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In Fear of Fire; Road to Recovery?; Defending Blagojevich
Aired January 25, 2009 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: A town racked in fear as suspected arsonists torch homes apparently at random. Residents, they are afraid to go to sleep, worried that their house may be next. This hour, more than a dozen homes are still smoldering after being burned overnight.
Plus, our crumbling economy. Job losses and foreclosures, they are mounting. Why President Obama thinks the recovery plan is right on track.
Hello, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Fredricka Whitfield.
The news unfolding live, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
First up, authorities in a small Pennsylvania town say their citizens are being terrorized by fires. They are asking the city council to declare a state of emergency. Suspected arsonists are blamed for nearly 30 fires in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, over the past 13 months. Now, the latest one happened just last night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN (voice-over): It was an all too familiar sight, a seven-alarm fire in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, a city of just 11,000 people west of Philadelphia. Residents got out safely, but they could only stand and watch as their homes burned down.
FRANCIS DORSHEIMER, COATESVILLE RESIDENT: I just came home from picking up my sister and my aunt from work, and we came home just getting ready to settle down. And I go into my room and everybody tells me we've got to get out of the house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my daughter's house that's on fire. You know, I'm just glad my grandkids weren't in there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has she come home?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, she's just coming home from work. Got a call coming home from work that her house was on fire.
NGUYEN: By the time it was over, 15 row houses have been destroyed, and arson is suspected. Last year, there were 15 suspected arsons in Coatesville, including a fire that killed an 83-year-old woman. There have been 14 more suspicious fires just this month.
JANET JACKSON, COATESVILLE RESIDENT: It's really scary, you know. I mean, it's just been going on like every other week or every two weeks. I mean, we're all afraid to even be in our houses right now.
ERIKA CANNON, COATESVILLE RESIDENT: You can't get a good night's sleep because you don't know.
NGUYEN: Police think the fires may be part of a gang initiation. Three people were charged with arson in December. They are still in custody, but the fires have continued. There's a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible.
BERNICE JACKSON, COATESVILLE RESIDENT: A lot of people are getting hurt over this. A lot of people are getting out of their houses with nowhere to go. Need to stop this.
BEVERLY RIVERA, COATESVILLE RESIDENT: I never thought Coatesville would be on the map for something like this. It's just awful. This is awful.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: So, gang initiation? Strange coincidence? Or something else entirely?
Coatesville spokeswoman Kristin Geiger joins us now by phone. I hope we can get to the bottom of some of this.
What do you know about these fires and how they started?
KRISTIN GEIGER, COATESVILLE SPOKESWOMAN: The ones that started last night, we received a call at approximately 11:31 p.m. The fire marshals have not released the specific details as to how the fire started except that it was at the rear of two homes on Fleetwood Street, 346 and 348.
NGUYEN: OK, so 15 homes damaged overnight, 14 other fires this month alone. Are they all arson?
GEIGER: The fire marshals for this one, as of yesterday, is determined its suspicious in nature, and just that it's consistent with other fires that have occurred earlier this year. They haven't released any specifics as to how it was started, which residence specifically it started at, other than where the flames were visible and how quickly it spread.
NGUYEN: There's some talk that this might be gang-related. How so? Do you know?
GEIGER: As far as those rumors that we have heard, they are speculation. We have not released any information as to which direction the investigation is headed at this point. We do, however, have persons of interest that we are questioning, but we do not have any official suspects at this time.
NGUYEN: But you do have three people who were charged in connection with fires that happened last year, so this has been going on for a little while. Are those people providing any kind of leads? GEIGER: Well, honestly, when we arrested those individuals, we believed that we had gotten to the bottom of them. And then January 1st, it just completely exploded into unfortunately more arsons and suspicious fires.
NGUYEN: Is there any fear that you we're looking at some copycat crimes?
GEIGER: I can't confirm or deny that at this point. I think our first concern is our residents, which is why we declared a state of emergency today, is that we want to do whatever we can to, number one, ensure their safety, and to make sure that we capture this person or persons as soon as possible.
NGUYEN: Kristin, let me clarify something very quickly. You said declared a state of emergency today. We understand the paperwork has been filed, but that won't be official until tomorrow. Is that true?
GEIGER: Correct. Yes, that's true.
NGUYEN: OK. All right.
Kristin Geiger, a public relations specialist there in Coatesville, Pennsylvania.
Thank you so much for that information. We do appreciate it.
President Barack Obama is laying low today, but he is scheduled to meet with White House Republicans later this week on his economic recovery plan.
Elaine Quijano has more on that from Washington.
So, Elaine, the president is working very quickly to try and get a plan in place by mid-February.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. And President Obama, as you noted, is going to be heading to Capitol Hill in the coming days where he is basically going to try to pull some skeptical Republicans on board with that massive economic recovery plan. But you know, it's going to be a very tough sell.
Republicans continue to question whether the spending contained in that plan is actually going to stimulate the economy. Now, the White House, of course, insists that it will. And today, top members of the Obama team actually fanned out on the Sunday talk show to try to press their case. They also emphasized the urgency of the economic situation.
Here's Vice President Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only good news is the president acted swiftly. He's put together an economic stimulus package that we believe and outsiders create will create three million to four million new jobs and set a new framework for the economy to develop on, a new foundation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: But House Republican Leader John Boehner remains unconvinced that the Democrats' plan is the right one. He is very wary of that $825 billion price tag.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: Our concerns about the plan we see from Democrats on Capitol Hill is it has an awful lot of wasteful spending and slow-moving spending that won't create jobs and won't help preserve jobs in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, of course the White House disagrees with that. Aides say that 75 percent of this money will actually go out in the first 18 months after passage. Clearly, though, Betty, the president is still going to have to convince -- to do a lot to try and convince these Republicans that, in fact, this $825 billion plan is the way to go -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes, he's working really hard on doing that. And looking at some of the pushback already, does a mid-February deadline seem feasible?
QUIJANO: It certainly seems feasible. Democrats on the Hill have made the case that they believe it is feasible. But whether or not the president is going to be able to get the Republican support that he wants to see on this bill, that's another question entirely -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right.
CNN's Elaine Quijano joining us live.
Thank you, Elaine.
Well, we do have some new information from investigators looking into that US Airways flight that splashed down in the Hudson River just over a week ago. Well, the left engine of the jet shows evidence of hitting a soft body impact. NTSB investigators say they found no organic materials such as a dead bird, but that is not surprising since the engine had been underwater for about a week.
Well, the pilot, Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, reported the plane hit a flock of birds shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport earlier this month, which shut down both engines and forced that emergency landing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Sully! Sully! Sully!
(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: Chanting "Sully" there, and there he is, the man that they're calling a hero. Lots of cheers for the pilot of that flight, Captain Chesley Sullenberger. As I mentioned, called "Sully." At least that's what friends call him.
The hero's welcome party took place in Danville, California, yesterday. And you saw it live, right here on CNN. That's where he spoke publicly for the first time, albeit very briefly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHESLEY SULLENBERGER, PILOT: Lorrie and I are grateful for your incredible outpouring of support. It's great to be home in Danville with our neighbors and our friends. Circumstance determined that it was this experienced crew that was scheduled to fly at that particular flight on that particular day, but I know I can speak for the entire crew when I tell you we were simply doing the jobs we were trained to do.
Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And he did it well.
In another story, though, he vows to boycott it, but the impeachment trial for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is due to start tomorrow with or without him.
And what is going on here? A crazy scene you sort of have to see to believe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Our folks hard at work here at CNN.
In the meantime, let's tell you about this. A high school football coach charged in the death of one of his players. Well, he is expected to be arraigned tomorrow.
In his first public comments since being charged with reckless homicide, coach David Stinson says he is heartbroken over the death of 15-year-old Max Gilpin. He spoke out at his home last night, where dozens of his supporters had gathered.
Now, Gilpin collapsed during practice last August in sweltering heat. Stinson's attorney maintains that his client did nothing wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX DATHORNE, STINSON'S ATTORNEY: I think he's maintained his innocence from the beginning. He has repeatedly stated to me that one thing that people fail to realize is that he lost one of his kids out there that day as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: Well, the school spokeswoman said the coach has been reassigned pending the outcome of the case.
Police in Kansas are trying to track down the person or people who opened fire during, of all things, a wake. Two people were killed and seven others injured in Wichita when gunfire erupted as people gathered at a home to mourn. The city's deputy police chief confirms all the victims were adults and no arrests have been made.
Well, Miami police are asking for the public's help after a masked gunman unloaded an AK-40 assault rifle on a group of people playing dice outside a grocery store. Two teenagers were killed in Friday's shootings, seven others were injured. And police say they don't have a motive, and they are also asking anyone for information to please step forward.
We're going to have more on this story coming up in about 15 minutes.
All right. So he doesn't plan on being there, but the impeachment trial of Governor Rod Blagojevich starts tomorrow in the Illinois State Senate. Among other things, he is accused of trying to sell President Obama's former Senate seat. Now, his lead attorney, Ed Genson, has quit the case.
CLTV's Ashley Yarchin has reaction now from lawyers who are sticking with the governor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAM ADAMS SR., ATTORNEY: Listen, I've known Ed Genson almost 50 years, known him intimately. And I only got one thing to say about Ed Genson -- cuckoo.
ASHLEY YARCHIN, REPORTER, CLTV (voice-over): They're a legal team that's taken a tumble. That being attorney Sam Adams Sr.'s response to the governor's lead attorney stepping down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can tell you this -- I love Rod Blagojevich, and I'm going to do everything I can for him. And that's just how I feel about it.
YARCHIN: Before a meeting at Blagojevich's home, his attorney, Sad Adams Jr., promised to fight despite the Senate proceedings he says are unfair.
There's a number of things that we have to discuss, of course, and new strategies that we have, and find out what we are going to do here. Figure out where to go from here on out.
SAM ADAMS JR., ATTORNEY: You know how I feel about the Senate proceedings down there. You know exactly how he feels. He's told you himself. This is a highly prejudicial Senate proceeding that doesn't allow him the right to call witnesses, doesn't allow him the right to contest the charges, and we are not going to participate in this.
YARCHIN: Across town at a news conference, Mayor Richard Daley made clear what he hopes for.
MAYOR RICHARD DALEY, CHICAGO: But these are very serious steps. And I just believe that he has to look at his family and look at the people of Illinois and be able to make the right decision on behalf of himself and his family.
YARCHIN: Besides a brief appearance and his recent hire of Tampa Bay's PR firm, The Publicity Agency, used also by Drew Peterson, no one would say exactly what those next steps would be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll make a statement later.
YARCHIN (on camera): Of course, though, we'll eventually hear more from the governor himself. As the Senate trial starts Monday, he will be in New York making appearances on "Good Morning America," "The View," and "Larry King Live."
At the governor's Ravenswood Manor home, Ashley Yarchin, CLTV News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And as Ashley just mentioned, Governor Blagojevich will be a guest on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE." That is tomorrow night, and the show begins at 9:00 Eastern.
The battle over Minnesota's disputed U.S. Senate seat heads to court tomorrow. Yes, it's not over.
A recount ended with Democrat Al Franken leading Republican Senator Norm Coleman by 221 votes. Coleman is suing, claiming disputed ballots will prove that he is the real winner. The three-judge panel denied Franken's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The trial, well, it could last weeks.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So, out of office, out of custody, but facing charges. A former Bahamas senator is accused in an alleged extortion plot targeting actor John Travolta.
Travolta's 6-year-old son Jett died in the Bahamas earlier this month. And police say the extortion case is connected to the death, but they will not release any details.
Former senator Pleasant Bridgewater says she is innocent of extortion conspiracy charges. Bridgewater resigned from the Bahamas Senate yesterday. She is free on $40,000 bail.
Well, as the Screen Actors Guild prepares to hand out awards to A- listers tonight, there is plenty of drama happening behind the scenes on contract talks. Will the actors union call a strike vote?
Here's CNN's Kareen Wynter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was just months ago Screen Actors Guild president Alan Rosenberg made this defiant pledge to the membership...
ALAN ROSENBERG, SCREEN ACTORS GUILD PRESIDENT: Screen Actors Guild, stand together. We will not be defeated.
WYNTER: But now, on the heels of their annual star-studded awards show, comes marked division within the leadership. What Rosenberg called a heated internal debate among union heads regarding contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
ROSENBERG: It's our responsibility in these hard economic times to increase our protection of our members. We don't want to strike.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
ROSENBERG: We want to bargain.
WYNTER: Actors have been working without a new contract for nearly seven months. While union leaders battle with the studios and networks, union members' internal bickering has turned heated, with rank and file choosing sides on strike talk in a down economy.
GREGG KILDAY, FILM EDITOR, "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER": There's real division within the guild -- and it's an enormous, very large guild -- about whether the actors should even consider calling a strike.
WYNTER: Stars like Kevin Spacey, George Clooney, and Sally Field oppose a strike right now. Mel Gibson, Blair Underwood and Anne Hathaway reportedly say they would support the union if it votes to strike. SAG members have yet to vote on a strike authorization since mediations with the studios have stalled. One thing that hasn't hit a snag, Sunday's glamour event that will brick out Hollywood's brightest.
As for the nominees at this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards, Gregg Kilday at "The Hollywood Reporter" says all bets are on Heath Ledger posthumously winning in the supporting actor category for his performance as The Joker in "The Dark Knight."
HEATH LEDGER, THE JOKER, "THE DARK KNIGHT": Here's my card.
WYNTER: The late actor just won a Golden Globe for his role.
KILDAY: This is an opportunity for Hollywood to acknowledge his work. And I think Hollywood does view this as an opportunity to give him a farewell sendoff.
WYNTER: In the male acting category, Kilday says it will come down to Sean Penn's moving performance as a gay politician in "Milk," and Mickey Rourke's riveting portrayal in "The Wrestler."
KATE WINSLET, ACTRESS: And I really do feel like this is a dream. WYNTER: Kate Winslet just clinched two Golden Globe awards for best supporting actress in the Holocaust film "The Reader" and best actress drama for "Revolutionary Road."
Will she steal the show again Sunday with her double nominations?
KILDAY: It's possible that she will repeat here, but I think it's really tricky. The odds are against her.
WYNTER: In Hollywood, I'm Kareen Wynter.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And you can catch all the glitz and glamour of the SAG Awards. See all the A-listers live tonight on our sister networks TBS and TNT, starting at 8:00 Eastern.
Well, a possible crime of fashion on NBC's "Lipstick Jungle." A stage manager for the show was arrested Friday in a sting operation. Undercover officers say they bought some stolen loot from his New York apartment. The DA's office says employees of a French designer also found several items the fashion house lent to the show on eBay.
The items included expensive handbags and Gucci coats. Fashion plays a major role on the soapy drama which stars Brooke Shields.
All right. Here's a question for you. Does where you live make you fat? What about keeping you fit? You won't want to miss this -- which zip codes might help or hurt your waistline.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: News that's happening right now, President Obama is preparing to pitch his economic stimulus plan on Capitol Hill. On Tuesday he's expected to meet with Republican leaders. Mr. Obama hopes to have that plan on his desk by mid-February.
A town outside of Philadelphia under siege, 15 row houses in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, were damaged overnight in a seven-alarm fire. It is the 14th suspected arson in Coatesville this month alone. A state of emergency has just recently been declared.
So just where are all these fires being set? Here to show us, CNN's Josh Levs. You've been looking at it, it's really causing a lot of people to scratch their heads as to exactly why is this happening.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's unbelievable what this town -- this city is going through right now. What I want to do is zoom in on the board so everyone can see exactly what it's like. We're going to get in pretty close. And you are going to see, we're getting close down here to the New Jersey line, because it's right near Philadelphia, as we were just saying.
And once you get to Philadelphia, you are going to go slightly west to go over here to Coatesville. And this is the city in which so much of this is taking place, where it's all taking place. Now in this area, we're going to zoom in, it's very small, only 11,000 residents are there.
And within this area you are finding that a lot of different places have been hit. We are going to zoom in now to one of the places that was just hit, the latest fire that took place over night and went into the morning, it's in this area right here.
Authorities are telling us that's exactly the spot it broke out. And you can see here from the skies, these row homes. It began behind two of them, caught on, ended up hitting 15 different homes in that area. We have a sound bite from one of the people who lives along that row.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCIS DORSHEIMER, WITNESS: So I run outside and there is like flames like shooting off the roof. It must have been like 15-foot flames or higher. It was just unbelievable, all of the smoke in the air. Like, you could hardly breathe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right. Now while we are showing that, I just moved over to this screen, because what I want to do is zoom in on something that we were getting from one of our affiliates.
Check this out, everywhere you see a blue mark here, every one of these blue marks represents one of the fires that has been going on lately, from our affiliate WPVI. Check this out, and you can see, Betty, how close some of these have been.
And what we are being told is that the residents of this area are getting to the point where they are afraid to be in their own homes because there are only 11,000 people in Coatesville.
Some people are starting to say it's quite possible that my area might be next. Also just a couple of points for you on the investigation, as you learned earlier this hour, late last year, so it was in December, they captured three people that -- arrested three people who thought were behind this.
These people admitted to being involved with some arsons last year, but it's still going on. So who is next? Where is next? All you've got is this little area. That's what people are worried about.
NGUYEN: Yes. That's the question. If it wasn't just those three people, who is doing this because since January 1st there has been 14 fires, not including the 15 homes that were damaged overnight. So they've got a lot on their hands there. And obviously people are fearful.
LEVS: People losing their homes and being terrified someone else could get killed, yes.
NGUYEN: Yes. All right. Thank you, Josh. Do appreciate it.
I want to get you more now on the Miami shooting that left two people dead and seven injured, one of them critically. Survivors are describing the chaos Friday night in vivid detail.
Richard Jordan from CNN affiliate WSVN reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOAN RUTHERFORD, HEARD GUNSHOTS: And I heard the ka-boom, ka-boom, ka-boom, ka-boom.
RICHARD JORDAN, WSVN REPORTER (voice-over): Northwest 71st Street and 15th Avenue blasted by a barrage of bullets Friday night.
RUTHERFORD: It was like in a war zone. As if I had enrolled in the service or something.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People that did that are animals, I'm telling you, animals, they're not human.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a lot of people on the ground, they told me to get on the ground.
JORDAN: The victims say a gunman wearing a mask ordered the crowd to lay on the ground and started firing. The shooting broke up a game of craps. Evidence markers litter like confetti, police pulling out all of the stops on the hunt for a dangerous killer carrying an AK-47. The search came up empty.
A 23-year-old woman recovering from a bullet to the back side, so is 16-year-old Andrew Jackson (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy came around the corner and like, get down, and he just started shooting.
JORDAN: Altogether nine people were hit, but the gunfire left two teenagers dead.
RUTHERFORD: I witnessed this guy laying there with his face, looked like it was completely tore off and his eyes was all I could see and he had a grip on some money and he gasping and trying to lift his head up to say something.
JORDAN: Sixteen-year-old Brandon Mills (ph). The teen was not alone on the street, 18-year-old Derek Gloucester was killed leaving his family members struggling to cope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It ain't hit me yet. It feels like he's coming home any minute.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: So tragic. Well, police are asking witnesses to come forward to help them find the gunman.
President Obama is still pushing his economic stimulus plan, hoping to win congressional support. He has a meeting set this week with Republican members of Congress. But when you have won an election for president, you get to define bipartisanship. CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trying to end his first week on a bipartisan high note over the economy, for the first time President Obama called in leaders from both parties to say the $825 billion recovery plan is right on track.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I think unifies this group is recognition that we are experiencing an unprecedented, perhaps, economic crisis that has to be dealt with and dealt with rapidly.
HENRY: That show of unity completely different from a move the president made late in the day, signing a memorandum overturning a Bush policy that prohibited international family planning groups from using U.S. tax dollars to promote abortion, a decision that cheers liberal groups who support abortion rights and backed Mr. Obama's campaign, but cast the president in a much more partisan light.
So it was signed behind closed doors, a sharp contrast from earlier in the week when the president made a big show of signing executive orders, ranging from shutting down the military prison at Guantanamo Bay to cracking down on lobbyists.
It is still early, but obvious that this administration does not want to be pulled off a message of bipartisanship.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He wants to hear ideas, and hopes that Washington can put aside its partisan differences in order to get the American people what they deserve, and that is a package that will get the economy going.
HENRY: But the president is facing questions about whether the plan will really stimulate the economy, with projects like $200 million for the National Mall, including new grass.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: We expressed our concerns about some of the spending that's being proposed in the House bill, and the fact that it doesn't spend out very quickly.
HENRY: White House officials insist the plan will create up to 4 million new jobs in the president's first two years. And Mr. Obama is playing hardball to get his way, according to Democratic and Republican sources in the room.
When Republican Eric Cantor presented an alternative plan, the president said many of the GOP ideas will be included but they will have to live without other provisions, adding pointedly about the election, "I won," which may not sound so bipartisan after all.
Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE) NGUYEN: During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama vowed to keep the heat on al Qaeda forces near the Afghan-Pakistani border and that is apparently what he is doing. A U.S. raid in Afghanistan Friday triggered anti-U.S. protests earlier today near the site of that attack. American officials say 15 militants were killed in the raid, but Afghanistan claims the dead were all civilians.
Now across the border in Pakistan, villagers assessed the damage left by a suspected U.S. drone attack that killed more than 20 people. Pakistan is asking President Obama to stop the missile strikes. But Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports that's not likely to happen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just as President Barack Obama was sworn in on Tuesday, General David Petraeus was in Pakistan pressing top officials yet again to crack down on militants. The first sign the Obama administration is not going to ease up on the hunt, two CIA missile strikes Friday killed more than a dozen people in the tribal region.
There have been some 30 strikes like these over the past year. The new president is making clear the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan will get more attention.
OBAMA: This is the central front in our enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism.
STARR: CNN has learned from a top U.S. official the missile attacks are authorized under a covert program which has been briefed to Mr. Obama. The reason for the program's existence, to target and kill senior al Qaeda and Taliban leaders and keep survivors on the run. Suspects may be tracked for weeks before strikes are called in.
Under George Bush, the president did not have to approve each strike beforehand. It's believed Mr. Obama for now has the same arrangement, according to U.S. officials. Even during the campaign, candidate Obama made clear he wouldn't hesitate to cross Pakistan's borders.
OBAMA: If we have actionable intelligence about high value terrorist targets and President Musharraf will not act, we will.
STARR: In an interview Friday with Wolf Blitzer, Musharraf, now out of office, said Pakistan doesn't expect the U.S. strikes to stop.
GEN. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, FORMER PAKISTANI PRESIDENT: Nobody in Pakistan is comfortable with the strikes across the border. There is no doubt in that. Public opinion is very much against it.
STARR (on camera): The latest missile strikes came one day after President Obama named a new envoy to the region and promised renewed diplomatic action. But many people in the region say these strikes are doing little more than antagonizing an already tense part of the world.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, back here in the U.S., many of us are trying to lose a few pounds here or there, but if you just can't shed those last five, blame it on where you live, seriously. See where your city ranks in a new study on who's fat and who's fit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: News across America, a house in Gloucester, Massachusetts, exploded today. A police officer owned the home. He was reportedly pulled out of the debris by a neighbor. He has been air lifted to a Boston hospital. A gas leak may be to blame and an investigation is under way.
Near Cincinnati, Ohio, a man is charged with killing his adopted father, stepmother, and stepsister. A Cincinnati newspaper reports the 13-year-old sister can be heard on a 911 tape screaming for help and implicating her stepbrother.
In East Texas, the mother of the late Branch Davidian sect leader, David Koresh, has been stabbed to death. Police have charged the woman's sister with the crime. The body of 64-year-old Bonnie Clark Haldeman was found Friday at the home of 54-year-old sister, Beverly Clark. Police haven't revealed a possible motive.
All right. So here's a quick look at some of the most popular videos on cnn.com. Mexican authorities accuse this man of dissolving 300 bodies in acid. Santiago Meza Lopez allegedly helped a Tijuana drug lord dispose of his slain enemies.
This is iReport video of a protest in Iceland where the world financial crisis has had a dramatic impact. Listen to this, major banks have collapsed and the prime minister has announced that he will not seek re-election.
Well, police in Staunton, Virginia, say that just before she died, this woman confessed to a 42-year-old double murder. In her deathbed confession, 61-year-old Sharron Diane Crawford Smith said she killed two co-workers at an ice cream parlor because they teased her about being a lesbian. She also claimed that a police detective, now dead, disposed of the murder weapon.
All right. Moving on from that to this. Here she is, the new Miss America. Katie Stam from Indiana. Now despite a throat infection and a recent bout of laryngitis, she drew loud applause when belted out a song for her part in the talent competition. The 22-year-old is studying communications at the University of Indianapolis, and she says she hopes to be a TV anchor one day.
Well, Miami is usually hot, but Men's Health magazine says people who live there are not. Really? Well, the city won the magazine's dubious honor of being named the nation's fattest city. I would have never guessed it. The magazine says although the city has a high number of health stores per capita, it has three times the number of fast food joints. Oklahoma City, San Antonio also at the bottom of the barrel.
All right. So let's get to the fittest city. Do you live there? It is Salt Lake City. The survey found Salt Lake City has a lot of parks and people who take advantage of the outdoors. Colorado Springs and Minneapolis also got high ranks. Not Atlanta, huh? All right.
Meanwhile, let's talk about this. Bernie Madoff, accused of stealing millions of dollars in an alleged Ponzi scheme, now that Madoff has been exposed, investigators are finding there are more Ponzi schemes out there.
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NGUYEN: Bernard Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme may be the most well-known fraud case right now, but it certainly isn't the only one out there.
Here is CNN's Ines Ferre.
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INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the week of Bernard Madoff's alleged record-breaking financial scam, authorities are bringing to light similar frauds. This week in Buffalo, New York, Richard Piccoli was charged with mail fraud, accused of defrauding Catholic parishioners in what the U.S. attorney calls a $17 million Ponzi operation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has been very diligent about paying the money that he promised people. In fact, this may be a surprise to the victims that this is an investment fraud.
FERRE: Federal prosecutors allege Piccoli lured investors by advertising in Catholic newspapers, promising more than 7 percent returns. Instead, he used newer investment money to pay out earlier investors.
JOHN REID, NEPHEW OF VICTIM: I flipped out because to know that this guy was still out there after having dealt with my uncle...
FERRE: John Reid says his late uncle was one of Piccoli's victims, investing his life's savings.
REID: There's not enough punishment for him. Yes, there just isn't.
FERRE: The 82-year-old Piccoli has not entered a plea. He did not respond to CNN's calls.
In Philadelphia, the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a civil complaint for a Ponzi-like scheme allegedly operated by Joseph Forte. This one was about $50 million. The complaint alleges, among other things, solicitation fraud. No criminal charges have been filed. The victims say they found out what was going on on New Year's Eve via a letter from the funds accountant. Calls to Forte and his accountant were not returned. MICHAEL GOLDBERG, BANKRUPTCY LAWYER: All Ponzi schemes are variations of the same theme. You know, the theme is the air of profitability and trust. They always have slightly different stories, how they make their money. Some can be secret formulas, other can be like Madoff, beating the market.
FERRE: Bankruptcy lawyer Michael Goldberg has been dealing with Ponzi schemes for more than 20 years.
GOLDBERG: I'm a little surprised how many there are right now becoming visible, but there are still dozens of them out there. They're just incubating right now, waiting to come out.
FERRE: Especially at a time of economic uncertainty.
(on camera): Some experts say Ponzi schemes are very attractive to potential investors, when the stock market is soaring. It all starts to fall apart when they collapse.
Ines Ferre, CNN, New York.
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NGUYEN: Well, towns all across Spain are trying to recover from a deadly windstorm this weekend. At least 12 people were killed, including four boys who were seeking shelter from the storm inside a sports center when the winds blew through. The hurricane force winds tore down part of the building's roof and a wall.
Well, back here at home part of the South could be in for some nasty weather. Joining us in the CNN severe weather center is meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.
When we talk about South and nasty weather, I have been there. Ice storms, is that a possibility?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Ice is not fun, is it? Snow you can drive in. You can make some progress.
NGUYEN: I would take the snow any day over ice.
JERAS: Absolutely. And it's so much prettier too. Anyway, when we talk about ice too I want to clarify, we are not necessarily talking about ice pellets falling from the sky, we're talking about freezing rain, so it comes down as liquid and the air beneath it is extremely cold, well below freezing, so it's going to freeze when it makes contact with inanimate objects.
So things like your car, things like this street, and it only takes as much ice, just a shaving of it to make roadways into ice skating rings. And also something else to keep in mind is that bridges and overpasses always ice up first.
So you might be driving along just fine and then you go over a bridge, and, yes, things are getting pretty slick. Here is what happening and the weather scenario with it. We've got a very strong Pacific jet, and that is bringing in some warm temperatures in the middle levels of the atmosphere and a lot of moisture.
We have also got a little disturbance approaching from this. At the same time cool Arctic air coming in from the north, moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. And you put all of those things together and we do get a freezing rain event.
A quarter of an inch is all it takes to cause tree damage, power outages and the hazardous travel that we have been talking about. Now winter storm watches have been posted in advance of this storm from Oklahoma stretching all the way through Kentucky here.
Now keep in mind that some of the northern fringe of this, including you in St. Louis, and probably Louisville as well, is going to be more of a snow event for you. But we are real worried about the ice, especially along the I-44 corridor. And this should be developing Monday probably late in the day and continuing through your Tuesday.
Moisture coming in from the west. And you have already been seeing lots of rain and snow with that. In fact, we have had over a foot of snow in parts of the Wasach and the Colorado Rockies -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Jacqui, thank you for that.
OK. So -- hey, Jacqui, stick around for this, because if you were born in the Year of the Ox, this is your year. Today is the eve of the Lunar or Chinese New Year, as it's often called. So will it be a good year? A terrible year? Or just so-so?
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NGUYEN: For us in the U.S., the New Year began more than three weeks ago, but Asians around the world are gearing up for the new Lunar New Year which starts tomorrow. Our Eunice Yoon is in Hong Kong with the word on what Chinese fortune-tellers are saying about the Year of the Ox.
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EUNICE YOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the start of a Lunar New Year, a time to celebrate one of the biggest holidays in Asia and the second of the 12 animal signs in the Chinese zodiac, the Ox.
It's also a time to visit the fortune-teller to see what's in store for 2009.
(on camera): Happy New Year.
(voice-over): But for me the Year of the Ox doesn't look as though it's going to be too bullish.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): You will have stomach problems. You will spend a lot of money, so don't give out loans because people won't pay you back.
YOON: Despite the festivities at this fair with inflatable manure hats, traditionally the Ox has brought economic doom, ushering in the 1973 oil crisis, and the Asian financial crisis of 1997.
Will the curse continue? Master Joseph Wong says a very unlucky star is moving its way across the U.S. and Europe.
JOSEPH WONG, FENGSHUI MASTER: This is the (INAUDIBLE) happen on the west. In the west house, this is not a good past (ph). (INAUDIBLE) to that area. They will suffer the economic crisis.
YOON (on camera): Does it say anything there about how President Obama is going to come up with a stimulus plan to try to help turn the U.S. economy around?
WONG: Of course.
YOON (voice-over): Those born in an Ox year, like U.S. President Barack Obama, face especially tumultuous times but can thrive, Wong says, if they stay patient and mentally strong.
Businesses classified according to key elements like fire and metal will struggle.
WONG: Fire represents restaurants, (INAUDIBLE) goods, and computers. The business is (INAUDIBLE), metal represents violence, stock markets, metal (INAUDIBLE) recessions. They will have a big (INAUDIBLE) in the crisis.
YOON: So is 2009 utterly hopeless? Not if you carry a lucky charm, Wong says. Rubbing your hand might also do the trick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Rubbing hands promotes good luck.
YOON: Plus it provides relief from all of that hand-wringing brought on by financial stress.
Eunice Yoon, CNN, Hong Kong.
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NGUYEN: All right. Rubbing hands or not, despite what the fortune- tellers say, we still wish you a happy New Year. I'm Betty Nguyen. "YOUR $$$$$" is next.
