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Obama Continues to Organize Economic Team; Alien Abduction
Aired November 26, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips is next.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The president-elect rolls out another big gun in the fight to reclaim the economy. But we're still losing ground on every front.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's this quote Winston Churchill, never, never, never give up. That's exactly, exactly what they demonstrate every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Talk about your difficult business climate. Imagine setting up shop in Afghanistan? Now imagine you're a woman, blazing trails in a battle zone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple days, this will be done. I'll be different.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A lifelong affliction, almost a thing of the past. James O'Neal prepares to face life in a way he never thought possible. All because you impacted his world.
Hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's get right to it this hour.
Plausible but unsubstantiated. Three words from Homeland Security that mean we may need to watch our step. We've heard them before and today referring to a possible terror plot against the New York subway system. DHS and the FBI back in September al Qaeda may have been planning or talking about hitting New York transit lines with bombs or suicide bombers. CNN's Nic Robertson knows al Qaeda in and out. He is following these latest reports from London.
Nic, what do we know?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you have to look at the broader perspective here. Al Qaeda has threatened and attacked subway systems before, in the train network in Madrid in 2004, London in 2005, and just this year the Spanish police interrupted what was believed to be a suicide bombing mission to target a train and passengers on that train in Barcelona in Spain. And just this summer a Pakistani Taliban group said they were responsible for that planned attack, that the Spanish police interrupted. It's very clear that al Qaeda and their Taliban affiliates are still intent on this type of attack on mass transit systems.
But there is no hard evidence here. That's very clear. Perhaps one thing that may have happened in the last couple of days that alerted and concerned authorities is that a Taliban video surfaced in Afghanistan where Afghan Taliban said they were ready to take the fight to the United States, to Spain, to France, to Denmark and to Israel as well. This is quite a new dimension, the Taliban now saying that they'll take their fight, this type of fight, suicide bombers, on a transit system overseas.
So this, perhaps, is causing behind the scenes a little bit of concern here, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We'll follow the investigation with you. Nic Robertson, thanks so much.
Well, it's Thanksgiving eve, not Groundhog Day, but yes, that really was president-elect Obama in a hotel ballroom in Chicago talking about the economy for the third day in a row. For the third day in a row he introduced appointments to his economic rapid response team, and for the third day in a row, he tried to reassure the nation that as he put it, help is on the way. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux fills us in on the latest hires.
Hi, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. Well, I guess three days in a row, he is really trying to convince the American people that he's on top of this. Today announcing his new Economic Advisory Board to help him hit the ground running in dealing with the financial crisis. The board is led by 81-year-old former Fed chair Paul Volcker and he is widely credited for helping the economy recover from runaway inflation, and Obama is turning to all of these business experts, academics as well as Washington insiders for some ideas on how to fix the economy. But he's also Kyra, now getting questions whether he's being true to his message of change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT ELECT: What we are going to do is combine experience with fresh thinking, but understand where the -- the vision for change comes from first and foremost. It comes from me. That's my job. It is to provide a vision in terms of where we are going and to make sure, then, that my team is implementing.
I think that when you ultimately look at what this advisory board look like, you'll say this is a cross section of opinion that in some ways reinforces conventional wisdom, in some ways breaks with orthodoxy in all sorts of ways.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: And Kyra, next week Obama is meeting with the nation's governors who are dealing with their own budget shortfalls and cutbacks and he is also going to unveil his national security team.
The current Defense Secretary Robert Gates will stay on at least another year. Senator Hillary Clinton is expected to be named secretary of state, and retired General Jim Jones expected to become the national security adviser. Obviously, this week is all about the economy. Next week, it's all about security.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much.
Well, the economy looks to be crimping a lots of Thanksgiving dinner plans this year. AAA expects about 600,000 fewer travelers than last year. And if that pans out, it would be the first decline since Thanksgiving of 2002. Still, 41 million are likely to hit the road or the airport. And with airlines cutting back on flights lately, most planes will be full. Hopefully the weather won't be holding anybody up. Jacqui Jeras, keeping an eye on all that for us.
Hey, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey. Oh, yes, it is. You know it is. Somewhere out there, we're seeing a lot of weather problems, and travel problems related to it across the Southwest. Because we've got a lot of rain. You know, in the Southwest, where things have been so, so dry, you get a little rain and it makes those roadways so slick. Use a lot, a lot of caution here today along I-5, along I-10. Traveling around the Las Vegas area, check out these pictures, guys. Oh, a lot of water here. We're talking about maybe an inch of rain, and that is it, but you know when you haven't had rain in a while the drains get clogged up. Everything runs off. So be very careful. This is down near the Strip area. There was an urban and small stream flood as advisory in effect for Vegas. The rain coming to an end here but we've got more down to South. Watch that push back in as we approach the afternoon hours for today, and just be really careful if you're trying to leave town.
Don't drive through it! Don't do it. Don't even think about it. Find another way. OK, the Southwest. Here into California, we're looking at showers here as well. Not quite as heavy as you've seen in Vegas, but you get up into the hills and mountains, we're very concern about the burn areas in particular. Mudslides and debris flows, are going to be a real possibility the next couple of days, as this is a slow mover. Look how much rain you've seen already. Los Angeles, almost an inch and a half in the downtown area.
Trouble in the Northeast as well. This in the form of snow for the most part, along the Throughway and along 81 where you're seeing the biggest trouble. Going to see some accumulations up to six inches or so. That snow is going to be sticking around through tomorrow, and that wet weather in the Southwest as well.
If you're traveling the nation's midsection, you're going to be all right. Just a little on the windy side. So wear pants. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks.
Usually we always do wear pants, Jacqui. That's good advice. So thank you.
JERAS: As opposed to a skirt.
PHILLIPS: OK. Gotcha. All right.
We're going to be keeping an eye on the weather and travel conditions all day long for you. Later in the hour, Chad Myers will track flights and road traffic on the magic wall.
It's a tough time to try to launch a business. Especially in Afghanistan. Especially for women. We'll meet one woman who's helping her Afghan sisters buck the system.
He's a local celebrity, not because of the way he looks but the way he lives. We're going to show you how James O'Neal's many friends stepped in to change his life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, it's a traveler's nightmare in Thailand. Antigovernment protesters continued their siege of Bangkok's international airport. All flights are cancelled. Thousands of travelers are stranded, many of them are from overseas and Thailand's Army commander today urged protesters to end the standoff and called on the prime minister to hold new elections a request promptly rejected.
Protesters, say the only solution is for the prime minister to resign. A honeymoon couple caught up in the chaos spoke to CNN earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's getting increasingly tense. It was pretty relaxed earlier, but as more and more tourists leave, the fact in we don't have any information and there's no one to give us information, you know, now we feel stranded here and don't know where to go, what hotels to go to, that kind of thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, violent anti-government protests erupted in Thailand's major tourist city of Changmai (ph). Reports say that at least one person was killed.
At least one more day before Iraq's Parliament votes on a security pact spelling out when U.S. troops will pack up and go home. Today's scheduled vote was put off because of intense deal making among Iraq's political factions. Under the deal, American forces would withdraw from all cities by next June and the entire country by the end of 2011. Well, if the war in Iraq is winding down the war in Afghanistan is heating up after seven years. A lot has changed since U.S. troops lodged the Taliban, but the Afghan economy, third world at best and business opportunities for women are almost non-existent. I said almost.
Headline News senior writer Asieh Namgar got wind of a group that helps Afghan women become entrepreneurs. A lot of people want to know with regard to human rights and to freedom, since the war, has it gotten better for women?
ASIEH NAMDAR, HEADLINE NEWS WRITER: It's a complicated question, Kyra. The answer is yes and no. I got chance to talk,though, to an amazing young woman, who is Afghan American and does volunteer work for this organization called BPeace. And she tells me she went to Afghanistan year and a half ago. And she said while there has been improvement, security, especially outside of Kabul is still the biggest problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHATERA SAHIBZADA, BPEACE VOLUNTEER In terms of my experiences with the women I volunteer with, there is one woman in particular where her security is definitely a concern. She is in fear of her life, and we've had to change her name as well as her identity. So security is definitely an issue for her. I think it first thing that needs to happen before anything else is really security. That country needs to be stabilized before we can see any sort of real progress in terms of changing attitudes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Not just Taliban militants, though, that are causing the problems?
NAMDAR: It is the biggest misconception. The Taliban, of course, Kyra, a huge problem, but after I conducted that interview I got message from Khatera Sahibzada, and she said the problem is lawlessness and gangs and one of the main characters at BPeace issued a statement. I'm going to quickly read that to you.
It says, "Security issues in Afghanistan go beyond the Taliban. Rampant criminal activity is putting ordinary Afghans at risk and BPeace puts part of the problem on Afghan government and police for not doing enough.
PHILLIPS: So you see these volunteers that go over and many times the very first time. What are their observations? Do they fear for their safety? Why do they do it?
NAMDAR: Again, I asked Khatera Sahibzada, you know, you go back to your country, a war torn country for the first time ever, were you scared for your life? She said that was never a consideration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SAHIBZADA: My mission, in terms of why I joined this organization, is really to be able to help these women, to be able to share with them the knowledge, experience, the skills that I've been fortunate enough to develop and receive. I've had -- you know, a western education. I've had access to resources that they obviously do not. It's a moral obligation for me to do that. I've been so fortunate, so blessed, and I've had every opportunity possible, and I really think it's my duty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NAMDAR: And as far as her observation goes, she says she was stunned by how strong and determined Afghan women really are.
PHILLIPS: Look at her.
NAMDAR: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: Makes perfect sense.
So how can people get involved if they want to volunteer? My guess is we'll get a lot of e-mails.
NAMDAR: Bpeace.com has a number of places where you can donate money and you can also read more about how they're helping afghan women start their own business.
PHILLIPS: It was just a couple weeks ago we reported on young girls ...
NAMDAR: The acid attack. Yep.
PHILLIPS: ... going to school, trying to go to school. Attacked with acid. You see women like this, volunteers like this, trying so hard to make life better.
NAMDAR: Yup.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Asieh.
NAMDAR: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Well, the surgery changed his life almost as much as the people who helped him get it. James O'Neal joins us live to talk about his new face and his new friends.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, James O'Neal living proof that the human spirit and a kind heart can overcome almost anything. Added to that, the love of a stranger became family. Michelle Esteban with CNN affiliate KOMO first brought us this amazing story over the summer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHELLE ESTEBAN, KOMO CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When people first see James O'Neal they're taken aback, startled by his disfigured face. KATIE KNOPF, HELPED REMOVE TUMORS: When I first saw James, I was utterly shocked.
How's your dog?
JAMES O'NEAL, HAD TUMORS REMOVED: He's doing awesome.
ESTEBAN: Katie Knopf admits she was nervous going through the checkout line at the Kirkland Safeway.
O'NEAL: Katie, have a great day.
KNOPF: Bye, James.
ESTEBAN: he more she talked to James the more struck than shocked she became.
KNOPF: There's a man, who has got a major growth on his face, and he's living his life every day, just like normal.
ESTEBAN: James was born with a genetic condition called neurofibromatosis. His late mother will it. A collection of benign tumors have taken over the left side of his face.
O'NEAL: Everybody's born different.
ESTEBAN: He's never let his appearance stop him from doing anything.
O'NEAL: You want to stare, stare.
ESTEBAN: When given the option to work anywhere in the grocery store, James picked checkout.
O'NEAL: There you go.
ESTEBAN: James inspires just about everyone he meets. Including Katie.
KNOPF: We want to change his life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, Katie Knopf did change James life. Earlier this month James underwent surgery to remove his tumors, thanks to Katie. She started a fund drive that raised more than $250,000 to pay for his operation. James O'Neal and Katie join me live from Seattle. Great to see you both.
KNOPF: Hi, thank you for having us.
O'NEAL: Hello.
PHILLIPS: Oh. It's my pleasure. James, I've got to ask you. I know you've got a number of more surgeries to go, but how are you feeling today and right now and it's probably a little overwhelming? O'NEAL: I feel really good today. Every day gets better and better. Just got to take it easy, until I get my full strength back. It's been an awesome ride.
PHILLIPS: Let me just ask you, when Katie -- how did Katie first approach you? What do you remember about this woman that had been coming in to your grocery store on a regular basis. All of a sudden asked you a personal question.
O'NEAL: Well, she just basically asked me what happened. I told her it was a birth defect, and she said, would you be interested in having surgery done? I said, well, cost a lot of money, and no insurance at this point would cover it. She said, if I could raise the money, would you have surgery? And I said, yes. And she took it from there.
PHILLIPS: So, Katie, of course, everybody probably asks you this. Why? Why were you moved by James? Why did you want to ask him? Why did you want to help?
KNOPF: Well, some of my friends say I like to solve problems. And I guess that can be annoying for some people, but ...
PHILLIPS: Not for James.
KNOPF: Not for James.
I just thought, you know what? If he would like this, why shouldn't we do it? Let's go for it. Let's try it.
PHILLIPS: What was it -- I mean, everybody, as I have seen so many pieces about James. They talk about how warm and loving and gregarious she. Is that what drew you in? Was his personality?
KNOPF: I thought here's somebody with a huge problem on their shoulders, and he seems so deserving of people's help, because he's done so much for everyone at the store every single day. No matter who you are, he gives his 110 percent. So why can't we give something back?
PHILLIPS: James, put into perspective for me, since you a were little boy, what it was like on a daily basis, knowing how different you were? How did you get up out of bed? How did you get dressed, keep an incredibly positive attitude for so many years?
O'NEAL: Well, at a very young age my mom always told me, everybody's got a handicap whether it's visible or not and she said you live every day to its fullest. That's what I did. Nothing's ever stopped me. If I want to do something, I do it. Handicap or not, birth defect, whatever. I have never stopped.
PHILLIPS: It sounds like your mom was a pretty amazing woman.
O'NEAL: She was a very amazing woman.
PHILLIPS: Hmm. And Katie, I know a lot of people have approached James to help and have said, oh, I want to donate, I want to do something for you, but nobody ever came through. Why did you?
KNOPF: I don't know. It's something I thought about for several years. I really wanted to do something, and I wasn't sure how to go about it. And I just thought, this needs to be done, and why wait? I'm going to be here for a while. Let's just do it. And it took a long time to come up with a plan. I wasn't sure thousand carry it out. As soon as I decided to get the community involved to help, that's when the whole plan just started snowballing and everything fell into place.
PHILLIPS: It was no problem. People started giving money and you were off and running?
KNOPF: Exactly. Everyone. Everybody wanted to help.
PHILLIPS: James, I understand you actually delayed surgery? Why was that?
O'NEAL: Well ...
PHILLIPS: That couldn't have had anything to do with the football jersey you were wearing, could it?
O'NEAL: It did. I wanted to be able to watch all the Seahawks games, even though they're not doing too well this year. I just figured wintertime would be good, and I could play golf during the summer.
PHILLIPS: And I'm looking at your room right now. All the Seahawks jerseys and paraphernalia. How has the team embraced you and what do they make of this? The fact you're so dedicated and you even put the surgery because you didn't want to miss the game?
O'NEAL: I did get to go to one of their practices. The whole team came up, shook my hand, said good luck on your surgery. We hope the best for you. I was in the hospital, they came to visited me. They all gave me 100 percent support on my surgery.
PHILLIPS: So what's next, James? Do you know -- how many more surgeries you'll have to have, have doctors been able to say, show you any sort of, you know -- pictures of here's what it will eventually look like, here's your new look?
O'NEAL: Well, he said about six to eight months we'd do another one, and then I would probably wouldn't have to have another one for three to five years. Depending on how much it grows, if it does grow back.
PHILLIPS: Let me ask you, are you ready for that? I mean, for 40- plus years you have dealt with this, and you are an incredibly loving, strong, wonderful person. How do you they this will change you? Are you ready for that?
O'NEAL: I don't know if I'm ready for it. I mean, it's just definitely a big change already. I mean, I look in the mirror everyday thinking, wow, who's this guy in the mirror? You know? It's definitely different. Definitely different. It was worth it. PHILLIPS: Oh. Katie, what's next? How can we help? I know a lot of people will want to donate. Are you going to continue raising money for these additional surgeries?
KNOPF: Yeah. You know, we've got so much money in the bank now, I think we've got enough to cover James for the rest of his life.
PHILLIPS: My gosh.
KNOPF: And I encourage anyone to give to our campaign, any extra money will go to someone just like James who needs the help as well.
PHILLIPS: Your friendship. I'm assuming you guys have become very close. From a time you just came into the grocery store and didn't know James. Tell me about your friendship now.
KNOPF: It's really cool how fast you can grow when you really show you love someone. You can really build a great bond together. James and I have definitely done that, and our family's getting to know one another and friends. It's been really cool to know James.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's been really cool to get to know both of you. James, I'm so excited for you. I want you to keep us updated on your progress. Are you going to stay at Safeway?
O'NEAL: Oh, yeah. Safeway's my life now. I've been really happy at Safeway. They've treated me well there.
PHILLIPS: They've been very good to you and I know they donated as well. Katie, a true hero, James, so are you.
KNOPF: Thank you.
O'NEAL: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Thank you so much for your type.
O'NEAL: Thank you.
KNOPF: Bye-bye.
O'NEAL: If want to learn more about James and everything he's been going through, logon to cnn.com/impact. We've got background plus a link to the Friends of James' blog. Much more, you can get involved, you can donate and you can track his amazing progress.
Well, traveling somewhere for Thanksgiving? Could be a little slow going at the airport or on the roads. Chad Myers has your update.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: 1:30 Eastern time. Here are some of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A possible terrorist plot against the New York City subway system this holiday system. Homeland Security says it received a plausible but unsubstantiated report that al Qaeda may have discussed attacking the subway system with suicide bombers or explosives. A spokesperson describes the warning as a routine matter.
Barbara Bush recovering from surgery to correct a perforated ulcer. The Methodist Hospital in Houston says that the former first lady is resting comfortably after last night's operation. She is expected to be discharged next week.
In his third news conference in as many days President-elect Barack Obama says help is on the way for the nation's economy. He says he'll have an economic plan ready for action on his first day in office.
Traveling for Thanksgiving? Yes, you and about 41 million other people. Hopefully everybody gets there in time to gobble up some of that turkey and then fall asleep. Chad Myers navigating us through the travel troubles over at the magic wall.
Hey, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kyra, the airports are doing well. JFK, Newark, LaGuardia, the normal 30 minutes there. And then John Wayne, 30 minutes out West. But other than that, the problems seem to be on the roadways. So that probably tells you that people aren't flying, not as many people are flying as probably driving this year, trying to save that little bit of extra money.
Here's Atlanta. This is our Google Earth, we have highlighted all these dots to show you where the traffic is here in Atlanta. Every red dot, less than 20 miles per hour. So if you're traveling southbound from the north through Atlanta, you have all these little dots to deal with -- 22 miles per hour right there going through downtown. That's called the grady curve (ph).
And now I will show you what it looks like. Cars stacked up all doing 22 miles an hour all the way through downtown. That's at least an hour delay for you at this point. And it could be even longer for some spots.
We'll go here to -- here's -- there you go, all those planes in the air. The good news, Kyra, is that planes aren't that big so they're not really bumping into each other. But 6,500 planes in the air right now on that map, and they are everywhere from east to west, north to south. And 6,500 I say -- because I look at this number about every day -- that's about 700 extra planes compared to normal, what would be a normal day as today.
So, Atlanta is your bogey at this point in time. Southbound through Atlanta as well, there are delays trying to get back down where 85 and 75 merge. Probably a good hour -- extra hour -- if you're to go through downtown rather than maybe going around the city like they tell you to.
Anyway, most of the other cities are doing fairly well. The 110 was closed for a while out in L.A. because of some flooding, but that's now cleared up. So things don't look too bad so far.
But they say that from 1:00 to 3:00, it's going to start going downhill pretty quick. We'll keep you up to date.
PHILLIPS: Great. Thanks a lot, Chad.
MYERS: You bet.
PHILLIPS: Retailers are hoping that they'll have something to be thankful for this year. But new numbers show Americans aren't spending much these days. Susan Lisovicz on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with all the details and a look at what to expect on black Friday.
Hey, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. I'm sorry you're not going to be with me.
PHILLIPS: I know. This is our big day, darn it!
LISOVICZ: I think that the two of us would be just absolutely invincible.
But before we get to that, let's just talk about consumers in general. They're not spending. Consumer spending declined 1 percent in October, and that is the biggest decline since the aftermath of 9/11. Obviously, an ominous sign going into the holiday season. In fact, Tiffany today says -- quote -- "it's impossible to know when consumer confidence will be restored." Tiffany says it will cut jobs, it will slow store expansion. It did actually report quarterly earnings that were better than expected, but says for the year, it will miss. Tiffany's shares are down 1.5 percent.
But the overall market is higher. And for that I have two words, Kyra Phillips -- whoo-hoo! That is not a financial expression, but it is something that is deserved because we have not seen four days of gains since April. And one of those gains in April was 1 point. So maybe we'd have to go back to December, then.
The Dow right now is up 41.5 points. Nasdaq is up 36. Traders say they liked the fact that President-elect Obama has been out every single day this week talking about his economic team, bringing out the big guns, from Larry Summers, to Paul Volcker to Timmy Geithner.
And also that we're starting to see yields on 10-year Treasuries come down, Kyra. And that's important because that's the benchmark for home mortgages. You want to see mortgages cheaper and more available. That's what it's all about, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. So --
LISOVICZ: A good sign.
PHILLIPS: Well, other good signs, good deals, lower prices this Friday?
LISOVICZ: Well you know, it's a sign of the times that every day is black Friday. We have so many deals that are already around, Kyra. It's a good time, if you are going to spend.
There will be the traditional door busters and limited items. You have to get up bright and early, or I should say dark and early, for electronics. But there are other options that are available, too. Like for instance, no interest financing from Best Buy, "Bill-Me- Later" options from Toys R Us. Retailers hoping that black Friday will not be bleak Friday, given the distress that we've seen in the economy this year -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Susan, we'll see you again in a little bit.
Well the word on the street is Merriam Webster's word of the year, bailout. That is based on searches at Merriam Webster's online dictionary. And the company says it wasn't even close. Other popular search terms from the economic meltdown, trepidation, precipice and turmoil. And by the way, and I know this goes without saying, bailout is defined as a rescue from financial distress.
Traces of a toxic substance found in baby formula, right here in the U.S. What you need to know, straight ahead.
And this man spent nearly 20 years in prison for a rape and murder he didn't commit. Today, he's spending his first full of day of freedom. He's going to join us live in the NEWSROOM to tell us how he finally cleared his name.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the rate of new cancer cases in the U.S. is on the decline according to a report of the "Journal of the National Cancer Institute." Death rates from cancer have been actually trending lower for years now. Contributing to the overall numbers, drops in many of the most common types. Researcher saw declines in both new cases and the death rate for colon, prostate and breast cancer.
Well, an alarming discovery by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA says that traces of the toxic contaminant melamine have been found in a single sample of infant formula. CNN medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, here with all the details.
A lot of worried parents right now.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh sure. I bet parents are freaking out when they hear this.
So I'm going to give some reason not to freak out. Let's talk about what happened. After melamine was found in Chinese baby formula, FDA officials in this country started inspecting formula. They looked at 77 different samples of formula and found trace amounts of melamine in just one sample. And when I say trace, I mean much, much, much less than what was found in the Chinese formula that actually killed children.
FDA officials tell us that the trace amounts that were found, Kyra, are no threat whatsoever to babies.
PHILLIPS: So how does the melamine even get into that infant formula in the first place?
COHEN: In China, the way it got in was that some bad guy contaminated it. So that's not what happened here.
They think that what happened here is that melamine is in plastic. For example, melamine is in the plastic that lines cans that hold formula. And they think that maybe some melamine leeched from the can that the formula comes in, into the formula itself. They're not sure. But leeching is probably the answer.
PHILLIPS: So how did these test results become public?
COHEN: Well this is very interesting. They became public yesterday when a "Wall Street Journal" reporter got the story. It was not put out initially by the FDA. In a press release later -- they put out a press release.
So now some folks, including Consumer Union, are getting a little bit nervous about this. These are the folks who publish "Consumer Reports." They are afraid that the FDA is holding something back and they want all test results on all the melamine testing to made public right away.
The FDA says they were about to put out the press release when the "Wall Street Journal" got the story.
PHILLIPS: Got it.
Elizabeth, thanks.
COHEN: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: Got some developing news out of Mumbai, India, right now. This just coming to us. Apparently gunmen had targeted some luxury hotels, also a popular tourist attraction, and a crowded train station in at least seven attacks, we're told, there in India's financial capital. We're just now getting video in of where -- actually this was a photographer that was there on the scene. Not quite sure why he was fleeing at that point or if he was going toward where those attackers were.
IBN is reporting that 10 are dead. We have confirmed two people are dead. Apparently the police were battling it out with the gunmen. Don't know if that is still the situation or not. The police commissioner coming forward calling them terrorists saying that they were using automatic weapons and in some places grenades had been logged. We're seeing -- actually a report is coming through through one of our sister networks here from the Oberoi Hotel.
Apparently the gunmen opened fire on two of those city's best known luxury hotels. The Taj Mahal is one, the Oberoi is another one. It's not immediately clear what the motive was for these attacks. But we are following this story now. We'll bring you as much information as possible.
Look, don't touch. Friendly advice for outerspace visitors on this holiday travel season. We'll see what can happen, allegedly, when aliens get grabby.
But first, as much as we'd like to, it's impossible to be in two places at once. Or is it? CNN's Kyung Lah is doing a double take in a report on this "Edge of Discovery."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are not seeing double.
Well -- sort of.
This is a geminoid (ph), an android version of its inventor, Hiroshi Ishiguro, a professor of robotics at Osaka University.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blinks like you.
DR. HIROSHI ISHIGURO, ATR INTELLIGENT ROBOTICS: And the hair is also mine. This is (INAUDIBLE) twins.
LAH: But not quite. An operator using multiple cameras and infrared detectors for lip movement runs the geminoid from another room. Dr. Ishiguro steps behind the curtain and we continue our talk from here.
ISHIGURO: I can have another person -- they can control this robot from anywhere. They usually --
LAH: The ability to be in two places at once, say roboting into the office while you work from home. After a few minutes I even forget that the geminoid is separate from Dr. Ishiguro.
(on camera): Does that feel like I was touching you?
ISHIGURO: I can feel something.
LAH: Professor, are you studying humans or androids?
ISHIGURO: Both. By developing an android I am studying the human.
LAH (voice-over): Dr. Ishiguro has been developing robots like this for years, but they didn't look human. He believes this machine that looks so much like a man can be used to study human behavior.
ISHIGURO: If we (INAUDIBLE) the human functions with the technology, then we can understand what is a human (ph).
LAH: Trying to understand the human soul by building from the outside in.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Kyoto, Japan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, it's one thing to believe in life on other planets, another to believe that those creatures have visited earth. And then there are those who believe, no, insist, that they've had one-on-one alien encounters.
Our space correspondent, Miles O'Brien, pushes further into the realm of the hard it believe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't like the drawings.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: You never know what surprise you might find when you open a drawer in this Manhattan studio. Artist Budd Hopkins is the keeper of some images that will expand, blow, or maybe even close your mind. There's a photo album devoted to odd, mysterious scars.
(on camera): Almost like a hole punch.
BUDD HOPKINS, UFO ABDUCTION RESEARCHER: Yes, that's what -- it looks like a biopsy.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Boy, if these walls could talk. There are stacks of drawings of little aliens called grays, you know, big head, tiny mouths, almond eyes. These aren't Budd's work, they come from his rather unusual assortment of friends.
(on camera): Is that the same person?
HOPKINS: Oh, no.
O'BRIEN: Different?
HOPKINS: Different people.
Now, the important thing about this all these are really old. This is before this face was on every T-shirt.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Budd has become the father confessor for hundreds of people who are convinced they have been abducted by aliens.
HOPKINS: It sounds totally off the wall, and I'm the first one to say, almost everything that we're discussing here sounds off the wall. But that doesn't mean it's not true.
O'BRIEN: Ladies and gentlemen, tray table up, seat belts buckled, this will be a wild ride. Do you have any idea how common these encounters are?
HOPKINS: Well, my guess is that they're very common, simply because I just keep running into so many cases.
O'BRIEN: In 1964, Budd saw a UFO. And then in '76, wrote an article in New York's "Village Voice" about an alleged alien encounter in New Jersey. His phone hasn't stopped ringing since.
HOPKINS: The mass of evidence gets heavier and heavier and heavier. And that's not a pleasant thought, you know, to me. Mind you, I'm looking into something that I don't really like and that I don't really want to hear about. But I'm working with people who have suffered.
MARK, BELIEVES HE HAS BEEN ABDUCTED: It's a little bit confusing to me.
O'BRIEN: People like Mark, who believes he's been abducted several times in his life. He came to Budd to fill in the blanks, the missing time, which happens to be the title of Budd's first book.
He uses hypnosis. Here's a tape of his first session with Mark.
MARK: There's something small and white and it's glowing. It's glowing so brightly that I can't make out the figure. And I'm really scared. And then it starts to climb up on the bed to reach for me.
O'BRIEN (on camera): So, what do you think it was?
MARK: Well, I spent many years trying to guess, trying to -- trying to, you know, logically, rationally explain it and I can't think of anything other than an encounter with beings of some sort that aren't human.
O'BRIEN: Do you have any idea what they wanted?
MARK: No.
O'BRIEN:: Did you get a sense that they were threatening you?
MARK: It's very clinical. They don't have really empathy or sympathy. On top of us, like, I WAS going into the wild and tracking a lion or a wild beast, you know, tagging it, looking it over, and then letting it go. We don't really have a true connection to this animal. We don't really care about it, we're just examining it.
That's what I get from this. There's no malice involved.
O'BRIEN: Believe it or not, it gets we weirder, or as Mark puts it --
MARK: I'm just going to put this whole thing into Wackiville.
O'BRIEN: OK. Let's go to Wackiville.
MARK: All right.
O'BRIEN: See how we do there.
MARK: OK.
O'BRIEN: (voice-over): In Wackiville, the grays take Mark on to an exam room in his spacecraft and hand him a fetus.
(on camera): Do you have any idea what they wanted when they gave you the fetus?
MARK: No. But that's part of my original thought process is that eventually those hybrids, as we call them, are going to operate the planet. It's a pretty frightening picture, but if you look at it, like, logically, it makes all the sense in the world.
O'BRIEN: Hybrids? Hey, Budd, are you there?
(on camera): That's kind of off the wall.
HOPKINS: The whole thing is off the wall.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Speaking of off the wall, Miles O'Brien joining us live from New York.
All right. Miles, psychiatrists -- they have to have a say in this.
O'BRIEN: Yes, we talked to a psychiatrist, because we wanted to see if there were some other explanations. And naturally there are. There's a list of things they come up with, but the one that seems to be the most popular is this notion sleep paralysis.
Kyra, have you heard of that?
PHILLIPS: Yes, as a matter of fact I have.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, it's as you are nodding off, or waking up, you're in that kind of nether world between sleep and awake. Your body can be paralyzed as if it were asleep, you can be conscious and you can have hallucinations.
Now, psychiatrists say that could explain a lot of this. However, what Budd Hopkins points out is that many of the abductees he has talked to, 700 so far, are not asleep when this happens. So that doesn't explain everything.
PHILLIPS: OK. Well you look at the pictures and the aliens -- they all seem very similar. How do you explain that?
O'BRIEN: Yes, I mean -- look at these, this is the gray thing. And everybody would say, well, they saw that it in a movie or they saw that on a Roswell T-shirt. But these are over 25 years old and from various people who don't know each other. So you have the ask yourself, where does that image come from? Is that something they have internalized somehow from seeing somewhere? Or, is there some other, other worldly explanation?
In other words, does come from inner space, so to speak, or from outer space?
PHILLIPS: Well -- and you pointed out the idea that it could be a dream or a hallucination because of the way these pictures look. Does that make more sense that it is a dream or hallucination?
O'BRIEN: Well, one of the things that comes up that is kind of interesting to me is that they are kind of humanoid, right? And so a lot of people say, well, that must be a hallucination, must be a dream because they kind of -- they are sort of like humans. So if it is an alien, why wouldn't it look totally different.
But I have actually talked to some scientists about this, and there is actually an evolutionary reason that they might look similar to us, if they were on another planet. If they live on a rocky planet with a big ocean kind of like ours at the same distance from the sun, it is possible that evolution performed its magic and created something with stereoscopic vision, ears up here, the head this way. There's a lot of reasons these things happened over millions of years. It could have happened on another planet.
PHILLIPS: All right. I'm just wondering how many of these guys own "Close Encounters of a Third Kind" and "E.T." --
O'BRIEN: Well that would be worth -- that would be a good study to do, wouldn't it?
PHILLIPS: Great stuff, Miles. Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well tomorrow on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" Miles has another piece.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are listening for something that we don't think can be produced by Mother Nature.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A woman who has spent three decades searching the solar system waiting for word from aliens. That is on "AMERICAN MORNING" starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern tomorrow.
This man spent nearly 20 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit. Today, he is spending his first full day of freedom and he is joining us live in the CNN NEWSROOM to tell us how he finally cleared his name.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, you are looking at one big lucky turkey. Instead of ending up on a dinner table tomorrow, this bird named Pumpkin -- it's going to be strutting around as the honorary grand marshal of Disneyland's Thanksgiving Day parade. President Bush saved the turkey's neck by granting the traditional Thanksgiving turkey pardon. We tried for an interview but to our dismay, Pumpkin already committed to Oprah.
The popular sport on a Cincinnati rink, not ice hockey but turkey bowling. Contestants try to knock down as many pins as they can with frozen birds. The winner of this year's contest got 19 of 30. All of the turkeys used were store discards so no good turkeys were wasted.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
