Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Candidates Campaign in Virginia; Where is Kim Jong-Il; Pentagon Memorial to 9/11 Attack Site Unveiled; Hurricane Ike Heads for Texas

Aired September 10, 2008 - 09:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you guys, and good morning to you out there, everybody.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM now. I'm Heidi Collins.

See events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Wednesday morning, September 10th. Here's the rundown.

Hurricane on track for Texas. Preparations and some evacuations under way as Ike churns through the Gulf of Mexico.

Virginia, is for candidates. Both presidential campaigns there this morning. Live this hour, Obama speaks. And plus, the purpose of pushing Palin.

And a 12-year-old rescued after 15 hours in the ocean. What's special about this boy that helped him survive, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

Hurricane Ike on the move this morning and a growing threat. Right now, it's in the Gulf of Mexico, where it's likely to grow a lot stronger in the coming days. It's on track toward landfall in Texas as a powerful Category 3.

Emergency officials want coastal residents with special medical needs to evacuate now just in case the storm hits. Larger-scale evacuations are also being considered.

Want to get on over to Rob Marciano right off the bat here to get the very latest.

Rob, we are actually going to talk with you in just a moment. Want to go ahead and move on quickly because the latest is coming in on something else regarding the weather as well.

The Persian Gulf shaken by a strong earthquake this morning. It was centered in southern Iran. The U.S. Geological Survey puts the magnitude at 6.1. The jolt sent people into the streets of Dubai, across the Strait of Hormuz.

CNN's own staff in Dubai felt up to 20 seconds of shaking. No word yet on damages or injuries.

Fewer boots on the ground in Iraq and how to keep from taking a step back. Next hour, the Pentagon's top brass heads to Capitol Hill. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs chairman Michael Mullen testifies before the House Armed Services Committee.

They will talk about how to shift troops to Afghanistan as President Bush talked about yesterday. You saw that here in the CNN NEWSROOM. And he'll do that, apparently, without sacrificing security gains in Iraq.

At the White House, President Bush getting ready to host the president of Iraq. Jalal Talabani heads to the Oval Office this afternoon. The meeting comes one day after Mr. Bush announced that gradual withdrawal of 8,000 U.S. troops from Iraq.

It will be known as the park. A Pentagon memorial to the victims of 9/11. We will take a tour of this place of honor and remembrance.

Now to Hurricane Ike in the Gulf and on the move. Its path likely headed to the United States.

CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano following all the latest developments.

There you are now, Rob. What's the very latest on this?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: 85-mile-an-hour winds and the track of this thing is getting a little bit more -- I wouldn't say concrete, but a little bit -- it's forming a little bit better, as is the eye of this thing about to reform here in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tap into some warm waters so -- will likely quickly go from a Category 1 to a Category 2 later on today, at the very least, later on tonight.

There are some warm currents and eddies into the Gulf of Mexico that will kind of turbo boost this thing as it slowly makes its way north westward. Right only about eight miles an hour. We do expect it to pick up steam.

It's 900 miles from Corpus Christi, so quite a lot of real estate over those warm waters to navigate through and essentially tap into to get this thing to -- back to major -- major hurricane status.

We think that will happen late tomorrow night with Cat 3 on the docket for early Friday morning, potentially making landfall as a Cat 3 late Friday night or into Saturday morning.

Anywhere now the cone from Houston down to Brownsville. That's pretty much where we think -- the National Hurricane Center thinks this thing is going to hit. But notice this extreme right turn right after landfall. I mean, if that right turn happens 12 hours before, and you're talking Houston, you're talking Beaumont, you're even talking potentially Lake Charles.

So, we'll watch for updates here, and we'll get the next one, Heidi, in about an hour and a half.

COLLINS: OK.

MARCIANO: And that will help things form a little bit better.

There's Miami, should be rain free. A live shot for you quickly. You got some clouds, you see them rotating.

WPLG, the camera shaking a little bit, still getting some dusty winds across South Florida, still from the effects of Ike which continues to pepper especially the Keys and Monroe County in southwestern Florida.

So, Floridians not quite done with Ike yet. And then Texas is next on the schedule -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, boy, that's what it sounds like. All right, Rob, we will check back with you a little bit later on the movement of all that.

MARCIANO: OK.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, Texas emergency officials are considering drastic action as the storm approaches. This morning Brazoria County has issued a mandatory evacuation order for its coastal residents.

In Corpus Christi plans are in place to open an evacuation routes along Interstate 37. The American Red Cross in San Antonio moving its mobile and six feeding trucks to help evacuees.

And in a state where football is king, a waiver has been granted so games can be played earlier in areas where evacuations may become necessary.

Hurricane Ike did little more than swipe Key West, but the images are still pretty dramatic. Look at this now, iReporter Pat Klein shot this video of flooding near the southernmost point of the United States.

Boy. It helps you get an idea of how things look there. So, please, remember to send us your iReports when the weather becomes the news. Just go to ireport.com or type ireport@CNN.com into your cell phone.

But, as always, stay safe when you try to take those pictures.

East of Cuba now. Hurricane Ike was a ferocious Category 4 storm when it slammed into the Turks and Caicos Islands. The damage -- there devastating.

CNN's John Zarrella is joining us now from Grand Turk.

Good morning to you, John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.

Well, that's right, you know, one of the first group of islands that Ike ravaged as it made its way to the west were the Grand Turk Islands. We're actually on Providenciales this morning, which is the main tourist island and they really sustained very little damage here. But just 60 miles away on Grand Turk, where we spent the entire day yesterday, the story is so much different.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA (voice over): Lee and Jean Astwood washed their clothes in a tub that, before the storm, was used to feed their horses. Now on Grand Turk Island it is the only way to clean clothes. There's no power anywhere, but the Astwoods are upbeat.

JEAN ASTWOOD, GRAND TURK RESIDENT: What are we to do now?

ZARRELLA (on camera): Yes.

ASTWOOD: Continue? Continue. This is life. Just hope for the best.

LEE ASTWOOD, GRAND TURK RESIDENT: We really don't need no handouts from -- we can get our power back or we'll be just fine, a generator, you know? So we're OK.

ZARRELLA (voice over): The top floor of their home was ripped apart by Hurricane Ike. Nothing left. Downstairs is the grocery store they've owned for 20 years. Their son Ian pieced together what was left.

IAN ASTWOOD, GRAND TURK RESIDENT: Part of the damages and the loss of property and buildings and structures, the main thing was that we'll manage to come out of it alive.

ZARRELLA (on camera): And that's the incredible story coming out of Grand Turk. No one was killed. And there were only a few injuries.

(Voice over): Incredible, because nearly every building sustained some damage. Many buildings and homes are just flattened.

PREMIER MICHAEL MISICK, TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS: I want to give you hope that -- that all is not lost and that in very short order, we will be up and running and trying to make Grand Turk even bigger and better.

ZARRELLA: Offshore two British warships are anchored, helping supply water and basic necessities. But there is so much to do, and only now are relief workers and supplies beginning to trickle in.

John Zarella, CNN, Grand Turk Island.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: We flew in to Grand Turk yesterday with premier -- with the premier, and when I spoke with him, Heidi, he said, you know, what we really need to do, we've got to get shelters up. We've got to get some sort of a tent city up, similar to what happened during Hurricane Andrew in South Dade in '92. And you can imagine there's no ice. There's no generators. They have no power. Every power line down across that island. So, it's critical that they get some sort of shelter up for those people, it's pretty -- it's still stifling hot here in September on the islands despite the trade winds that we have here.

So, it's -- it's going to get pretty ugly down there, if they can't get some generating capability in. And because it's an island, it's tough to get those basic necessities in.

COLLINS: Sure.

ZARRELLA: Heidi?

COLLINS: All right, CNN's John Zarrella in Turks and Caicos which is normally such an incredibly beautiful area. We will keep our eye on that.

John, thank you.

Haiti also hit hard by Ike. And just before that, three other major storms. Already the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, we'll show you how Haiti has been further devastated.

To the campaign trail now. The presidential race is tight and getting nasty. Barack Obama's campaign is dismissing criticism from the John McCain camp over an Obama comment about, quote, "lipstick on a pig."

McCain's campaign says the remark was an offensive reference to GOP vice presidential contender Sarah Palin. The Obama campaign says he wasn't talking about Palin and that Republicans' outrage is, quote, "a pathetic attempt to play the gender card."

Later this hour, Obama holds a campaign rally at a high school in Norfolk, Virginia, and we will bring you some of that speech, so you can keep it right here to watch for that.

The Sarah Palin factor in northern Virginia today. John McCain and his popular running mate are in Fairfax, Virginia for a late- morning rally at a local park there. That's the last campaign stop for the Republicans duo before Palin returns to Alaska and then sets out on her own.

CNN's Ed Henry is in Fairfax, Virginia this morning.

So, Ed, why is the McCain team deploying Palin to a state like Virginia?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they see, Heidi, right now Sarah Palin as John McCain's best asset. And the reason why, you can see the people forming behind me having been out on the road with John McCain before he picked Sarah Palin, he did not have very large crowds.

He tended towards those smaller town hall forums indoors. This one outside. They're expecting 10,000, maybe 20,000 people. I can tell you there's a long line of people out there still waiting to get in. We're still two hours away from this rally.

And the reason why this state, in particular, is it's a pivotal swing state. The Democrats have not won the state of Virginia since 1964. But they've been winning some Senate races, some gubernatorial battles in this state in recent years. So they have high hopes of also bringing it home in November for the White House.

And so where John McCain needs to do in an area like this, in northern Virginia, outside the Washington, D.C. suburbs, Democrats normally get very high turnout here. John McCain needs to do two things. Number one, stress his maverick credentials, try to play up the thing he's been talking about so much, about reform, about bucking his own party.

And secondly he needs to use Sarah Palin here to try -- in suburbs like this -- to bring in what we used to call soccer moms, we're now calling, I guess, hockey moms.

COLLINS: Yes.

HENRY: I just spoke to a mom a few feet away from me saying she's a baseball mom and a football mom. I think at this point, they'll take lacrosse moms.

COLLINS: Yes.

HENRY: They'll get any mom they can get at this point in a state like this, Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, I think you're right about that. Recently, though, McCain and Palin have been trying to seize the mantle of change.

Does that really mean that they are playing that change card now instead of the experience card? Or, my question kind of remains, can they do both?

HENRY: I think they are. I think you're right, I think they're trying to do a little bit of both. John McCain yesterday on the stump was still questioning Barack Obama's experience, his qualifications to be commander in chief.

But as you know, that -- that equation has gotten a little more complex since he picked Sarah Palin because of the question about her own experience. So they're trying to do a one-two punch.

They talk about experience but they're also trying to play that change card. And, as you mentioned before I came on, Barack Obama is saying, wait a second, I've been talking about change for a long time.

And so, I think in the next couple of months you're going to see a lot of back-and-forth about who is the real change ticket, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, well, we know you're watching it all closely from Fairfax, Virginia this morning, Ed Henry.

Ed, thank you.

A win in Minnesota for comedian-turned-politician, Al Franken. The former "Saturday Night Live" star beat out six other contenders in a Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Now Franken will face incumbent Republican senator Norm Coleman in a November general election.

Both Franken and Coleman spent millions on dollars on hard- hitting TV ads during that primary race.

Franken says he will focus on issues in the next 56 days. His goal, in his words, quote, "to change the way Washington works."

Calm after 15 hours in the ocean. A rescuer praised his survival skills, but this 12-year-old boy may never be able to talk about his adventure.

ANNOUNCER: CNN NEWSROOM brought to you by...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The economy, "ISSUE #1." Across the nation, gas prices are up. According to AAA, the national average has climbed more than a penny and a half a gallon since yesterday. Today's price, almost $3.67 a gallon.

That is a drop of more than 14 cents a gallon compared to one month ago.

Well, falling oil prices have prompted OPEC to reduce its oil production. But the president of the cartel says we'll probably see oil prices to continue to fall.

Let's take a closer look now with CNN's senior business correspondent, Ali Velshi. He's joining us from New York.

Hey there, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, I got to say, you and I have spent a lot of time doing this, and one doesn't need an economics degree to understand that if you...

COLLINS: Yes.

VELSHI: ... you've cut the production of oil, there's not a lot of people who think that would result in the price of oil falling. But OPEC is very worried. These countries are very worried that with oil now approaching $100 a barrel, what's going to happen?

So they have -- here's how they've handled it. They have not said that they are cutting production, they are saying that they are enforcing previously established quotas. They're returning to September 2007 levels where they were going to have, what, 28.8 million barrels a day produced by OPEC, which, if you calculate what's being put out now, it's about 527,000 barrels less than we're putting out on a daily basis.

So they're not saying they're cutting. They're saying their member countries have to get back down to the limits that they had agreed upon. It is very typical for OPEC countries to actually produce more and export more oil than the cartel agrees to.

And, obviously, with oil up 100 bucks a barrel, it pays somebody to cheat a little bit and sell a little bit more oil, you know, as long as there is a buyer. So OPEC is saying they're going to have 500,000 barrels less per day on the market than they do now.

I must say to their credit, they say that they'll probably see oil prices falling. We've not seen much of a move in oil prices...

COLLINS: Yes.

VELSHI: ... after this announcement so he might be right. But at the moment we're still looking -- we're still above 100 bucks a barrel for oil which is a lot higher than it was a year ago.

COLLINS: Yes, well, that's the important point, because it depends on...

VELSHI: Yes.

COLLINS: ... what you're comparing to.

VELSHI: Right.

COLLINS: You know, we were just talking about the gas prices anyway that definitely they are lower than they were a month ago, but when you look a year ago, it's an entirely different story.

VELSHI: Right. Now the question here is OPEC signaling that they like oil around 100 bucks a barrel and that's where they're going to start to, you know, operate? Because usually OPEC, when it gets to a point where it's too high or it's too low, they start getting into these meetings and discussions, I wonder if that's the signal.

But it's too early to tell right now. We'll have to see. Oil has been on a downward trend for a while and we'll keep watching that. That's good news for most of our viewers.

COLLINS: Yes, no kidding. All right, CNN's senior business correspondent, Ali Velshi.

Ali, thanks for that.

VELSHI: OK.

COLLINS: And back to this now. A spike in gas prices has triggered a state investigation in Kentucky. The attorney general's office there wants to know why prices shot up 30 cents a gallon yesterday.

The jaw-dropping increase comes despite -- as we just talked about -- falling oil price on the world market.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We believe that there could be an illegal monopoly taking place in the -- specifically global market but also in the Kentucky market.

GEORGE JONES, LOUISVILLE RESIDENT: A barrel of oil is going down by $100. So if it's back down to $100 a barrel, how come we still paying almost $4 per gallon of gas?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: One suspicion, a merger between two Kentucky oil giants more than 10 years ago. The state investigators say they have issued nine subpoenas. They're now waiting for information on the wholesale price of gas in both the Louisville and state markets.

The supreme leader suffering a stroke? Rumors surround North Korea's Kim Jong-Il. We go live to Seoul to get the full story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTER MARINO, FATHER: The Coast Guard rocks. God bless the Coast Guard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Well, you remember this amazing story. A 12-year-old with autism dragged out by really rapid current. His father, of course, jumped in to save him, but then was also taken away by those currents.

After 12 hours of treading water, they were actually saved. And so this is the father. And it's just an amazing story.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with me.

You're going to be talking with the family...

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

COLLINS: ... in just a couple of seconds, so definitely stick around for that. But first, we want to point out, you know, you have done an awful lot of work with autism and there really are some medical angles to talk about in this particular story.

GUPTA: You know you take everything that happened to them -- the extreme dehydration, the obvious -- the fatigue that must come with the muscle soreness, treading water for that many hours -- and you add to this the inability to communicate in the way that people are most used to.

COLLINS: Sure.

GUPTA: And so -- it was an amazing story. And I love telling stories like this, because they are -- have a good outcome.

COLLINS: Yes.

GUPTA: But as you mentioned, we do get a chance to talk to the family as well here. And they're joining us, I believe, from Florida, Walter, Angela, his wife, Christopher and his daughter as well.

Hey, good morning, everybody.

MARINO: Good morning, Sanjay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.

GUPTA: Well, first of all, before we start, I want to hear all about this. But let me just ask, Walter, how are you all doing? How is everybody doing?

MARINO: We're doing fantastic. I mean, we got -- Christopher got a lot of jellyfish stings. But other than that, doctor checked us both out, we're doing well.

GRACE: Great. You know I wanted to hear more about the story.

But Angela, I wanted to ask you, as well, because when I heard this story, the only thing that I can really think of in the beginning was my own wife, Robyn. And when you see the story, when you see your husband and your son are drifting out to sea, what was -- what were you thinking about?

Robyn?

ANGELA, DAUGHTER OF WALTER MARINO: Are you talking to me?

GUPTA: Robyn?

ROBYN BISHOP, MOTHER: Angela, he's asking you.

GUPTA: Either Robyn or Angela.

BISHOP: Oh, I was just panicked and terrified. I had to call the (INAUDIBLE) at the house and they told me to come get my daughter. And that they were drifting out and they couldn't tell me any more than that. I was just absolutely panicked. It was terrible.

GUPTA: I could imagine. I have two children as well. I can only imagine what that was -- would have been like.

Walter, you -- you and Christopher were communicating, my understanding was, when you sort of started going out to sea with him. How were you communicating with your son Christopher?

MARINO: Well, he -- you know, these kids know no danger in a lot of many ways. And he was on -- on an adventure. He was on a swim. He was ready to go swim across to the other side of the ocean. And he was laughing all the time and having a -- having a great time.

And, you know, we went to try to reach a buoy. We missed it. And he was laughing. And then the jellyfish came out and stung him. And when the jellyfish came out and stung, that's what really started to freak him out. And the way I calmed him is he's got a -- he watches a lot of Disney videos which is why we try to get him to go swimming and whatnot.

But he watches a lot of videos, and we would -- we have a repertoire of about two dozen or so phrases that we use and I say the first half of the phrase and he completes it. Like, for example, Christopher, can you sing? Christopher, can you say, to infinity, and beyond.

And we -- we were doing that all night long and that's what kept my spirits up. But after about four hours or so -- that's another one. And about four hours or so, I kept on doing those. And he -- he was getting more and more distant.

GUPTA: Right. Right.

MARINO: We were starting to pull apart. And I was screaming, you know, "to infinity," and I couldn't hear "and beyond" back from him.

GUPTA: Oh my gosh.

MARINO: So I lost him. I thought I lost him at that point.

GUPTA: Oh, gosh. Well, sorry, I can't even imagine. But it's so fascinating, I think, for a lot of people to hear how you were communicating with Christopher at that time. When you -- my understanding is you get -- you were rescued first and Christopher...

MARINO: Yes.

GUPTA: ... was more than a mile away from you at that time. What did you...

MARINO: Yes. The fishermen on...

GUPTA: What did you say...

MARINO: The fishermen -- the fishermen on the Open Range spotted me. And they were on their way to their fishing hole, and they were running late. And they've had an open throttle, straight ahead, the coordinates locked in.

And one of the guys, McMichaels, caught the flash of my chain and caught -- that caught his eye. And then he stopped at the scene, because they weren't looking for anything, because they had their GPS all dialed in. And they were nowhere near their sight so they were going full open throttle.

GUPTA: Well... MARINO: And those -- and the reason that they -- once they found us, once they found me, they were able to plug in the coordinates to better find Christopher -- so the Coast Guard could find Christopher.

GUPTA: Well, I am so glad -- Heidi and I are so glad you guys are all doing well. Walter, Christopher, Robyn, Angela, thanks for joining us this morning. I really appreciate it. And I'm glad you're doing well. Take care.

COLLINS: A beautiful family you guys have. Good for you.

GUPTA: One word he said, Heidi, when he was rescued -- cold. It was somebody who's not really speaking as you can see. He has these phrases back and forth with his dad.

COLLINS: Yes, right.

GUPTA: Which was fascinating to hear, but cold was the word that he finally...

COLLINS: Yes, and he really knew -- of course, from living with him for his entire life, he knew how to break through and to have some sort of communication with him which, I'm sure, was imperative in the situation.

GUPTA: It's so fascinating to hear those kinds of stories, because -- it's so hard to reach sometimes...

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely.

GUPTA: ... a child with autism.

COLLINS: Well, we're glad you're here to do that.

GUPTA: Thanks.

COLLINS: All right, senior medical correspondent and chief and all of those good things.

GUPTA: Right.

COLLINS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

GUPTA: Anything for you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Thank you.

I want to tell you about this story, too. A liquor store robbery gone bad. Police caught in the line of fire. The shoot out caught on tape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: OK. Quickly want to take you to the opening bell on this Wednesday. We're going to be watching those numbers, certainly after yesterday's close down about 280 points, the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

So we want to know what is going to happen today with the numbers. A very different story at the start of the week. And there you have it, the opening bell.

Also going to be talking about Lehman Brothers. Boy, huge, huge losses that they had to report just a little while ago, $3.9 billion. We'll tell you more about that and the rest of the numbers throughout the day right here.

A quick break now. CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Where is Kim Jong-Il? Rumors surround the reclusive North Korean leader. He hasn't been seen in public for weeks, and he missed his country's 60th birthday parade. U.S. intelligence officials tell CNN he may have suffered a stroke. CNN's Hugh Riminton is live in Seoul, South Korea, this morning with the very latest.

So, Hugh, it's pretty unusual that he would miss events like this, right?

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. This is a big birthday party for North Korea. It's a sort of thing that he turns up to usually. He did the last two big commemorations that they had at the founding of his country.

But the main information on this, Heidi, is coming through from South Korean officials. They say their intelligence information is that about three weeks ago, they believe that he suffered a mild stroke. Their information is that his face is partly paralyzed. He speaks only now with slurred speech, and he cannot walk without a limp. However, they say that he's still thinking clearly. He appears to be still in control and that his condition has stabilized since then. It hasn't gotten any worse.

At the moment, they are keeping very much a close eye on it, as is every other country that borders on North Korea, and United States as well, taking a keen interest to see what they can learn about Kim Jong-Il's health -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, sure. I mean, and that is a very big part of this story. How serious would it be if these reports are true?

RIMINTON: Well, I mean, for one thing, we should point out the North Korean authorities say they are untrue. They say that this is just a more falsehoods coming from the West. They say it's not only worthless information, they say, it's also a conspiracy plot. That's what they're saying.

Now this, of course, is where the axis of evil countries, in the famous phrase from President George W. Bush. So, some people might say -- well, what's the bad thing if he's sick? If he's incapacitated, even if he dies, surely the world is a better place. Most military intelligence analysts say that the thing that might be worst in Kim Jong-Il is North Korea in a power vacuum with no one in control, with nuclear weapons on board, potentially with various factions of the military perhaps fighting for control of this country, perhaps with millions of people, refugees fleeing across borders into China, into South Korea, perhaps into Russia as well which also shares a border.

So, many people say stability under Kim Jong-Il is better than any instability that might follow, and there is no clear succession plan if Kim Jong-Il is incapacitated.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we're glad you are there following it for us. From Seoul, South Korea, Hugh Riminton this morning.

Hugh, thank you.

It will be the first major memorial at a 9/11 attack site. The Pentagon Memorial will be unveiled tomorrow on the seventh anniversary of the terrorist attack.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr got an up-close look at this place of remembrance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Water, sunlight, and trees. It's being called The Park. There was horror that morning when hijackers crashed American Airlines' Flight 77 into the Pentagon. 184 souls lost. Now on this 9/11, the first major memorial at one of the attack sites is being dedicated. Tom Heidenberger's wife and young Thomas' mother Michelle was a flight attendant.

THOMAS HEIDENBERGER, SON OF 9/11 VICTIM: She was a great woman. I mean, she was my best friend. You know, it was very hard losing her.

TOM HEIDENBERGER, HUSBAND OF 9/11 VICTIM: The best way to explain Michelle is to look at Thomas. And see how proud I am, and so as his mom.

STARR: A bench, a tree and water pool for each victim.

KEITH KASEMAN, 9/11 MEMORIAL ARCHITECT: This place is really all about the visitors' thoughts. Your interpretation when you visit this place.

STARR: Architect Keith Kaseman placed it all in line, marking their ages.

KASEMEN: When we learned that there were five children, who lost their lives that day, that's really what sparked the idea.

STARR: One man already had made history. (on camera): This is the bench commemorating the life of Max Beilke, who died inside the Pentagon. But decades ago as a young man, Max Beilke was the last U.S. combat soldier to leave Vietnam.

(voice-over): Visitors will discover details as they explore. To read a name on the bench of a Pentagon victim, you must face the building. For someone on the plane, you read the name facing the sky. Seven years later, this is one of the most guarded sites in the country. But it's estimated now 1 to 2 million people will visit each year, to pause, reflect, and remember.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Barbara Starr joining us now.

Barbara, excellent piece. It was just an absolutely beautiful place of remembrance as we've been saying here. And I imagine a lot of preparations under way for tomorrow's big dedication.

STARR: Indeed, Heidi.

You know, just about 24 hours from now, the official dedication will begin, and thousands of people, tens of thousands, are really expected to begin gathering here outside the Pentagon in the early morning dawn hours. But I have to tell people that here inside the building, there will also be a number of very private memorials in offices up and down these hallways as people who work inside this building also pause to remember those co-workers that they lost -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, the country will never forget, certainly, what happened in Washington, D.C., as well as in New York.

All right, Barbara Starr, thanks so much.

STARR: Sure.

COLLINS: And as we just mentioned, tomorrow marks the seventh anniversary of 9/11 terrorists attacking the United States. American Flight 77 out of Washington, D.C., rammed into the Pentagon building at 9:37 a.m. Eastern. 184 people died. We're going to be bringing you live coverage of the Pentagon Memorial dedication tomorrow morning as part of our remembrance of the 9/11 anniversary.

Hurricane Ike swirling through the Gulf of Mexico and sending new ripples of fear, crashing on the Gulf Coast. The storm expected to be a Category 3 when it makes landfall at week's end. Almost all of the Texas Coast is now considered at risk of that hit. Texas officials getting buses and shelters lined up and considering possible evacuation orders. This morning, Brazoria County issued a mandatory evacuation order for its coastal residents.

We want to get over to Rob Marciano now to get the very latest on all of this.

Hey, Rob. MARCIANO: Hi, Heidi.

Watch this thing develop even more as it heads to the Gulf of Mexico. It's getting a little bit better structure. We're getting some numbers from the hurricane hunter aircraft. It is strengthening. The pressure is beginning to drop. So, the winds will be cranking up pretty soon as well.

Not a whole lot ahead of it, is there? We got 900 miles of warm Gulf of Mexico water real estate to navigate before it gets to the Central Texas coastline. It's not moving all too rapidly either at about eight miles an hour to the northwest. You can see the last couple of frames of this. The convection, especially on the northern side which is where most of the winds are at least for now, is becoming more developed. So, this thing could get on the scary sides, my friends. A Category 2 storm likely.

It might happen before lunchtime today. Certainly, by tonight. And then as we get into tomorrow, and tomorrow night, into Friday, we're looking at a Cat 3 status. So, winds could easily top 115 or 120. And the forecast track does take it towards Brownsville or Galveston, in that cone. But note the northerly turn here.

High pressure will break down at some point here and that will allow the storm to release. If it does that 12 hours or so earlier, you're talking Houston, you're talking Galveston, you're talking Beaumont, you're even talking potentially of Lake Charles. So, a big concern here.

Miami, you're out of it. But still, probably, a real cool- looking sky. Let's check it out on the live picture. Yes, shaky breeze, shaky camera there, WPLG. You see those clouds, they're moving pretty good. They are moving very nicely towards the northwest. Wrapping around what is Ike. And showers and thunderstorms continue to roll through not only Cuba but the Keys.

So, not done with Florida yet, Heidi, and certainly has its eyes on Texas, possibly Louisiana as well. It's going to be a tricky forecast I think as we go to the next couple of days.

COLLINS: Really, you know, be watching for this, because we've been talking about Ike for such a long time that maybe they're tuning out. And I sure hope not, because obviously it is still well on the way. So, Rob, thanks for that.

MARCIANO: All right.

COLLINS: People in Haiti certainly know that. More than 340 people have died from four recent storms including Hurricane Ike. Many of those who have suffered have very little left.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is in the town of Gonaives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid Haiti's floodwaters, the fear of dying is giving way to the frustration of just how to go on living. Most Haitians are so poor, they had almost nothing to begin with. Now, they are clinging to the few tools they have left. These girls to their father. These boys to their drinking water. This woman to her donkey.

"Can you see the misery we're in? I have to wade through all that water with my baby. Can you foreigners please do something for us?" She asks.

(on camera): Wherever you look right now in Gonaives, whether it's here on the outskirts, or whether it's in the city center, you just see a procession of bedraggled people. They're just walking through the floodwaters still, carrying whatever they have left on their heads.

(voice-over): Dry mud forms a tiny island on Christoff Street (ph). Jocelyn Augustine (ph) works as a housemaid even though she is just 7, doesn't seem to care how futile it is cleaning up with filthy floodwater.

"There were many people running from the rain as well as pigs and cows. When I saw all those people and the water, I thought I was going to die," she says. One of her neighbors, just sits, shrouded from the sun, and blankly stares.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Very tough situation there. The U.N. and other humanitarian groups are leading the relief effort in Haiti. One woman told us she's seen aid convoys pass but hasn't gotten any hand-outs. We'll stay on top of that story for you.

Big, bang, boom! Unlocking the mysteries of the universe. The first step is a success. But the second step may be a doozy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A robber on the run firing at police. This is a dramatic new dash cam video just released by the Bonner County, Idaho, police department. Get a look at this. It shows the police chase and deputies taking fire from the SUV after it crashed. Police fired back, killing the suspect. He'd been seen earlier on surveillance cameras stealing bottles of booze from a liquor store. Last week, the deputies were cleared of any wrongdoing. The incident happened in July.

The first steps are a success. Scientists fired off particle beams this morning in their attempt to recreate the Big Bang. But some believe unlocking the secrets of the universe could mean the end of the earth.

CNN's Atika Shubert has more now from along the French/Swiss border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, four, three, two -- one, zero. Nothing. Yes!

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is it. 14 years and $10 billion in the making for a flash of light on a computer screen. But it's no ordinary blip. This is the first particle beam to circle the large Hadron Collider, also known as the Big-Bang Machine. The first step in recreating the first moments after the Big Bang, and unlocking the secrets of the universe.

SIR MARTIN REES, UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE: We got to clearly understand the atoms were made. But you got to understand the stars, too, because every atom we made of was fused from primordial hydrogen in a star which exploded before the sun formed we're literally the ashes of long dead stars.

SHUBERT: The plan, beam particles around 27 kilometers or 17 miles of underground track at nearly the speed of light to smash them together, and recreate conditions less than a microsecond after the Big Bang.

Massive detectors will try and track down sub-atomic particles released from the collision. The most highly-anticipated, the Higgs Boson, also known as the "God particle," theorized but not yet proven to exist.

Scientists believe it gives matter its mass allowing for the formation of stars, planets and whole galaxies. Researchers also hope to find evidence of new particles, new dimensions and, possibly, the elusive dark energy and dark matter that scientist believe make up most of the universe.

There are detractors. On YouTube, you get this. Some fear the experiment will create a black hole that will swallow the earth. But CERN says this will not happen. Scientist says a microscopic black hole is possible, and this is what it might look like. But it would be too small and too unstable, linking out existence in a matter of seconds.

(on camera): Today is only the beginning. It will still take several more weeks before we begin to see those first particle collisions. And that's the moment when scientists here are waiting for. To see if they can find any evidence of the answers to the universe they are looking for.

Atika Shubert, CNN, at CERN, on the French/Swiss border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: I hope they find them.

Democrats beware, the Sarah Palin action figure, ready to strike. Or maybe you prefer the Palin schoolgirl?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A lizard on the loose. An Oregon man came across this large reptile hiding in his rose bushes. He wrestled the 6-foot long Nile monitor lizard into a dog cage and gave it to a local pet store. That was nice.

Police are looking for the original owner. They want to know why the dangerous lizard wasn't reported missing. The Nile monitor is native to Africa and is known to be aggressive. Its bite can be dangerous to humans and deadly to small pets. Never mind the rose bushes.

A Big Mac attack that just won't quit. This Wisconsin man proudly boasts he's eaten 23,000 Big Macs. Yes, 23,000. He started his quest, if you can call it that, 36 years ago. So, we did the math and that adds up to just under two Big Macs a day. He admits he's kind of compulsive, and that's part of why he eat the Mac everyday.

And how do we know he really did it? He kept every single receipt.

Dothan, Alabama, a small town making big news. We told you about this group that's offering $50,000 to get Jewish families to move there. Apparently the Jewish population has significantly decreased in Dothan. So, if you are attempted, and you do have to join the temple, here's more about Dothan.

The city dubs itself the peanut capital of the world. Women slightly outnumber men in Dothan. And the cost of living, below the national average. The average temperature there, 65. So, would you move to Dothan? Tell me why or why not at cnnnewsroom@cnn.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Ambitious plans with a hefty price tag. The candidates are offering big proposals. But what's their bottom line?

CNN's Christine Romans checks it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Taxes low.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Cut taxes.

MCCAIN: Energy independence.

OBAMA: Energy independence.

MCCAIN: My health care plan.

OBAMA: My plan will lower your premiums.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It wouldn't be a campaign without promises. Promises you and I would inevitably pay for.

MAYA MACGUINEAS, COMMITTEE FOR A RESPONSIBLE FEDERAL BUDGET: What they're talking about would cost good deal of money. And right now, we're not paying the bills for even what we're already spending.

ROMANS: Maya Macguineas works for a budget watchdog and has tallied the cost of Obama's and McCain's respective plans.

MACGUINEAS: None of the policies that the candidates are talking about come for free. And the most expensive items for both of the candidates are tax policy.

ROMANS: She says McCain's tax plan would cost a whopping $417 to $485 billion. Obama's, $360 billion. Obama's promise of health coverage for everyone, $65 billion a year. And McCain's pledge to end pork barrel spending --

MCCAIN: Every single pork barrel earmark bill that comes across my desk as president, I would veto it.

ROMANS: Would save $35 billion a year, a drop in the bucket according to Washington policy analyst, Daniel Clifton.

DANIEL CLIFTON, STRATEGAS RESEARCH PARTNERS: That does not get anywhere close to offsetting the cost of his proposals.

ROMANS: He says the candidates are talking about new promises that they cannot possibly pay for.

CLIFTON: I think that the media has really given these candidates a pass by knowing that a lot of these proposals are unrealistic.

ROMANS: Both campaigns promise to close tax loopholes/unnecessary spending and cut health care costs, promises seemingly repeated every four years.

MACGUINEAS: Neither Senator Obama or Senator McCain could get into office and possibly pass all the ideas that they have.

ROMANS: So, consider these platforms more of a wish list than a to-do list.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: CNN's Christine Romans reporting for us.

So, both campaigns have laid out very detailed proposals. And each campaign says it is the other's detailed plan that's unrealistic. The economy is weak. The government is expected to spend $407 billion more in the fiscal year that is about to end. And the next president can't do it alone. It takes the president and the Congress to make these tough choices.

Well, there are apparently no limits to Sarah Palin's popularity these days. And for about $30, you can own your very own Sarah Palin action figure. You can choose from among three different attires, including a pantsuit. Of course, each doll is wearing these now famous glasses. You can see in there. The action figures are available at herobuilders.com.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Stay informed all day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown now. He says Virginia is in play. Barack Obama reaching out to voters this hour. We're going to have some of that for you, coming up live.

Hurricane on a collision course for Texas. We're tracking Ike in the weather center.

And her goal to crack the iron ceiling. Woman, running for Japan's highest office. Meet Madam Sushi, today, September 10th.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.