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Fierce Storms Rake the Southeast; John Kerry Endorses Obama; Details Emerge About Missing Pregnant Marine; U.S. Air Strike Targets al Qaeda in Iraq; Rivers Flood Central Illinois; Escaped Prisoner Caught in Mexico City
Aired January 10, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: If this is an early spring, we'll take winter. The rain-swollen Iroquois River turns the town of Pontiac, Illinois, into a lake.
DON LEMON, CO-HOST: Down south the storms are violent and getting even worse. The radar is lit up like a Christmas tree. And our Chad Myers, well, he is watching it all from the CNN weather center.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Fierce storms raking the southeast right now. Chad Myers is doing his best to keep track of all the tornado warnings.
Where are we now, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There's at least eight or nine right now for tornado warnings and a couple of them confirmed on the ground. But this is not unusual.
This is where the tornadoes should be this time of year. Here and in Florida, not up into Illinois and Wisconsin. So if you are in southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, all of these pink squares, they are tornado warnings, which means there's enough rotation in the storm that the weather service has put out a warning or someone has actually seen a tornado on the ground.
Today is going to be a volatile day. This is just a classic, classic picture of what a tornado storm -- tornadic storm should look like, a big hook all the way back there, the hail core here moving up into now this is Alabama; moving back into Mississippi, another hook here. This is going to move up toward Mendenhall.
If you see a storm, if you are in Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee today, if there's a storm to your southwest, take cover. Do not worry -- or do not wait for a warning to be put out. It is that volatile of a day. Every -- literally every single storm could rotate today; every single storm could have a tornado in it. That's the volatility of today. We haven't seen a day like today in quite some time. Now we even have a new box -- watch box that includes Nashville, Tennessee. This is going to be one brutal day here across parts of the southeast.
We will keep you up to date. When we know of a tornado on the ground, we will certainly break back in and tell you where it is.
PHILLIPS: All right, Chad, we'll be talking a lot this afternoon.
And also you saw this earlier. We just got this affiliate tape in, our affiliate out of Chicago, Illinois there, bringing us this video from Pontiac, Illinois.
Take a look at this flooding. People are having to evacuate their homes, their animals, their things, bringing in tractors, boats, all kinds of assets to try and save all their belongings. We're going to follow, obviously, the aftermath of all the dangerous storms that have been taking place.
Chad's following the weather patterns for us. We'll be telling you about what folks are doing, even right here in Pontiac, Illinois -- Don.
LEMON: We're also following this story that's developing -- developed right here in the CNN NEWSROOM earlier today. At least 14 passengers are hurt, several hospitalized after their Air Canada flight was rocked by turbulence. None of the injuries is considered life-threatening, and most are described as minor.
Air Canada Flight AC-190 was carrying 88 people across the country from Victoria, British Columbia, to Toronto. It was forced to make an emergency landing in Calgary. We'll have a live update from the Calgary airport. That will happen next hour.
PHILLIPS: And big news on the campaign trail. The man who carried the banner for Democrats four years ago endorses Barack Obama in his battle for the party's nomination. John Kerry's announcement, seen here live just a short time ago in Charleston, North Carolina, for another Democrat, the apparent end of the line.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson expected to announce a couple hours from now that he's ending his bid for the Democratic nomination.
Our Suzanne Malveaux, keeping track of all the latest developments. She joins us now live from Charleston, South Carolina.
And what a beautiful place that is! You are very lucky, Suzanne. This is the place to be.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it's warm, too. It's wonderful! It's warm.
Obviously, you know, this is where the next contest, next primary is going to be critical in about 2 1/2 weeks. And what you're seeing here, Senator Barack Obama chairing a stage with Senator John Kerry. Now you may see a little gray hair and you think, OK, this is the past, but he's endorsing the future here. And one of the key things that the aides are saying, his campaigners, is take a look at the number of people that are on his e-mail list, the kinds of contacts, the kinds of reach he has inside the party, some three million or so. So this is a very significant endorsement.
I want you to take a listen to how Senator Kerry put it, without necessarily talking about his former running mate, John Edwards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are other candidates in this race with whom I have worked and who I respect. They are terrific public servants. And each of them could be president tomorrow, and each would fight to take this country in the right direction.
But I believe that, more than anyone else, Barack Obama can help our country turn the page and get America moving by uniting and ending the division that we have faced.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now, Kyra, you know of, course, this is a calculation. So you've got to try to measure just how far this is going to go, whether or not it is going to be the kind of good picture, if he becomes the nominee, to see Kerry, as well as Barack Obama together.
This is just the kind of thing that the Republican National Committee could use perhaps against him. They've already put out an e-mail, comparing these two as two liberals. They talk about Kerry being the failed candidate.
So we'll have to see just how that plays out, but clearly it is about getting that reach, extending that reach into the Democratic leadership, the Democratic Party tapping into not only the new and the young voters here, but also the more established, the experienced, the Democrats that really can get that operation, the machine, going -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I tell you what's got everybody here in the newsroom going, is that music in the background, Suzanne. I don't know how -- how you were able to get that live report out with that party going on.
All right, Suzanne Malveaux there in Charleston, South Carolina. We'll be tracking you and, of course, Barack Obama.
MALVEAUX: OK.
PHILLIPS: Well, the race could be in for another shakeup. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican who's now a registered independent, has launched a so-called research effort to assess his chances in a third-party bid. Money wouldn't be a problem. Bloomberg is a billionaire many times over, and a source tells CNN that Bloomberg has set a March deadline to make a final decision.
Now for more on the presidential candidates and their next stops, go to CNNPolitics.com. It's your one-stop shop for all things political.
LEMON: In the nation's capitol, police have charged a woman with murdering four girls whose bodies were found in her apartment. The woman appears to have been the mother, but the decomposed bodies of the victims have not yet been identified.
At a news conference today, authorities said the girls probably had been dead at least two weeks, and the bodies showed signs of trauma.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIE PIERRE-LOUIS, WASHINGTON, D.C., MEDICAL EXAMINER: At this time we cannot positively identify them. We have some -- some possible causes of death. In the one child, the oldest one, seems that she might have sustained some stab wounds to the abdomen. The other three children, it's a possibility of asphyxia or poisoning. At this time we are still conducting the physical (ph) examination.
We have very limited material to work with. The bodies were very desiccated. So we are trying our best to see what we can find.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The victims ranged in age from 5 to 17. Thirty-three- year-old suspect Bonita Jacks is due in court today.
PHILLIPS: Police in Daytona Beach, Florida, say that they may have a new clue in a string of unsolved murders. Investigators say they found the vehicle belonging to 30-year-old Stacy Gage, whose decomposing body actually turned up last week. She's believed to be the fourth victim of a possible serial killer.
Police are hoping that her van will point them toward the suspect.
The other three killings happened about two years ago. Now later today in the NEWSROOM, we're going to talk live with the Daytona Beach police chief, Mike Chitwood.
LEMON: Now we know a little bit more about a pregnant Marine since -- missing since mid-December. For one thing, North Carolina sheriff says Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach had been the victim of a crime at Camp Lejeune and was scheduled to testify about what happened.
Reporter Mike Charbonneau of CNN affiliate, WRAL, has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MIKE CHARBONNEAU, WRAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This Marine lance corporal and mother-to-be disappeared more than three weeks ago. Her mother says she last spoke with 20-year-old Maria Lauterbach by phone on December 14. Five days later, the concerned mother contacted Onslow County deputies, worried something terrible happened.
SHERIFF ED BROWN, ONSLOW COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: The longer it goes, the more stress (ph) we gets that something may have happened to this lady against her will.
CHARBONNEAU: Sheriff Ed Brown says that Lauterbach was the victim of a crime that happened on base and was scheduled to testify in the case. He won't go into details.
She was 8 1/2 months pregnant when she disappeared and is due any day, if not past due. Authorities found Lauterbach's car at a nearby bus station just a few days ago. They say it hadn't been there long. The orange color is from investigators searching for fingerprints.
They also found Lauterbach's cell phone along Highway 24 near Camp Lejeune. "The Marine Corps Times" is reporting suspicious activity with her bank accounts since her disappearance.
BROWN: The more that we have suspicious things come up, the more concern we have that something is not right with this lady's disappearance.
CHARBONNEAU: Lauterbach lived in the Midway Park (ph) housing area for Marines but not technically on base. Deputies searched the home and questioned some roommates. They're still waiting to talk with at least one male roommate who may be deployed. The sheriff says he could be considered a person of interest.
BROWN: Until you can interview them and eliminate, you still consider them as key people of concern.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That was Mike Charbonneau from CNN affiliate WRAL with that story. We're expecting a news conference on the search for Lauterbach at the top of the hour. We'll bring that to you live.
PHILLIPS: Kidnapped in the Georgia mountains, brutally murdered three days later. The grizzly case of a young hiker points police to a similar case in Florida. We've got the very latest.
LEMON: In Iraq, an all-out blitz on al Qaeda one year after President Bush unveiled what he calls the surge.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Eleven past, actually coming up on 12 past the hour. Three of the stories we're working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Severe air turbulence has injured 14 people aboard a Canadian airliner. Air Canada Flight 190 was en route from Victoria to Toronto when it made an emergency landing in Calgary.
Renewed fear in Daytona Beach, Florida, after the discovery of a woman's body. Thirty-year-old Stacy Gage probably died in mid- December. Police say it may be the work of the same killer responsible for three slayings in late 2005 and early 2006.
A suicide bombing today outside a court in Lahore, Pakistan. At least 23 people are dead, and scores more are hurt.
PHILLIPS: Want to look once again at that video we got in from our affiliate out of Chicago, Illinois. This is Pontiac, Illinois. And you can see -- Chad's been talking about the severe storms, all the tornadoes, tornado warnings going through that parts of the Midwest. And you can see the aftermath of what has struck that state.
This video coming in to us showing the flooding in neighborhoods, trying to evacuate homes, animals, bringing in everything they can, from boats to canoes to trucks, to try and get that information out.
We're actually going to have a reporter, live from the area coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: There may be another surge of U.S. troops, this time in Afghanistan.
A plan to deploy 3,000 Marines has reached the desk of Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The troop request came from the field in expectation of a Taliban and al Qaeda offensive this spring.
Most of the troops would bolster British and Canadian forces battling rebels in Helmand Province. It's unclear right now which Marines would go.
LEMON: Well, one year to the day after President Bush announced a troop surge in Iraq, the U.S. unleashed one of the biggest air strikes of the war. I'm talking 40,000 pounds of explosives on the southern outskirts of Baghdad.
CNN's Arwa Damon joins us now live with the details on that -- Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, it most certainly was a display of U.S. firepower. Those 40,000 pounds were dropped in an area that is some 10 to 12 miles south of Baghdad. And imagine, within the first ten minutes of these air strikes beginning, the U.S. military dropped 36 bombs. They hit, over the course of the bombing, some 40 targets.
Now many of these targets were suspected roadside bombs. They were suspected cache sites, locations where they believe insurgents might have been holed up.
Just to give you and idea of the lay of the land down there, this is a very agricultural area, sprawling fields and farmlands, interlaced with canals, many of them with read lines and troops that have been fighting in that area have been coming across numerous, countless roadside bombs. The roads down there are literally filled with potholes from these massive explosions that the IEDs do set off.
What the U.S. military was trying to do with this bombing campaign was clear the area of any explosives, ordinance and insurgents before the U.S. military finally does move in -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Just how big, though, Arwa, is this offensive?
DAMON: Well, this offensive that we saw taking place just south of Baghdad that we were just talking about is part of a larger operation that's called Phantom Phoenix. It involves literally tens of thousands of U.S. troops, if not just about every single unit that is in country.
It's focusing on central Baghdad and on the area just to the north and in northern Iraq. The aim here is to try to root out whatever al Qaeda insurgents have been left. They're focusing largely on that area just south of Baghdad. They're focusing also on Mosul and up in the Upper Diyala River Valley. And this does still remain a very dangerous environment.
If you'll remember yesterday, six U.S. soldiers lost their lives when they walked into a booby-trapped house in the Upper Diyala River Valley. And that is an area where al Qaeda still does remain very much dug in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES BOOZER, U.S. ARMY: We've had this operation now. It's been ongoing, Christine (ph), for about a day and a half, two days. As you know, we kicked it off in the early morning hours of 8 January.
We believe we have anywhere from 100 to 200 AQI fighters in this region. They use it as a sanctuary, a safe haven where they go, refit, rearm and plan some of their spectacular attacks that we've seen here recently in the Diyala province.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAMON: Now, aside from those targeted attacks, specifically against al Qaeda and Iraq elements, what the U.S. military is also trying to do with this operation is try to eliminate some of al Qaeda's support base that exists in these areas.
And a main effort in trying to make that happen is doing things like restoring basic services, things that the Iraqi government still has yet to provide that, in the past, al Qaeda has been providing. And now the U.S. military wants to get that jump-started so that Iraqis living in that area no longer rely on al Qaeda in Iraq for basic things like electricity, water, oil, gas, you name it, and instead rely on the U.S. military and on the Iraqi government. Another thing that the U.S. military is emphasizing is the need to keep up this same pace of operations so that those areas that have been cleared, al Qaeda is not able to move back into.
LEMON: Arwa Damon, thank you very much for that report.
PHILLIPS: Today the Palestinians. It's President Bush's visit to the other main side of the Middle East conflict. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas playing host in Ramallah, where President Bush said he not only sees a possible peace deal; he set a timetable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In order for there to be lasting peace, President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert have to come together and make tough choices. And I'm convinced they will. And I believe it's possible -- not only possible, I believe it is going to happen that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office. That's what I believe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Mr. Bush held talks with Israel's prime minister yesterday. And a White House spokesperson says that the president plans to return to the Middle East at least once, maybe more times this year.
LEMON: It has been 30 years since there lass been this kind of flooding in central Illinois. Hundreds of people making for higher ground as one river after another flows out of its banks.
And the city of Pontiac already has been declared a disaster area. And that's where we find our reporter Marcella Raymond with our affiliate WGN.
Marcella, I understand people are having to stay in emergency shelters or anywhere they can, because hundreds are out of their homes.
MARCELLA RAYMOND, WGN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are, Don. And they're still being evacuated today.
Let me show you what the Vermillion River looks like right now. It is actually starting -- it should start on the other side of this tree line. So that's about 100 yards of extra water we're talking about, which means flooded backyards, flooded basements.
Here is some good news though. Look at this shed. And you see where the water was at its highest.
But even with the water receding, people are still being evacuated from their homes. This town definitely not out of the woods yet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RAYMOND (voice-over): Eighty-two-year-old Mary Rodino (ph) glided down Main Street this morning in a canoe led by two Pontiac police officers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello!
RAYMOND: Without power and the water getting dangerously close to the first floor of her house, Mary was forced to leave.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This morning when I got up, it had filled up the whole basement and was at my first landing going up from the basement, you know, the back door.
RAYMOND: That's about seven feet of water. Mary's son and daughter waded and watched on dry land.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were going to take her out last night, but she said she wanted to stay. But the water wasn't nearly this bad then.
RAYMOND: Bert Kessler's (ph) son went to rescue her. She had no choice but to leave. Her basement was also full of water and her electricity was out.
(on camera) How was that ride?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For an old lady, it was fun, because I had two big strapping guys take me for a boat ride.
RAYMOND: Never thought it would be down the middle of your street, did you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
RAYMOND: Now, this is what street? Main Street. This -- is this one of the worst ones?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At other end, yes. This is shallow here, but it gets about -- about waist deep down at the other end.
RAYMOND: So what have you been doing all night? Can you tell me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This. Rescuing people.
RAYMOND (voice-over): Up to now about 200 residents had to evacuate their homes. Many needed help. Twenty-five percent of Pontiac is under water, mainly on the east side. Schools are closed; playgrounds are flooded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm getting ready to go back home and see if I can start pumping out a little bit.
RAYMOND: Mike Kineski's (ph) house is surrounded by water. He's staying with his sister across town.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It took less than probably 24 hours to come up around my house.
RAYMOND (on camera): OK. And it's still just as bad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
RAYMOND (voice-over): The Vermillion River crested overnight at about 19 1/2 feet, five feet more than flood stage. The water is receding, but slowly.
Livingston County has been declared a disaster area. State help is already here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With all the agencies that assisting us here, we have more than ample supplies to take care of the needs. Again, safety's No. 1. No. 2 is property. And we'll get to that in a couple days when the water goes away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAYMOND: And the mayor is hoping that the water is going to recede and be gone by Sunday, and then the massive cleanup begins.
I'm Marcella Raymond, live in Pontiac, Illinois. Back to you in Atlanta.
LEMON: All right, Marcella. Thank you very much for that report. Sure is sad to see all of that happening.
Meantime, we want to get straight to our Chad Myers, who's in the weather center working on something.
I think, Chad, it concerns tornadoes in Mississippi.
MYERS: Yes, exactly. Damage, in fact, now reported in Goodman, Mississippi. And the storm has been on the ground for a while. The tornado on the ground now, headed toward Kosciusko, a fairly large town, about 3,000 people here.
Kosciusko, Mississippi, you need to be taking cover now. We do know that the storm has created damage just to your west. You need to be in the basement or the interior part of your house, if you don't have a basement. You need to get away from this storm. We do know a tornado has already caused damage with this storm.
LEMON: All right. Chad, thank you very much.
And of course, we want people to stay out of harm's way, but if you have any I-Reports, send it to CNN.com and click on the I-Report logo.
PHILLIPS: The hunt for the New Jersey inmates who staged a "Shawshank Redemption"-style jailbreak is finally over. U.S. marshals and Mexican authorities caught 32-year-old Otis Blunt in Mexico City last night. Blunt arrived back in the U.S. this afternoon after nearly a month on the lam.
CNN's Jason Carroll has been following the story for us. He just arrived back from Mexico, and he joins us by phone with the -- from New York with the latest.
Jason, tell us how it all went down.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we were on that Air Mexico flight from Mexico City to JFK with Otis Blunt. He was kept at the back of the plane during the five-hour trip from Mexico City back here to New York City.
I have to tell you, Kyra, as soon as the flight was over, basically what happened was U.S. marshals came on board the flight. They went to the back of the plane. They brought Otis Blunt forward. Once we tried to get a picture of him, Otis Blunt became very violent. He screamed a few obscenities. We tried to get some pictures of him. He did not comment at all about why he finally decided to turn himself in and give himself up.
Since January 2, it turns out, he'd been holed up in a hotel in Mexico City. He was there at least part of the time with an unidentified woman. He was taken into custody last night. He used an alias to check into that hotel.
He was at some point working with a friend that was here in New York who flew down to Mexico City to try -- that friend of his tried to convince him to give up. He initially told that friend that he would, in fact, give up if he -- if he -- if U.S. marshals or U.S. authorities or Mexico authorities met some of his conditions. Unclear at this point if they did that.
I know you mentioned in your lead in there, Kyra, about the "Shawshank"-style sort of breakout that Otis Blunt took part in. And that's in fact exactly what it was.
Otis Blunt and his cell mate Jose Espinosa, just about three weeks ago, they used a makeshift sort of tool to chip a hole in the concrete wall in the Union County jail where they had -- where they'd been standing. And basically like "Shawshank Redemption," used posters of scantily-clad women to cover up that hole.
They escaped. One of the escapees, Jose Espinosa, was caught earlier this week, just about six -- several blocks from the Union County facility. Otis Blunt, once again, caught in Mexico City.
Took that ride with him. He was in restraints. He was very agitated. U.S. marshals very happy to have him back in custody -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jason Carroll following that story from Mexico all the way back to New York. Jason, thanks. LEMON: Tornado confirmed on the ground down south, flooding in the Midwest. One town, much of it evacuated. We'll have the very latest coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM, Chad Myers checking it all for you. Very busy day for him in the severe weather center.
Meantime, held hostage no more. Nearly six years of captivity in the jungle of Colombia is over for two women. We'll tell you about their release.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke have given new hope to investors on Wall Street today. Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with the very latest about what he said.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: The man charged with the brutal murder of a Georgia hiker now a prime suspect in a Florida murder case. Rusty Dornin on top of it for us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The man accused of brutally killing a young Georgia hiker is now a prime suspect in a Florida murder. Chilling new details are coming to light as police in at least two states investigate 61-year- old Gary Hilton.
Our Rusty Dornin has been following all the developments. So we told our viewers about Florida yesterday. That was new information. Then there's a North Carolina connection. But we started with Georgia and the young hiker there, and there's new information in that as well.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's the kind of information, Don, that's bone-chilling. Apparently some people say that Gary Hilton did walk in to a huddle house, a restaurant, up near where Emerson's body was discovered. And he walked in on Thursday afternoon. That was the day before police believe that she was killed. They say that -- we spoke to the owner and also a waitress had spoken to him, and apparently He came in asking to use the phone, and they didn't have a pay phone, so they volunteered and let him use their business phone. They described him as very agitated on the phone, whoever he was talking to. At the end of the conversation, something like, well, I guess I'll get my old job back, that sort of thing.
And when he left apparently the waitress walked outside about the same time he did, who is said to resemble Meredith Emerson, and she told her fellow coworkers later she felt very comfortable, something was weird. But three hours later Georgia Bureau of Investigation walked into the restaurant and said, hey, have you seen this man. But it was the day before -- she was still alive at that time. LEMON: Goodness. OK, so then police and investigators are thinking is he also connected to Florida and a young woman who disappeared in Florida.
DORNIN: One of the reasons, because of that -- of course it's a similar situation, the woman was abducted. Someone used her ATM card after she was abducted, and then her body was found dumped in the woods. They won't say what condition that was in officially or anything like that.
But there was a sighting of Gary Hilton in Florida during that time by two different people apparently. A forest ranger did run his tags after a conversation with Hilton, decided to run his tags, and didn't find anything that came back.
LEMON: But as we're finding out, there's all these bizarre conversations that we're hearing and people just sort of -- you know, this guy's like wandering about and they have these conversations. And then now we're hearing -- and I think you reported this -- that the FBI actually to talk about North Carolina an elderly couple?
DORNIN: North Carolina was the original case that they had been saying. Are there some connections here? Because the ATM for -- there were a couple that disappeared in October. The woman was found brutally murdered. And the ATM photo showed a man in a yellow jacket. Well, Hilton was described wearing a yellow jacket when he talked to the Georgia hiker on the trail. So that's where that connection came in.
LEMON: I have to ask you this, and I don't know if it's too early, since you've been working this story. Is it possible this guy's a suspected sort of serial...
DORNIN: No one's saying anything like that yet. But of course that is something. There are of course a lot of people coming out and asking whether cases are connected to this. The only thing right now is that Florida is saying he is a prime suspect, and in North Carolina they're not saying that yet; they are saying that we are hoping that things are moving in the right direction, that we'll have an answer soon, we're looking at all the information Georgia has. So, we may be hearing in the next couple of days from North Carolina whether they believe Hilton was connected to those murders or not.
LEMON: All right. Rusty Dornin on top of it, bringing us new information on this case. It's certainly one of the most interesting ones we've had recently. Thank you, Rusty.
PHILLIPS: Held hostage no more. Six years of captivity in the jungle of Colombia is over for two women. We're going to tell you about their release.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So you go to the hospital and you have an operation, and it doesn't go quite as planned. But the bills keep piling up. Here's our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, on becoming an empowered patient.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: In this week's empowered patient, we have the story of a woman who got caught in the cracks of America's health care system. Christine, like so many other patients, suffered from complications of surgery. She lost thousands of dollars in medical bills and lost wages. So what are your options when something goes wrong in the operating room or the doctor's office? Is suing always the answer? Or will a hospital or doctor help you sometimes, without a lawsuit? Find out what you can do if you suffer a health complication by going to cnn.com/empoweredpatient.
For empowered patient, I'm Elizabeth Cohen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: This is not your father's Oldsmobile, and it's not yours either, junior. Not any more. Why an Iowa woman calls herself the meanest mom on the planet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Colombian rebels set two of their many hostages free today. Two women kidnapped about six years ago, and they are on their way back to Caracas, Venezuela this hour. Let's get to CNN's Karl Penhaul. He is live in Southeastern Colombia.
Karl, we're waiting for them to land at the airport in Santo Domnigo, correct?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Santo Domingo, that's just across the border from Colombia, inside Venezuela. We expect that to happen in just a matter of minutes now. They were plucked out of the depths of the Colombian jungle about two hours ago now. That was after the FARC guerrillas sent through the coordinates of where these hostages were being held to the Venezuelan interior minister. He was the man who had been delegated by President Hugo Chavez to come and collect those hostages. Both are Colombians. As you say, two women, one has been held for six years, the other has been held for almost 6 1/2 years.
PHILLIPS: Karl, why now though? Why did the FARC rebels actually negotiate with the government to release these two individuals? And what's the reasoning behind the timing right now?
PENHAUL: There was no negotiation. This was billed by the FARC guerrillas themselves as a unilateral goodwill gesture. They decided to hand over those hostages to the Venezuelan government because President Chavez, they feel, has some ideological sympathies with them. They also feel that President Hugo Chavez had been helping to try and broker a wide prisoner swap, that would see the FARC swapping a group of hostages that they are holding in the jungle for about 500 jailed guerrillas being held in Colombian and in U.S. jails.
That wide a deal fell flat. The Colombian government asked President Chavez to desist, to pull out of trying to mediate that deal, they felt that he was trying to make political capital out of that. But this hand over of these hostages, in a sense, was a thank- you gesture by the FARC. In the back of their minds, of course, they do want to try to get President Chavez back into the ball game so that he can try and mediate on their behalf.
PHILLIPS: Hopefully find out, too, how those women were treated over the past six years. Karl Penhaul there, live from Santo Domingo. We'll follow the landing.
LEMON: They say there are two sides to every story. Iranian TV, today, showed its own video of Sunday's confrontation with U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz. It appears to have been taken from a small boat at least 100 yards away from U.S. ships.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coalition warship 73, this is Iranian navy patrol boat, (INAUDIBLE), how do you copy? Over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is coalition warship 73. I read you loud and clear. Over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coalition warship 73, this is Iranian navy patrol boat, requesting side number, present course and speed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The Iranian video doesn't show any Iranian provocation or include any threatening radio transmissions. A U.S. Navy official said it obviously was edited to back up Iranian claims the whole thing was routine. The U.S. video released earlier this week showed small boats swarming the U.S. ships and also featured audio of a voice saying, "I am coming to you and you will explode in a few minutes."
PHILLIPS: Inspirational words on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier and a king who took us to the mountain top.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Candidates getting their inspiration and borrowing some of the words from the past.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The Democratic presidential nominee from 2004, well, he is choosing sides. And John Kerry isn't siding with his former running mate, John Edwards. Instead, he is backing Barack Obama. Kerry praised his fellow senator at a rally a short time ago in Charleston, South Carolina. The Massachusetts Democrat says Obama can unite a divided country.
After fourth place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, Democrat Bill Richardson is said to be dropping his bid for the White House. We're expecting an announcement at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. The New Mexico governor had hoped to be the first Hispanic president or at least to keep his campaign going until primary season moves west.
Now, you want to stay with us for live coverage of Richardson's remarks. It'll happen at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
PHILLIPS: Well, it feels like you've heard this presidential stump speeches before from other candidates in other campaigns. You may well have. But you may be remembering the style more than the substance.
CNN's Tom Foreman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is something happening in America.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What is happening is an explosion of inspirational words that some pundits say rival the best stump speeches ever. And the senator who sounds like a preacher is leading the revival.
OBAMA: Yes, we can. It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land. Yes, we can to justice and equality.
FOREMAN: All the superlative speech making is no accident.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: And I've seen the promised land.
FOREMAN: Obama is channeling Martin Luther King Jr. and John Kennedy ...
JOHN F. KENNEDY, FORMER U.S PRESIDENT: This is the beginning of a great new day.
FOREMAN: ...and other candidates are drawing on the past, too, specifically through their choice of words.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My friends, I didn't go to Washington to go along to get along, or to play it safe to serve my own interests. I went there to serve my country.
FOREMAN: John McCain is clearly making a link to President Ronald Reagan, who said "my friends" all the time.
MCCAIN: My friends ...
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: My friend ...
MCCAIN: ...what I promise you, my friends ...
REAGAN: My friends, the wall is crumbling.
MCCAIN: Thank you, my friends.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: The amount of money ...
FOREMAN: Bill Clinton took the White House from the first President Bush talking about health care, oil profits, the cost of education, the collapsing middle class. And Hillary Clinton's campaign echoes many of his issues and words.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to rebuild a strong and prosperous middle class. And to me, that is the most important job the next president will have here at home, because if we don't begin to pay attention to the people who do the work and raise the families and make this country great, we will not recognize America in a few years.
(APPLAUSE)
FOREMAN: John Edwards was saying much the same thing a full four years ago, but as many political observers have noticed, at some point, almost every candidate borrows ideas, words, and even their speaking style from someone else.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think you have to have somebody from outside Washington who has proven that he can get the job done.
FOREMAN (on camera): In some ways, it's unavoidable. If your background is in business, like Mitt Romney, of course you sound like past campaigners who talk about a business-like approach to government.
(voice-over): If are you a former minister like Mike Huckabee, well, praise the Lord and pass the familiar folksiness.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We just sensed that we were going to do better than a lot of people thought, that this old unknown Southern boy could possibly do up here in New England.
FOREMAN: So, is all of this adding up to the best season of political speeches in decades? Maybe, but then, we've heard that before, too.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And for more on the presidential candidates and their next stops, go to CNNpolitics.com. It's your one-stop shop for all things political.
LEMON: OK, this is not your father's Oldsmobile. It's not yours anymore either, Jr. Well, why an Iowa woman calls herself the meanest mom on the planet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLPIS: Well, you can see car ads in the newspaper every day, right? But we bet that you've never seen one like this one in the "Des Moines Register." It says, "Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under the front seat. It concluded, quoting again, called "meanest mom on the planet." Public reaction was, well, shall we say, a little mixed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He only drove it three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under the front seat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think that was very motherly way to handle this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the 19-year-old son says that he found out about the ad when he answered a phone call asking for the meanest mom on the planet. The car, by the way, has been sold and the meanest mom, well, she says she's going to run the ad for another week anyway just for the feedback.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
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