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Tornado-Like Storm Hit New York City; Five Terror Arrests in London; New Consumer Watchdog; Tea Party Avoids Social Issues; Putting Paradise Back Up For a Day; Stewart and Colbert To Hold National Mall Marches

Aired September 17, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys. Here's what we're working on this morning.

A terrorized mother calmly begs for help, withdrawing ransom money as her family is held hostage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: We have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and children are being held at their house.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: But this urgent call to police isn't enough to save lives.

Dallas Police officers now accused criminals. A chase suspect hammered by officers' fists and batons. We've got the dash cam tape moment by moment.

And Black Top goes green as urban spaces gets grassed over. Big-name rockers are strumming their way to help. JP Jones and Christie Heinz performing live in our studio this morning.

It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. I'm Kyra Phillips and you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We begin this morning now with breaking news out of London. British police say five men have arrested -- been arrested, rather, on suspicion of terrorism. Those arrests come on the second day of Pope Benedict's visit to Britain.

Some reports say the arrests involved a potential threat to the Pope but police have declined to make that link. But authorities are reviewing the security arrangements for his visit. The Pope's itinerary has not changed.

CNN's Atika Shubert is following those -- those developments, rather. She's going to join us this hour live from London.

Now New York City is reeling from a killer storm that seemed to pop out just out of nowhere. Slamming the city during the afternoon rush hour. Tornado-like winds actually blasted neighborhoods at 80 miles per hour, ripping roofs off homes and snapping trees. One woman died when a tree crashed down on to her car and that storm dumped debris on train tracks snarling mass transit. It knocked out power to tens of thousands of people.

An iReporter actually captured the ominous afternoon sky that's gone black except for those intense lightning strikes. The National Weather Service has not officially declared it a tornado officially but New Yorkers say they know what they saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like a twister. A whirlwind. I just couldn't even get out of the house. It was very dark and fast and a lot of power. A lot of power.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You think it might have been a tornado?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was a tornado, yes.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A possible tornado also slammed parts of Ohio leaving a trail of splintered trees, blown-out windows and overturned cars. People in Wooster say that they saw a funnel cloud actually touched down near a satellite campus of Ohio State University.

Several university buildings were damaged along with homes in that area. And so far, we're only hearing of minor injuries from the storm.

Rob Marciano tracking it for us in the CNN Weather Center.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that one in Ohio, we're pretty confident it was a tornado. You saw the damage there, Kyra.

The one in New York, regardless, you get winds 80, 90 miles an hour it's going to do some damage. I don't care whether they're going straight or they're whipping around in a tornado.

There's the line of thunderstorms that rolled through the Jersey-New York City area last night between 4:00 and 7:00. Look at how it just explodes when it head over the Delaware River and really -- Staten Island and Queens and Brooklyn really getting the brunt of this.

And there was that bowing of the radar echo that you see there. That indicates certainly some heavy rains, heavy winds coming down from the upper levels. And there was a tornado warning that was posted so they'll send a survey team out there to check it out.

Regardless, damage is done. Cleanup is beginning and it's a mess across those boroughs.

There's where the storm is now. So the front itself is going through, it's going to be becoming calm. This was a pretty potent storm for this time of year. That coupled with the daytime heating certainly led to that, the sort of outbreak. We'll look for severe weather across the plains today. This cold front is strong for this time of year. It's going to be one that certainly brings with it temperatures that will be well, well below normal.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: We're all watching it from the CNN Severe Weather Center -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Got it. Rob, thanks so much.

MARCIANO: You bet.

PHILLIPS: All right, let's get back to that breaking news out of London. British Police say the five men who've been arrested on suspicion of terrorism. The arrests are coming on the second day of Pope Benedict's visit to Britain.

CNN's Atika Shubert is following all the developments.

Atika, what do you know?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, what we know is that these five men are arrested around 5:30 in the morning. They're between the ages of 26 to 50 and that they are now being questioned by police and police are also continuing searches at a business address here in central London and at residences in north and the east London.

We know that police have said that they have not found any hazardous materials at this point but no further details on what this alleged terror plot might be.

Now we have asked police whether or not these arrests are directly linked to the Pope's visit here. They won't confirm that. What they have said, though, is that these arrests did trigger a review of the security and the Pope's itinerary. They say they're happy with the security arrangements they have.

There will not be any change to the itinerary. You can probably see behind me there's already a lot of security. There's police every few meters and the roads are completely blocked off from traffic.

I also -- I should point out that the Pope has been notified of these arrests. His spokesperson came out, spoke to the press earlier, and said they learned about the arrests earlier this morning. They're happy with the security arrangements and that the Pope remains calm at this point.

PHILLIPS: Atika, what about the protests protesting the Pope's visit? You know we had mixed reports that it wasn't going to be that big of a deal, that it was growing, that sexual abuse victims were going to show up in full force protesting his visit.

What have you been able to observe thus far? SHUBERT: Well, the protests are really going to reach their peak probably tomorrow. That's when the big protest is being planned. There's going to be a march from Hyde Park to this area and thousands of people are expected to turn out.

And they certainly have been gearing up and organizing so it is likely we're going to see a lot of people on the streets. Having said that, there are a lot of people that came out in support of the Pope, more than 100,000 flocked to Glasgow and Edinburgh yesterday to see him.

So the Pope clearly has his admirers and his supporters here even as he has his critics and detractors.

PHILLIPS: All right, Atika Shubert, we'll be following his trip for the next couple of days. Appreciate it.

And on a much less threatening note, when Pope Benedict was traveling through Scotland, he actually got a special performance by a woman who says it's been her dream to sing for the Pope.

(MUSIC)

PHILLIPS: Hey, you remember Susan Boyle. She's the Scottish singer who became famous on "Britain's Got Talent." She sang three songs for the Pope at an open-air mass in Glasgow, including her signature, "I Dreamed a Dream."

And later today President Obama will introduce a woman hired to help protect your wallet. Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren will shape the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The regulatory body is a cornerstone of the Wall Street reforms signed into law this summer. In fact it was her idea to actually create the bureau. Its mission is to educate consumers about the fine print and lingo or legal mumbo jumbo, rather, that can hide such things as high interest rates and all those penalty fees.

Let's take a closer look at Elizabeth Warren and the reception that she's likely to receive. For that and other political news, of course, today CNN's chief political correspondent Candy Crowley.

So Candy, is she the voice that we need?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the first question is, what voice is she going to have here? Because what's happened. Elizabeth Warren is pretty controversial. There are at least among Republicans who -- many Republicans who think she is too anti-business, that she goes too far in leaning toward, you know, the protection of consumers to the extent that she's unfair to businesses.

OK. So you have that. What the president is apparently going to do is to put Elizabeth Warren inside the Treasury Department where she can help put together this Consumer Protection Bureau for banks, basically, as you just outlined. But it does not mean she's going to head that protection agency because in order to head that protection agency, you have to be confirmed by the Senate. And the administration at this point -- at least according to reporting by our Jessica Yellin -- doesn't really want to have that fight so they kind of created this position for Elizabeth Warren that they can put her in.

That she doesn't have to go through the Senate so she can help with the hiring and help put that bureau together because, as you mentioned, it was her idea to, you know, help shape it the way the president would like and she would like.

But it does not appear that she's going to be running that bureau which is really going to upset the president's -- the liberal half of the president's constituency who want her in charge of that bureau and who have been pushing him to make that appointment.

It doesn't appear that he's going to do that. So this is -- this is a job to put the bureau together. Not -- agency together. Not necessarily to run it and probably not to run it, at least according to Jessica's reporting.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, powerful female names of the moment, another one of those names headed to the Values Voters Summit. Let's talk about the overall goal here.

CROWLEY: I find this fascinating. And not -- you know, unexpected that the latest conservative darling from -- to come out of the Tea Party, grow out of the Tea Party, the new Republican nominee for Senate in Delaware is going to come down and talk to the Values Voter Summit.

What's interesting to me is that the Tea Party has -- has had the successes it's had not based on the social issues. It's been based on fiscal conservatism. It's been based on lower taxes, less government spending, less government regulation, less government overreach.

The social issues have largely not been there so to have kind of the headliner in the Tea Party now come down to talk social values would be really interesting and why have they not wanted to do that?

Because in general to make a broader movement many in the leadership of the Tea -- the various Tea Party factions that there are understand that if you want to bring in independent voters, and Republicans need independent voters in order to get a majority. And to bring those voters in, the social issues are a turnoff.

In general, independents don't like what they consider to be too conservative positions on social issues and they don't much like there being discussed in the public realm. They are far more interested in the fiscal conservatism that the Tea Party has been pushing.

So I think it's really interesting that she is coming down. I think a lot of Republicans, many of those who supported McDonell's opponent will be looking at this kind of holding their breath to see what she's going to say and how the opposition will take that and use that to try to draw independents back into the -- the Democratic fold.

PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley, good to see you. Have a great weekend.

CROWLEY: Thanks. You, too.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Well, mom tries to save the lives of her daughters and husband. Home invaders actually take her to the bank to get ransom money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: The people are in a car outside the bank. She is getting $15,000. That if the police are told they will kill her children and the husband. She is petrified.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the bad guys said everything would be fine if they got the money. Well, they lied.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The gruesome details of a horrific home invasion are coming out now in a Connecticut court. A couple of ex-cons are accused of murdering a mom and her two daughters. The dad, tied up in the basement, was able to escape before his home went up in flames. And three years after the crime, police still face questions about their response. CNN's Randi Kaye reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're watching a wife and mother in a desperate attempt to save her family. This newly- released bank surveillance video shows Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 9:17 AM, withdrawing $15,000 from her bank in the small town of Cheshire, Connecticut. It was a Monday morning, July 23,2007.

About three miles away, something awful, something truly sinister, was happening inside her home. Her husband William was bound and gagged and along with her two daughters, Hayley and Michaela, was being held hostage. Their mom hoped the $15,000 would be enough to convince the two men, who allegedly broke into her home the night before, to spare her family's lives.

At the bank, she reaches out for help, but has to be discrete because one of the two alleged kidnappers was just outside. The bank manager quietly calls 911. 9:21 AM., Cheshire police first learn of the home invasion and hostage situation.

911 CALL: We have a lady, who is in our bank right now, who says that her husband and children are being held at their house. The people are in a car outside the bank. She is getting $15,000. That if the police are told, they will kill the children and the husband. She is petrified.

KAYE (voice-over): Minutes later, she leaves the bank with the ransom money.

911 CALL: They told her that they wouldn't hurt anybody if she got back there with the money. She believes them. I think she's walking out now. She's walking out now.

KAYE (voice-over): 9:26 AM. Hawke-Petit gets into her car along with suspect Steven Hayes. The bank manager describes the vehicle to police. Officers are dispatched to the house to set up a perimeter.

9:27 AM, a police captain tells officers not to approach the house. Almost 30 minutes go by. Still, not a single officer approaches the Petit home. No other authorities are alerted. Not the fire department, not state police.

In court, police testified that was protocol. In a hostage situation, they said, they don't storm the house, adding they had no reason to believe anyone was in immediate danger.

At 9:54 AM, a police dispatch. Dr. William Petit, who would turn out to be the only survivor of this horrific crime, was in the yard calling for help. He was bleeding badly from his head, his ankles still tied.

KAYE (on camera): By now, nearly 40 minutes had passed since the bank manager had warned Cheshire police about the nightmare scenario unfolding at the family's home. 40 minutes. Police would soon learn that Jennifer Hawke-Petit had been strangled. She and one of her daughters sexually assaulted.

KAYE (voice-over): In chilling testimony, Dr. Petit described how he had been beaten within a baseball bat, then tied to a pole in the basement. He said the suspects yelled to him, quote, "Don't worry. It's all going to be over in a couple of minutes." And it was.

Dr. Petit managed to free himself through a basement door, but minutes later, the house was on fire, his wife and two daughters, dead.

Hayes has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and murder. Around 10:00 AM, the suspects race out of the driveway in the family's SUV. As smoke billows from the back of the home, the suspects slam into police cruisers. Only then do officers realize the situation was much more urgent than they had thought. Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Breast cancer drug under the microscope. As early as today the FDA could yank back its approval of Avastin, and some patients say that that'll rob them of a medicine that may have saved their lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories. More than 30,000 people in New York state without power after a severe storm hit. One person was killed when a tree fell on her car. The National Weather Service is investigating whether a tornado swept through New York City.

Roger Clark from our affiliate New York 1, live in Brooklyn this morning, where they're cleaning up. Roger, tell us about it.

ROGER CLARK, NEW YORK 1 CORRESPONDENT: Let me tell you. It is a mess here. We're in the Parks Slope section, which is known for its beautiful brownstones and tree-lined streets. Many of those tree- lined streets now are full of trees, but they're not standing up, they're down. Branches all over the place, on top of brownstones. Cars crushed and just basically a mess.

Not to use a cliche, but this is sort of the calm after the storm right now. It's actually not a bad day here in New York City. Certainly, a big difference from the way it was last night. But people are spending their time on a nice day cleaning up the mess from this storm last night.

Got a chance to talk to one woman who grew up in Missouri and actually has experienced a tornado when she was a child. She says what she heard last night -- as we know, it hasn't been confirmed yet that this was a tornado, but she said it sure sounded like one to her.

So, Kyra, it really -- just basically a lot of cleaning up to do today. And we'll find out at some point whether truly a tornado hit here in New York City.

PHILLIPS: Yes. We'll definitely be following the weather conditions. Rob Marciano all over that for us. Thanks so much, Roger.

Living in poverty in America It's everyday life for a record 44 million people now. We're going to put faces to those numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Some new milestones on Wall Street. Gold prices actually soaring to record highs. Silver nearing the all-time peak, as well. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange probably has plenty of gold and silver.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESONDENT: I wish. You know, you look at these prices, Kyra, and you think, "Why I didn't I buy it way back when?"

But when we see everybody buying into these commodities, what investors buy really tells us how they feel about the economy. And when people buy commodities, things like gold and silver, that tells us that they're worried. How do we know they're worried? Because gold is considered a safe investment. Right now, investors are unsure about exactly where the economy is headed, so they want their money parked in something that's a sure bet.

That's why gold hit a record of $1,284.40 an ounce. Despite that, though, stocks set to rise today at the open. Mostly because of some big gains in the tech sector. Oracle shares up four percent in the pre-market. Research in Motion, which makes the BlackBerry, is up 5 percent. Both companies reported double-digit percentage growth in profit and sales last quarter. And that shows that everyday Americans and businesses, they're spending their money on technology. And that will help the economy eventually. Research in Motion even shipped record 12 million BlackBerries. Wall Street has been kind of worried that people are dumping their BlackBerries for the iPhone, but Kyra, looks like people just are not giving up their BlackBerries. I really didn't think they would. Would you?

PHILLIPS: I'm telling you. There's a -- as a matter of fact, from what I understand, there's now an addiction center, it's set up somewhere in Washington for people addicted to their devices. That's how bad it's getting, Alison.

KOSIK: Doesn't surprise me at all. Not at all. I could be one of them, though.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I think we all could be lumped into that group. Alison, thanks.

KOSIK: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Here's another sobering sign of a bad economy. New census figures actually show the nation's poverty rate at an all-time high. Nearly 44 million Americans living in poverty. That's one in seven people, folks. But those numbers don't even begin to tell the whole story. We're talking about your neighbors, your colleagues, people that maybe you don't even expect.

CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow joins us live from New York. Poppy, you actually spent the day with a woman struggling to get out of poverty.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We did. This number came out from the government on Thursday, and we knew it was going to be high. But when you hear nearly 44 million Americans living below that poverty line, it's pretty incredible. That's a family of four under $22,000 a year.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to Brooklyn. I spent the afternoon with a woman named Ann Valdez. She lives on about $5,000 a year. She has three kids. She was born in public housing, she still lives in that same public housing. She's been fighting, she says, to get out of poverty, Kyra, since she was 18 years old. Here's Ann.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: President Obama said today, "The number of people living in America in poverty is unacceptably high."

ANN VALDEZ, LIVING IN POVERTY: This is true. Poverty is really very serious. It's very demoralizing. It's made to feel demoralizing. Hurtful. There's so much going on, and there's no jobs available. No one wants to live the way we have to live.

HARLOW: How do you get by, every day, Ann? What do you live on?

VALDEZ: I live on approximately $5,000 a year. Sometimes I have to skip a meal to make sure I can save the money so that my son Brian has what he needs. And if it wasn't for my sister, my son would not have half of his school supplies or any of his clothing for school.

HARLOW: Joseph, how has it been for you? Do you feel like you grew up in poverty?

JOSEPH VALDEZ, ANN'S SON: Yes. But I wasn't deprived a good childhood, so I'm very happy. It doesn't matter where you come from. If you have a good childhood, money isn't an issue.

ANN VALDEZ: I gave everything I can to my children.

JOSPEH VALDEZ: Yes, you did.

ANN VALDEZ: If I had to go without, it's OK, as long as my children had.

HARLOW: If you could have one message to send to the people watching, what would it be?

ANN VALDEZ: My message would be, never judge a book by its cover. Never make assumptions. Come outside. Meet the people in your community where you live. Meet the people in the communities where you work. And meet the people in the communities where you represent.

HARLOW: See the face of poverty?

ANN VALDEZ: See the face of poverty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And you know, Kyra, we spent a few hours talking with Ann. I walked around the neighborhood with her. She said, "Look, I've been trying to get full-time work since 2005. My unemployment benefits, forget it. They ran out in 2006." She has two years of college experience, she still cannot find any kind of permanent work.

And I think the most disturbing part of this whole report on poverty, Kyra, is the fact that American children are the ones suffering the most. We now know that more than a million more American children are living under that poverty line than just a year ago. 15.5 million American kids, Kyra, now living in poverty. Pretty tough to digest.

PHILLIPS: It is a cycle of poverty. You know? We have watched this for decades and decades. Why has it been so difficult for her specifically to find a job?

HARLOW: It's a very good question. We talked a long time about that. Ann's mother lives in the same project she lives in. Ann says, "Look, I can't find any work. I find temporary work here and then and they just let me go and don't need me. The unemployment ran out a long time ago." Her son, Joseph, who you heard from in the piece, he is 28 years old. He's living in poverty. He doesn't have a job and, Kyra, he has a three-year-old child.

So, you want to break the cycle. The question is -- Ann says we need more government help. What she said -- I said, Washington's done a lot. They spent billions upon billions of dollars helping people that are in your situation. She said, what we need -- and she's a big supporter of the president -- what we need a clear jobs bill. We need to stop what she says giving corporate America money. We need a clear jobs bill. That's what she is asking for.

We'll see. She still has hope. She's still a supporter of the president and his initiatives, but again, a cycle. Her mother living there. Ann living there. Her son, and now her son has a child. You hope that that cycle can be broken. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: We definitely have to do a lot more about it. Poppy, thanks.

Let's check top stories right now. Breaking news out of the London. British police say five men are arrested on the suspicion of terrorism. The arrest coming on the second day of Pope Benedict's visit to Britain. Security arrangements for the pope's trip are now under review.

And the mother of missing American teen Natalee Holloway is in Peru. This where's the prime suspect in the disappearance of her daughter is jailed, facing charges in a separate murder case. The Dutch journalist who is accompanying Beth Holloway said they visited Joran Van Der Sloot's prison, but he wouldn't say whether Holloway met with the suspect.

And as early as today, the FDA could yank back its approval on Avastin. It is a popular treatment for advanced breast cancer. In Julay -- July, rather -- an advisory panel voted 12-1 that it's just not helping. Pulling the approval will actually mean insurance companies could stop paying for it.

And BP is completed a relief well that intersects the damaged Gulf well. Crews will now pump heavy mud and cement into the bottom of the crippled well to permanently plug it.

And you know that old Joni Mitchell song about how "they paved paradise, put up a parking lot." Well, here's a new twist. We're going to show you where they're putting paradise back, at least for a little while, right, Josh?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Standing in the middle of a park that did not exist yesterday. This is part of a global event with dozens of cities all over the world taking part. I'll tell you about it, and I'll show you how you make a park appear overnight, coming up next.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Just a little (INAUDIBLE). That's JP, Chrissie and the Fairground Boys. You're going to get a little more of that in just a second. We are going to give you a little Counting Crows. They're one of many bands that have covered "Big Yellow Taxi," that song that Joni Mitchell wrote = about 40 years ago.

Now in 2010, there's a movement to actually put paradise back. Turn some of that blacktop into green space. And our Josh Levs is at that event in Atlanta. One event, number of events happening across the country.

Josh, did you get a little taste of the JP, Chrissie and the Fairground Boys there? Could you hear it?

LEVS: I know why you guys sent me out of the studio today. You don't want me chasing after her for autographs!

PHILLIPS: There you go. Tell us about this event.

LEVS: This is so cool. I mean, I'm going to tell you, I'm in Atlantic Station, which is a mixed-use facility inside Atlanta. And this place that I'm standing on right now looks like a park, right? But it didn't exist yesterday. What they have done is they have taken this parking lot and put sod down. Here, you can check it out. They put a lot of sod down.

This whole area will fit about 6,000 people, and if you follow me over here, you'll see that where we're actually standing is a parking lot. And this was a parking lot until yesterday, when they started doing this. We have a time-lapse video for you that shows you how they basically got a bunch of people and turned it all into a park pretty fast.

Now, they're inspired by a worldwide event called Park-ing Day, which is happening in Tehran, it's happening in parts of Europe, it's happening all over the United States where people are going to these parking lots and turning them into parks for a day. And the idea is to try to get people talking again about green space, what we're losing when we pave over too many of these great parks that are out there and lose some of the green space in our cities, in our towns, all over the country and all over the world.

So, what do you do not only to get a lot of attention when you set up a park somewhere, but also to get people turning out? How about an awesome concert? And that is what brings in Chrissie Hynde and also some of the others. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Shawn Mullen, they're all going to be here tonight - actually, this afternoon. Starting at 4:00, they're going to be up on that stage up here, and they're expecting a really big crowd for this. All at Atlantic Station here in Atlanta.

And then all of this, everything you're seeing right here, the big stage set-up, all the sod, it all goes away. It's going to disappear. This will be a parking lot again. And in fact, they're going to be giving away the sod to people who turn out and want to check it out.

So, Kyra, expecting a big crowd. I know everyone's excited about this. Thinking maybe to get people talking about it enough, we'll start losing fewer of our actual parks out there, turning fewer of them into parking lots. That's the idea.

PHILLIPS: All right. Josh, we'll check back with you. Appreciate it. And you heard Josh. He mentioned we actually have some very special guests who are headlining the Rock for Roots concert tonight. JP, Chrissie and the Fairground Boys. They're live in studio today.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Midterm elections are more than six weeks away, but the ballots have been largely set by angry voters wanting to send a message to Washington. Of course, comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert also want to harness the public's frustration. They're going to hold their own gatherings on the National Mall at the end of the month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": Tonight, I announce the Rally to Restore Sanity.

(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

STEWART: It is happening, people! It is happening! It is happening! A real gathering! We will gather! We will gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. A million moderate march where we take to the streets to send a message to our leaders and our national media that says we are here. We are only hear, though, until 6:00 because we have a sitter.

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Ladies and gentlemen, it is on! October 30th, on the Mall. Because now is not the time to take it down a notch. Now is the time for all good men to freak out for freedom!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Conservative groups are holding their own gathering in Washington today. The Annual Values Voters Summit champions causes like smaller government, stronger military, Christian values. And this year, the crowds will hear from a number of candidates and politicians who are embraced by the Tea Party movement.

Time now for the latest from The Best Political Team on Television. CNN's deputy political director Paul Steinhauser in Washington at CNNpolitics.com desk.

I don't know, Paul. I want the know what's crossing now, but the whole Stephen Colbert-Jon Stewart -- yet, leave it to them to add a little humor amidst all of this.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Oh, yes. That's the weekend before the midterm elections. That'll keep us pretty busy that weekend, no doubt about it. We'll see what happens with that. Hey, listen. You were just talking about the Value Voters Summit, which is that annual conference of conservative activists. Let me pick up where you dropped off. There are lot of top presidential hopefuls, possible presidential hopefuls on the Republican side who are going to be speaking there. I just confirmed with an aide to Mitt Romney that he's going to have some pretty tough language against the president and the Democratic leaders in Congress when he speaks there.

And of course, tomorrow, there's going to be that presidential straw poll. We're keeping our eyes on when's on top. Last year, Mike Huckabee did. And also, Christine O'Donnell is going to be speaking there. Of course, she's the newest rock star, I guess you could say, on the right. She, of course, won that Delaware Senate primary on the Republican side on Tuesday.

Talking about that, check this out. Brand-new on the CNN Political Ticker, Joe Biden, the vice president, going to Delaware today. Helping out Chris Coons, the Democratic nominee, who's going up against O'Donnell in that race. Remember, this was Joe Biden's seat for 36 years before he became vice president. So the Democrats obviously, Kyra, they want to keep that seat in Democratic hands if they can.

Also today, I want to tell you about Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor, 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. Somebody who's been very influential in the Republican primaries so far this year. Where will she be tonight? Iowa. And she is going to be the keynote speaker, the main attraction at a major Republican party dinner there. Now, of course, this is all about -- Palin says -- about helping out candidates this year. This dinner helps fund Republican candidates running for this office year. But let's be honest: if she has any presidential aspirations, Iowa is the place to be. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Paul Steinhauser, we'll check in with you in a little bit. Again, also - we'll have an update in about an hour. And a reminder, though. For all political news, if you can't hold on to that moment, go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. I need your input on this one.

If you were a cheerleader or your daughter or your son, you know, you kind of want to weigh in. Take a look at this cheer. "Our backs ache. Our skirts are too tight. We shake our booties from left to right." All right, that may sound like standard cheerleader stuff.

But what if your little pompom girl is 6 years old. You want her talking about tight skirts and bootie shaking? Well, a mom in Michigan said, no, not appropriate. She complained to the Detroit media about it and the cheerleading league.

Well, they weren't too happy. They got pretty ticked off at mom for taking it public and guess what they did. They kicked the little girl right off the team.

JENNIFER TESCH, MOTHER: I do love this sport and you know, I did, I fought to get her on the team because I knew it was a good organization and the fact that they were ok to vote her out is just I mean -- to be honest --

JOHN PASTULA, LEAGUE PRESIDENT: I feel terrible. It's the worst thing I've had to deal with in my 12 years in the league. I've never seen anything like it.

TESCH: I guess I can't believe that to be honest. I don't even know what I'm going to tell my daughter. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Yes but that was a fun talk with her daughter. Mom also says she tried to solve the matter internally but no one was listening and that's why she went public.

So the little girl gets the boot and the cheer stays.

So tell me what you think. Should little 6-year-old girls be cheering about their booties and tight skirts or should they wait until they are a little older, like 30 maybe? Go to my blog and tell me what you think, CNN.com/kyra.

We've got a developing story on the medical front. As early as today the Food and Drug Administration could revoke its approval of the breast cancer drug, Avastin. Researchers actually say the drug offers few benefits but some patients say it may have saved their lives.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first time Ronny Villareal got breast cancer she was 27 years old. When it came back, she was 31 and pregnant.

RONNY VILLAREAL, BREAST CANCER PATIENT: And when I was 27 weeks pregnant is when I found out of the reoccurrence of my cancer which it had spread from the original site into my bones and this particular case into my right hipbone.

COHEN: Little Maddy was born healthy but the cancer is still in Villareal's bones and now it's in her liver, too.

VILLAREAL: I had a healthy, beautiful baby.

COHEN: Most patients who get a diagnosis of Stage IV breast cancer like Villareal can expect to live only another year and a half.

But Villareal has lived two and a half years and counting and her tumors have shrunk a bit. Why has she lived longer than most?

VILLAREAL: I think first and foremost it's my faith in God. COHEN: And also, she says, because of one of her medicines, Avastin. Like other patients, Villareal uses it in combination with chemotherapy drugs.

VILLAREAL: People respond differently to different types of treatments. And for whatever reason, I have responded positively to this treatment.

COHEN: Dr. Edith Perez is her doctor.

DR. EDITH PEREZ, MAYO CLINIC: Before she started this treatment, she was in pretty bad condition.

COHEN (on camera): Have you actually seen tumor shrinkage?

PEREZ: Oh, oh, absolutely, absolutely. Yes. Yes. Oh definitely.

COHEN: This is the Avastin right here?

VILLAREAL: Yes.

COHEN (voice-over): But Villareal is afraid her insurance might soon stop paying for Avastin. That's because recent studies show breast cancer patients on average don't live longer with Avastin.

Plus, the drug has serious dangers including high blood pressure and internal bleeding. Dr. Joanne Mortimer who's on the Food and Drug Administration Advisory Committee, that voted against Avastin --

DR. JOANNE MORTIMER, CITY OF HOPE NATIONAL CANCER CENTER: I think based on the objective data that we have right now there really is no evidence that the benefits of giving Avastin with chemotherapy outweigh the risk to the patient.

COHEN: Without insurance coverage there is no way Villareal could pay for Avastin on her own. It costs about $5,000 a month.

VILLAREAL: I couldn't say that Avastin is the reason why I've lived longer than I have expected. I say that it's a combination of a lot of things.

COHEN: Maybe it's her other medicines or maybe just good luck, but Villarreal doesn't want to change a treatment that seems to be working.

VILLAREAL: It's going to be two years with my daughter and to me that's kind of priceless.

COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Jacksonville, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right, we've got a lot going on in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's go ahead and check in with our Rob Marciano, following all that crazy weather in New York City -- Rob. ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We have that -- we get -- potentially tornadoes touching down in New York City. This is the radar from last night -- crazy stuff there. Certainly winds that was strong enough to do some damage where they pick up the pieces.

Now the winds now with Hurricane Karl at 120 miles an hour is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 storm. That's what we have going on the next hour.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam in New York where we're still trying to dry out from all of that weather. But here is this news, how about this milestone? Student loan debt now exceeds total credit card debt in this country. What do students have to say about this? How can they minimize that so they aren't paying off loans for years and years? That's coming up in the next hour.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys.

And here's the rock in the rock for roots that we've been talking about today. J.P., Chrissie and the Fairground Boys playing a mini- gig for us live here in studio next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: High speed chase through parts of Dallas ends with a police beating and the brutal run-in is all captured by a squad car dash cam. I want to warn you the video is pretty graphic and this is just the part that we see.

The D.A. now says that he's pursuing charges against the three officers. Two are accused in that beating and the third is accused of trying to hide what happened.

Ed Lavandera walks us through the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the dashboard video camera first spots Andrew Collins, he's riding his motorcycle on a side walk. Dallas police officers Kevin Randolph (ph) and Paul Bower (ph) start chasing him even though they have been ordered by a superior officer on the radio not to.

Collins speeds off, at times reaching 60 miles per hour but along the way, the camera picks up a disturbing threat from one of the officers in the car.

CHIEF DAVID BROWN, DALLAS POLICE: Someone in the car with Randolph and Bower, either one, says keep us going, I'm going to kick the expletive s-h-i-t out of him.

LAVANDERA: The chase lasted a little more than two minutes. Collins gets off the motorcycle and appears to start getting down on his knees to surrender when the beating begins. Officer Randolph hits Collins five times with a baton. He's been fired. Officer Bower punches Collins twice. He's been placed on administrative leave. A third officer is also on leave after police say he moved the dashboard video camera to obscure what was happening at the scene. All three are facing criminal charges.

Another three officers are also being investigated and have been put on restricted duty. Dallas police chief David brown says the behavior is unacceptable.

BROWN: I expect citizens to hold me accountable for ensuring that Dallas officers treat all citizens with fairness and compassion. No one is above the law of this great country.

LAVANDERA: Collins suffered bruising and developed blood clots.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell me how you are feeling?

ANDREW COLLINS, ALLEGES POLICE BRUTALITY: I'm feeling sore.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very sore?

COLLINS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you tell me about yourself, just about you? What you're going through right now, what you're thinking psychologically?

COLLINS: It's just not good. It's not good right now.

LAVANDERA: All the officers involved are white, but Dallas' police chief says the beating doesn't appear racially motivated. Instead, he believes inexperience is the issue. All officers involved have been on the force less than three years, but, once again, the actions of a few officers threaten the trust of minority citizens says Collin's pastor.

RONALD WRIGHT, COLLIN'S PASTOR: These officers made some poor choices, some bad choices and at those choices the entire police department is going to end up suffering for it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: We've made repeated attempts to reach Officer Randolph's attorney but he hasn't responded. We did speak with Officer Bower's attorney. He says the action's of both men should be viewed separately.

Bower was the man seen punching Collins in the video and he says bower acted reasonably, tried to get Collins handcuffed and the scene under control.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.