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Electric Motorcycle Debuted; Lawsuit Blames Gulf Outlet for Katrina Flooding; Iranian-American Journalist's Family Fighting Espionage Conviction; Police Search for Internet Predator
Aired April 20, 2009 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, checking our stories that are happening right now. A hijacker is in custody in Jamaica. The armed man had held six crew members from a CanJet flight hostage since last night. Just over about an hour ago, Jamaica's information minister told CNN police were able to board the plane and disarm that gunman. No injuries were reported.
President Obama back in Washington. And this morning he hosts his first meeting of all of his cabinet members. He's about to give them a pretty big homework assignment. Two senior administration officials say he wants the cabinet to cut $100 million in government spending. The timeframe for this, 90 days. Get to work.
Also, something we saw just a short time ago. Protesters in brightly colored wigs interrupting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But we also saw this as well. This is a walk out after the president began to say things anti-racist statements there at the conference. The anti-race conference I should tell you happening in Geneva. But he was saying that the Israeli government is in fact racist.
That prompted a walk out of many of the delegates there, western delegates. Two days conference in Geneva. Also had some video we're going to show you in a short time about some other protestors who were lobbing things at the Iranian president.
President Obama is back home and a bit on the defensive. He has returned. He returned yesterday from that summit of the Americas. His main goal there was to reach out to Latin American neighbors. Critics now saying he did really well. Some are criticizing his friendly greeting with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, also his historic overtures he made to Cuba.
At the Summit of the Americas, there were leaders there from over 30 countries but only two leaders really stole the show. The big question was, what would happen when President Obama ran into America's arch nemesis, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. We have the answer now but still we have some new questions as CNN's Suzanne Malveaux now explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not exactly best friends forever but not enemies, either. On day one when Obama first saw Chavez he reached out his hand to shake off the past. Chavez beamed and said "with this same hand I greeted Bush eight years ago. I want to be your friend." This from a man who once called President Bush the devil.
Day two. It's Chavez's move. The cameras jockey for position. Chavez got up and gave Obama a book. "The Open Veins of Latin America" which documents centuries of American abuse in the region. The book immediately rocketed to one of Amazon's best sellers.
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: You know I thought it was one of Chavez's book. I was going to give him one of mine.
MALVEAUX: But he didn't. Instead at the class photo, it was the president of St. Lucia who got Obama's book personally signed. At his closing press conference Mr. Obama was asked why Chavez got so much of the attention.
OBAMA: President Chavez is better at positioning the cameras. It was a nice gesture that he gave me a book. I - I'm a reader.
MALVEAUX: But that might be hard.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think it's in Spanish so that might be a tad on the difficult side.
MALVEAUX: U.S. officials tried to downplay the exchange.
AMB. JEFFREY DAVIDOW, WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: A shake and a smile does not constitute a new relationship.
MALVEAUX: But Mr. Obama says there's no harm in trying.
OBAMA: It's unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interest of the United States. Why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And as our Suzanne Malveaux reporting, this is day 91 of the Obama administration. Here now a look at the president's calendar for day 91. Next hour, he's scheduled to hold his first meeting with all of his cabinet secretaries. Two senior administration officials say he will challenge them to cut $100 million over the next 90 days. This afternoon the president delivers remarks to CIA employees. And then he and the vice president meet with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. That meeting scheduled to take place at the Oval office.
We have some video to show you here. We just got in a short time ago. This is from an anti-racism conference being held in Geneva, Switzerland. The theme of tolerance quickly unraveled when Iran's president accused Israel of being a racist regime. One protester wearing a rainbow colored wig through something in the direction of the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
You can see security then led that protester out. Another protester, a second one, was taken out as well. But this was not the end of it. This wasn't the end of the hoopla at all there at this conference. Because what you're seeing here, dozens of western diplomats soon marched out on their own. The United States and eight other western nations boycotted this conference because of fears that Muslim nations would steal the spotlight by denouncing Israel. It appears that's what the Iranian president has done. Many of those diplomats got up and walked out.
We turn back to Jamaica now where that armed man who barged into a plane in Jamaica Airport, he is now in custody. Police were able to disarm the man this morning as he held six crew members of a Canjet flight hostage. The gunman whom officials described as mentally challenged had earlier released the other crew members and all of the 100 plus passengers who had gotten on board. Witnesses say the gunman had gotten on the plane while bags were being loaded, robbed passengers and demanded to be taken to Cuba. With this ordeal over things are starting to return to normal there at the Montego Bay Airport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF LATOYA JOHNSON, RADIO JAMAICA REPORTER: The airport has reopened for business since about 45 minutes ago. But first the passengers were streamed in, you know, and went through the security checkpoint. And it's almost business as usual. However, the area where the hijack flight is, that area remained cordoned. So even though persons are accessing the airport now, that area is still under tight security where the flight is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And also, we heard from an official with Canjet Airlines a short time ago at a news conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENT WOODSIDE, V.P. & G.M. CANJET AIRLINES: We have had a flawless reputation with respect to security and safety. I got to highlight again that this would be the situation at the airport level, not at the airline level, whereas this person somehow gained access through all of the protocol of an airport all the way to our aircraft.
So obviously, this is an airport situation and Canjet, the airline, while we work very closely with those authorities in Jamaica to understand what went wrong with that security system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And we're told that all of the passengers were Canadian. Canjet is flying another jet to Montego Bay to return those passengers to Canada. Well, NATO forces stopping a pirate attack off the coast of Somalia over the weekend. And an after a seven-hour chase they caught the pirates. But as our David McKenzie reports, after they caught the pirates, they had to let them go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shots ring out at sea. A NATO warship in hot pursuit of Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. The Canadian frigate spotted the pirates trying to hijack the Norwegian cargo ship. After a seven hour chase, they grabbed the pirates, questioned them, then released them. Canada's prime minister defending the tactics.
STEPHEN HARPER, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: We obviously act within our legal authorities and also within our capacities. And in this case, as you know, we did briefly detain pirates and disarm them. And you know I think that was the appropriate - those were the appropriate measures under the circumstances.
MCKENZIE: NATO says that arresting pirates is not within their mandate despite international conventions clearly stating that any warship can detain pirates. Earlier in the weekend a Dutch ship stopped a pirate attack, freed 20 hostages and also released the pirates. The leadership of Somalia's transitional government is not impressed with the international help.
ABDURRAHMAN HAJI ADAM, SOMALIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: This is something that we could have done something about it. But international community still actually giving little consolidation of support to the Somali government to help the international community in this piracy.
MCKENZIE: Coalition and NATO forces do have scores of boats off the coast patrolling against piracy. But despite their recent aggressive tactics, pirates continue to attack ships seemingly at will. Hijacking a Belgian trader ship, the Pompeii, way off the coast of east Africa. Near the island atoll of the Seychelles, some 800 miles from Somalia. Pirates are reportedly sailing the ship back to their coastline with more than 200 sailors remain hijacked waiting for ransom to be paid. David McKenzie, CNN, Nairobi, Kenya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The latest pirate attack comes with the hostage standoff. The "Maersk Alabama" still fresh on a lot of people's minds. This afternoon our Kyra Phillips will talk to Ken Quinn. He was the second mate from that ship. That's happening at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time.
And some strong, strong storms slamming the deep south last night. A baby was hurt when a roof collapsed. And also trees and power lines were down. Homes damaged in west and northwest Georgia. Two people also killed in Alabama last night when their mobile homes were destroyed. More than 6,000 power outages also reported. The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado struck the town of Lankton(ph), Oklahoma, over the weekend. Four homes damage there had. Wind speed ranged up to 100 miles an hour. Rob Marciano standing by for us in the weather center. Rob, this thing is just creeping along. It's not done just yet.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: No, it isn't. And we had Severe weather from this thing in the plains on Thursday and we'll continue to see problems today. Here it is on the big picture again creeping along as you mentioned. All the way to the east coast we go. But that red area you see right there, that's where we expect the threat for severe weather to occur. But the rain swath is kind of heading up towards the north and east.
Here it is on the radar scope. I-95 seeing some moderate to heavy rainfall, especially around the belt loop, beltway in parts of D.C., Baltimore. And the rain shield itself is getting a little bit closer to Boston. And that's big doings for them to get the Boston marathon happening. It's also causing some travel delays. We'll take a look at that.
At Newark at last check was seeing about an hour. There it is an hour and ten. And La Guardia seeing about 55 minutes delays as well. All right. We'll show you some of this video coming out of Texas over the weekend. Big time flooding. In some cases they had 10 to 14 inches of rainfall. A couple of inches coming in a short amount of time will do a lot of damage there. So people slacking through it. There were a couple of rescues as well.
We think we have a tower cam out of Houston? Want to see what's going on. We don't. I'll tell you what, it's a much prettier day today there. And it will be a pretty day, albeit warm, out west. For the west coast, love for you. I now you're sweating at Santa Anas, 101 yesterday. That was a record high. Fullerton, California, 100. Riverside, 97. Los Angeles, 94 degrees. And 88 degrees for a high temperature in San Francisco.
And we have heat advisories once again in the San Francisco Bay area with a high temperature expected in SFO about 86, 94 in Los Angeles. That's kind of smoky. Records also in Long Beach and I think they have the Grand Prix there racing around the streets there in the Indy cars. You had to be in the shade with a little beverage to keep cool.
HOLMES: Such a difference between what's happening on the East Coast versus the West coast. That's often the case. Rob, appreciate you as always.
MARCIANO: You got it.
HOLMES: Well, a personal story of grief and life after. Former student and the brother of a Columbine victim is going to be joining us next. He's going to talk about his feelings being in the line of fire. Also what's being done to keep his sister's memory live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, T.J. Holmes.
HOLMES: It's 10 years today since the Columbine High School massacre. Hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil in honor of the victims yesterday. Columbine high school closed today to observe the date. A private service for the victims' families planned a little later today. 13 people killed including the teacher when two student gunman opened fire inside the school library.
Craig Scott, a former Columbine student and he joins us now live from Denver. He was inside that library that's where those attacks began. His sister, Rachel, believed also to be the first victim, murdered by those student gunman.
Sir, I appreciate you being here, Craig. First, no day really after those attacks 10 years ago can be easy. But what are the anniversary days, you've gone through all of these - what are the actually anniversary days like and how are they different from the other days.
CRAIG SCOTT, BROTHER OF COLUMBINE VICTIM RACHEL SCOTT: The anniversary days are very memorable days for me. More memorable than any other day in my life. And it's kind of unpredictable, the emotions that sometimes I go through personally. In the past I've done well. And then other times I've had some emotional break downs. It's a hard day. And this is a big day for myself and my community and my family. Ten years later. And looking back at all that's happened since then.
HOLMES: Do you want to always - well, you'll certainly never forget. But are there times over the years where sometimes you want to not necessarily participate in a way in some of those commemorations? I know you get calls and maybe media want to talk to you, friends and family reaching out and for good reason. But sometimes do you try to be normal on a day like today?
SCOTT: Yes, it's a balance of trying to be normal and spend time just with family and have private time, but then other things like media opportunities and ceremonies that happen. And the only reason that I take advantage of any media opportunities is because I feel like my family has a - has a message to share since the shooting has happened. And we've been doing that mostly in schools. And so that's - it's kind of trying to keep a balance.
HOLMES: And tell me, you mentioned, you'd like to take advantage of those media opportunities. We're glad you're spending some time with us. Because you do have a message. What is that message? What has it been since that shooting that you and your family would like to get out in general and also specifically about your sister?
SCOTT: Well, that day, you know, two teenagers, two, you know, seniors at my school came in and killed 12 students and a teacher. They killed two friends next to me. And one of my friends they killed because he was black. They had a lot of anger and hatred in their heart. And they were very isolated and distanced themselves away from a lot of people. The first person they killed was my sister, Rachel.
And my sister, Rachel, she stepped out of her way a lot of times in compassion for people, to show kindness. And what we share, my family started a program called Rachel's Challenge. And what we share in schools and other places is that anger, that kindness and compassion can be big anecdotes to anger and hatred. And you can reach out to someone who's feeling isolated by stepping out in compassion for that person.
HOLMES: And Craig, do you think you're reaching some inroads? You - I mean we all know, we remember from school how students and young people, kids can just be mean to one another when there are other students who are different, not in that circle, not in that cool crowd, whatever it may be. Do you think you are making some inroads and that it could have helped if somebody would have reached out to those two gunmen 10 years ago?
SCOTT: I think we are making some inroads with Rachel's Challenge and we are - I got to - you know, this last week I went out to two different cities and literally this last week I had five students that came up to me after the presentation that told me that they were thinking about hurting themselves, that they had been contemplating suicide. And the story that we share had inspired them to hold on.
We hit on compassion, but we hit on a number of things that are important to students like the influences that you have in your life, the two shooters had very negative influences. To also letting people in your life, dealing with how you treat people. Because how you treat people says a lot about who you are.
HOLMES: Yes. And Craig, I want to end on this one. Might be a tough one here to answer. But for years, and immediately after the shooting and for years after, it's kind of just accepted, many people believed and the story was out your sister had been asked by these gunman or a student was asked by these gunman, do you believe in god. The student replied yes and the gunmen fired. Police at times have refuted that story. There's been some back and forth and debate about it. What do you and your family believe happened?
SCOTT: Well, we know from with my sister's story that the survivor that was with her the day of the shooting, his name is Richard Castaldo. He was paralyzed for life. He woke up out of a coma after the shooting happened a while later. And the first thing he said when he woke up to his parents, to his mom and to his grandparents, was where's Rachel? And then he told them that they began to mock Rachel for her faith. And they came up to her and said where's your god now?
And the last moment of her life, according to him, was they picked her up by her hair. They said do you still believe in god? And she said you know I do. They said go be with him. And she took her last and final shot through the temple. I was in the school library when that happened. And there was a - there was a girl that was asked if she believed in god. Her name was Val Schnurr. And there were other people who thought that maybe Cassie Burnall had been asked that.
For whatever reason they had a lot of hatred in their heart and for some reason god was an issue that day.
HOLMES: Craig, we appreciate your taking the time and sharing with us and for the work that you have been doing over the past 10 years, you and your family. So sorry for your loss and that community's loss. But thank you for being here and continuing with your work. Have a good day.
SCOTT: You're welcome. Thanks, T.J.
HOLMES: We will turn to a medical story. One coming out of the medical world, an important one you need to hear. Researchers have a better understanding of who may be at risk for ovarian cancer and the role genetic makeup could play in it. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A developing medical story we are following right now. Some brand-new research shows genetic markers may help doctors to predict if women are at risk for ovarian cancer. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here now. You're just getting off the phone with these researchers. This is some important stuff here.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I was on the phone with a researcher at Yale actually just now. And she said this is very exciting. And here's why. Ovarian cancer is one tough disease. 80 percent of the time it is caught at a late stage. And when it's caught at a late stage, it is very difficult to treat. So researchers around the world have tried to put their heads together and think, how can we predict who is going to get this disease so that we can do our best to catch it early?
And take a look at this. Here is a new study from MD Anderson as being presented at a big cancer conference in Denver that's going on as we speak. When women had more than seven bad genes, that's my term, not theirs, but more than seven bad genes, these women were 4.5 times more likely to get ovarian cancer. So, in other words, they could look at these women's genes and predict who was more likely to get ovarian cancer.
HOLMES: OK. I know that's not a medical term there. But in general, bad genes, what are we talking about here?
COHEN: We're talking about variations of genes. Most women have a certain type of gene. And then there are some variations that are not good to have.
HOLMES: OK.
COHEN: So when they had these, a lot of these variations, it was not a good thing. It made them more likely to get ovarian cancer.
HOLMES: OK. A lot of people are going to be watching this and thinking well can I run into my doctor's office right now? What can they do? Can I get a test and look at me now? Can they do that?
COHEN: If you ran into your doctor's office right now and asked for this test the doctor would probably look at you blankly and not know what you're talking about. This is just now today as we speak being presented by MD Anderson. So you can't get it now. The hope is, is that years from now you'll be able to get a genetic test for ovarian cancer that will be able to predict if you're one of the women who's more likely to get it. Some of us, that testing does exist but not through these genes.
HOLMES: OK. And this is some new information and a new research here but what have doctors been going by? How did we know if a woman was more likely to get ovarian cancer?
COHEN: There are a couple things that they look for. They look for family history. They want to see, for example, did your mom have ovarian cancer or your grandmothers, or aunts or sisters. Another thing is that older women, women over let's say women over the age of 65 or so are more likely to get ovarian cancer.
And here's an interesting one. Woman who have never had children are more likely to get ovarian cancer. So that's sort of another little bit of a red flag. Not a huge red flag but a bit of a red flag that would let a doctor know this woman may be more likely to get ovarian cancer.
HOLMES: But the Yale researcher, as you say, was pretty excited on the phone?
COHEN: Yes. People are very excited, not for what it means right now, at this minute but for what it means in the future.
HOLMES: All right. Elizabeth Cohen with this developing, breaking medical story here. Thank you so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
HOLMES: More than $1 million a day, your money is the president's challenge now. Saving $100 million in three months.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: President Obama, back in Washington. And your money is on his mind. One hour from now he meets with his cabinet and gives them a pretty daunting home work assignment. Go cut $100 million over the next 90 days. CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us now from the White House. That sounds like a lot in a short time, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it does. And T.J., this really is all about President Obama trying to demonstrate that he's serious about cutting back on government spending. But already critics are saying this $100 million is really just a drop in the bucket. They say especially compared to the fact that the president's budget for 2010 is $3.5 trillion.
As you know, T.J., critics in those tea parties have already been blasting President Obama's spending plan saying he's going to be putting a crushing financial burden on future generations. So today for the first time President Obama is going to be meeting with his cabinet. That'll be in the cabinet room. And two senior administration officials tell my colleague, Suzanne Malveaux, that the president is going to be challenging them to cut back $100 million over the next 90 days. At the end of that 90-day period, all these agencies are going to have to report back on exactly how they were able to save on expenses.
Now, we also understand that President Obama is going to be giving some examples of how these various departments are already working to trim the fat from their budgets, including the Department of Homeland Security, working to save an estimated $52 million over five years. How? By buying bulk office supplies.
Also, the Department of Agriculture saving an estimated $62 million over 15 years by consolidating seven offices into one facility. And finally, the Department of Veteran Affairs saving an estimated $17.8 million by cancelling or delaying conferences and also using things like video conferences to try and save money.
All of this, of course, T.J., intended to demonstrate fiscal responsibility. But again, as you know, it's important to keep all of these numbers in perspective. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said in his statement, said, look, it's great that President Obama is looking for millions of dollars in savings. But he also pointed out that his budget is calling for adding trillions. That's trillions with a "t" down the road to the nation's debt.
So, you're going to be hearing a lot about this, of course, in the moments to come here. Again, that meeting set to take place later this morning. President Obama, though, trying to demonstrate his administration is fiscally responsible -- T.J.
HOLMES: Well, if nothing else, it's symbolic, at least. Also making a trip that maybe has some symbolism in it today. Heading over to CIA headquarters and some interesting timing here.
QUIJANO: That's right. It's his first visit to CIA headquarters since taking office. President Obama is heading over there at a time really when there has been this uproar over his decision last week to release those secret interrogation memos.
Critics over the weekend have argued the release of the memos undermines the work CIA officials are doing because it basically, in their view, gives al Qaeda valuable information about those lines that the United States will not cross. Now, the White House has pushed back. Chief of staff Rahm Emanuel over the weekend said, look, a lot of that info was already out in the public domain. He also said that by the U.S. taking a step back and repudiating, essentially, some of these techniques, that that will boost America's standing and help to keep America safe -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Elaine Quijano for us from the White House. Thank you as always.
And as we've mentioned this morning, this is day 91 of the Obama administration. Here now, a closer look at the calendar. We just explained there from Elaine Quijano that his Cabinet meeting expected to get under way about an hour from now. Then this afternoon, the president delivering remarks to the CIA employees. Again, that's 3:00 -- 3:30 Eastern time. And then at 4:30 Eastern time, he's scheduled to meet with the defense secretary, Robert Gates. The vice president will be in that meeting as well. It's expected to take place at the Oval Office.
Well, spring break is over. College students, so they're back in class. The Senate, it's back in session. Back to business at 2:00 this afternoon. On the agenda, a vote on when to end the debate over Christopher Hill's nomination for ambassador to Iraq. Senators will also consider anti-fraud measures for the financial sector, and they have to vote on three nominees for assistant attorneys general.
The House, meanwhile, back in session tomorrow. That leaves Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank free to focus on one of his core issues. He's appearing at a conference on low-income housing this afternoon. Frank is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. He's been a major player in the government response to the economic crisis.
Speaking of economic crisis, Wall Street, another one of the nation's biggest banks, has booked huge profits. Investors, however, finding reason for concern in some of the fine print. Susan Lisovicz on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange breaking down the numbers that are going down -- Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. There's a lot of numbers. And some of them are positive, and some of them are not. Let's start with the positive, T.J. Bank of America made a lot of money in the first three months of the year. In fact, its net income more than tripled. It made more than $4 billion. So, that's the good news.
Where did it make all that money? Two major acquisitions. Last year during the financial crisis, lots of mortgage activity, refinancing in particular from Countrywide Financial, also trading activity at Merrill Lynch. So, those were the two stars in driving its bottom line, T.J.
HOLMES: We have seen, Susan, stocks rally in past weeks when we hear these positive earnings news. Why are we not seeing that today?
LISOVICZ: Because we're starting to see a theme or hear a theme, I should say, T.J. And let CEO Ken Lewis say it. This is a quote: "Deteriorating credit quality driven by weakness in the economy and growing unemployment."
Bank of America has a huge portfolio. It's very sensitive to a rising unemployment rate. And we are seeing it in credit card losses. We heard that last week from a couple of other big players. You're seeing it with B of A. Its credit card unit posted a loss.
I mean, the bottom line is simple, T.J. Consumers are having trouble paying their bills, and you're seeing problems with sentiment (ph) here. Certainly the selloff that we saw at the open has accelerated. The Dow right now down 207 pounts. Nasdaq down 50. After six weeks of gains, I might add, though.
HOLMES: Yes, and we're talking about bank of America here, we're specifically talking about. But elsewhere in the banking sector, how's everybody else doing?
LISOVICZ: Oh, you're seeing huge losses. I mean, there was a lot of relief when we saw Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs all reporting better than expected earnings. But it was J.P. Morgan in particular and Citigroup, they also have big exposure to credit card loans (ph). And that is where we saw a lot of weakness. In fact, an analyst today saying that Citigroup's credit card costs are growing at a rapid rate.
Tomorrow we're going to hear from a whole lot of banks, including Bank of New York as well as Northern Trust, U.S. Bancorp, Capital One. So, we'll see and we'll hear whether this continues to be a problem, what they're saying for the months ahead. But it is something we'll be watching. No question about it, the jobless rate expected to rise -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. We'll stand by for those numbers coming later. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange, thank you so much.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
HOLMES: Well, we've been talking about electric cars for a while now, been giving them a lot of attention. But there's already an electric vehicle out there on the market today. It's a motorcycle. CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix." Are we about to see you in a motorcycle jacket or something, Poppy?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I kind of wore my motorcycle jacket today. It's as close as I could get. And if I didn't have high heels on, and I guess if I had my motorcycle license, I could drive one of these. We're going to show you that in just a minute.
These are electric motorcycles, T.J., out from Zero Motorcyles coming out today is this one. This is for the road. So, you can drive it around here in New York City. This off-road one has been out for about a year.
But what's so interesting is they run on these batteries from Canada. They're made in the United States. This is a California- based company. And motorcycles are notoriously loud. This one is practically silent. You turn it on here. And that's it. You can't hear anything. But it's running right now. I can hardly, hardly hear it.
So, we want to bring in the experts. Pretty interesting here. The chief technology officer of Zero Motorcycles, Neal Saiki, here with us from California. Talk to us about this because the range is pretty incredible, about 60 miles on a single charge? NEAL SAIKI, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, ZERO MOTORCYCLES: It is incredible. This is a full-powered motorcycle. This is the first of its kind. It's a really fast, fun electric vehicle that is pretty affordable. We're under $10,000 for the street bike...
HARLOW: OK.
SAIKI: ... $7,500 for the off-road motorcycle.
HARLOW: Talk to us about -- you were telling me how cheap it is to drive from L.A. to New York if you wanted to on one of these.
SAIKI: Right. It's really amazing because electric power is practically free. It's so efficient. These motors are 90-plus percent efficient. And I could ride from L.A. to New York on about $30 worth of electricity.
HARLOW: Thirty bucks. Thirty bucks.
SAIKI: Thirty dollars.
HARLOW: But here's the question. These were a lot more attractive to folks when gas was over $4. At this point, how does it make selling these? Pretty tough in a recession and the fact that, well, gas is about half of where it was this summer.
SAIKI: Well, I think people want to save money, you know, during a recession and when times are good. So, it's very inexpensive to operate. There's no maintenance because there's only one moving part in the motor.
And even people who have a lot of money, you know, energy independence is a big topic, hot topic. We're in the Middle East right now. So, people want to get free of oil and get energy- independent and clean up the environment. So, this has got something for everybody.
HARLOW: T.J., do you have any questions? We can both hear you.
HOLMES: I have a question. You said it was -- I hope you can hear me here, Poppy. But you said it was 60 miles per charge.
HARLOW: I can.
HOLMES: Well, how long does it take to charge it up fully?
HARLOW: How long does it take to charge this? Because you can plug them in right in your garage, right? But how long for a full charge?
SAIKI: Right. This one takes about four hours. And this one takes two hours. You can plug it into any wall outlet and anywhere you're at.
HARLOW: Very interesting. All right. I have heels on and I don't have a motorcycle license. I can't do it. He's going to drive it away for us, T.J., and show us just how it goes. Thank you so much. I appreciate it, Neal.
SAIKI: OK.
HOLMES: We will stay here and watch.
HARLOW: T.J., we'll throw it...
HOLMES: Yes, we'll stay here with him and watch him drive away here. But that was a question I had. How can you take kind of a longer trip if you can only go 60 miles and you have to wait four hours before you go another 60 miles? But there he goes. But it works in a city. Yes, go ahead.
HARLOW: It's a big question. But it's just amazing. He just drove away. I didn't even hear him start it up, T.J. They're silent.
And we'll see. We'll see if they catch on. There's some competitors on the market. Vectrix has had one on the market for two years. Rommel (ph) also has a similar one on the market. But we'll see. We'll see if Americans like them. A California company, made in the U.S.
HOLMES: Hey, maybe you don't need to take a long trip. A place like New York, that could be very appealing. Poppy Harlow, thank you so much. Get that license. We'll see you next time.
We'll turn now to Hurricane Katrina. And, of course, that disaster, but then there was a disaster that followed that disaster. Is the federal government to blame for the flooding damage?
CNN's Sean Callebs take a look at a lawsuit that is just now starting to play out. We will check in with him right after our break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hurricane Katrina. We've got one lawsuit to tell you about now and more than 100,000 stories of personal loss and heartbreak. Should the government, the U.S. government take the blame for the floodwaters that changed so many lives? This hour, arguments get under way in that lawsuit. CNN's Sean Callebs here taking a much closer in-depth look at this lawsuit. Good morning to you, sir.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, T.J. How are you?
And this is important. Look, there have been a number of lawsuits brought against the federal government, the Army Corps of Engineers after the flooding. Let's take a look back. We all remember this, what the conditions were like. Now, this is probably the Lower Ninth Ward. You can just see all the houses that were under water, all the trouble that they went through.
And then, of course, this. This is the aftermath. So, all the people that came home to this. The Xs marked on the door. This showed 11-4. This was the day that people came through and checked. But all the lawsuits basically have been tossed out. But this one's different. And I'll show you why. There's a government act, the 1928 Flood Act. It basically says, you can't sue the federal government if they're trying to provide flood protection.
But this suit is much more ingenious. It involves this area here. It's called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. It was cut in 1960. Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. They call it MR. GO down in the New Orleans area. They cut some 60 miles up through and led basically right into the heart of New Orleans. It was supposed to allow ships to come up this way.
But what it did, critics say, was basically flood this entire area. So, the lawsuit is focusing on this. It says, look, it has nothing to do with flood protection. What it really focuses on, there we see the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a really good shot of it. This long, long 60-mile stretch that goes up through into the city.
They said, this is all about commerce. This was done so it could help bring ships in that area, bring money to the area. And we have another map coming up here as well I want to show you as well. This here. Now, this is a good picture of it. This is why it's called the Crescent City. There you see the crescent down here. This is the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. You can see how it just slammed up into the Lower Ninth Ward, which has just really become a metaphor for misery.
Now, if this lawsuit does go through -- it's only by five defendants. However, if it does go through, T.J., it could be really significant. The federal government could be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars for all the people in the Chalmette area of St. Bernard Parish, which was just devastated. Virtually every structure in that parish was hammered by the floodwater that came up from the Gulf of Mexico. This basically acted like a giant bowling alley. So, as the storm came up counterclockwise, it just pushed all this water up here and flooded.
Now, the federal government for its part says, look, this did not really contribute to the flooding at all. This whole area was always vulnerable. And so, what you saw from this punishing hurricane was levees simply overburdened. It's going to be interesting because the federal government has a lot at stake in this one, T.J.
HOLMES: And this one, like you said, got a lot further than so many of those other ones did. They were thrown out. But this one is different. Any chance this one could still be thrown out, or we know this one's going to go forward, and we're going to get some kind of decision out of this?
CALLEBS: Well, it's going to go forward. There's no question about that. But whether the defendants win, that's going to be the big question. There is a lot at stake. And the federal government's paid something like $35 million in The Road Home project to get people back on their feet in the New Orleans area.
But boy, they could pay tens of millions upward, north of $100 million if the federal government, the Army Corps of Engineers is held liable. Once again, I got to stress this. It's Mississippi River Gulf Outlet. So, people, don't forget that name. MR. GO. You're going to be hearing a lot about that as this suit moves on.
HOLMES: Well, we appreciate you giving us that view and breaking that case down for us. Sean Callebs for us today in the NEWSROOM. Thank you so much.
We're going to turn to that story out of Iran of a U.S. journalist convicted of spying there. The president has called for her release, President Obama has. Meanwhile, Iran is calling for his silence. We get now the details from CNN's Kate Bolduan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wrapping up a trip centered on the U.S. and its regional neighbors, President Obama turned his focus a world away, saying he's gravely concerned for Roxana Saberi's safety and well-being in Iran.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have complete confidence she was not engaging in any sort of espionage. She's an Iranian American who was interested in the country which her family came from.
BOLDUAN: The 31-year-old journalist's father says he's visited her in prison, says she's very frail and is begging for his daughter's freedom.
REZA SABERI, ROXANA SABERI'S FATHER: She is completely innocent, and she should be freed. If there have been any suspicion, it's a misunderstanding. We will forgive them.
BOLDUAN: Iranian officials initially said Saberi was detained in January for buying a bottle of wine and later held for reporting without proper press credentials. Then Saturday, Saberi was convicted of espionage. The charge announced on state-run TV.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): She collected classified information through some connections she had with the personnel of some of these centers and submitted to the American intelligence agencies.
BOLDUAN: This case is unfolding at a critical time for U.S.- Iranian relations. The Obama administration is working to repair ties with the country's leaders, even signaling the possibility of direct diplomatic engagement. It's unclear what political fallout might result from Saberi's case. At least right now, the president and his administration are staying focused first on securing her release.
OBAMA: We are going to be in contact with -- through our Swiss intermediaries with the Iranian government and want to ensure that we end up seeing a proper disposition of this case.
BOLDUAN (on camera): Saberi's family is appealing the conviction. Iran's state-run news agency reports President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a letter Sunday to the prosecutor saying Saberi should be allowed to offer a full defense in her appeal.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: A single dollar bill that was split in half in Vietnam 42 years ago has been put back together. We'll introduce you to the two soldiers who made it happen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Three women attacked, one of them murdered. Boston police say there is a common thread in all these cases, the Web site craigslist. CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll with the latest on this investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The search is on for an Internet predator who uses a popular online classifieds Web site to find his victims.
CHIEF STEPHEN MCCARTNEY, WARWICK, RHODE ISLAND POLICE: The preliminary investigation suggests that the assailant was responding to an advertisement that was posted by the victim on craigslist.
CARROLL: Three women have been attacked in the past week and a half, one of which was murdered. Police say this man, captured by a surveillance camera, is their prime suspect. In the latest attack, a 26-year-old exotic dancer was contacted after she placed an ad on craigslist offering private lap dances.
According to Rhode Island police, she met the suspect in a hotel room, where she was then tied up and held at gunpoint. The suspect demanded money but was unexpectedly interrupted.
MCCARTNEY: The victim's husband returned to the room and was confronted by the subject at gunpoint. The subject then fled on foot.
CARROLL: Investigators believe this incident is linked to two other similar attacks in Boston. Twenty-six-year-old Julissa Brissman (ph) was shot and killed in a Boston Marriott last Tuesday. And a 29- year-old woman was robbed at gunpoint four days earlier at another hotel.
Police say both victims had been contacted by their attacker after they placed personal ads on craigslist. Police say the suspect was caught on surveillance tape in the Rhode Island attack, but have yet to release those images.
MCCARTNEY: There are strong similarities here based on the information that we have, you know, particularly the fact that there is an individual that seems to fit the description of the individual in Boston.
CARROLL: Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster declined a CNN interview request but released this statement. Quote, "There appears to be a psychopath on the loose in the Boston area, and we will, of course, do everything in our power to assist law enforcement. We are evaluating this incident to see if there are any additional things we could do to better protect craigslist users."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And that was our Jason Carroll reporting. Online experts like to reiterate here that this is another case where you should always, always use caution when you meet people over the Internet.
Well, coming up here, two soldiers split a dollar bill 42 years ago. How they found their way back to each other and made their dollar whole again.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Forty-two years ago, two young soldiers served side by side in the jungles of Vietnam. When they parted, they split a dollar bill in half. Well, Eric Schudiske of our afiliate KING reports that after all that time, they finally reunited.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY WATSON, VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: What time is it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 11:53.
WATSON: He should be getting here any time.
ERIC SCHUDISKE, KING-TV CORRESPONDENT: A lifetime ago, Gary Watson served in Vietnam. He now scans the Seattle Center for the soldier, just a teenager then, who served by his side. His best buddy.
WATSON: I'm sure I'll probably recognize him when I see him.
SCHUDISKE: They made a simple promise when they parted.
WATSON: Let's tear this in two and we'll each sign it. And when we get back to the States, someday we'll meet up, and we'll put that dollar bill back together.
SCHUDISKE: Time slipped away. But not Gary's or his buddy's half of the dollar.
WATSON: I've had this in a billfold for 42 years and carried it and not spoke to one another for that length of time.
SCHUDISKE: Gary would marry and have a daughter, a daughter who would eventually move here to Washington State, the same state as Gary's buddy, Ron Bauer.
ABBY SANDBERG, WATSON'S DAUGHTER: And I think within maybe five minutes of us getting on the computer and putting his name in, we had a phone number.
SCHUDISKE: A phone call that brought them together.
WATSON: I see him. There he is. OK.
SCHUDISKE: Two American soldiers, separated in Vietnam in 1967, meet for the first time on American soil.
WATSON: How in the world are you?
RON BAUER, VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: How you doing? Long time, huh?
WATSON: Forty-two years. Can you imagine that?
BAUER: You know, I got it hidden between some pictures so it kind of preserves it.
SCHUDISKE: In seconds, a faded dollar and lost friendship are whole again.
WATSON: You haven't changed. You still look about like you did back over there.
BAUER: Except for I've got a little less hair.
SCHUDISKE: The torn dollar goes back into separate wallets. But Gary and Ron say their friendship won't fade again.
WATSON: Maybe it will inspire somebody else to do it. He's a great friend. Always has and always will be.
SCHUDISKE: And it won't end here. There's one more torn dollar in Gary's wallet, one more lost friend to find.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, I'm T.J. Holmes again sitting in today for Heidi Collins. President Obama holding his first formal Cabinet meeting next hour. The focus, cutting millions of dollars in expenses. And of course, CNN NEWSROOM will be focused on that. And who else but Tony Harris taking it over now.
