, ADVOCATE CHRIST MEDICAL CENTER: There have been 268 shootings. And of the 268 shootings, 100 of them have been teenagers.

TUCHMAN: And that's just one hospital. Thirty-seven public school students were killed in Chicago during the last school year. That compares with 23 in Los Angeles, which is a much larger city. This has been going on for years.

So, "Keeping Them Honest," we ask, why can't Chicago fix this murderous problem?

RON HUBERMAN, CEO, CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS: I think there are lots of things that have gone terribly wrong.

TUCHMAN: Ron Huberman is the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, the boss. He says the schools are about to start spending $30 million in stimulus money for programs that will target at-risk teens. But that's certainly not a quick fix.

(on camera): When you talk to parents whose kids go to some of the schools that have the highest crime activity, could you tell these parents, look in their eyes, honestly that it's safe for their kids to walk home by themselves?

HUBERMAN: Well, I can tell them that we're certainly doing everything in our power that we can to make them safe.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): City Alderman Carrie Austin represents the neighborhood where Derrion Albert was killed.

(on camera): How come this is happening in your ward?

ALDERMAN CARRIE AUSTIN, CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL: Well, I don't have a "how come." Because if I had a "how come," I have a solution.

TUCHMAN: Alderman Austin has represented her ward, one of 50 districts in the city, for 15 years, and she has the most pitfully unique vantage point of this crisis. Of the 37 public school students killed in chicago during the last school year, she says 13, more than one-third, were killed in her district.

What do you do here? You have so many young people killed in your area, in your ward? What are you doing about it?

AUSTIN: Well, I think that I'm trying to provide as many social services as possible. I think that there is much more that -- I think it needs to be a collaborative effort.

TUCHMAN: But doesn't it mean more than social services and collaboration? I mean, we need to take really stringent action here. I mean, these are people being -- children being killed.

AUSTIN: Stringent actions such as what?

TUCHMAN: Well, I'm asking you. I'm the journalist and you're the leader.

AUSTIN: That's what I'm saying. When you say stringent actions, I think that the stringent actions should be more social services so we can reach our children.

TUCHMAN: Are there not enough social services now?

AUSTIN: I don't believe so.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The alderman does say there simply aren't enough cops in her neighborhood.

(on camera): Have you stood up in the city council and said we need more police in my ward?

AUSTIN: Oh, yes. We do that every year.

TUCHMAN: And what happens?

AUSTIN: And every year in our council, well, we are about getting more police officers, but we are losing also police officers to attrition. We've also addressed this with...

TUCHMAN: So, why don't you say we need x number more?

AUSTIN: Oh, we say that. But that's what I'm saying. (INAUDIBLE), more, more, more. We say that.

TUCHMAN: But why doesn't it happen? That's what I'm getting at.

AUSTIN: That would need to be addressed to my superintendent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: CNN's Anderson Cooper put that same question to the city's police superintendent.

Just what are you doing to protect Chicago teenagers?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUPT. JODY WEIS, CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT: There's never going to be enough police officers to just randomly saturate a city, so we do it based upon information that we receive, based upon intelligence that we derive, and then we try to put the officers in the key spots to make sure these kids are safe.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": Why are things seemingly worse in Chicago for young people going to school than in other cities with bigger populations? I mean, do you have a sense of what the problem is?

WEIS: Well, I think you have to look at this recent tragedy. Here a young boy, an honor student, a top-notch kid, he's killed by a mob of his peers who are filled with such hatred and such violence that they're willing to just snuff out his life.

That's so hard to understand. Anyone watching that tape had to be horrified at the violence and just the anger in which he was struck down at the prime of his life. And I think we have to ask, how did it get like that? I think...

COOPOER: Are you saying it's parents? It's families?

WEIS: No. What I'm saying is, I think it's society. I think the White House hit it on the head when -- it's going to take community involvement. We have to attack this problem with every resource we have. I think Ron Huberman is right on target.

The key to changing this attitude, keep the kids in school. They're safe in the schools. Teach them conflict resolution. You know, we've got kids getting spun up over minor, minor differences and reaching out and engaging in violence right away.

COOOPER: A number...

WEIS: They have to learn conflict resolution. I think that's critical so that they can deal with life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The discussion last night on CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

Here's what we're working on for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

The fight for health care reform. The Senate panel going over that massive reform bill could have a plan by tomorrow. We will ask Republican Senator Jim Bunning and Democratic Senator Bill Nelson what they think of the legislation coming out of the finance committee.

Plus, Detroit's blistering unemployment troubles. There is no rest for anyone, not even the dead. Bodies unclaimed, unburied.

That and more, ahead in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: An 85th birthday gift for former President Jimmy Carter this morning. The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta reopened this morning after a five-month, $10 million overhaul.

CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley talked with Mr. Carter about the thorny issue of Iran.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony, from the Carter Center, where the former president is celebrating first his 85th birthday, and second the reopening of his library, which has been rehabbed to include much of his post- presidency period as he has traveled around the world. We did have a chance to sit down with the former president to talk about a couple of issues, including Iran, and that meeting that's taking place in Geneva between Iran, the U.S. and other countries dealing with Iran's nuclear capabilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope and pray that Iran will be induced to permit the international inspectors to come in and observe their entire nuclear program, because what they're doing so far is entirely legal under the nonproliferation treaty. They have a right to purify uranium and even plutonium to be used for power. I think the worst thing that we can do is to continue to threaten Iran. Because if Iran is on the borderline between going nuclear and not, on a weapons system, the constant threats that we or the Israelis are going to attack Iran is the best thing to force them, let's defend ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: I also asked the former president about his controversial remarks where he seemed to indicate that most of the criticism of President Obama was, in fact, based on the president's race. He says that was not what he said. He was taken out of context, and he was talking about fringe elements -- Tony.

Candy appreciate it, thank you.