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Corruption Bust in Puerto Rico; Shot and Killed in Mexico; Witness Can't Testify in Guantanamo Bay Case; Making Interest Rates Work For You; Tornados Hit Near Flagstaff, AZ; Job Market Takes a Step Back
Aired October 06, 2010 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Live from Studio 7 at CNN world headquarters, the big stories for Wednesday, October 6th.
Mexico raising doubts now about a murder on a border lake. A woman says pirates opened fire on her and her husband. He was killed, she escaped unhurt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIFFANY HARTLEY, HUSBAND SHOT ON FALCON LAKE: You could hear them and feel them passing by you. And I saw two hit next to me. And that's when I looked back and saw David was shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And daytime talker Ellen DeGeneres pleads for the bullying to stop. She tells CNN she wants to be the face of hope for talk and kids. Our focus on the problem continues this hour.
And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
Those stories and your comments right here, right now in the CNN NEWSROOM
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: And we're just getting details about a huge corruption bust in Puerto Rico. Federal agents said to be executing numerous arrest warrants.
Senior Latin American Affairs Editor Rafael Romo is on that story for us. He joins us here in the NEWSROOM.
Rafael, what have you learned?
RAFAEL ROMO, SR. LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Well, Tony, so far we have been able to confirm that anywhere from 60 to 100 police officers have been arrested related to charges of drug trafficking and all the sales of weapons.
It started early this morning. It's being called a mega operation in Puerto Rico, and the FBI participated, and federal authorities also participated in these raids.
We have obtained video from affiliate WAPA, and you see some of the people who were arrested, dozens of them being taken into a police station from a bus. This happened very early in the morning, and we understand there will be an announcement in less than a half hour from now where all the details will be given.
But, just to take a look into what's happening, Tony, Puerto Rico has long been seen as a transit point of drugs between South America and the United States. So we don't know yet if these arrests are related to that kind of drug trafficking. But a newspaper in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the capital of Puerto Rico, reporting that as many as 133 people were arrested, but so far we have been able to confirm the numbers are as much as 100.
HARRIS: All right. So a briefing of some kind, what, inside the hour here from the FBI, from the Justice Department, or maybe a combination of both?
ROMO: From Attorney General Eric Holder. He's going to give us details about this investigation at 11:30 Eastern.
HARRIS: Great. All right. Rafael, appreciate it. Thank you.
And checking the day's other big stories for you, western targets under attack in Yemen. Britain's Foreign Office confirms one of its vehicles was attacked in the Yemeni capital. At least three people were injured and a French national was killed when a security guard opened fire at the office of an Austrian oil and gas company.
Protests at the Supreme Court. Justices hear arguments in a case pitting the privacy rights of grieving families against the free speech rights of demonstrators. Albert Snyder has sued fundamentalist church pastor Fred Phelps for staging an anti-gay protest at the funeral of Snyder's Marine son who was killed in Iraq. A court awarded Snyder's family millions in damages for emotional distress. That judgment later thrown out by an appeals court.
And we are watching Wall Street, where the Dow is inching closer to the 11,000 mark, pretty flat right now. It has been sort of an up- and-down morning so far.
Analysts point to continued weakness in the job market, but on the global outlook, the International Monetary Fund expects emerging economies -- we're talking about China, we're talking about Brazil -- to perhaps outpace the economies like ours here in the United States.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says that's why it is important to shore up the recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: The greatest risk to the world economy today is that the largest economies underachieve on growth. And we believe in the United States in particular, we need to continue providing well-targeted support for recovery in the near term, even as we put in place measures to help ensure fiscal responsibility with sustainability over the long term.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Relatives of a man reportedly killed by pirates plead with Mexican authorities to step up the search for his body. The man's wife says he was shot on Falcon Lake along the U.S. border, but Mexican officials say they have no way of knowing whether the incident actually took place until they get a formal complaint.
Will Ripley of affiliate KRGV has more on the wife's frightening account of what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARTLEY: You could hear them and feel them passing by you. And I saw two hit next to me. And then that's when I looked back and saw that David was shot, and I actually saw him fly over the jet ski.
WILL RIPLEY, REPORTER, KRGV (voice-over): Tiffany Hartley describes the terrifying moments. She says men on three boats opened fire on her and her husband David. They were sightseeing on jet skis near this old Mexican church.
HARTLEY: After I got to him and jumped off my jet ski and into the water, he was face down. And I had to roll him over, and that's when I noticed he was shot in the head.
So I had to pull him to my jet ski, and that's when a boat came up to me and had a gun pointed at me. And telling them, "Don't shoot. Don't shoot."
And they left. They left me. I mean, they could have shot me, but they didn't.
RIPLEY: Hartley says she doesn't know why the men began shooting. She says she struggled to pull her husband's body out of the water but didn't have the strength.
HARTLEY: When I was pulling him up, I just kept hearing God say, "You've got to go. You've got to go."
And I looked back at the other boats to see where they were, and they are heading back to me. And I had to decide to leave David or stay. And ultimately, if I stayed, I may be killed or kidnapped.
And so I let David back in the water and then I started heading back to the U.S. But I had to pass them in order to get there, and then that's when they had started shooting again.
RIPLEY (on camera): You saw your husband with a bullet wound in the head. Do you think there's any chance that he is alive?
HARTLEY: No, I don't. It's been four or five days. I mean, since Thursday. So, no, I don't think -- I don't think there's any chance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: David Hartley's mother says she believes her daughter- in-law's account of what happened. She says the family is willing to go to Mexico and search for her son's body if authorities there won't do it. Here is part of her emotional interview with CNN's Brooke Baldwin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAM HARTLEY, SON SHOT ON FALCON LAKE: What I hear is that Mexico will not let us go over there. They don't have the resources to do a thorough search. So it's like, you know, if that's the case, please let us cross the border and start searching for him.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And perhaps to add insult to injury, here's what I read today in the McAllen newspaper. They are reporting that Mexican investigators are questioning Tiffany's story about this alleged pirate attack. They aren't sure if it happened the way she's describing it -- you know, these three boats, these guys with guns, AK-47s and the like, shooting your son in the head.
They're not necessarily buying it. How do you react to that?
P. HARTLEY: That's insane. It's -- the way Tiffany has told it is what happened. I don't know if they're trying to steer, you know, things in a different direction so they don't have to look because they don't think it happened, but it did happen, and it happened the way she said it did.
And we need to go over there and search for him. We need help to push the Mexico government into letting us go over there to retrieve him and bring David home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Firefighters respond, but they don't put a drop of water on the burning house. What is going on in Tennessee?
We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: New developments in the first U.S. trial of a Guantanamo Bay detainee.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick is joining us with details.
Good morning, Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Tony.
Well, we were sitting in the court. We were waiting for the jury to be seated. And the judge came out and said he had made a key ruling concerning a particular witness that federal prosecutors hoped to call. This is a man who was scheduled to testify, that, in fact, he was the one who sold Ahmed Ghailani components that Ghailani used to build the bomb used in the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Well, the judge said that this witness could not be called to the witness stand, saying that the government wouldn't have even known about this witness had Ghailani not confessed while he was being interrogated by the CIA.
Federal prosecutors have said they are not planning on using any information during that time period when he was being questioned. So the judge basically said look, you would not have found this man on your own, and therefore you cannot call him at this particular time.
The government is appealing the judge's decision. The judge, very sort of impassioned, said that, "The Constitution is the rock upon which our nation rests. We must follow it not only when it is convenient, but when fear and danger beckon in a different direction."
So, he said that this particular witness cannot be called. This was a ruling clearly that favors Ahmed Ghailani. Prosecutors now taking 48 hours -- they asked for 48 hours to basically figure out what they want to do next, whether they're going to appeal this particular decision.
They're saying, look, we really would have found him anyway. The judge really saying, well, you probably wouldn't have.
So, the judge also made the point that while this is being tried here in civilian court, that even if he is not found guilty, he is being held as an enemy combatant. So if there is no verdict in which he's supposed to be incarcerated, he's still not going to be allowed out. He's still going to be held as an enemy combatant -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK. So this is very interesting.
Deb, once again, explain to us why the judge made this ruling, what it is specifically he is saying about this first witness, this key witness for the prosecution, and why that witness will not be allowed to testify in this trial.
FEYERICK: Well, because the U.S. government has basically said it's not going to use anything that Ghailani may have confessed to while he was being interrogated by the CIA, any sort of secret interrogations. They said that's off the table. We're not going to litigate it, we're not going to contest it.
They said, however, there's this one guy we want to call to the stand. He's a guy -- he wants to testify, he wants to tell us how in fact he sold his bomb components to Ahmed Ghailani. But the judge said you can't. You can't pick and choose what it is you are going to bring in or not bring in when you have basically taken the whole thing off the table. So that's why the judge is basically saying no, you can't do it.
And not only that, Tony. He said the Constitution will not allow it. And this, you know, we have been talking about how this is a test case for the Obama administration. Well, by saying the Constitution does not allow this kind of thing to happen, what he is doing is he is setting the standard.
He is saying this is the law, this is what the country is built on, and therefore you cannot basically rewrite or readapt. We're going with the Constitution. That's our basis for making this decision, basically.
HARRIS: Yes. And off the table, according to this judge, really means off the table. That's what it sounds like. OK.
Deb Feyerick for us.
FEYERICK: That's exactly right.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes. If the government is saying it's off the table, then it's off the table.
All right, Deb. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Yes?
OK. We'll get back to Deb next hour for more on this..
In Afghanistan, where war enters its 10th year tomorrow, today there is word political figures from Afghanistan and its neighborhood have opened talks to end the conflict.
CNN's Ivan Watson live from the Afghan capital of Kabul right now.
Ivan, good to see you. What's being talked about here?
IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, let me just direct you to what a high-ranking Afghan government official said in an exclusive interview with CNN a few hours ago. He claims that members of the Taliban want to talk peace with the Afghan government.
Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There have been approaches made to the various departments of the Afghan government by various groups of people and by various individuals claiming that they belong to the Taliban that they want to come and they want to join the main social political stream of the Afghan society. And they want to live in peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now, Tony, I do have to point out the Afghan government has been trying to get the Taliban to put down their weapons, try to convince commanders to join the government in a process of reconciliation for years. It's trying to reboot that reconciliation process tomorrow with the meeting of a High Peace Council.
That same Afghan government official, though, concedes that it's very hard to find somebody to negotiate with, with the Taliban. It's hard to figure out who is actually in charge of this very amorphous and very insurgent society -- Tony.
HARRIS: And -- but Ivan, it seems to me that the point you made just a moment ago is a key point here. Is there any indication that the Taliban would accept a condition for talking that goes along these lines -- you have to end the fighting, you have to put down your weapons?
WATSON: That's right. You've got to bridge a huge gap to get two warring parties to sit down at the negotiating table. And what you've got right now is the Taliban insisting it will not talk peace until what it calls foreign-occupying forces, some 150,000 U.S. and NATO troops, leave the country.
The U.S., for its part, it says that it -- negotiated peace would require the Taliban to cut ties with al Qaeda, to follow the Afghan constitution, and to put down weapons. So there's a lot of space between these two enemies right now. The Afghan government seems to be trying to fit somewhere in between right now -- Tony.
HARRIS: Ivan Watson for us in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Ivan, good to see you. Thank you.
A man convicted in a horrific home invasion in Connecticut now faces sentencing. In Session's Sunny Hostin joins me now to talk about the case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: Twelve days from now the penalty phase begins in the case against Steven Hayes, found guilty yesterday of killing a Connecticut woman and her two daughters. Prosecutors want a death sentence.
Dr. William Petit, the sole survivor of the horrific 2007 home invasion, has attended every day of the trial, listening to gruesome details of how his wife was raped and strangled. His daughter also sexually assaulted, and his house set on fire.
He later responded to the verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. WILLIAM PETIT, VICTIM: There is some relief, but my family is still gone. It doesn't bring them back. It doesn't bring back the home that we had. But certainly a guilty verdict is a much better sense of relief than a verdict of not guilty.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: Let's look ahead at what is next to come in this case.
Joining us from New York, legal analyst Sunny Hostin from "In Session," on our sister network, truTV.
Sunny, great to see you. What a horrible case here.
SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL ANALYST, "IN SESSION": Good to see you, Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. This is -- anyway, we talked about it for days and weeks and months now, and a couple of years, just how gruesome this whole thing has been.
How likely is it that Steven Hayes will get the death penalty? Probably the only question most folks watching us really want an answer to.
HOSTIN: Well, I think it's hard to say, Tony. I mean, the Supreme Court always says death is different, and that is true. Death penalty cases are different.
The judge in this case indicated that this phase of the case could take up to a month, and this trial only took approximately eight days. And so we don't know.
I mean, the prosecution certainly has to prove aggravating factors. That's what they have to do. And one of those aggravating factors is that this series of crimes, really, that he was convicted of were conducted in a heinous way, in an atrocious way, in a depraved manner.
But now the defense, really, it's their turn to show mitigation, to show that his life should be spared. And I think that that is really also the question on everyone's mind: How do they do that?
I think we're going to hear a lot about Steven Hayes. I think we're going to hear a lot about perhaps his I.Q., about his drug addiction --
HARRIS: Oh my.
HOSTIN: -- about his prior crimes.
HARRIS: Really?
HOSTIN: They are really going to try to make sure that he does not get the death penalty. And I think we may even hear from Steven Hayes himself.
HARRIS: Really?
All right. Let's put the mitigating factors aside and let's just talk about the aggravating factors. Is the case there to support a death penalty? HOSTIN: I really think so. And as you know, Tony, I was in Connecticut. I've been in this courtroom. I listened to some of the evidence.
I saw the photographs. I saw the jury's reaction to it. And this is the same jury that's going to decide whether or not to recommend death. And I think the prosecution certainly has enough aggravating factors, absolutely.
HARRIS: OK. Yes. And once the jury sort of renders a decision here in this penalty phase, can the judge change it, or must the judge accept it?
HOSTIN: You know, in many states, the judge can decide not to accept the jury's recommendation. I don't think that really is going to happen here, Tony. If this jury comes back with a recommendation of death, I believe he will be given the death penalty.
HARRIS: Sunny, good to see you. Appreciate it. That's sharp analysis. Thank you.
Does the president really need a sign to tell people who he is?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Here's CNN's lineup for tonight. Let's run it down for you.
Bill Maher is never short on opinions, right? And tonight he is talking politics with John King. Watch "JOHN KING USA" at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
At 9:00 on "LARRY KING LIVE," Hilary Swank and Sam Rockwell talk about their new movie, "Conviction."
Then bullying in our schools. And now, online, why do kids do it? And what can be done to put an end to it? An "AC 360" special report you cannot miss, should not miss.
CNN, beginning tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Once again, Rob Marciano, Severe Weather Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Interest rates are at a record low. What you need know when you are thinking of buying a big ticket items.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Taking advantage of low, low interest rates from, let's see, your mortgage to your car to your credit cards. Christine Romans has her top tips on where to find great deals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony.
Interest rates have never been lower. That means for the very best customers with the best credit scores, 760 or higher, they can borrow money for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage below 4 percent. Consider a 300,000 loan for someone with great credit, the monthly payment would be about $1,400.
Consider the same house, the same size loan but for people with lower credit scores, say 660 or lower, they don't qualify for those great rates and they'll pay up to $1,700 a month for the same mortgage payment.
Bankrate.com senior financial analyst Greg McBride warns what you really need is a down payment of at least 20 percent and if you're looking for a loan from the FHA, as of Monday, you'll need to put at least 10 percent down if you're credit score is under 580.
Now when it comes other loans, if you are in the market for a new car, you're in luck. Auto loans are pretty low, around 3 percent for new car loans, 4 percent for used car loans. Look for these low rates from large regional and national banks as well as some credit unions.
Now, credit card interest rates are around 14 percent, and McBride says they're only going up. So if you've got good credit, you need should shop around. Check into zero percent balance transfer offers, just please make sure there are no hidden fees.
If you have good credit, ask the card company for lower rates. But if you've missed payments, you have a high balance or you don't have top-notch credit, it is unlikely that they will lower your interest rates.
Avoid retail store credit cards, they have sky-high rates. Think 20-plus percent interest rates. And if you open one, make sure it's for an item you can pay off immediately. Don't carry a big balance -- Tony.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right. Let's take a break. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Oh, we'll explain the video to you and what the trainers should have been doing at that moment, that specific moment right there.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Taking a lock at top stories right now.
Militants in Pakistan strike at NATO's fuel supplies for the sixth time in a week. At least 20 oil tankers were torched today by gunman near the city of Quetta, killing one person. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
A manhunt is underway after a shooting spree in Illinois and Indiana. One person has been killed, three wounded. The suspect is described as mentally unstable. Police say he stopped his truck in rural spots in both states and asked people about bees before opening fire.
And the White House is going solar, once again. Solar panels and a solar hot water heater will be installed on the roof of the White House residence by next spring. Jimmy Carter put them up decades ago and Ronald Reagan took them down.
Hillary Clinton addresses those VP rumors. Brianna Keilar has that in the latest update from the CNNPolitics.com desk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Time now for your CNNPolitics.com desk update. Brianna Keilar with "The Best Political Team on Television" joining us live from Washington, D.C.
Brianna, good to see you. What is crossing right now?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tony, one of the things you'll see on the Ticker has to do with Rush Limbaugh. He really tore into President Obama and his economic policies on his show yesterday and he got really fiery with his language, even for Rush. He said that problem was, quote, "a jackass." He called him an economic ignoramus. He later called him our imam child and a lot of the criticism had to do, again, with the economic policies, particularly President Obama's push to let those Bush-era tax cuts expire for the wealthy at the at the end of the year.
And then take a look at this, this is trending right now. This comes from our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry. You know Bob Woodward told CNN that the possibility of President Obama teaming up with Hillary Clinton in his reelection bid, he said it was on the table, right? Well White House spokesman, the press secretary, Robert Gibbs, pouring cold water all over that saying it's not so.
And just take a listen to what Hillary Clinton herself said about the whole thing at an event here in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have a great relationship and I have absolutely no interest and no reason for doing anything other than just dismissing these stories and moving on because there's just no -- we have no time. We have so much to do and I think both of us are very happy doing what we're doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So sounds like a no there, right, Tony.
And this is my personal favorite story on the Ticker today, has to do with "Dancing With the Stars." The question is, was Sarah Palin's husband, Todd, asked to be on the show this season. And Sarah Palin is sure making it sound like that is the case. She let it slip that the show's producer wanted her husband on there.
And of course, their daughter, Bristol, is on the show this season. She narrowly made it to the fourth round of competition last night -- Tony.
HARRIS: OK, I was going to ask you how she was doing on that program. Narrowly made it, all right, so she survives to dance another day.
All right, Brianna, good to see you. And see you next hour.
Your next political update in about an hour, and for the latest political news, you know where to go, CNNPolitics.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Quickly now we want to back to our Severe Weather Center and Rob Marciano and Rob is tracking the tornadoes on the ground, touched down earlier
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Two touchdowns earlier; damage, injuries, none of which seemingly are severe. We'll try to get more information on that. Pictures have yet to come in. Our affiliates en route and trying to get a handle as to what has gone on.
We know that there was a train derailment. There was a tractor trailer, at least one, that was toppled over and we mentioned the injuries and any time you see this many pink polygons, which indicates a tornado warning, this is not good. And this is going over the same areas. So Yavapai County, which is down through here, that cell looks pretty potent, heading up toward the Sedona area.
And then this is the area of Belmont, just west of Flagstaff, which earlier had at least two tornado touchdowns with damage and injuries there. We've got a couple of cells that are rolling over the same areas.
So I believe we have somebody on the phone from the area, Jim Koch.
Can you hear me, Mr. Koch?
JIM KOCH, PHOTOJOURNALIST (via telephone): Yes, I can.
MARCIANO: Where are you located and what can you tell me you that you've have seen and heard in your area?
KOCH: Well, I'm standing in the storage lot at Camper's World which is just off of I-40 and there's literally just RVs scattered everywhere. It looks like somebody just picked them up like a handful of dice and rolled them. Pieces and parts. There's at least two, three RVs that were picked up and tossed out into the I-40. A minute ago -- what's that? MARCIANO: Specifically, where are you in regards to Belmont and how far away from the Flagstaff area? I'm assuming --
KOCH: Well, I'm on the eastside of Belmont, still in the town, and that's about 10 miles west of Flagstaff on I-40.
MARCIANO: All right. So, we've got numerous RVs that are turned over. What's the weather doing there right now, because you are under a tornado warning again right now?
KOCH: Yes, there's still heavy storms in the area. Wind's blowing moderately, it's starting to rain just a little bit. I am keeping a real close eye on the skies, though.
MARCIANO: How -- this is, by our counts, extremely rare to get this sort of activity, this many tornadoes touching down. I mean, Arizona only gets about four a year. Clearly, this is a rare event.
What are people around you saying and commenting on? Are people in a bit of a state of shock as to what's going on?
KOCH: They are. I spoke to a gentleman a few minutes ago, and he was saying he had moved from the Midwest out here to escape the tornadoes. So he gets here and he finds more of what he tried to get away from.
MARCIANO: And what are some of the authorities telling you right now? What is -- other than the damage that you have seen, are there people out and about? Is traffic trying to move along? You said there's damage, is there still debris on I-40?
KOCH: There is some. I-40 westbound is still closed. I-40 eastbound is just down to one lane while they're trying to get the cleanup done.
There are people out and about. Mostly are, you know, sightseers coming to see all of the damage and, you know, playing the lookyloo thing.
MARCIANO: Well, listen, we invite you to do lookyloo, but do it safely. You have a number of cells that are heading your way. If you cold, snap a couple of photos, maybe take some videos for us and send them to iReport.
Jim Koch on the ground there in Belmont, just to the west of Flagstaff. Thanks very much. Stay safe, sir.
Here's what's going on again. He is right about in this area, so he mentioned that there's some weather north and west of here and that cell, but another cell that's just training right over the same area.
So, you know, I can't remember the last time I've seen something like this even in Tornado Alley, the way they're training over each other, Tony. And what's happening on a larger scale is that this low that refuses to release and move eastward continues to rotate pieces of energy. And we've got one right now that's just rotating up into the mountains and the mountains only help feed those thunderstorms or at least develop them. And we're developing them into supercell thunderstorms and the case, at least this morning, producing tornadoes and we have a number of warnings still in effect.
So if you live in these areas, Yavapai County and Coconino County, you certainly want to take cover until it rolls through right now until further notice.
HARRIS: All right, Rob, appreciate it. Thank you.
We want to get a quick market check, because one of the other stories that we're following today is perhaps Dow 11,000. I'm trying to sneak a peek at where we stand right now.
Carter Evans at the New York Stock Exchange for us. Carter, are you there?
CARTER EVANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I'm here. You know, we are getting closer to 11,000, Tony, but it certainly isn't because of the reports, the economic reports we have been getting today. I'm talking about some bad news about the bad news about jobs. In fact, a loss of 39,000 in the month of September. This is according to private payroll firm ADP.
Now I've got a little chart that kind of breaks down for you over the last couple of months. What we have seen from ADP, we are coming off seven straight months of job gains. Wall street was expecting another gain today, but we saw cuts in the construction, manufacturing sectors and that swamped out any gains of the service sector.
You may remember, yesterday, we were talking about service sector and why expansion was so important because it accounted for about 80 percent of the jobs in the country. So while we're seeing that, we are seeing cuts in other areas and this is just not so good.
HARRIS: Yes. So we get the government's labor report on -- monthly labor report on Friday. So, you take a look at these numbers, you reflect on what we receive in terms of data yesterday, and how's that report beginning to shape up as one that's a positive report, negative report or mixed?
EVANS: Well, you know, initially what analysts were expecting was that the report was going to be flat. They were expecting to see a gain in private sector jobs and then a loss in government jobs. You know, the Census jobs, a few of those leftover, so they were expecting it to kind of cancel out.
But I got to tell you, with this ADP report showing private payrolls cut by 39,000 over the last few months, these ADP reports have been pretty good indicators of what we're going to expect from the government and right now that's not so good. So it looks like we could see our unemployment rate tick up to about 9.7 percent.
Now, that's not because of the job losses. This is because there were a lot of people who just gave up looking for jobs but they're back out there in the job market and looking for jobs again so they're counted again in the unemployment rate. That's why we might see that tick up.
You know, though, I got to tell you. The news is not so good and you're probably asking about the gains today, right? Well, it doesn't have anything to do with this report, that's for sure.
The reason is the value of the dollar in relation to other currencies has fallen so that boosts the value of the equities a little bit. But that's what the traders on the floor are talking about. It's basically the low value of the dollar that's causing the rally and certainly not the economic news we are getting.
HARRIS: Thanks, Carter, appreciate it. See you next hour. Thank you, sir.
A family buries a son killed in Iraq while a church group taunts the mourners. In the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, we'll get an update on a case being weighed by the nation's highest court that is really testing the limits of free speech.
Plus, fresh hope for those trapped miners in Chile. It looks like the rescue could happen in a matter of days. But will some of them have to lose weight to see freedom? We will get a live report.
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