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North Korean Leader Ill?; Troops Coming Home; Ike Cuts Across Cuba
Aired September 09, 2008 - 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: In the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Tony Harris.
Developments are coming into the NEWSROOM on this Tuesday morning, the 8th of September.
Here's what's on the rundown.
New this morning, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. A U.S. intelligence official telling CNN the reclusive Kim may have had a stroke.
Just last hour, President Bush announcing a drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq, but stepping up the American presence in Afghanistan.
Hurricane Ike trudging across Cuba, leaving Haiti in dire straits. Texas could be next.
Tracking Ike -- in the NEWSROOM.
Up first this morning, this developing story just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-Il, may be gravely ill.
A U.S. intelligence officials tells CNN he believes the communist leader may have had a stroke. He did not show up for a parade celebrating the 60th anniversary of North Korea today. His second in command stood in for him. The White House says it is aware of the reports but has no additional information.
A little background now on this man who dubbed himself "The Great Leader."
Jong-Il became the de facto leader of North Korea in 1994 after the death of his father. He is also the Korean Workers Party chairman. Prior to that position, he was the party secretary in charge of what was called organization, propaganda and agitation.
Jong-Il withdrew North Korea from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty back in 2003. But in 2007, after six-party talks in Geneva, he made a pledge to dismantle the country's nuclear weapons program. He rarely makes public speeches.
So, if this report is confirmed, what does this mean for the future of U.S./North Korean relations? I'll be talking with international security analyst Jim Walsh. That's coming up at 12:30 Eastern Time.
Our other breaking news story this morning, troops coming home from Iraq. That announcement just last hour from President Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm pleased to announce the next step forward in our policy of return on success. General Petraeus has just completed a review of the situation in Iraq. He and the Joint Chiefs of Staff have recommended that we move forward with additional force reductions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: President Bush says about 8,000 American forces will be back home by February.
Here is the drawdown plan. A Marine battalion numbering about 1,000 troops will leave Iraq as scheduled in November and not be replaced. Plus, an Army brigade of up to 4,000 troops will be withdrawn in February. And more than 3,000 combat support forces will come home over the next few months. Meanwhile, the president says other troops are being deployed to Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I'm announcing today additional American troop deployments to Afghanistan. In November, a Marine battalion that was scheduled to deploy to Iraq will instead deploy to Afghanistan. It will be followed in January by an Army combat brigade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So let's get some instant feedback from CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
And Jamie, clearly, it goes without saying this is a decision that comes after a lot of consultation, back and forth between the civilian and military leadership there at the Pentagon.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting, Tony. Some people are seeing this as basically no significant cuts in U.S. troop levels in Iraq before next year. Others are saying, well, wait a minute, 3,500 this year, 8,000 by January/February time frame, that's significant. But the reality is these cuts are not as much as the Pentagon had hoped for.
They had hoped to free up troops in Iraq to go to Afghanistan this year. There won't be any significant increase in U.S. force levels in Afghanistan until next year, when that Army brigade goes.
You heard the president say he was authorizing a Marine battalion to go to Afghanistan this year, in November, but that was the one that was going to have to go to Iraq. It's going to go to Afghanistan instead, but it will be replacing Marines who are coming out in November. So the force levels won't really change.
And what we've heard from commanders in Afghanistan is they need more troops there because they are not able to go after the Taliban over in this wintertime, when they hunker down, when they start storing ammunition for the next spring offensive. That's when the U.S. and the NATO troops want to attack them, and they need those troops this winter. But commanders in Afghanistan won't really be getting a significant increase from troops until February, when that Army brigade arrives in Afghanistan.
By the way, we believe that that is a brigade from the 10th Mountain Division in New York that was scheduled to go to Iraq that will now go to Afghanistan instead.
HARRIS: I see. And that sort of clears up a question we've been kicking around here in the NEWSROOM of whether or not some of the troops who are coming home in this drawdown will actually be turned right back around and heading to Afghanistan. It doesn't sound like that's happening.
MCINTYRE: No. They're going to come home.
In fact, the way these troop cuts are going to accomplish this year is basically as those smaller units finish their mission, they'll come home on schedule. And as you said, they just won't be replaced.
HARRIS: Yes.
Jamie McIntyre for us at the Pentagon.
Jamie, appreciate it. Thank you.
Here a breakdown now of U.S. troops in combat. Around 146,000 American forces are deployed in Iraq. There are another 33,000 in Afghanistan. And 4,155 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war. That includes four deaths this month. More than 30,000 troops have been wounded.
Checking the Political Ticker now.
John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin on the trail in Ohio this morning. They're holding a rally in Lebanon. McCain renewing his promise to battle pork barrel spending.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I fought corruption, and it didn't matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. I fought big spenders who waste your money on things you neither need nor want. And I want to assure you again, I'll take this old ink pen, and every single pork barrel earmark bill that comes across my desk as president, I will veto it, I will make them famous, and you will know their names. You will know their names.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Barack Obama getting into the ABCs of his education plan. He pledges to double funding for charter schools. At a campaign stop in Ohio just moments ago, Obama said children in the United States can't afford another four years of what he calls neglect and indifference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we want to see middle class incomes rising like they did in the 1990s, we can't afford a future where so many Americans are priced out of college, where only 20 percent...
(APPLAUSE)
Where only 20 percent of our students are prepared to take college-level English, math and science, where millions of jobs are going unfilled because Americans don't have the skills to work them, and where barely one in 10 low-income students will ever get their college degree. That kind of future is economically untenable for America. It is morally unacceptable for our children, and it is not who we are as a nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, the McCain campaign is cashing in on Sarah Palin's popularity. Out of the $47 million the campaign raised in August, $10 million came during the three days after McCain announced Palin as his VP choice. At a fund-raiser yesterday, McCain told donors he's overwhelmed by the buzz Palin is generating.
Who is number one among the number twos? We will have some new poll results on the VP candidates, and we will take a look behind the numbers. A reality check on how polls are actually conducted.
Saturday and Sunday night, beginning at 9:00 Eastern, Sarah Palin, Joe Biden. Just who are they? America's vice presidential candidates revealed back to back. CNN's special report Saturday and Sunday night, beginning at 9:00 Eastern, only on CNN.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Havana bureau chief, Morgan Neill is getting pounded, following Ike's trek across Cuba. We thought we would get an opportunity to hear from Morgan and see him as well. Just moments ago we heard his shot went down because he's getting pounded right now.
Morgan Neill is on the phone with us.
And Morgan, if you would, give us an update on the situation there on the island of Cuba.
MORGAN NEILL, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: Hey, Tony.
Well, we're now in our third day dealing with Hurricane Ike here in Cuba. I can tell you what we've seen. Well, let me just describe what I'm looking at.
We're here in Havana, and over the last, say, 45 minutes or so, what had been pretty heavy winds -- we're told by the meteorologist, somewhere between Category 1 and tropical storm-force winds -- really died off in the last 45 minutes. And replacing it came heavy, heavy rains.
This kind of rain is undoubtedly already bringing flooding throughout Havana. Once we're able to make contact, we'll verify that.
But these kind of rains -- we've followed this storm throughout -- bringing flooding essentially from the eastern tip of the island, all the way through the center. Now in Havana.
As Rob pointed out, the storm again made landfall last hour, it's heading up through the western part of Cuba . I should say we did receive last night on state television the first reports of death from this storm. Four (ph) people reported killed.
Now, that despite what the government says. More than a million people evacuated in the course of this storm. What they're saying now, that the risks are -- still some storm surge. But I can tell you from what we're seeing, one of the big risks is definitely going to be heavy flooding -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. OK. Morgan, just give us a heads up when get you back on camera here -- and part of the reason that you're there and part of the reason that you're covering this storm for us is we just want to see what's going on there from your location. So when we can pop you back up, just give us a heads up, and we'll get back to you so we can see what you're seeing.
Morgan Neill, he is our Havana bureau chief. And we'll get back to Morgan in just a couple of minutes.
A real humanitarian crisis unfolding right now in Haiti. The poor nation banged up by four named storms since mid-August. And consider this: only one's eye actually hit land. The coastal city of Gonaives cut off by devastating floods and mudslides. Red Cross trucks are trying to reach the area, actually had to turn back.
OK. This is how bad things are in Gonaives. People there fighting over the little food and water available. Boy, look at this scene.
Helicopters from a U.S. military ship should begin ferrying supplies to the city today. The number of dead in Haiti from the four storms hard to pinpoint at this time, but it is well into the hundreds and climbing.
More on Haiti this hour. Our Karl Penhaul will report from Gonaives.
Meantime, if you would like to get involved in relief efforts for those impacted by the hurricanes, here's what you could do. Visit CNN.com's Impact Your World page. There you will find links to organizations providing food and shelter to people in need right now. That's CNN.com/impact.
Middle-aged addicts? Drug abuse skyrocketing among baby boomers. We'll check in with Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen to find out why this is happening.
Partying with a sense of security.
Running gun battles in Beirut this spring give way to a tourist boom over the summer.
Unnecessary roughness. Fans complain of excessive force by police after a college football game. Whoa. A university president is demanding answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. An update now on a story that stirred outrage across Mexico. Police arresting five people suspected of kidnapping and killing a 14-year-old boy.
You only see four suspects here. The group's alleged ringleader hospitalized in grave condition, apparently shot by one of his followers.
Fernando Marti (ph), the son of a wealthy Mexican businessman, grabbed in June. Ransom said to be in the millions was paid. But the boy's body was found stuffed in a car in July. Now, police say the man who allegedly pulled off the crime was once an agent for Mexico's crime prevention unit.
Russian troops on the move again in the Republic of Georgia. This time they were seen pulling out of a position near the breakaway region of Abkhazia. It's one of the many posts the Russians set up after invading the former Soviet Republic last month. Moscow has promised European Union leaders all Russian forces will be out of Georgia by next month. The EU plans to monitor the breakaway regions.
Wow. A city shut down by violence. Bullets blew in Beirut this spring. Now tourists flock to the same streets.
CNN's Cal Perry looks at an amazing turnaround.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was just about four months to the day when all hell broke loose in Beirut. We were actually pinned down for about three hours, we broke into coverage on the east coast about 10:00 a.m.
HARRIS: Are these people firing in the direction of the military that's assembled, or are we talking about clashes between neighborhoods?
PERRY: This is a city that's known for its bombs and its bullets. What it's less known for is tourism. And this summer, it's having a record year.
It's breaking even the expected records. Nearly 800,000 tourists have come to Beirut this summer, most of them for the region. (voice-over): Some come to Lebanon for its cool climate. Others for the beach. Most are from the region, like Jordan, Kuwait and Iran. Abdul Rahman first came here in 1957. Born in Kuwait, he ended up buying a summer house here in the mountains.
ABDUL RAHMAN, AL-MUHANNA TOURIST: I love Lebanon myself because it has more freedom, individual freedom. But don't bother anybody. You can have what you want.
PERRY: Of course, it's the clubs and the parties of Beirut that attract so many. A city that sets itself apart from much of the Middle East with its popular nightlife.
(on camera): So it's only about 6:00 in the evening. We're here at a restaurant/beach club. And I want to give you an idea of what they prepare for here in the summer in Lebanon.
If you walk with me here, you'll see that even at 6:00, they're already ready. The sun hasn't even gone down yet. We've already valeted our boat, which means it's just offshore. It's probably the only place in the world where you can do that.
And when you take a look over here, you'll see they're getting ready for tonight. Nightlife in Lebanon is as important as lunch during the day.
(voice-over): Cal Perry, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy, what a contrast to the pictures we've been seeing from Lebanon over the course of the last year.
All right. Are you nervous when you give your kids the keys to the car? Well, there is a plan out there that may make you just a bit happier.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Drug addicts, you might think about reckless teens or young adults, but the number of older addicts is skyrocketing.
What's going on here?
Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with the story of one baby boomer's addiction in middle age.
Let me ask it again. Elizabeth, what's going on here?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're talking about people in their 50s.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: Some people might say, hey, they're grownups. They ought to know better. HARRIS: And should know better, right.
COHEN: That's right. But that is not the case. Many times what they're finding is that drug addiction among people in their 50s is going up, up, up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN (voice-over): Stephen Glaude had it all. He achieved status, money and power working under Jack Kemp in the first Bush administration.
STEPHEN GLAUDE, RECOVERING DRUG ADDICT: I had a wonderful national reputation. I had a career that was built on great job after great job.
COHEN: And he had a loving wife and children. But then at a party celebrating one of his many professional achievements...
GLAUDE: Someone said, "Try this." It was crack cocaine.
I tried it. Didn't think initially that it had a hold on me. Found out in the weeks and months and years to come that it did.
COHEN: Glaude says that after eight years of using from age 42 to age 50, he lost it all.
GLAUDE: I lost the respect of my children. I lost the respect of my parents. I lost my marriage. But I also lost home and cars and, you know, good credit.
COHEN: And he's far from alone.
From 2002 to 2007, illicit drug use among Americans in their 50s more than doubled. That's right, today's aging boomers are becoming addicts in record numbers.
HARRIS STRAYNER, PSYCHOLOGIST, CARON TREATMENT CENTER: When you're treating a baby boomer, the level of denial may be even stronger because it's been around that much longer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Whoa.
Elizabeth Cohen, I've got to ask you -- this is pretty shocking -- why don't we hear more about this?
COHEN: You know why? Because as we get older, we get smarter, right?
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
COHEN: So addicts in their 50s are smarter, they're savvier. They usually don't get in trouble with the law like younger people do. So they kind of go under the radar. HARRIS: But it still begs the question, why is this happening?
COHEN: You know, there's a lot of theories out there. And one of them is that people in their 50s are kind of part of that flower child generation.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
COHEN: And so drugs have been sort of a part of the fabric of their lives, if you will.
HARRIS: We're also, all of us, living through a pretty tough economy right now. I'm wondering if that might be contributing to it as well.
COHEN: Absolutely. This is what we were told -- when you're in your 50s, you're at the height of your financial responsibilities.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
COHEN: You probably have kids heading to college, you have a mortgage.
HARRIS: Right.
COHEN: And all that stress can lead you to look for solace elsewhere.
HARRIS: Yes. And Stephen, the young man that you featured in that piece...
COHEN: He'll be glad to hear you say that.
HARRIS: Yes. How is he doing?
COHEN: He's doing great. He's been clean for almost five years now.
HARRIS: That's good news.
COHEN: And as you can tell, he's trying to get the word out that this can happen to older people.
HARRIS: Absolutely. That's important.
Elizabeth, great to see you. Thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
HARRIS: And to get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, again, we ask you to log on to our Web site. You will find the latest medical news, a health library, and information on diet and finance. The address is CNN.com/health.
You know, you may have heard about a plan to lower the drinking age. Now there is a plan to raise the driving age. The head of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety wants to raise the age from 16 to either 17 or 18. He says car crashes are a leading cause of death for young people. More than 5,000 teens die each year on the road, more than 10 times the rate of drivers over 30. Critics say there are other ways to deal with the problem, like banning teens from using cell phones while driving.
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Tony Harris.
HARRIS: And welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.
Good morning. I'm Tony Harris.
Breaking news this hour. U.S. forces coming home from the war zone.
President Bush spelling out his plan of action just last hour. He says about 8,000 American forces will be back home by February, they're drawing down in phases.
A Marine battalion numbering about 1,000 troops will be leaving Iraq as scheduled in November and not be replaced. An Army brigade of up to 4,000 will be withdrawn in February, and more than 3,000 combat support forces will come home over the next few months.
President Bush credits the so-called troop surge for helping to bring down violence in Iraq. Reporter Bob Woodward says the president pushed the surge strategy on top military commanders and advisers despite their concerns.
Woodward discussed it last night with our Larry King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB WOODWARD, AUTHOR, "THE WAR WITHIN": He never found a way to level with the American people and say, look, I know it's not working; we're going to fix it. He would go out and say, it's tough. But then he would say things like, we're absolutely winning, we're winning, when he knew we were not, when the generals knew we were not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: White House Press Secretary, Dana Perino, rejects Bob Woodward's assertions. Perino says -- quote --"I don't necessarily think that the conclusions are supported by a lot of the facts in the book."
We will hear much more from Larry's interview with Bob Woodward next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The Bush administration is getting a passing grade on national security, but just barely. A new report on terror threats and weapons of mass destruction gives the U.S. an overall grade of C. The report, by former members of the 9/11 Commission and other security experts, says the U.S. is still dangerously vulnerable to attack. They say efforts to reduce access to nuclear technology and bomb making materials need to move faster. They also point to a lack of security of thousands of chemical plants. The report does, however, recognize progress the Bush administration has made on several fronts, including ramping up security at U.S. ports. The full report is due out tomorrow.
Who is No. 1 among the No. 2s? We will have new results poll results on the VP candidates and we will take a look behind the numbers, a reality check, on how polls are actually conducted.
And we're following a developing story here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Reports that North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, is seriously ill and may have suffered a stroke. The latest on this story ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Who's No. 1 among the No. 2s? We have some new poll numbers out on the vice presidential picks -- 57 percent of respondents in the CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll have a favorable opinion of John McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin. That compares to a 51 percent favorable rating for Joe Biden, Barack Obama's VP choice. The poll also points to a gender gap in support for Palin -- 62 percent of men say they had a favorable opinion of her, compared to 53 percent of women.
With the election nearing, it seems these polls and these numbers are flying at us from every conceivable direction, some more reliable than others it seems. Some less. So we thought we'd take a look behind the numbers and explain how the polls are actually conducted.
Josh Levs is here with another one of these reality checks on who gets polled.
I've never been polled. Probably a good thing because I would probably just try to jam up the sample with answers that were just strictly contrarian.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's one of the things we're going to talk about, whether you can trust all the answers.
OK, but do people always ask you about these polls? Are they always asking you?
HARRIS: Absolutely.
LEVS: Outside the confines of CNN and inside people --
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: This poll says this, that poll says that. Where is the consistency in the polls?
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: And how come I never get a call? And if this is really representative, why is no one saying what I think? HARRIS: Exactly.
LEVS: We get these questions all the time. So we're going to reality check this. We have an easy way to do it. I'm going to bring in our polling guru right here. Keating Holland who is joining us from Washington, D.C.
Keating, you're there --
Oh, hey.
HARRIS: There he is.
KEATING HOLLAND, CNN POLLING DIRECTOR: Good to see you.
LEVS: So Keating, help me out here. Start off with a very simple question, who gets polled?
HOLLAND: Everyone in the America has a shot at getting polled. We use a technique called random digit dialing. Anyone with a telephone -- and we have a computer that randomly dials some numbers. And so anyone in America has a shot at being in our sample.
The question as to why you haven't been polled is pretty simple. We poll tens of thousands of people each year. But there are hundreds of millions of people in the United States. So the chance that you specifically will get polled is pretty small. But the chances that someone like you will get polled is pretty good.
LEVS: Yes but a lot of people say there is no one like them.
What I want to do is bring up a graphic that I made of some information that you've given us, which basically summarizes what you were just saying, how incredibly difficult it is to be one of these people who gets polled. So the calls are random you're saying. And from what you told me, it's about 25,000 people a year. But that only boils down to -- look at that -- one-eighth of 1 percent of the U.S. adult population.
So Keating, given that, how do we know that we're actually representing a sample of -- a cross-sample -- of voters across the country?
HOLLAND: The point is, everyone has an equal chance of being selected because we're dialing numbers randomly. Occasionally, we do wind up having too many old people, too few young people. There is a simple technique called weighting which has been used for six decades to very good affect. And we'll adjust the numbers to make sure that they reflect the census numbers in terms of the entire U.S. population.
LEVS: OK. All right. I've understood most of that, and I'm sure the basic concept is still there.
All right, now one thing I've been hearing a lot about lately is whether polls look at adult Americans, or registered voters, or likely voters. As I understand it, we look at likely voters, right?
HOLLAND: No. We're still doing registered voters.
LEVS: OK. How did we decide? And when do we make that change?
HOLLAND: We'll probably make the change in a week or two. You try not to do that immediately during or after conventions, at least most people feel that way. Some polls have already started doing likely voters. Some polls have been doing likely voters practically since is the start of the year. It's a technique that there's different editorial views on.
Our views is that after the conventions is a good time to start doing that. One of the reasons is that there's three components in the likely voter model. One of them is interest in the campaign.
LEVS: Right.
HOLLAND: If you've just seen the Super Bowl and I call you up and say how interested are you in football, you're going to be a very different answer than if I ask you that in the middle of the summer.
LEVS: And Keating, I've actuality got a list up now. This is a graphic of some things you told me in advance about likely voters. That they are registered, they say they're definitely going to vote, also, past voting behavior and interest in the campaign.
So basically, when you do the poll, you get this person on the phone, you try to find out all four things about them, you trust their answers. And if they meet all four criteria, they're likely voters. Is that it?
HOLLAND: Essentially, yes.
LEVS: OK. Now, so much talk about how during the primary -- because of this massive contest between Clinton and Obama -- all these new Democrats registered, and Democratic officials keep saying it's a tremendous advantage going into November. So when we start looking at likely voters, are we expecting to see a lot more Democratic likely voters because they just registered?
HOLLAND: We might. The key thing is that as long as they're registered to vote, and they tell us they're registered to vote, they'll start to pass through the rest of the screen. The other key thing is that if they say they're likely to vote, they say they voted in the past, we also make a small adjustment for people who were too young to have any voting behavior at all, and their interest in the campaign. Stir it all together, have a simple calculation, and out the other side comes the people that we think are the likeliest to vote.
LEVS: OK. We have to tie it up. But before we go, I want to ask you something. This is what Tony was just getting at.
HARRIS: Yes. LEVS: If I get a call, right? And I'm polled and I say I want Lindsay Lohan's mom for president, do you take whatever I say and you say, OK, that's it and it's legit. Or, do you start to listen to the answers and you say this person is not taking us seriously, trash this --
HARRIS: You better factor that out quickly.
HOLLAND: I tell you, one interesting experience I had back in the days when I was doing interviews myself in order to make money to get through school --
HARRIS: There you go.
HOLLAND: -- and got someone on the phone who admitted, after a couple of questions, that he was a member of the KKK. And he told me that as far as he was concerned, politicians could go out back out with a noose and a one-legged milking stool and when they got tired of balancing, they could hang. Shortly after that he hung up.
What tends to happen is, people who give us answers like that, won't go through the 15 or 20 minutes that we normally --
LEVS: Got it. So they weed themselves out, basically.
HOLLAND: They select themselves out.
LEVS: We've got to run. But I cannot tell you how helpful this is.
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: You gave us so many keen answers. Thank you so much. We're going to be doing this more during the campaign season.
Folks, there's your reality check. That's what you get in our poll.
HARRIS: Good stuff. That's what I'm talking about.
LEVS: See, that's what we're talking about.
HARRIS: Another reality check. Well done.
LEVS: I'm sure Mrs. Lohan would make a fine president.
HARRIS: Thank you, Josh. Appreciate it.
OK. Saturday, Sunday night beginning at 9:00 Eastern, Sarah Palin, Joe Biden, just who are they? America's vice presidential candidates revealed, back to back, CNN special report, Saturday and Sunday night, beginning at 9:00 Eastern, only on CNN.
And CNN gives you complete coverage, complete coverage, not just one story about goats, but two. One group hard at work. The other here, well, falling down on the job. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, many of the world's top oil men are gathering in Vienna today. And the decision they make could affect crude prices and gas prices. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details of the OPEC meeting.
And Susan, this is about supply, production and price, isn't it?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. And because prices have come down, there's real thought about cutting production. But the thought now is that that won't happen. But certainly it's a big question at today's OPEC meeting, Tony.
Saudi Arabia wants to keep production levels steady because they say the market is well-balanced. But Iran and some other members are pushing for a reduction in output in an effort to boost prices. Saudi Arabia, however, is OPEC's biggest member and its influence over the 13-nation cartel is enormous, Tony, as is the decision always.
HARRIS: Yes. I've got to ask you. If no change is made to production levels, how much of an impact could that actually have on the price of oil?
LISOVICZ: Well, it could keep prices going in the direction we've seen, and that is down, because global demand is falling and Kuwait's oil minister warns of oversupply. For OPEC, of course, it's a balancing act. Members there want to make money but need a price that the market can afford. An oil analyst says the U.S. is also a factor because we're the world's biggest oil consumers. And if OPEC cuts production, it could spark a political firestorm that would make OPEC a part of the presidential election.
Right now crude is down two-and-a-half bucks, trading at just under $104 a barrel, and that is down more than $40 from July's record high. But that's not helping the blue chips right now. Well, we gained a lot yesterday, giving some back. Blue chips down right now 69 points, although Fannie Mae is making a comeback, it's up 16.5 percent. The Nasdaq, by the way, is down about half a percent, Tony.
And I believe you're getting a famous shoutout in the next hour from a homeboy --
HARRIS: Thanks to you. Thanks to you.
LISOVICZ: -- in Baltimore.
HARRIS: I appreciate it. Thank you, Susan. See you next hour.
There is a hot new breeding farm making money up in Maine. They breed fainting goats. No, these animals aren't sick. Instead they have a condition known as myotonia. It causes the muscles to stiffen up when the goat is frightened. They just kind of tip over after that. But they get up just fine and they kind of shake it off. Fainting goat experts, who knew there were such a thing, say the goats have the same life expectancy as other goats. The breeders in Maine say they can get up to $350 for each of the fainters.
OK. The regular goats are having a field day of their own in Los Angeles. The city is using them in some areas to clear overgrown brush. Not only are the goats cheaper than regular labor, they're more fun to look at. It is costing $3,000 to rent 100 goats for two days. Next up, the goats are off to clear around 80 acres at a nearby college.
The incredible beauty -- yes, beauty -- of Hurricane Ike from space. Down below, a different story. The storm shows its beastly side to Haiti.
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HARRIS: Hurricane Ike, the fourth in a parade of tropical systems to slam Haiti. CNN's Karl Penhaul now from the hard-hit city of Gonaives.
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KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Cut off from the outside, awash with filthy sludge and floodwater. The Haitian city of Gonaives is still counting its dead from back-to-back killer storms.
(on camera): The only way into the city right now is either by sea or by air. We've managed to hitch a ride on one of the United Nations helicopters. (INAUDIBLE) ... bringing fresh drinking water (INAUDIBLE) a lot of people have been left without shelter.
(voice-over): This disaster has destroyed what little these already desperate poor Haitians have left to lose. Gonaives was last wrecked by floods in 2004. Disasters here are part natural -- and part man-made due to deforestation of nearby hills and crumbling drainage canals.
"The flood washed away everything. I couldn't save anything. They should just move this city. Floods always destroy it," he says.
(on camera): Many of the main streets of Gonaives are still knee-deep in water and thick, brown sludge. Right now we're following one of the United Nations bay convoys. They're heading towards the downtown area and hope to be able to hand out much needed drinking water and some food supplies, too.
(voice-over): Hundreds sheltering in this school say they haven't relief aid in a week. Dirty faces tell a tale. Hardly enough water to drink, let alone wash.
Rosalyn Josef (ph) made it to safety with her three children.
"My home's destroyed. I have no place to live with my kids. Everything I had just washed away," she tells me.
U.N. soldiers pass out supplies. Desperation and starvation quickly plunged the food line into chaos. Troops push back with riot shields. Fights break out -- hungry hands for hungry mouths. One tiny survivor summons all his strength to waddle away with more than he can carry. Those who did not receive a food parcel make a break for drier ground. They've salvaged a few belongings and carried them in sacks and plastic tubs. A bedraggled procession of the damned.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Gonaives, Haiti.
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HARRIS: Unbelievable. Our CNN i-Reporters following Ike's deadly trip across the Caribbean. CNN's Errol Barnett is here with the videos.
And Errol, those picture, those scenes, are just so hard to look at. Folks, are clearly suffering and our i-Reporters are capturing some of those images as well.
ERROL BARNETT, CNN IREPORT CORRESPONDENT: Tony, this entire region is suffering right now. Let me just explain what this map is. It's on ireport.com. It allows to us see from where video and images are being sent. You can see south Florida here.
First we just heard about Haiti. Let's take a look at that. This i-Report was sent to us by Joel Trimble. He's in Haiti right now. As we just heard, this a country suffering some of the major effects from Hanna and Ike. Joel Trimble has been sending us video. He talked about the floodwaters in some areas being 10 feet deep. He was also astonished at the thousands of displaced peoples he saw there walking around. We know there has been an issue getting aid to those individuals.
We have another i-Reporter in the Dominican Republic sending us video. This comes to us my Misael Rincon. He shot this video in the Seibo in the Dominican Republic. It shows the continuing rain there and he wrote about the wind. You can see what a challenge just driving there is after Hurricane Ike has moved through.
We also have i-Reports, though -- let's get -- actually let's take a look --
HARRIS: And as you do that, probably important to mention, we're talking about the same land mass in two countries. We're talking about the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Same land mass just --
BARNETT: Yes, right here. And Ike is now -- Hanna did this, Gustav did this. They've really had an impact on this entire Caribbean region. This image actually comes to us from the Turks and Caicos islands, another area in the Caribbean being impacted.
This was sent to us by Bohrman Chand (ph). He lives there. This is outside of his home. He experienced winds from 50 to 90 miles per hour.
But as we talked about, we also have i-Reports a bit closer to home here. This came to us just in the past 24 hours in south Florida. This is an image sent to us by Angelica Green (ph). You can see boarded buildings saying, Stay Away Ike. And if you look closely, it looks as if there has been a different hurricane's name underneath there. I'm sure they change it each week.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes. That's so unfortunate but, yes, it looks that way.
BARNETT: More images now from south Florida. This was sent to us by Jim Stafford. He is saying that all of the storms are sending heavy surf to south Florida. He says, after almost two weeks of heavy surf from Hanna and Ike that sand in short supply. So all of these areas in the Caribbean, south Florida, suffering the heavy impact. And now as Ike moves from this area to the Texas coast, we'll keep an eye on it.
HARRIS: Very good.
BARNETT: But don't put yourself in harm's way to send in images or video
HARRIS: And let's add to that.
Errol, appreciate it. Thank you.
And remember, as always, we invite you to send us your i-Reports. Just go to ireport.com or you can type ireport@CNN.com into your cell phone. We always remind you to be safe.
Unnecessary roughness? Fans complain of excessive force by police after a college football game. A university president is demanding answers.
And we are following a developing story here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Reports that North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il, is seriously ill and may have suffered a stroke. The latest on this story, ahead in the NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
