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Changing Landscape in Presidential Race; Ethnic Cleansing: Escalating Violence in Kenya; It's Relative: Progress in Iraq
Aired January 30, 2008 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning again, everybody. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on Wednesday, the 30th of January.
Here's what's on the rundown.
Democrat John Edwards, Republican Rudy Giuliani, both presidential candidates about to add "former" to their titles.
HARRIS: Anticipation building for another interest rate cut today. The Fed's decision and what it means for your wallet.
COLLINS: Has one of Africa's most stable democracies descended into ethnic cleansing? Kenya on the brink -- in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And breaking news. Changing landscape in the presidential race. CNN has learned that John Edwards is calling it quits and will formally announce his decision a couple of hours from right now.
CNN's Jessica Yellin was the first to break this story and she joins us from Los Angeles.
Jessica, good morning to you.
A quick question for you. Do we know why the senator decided to give up his bid? It couldn't have been an easy decision.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. And Edwards had been saying for some time, including as recently as the last primary in South Carolina, where he came in third, that he planned to stay all the way through the Democratic convention no matter what. But we're told that he decided in the last 24 hours, in fact, that he realized the math wasn't there.
And we're not talk about money. We're talking about delegates, that it just wasn't feasible that he would be able to have enough of a difference, to have enough delegates to make a difference at the Democratic convention to justify his staying in this race. But certainly no doubt an incredibly difficult decision for John Edwards, who said he wanted to stay in race if only to keep poverty, that key issue of his, on the table as a key platform issue for the Democrats -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. And Jessica, we're wondering -- and I suppose folks tuning into this news this morning might be wondering if there are any plans, if you've heard of plans, for the senator to endorse one of the two remaining candidates.
YELLIN: A number of sources in the Edwards camp say that he plans to make no endorsement today, but that could change in the future.
Now, it seems, you know, the sort of punditry has assumed that John Edwards would back Obama if anyone at all, because they sort of have a natural affinity with each other in terms of their message of fighting special interests. But in truth, a lot of John Edwards' message really resonates with Hillary Clinton's Democratic base, and so one could see him just as easily going there, or at least his supporters splitting evenly between the two.
And both senators Clinton and Obama are going to have to fight exceptionally hard for Edwards' supporters. It really could make the difference in determining who becomes the Democratic nominee.
HARRIS: Boy, it really sets the stage for this debate this week in California, doesn't it?
YELLIN: Absolutely. We will see for the first time senators Clinton and Obama go head to head, just one-on-one, really sharpen and hammer out their differences.
HARRIS: Wow.
CNN's Jessica Yellin, breaking the news this morning that John Edwards is giving up his bid for the Democratic nomination for president.
Jessica, appreciate it. Thank you.
And again, we are still waiting for a formal announcement from John Edwards. That's expected at 1:00 p.m. Eastern in New Orleans. It's the city where he began his 2008 campaign 13 months ago.
Edwards was John Kerry's running mate in the 2004 presidential campaign. Before becoming a vice presidential candidate, Edwards sought the top job himself. He ended his campaign in March of 2004. Edwards served as a senator from North Carolina between 1998 and 2004. Before that, he was a trial attorney.
COLLINS: The Florida primary -- a Republican front-runner emerges and a former front-runner completes his breathtaking free fall. Today, it's a new GOP race for the White House.
CNN's Mary Snow is in Tampa for us this morning.
Mary, what's ahead for these candidates, especially now Rudy Giuliani?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Yes, a new day, a new dynamic. Rudy Giuliani is not about to exit this race quietly. He is on his way to California right now. And Republican sources tell CNN that later today in California he is expected to endorse his longtime friend, Senator John McCain, who won here last night. Of course, the Republican candidates are in California to attend tonight's CNN debate at the Reagan Library.
For Senator McCain, last night was a big boost to him, and he is vowing to go ahead and become the Republican nominee after winning New Hampshire and South Carolina. Giuliani's endorsement is seen as giving him a boost in some of the Northeast states also, such as New York, Giuliani's home state, and New Jersey. But Mitt Romney is saying not so fast.
He showed that he got more support here in Florida among conservatives, and his camp has been playing that up, saying that they believe conservatives are starting to rally around him. And he sees this as increasing his chances in what they're calling a two-man race.
Now, of course, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, are still in the race, but they have been lagging behind. And tonight, of course, is going to be very interesting at tonight's debate because of the contentious battle between John McCain and Mitt Romney in the days leading up to the primary here that really turns downright bitter -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, it certainly did. And we couldn't mention it more, how much this landscape is changing. So everybody's going to be watching these debates coming up.
Where is it? Oh, it's here on CNN.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Very exciting.
All right. Mary Snow, thanks, live from Tampa this morning.
And beginning tonight, as we said, the candidates face off in California for the last debate before Super Tuesday. Tonight it's the Republicans, tomorrow the Democrats. See them both right here, 8:00 Eastern, only on CNN, your home for politics.
HARRIS: A new government report out this morning is raising fears of a recession and pumping up expectations for another Fed interest rate cut. An announcement, oh, just a few hours from now.
The Commerce Department reports the economy grew a mere .6 percent in the final quarter of last year. That's just half of what economists were expecting. Growth for all of 2007 was 2.2 percent, the weakest since 2002.
COLLINS: Happening this hour now, Attorney General Michael Mukasey is on Capitol Hill. Senate Democrats questioning him today about how al Qaeda suspects are interrogated.
You see the live shot there.
Yesterday, Mukasey issued a statement saying waterboarding is not currently being used, but he would not say whether he considers waterboarding torture. It's a technique that simulates drowning. Most Democrats oppose Mukasey's nomination as attorney general because of his refusal to declare waterboarding torture.
We'll keep watch on this testimony and bring you any new developments.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: The mortgage mess -- the FBI now following the trail of greed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We are anticipating just a couple of hours from now, 1:00 Eastern Time, the official announcement that John Edwards is withdrawing from the presidential race. We have just now received a statement from Barack Obama on John Edwards' decision. Want to read it to you quickly here.
He said, "John Edwards has spent a lifetime fighting to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the struggling, even when it wasn't possible to do or covered in the news. At a time when our politics is too focused on who's up and who's down, he made a nation focus again on who matters -- the New Orleans child without a home, the West Virginia miner without a job, the families who live in that other America that is not seen or heard or talked about by our leaders in Washington."
"John and Elizabeth Edwards have always believed deeply that we can change this, that two Americans can become one, and that our country can rally around this common purpose. So, while his campaign may end today, the cause of their lives endures for all of us who still believe that we can achieve that dream of one America."
Once again, those words directly from Senator Barack Obama regarding the withdrawal of John Edwards from the presidential race.
HARRIS: Mobs, machetes and murder. A U.S. diplomat says bloodletting in Kenya has descended into ethnic cleansing.
Live to Nairobi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Developing this hour, tribe against tribe in Kenya. The top U.S. diplomat for Africa now calls the bloodshed ethnic cleansing.
Live to CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson now, live in Nairobi. So, Nic, does that term describe pretty well what you've been seeing and hearing around you?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Heidi, what you've got to do is ask yourself what ethnic cleansing is, and the description we always use is it's people being forced out of their homes on an ethnic basis, forced out of their jobs because of their ethnicity by another ethnic group, and that is exactly what is happening here.
I was in a camp yesterday of one ethnic group, the Luo, and one man there told me there is no other way to describe what's happening to us. He said this is ethnic cleansing.
What they wanted, they said, was to be taken to areas where there are more of their ethnic group, where he said they would feel safe, their home areas. They were surrounded by a different ethnic group. They said that if they left the protection of the police station, they wouldn't be safe.
And broadly speaking, in broad terms, ethnic cleansing is what we're seeing happening here, Heidi, right now.
COLLINS: Wow. And a lot of people wondering, Nic, how those talks are going between the president and the opposition. It's all happening right now.
ROBERTSON: There are talks under way. Former U.N. secretary- general Kofi Annan managed to get the two leaders together yesterday. There was a meeting that went well, at least according to the spokesman for the leader of the opposition.
He said that the talks were excellent, that they were encouraged by the fact that the president, President Kibaki, didn't insist on sitting in the center. He sat on the side. That was significant for them.
But there's a lot of international pressure growing for these leaders to bring about a political -- political compromise that will help stop violence. That's very difficult at the moment. The violence is escalating.
It's degenerating into an ethnic basis. But it is widely believed -- and Condoleezza Rice has said that she's deeply concerned about the situation -- that the only way forward is for these political leaders to compromise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: There needs to be a political resolution of this conflict. The election was not one that inspired confidence in the Kenyan people, and, therefore, there needs to be a political arrangement, a political solution between the major opposition candidate and the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTSON: Now, Kofi Annan has said that it could take a year for them to work out their differences. We understand there were no meetings between the two sides today, but there are two meetings between delegates. The president and the leader of the opposition have put forward those meetings. They're planned for tomorrow.
The former U.N. secretary-general, Kofi Annan, said it could take a year to resolve all the differences that they have to discuss right now.
COLLINS: All right. CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson for us on the situation in Kenya.
Nic, thank you.
HARRIS: And back here at home, the mortgage mess giving way to outright greed. The FBI looking into possible fraud by some of the players in the subprime crisis.
CNN's Christine Romans has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As foreclosure spread across the country, mortgage fraud complaints are skyrocketing, a result, one FBI official says, of "good old-fashioned greed."
The bureau is conducting criminal investigations into 14 companies and fielding more complaints than ever before. Suspicious activity complaints have soared from 3,000 four years ago to 48,000 last year and already this year on track for 60,000 complaints. FBI investigations into mortgage fraud are up 50 percent over the past year, the FBI only investigates fraud involving half a million dollars or more.
JIM CARR, NAT'L COMM. REINVESTMENT COAL.: This foreclosure crisis really isn't a crisis of individuals taking advantage of the lenders, but really an industry that was so poorly regulated that it really allowed greed to just get completely out of hand.
ROMANS: The FBI says California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio are among the mortgage fraud hot spots, but the problem is spreading nationwide.
ANDREW JAKABOVICS, CTR. FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Let's not forget the average American homeowner who is really getting caught in the squeeze here, that they potentially who are caught in these fraudulent schemes have potentially no recourse if these companies have gone out of business or basically don't have enough capital on hand.
ROMANS: The FBI is not naming the companies under investigation, but this investigation suggests fraud pervaded the subprime crisis.
(on camera): Either when a loan was written or later, when homeowners fell victim to so-called foreclosure rescue scams. And now by companies profiting potentially through insider trading and accounting fraud.
Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Safety -- it's all relative in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no truth in Iraq. There's only an approximation of the truth. You know? And so, there's no safety. There's just relative safety depending on what happened last month or what happened six months ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A Baghdad street turns a corner. But where will it lead?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Minivan stuck on the tracks, train can't be stopped. Neither could a determined rescuer.
Paul Meinke from affiliate from WLS reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL MEINKE, REPORTER, WLS (voice over): Franciszek Chudzik was doing a little drinking, according to police, and then he did some driving. He misjudged a turn in downtown Hinsdale and then he drove right onto the railroad tracks and got stuck.
Police were called, and Officer Steve Ruban raced to the scene with his squad car camera rolling. Just seconds after he stopped, Chudzik's minivan was smashed by an inbound metro train traveling at better than 60 miles an hour. Officer Ruban is thinking immediately, oh, no, how many people were in the minivan?
OFFICER STEVE RUBAN, HINSDALE, ILLINOIS, POLICE: It goes through your mind, you know, how many people were in that car? You have no idea.
MEINKE: Officer Ruban would find out later that Chudzik was the only person in the minivan, and he got out before the crash. But he was just standing on the tracks until Dan Nugent, who was drinking a cup of coffee only a stone's throw away, ran over and pulled Chudzik out of harm's way.
DAN NUGENT, RESCUER: My gut was that he -- that he was confused and that, you know, not a lot of time to assess anything, so I just grabbed him and said let's go.
MEINKE: So, Chudzik is safe, police are frantically calling railroad dispatch to stop train traffic, but that won't come fast enough, because 30 seconds after the first collision, the wreckage of Chudzik's minivan, which has been thrown onto adjacent tracks, gets hit again by an outbound metro train filled with passengers. The fire is from the gas tank, which has exploded. Remarkably, no one was hurt.
Chudzik, who is 72, was charged with DUI after blowing twice the legal limit on his breathalyzer. He is still thankful.
DEPUTY CHIEF MARK WOODKA, HINSDALE, ILLINOIS, POLICE: The driver was very thankful, because if it wasn't for the actions of this good Samaritan, he would have been dead.
MEINKE: And the good Samaritan who knows about the dangers of drinking and driving was glad he could help.
NUGENT: When I was sitting in the Starbucks it occurred to me that maybe, you know, he's been drinking, and I've got to try to do something, because so many people have tried to help me. So it was payback time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: All right. OK. OK.
Besides the man -- the van being demolished, there was minor property damage. But here's the great news -- no one was injured.
COLLINS: Where there was a battlefield, there's now a marketplace, a sign of progress in Iraq. But how tangible is that progress?
Here's CNN's Michael Holmes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's he at? Where's he at?
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Haifa Street, Baghdad, a year ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got hostiles in Delta three.
HOLMES: What a difference a year makes. Today, the Haifa Street area bustles. Markets brim with produce. Stores open, customers plentiful.
Significant, too, that we're even walking these streets. It is, say the locals, because of that battle a year ago and the so-called troop surge that followed, both combining to clear out insurgents and criminals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is probably the largest fight that had occurred in Haifa Street back in January of '07.
HOLMES: Scars of that fight still visible, but also signs of rejuvenation. Here, a market started by the Americans but finished by Iraqis. An outdoor mall of sorts that allows locals to shop in their own neighborhood.
JASIM MUHAMMAD SALEH, STORE OWNER (through translator): This place here was abandoned -- no shops, nothing. The terrorists kept weapons here. There was a lot of killing. Now it's a meeting place for honest, good people to shop.
HOLMES: Jasim runs the Mushadah (ph) market. He says it's a success, but he cautions it could all change.
SALEH (through translator): If the Americans leave, the terrorists, they'll just come back. They'll take over again.
HOLMES: Here at the Al-Asil (ph) Cafe, closed because of the violence last year, packed today. Men playing dominoes, cards, pool, and celebrating the fact they can do so.
"The situation is moving towards the better," this man says. "Hopefully, that will continue."
And a year ago? In Baghdad, there is no safe. Only in some areas safer.
COLONEL KEVIN PETIT, U.S. ARMY: There's no truth in Iraq. There's only an approximation of the truth. You know? And so, there's no safety. There's just relative safety depending on what happened last month or what happened six months ago.
HOLMES: The main complaint here and right around Baghdad is that improved security is one thing. Infrastructure, another.
The city still has enormous problems with infrequent water supply, electricity that's patchy, to say the least, and crumbling sewage systems. That liquid in the street you see is raw sewage.
(on camera): The chief concern is that even where things have improved, it could also easily fall apart. Fears abound that the insurgents who have gone to ground or moved north will return when the American numbers go down, that the surge has provided a veneer of stability and the relative peace is fleeting.
(voice over): Still, in a place like Baghdad, locals will take what they can in a neighborhood they say is vastly improved. They just hope it stays that way for a while.
Michael Holmes, CNN, Haifa Street, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And still to come, a vet gets a new assistant, and she's excited.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's a wonderful girl, always been so bright, very, very smart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dr. Shoomaker (ph) and I are like twins. We just love animals and...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The decade-old doggie doc in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And bottom of the hour. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN newsroom. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Breaking news in the race for the White House. Democrat John Edwards calling it quits. Two sources inside his campaign tell CNN he will make the formal announcement today in New Orleans where he started it all at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. Edwards had not won a primary or a caucus, but his sudden withdrawal is catching many people by surprise. It's not clear if Edwards will offer his endorsement of another Democrat.
HARRIS: The Republican primary in Florida, a potential springboard for John McCain, an apparent graveyard for Rudy Giuliani's campaign. Republican insiders tell CNN Giuliani will endorse McCain later today when he formally drops out of the race. It is a breathtaking finish to a race that saw him far ahead one year ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRES. CANDIDATE: The responsibility of leadership doesn't end with a single campaign. If you believe in a cause, it goes on and you continue to fight for it, and we will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: McCain now emerges as the front-runner for his party's nomination. That means he rides crucial momentum to Super Tuesday's, next week's all-important contest in more than 20 stats. The heat is now on McCain's main rival. That's Mitt Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRES. CANDIDATE: I think I can stop him, but it's, you know, no sure thing at this stage. I think Rudy Giuliani's endorsement will help somewhat. I think it's kind of hard at this stage to say just how it's going to work, but, you know, in a two- person race, with myself and Senator McCain, I like my chances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. The Democrats had no delegates at stake in the Florida primary. Nonetheless, Hillary Clinton did her best to tout her first-place finish. Barack Obama finished second. John Edwards, a distant third.
COLLINS: We know how Florida voted. Now let's consider why. Exit polls peak into what the voters were thinking in Florida and what it could mean in the contests ahead.
CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: How did John McCain win the all-important Florida primary? One word -- authenticity. It was the strength of his personal qualities that appealed to voters. Among the nearly half of Republican primary voters in Florida who said their vote was driven by personal qualities rather than issues, the vote clearly went to John McCain over Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. McCain's victory as a personal victory. It wasn't a victory particularly on issues or ideology. It was a vote for him.
John McCain also has a problem as he goes forward in the Republican primary, namely, values voters. Those are conservative voters who are the base of the Republican Party. John McCain did not carry conservatives. Mitt Romney beat him in that all-important category. John McCain is going to have to be more competitive among conservatives to prove he's at least acceptable to them if he wants to capture the Republican nomination.
Among those Republican voters who were looking for a candidate who shares their values, Romney came out on top, followed by Mike Huckabee. McCain came out in third place. He has some work to do with the conservative base.
However, McCain does have one problem which could become an advantage, namely, the change issue. You're hearing Democrats, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, talk about change, change, change. There seems to be a tremendous market for change in this year's election. Could a Republican candidate credibly present himself as a candidate of change? Maybe McCain could. We found that a third of the Republican primary voters in Florida have a negative assessment of the Bush administration, which means they want change, Republicans for change. And among those voters with a negative opinion of Bush, McCain came out as the winner over Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. That could be a problem for McCain as he goes forward in the Republican primaries, because most Republicans continue to like the Bush administration.
However, if McCain manages to get the Republican nomination, it could be an advantage, because it says he could present himself credibly to a larger electorate as a candidate who authors change.
Finally, the one thing that McCain did have going for him that may have trumped everything else was that Republican voters thought he has the best chance of winning the election in November. He is the most electable. Ask which of the Republican contenders has the best chance, McCain dominated the field with 46 percent, Romney 33. Rudy Giuliani was just 11 percent. This should have been Rudy Giuliani's strongest issue. He offered himself as the most electable Republican. But in that category, McCain beat Giuliani by a margin of more than 4- 1.
Electability is something else that McCain has going for him as he goes into these final and decisive primaries on super Tuesday seeking the nomination. It's becoming a contest between him, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.
Bill Schneider, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: All this week, CNN is bringing you special coverage of the presidential candidates as they crisscross the country ahead of Super Tuesday. It's the CNN Ballot Bowl today at noon Eastern.
HARRIS: And a mystery in Texas. A 3-month-old baby found dead on the side of the road. Police say it looks like the child was thrown from a moving car. A nationwide search is on right now for the baby's father.
Sherman Chow (ph) of affiliate KHOU investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERMAN CHOW (ph), KHOU REPORTER (voice-over): A simple outline in a grassy field marks the place where Jesse Zara made a stunning discovery. Shaken, the off-duty jailer called 911.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: I've never seen nothing like this before. Oh my God. It's a baby. God. (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
DISPATCHER: It's OK.
CALLER: Somebody hit it on the head.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHOW: He and his wife had been walking along Cherry Hill.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: I've never seen anything like this before. It's horrible. God, it's horrible.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHOW: It was, indeed. A 3-month-old boy wearing only blue pampers was apparently thrown from a moving vehicle. Detectives believe he was strapped in a car seat until he struck the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's highly upset. She's very upset.
CHOW: A young mother in Alva (ph) had been looking for her baby all day and started calling hospitals. Eventually, Galveston P.D. got the call and brought her here.
LT. JORGE TREVINO, GALVESTON, TEXAS POLICE: We showed her a picture, and she said that was her child. We, of course -- that's pending the M.E. telling us for sure that it is.
CHOW: This is the baby's father, 21-year-old Travis T.J. Mullis. He, the mother and baby lived together. Detectives say only...
TREVINO: Were up until all hours of the night and he left with the child. He was the last person seen with the baby, and anything else would just be guessing.
CHOW: While investigators have plenty of their own questions yet to answer, Jessie Zara is asking one of his own.
JESSE ZARA, FOUND BABY AND CALLED 911: Somebody done that to a baby? What is going on with our young society out there?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Overseas now, ethnic cleansing -- that's how the top U.S. diplomat for Africa characterizes the vicious cycle of killings under way right now in Kenya. Police and military troops are on the streets today. The police dispute reports of a shoot-to-kill order. Tribal violence has left some 800 people dead and 200,000 displaced in the last month. The attacks, sparked by the president's disputed re- election. Washington is now considering sanctions against both government and opposition figures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECY. OF STATE: There needs to be a political resolution of this conflict. The election was not one that inspired confidence in the Kenyan people, and therefore, there needs to be a political arrangement, a political solution between the major opposition candidate and the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A former U.N. chief, Kofi Annan, is holding crisis talks between the two political leaders, but he says it could take a year to work through.
COLLINS: Growing desperation in China. Winter storms trapping millions of people in a travel nightmare. But right now, some people stuck in a train station may be getting help.
CNN's Hugh Riminton has been following the story from Guangzhou in Southern China.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There can be no question now that this weather emergency that continues to grip china has the total attention of the senior-most ranks of the government in Beijing. One effect has been for them to deploy 1.5 million troops, and soldiers and police across the country to try to restore order, to try to open up lines of communication. They're working hard at that, but they have had some successes. At the Guangzhou train station, roughly half a million people have crowded in at various times in the course of the past week, often in a fairly disorderly state. There have been a number of quite deliberate police moves in the last few hours in which they have cleared many of these people away, cleared them into the train station where they have an expectation that trains will be there to carry them on elsewhere.
They still have huge challenges, however, ahead of them. The weather is not expected to improve, and the real crowds that are leaving their factory jobs to try to get home for the lunar new year are only really now coming through. Big tasks ahead, but plainly an attempt to get on top of it by the authorities here.
Hugh Riminton, Guangzhou, China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And ahead, eating mud cakes. It's not play time; it's meal time in one poor nation. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Lets talk about a young lady getting a head start on her dreams. A 10-year-old is not just dreaming of what she wants to do when she grows up, she's doing it now. Keith Eldridge, of affiliate KOMO, reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right there.
KEITH ELDRIDGE, KOMO REPORTER: Time for surgery at the South Bay Veterinary Hospital in Olympia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Need to get that out of there.
ELDRIDGE: Dr. Michelle Shoemaker is being assisted by Courtney Oliver, a certified veterinary assistant who just completed her college course work. It's hard to tell which one is which with their masks on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There.
ELDRIDGE: But part way through the surgery, it's clear who's who.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me scoop my stool.
ELDRIDGE: The really tiny one is Courtney, still elementary school aged.
(on-camera): So how old are you?
COURTNEY OLIVER, CERTIFIED VETERINARY ASSISTANT: I am ten.
ELDRIDGE: And you have a college degree?
OLIVER: Mm-hmm.
ELDRIDGE (voice-over): A 10-year-old with an online certification as a veterinary assistance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go honey.
ELDRIDGE: And in eight months, Courtney had the same certification as her adult co-workers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There we go. OK. Which tube do you need?
ELDRIDGE: Courtney says she knew early in life this was what she wanted to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Suture this dog's foot. Can you help with that?
ELDRIDGE: Dr. Shoemaker has been Courtney's mentor.
DR. MICHELLE SHOEMAKER VETERINARIAN: She's amazing. She's a wonderful girl, always been so bright. Very, very smart.
OLIVER: Dr. Shoemaker and I are like twins. We just love animals, and, you know, we just wanted to do this because this is our thing.
ELDRIDGE (on-camera): Despite all of her qualifications and despite her college degree, Courtney can't be here by herself. She has to have her mother with her. State law says she's just too young.
OLIVER: So just close it up. That was a really fast surgery.
ELDRIDGE (voice-over): But don't tell Courtney. This 10-year- old is too busy tending to the needs of these veterinary patients.
In Olympia, Keith Eldridge, KOMO 4 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: How about that story? Well, Courtney volunteers at the vet hospital once a week. She tried joining the local 4H veterinary program, but she was told she's too young.
So to get your daily dose -- and I love that story -- of health news online, logon to our Web site. There you will find the latest medical news, a health library and, of course, information on diet and fitness. The address, CNN.com/health.
COLLINS: Recession or not, one thing is clear, the economy is moving in the wrong direction. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with the latest sign of trouble.
Good morning to you, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boy, Heidi, I hate to follow that kid vet story.
COLLINS: I know. It was very encouraging, wasn't it?
LISOVICZ: You have a very fun story. And then, you know, yes the messenger of doom. Well, Heidi, we've given you lots of snapshots of the economy with housing sales, holiday spending, corporate profits. But the broadest view, the panoramic view, if you will, you really need to look at gross domestic product, or GDP. And we got that report out today.
It showed that growth slowed dramatically in the fourth quarter to just .6 percent. In fact, it was so anemic that it was only half of what was already a weak forecast. Now, this is just an estimate, the first estimate, and it will be revised in February and March. But by comparison, third quarter growth was just below five percent. When GDP falls into negative territory, it's a factor in determining a recession. So, there was growth, but it was very modest.
COLLINS: Yes.
LISOVICZ: And that's putting it mildly, Heidi.
COLLINS: Well what about stocks? I mean do they react? Are they just tumbling behind this news (ph)?
LISOVICZ: Well, as you know, a lot of times bad news doesn't necessarily spur a selloff, especially on a day when you're going to get a decision from the Federal Reserve. And investors, basically, are hoping this will seal the deal for yet another rate cut.
A lot of the folks expect a half a point cut to the federal funds rate, which is the benchmark for most consumer loans. It's already been cut 1.75 percentage points since last summer when things were good and the rate was 5.25 percent. But since then, as you can see, the mortgage fallout hit, the Fed has been cutting, including that emergency cut just last week. Right now, the key interest rate stands at 3.5 percent. At 2:15 Eastern time, that will most likely change, if you listen to what everyone's saying here.
And when that -- when the Fed makes a move, things may change here, as well, in one direction or another. Right now, things are pretty quiet. We're coming off two days of gains. The Nasdaq -- the Dow right now is down 49 points. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is down eight points, or about a third of a percent. And we're watching the numbers, and we're waiting to hear from the Fed later today.
Heidi, Tony, back to you.
COLLINS: OK. We will be waiting right here with bated breath. All right. Susan Lisovicz, thanks so much.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
HARRIS: Listen to this for a moment here. Driven to desperate measures, desperate measures, we're talking. Haiti's poor turned to mud to keep their bellies full. CNN's Emily Chang reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Women bake them in the sun, then pile them up in buckets to sell in village markets. In Haiti, these cookies ease the deepest hunger pangs. Cookies made out of mud. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with 80 percent of people below the poverty line. Most can't even afford a plate of rice and must resort to desperate measures to feed their families.
Women trek the dried dirt in from Haiti's central plateau. After the rocks and clumps are strained out, it's mixed with shortening and salt, then padded into cakes and fried.
"When my mother has not cooked," this little girl says, "I eat them a lot."
Historically, pregnant women and children have prized the mud, rich in calcium, and also used it as an antacid. But it cannot sustain an entire diet.
"The people eat mud because they are in need," he says. "They do it because they have no food."
One health official says villagers are eating it in dangerous amounts.
JOSELINE MAHONE PIERRE, NATIONAL NUTRITION PROGRAM (through translator): The problem is the quantity that's consumed and the bacteria that could be found in the mud during the preparation of the cooking.
CHANG: But with soaring food prices, they say they have no choice. A quart of rice now costs 50 cents, far more than most Haitians can afford. Mud is free, though it might cost the poorest in Haiti their health.
Emily Chang, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Time to take a look now at some of those clicked-on videos on CNN.com.
John Edwards is dropping out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. He's expected to make a formal announcement this afternoon.
A minivan gets stuck on train tracks in Hinsdale, Illinois. The 72-year-old driver jumps out before a train hit it and is helped from the tracks seconds before a train crashes into his van.
And China's worst weather in more than half a century shows no signs of stopping. Forecasters warn of three more days of snow and sleet.
For more of your favorite video, go to CNN.com/mostpopular.
President Bush criticizing Congress over wasteful spending, but his warnings may be coming too late.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Rudy Giuliani, he put all of his eggs in Florida's basket. Today he's making omelets and making decisions about his future. "Ballot Bowl" starts at the top of the hour.
COLLINS: Happening right now, Attorney General Michael Mukasey is on Capitol Hill. Senate Democrats questioning him today about how al Qaeda suspects are interrogated. At issue, waterboarding, a technique that simulates drowning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MUKASEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Given that waterboarding is not part of the current program and may never be added to the current program, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to pass definitive judgment on the technique's legality. I understand fully that you, and other members of the committee, may disagree with that decision. I also appreciate the public interest in this issue and the sincerity and the strength of the views that you and your colleagues have expressed.
But as I explained during the confirmation process, I don't believe that it's advisable to address difficult legal questions in the absence of actual facts and circumstances. That this issue has generated such intense public interest and debate is no reason to ignore that principle. In fact, it's all the more reason to follow it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Mukasey's refusal to say whether he considers waterboarding torture briefly stalled his Senate confirmation last fall.
HARRIS: Desperate police for help in Venezuela. Bank robbers caught by coincidence after holding dozens of people hostage. CNN's Lonzo Cook has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LONZO COOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Standoff. Venezuelan police surround a bank where four gunmen hold dozens of hostages after their robbery went wrong. The gunmen entered the bank Monday morning, but were surprised by a uniformed police officers who had stopped to use a cash machine. Armed with handguns and what authorities called a type of grenade, they took more than 30 people captive.
Two hostages escaped and five were freed overnight. The rest, increasingly desperate, remained inside the bank. Some held signs to the windows, pleading for police not to storm the building. Negotiations between the robbers and the police continued into Tuesday until, at last, they emerged.
With five hostage who had agreed to go with them, they drove off in an ambulance. Authorities had promised not to follow. Police and the hostages' families swarmed into the bank. None of the hostages was harmed. This man said the robbers had been amateurs. "They were nervous," he says. "They would say, you guys eat, if you want to give us some then that's fine, but we don't want you to later say that we treated you badly."
But the robbers' escape was to be short lived. A few hours after the ambulance left the bank, police stopped it at a roadblock. The remaining hostages were freed. The robbers arrested.
Lonzo Cook, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The Middle East hit by a rare winter storm and unusually chilly temperatures. In Israel, bad weather shut schools, businesses and public transportation down, but it didn't keep -- necessarily everybody inside, as you can see. They usually only see one or two snowstorms a year, but the snow rarely sticks. It's the same story across other parts of the Middle East. Most cities are not prepared to handle the weather. Forecasters say up to eight inches of snow fell in Jerusalem.
HARRIS: A new government report out this morning is raising fears of a recession and pumping up expectations for another Fed interest rate cut. The announcement just a few hours from right now. The Commerce Department reports the economy grew at a mere .6 percent in the final quarter of last year. That's just half of what economists were expecting. Growth for all of 2007 was 2.2 percent, the weakest since 2002.
COLLINS: So that announcement coming up about 2:15. John Edwards' coming at 1:00, all on Eastern time. Not easter -- Eastern time. CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.
HARRIS: In the meantime, CNN the "Ballot Bowl" is next with special coverage of the presidential candidates. That gets under way in just minutes.
I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. Have a great day everybody.
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