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Suicide Bomber Strikes Near Cheney in Afghanistan; Kidnapped Boy Escapes; Buildings Collapse in San Francisco; Conflicting Reports Over Ramadi Explosion

Aired February 27, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: And I'm Kyra Phillips.

Assassination attempt or just another explosion in Afghanistan? A suicide bomber blows up about a third of a mile from the vice president. We're talking to a journalist who was there.

LEMON: In the middle of the night and with no warning, residents run from a rock slide. We're live from the San Francisco neighborhood.

PHILLIPS: Child abuse or just bad parenting? He's 8 years old and weighs about 200 pounds. Should his hometown council intervene? E-mail us.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

He's usually found in the most ornate of government buildings, but today Dick Cheney was huddling in a bomb shelter. He was rushed there during a visit to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan after a suicide bomber attacked the sprawling complex. Cheney was unhurt and unfazed, but was he a Taliban target? I talked to journalist Tom Coghlan, who went to the scene just after the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM COGHLAN, JOURNALIST: The attack occurred about 500 meters from where the president (sic) was standing. And I was possibly a little further than that, and in order to reach the president, sorry, the vice president, the attacker would have had to pass the two or three more security checkpoints to get onto the base itself. And then from there would have had to track down where the vice president was.

It's a large base. And I don't know what level of intelligence the Taliban operates with. I don't expect that it's that sophisticated.

PHILLIPS: So the checkpoints that -- Tom, the checkpoints for the most part are pretty solid?

COGHLAN: They are pretty solid, yes. There's Afghan leaders coming onto the base. They're corralled (ph) in areas surrounded, actually, by wire, and they're individually checked in those areas. All Afghans coming onto the base need identification, documents, to get onto the base, coming onto the base. They're also screened coming off the base, as well.

PHILLIPS: Any proof that the Taliban has been able to infiltrate the security there at the base?

COGHLAN: I wouldn't be surprised if the Taliban has sympathizers who work inside the base, and that's certainly a possibility. And whether those sympathizers would have access to the travel plans of the vice president of the United States, I rather doubt.

But the Taliban are training -- U.S. authorities are suggesting that they think this was a fluke and that the Taliban were not privy to the details of Dick Cheney's travel arrangements. And I guess you pick which side you think is more likely to tell the truth.

PHILLIPS: Tom, thanks for your report.

COGHLAN: Thanks very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the White House condemning the attack but cautious about who was the target. Here's what press secretary Tony Snow said just a short time ago in the White House briefing room.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: You've got an isolated attack as a result -- we've often said about acts of terror, an individual who wants to commit an act of violence or kill him or herself very difficult to stop. And I'm not sure that you can draw larger conclusions about any organization based on an incident such as this.

And in this case, we have a claim of responsibility. But I'm not sure, as I said an answer to Terry's question, that we have a full picture of precisely what took place. I think it will take a while before we get that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And we're going to check in with CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry. He's at that briefing. And we'll check in with him just a little later in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: A brazen kidnapping. A daring escape. At the center of it all, 13-year-old Clay Moore. The Central Florida boy was taken at gunpoint from his school bus stop Friday and tied to a tree. But he managed to escape in an almost McGuyver-like fashion. Moore stayed silent at a news conference today, but his proud family couldn't say enough.

Jennifer Anderson from Florida affiliate Bay News 9 was there.

Jennifer, what did you find out? JENNIFER ANDERSON, BAY NEWS 9 REPORTER: Well, shortly after 11 a.m. this morning, we finally got to meet Clay Moore. He is the young man who was abducted at gunpoint. This morning, it was a different story.

Clay was all smiles as Manatee County Sheriff Charlie Wells introduced him as "a friend of mine."

And we're learning more about Clay and his amazing escape this morning. Clay's a straight "A" student at Manatee School for the Arts. In this morning's press conference, Clay's dad, mom and step- dad all talked about Clay's bravery and quick-thinking.

We also got a little more detail about what happened during the abduction. As we mentioned, Clay was abducted at gunpoint last Friday as he waited at the bus stop. But many have been wondering about the safety pin Clay used to free himself by cutting through the duct tape he was bound with.

Clay's step-dad, Steve Kelle, explained that Clay had a tear in the jacket he was wearing and just so happened to have a safety pin holding that tear together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE KELLE, STEPFATHER: As they got to the place where he was left, he was taken out of the truck and then walked out to where he was left. And on his way out to this place, he had the forethought to put the safety pin in his mouth.

I asked him last night as we were kind of going over the story, "What made you think to put a safety pin in your mouth?"

And in his words, he said, "Just thought it would be helpful."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And sheriff's officials are still on the lookout for the suspect in the case. The Sente Agnostico (ph), Voltran Moreno (ph), the FBI, ICE and Border Patrol are all assisting in the search for this man. Sheriff Charlie Wells says they have a lot of good leads, and he's extremely confident the suspect will be caught.

We're live in Manatee County, Florida. I'm Jennifer Anderson. Now back to you.

LEMON: All right. Jennifer Anderson, thank you so much for that report.

PHILLIPS: An abrupt and scary wake-up call for some San Francisco residents. A landslide in the North Beach section sent boulders and mud tumbling down a cliff and into an apartment building. No one was hurt. But it did displace a bunch of people now getting assistance from the Red Cross.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WOODY BAKER-COHN, AMERICAN RED CROSS: We've got a very steep hillside. The mud and rock has slid down. And there's some more that's sort of precariously perched. The engineering folks from the city and people they've brought in have assisted. There are a few buildings that are in danger. So at this point, we've got evacuations from one large building above and two smaller buildings below, plus three more kind of on the side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A nightclub was among the buildings damaged but a spokesperson says everyone had just left before that slide occurred.

Now, CNN does have a crew on the ground. And they just caught up with San Francisco's mayor, Gavin Newsom, and the manager of that condo building that was affected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you talking to police (ph)?

GAVIN NEWSOM, SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are they telling you?

NEWSOM: Just we're making sure everybody's taken care of. A lot of residents don't have a place to go. A lot of residents don't have family in the immediate area so they're just waiting around until we get some support from the city. We want to make sure that all of them (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell me what you've seen of the slide?

NEWSOM: Nothing more than has been reported. You guys are better than anyone else -- the fact is it was an intense storm last night felt by everybody, felt even more keenly by those on the hill here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear anything?

ANNE WHITE, RESIDENT MANAGER: No. I live on this side, which is the north side. This building has half the units on the north side and half on the south side. The south side faces Broadway and the hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: so how bad is it?

WHITE: Well, it looks like there's an awful lot of rock and debris that has fallen down and is laying down at the bottom of the hill. And supposedly some of the rocks and debris went through a building down Broadway. No one was hurt. I don't know to the extent at this point about how bad the damage was to the building.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, bad weather may have contributed to that landslide. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras joins with us some more.

Jacqui, what do you think?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, a good possibility, you know. That ground was already unstable, and we had some rain move through the area yesterday, an inch on average across western parts of the San Francisco Bay area.

On the east side, we got a little bit heavier, two inches and in the higher elevations, you had as much as three or four inches of rainfall. So you get a little bit of that rain helping to loosen the soil a little bit, and it doesn't take much to make those real steep inclines, anyway, have some of those landslides. So certainly could have been a contributing factor.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll see you then. Thanks, Jacqui.

LEMON: Big boned is one thing, but this is a big kid. Connor McCreaddie, look at him right there. He's only eight years old, and he weighs 200 pounds. His mom says he'll only eat junk food and protests that she can't starve her son.

But British authorities say this amounts to neglect. They met today to discuss removing Connor from his home until he loses some weight. Ultimately, they decided he could stay in the home for now.

We want to know what you think. Should the government get involved in cases of obese kids? E-mail us at CNNNewsroom@CNN.com.

PHILLIPS: Uncontrollable urges, desperate shame. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, the secret hunger that millions of Americans are trying to feed and to hide.

LEMON: One juror out, 11 now deciding the fate of Lewis "Scooter" Libby. An update straight ahead right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Just about a quarter past the hour. Here are some of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A suicide bomber attacks the main U.S. base in Afghanistan while Vice President Cheney was inside. Cheney is unhurt. The Taliban reportedly claimed that they were targeting him.

Also, the secretary of state, the defense secretary, the joint chiefs chairman, all in one room. Senators will grill them on request for a massive boost in war spending.

Dozens of San Francisco apartment dwellers run into the street after a landslide. Rocks and boulders tumble down, but amazingly, nobody was hurt. LEMON: Well, horror around a soccer field filled with children. A bomb went off in Ramadi about 70 miles west of Baghdad. At least 18 people have been killed. And now conflicting reports about who is to blame.

CNN's Michael Ware is in the Iraqi capital -- Michael.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, what we're hearing is markedly conflicting reports about an incident this afternoon in the western town of Ramadi.

Ramadi is provisionally considered to be one of the headquarters for al Qaeda in Iraq.

Now, according to Iraqi Ministry of Interior officials, 18 children were killed when a car bomb exploded near an open field where the children play soccer.

However, according to a Reuters wire report, the U.S. military is saying that one of their controlled detonations slightly wounded 30 people and killed nobody.

Quoting an American official, saying he does not believe that there were two separate explosions. Apparently, implying that there is much confusion over the nature of this incident.

So all we know right now is in western Ramadi there was an explosion of some kind by somebody. A number of people are wounded. We don't know who, if anybody, has been killed.

LEMON: CNN's Michael Ware in Baghdad. Thank you so much for that report.

PHILLIPS: Well, take a look at his plate. Is it a matter of state? Should British government take over in the case of an obese 8- year-old? Details ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: White House briefing just wrapped up. Our Ed Henry was there.

Ed, what is the reaction from the White House with regard to this was alleged assassination attempt on Cheney in Afghanistan?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the president himself has not reacted yet, because he's not had a chance to speak directly with Vice President Cheney. That will likely happen tomorrow or the day after, once the vice president has a chance to return. He'll give him what Tony Snow called an exhaustive debrief of exactly what happened there on the ground.

Tony Snow himself having little reaction, because he says basically this was a police investigation at this point on the ground. He wouldn't give up whether or not there was intelligence in advance about whether or not something like this was going to happen. He said they have to figure all this out on the ground, exactly why it happened.

As you know, the vice president himself has told reporters he heard a loud boom himself while he was on Bagram Air Base. The Secret Service came in, moved him temporarily to a bomb shelter to make sure he was OK.

Tony Snow said -- obviously getting a lot of questions as well about what this says about the resurgence of the Taliban, which is now claiming responsibility for this attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: It is clear that you've -- you've got the Taliban attempting to assert itself. Let me remind you that when it did so last year NATO forces -- we went through this when we were talking in the briefing room about it, because they're trying to test NATO forces. And the NATO forces were very successful in inflicting real damage on the Taliban.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: But the fact is, obviously, this blast today coming one day after the vice president had met with the Pakistani President Musharraf and had urged him to crack down more on not just the Taliban but also the al Qaeda terrorists that are coming back as well and re- establishing operations in Pakistan.

A great fear by the administration that both terrorist groups could be planning various terror attacks like this one we saw today. Again, the Taliban claiming responsibility for this attack near the vice president. That has not been independently confirmed yet.

But all of this happening in advance of an expected spring offensive by the terrorists there on the ground in Afghanistan. And a lot of people obviously wondering whether this was part one in that spring offensive, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ed Henry from the White House, appreciate it.

HENRY: Thank you.

LEMON: A stock sell-off on the other side the world is having big repercussions here in the U.S. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with all the details.

Hi, Susan.

(STOCK REPORT)

LEMON: Wow. And you know what? The Senate, I think, Susan, as well, is talking about tobacco, too, today?

LISOVICZ: Yes. It's a hot topic. A Senate committee, Don, chaired by Ted Kennedy, holding a hearing today on a proposal to put cigarettes under the authority of the FDA. The bill would give FDA the power to reduce nicotine levels, require larger warnings and prohibit misleading terms like "light," "mild" and "low tar."

That's latest from Wall Street.

Coming up, Toyota is opening another plant in the U.S. I'll tell you where in the next hour.

In the meantime, Don and Kyra, back to you.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much for that, Susan.

And Kyra, we want to bring you some -- we just got new video in of that mudslide in San Francisco. Let's take a look at this. It happened at 3 a.m. this morning. Look at that. Amazing.

Residents were forced to leave this 45-unit apartment building. Was perched on the edge of this hill that collapsed and collapsed the foundation there. At least four buildings were evacuated after this slide.

Certainly, some horrendous video. We just saw some video of the mayor. Spoke to him just a little bit earlier. And also some officials there in San Francisco. They are certainly weighing the damage of this today.

PHILLIPS: Luckily, no one was injured. Jacqui Jeras has been following the weather conditions. Do you think that played a big part in this, Jacqui?

JERAS: Well, it could have. You know, but I haven't seen a lot of the video. There's new stuff that's just coming in that one thing I really notice about it is how rocky things are. Take a look at all those rocks in there. Yes, there's some mud mixed in there, as well.

But this wasn't like a big soil issue, it doesn't look like to me, with all this rock. So this might have been more of a rock flow type of a situation. And if it was completely rocky ground, then maybe rain didn't quite have as much to do with it.

But they certainly had plenty of it yesterday. And it doesn't take a lot in California, especially into the Rocky and the mountainous regions that they have there. A little bit of rain can make things unstable.

I want to further investigate this. I've got a great resource, too, by the way, a landslide expert. I think I'm going to give her a little call.

PHILLIPS: ... an earthquake factor. Right? I mean, there was no sign of any type of earthquake or rumbling.

JERAS: Not that I'm aware of.

PHILLIPS: OK. Jacqui Jeras, appreciate it. We'll come back to you then when you have more.

JERAS: OK.

PHILLIPS: Thank you.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

Does feeding your child constitute neglect? What about overfeeding? Should the British government take a young boy away from his mother because he weighs too much?

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, many people struggle with their weight. And these days, that includes lots of children. So is it the parent's responsibility to keep their kid at a healthy weight and insist on healthy habits? That's been the focus of a social services case in Britain. CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Snack time at Connor McCreedy's (ph) house. And weighing in at around 200 pounds, Connor is relishing every bite. A chicken drumstick may seem typical for a young kid. But Connor is just eight years old. Almost four times the average weight for a kid his age.

Connor's mother says she's obliged to answer her son's constant demands for more food, but British authorities say they're very concerned that the diet he's being fed could seriously damage his health.

At one point considering putting the child into foster care until he loses some weight. The implication, neglect.

NICOLA MCKEOWN, MOTHER: If I'd neglected Connor, he would be a skinny kid, a skinny little runt.

VAN MARSH: On a typical day, Connor starts with a bowl of chocolate cereal, followed by some toast, with processed meat. Lunchtime means a burger and fries and sausages and a pizza, a whole pizza. It's fast food takeaway for dinner. And toss in four bags of potato chips. And Connor's family admits that in addition to all of that, he scarves down cookies and other snacks about every 20 minutes.

DR. MICHAEL MARKIEWICZ, PEDIATRICIAN: If they love him, they actually love him to death. Literally, in fact, not saying they can't care for him, but what they're doing is -- through the way they're treating him and feeding him, they're slowly killing him. VAN MARSH: British social services had a hearing with Connor's mother and grandmother Tuesday and decided the child can stay at home for now. In a statement, social services says it's made a formal agreement with the family to, quote, "safeguard and promote the child's welfare". Alphonso Van Marsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, this story certainly got us talking here in the NEWSROOM. Now we want to hear from you. Obese kids, should the government get involved? E-mail us at CNNnewsroom@cnn.com. We will read some of your responses a little bit later on.

PHILLIPS: So far the biggest thing to come out of the Scooter Libby jury deliberations is -- a juror. Eleven jurors picked up this morning where they left off yesterday, a day when one of their number was kicked out for seeing information she wasn't supposed to see.

They're trying to decide whether Libby lied to investigators about what he knew or heard or said about Valerie Plame, at the time, a CIA operative. By not replacing the ousted juror, the judge didn't have to order deliberations to start all over again.

More political and financial pressure here at home when it comes to Iraq . Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Peter Pace are appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee this afternoon. At issue, the president's request for another $100 billion for the war.

If you'd like to watch the Senate hearing live and commercial free today, you can just go to CNN pipeline, just go to cnn.com/pipeline. It gets underway about 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

LEMON: If this weren't real it would make a great drill. A college campus paralyzed by a man with a knife, and suspicious white powder, he claimed was anthrax. He also threatened to have a bomb and threatened to blow up a building. The drama started overnight at the University Missouri-Rolla, southwest of St. Louis.

Police used a stun gun on the suspect, whom they now described as a grad student driven to the brink by overwork and depression. First responders are still on the scene, as are second, and third responders. And more than 20 who may have been exposed to the powder are being decontaminated.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, do you eat to live or live to eat?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would buy foods from different stores, and stop in different places so that nobody would, you know would know that I was getting -- no one could really track me. I really needed to be anonymous in my eating.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Ahead in the NEWSROOM, feeding a secret hunger.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Mention eating disorders and most people automatically picture skinny anorexics and boney bulimics. But binge eating is actually the most common food disorder among Americans. And as CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen reports this is more than just overdoing it at the desert table.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Until just a few months ago, Natalie would go on wild food binges. Eating ice cream, potato chips, cookies.

NATALIE, RECOVERING BINGE EATER: A sleeve of Ritz crackers with peanut butter. Triskets, you know some cheese from the refrigerator, maybe some cream cheese straight out of the carton, maybe some mayonnaise right out of the jar.

COHEN: For more than 10 years Natalie lived in shame.

NATALIE: I would buy foods from, you know, from different stores, and stop in different places so that nobody would, you know, would know that I was getting -- no one could really track me. I really needed to be anonymous in my eating.

COHEN: She binged in private. Her family and friends never guessing her secret.

NATALIE: They'd never seen me bingeing, because I've hidden it.

COHEN: Secrecy, a hallmark of binge eating, helps explain why few people realize that binge eating has become America's more common eating disorder, more common than anorexia or bulimia. That's according to a new Harvard study, which finds that one in 35 Americans suffers from regular binge eating.

We all overeat at times. How is binge eating different? Experts say binge eaters eat as if in a trance. Thousands of calories in just a few hours; so much, that sometimes they just pass out. Like Natalie says she did nearly every day for several years.

NATALIE: It's almost like a feeling of being drunk. I felt some kind of high sometimes out of eating like this, but afterwards I felt really terrible about myself.

COHEN: Unlike bulimics, binge eaters don't purge. Some become obese, but others, like Natalie, figure out a way to keep their weight under control to hide their secret.

NATALIE: I would take walks up and down the entire island of Manhattan. I would walk the length of Manhattan.

COHEN: As binge eating is starting to come out in the open, therapists are beginning to learn why people do this to themselves.

DR. LINDA CRAIGHEAD, PSYCHOLOGIST: The person is eating, in a sense, to distract from, or numb, their feelings. It is a very -- it's a form of emotional eating.

COHEN: Dr. Linda Craighead treats binge eaters and wrote a book on binge eating. She says we live in a culture that makes it easy to eat junk.

CRAIGHEAD: We have a toxic food environment. We have huge amounts of high fat, very tasty, inexpensive easily available food.

COHEN: She says the key to recovery is identifying the emotional reasons for bingeing. Natalie realized she ate to cope with stress at school. With the help of a support group, she says she hasn't gone on a binge in seven months.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So, along with the support group, what else can binge eaters do?

COHEN: You can also seek professional help. Some doctors actually prescribe prescription medicine, sometimes anti-depressants, to people with binge eating.

But sometimes just behavioral modification can do the trick. Let's talk about what some therapists have told us works for their patients, who are binge eaters, and what binge eaters have told us works.

Make an eating schedule. Sit down and say I'm going to eat breakfast at 8:00 a.m. I'm going to have a snack at 10:00 a.m., and stick to that schedule. And eat every few hours. The therapist we talked to said this is crucial, because if you get too hungry, you're going to go on a binge.

Another thing you can try is to plan alternate activities. If you feel the need to binge come on, think, I'm going to take a walk now. Or there's this book I've been wanting to read. If you can divert your attention, that can help.

Also, identify eating triggers. Some people get into certain emotional situations that can trigger their eating. So the aim there is to avoid those situations. And as we just talked about, get help. It's interesting how many people like Natalie didn't need professional help. They joined a support group and that did it. Other people find they need much more than that.

PHILLIPS: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, appreciate it.

COHEN: OK.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead an attack in Afghanistan, was Vice President Dick Cheney the target? We're going to go live to Bagram Air Base with the response from the 82nd Airborne. LEMON: And your chance to weigh in on this topic. An eight- year-old child weighing some 200 pounds. Just a hefty appetite or a mother's neglect? British authorities made their call. Now we want to hear from you. Obese kids, should the government get involved? E-mail address is CNNnewsroom@cnn.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A suicide bomber kills 23 people in Afghanistan outside of the main gate of Bagram Air Force Base, while the vice president is there on a visit. Joining us now is Lieutenant Colonel Tammy Heath. She is the informational operation officer with the 82nd Airborne headquarters based in Bagram, Afghanistan.

You were there when it happened?

LT. COL. TAMMY HEATH, INFO. OPS. OFFICER, 82ND AIRBORNE HQTRS. Yes, sir.

LEMON: What did you hear?

HEAT: Sir, I'd like to start, first with offering our condolences to the families of those who were killed. And we'd also like to wish a speedy recovery to those that were injured.

LEMON: With that said, can you -- what did you hear?

HEATH: What did I hear? I heard a loud explosion.

LEMON: This happened at 10:00 o'clock in the morning. The vice president was there. Can you tell us how far this explosion happened, how far away the vice president was? Or how close to this explosion he was?

HEATH: Sir, the vice president was over a mile away from the actual -- the entry control point. He was never in any danger. He was in a secure area. And there was never -- it completely coincidental that he was here at the same time this attack occurred.

LEMON: We're getting reports here, from our sources, that he was 1500 feet away about a third of a mile away from the explosion. You're saying that that's not correct.

HEATH: That is not correct, sir. He was over a mile away.

LEMON: OK. The Taliban is saying that they are responsible for this. Do you have any indication of who is responsible for this suicide bombing?

HEATH: Sir, did you say who was responsible for this bombing?

LEMON: Yes.

HEATH: Sir, the extremists that claim responsibility for this bombing, are cowards. And, as you know, they've killed nine people and wounded 21. And there were a number of unconfirmed Afghan civilians killed, as well.

LEMON: OK. Lieutenant Colonel Tammy Heath, we thank you for joining us from Bagram Air Force Base today.

And, again, as you said, our condolences go out to the families of those injured and hurt. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right we want to get straight to West Palm Beach, Florida now. Our Susan Candiotti standing by. She's just outside of the 4th District Court of Appeals, trying to figure out more within this Anna Nicole Smith case. What's is going to happen from this point.

Susan, what's the latest to come out of the appeals?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, essentially why we're here is because Anna Nicole Smith's mother won a round in court. She won a decision by the appeals court here, making them review where the situation stands, and to keep Anna Nicole Smith's body where it is, at the medical examiner's office until this court decides what should happen next.

So what happened, so far today, is that attorneys representing Howard K. Stern have filed paperwork with the court. We're still waiting for paperwork to be filed representing the guardian, who represents the little baby in this case. And they both agree -- those two sides -- that Anna Nicole Smith should be buried in the Bahamas and that it was correct for the lower court to give her remains to the guardian representing the little baby.

Well, attorneys representing Howard K. Stern's position just filed their paperwork. And they, not surprisingly, agree with the lower court, that, in fact, it was right for the lower court judge to name a guardian to represent the baby, who could, in turn, make a decision about where her mother should be buried.

Anna Nicole's mother disagrees because she says that baby is too young and he read Florida law incorrectly. And, furthermore, she argues, that Howard K. Stern is nothing more than a boyfriend here and that he should have no say so as to where Anna Nicole should be buried. And that it's too hard for her, as a mother, to travel all the way from Texas to the Bahamas to be buried.

However, lawyers representing Howard K. Stern say that is what Anna Nicole wanted. She wanted to be buried in the Bahamas. And here's how she explained it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUNE HOFFMAN, HOWARD K. STERN'S ATTORNEY: Certainly that set of circumstances is very distressing. We've been working day and night throughout the past three weeks, everyone involved on the team, to achieve resolution and to ultimately honor Anna Nicole's wishes to buried with her son.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: A lawyer representing Dannielynn, the baby, is now filing his paperwork. Then this court will decide whether to issue a ruling, or whether to have a hearing to discuss this further.

Kyra, we'll keep you posted.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll follow up, Susan Candiotti, thanks so much.

LEMON: By the book craziness? Prosecutors who want to put Jose Padilla on trial for allegedly supporting terrorism suggest he's faking mental instability, as he supposedly learned in an Al Qaeda training manual. The hearing under way in Miami will determine whether Padilla and two co-defendants go on trial in April.

Padilla's lawyers and experts say he was unhinged by three and a half years he spent in a military brig, as a so-called enemy combatant. Back then, the feds claimed Padilla had plotted to set off a radioactive bomb. They never charged him with that. We may hear today from his former jailors.

PHILLIPS: Ever the diplomat, John Negroponte is back where he says he belongs. The veteran ambassador, envoy and negotiator was sworn in today as deputy secretary of State by his one-time, once again boss Condoleezza Rice. Negroponte says that diplomacy and especially foreign service are noble callings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN NEGROPONTE, DEP. SECRETARY OF STATE: Many of us face real danger around the world today. I saw that as United States ambassador to Iraq, as I saw it 40 years nation Vietnam, and 20 years ago in Central America.

But there are rewards in these risks, and it is important to keep in mind that we take them for compelling reasons. America's freedom, security and values are at stake.

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PHILLIPS: Negroponte's new gig is, at least, technically a demotion and seemingly voluntary. Before this, he was the nation's first-ever director of national intelligence.

They say their sorority was nicknamed the dog house.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Image is the new racism, of sorts.

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PHILLIPS: But these women say they faced more than name calling. We'll have their story in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Well, move over, McGyver. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, how a resource Florida teen turned a torn jacket into a successful escape.

PHILLIPS: And as we go to break, here's a look at how the stock market is doing this Tuesday afternoon. A down day on Wall Street. We are going to go live to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in just a few minutes. The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. You're watching CNN.

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LEMON: Shocked from slumber: Ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, the latest from San Francisco. We'll talk to a resident on the scene where that sudden overnight landslide happened. And we'll check back in with our own Jacqui Jeras in the Weather Center for an explanation how rain caused this rubble.

PHILLIPS: Ugly Betties bumped? Well, members of one sorority say national leaders kicked them out of the house because of their looks. But the sorority says that wasn't the case. CNN's Keith Oppenheim reports.

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KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The women of Delta Zeta thought of themselves as accomplished, but they knew some on campus had a mean nickname for them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The dog house.

OPPHENHEIM: The dog house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The dog house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. That's the biggest one.

OPPENHEIM: That you're a bunch of ugly women?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

OPPENHEIM: Rachel Pappas, Kim Le and Joanna Kieschnick are former members who said the sorority's national office had been concerned membership at the DePauw University chapter was too low. Last August, the students says those leaders suggested the way to recruit was to change their image. With appearance, with drinking and sex.

JOANNA KIESCHNICK, FORMER DELTA ZETA MEMBER: Her whole idea is that you need to be more sexually appealing. You need to make the guys want you. You need to, you know, I don't know, get sloshed and then have them, I don't know -- whatever, just be more attractive, get the men to like you. Get them to want you.

OPPENHEIM (On camera): By late November some Delta Zetas started to believe their national leaders were so consumed with image their ultimate goal was to get rid of most of the girls in the sorority. Some former members told me, when national leaders held and open house for freshmen women, only the more attractive students were asked to play host.

KIM LE, FORMER DELTA ZETA MEMBER: Those of us who weren't chosen to give tours were asked to not come downstairs, unless -- and if we were, we needed to dress really cute, make sure we had on makeup, or that we were put together. But otherwise they would prefer we stayed upstairs.

OPPENHEIM (voice over): In early December, just before exams, the bombshell. The national office sent a letter to 23 members, two- thirds of the sisters living at Delta Zeta, stating they'd failed to meet recruiting standards, so their status was changed from active to alumna. That meant they had to move out by the end of January.

The former members say the 23 included all the overweight students and three of the four minorities in the house. They say the ones not told to move were generally pretty and slender.

KIESCHNICK: They lied to us, they blatantly lied to us multiple times.

OPPENHEIM: Joanna Kieschnick says she was not asked to leave, but quit. She and the others said they were committed to recruiting and believed the real agenda was to kick out anyone they thought unattractive.

LE: I've done everything I was supposed to do. I'm a good student. I'm involved. But, you know, in your heart you take that really hard.

RACHEL PAPPAS, FORMER DELTA ZETA MEMBER: Image is the new racism of sorts, you know? Image is the, be all, and end all, of everything. And sorority life is just where it appears the most.

OPPENHEIM: The executive director of Delta Zeta's national office Cynthia Menges, tells CNN's Paula Zahn the sorority doesn't discriminate. Instead, this was about whether or not students were committed to aggressive recruiting.

CINDY MENGES, EXEC. DIR., DELTA ZETA SORORITY: In a conversation that we had with each woman, I personally participated in those conversations, looked these women in the eye, and said do you commit to the recruitment plan to remain active? The decision was based on the women's decision on commitment.

OPPENHEIM: University officials sent a letter reprimanding the national sorority for disrupting student's lives just a week before exams. They say they're still investigating, but could ask the sorority to leave campus. Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Greencastle, Indiana.

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Next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. A heck of a wake up call in San Francisco. So far more than 100 people forced to flee their homes after a landslide in the middle of the night. We're there live with the latest.

LEMON: And target Dick Cheney? The Taliban says a suicide bomb in Afghanistan was aimed at the vice president. We're told he was never in danger, but the attack still raising hackles.

PHILLIPS: And should the British government step in to help an eight-year-old tackle his obesity? We're letting you weigh in on this one. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: We start this hour with a developing story at the stock market. It's taking a tumble.

Susan Lisovicz, fill us in.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

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