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Six Tornadoes Rip Through Indiana; Couple Killed in 'Ninja' Robbery; Financial Tricks and Treats; Best Video of the Day; Storms Moving Through Atlanta & Southeast; Heat Fizzles in Season Opener; World Series Game One: Pitching Takes Center Stage

Aired October 27, 2010 - 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: Good morning, everyone. Live from Studio 7 at CNN world headquarters, the big stories for this Wednesday, October 27th.

Day two of record-breaking storms now bringing blizzard conditions to the northern plains. Look at this. That's after whipping two dozen suspected tornadoes and hurricane-force winds across the country.

Plus, a man suspected in the stomping of a young woman outside a political debate is identified, summoned to court, and kicked off Republican Rand Paul's volunteer staff.

Six days before midterm elections, political attacks at their worse.

And TV heavyweights. Do you want to see plus-sized people in your favorite shows? I will talk to the CNN.com writer whose article set off a really big debate.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Those stories and your comments right here, right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.

OK. First up this morning, a monster storm raging for a second day. Right? Severe weather stretching across the entire eastern third of the country. The system has already left a huge path of destruction.

Take a look at the video here while we get you to Rob Marciano. Folks in North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, as well as Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois, are cleaning up right now. At least 24 possible tornadoes reported.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Indiana, as I think you know, has been hardest hit by the tornadoes. Six confirmed there.

Dan Hill witnessed one of those twisters, and he joins us on the phone now from La Porte, Indiana.

Dan, good to talk to you. Describe for us what you saw. DAN HILL, EYEWITNESS TO TORNADO: Well, it was typical morning. We had winds. They were talking about wind. Not really a lot of mention of tornadoes.

I was sitting at my desk. We have got -- we're a small town, so we've got a local siren at the end going off.

I went by the front door by the office and looked around to make sure everything was OK, and at that point nothing had touched the ground. I called down my service manager over. You know, we were standing there looking at it, and all of a sudden, I said, "Does that look like it's forming into something?" And at that point, it dropped down, and literally ripped our pole barn roof off and smashed it into the building, and chaos.

It was pretty exciting.

HARRIS: What did you do? Where did you go? How did you respond?

HILL: Well, we don't really have basements. You know, Indiana is flat, at least where we're at. But we do work on large industrial recycling equipment, and it's heavy.

So we talked about this in the past. That's probably the safest place to go. So, all of our workers ran for these bailers, and did the best they could. But literally, from the time it touched down right in front of us, until it was beyond us, was probably 10 seconds.

HARRIS: Had you ever seen a tornado before other than what we all see on television?

HILL: No. No, not really.

HARRIS: So what did it really look like compared to what you've seen in the movies and on television?

HILL: Well, I'll tell you, the reason that we were taken off guard is because when we initially looked, it was merely a cloud formation that looked a little odd. And boom, it was on the ground. And as soon as it touched the ground, it sucked up material and then you could see the shape of it immediately.

From that point there wasn't a whole lot of time to stare at it. I saw the beginning of the roof come off, and it was time to find a home.

HARRIS: Boy. Good stuff, Dan. Glad that you and all of your colleagues are safe and sound, and thanks for the pictures.

Dan Hill for us from La Porte, Indiana.

Got to tell you, we are hearing from other tornado survivors, many shocked that no one was killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of a sudden the wind kicked up. I was trying to hold the glass door shut. It blew him through the glass door. It slid us back into the foyer about five feet.

It was like a bomb went off. And you heard no -- you didn't hear the tornado, like how they say it sounds like a freight train. You heard a little whistle, and it was like an explosion of glass everywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was horrifying. Everything shook. It was like a freight train. It didn't last maybe two minutes, and everything was just torn to pieces.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Wow.

OK. Let's get to politics now.

Unless you've been living in a cave, you know the hotly-contested midterm elections are just six days away. Millions of voters will cast ballots in the battle for control of Congress. Come next week, Americans will decide all 435 House seats and 37 Senate seats. Also, 37 states will elect governors.

We thought we would let you hear how the candidates for governor of South Carolina take on the nation's top issue. It's jobs, of course. They sparred over their ideas for bringing jobs to the state during a debate last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: And we have to understand that we do have 11 percent unemployment. But while we have 11 percent unemployment, we also have 54,000 open jobs that our South Carolina businesses need to fill, and they're going out of state and out of country to get it. That's a South Carolina problem.

We have to understand that when we bring in jobs, we need to bring in good quality jobs. And the way we're going to do that is we're going to have a tax structure that allows them to make profits and cash flow, because when you give businesses cash flow, the first thing they do is hire people.

VINCENT SHEHEEN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: I want to be that governor who, again, believes it's the governor's top priority to recruit business and industry into South Carolina. I want to help to reform our tax code. We have a very convoluted tax code that places an increasing burden on small business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. Here's a look at the debate match-ups for tonight.

Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi Giannoulias face off in the closely-watched Illinois Senate race. The Louisiana Senate candidates meet in a debates at 7:00 Eastern. And debates also take place in the governors races in New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Later in the hour, our political update from our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry.

Prosecutors say it was cold-blooded murder. Men dressed as Ninjas break into a house and kill a couple known for adopting special needs children. Emotional testimony from the trial.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. Testimony is under way in a sensational murder trial in Florida. Prosecutors say a team of men dressed like Ninjas broke into a home and killed a man and his wife execution style.

Here's the shocking surveillance tape. Take a look at it.

It is a bit grainy, but it shows one of the men hovering over the husband with a gun. Yes, that's not that tough to make out.

The couple, Byrd and Melanie Billings, had 13 special needs children. Nine were in the house at that time. A neighbor discovered the bodies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did you find Mr. Billings?

APRIL SPENCER, FOUND BODIES, CALLED 911: He was in the bedroom in front of the dresser, face down. In the bedroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you find Mrs. Billings also in there?

SPENCER: She was in front of the closet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Oh, man. The alleged ringleader -- his name, Leonard Gonzalez, Jr. -- is on trial for first-degree murder.

In this week's edition of "Sunny's Law," Sunny Hostin from "In Session" on our sister network, truTV, joins us to talk about this trial.

Sunny, great to see you, as always.

Look, Sunny, this appears to me to be something of an open and shut case. I know you're going to take a different tact on this, particularly when you consider the number of surveillance cameras in the home at the time. SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION," TRUTV: Well, you know, the prosecution has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, Tony, and that's a really high, high bar. It's a high burden, and it's no less in this case.

Although there were 16 cameras, there were no cameras in the master bedroom where the murders took place. The only witness to these heinous murders was an autistic child who the prosecution is not going to call to the witness stand.

And so what the prosecution's case really I think hinges upon is the testimony of two co-defendants who have pled guilty. And that's a dangerous place for a prosecution's case to rest, because all the defense needs is one juror, just one juror not to believe one of those, you know, defendants, and you could be in reasonable doubt land, and you could get an acquittal. So I would never, ever say that it's a slam-dunk case.

HARRIS: Yes, you don't. No, no. And you're smart to advise that. We don't do it here.

But we're talking about eight people arrested, and we have, as you mentioned, guilty pleas on two of them. And they're going to provide some testimony against Gonzalez. So, guilty pleas, surveillance video, isn't that enough?

HOSTIN: It may be. It may very well be. I'm not sure, but I will say, one of those, sort of, that turned state evidence did testify yesterday. And he was also on the witness stand this morning being cross-examined.

And from Jeanne Casaras (ph), who has been in the courtroom, she said that jurors were riveted by his testimony, they were listening. And she thought that he was very credible. And so that is a good thing for this prosecution. They did plead guilty to second degree murder, Tony, and they are both facing life in prison.

HARRIS: Yes. Is this a death penalty case, Sunny?

HOSTIN: It is. It is a death penalty case. And so, should Gonzalez be convicted, there will be a penalty phase.

And so I think what I do want to say is this is sort of reminiscent of the Cheshire, Connecticut, case, the death penalty case, the Steven Hayes case. And it seems that home invasions are happening everywhere, but our viewers should know, Tony, it is a rare rarity that these home invasions take place. They just doesn't happen all that often.

HARRIS: Yes. "Sunny's Law" for this week.

Sunny, see you next week. Appreciate it. Thank you. Good to see you.

HOSTIN: See you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Still to come in the CNN NEWSROOM, credit cards or cash? The tricks on how to best reduce your debt.

And I haven't even peeked at the markets. OK. They're over my shoulder here. Thanks.

We are in negative territory, as you can see here for yourself, clearly. We are down 135 points.

We're going to be following these numbers throughout the day -- that's pretty ugly -- right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A quick break and we're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Let's get to some financial news now.

Halloween just a couple of days away -- four days away -- but no need to be spooked by your finances, although we often are.

Stephanie Elam is here with some financial tricks and treats.

Stephanie, good to see you. Where do you want to start?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony. Yes, and that's the thing, people get a little scared when they look at their wallets.

HARRIS: Yes, we get spooked.

ELAM: Look at their -- see what's going on with their finances.

HARRIS: OK. Yes.

ELAM: You know, when you think about it, so many people are trying to pay down their debt and trying to get their finances in order. That is, can really makes financial decisions that look good on paper, seem like a good idea, but then they end up costing you more in the long run.

So, first off, let's talk about people who are saying, you know what? I'm going to stop using credit cards. I'm going to cash only. That's what I'm going to do.

And obviously, for a lot of people this may be a good idea. It can help with their spending, especially when you take into account that the average household has $16,000 in credit card debt.

Now, Gail Cunningham (ph) at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, says people who pay with cash, they actually save 20 percent over those who charge their purchases. So there's definitely something to it -- Tony. HARRIS: Oh, yes. But is that going to hurt, ultimately, your credit score?

ELAM: Well, that's a good point, because it could. Because the trick here is, while you may be saving, you are essentially eliminating your credit score.

So, John Ulzheimer from Credit.com says that if you truly shut down all of your credit use, you will have no recent activity on your credit reports, and then it will look like you are 18 all over again, trying to start a credit file. So that's not a place you want to be. So, Cunningham says if you want to start to use cash, keep at least three active and open lines of credit to maintain a positive credit file and just pay them off each month -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. So if we get -- a lot of us get those offers in the mail to transfer your balance. Is that a good thing?

ELAM: Well, see, that's the thing. With the treat here, obviously when you transfer these balances over, usually they come with the incentive of a lower interest rate. Obviously, that's great, you can help pay down that debt quicker and it's costing you less.

But there are a few tricks here. Ulzheimer says you've got to watch out for the fees. The fees can range from 2.5 percent to up to 9 percent. Nine percent, so pay attention to that detail.

Also, some look at a lower interest rate as an excuse to charge more. They're like, well, I'm only paying this much, so, sure, go for it, I can charge more. But when the low rate expires, you might be left with a higher balance than you would have had originally. So you've got to really review the terms before you transfer more and you're stuck with a bigger balance -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right. Let's do this, Stephanie. We've got to sneak in a break. We've got a breaking weather news here.

When we come back, let's get to some of your advice on those reward cards.

We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: I've got to tell you, it's Halloween trick or treats really for adults. We're talking about reward cards. Tough to resist, right?

All right. Let's get back to Stephanie Elam.

And Stephanie, if you would, these reward cards are everywhere. Maybe walk through the pros and cons of them for us.

ELAM: Yes. Maybe there are some 18-year-olds out there, maybe some teenagers, too, so 17-year-olds. I don't know.

But, Tony, this is something we all need to think about. You know those reward cards?

HARRIS: Oh, yes.

ELAM: A lot of us have them. I have one, I know, and I use it like crazy. But it's true, about 60 percent of consumers have reward credit cards, and the treat can come in the form of airline miles, cash back, points for big purchases. You know, the stuff that we like, those perks.

If you travel a lot and you get to keep these points if your work lets you, if you travel for work, that's also really great. But reward cards can be very useful vehicles as long as you are not spending more just so that you can earn the rewards and then have trouble paying it back -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes. What's the catch here? There's got to be a catch, right?

ELAM: Yes. You know, it's all about that fine print again, because the reward categories often change month to month, or are simply just cut and they're just gone. So, that free plane ticket or the cash back that you were expecting might not exist anymore.

Also, watch out for annual membership fees, as well as also high APRs. Simply put, if you can't afford to pay off the balance every month, then rewards cards are probably not for you, Tony. Something to keep in mind.

HARRIS: That is terrific. Yes. Yes.

All right, Stephanie. Appreciate it. "Top Tips," great advice.

ELAM: Enjoy your tricks and treats.

HARRIS: Yes. You're not trying to catch a flight today, are you?

ELAM: No. In fact, my husband tried to fly to Atlanta. Got to Charlotte, and boarded a flight to Atlanta which was then canceled. So he just flew home, poor thing. Just spent the day in the airport.

HARRIS: Yes. Oh. Well, back with the family.

ELAM: Yes.

HARRIS: All right, Stephanie. Appreciate it. Thank you.

ELAM: Sure.

HARRIS: If you are still looking for work after being unemployed for a year or more, you are far from alone. Our guest Susan Economy shares her personal story. That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Trying to get in the best video of the day. There is a lot out there, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, my gosh. So many to choose from it was hard to select for today. But --

HARRIS: What's hot?

JERAS: What's hot? All right.

Check out this video, this is just amazing. A race car driver is trying to break a record. This is underground racing, mind you.

HARRIS: I hope the driver doesn't break his neck trying to break the record.

JERAS: Yes. This is called one-mile racing. There's the one mile. Parachute deploys. Yikes. Look at that, cartwheel after cartwheel after cartwheel.

HARRIS: Again, hoping the driver didn't break his neck while trying to break a record.

JERAS: He walked away. Walked away from this. Unbelievable, yes. Incredible pictures. You just kind of cringe watching it over and over again.

HARRIS: But the reality is they do a great job these days at engineering these cars so that you can -- isn't that amazing.

JERAS: It's a Lamborghini.

HARRIS: It's a Lamborghini?

JERAS: Yes.

HARRIS: Well, hey, now.

JERAS: I know.

HARRIS: What else do you have for us today?

JERAS: If you can afford one of those. Right? You have a crash, you might be all right.

This is fun video. This one I just love. It touches the heart. Check it out. Everybody's going to say, aww, this is a baby who apparently has a whole lot of faith.

HARRIS: What's going on here?

JERAS: This is a church service and the baby has its eyes closed, arm in the air, feeling the love.

HARRIS: Is that legit? That's not superimposed or something? JERAS: Perhaps somebody was coaching the baby. I don't know. What do you think?

HARRIS: Yes, the baby seems to be in the moment.

JERAS: It's adorable. Is it not one of the --

HARRIS: Ooh. Sweet Jesus and salvation and hallelujah.

JERAS: I know. Isn't that great?

HARRIS: All right. Cute baby.

JERAS: It's worth a look if nothing else, right?

HARRIS: Yes, that's good.

JERAS: And last but not least, we mentioned "Dancing with the Stars Yesterday." Big surprise. Look who got voted off.

HARRIS: I haven't been watching but who is she?

JERAS: She's from "The Hills," Audrina Partridge.

HARRIS: That's a popular show with the kids, right?

JERAS: Yes. Very popular with the young kids.

HARRIS: Was she a good dancer?

JERAS: You know, apparently she was --

HARRIS: Was it unfair? A bad call by the judges?

JERAS: It was apparently a bad call. Word is on the street is that she's not really connecting a lot with the audience in the way that some of the other dancers are. But some of the other favorites like Jennifer Grey and Bristol Palin still in the competition. But she's got a new reality show, so hey, she's still a winner, right?

HARRIS: Wow. And as we all know, word the street rules.

JERAS: Always.

HARRIS: Let's, let's -- before we go, we've got something for you to think about. Which of these items -- ready for a little quiz here -- flying off of store shelves right now despite the shaky economy? A, television sets; B, RVs; C, jewelry; or D, organic pet food?

The answer after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: OK. We are continuing to follow the story of this storm system. What a storm system. Really did a lot of damage yesterday, right through Chicago and Indiana, and just kept moving east and it continues to move east today.

Shots now up of Hearts Field Jackson International Airport in the Atlanta area, obviously. And that system continues to move east. The tornado watch has expired, but there is always the possibility with this storm -- we've seen it already, that it -- was it a watch or a warning? It was actually a warning and now it's a watch. But this thing could intensify. We've seen it happen in the past here. So we're going to continue to watch this and get you some additional information.

We're trying to catch up with Darnell Fullum. He is the director of the Atlanta Fulton County Emergency Management Agency to get an update on what this storm is doing to the Atlanta area right now. And when we get him on the phone, we'll spend a couple of minutes for him.

If you're looking for work for more than a year and a half and you're finding it difficult, I want to share the story of our next guest. Her name is Susan Economy.

And Susan, I wanted to have you on the program because I heard your story on the radio as I was driving home, I guess it was last week or something. You are 64-years-old, correct?

SUSAN ECONOMY, UNEMPLOYED 64-YEAR-OLD: Sixty-four.

HARRIS: Sixty-four years old and you lost your job when? Tell us what you were doing for the living, the kind of money you were making and the position that you find yourself in today.

ECONOMY: OK. Well, I was laid off after working for a major department store after 36 years.

HARRIS: Were you an executive assistant?

ECONOMY: I was an executive assistant.

HARRIS: Yes. How many years did you work there?

ECONOMY: 36.

HARRIS: Thirty-six years. How much were you making?

ECONOMY: 48,500.

HARRIS: Why were you laid off? Were you given a reason as to why you were laid off?

ECONOMY: Well they moved departments to different parts of the country and closed most of the corporate office. This affected -- the cutbacks affected about 1,000 employees. And I was basically forced into early retirement at 63.

HARRIS: And so what is that moment like? Did you spend some time looking for other jobs?

ECONOMY: Oh, absolutely, immediately. HARRIS: And what happened?

ECONOMY: You send out your resumes, and every once in a while you'll get a form letter back. I did a lot of it online. You get a form letter back saying that they received so many applications that if they have a position where I would qualify they would get back in touch.

HARRIS: You haven't given up?

ECONOMY: Oh, no. Oh, no.

HARRIS: You're still in a hunt for that job.

ECONOMY: I'm still in the hunt.

HARRIS: I ask that because there was a moment in the piece that I heard where you seemed to be suggesting that you had enough, you were tired of looking and you'd given up. And we don't want you to give up.

ECONOMY: Right. Well, what I found myself doing lately is looking to a lot of the social services for assistance, and --

HARRIS: Food stamps. Did you apply for food stamps?

ECONOMY: I tried. And trying to get through to the agencies is very daunting. I did hear that the Salvation Army could help you with your Georgia power bill. Well, you can only call at 9:00 on Monday mornings, and if you can't get through, then that's when they make all of the appointments for the week.

HARRIS: So it's been difficult connecting to social services to get that social safety net that's going to help you.

ECONOMY: Absolutely.

HARRIS: So how are you living now?

ECONOMY: Well, I have some pension and I have Social Security and I'm still on unemployment. But the reason I was trying to reach out to these other social services is that eventually my unemployment will go away.

HARRIS: OK. You know we need you to stay in here. If we're going to bounce back as a nation, we need you, your experience, and folks like you in your position to help us back, right, from where we are.

ECONOMY: I would love to.

HARRIS: So what we're going to do is, we're going to track your story, OK?

ECONOMY: OK.

HARRIS: You continue to hunt for that job.

ECONOMY: OK. All right.

HARRIS: We will check in weekly or so. I'll just call you and find out how things are going for you, all right?

ECONOMY: That would be wonderful.

HARRIS: Because we want you to be the story -- we want you to be that line of support for folks who are going through that same thing that you're going throughout, right?

ECONOMY: Absolutely.

HARRIS: And they can learn from your experience. All right. So we're just going to check in with you from time to time, find out how you're doing. But we don't want to you give up.

ECONOMY: OK.

HARRIS: All right.

ECONOMY: All right.

HARRIS: Susan, it's great to see you.

ECONOMY: Thank you. Thank you.

HARRIS: All right. We've got this other big story that we need to get a quick update on. Don't you go anywhere. Stay right here.

Rob Marciano right behind me now. Rob, give us the latest on the storm system moving through the Atlanta area and east.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You got it. And it stretches not only from Atlanta, but back through Alabama, which east central Alabama has really been getting the brunt of this.

Now we have another tornado warning out, not for the Atlanta metro but for parts south and east of Birmingham and Aniston, Alabama. South central Clay County, Coosa County, and Tallpoosa County. This storm also is moving northeasterly at about 35-miles an hour. So it continues to kind of roll and intersect in a diagonal nature to the I- 20, and it will probably take a similar path to what we're seeing right now. So, the Atlanta area is seeing some storms, at least southwest of town.

This live shot -- I think we got a live shot. There it is. That looks fairly ominous. Although I can't really see it from here.

HARRIS: Yes, it does.

MARCIANO: It just looks dark from my vantage point. WSB thanks for that shot. I think that's down near the airport, clearly pointing in the direct of this cell that at one point was rotating, and had a tornado warnings. It is weakening. That's good news. Of course, from that live picture it doesn't look terribly weak. You still want to stay inside if you live in south Fulton County, especially, as this thing rolls across the Atlanta metropolitan area. It will be a rough go on the ATL for the next 30 to 45 minutes, at least. And this tornado watch is in effect right on through 1:00 p.m.

HARRIS: All right, Rob, don't go anywhere because we've got Darnell Fullum. He is the director of the Atlanta Fulton County Emergency Management Agency.

Darnell, good to talk to you. If you would, give us a sense of what the storm is doing as it moves through Fulton Country. Any damage to report?

DARNELL FULLUM, FULTON COUNTY, GA, DIR. OF EMERGENCY MGMT.: We are experiencing light damage. Right now we're going through and contacting each one of our cities and getting an update. But, currently, we are not experiencing any damage in the area that was previously under a warning. As I heard, we are under a watch. We will be monitoring this all day long.

HARRIS: Are we talking about any power lines down?

FULLUM: Trees down. Mainly trees down at this point. But once again, we're continuing to get information in from our cities.

HARRIS: Darnell, I want you to have a listen to Rob.

Rob, how much longer is this system going to be in the Fulton County area, including Atlanta?

MARCIANO: Well, it's just entering south Fulton County and the Atlanta metro, and the problem is, and I'm sure Mr. Fullum has access to some of his radar technology, as well. But this line of storms is pretty much training over the same area.

So even though it's just entering the Atlanta area now, we'll likely get cells rumbling across the same area here maybe for as many as one to two or more hours. So, Mr. Fullum, any kids -- I assume, they're not letting kids out of school early or anything like that? I know there's this myth that tornadoes can't hit big cities, and we know all too well here in Atlanta, don't we, that that is false.

FULLUM: That's true, that's true. And we found that out just a few years ago. And right now, we do not have any reports of any schools being let out. There were some cities that activated their alarms during the warning, but, as you said, we're going to be monitoring it all day long.

HARRIS: OK. Then why don't we do this? Darnell, if you would, we're going to reach out to you here, probably in the next 15 to a half hour. If you get anything, give us a heads up so that we can do the best job we can of informing the people in the southeast what's going on and certainty what might be headed their way.

Let's do this. Take a quick break and we're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So let's do this, let's get back to the answer to our question from, oh, about five or six minutes ago. Which of these items are flying off store shelves despite the shaky economy: television sets, RVs, jewelry or organic pet food? Now believe it or not, all four. "USA Today" found the richer folks are starting to buy luxuries again helped by a strong stock market.

But here's the other side of the picture for the rest of America, folks without jobs are spending a lot less. So spending is actually down for concerts, theaters and casinos. Spending on day care and education also way, way down.

Let's get you caught up on "Top Stories" now.

Brace yourself for a second round of stormy weather. The National Weather Service says severe storms are possible today from Alabama to Delaware. Snow is expected in the upper Midwest. The first wave of storms yesterday spawned tornados and knocked out power in some 200,000 homes.

A mishap in the Seattle-Tacoma Airport in Washington state just over an hour ago. Listen to this, one Alaska Airline jet was pulling out of the gate when its wing hit the rear tail of another Alaska Airline jet. Luckily, no one was injured, but 239 passengers on board one plane had to be evacuated.

And former first lady Laura Bush got some big laughs last night. She opened up about her life in the White House speaking at a women's conference attended by 14,000.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: When you live in the White House, when you're a bobble-head inside a bubble, reality can get a little warped.

When you're married to the president of the United States, you don't worry too much about him leaving his wet towels on the floor, but in Dallas, things are different. Memo to the ex-president: Turmoil in East Timor is no longer an excuse not to pick up your socks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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HARRIS: OK, here we are, six days until election day. A candidate in the California governor's race sidelined by illness, did you hear this story? Ed Henry, part of "The Best Political Team on Television" joining us from the White House.

Ed, what are you following?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Tony.

Right, we start there with Carly Fiorina running as a Republican against Barbara Boxer. You remember, she had breast cancer. She, so far, has been successful in her recovery. She had a little reconstructive surgery though and it got an infection and she's still in the hospital now. Her staff says that she's recovering well, that her doctors believe she'll be back on the campaign trail shortly.

And we should say that Senator Barbara Boxer, the incumbent there, who is up by a few points right now, but Democrats still believe it's a very close race, she took a little bit of an edge out of her stump speech yesterday when first lady Michelle Obama and others were out there, was not quite as rough as she has been in other appearances and wished Carly Fiorina well. Obviously, everyone, we join, certainly, in doing that as well.

Now we also move to the Kentucky Senate race, another one of those bitterly contested battles. Remember the stomping incident from outside the debate, a supporter for Republican Rand Paul, it's now been revealed it was a campaign volunteer for Rand Paul who identified by police as a suspect in the stomping of a woman, she was a volunteer for MoveOn.org.

Tim Profit is the volunteer's name. He was served with a criminal summons now --

HARRIS: Look at that.

HENRY: -- ordering him to appear before a judge. You see that video, unbelievable. I mean, just an ugly incident. That comes, we should say, from our affiliate WDRB-TV in Louisville.

The woman involved is Lauren Valle, an employee with the liberal group MoreOn.org. She was stomped by a man wearing a "Rand Paul for Senate" T-shirt. Again, he's now been identified and just an ugly incident. She, we're told, is recovering well.

HARRIS: Tim Profit, is that his name ?

HENRY: Yes, Tom Profit. He was a volunteer in the campaign for Rand Paul is saying he is no longer affiliated with him, they're not going to use him as a volunteer.

Now, I had a third item for you about Laura Bush, but you just gave it away.

HARRIS: Oh, did I really? That was good wasn't it?

HENRY: Yes, the socks -- the socks on the floor, that was pretty funny. I mean, I used to cover President Bush, I didn't know he left his socks laying around. I'm sure we'll hear all kinds of stuff about President Obama, three, four, maybe eight years from now.

HARRIS: He's just got to give up the smoking once and for all.

All right, Ed, good to see you, sir. We're getting the bum's rush here. See you in the next hour.

Your next political update in an hour. For the latest political news, you know where to go, that's CNNPolitics.com.

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HARRIS: Oh, the anticipation! Oh, the hype. But did LeBron James and the Heat live up to all of that noise? The revamped Heat debuted last night. And tonight is Game One of the World Series.

Max Kellerman with HBO Sports joining us from New York. Max, good to see you as always.

MAX KELLERMAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: And with CNN.

HARRIS: CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris. I gave you that line. I'll write it out next time.

So here we have the big debut of Miami's big three last night. You remember over the summer, right after LeBron and Bosh signed? You remember? Let's roll the tape of them. They were on the stage and we had all the confetti, we had all that noise. Right?

They go into Boston to start the season last night, what happened?

KELLERMAN: Well, they ran into a real team. They were -- they played like a collection of stars and not stars having particularly good games. And they ran into the Eastern Conference representatives last year in the Celtics, who came one quarter away from winning the championship.

HARRIS: That's right.

KELLERMAN: And the Celtics played an excellent game. Even though the Heat made a fourth quarter push, happens a lot in the NBA, one team narrows the gap a little, but they lost and Dwayne Wade did not look good. He missed a lot of the preseason with an injury.

HARRIS: Did not look good.

KELLERMAN: LeBron didn't look good early on. He started to look good later, and some deficiencies in the Heat and the way the team is structured without a real low post presence, I thought were really brought out by the presence of Shaquille O'Neal on the Celtics.

HARRIS: Of all people, Shaquille O'Neal. You're absolutely right about that.

So what are your -- does your opinion of this team change at all? I mean, it's one game, they weren't going to go 82-0. Doc Rivers, the coach of the Celtics, says they're going to be a great team. Your expectations for this team, where are they now?

KELLERMAN: Well, certainly it's hard to say. Well, yes, they're going to go -- yesterday, I felt, though, the Heat will get to the finals and then when you see them lose to a better team, it's difficult -- who represented the Eastern Conference, as I said -- it's difficult to then say, well, they'll be in the finals, they'll get past the Celtics.

But I did just see not so long ago LeBron and Wade and Bosh play in the Olympics. And LeBron and Wade were two of the three best players, along with Kobe Bryant on that team. So it's not as though they haven't played very well together in the past.

I think Mike Miller gets back or someone like that who can shoot the ball, and I think they'll be able to overcome the deficiencies inside, their inside game, their low post game. And at this moment if I had to handicap the East, I still like the Heat in the East.

HARRIS: Let's turn to the World Series. Game One is tonight, Texas and San Francisco. Got to tell you, if you're a sports fan, this could be really, really good, as storylines emerge here.

Set the table for Game One tonight, because potentially this could be terrific.

KELLERMAN: You know, a lot of players get called clutch in sports, and a lot of times it's nonsense. Either they had a big moment out of many and they just happened to have that moment and other moments they weren't good under pressure, or they're normally good players and under pressure they remain very good.

Occasionally, you get a player who is already excellent, because it's easier for a good player, you know, right, then now he's an excellent player. That's a clutch player. But what about a great player who under pressure becomes incredibly good?

Mariano Rivera on the Yankees is like that. Cliff Lee on Texas is that kind of player. He has been one of the big-game pitchers I've ever seen. Thus far in his career, one of the best big-game pitchers in the history of baseball.

HARRIS: Yes.

KELLERMAN: And, sure, that could change if he gets blown up by San Francisco. But he's starting for Texas tonight, and he opposes Tim Lincecum who has also been fabulous in these playoffs and has been the best pitcher in the National League overall the last three seasons. It's a great pitchers' matchup tonight.

HARRIS: So, Max, what about the redemption stories with Texas? Just to turn the focus on Texas a bit here, Josh Hamilton and even the manager here, right, Ron Washington?

KELLERMAN: Well, Ron Washington with drug use and Josh Hamilton also with drug use. You want to talk about a dramatic moment in the story? And I mentioned to you, Tony, we discussed the other day, that Hamilton, HBO's "Real Sports" did a piece on Josh Hamilton. His wife doesn't let him carry more than 100 bucks in his pocket because he could relapse at any time. So here's this multimillion-dollar athlete who can't carry a credit card.

He is a left-handed hitter. And in baseball, for those who don't know, if a right-handed pitcher is pitching and a left-handed hitter is hitting, the lefty has the advantage.

HARRIS: Oh, yes.

KELLERMAN: It's the lefty against the right. So, the pitcher, Tim Lincecum, the starting pitcher tonight, is right-handed. And as good as he is, Josh Hamilton, the left-handed slugger in the middle of that lineup, the key matchup tonight is to see whether the Giants will pitch to Hamilton.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

KELLERMAN: Will Tim Lincecum throw Hamilton strikes? And if he does, what happens to those strikes? What does Josh Hamilton do with them. That's the key matchup.

HARRIS: They may go very, very far into the night.

Max, it's good to see you. I know we don't have you the rest of the week, but come on back and join us next week. All right?

KELLERMAN: Whenever you want me, Tony. I'm here for you.

HARRIS: You got it, Doc. Good fun.