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Hurricane Irene Tears Through Bahamas; Libyan Rebels Fight to Hold Tripoli International Airport; Hurricanes That Have Slammed Northeast U.S.
Aired August 25, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: It is 2:00 p.m. in the East, and Irene is coming. Barring some unexpected turn, this will be the biggest hurricane to hit the U.S. in years.
Just into the CNN NEWSROOM, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley declares a state of emergency in advance of Hurricane Irene. Irene is on track to slam or at least skim coastal North Carolina on Saturday and maybe New York City late Sunday.
Our Chad Myers has the latest facts and figures, of course, and he'll join us live in just a minute.
But let's go first to CNN's Jim Spellman. He's in the Bahamas, where the end of this storm is finally in sight.
Although, Jim, it doesn't look like the weather there has really improved much in Nassau.
JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it's all comparative. It's a lot better than it was three or four hours ago, and especially the rain has died down. And I think there's a real sense here in Nassau that the worst is over and that they, to use a familiar phrase, dodged a bullet. That's what people who are dropping by to say hi have been telling us.
People have been out and about and tell us they don't have seen any damage. They haven't seen any -- a few downed trees, a few downed power lines here, but they were really bracing for some of the worst.
Unfortunately, some of the southern Bahamas islands, they did get the worst. We're hearing settlements, all but destroyed. We're waiting for word now from Cat Island and Eleuthera, two of the bigger islands where Irene passed through just a couple of hours ago. But here, for now, anyway, things are definitely calming down a little bit, if you can call this calm -- Randi.
KAYE: Yes. I've seen actually some traffic, a little bit of traffic, a few cars there behind you. I'm also seeing the surf splashing up. So people are out and about, it seems?
SPELLMAN: Yes. People are starting to come out. They have been cooped up since yesterday afternoon. They've been coming out to take a look around and see if there's any damage. Somebody earlier dropped by and said, "That's what we do the in Bahamas. We drive around and see what happened after the storms." I guess that's true just about everywhere.
The thing that always gets me though is the folks that are out walking right along on some of these piers here with the water splashing. Just don't do it, you know. It's not worth getting that close to see it, because even after the worst is over, at least still, right now, it's still high winds, as you mentioned, big surf.
So I hope nobody does anything silly at this point in time. But for now, it seems like there's no major damage in Nassau -- Randi.
KAYE: And what's the situation in terms of power and electricity for folks like tourists, say, who may be stuck there?
SPELLMAN: No problem so far. Localized power outages from trees hitting lines. All the major hotels here on Paradise Island, Nassau, all of them kept power through the whole thing. Remarkably, even cell phones kept working right through the heart of this storm.
They really have built this island as far as infrastructure to be ready for stuff like this. They know it comes on a regular basis. They don't want to lose business, they don't want people to be scared to come here.
And I'll tell you, so far, I was really impressed last night with our hotel, how solidly it was built. It was so quiet even in the height of this. We just didn't hear anything. So they have prepared for it. I think they're going to make out just fine.
KAYE: Jim Spellman there in Nassau, Bahamas.
Jim, thank you very much. Get inside and get dry.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAYE: And you can get up to-the-minute info on Irene's strength and location, and see exactly where the storm is headed 24 hours a day with CNN's hurricane tracker at CNN.com. It is also available on your iPad and your iPhone, so you can check it around the clock.
Well, it is 8:00 p.m. in Libya, and rebels once again think they know where Moammar Gadhafi is. Two days after taking over the longtime dictator's compound, rebels say he and some of his sons may be pinned down in a cluster of buildings nearby.
That is where they are focusing their efforts, but they are also fighting to hold on to Tripoli airport, just south of the capital. And they are savoring their newest conquest, Tripoli's notorious Abu Salim Prison. A video posted on YouTube shows doors being broken down and prisoners freed.
CNN's Arwa Damon is at the airport.
And there are reports, Arwa, that an empty plane was just destroyed there. Is this a missile strike that we're talking about?
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Randi. This location has been bombarded relentlessly by artillery, by rockets. And on the tarmac right now, you can't really see it because it's dark out, but there is a plane that is on fire.
We were just out there, and we had to go up into one of the guard towers because the rebel fighters were telling us that there was a sniper in the area that had been targeting them, but the plane, up in smoke. Much of the incoming artillery has been targeting the tarmac, targeting the aircraft that are there.
On the other side of the tarmac, there is the remains of a plane that was hit last night. And the rebels are saying that the focus on this is for a number of reasons.
On the one hand, senior commanders here believe that Gadhafi loyalists are trying to clear some sort of a route for Gadhafi to potentially either try to escape from Tripoli or move through the area to the east that the rebels do not control, or they could also be trying to bog the rebels down here to distract them from what is happening elsewhere. But at the same time, the rebels say that they believe that Gadhafi loyalists are employing a scorched-earth policy.
They are trying to destroy every single bit of infrastructure that they possibly can. And the rebels are fully aware of the fact that this is a critical complex, an airport very important. They want to try to preserve it for the next stage of Libya, they say, but Gadhafi's incoming artillery, those rockets, they really have just been pounding this location.
It was quite intense when we were out there. Some of the explosions are so big -- and I don't know if you can hear them now, but they are actually shaking that watch tower that we were in.
KAYE: And Arwa, I know you've had some pretty incredible access there at the airport along with the rebels. There's this RV that we see there behind you. You were actually inside that. Now, that's Gadhafi's RV?
DAMON: Yes, that's right. The rebels managed to get up to Gadhafi's farm that is around 15 minutes away. They have begun trying to clear it.
There was an intense firefight there as well. One rebel fighter was killed.
But they have driven the RV down here. They've spray-painted the side of it with "Zintan Revolutionaries." The rebels here, they're from Zintan. That's to the south.
They were going through inside -- the back part of it is locked up right now. The rebel commanders are trying to prevent some of the others from literally taking everything that they possibly can out it. But we've seen them in the past climbing through, looking around. And also, over here you have these golf carts that were also taken from that same farm. And the senior commander was telling us that he could remember Gadhafi coming out of one of these golf carts, raising his umbrella, giving one of his infamous speeches on state television.
And this, the rebels say, is evidence that they are making gains. But they will also point to this as evidence of the luxurious life that Gadhafi led at their expense, and that makes them even more determined to go out and to try to find him.
KAYE: Arwa Damon, with some incredible access there at Tripoli airport.
Arwa, thank you very much.
And we are keeping an eye on Apple's stock today, and so far the numbers are down a day after Steve Jobs announced he is stepping down as CEO. Jobs has suffered from a number of health issues, and he says he can no longer handle the day-to-day operations. He brought Apple from near bankruptcy to one of the largest and most innovative technology companies in the world. Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, will now take over as CEO.
Texas Governor Rick Perry now leading the Republican presidential pack, beating out former front-runner Mitt Romney. According to this new Gallup poll, Perry is at the top. Twenty-nine percent of Republican and Republican-leaning Independents say Perry is their guy. That's a 12-point lead over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. Representative Ron Paul comes in third, at 13 percent, followed by Michele Bachmann, with 10 percent.
New Englanders are nervously eyeing Hurricane Irene, with big cities like Boston in its direct path. What history reveals and the preparations under way. We'll have it for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Well, concern is growing quickly along the East Coast as Hurricane Irene gets closer. The governors of North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey and now Maryland have declared states of emergency in advance of Irene. The Mid-Atlantic and New England rarely see hurricanes, especially major Category 2 and 3 storms.
CNN's Anderson Cooper takes a look back at some of the big hurricanes that have slammed the Northeast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're watching pictures of the last major hurricane to hit the northeast coast exactly 20 years ago. This is Hurricane Bob back in August of 1991. The eye of the storm passed over Rhode Island before making landfall as a strong Category 2, with winds of 115 miles per hour.
Bob was blamed for over $1 billion in damage, and 18 storm related deaths. Just two months later Hurricane Grace also threatened as a Category 2 storm, before being absorbed by an unusual weather system that led to the Halloween nor'easter of 1991.
Later called the perfect storm, the storm lashed the East Coast of the United States with pounding waves and coastal flooding. Causing significant damage in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and New Jersey. Nine people were killed in the storm, which produced 100- foot waves, equivalent to a 10-story building. It inspired the novel by author Sebastian Yonger, which later became a movie.
And then there's the so-called storm of the century. Hurricane Gloria in September of 1985, recorded winds of up to 150 miles per hour. Gloria made landfall as a powerful Category 3 storm in the outer banks of North Carolina before rapidly moving up the East Coast, making a second landfall on Long Island, then another in Connecticut.
Causing significant damage up and down the East Coast, and eight storm related deaths. Hurricanes in the northeast are rare, but as Hurricane Irene approaches, meteorologists warn it could turn northward, threatening much of the East Coast with another potentially dangerous storm.
Anderson Cooper, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: As powerful as Hurricane Irene is right now, the National Hurricane Center says Irene could still grow into a monster, monster Category 4 storm. You're looking at Irene's projected path. It is forecast to slam, or at least sideswipe, much of the East Coast, including large parts of New England.
Even if the hurricane doesn't make landfall, heavy rain could trigger flooding in some areas. You can see Boston could take a direct hit.
So let's bring in Don McGough from Boston's Office of Emergency Management.
Don, what preparations are under way right now around Boston to keep the people safe there?
DON MCGOUGH, DIRECTOR, BOSTON OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Well, Randi, as you can imagine, we are at this time very closely monitoring the storm. We're looking at the track. We're assessing all of the different contingencies and looking at the potential implications that we could have here in the city of Boston.
Now, at this time, Mayor Menino has directed city departments to not only closely monitor it, but to start to put in preparations so that they are ready to respond to any type of flooding, wind damage, or other things that we could see here in this city. We're not only monitoring and preparing ourselves for the city, but we're also asking our residents to do the same thing, make sure that they keep a close eye on this storm, and they do some of the little things that they can do to make sure that they are prepared. KAYE: You have a lot of boaters in New England, and certainly around Boston. What about your harbors and boats? What are you doing to protect that?
MCGOUGH: Sure. As you know, you know, Boston's a great port city. At the same time, we need to make sure that we're taking precautions in the harbor.
We're in close communications with the United States Coast Guard and a number of our port partners. And for some of the city agencies, they are taking preliminary measures to make sure that they are prepared to get their own vessels, including the Boston fire and Boston police, protected in the event that the storm comes and impacts our harbor. And we are asking the general public to do just the same thing.
KAYE: Are you getting what you need from the federal agencies and the state agencies?
MCGOUGH: We are. We've enjoyed a great partnership with the federal and state agencies. We've been in regular communications with the National Weather Service. Twice a day, we've been holding conference calls with them to make sure that we have the latest possible information so that we can make the best decisions that we can make.
And we're also in communications with our state emergency management agency, as well as FEMA and Department of Homeland Security. So I think we have in place a great partnership, and that's what's going to get us through that
KAYE: I went to college in Boston, and I always took the T. and I'm curious, what are your plans? Because you have public transportation there, and even if you don't get a direct hit, you're going to get some pretty heavy rain, it appears. So how do you handle that in terms of the underground system?
MCGOUGH: Absolutely. So, as you well know, we have a transit system in Boston that's several years old, the oldest in the nation. And from time to time, when we experience flooding, there are certain areas that are impacted more so than others. So we work very closely with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. We make sure that if there are any disruptions to the transit system, that we have appropriate alternatives, and they do a great job in making sure that that's the case.
KAYE: New York City -- our Chad Myers was telling us, New York City, they could be out of power for days, maybe even weeks. Are you prepared for something like that if it comes to it?
MCGOUGH: Absolutely. We are at this time making sure that all of our backup generators are topped off with fuel. We're certainly anticipating that there will be some significant power outages, and that's why we're making sure that we have all of our backup systems in place, and we're able to support our emergency response and our primary essential functions that we perform for the people of Boston day in and day out.
Now, at the same time, we're asking the public to be prepared for outages and make sure that they are doing things -- getting the flashlights for the batteries and other things -- so that they are prepared just in case.
KAYE: Don McGough, it sounds like you have it under control and you are prepared, certainly. Hope you don't get a direct hit, but do keep us posted. Thank you very much.
MCGOUGH: Thank you, Randi.
KAYE: And you can get up-to-the-minute info on Irene's strength and location and see exactly where the storm is headed 24 hours a day with CNN's hurricane tracker. You can find it at CNN.com, and it is also available on your iPad and your iPhone.
With all the economic storms out there, should you buy gold now? Ali Velshi and Richard Quest tackle that very subject in this week's "Q&A."
That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Gold prices are down again today, after falling more than five percent yesterday. But they spiked above $1,900 earlier in the week. Investors have been flocking to the metal as global economic concerns have weighed down riskier assets such as stocks.
In this week's "Q&A," Ali Velshi and Richard Quest discuss whether you should go buy gold now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS," and so does my good friend Ali. We are together in the CNN NEWSROOM, and, of course, around the world.
A good day to you, sir.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And to you each Thursday, Richard.
We come to our viewers around the world, talking business, travel, innovation. Nothing is off limits. So today we're talking about gold.
QUEST: Indeed. We got this question from one of our viewers, who sent us via Twitter, who wrote, "Please tell me how to deal with my wife who insists we should buy gold now."
Ali, you go first. Sixty seconds. Give this gentleman some advice.
(BELL RINGING) VELSHI: Any opportunity to use gold again. And Richard, since you've barred me from using this on the screen, here is the other side of the coin.
There is nothing wrong with keeping a certain portion of your portfolio in precious metals as long as it's based on your own personal risk tolerance. So don't go buying up the bling now just because you're feeling uncertain about the economy.
Remember, gold trades, too. It can go up and it can go down. It happened with silver back in late April. Prices tumbled 30 percent in just four days, and silver actually gets used for stuff.
So it's possible that gold has plenty of upsides. Some analysts seeing it going to $5,000 an ounce or higher in the next few years. It could go the other direction, too.
So if you want to keep gold, or buy a mutual fund with exposure to gold as part of your portfolio, it's a reasonable bet any investor can make. But if you're looking for a golden ticket, there are no guarantees in the commodity world, and this coin could end up taking a bite out of your hard-earned savings.
(BUZZER)
QUEST: Oh, the old props are the best. All right. Yes, here we go. Three, two --
(BELL RINGING)
QUEST: Good, sir, your wife is getting excited because the price of gold is up sharply, more than 50 percent since the beginning of the year, 150 over the crisis, and for good reason. Gold is a commodity that has always been prized because it is so rare.
For centuries, it's been used as a hedge against inflation. If you had invested in gold in 1991, you would have gained more than 200 percent. The stock market would only have given you 150 percent.
Central bankers have been buying gold and taking your wife's advice. Thailand, Mexico, Russia, all believe to have added to their reserves as debt makes paper money worthless.
But warn your wife, gold is not the be all and end all investment. Timing is everything. In the '90s, the prices roared up, only to collapse later in the decade.
Ultimately, what your wife is really asking for is one of these, a nice piece of gold necklace rather than any other sort of gold.
(BUZZER)
QUEST: Buy her gold and she will be smiling.
(BELL RINGING)
VELSHI: Touche. I didn't know you were allowed to stand up, by the way, and use visual aids. I didn't think that was in the rules.
But you know what? It's not about that, Richard. It's not about my props or your visual aids, it's about what we know.
So let's bring that "Voice" in to separate the men from the boys.
Hello, "Voice."
THE VOICE: Hello, gentlemen. Let's jump right in.
Question number one: According to the World Gold Council, which country produces more gold. Is it, A, Australia; B, Ghana; C, Russia; or, D, the United States?
(BELL RINGING)
THE VOICE: Richard?
QUEST: Yes, it's Australia.
(BELL RINGING)
THE VOICE: That is correct. Australia tops this list, producing the third largest amount of gold in the world. But South Africa leads the list. In fact, half of all gold ever produced has come from South Africa.
Question number two: To meet the good delivery specifications set by the London Bullion Market Association, what percentage of gold must a gold bar have? Is it, A, 99.5 percent; B, 97.5 percent; C, 95.5 percent; or, D, 100 percent?
(BELL RINGING)
THE VOICE: Ali?
VELSHI: A, 99.5.
(BELL RINGING)
THE VOICE: That is correct.
QUEST: Oh, I should have known that.
THE VOICE: A good delivery gold bar must be at least 99.5 percent gold. As any good financial expert knows, good delivery bars are notable for both their large size and high purity.
We're all tied up. Let's go to question number three.
In the '80s, a song titled "Gold" was a top 10 hit in the U.K., New Zealand and the Netherlands, as well as a top 30 hit in the U.S. The song contains the longest-held note by any male vocalist in any song released in that decade.
Who charted this single in 1983? Was it, A, Terence Trent D'Arby; B, A-Ha; C, Rick Ashley; or D, Spandau Ballet?
(BELL RINGING)
THE VOICE: Richard?
QUEST: Oh, Spandau Ballet.
(BELL RINGING)
THE VOICE: That is correct. "Gold" was Spandau Ballet's second biggest hit. It was the follow-up to their biggest hit, a little ballad called "True."
And I know this much to be true -- we are done for the week.
Congratulations, Richard.
VELSHI: Thank you, "Voice."
You know, Richard, that was an unfair advantage because I wasn't born yet.
QUEST: Oh. I'm not even going to go to that particular point.
Ali, that will do it for this week.
Remember, we are here each week, Thursday, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS," 18:00 on the GMT scale.
VELSHI: And in the CNN NEWSROOM, 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
Keep the topics coming, by the way, on our blogs, CNN.com/QMB and CNN.com/Ali. Tell us each week what you want to talk about.
See you next week, grandpa.
QUEST: Oh. Good-bye, kiddo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Time now to check in on some stories that you may have missed.
Hurricane Irene is carving a destructive path across the Bahamas and has demolished dozens of homes. The Category 3 storm has been battering Nassau, the popular cruise ship port, and as Irene makes its way state side, we're just learning Maryland's governor has declared a state of emergency in advance of Irene, following North Carolina, Virginia and New Jersey now.
Also, Amtrak is canceling train service for Friday, Saturday, Sunday. That's south of Washington. Service for the Northeast corridor is not affected at this point, but Amtrak says additional cancellations may become necessary. In the meantime, communities along the Eastern Seaboard are in full preparation mode just in case Irene becomes the first major hurricane to slam the coast in years. You're looking at the latest path for Irene, at least what's projected as of now. Emergency crews, state and city officials from the Carolinas up through New England are dusting off their evacuation plans and getting those sandbags going.
An American journalist who has been held in a Libyan prison for nearly six months is now free. Take a look at this YouTube video. It appears to show the prison escape Matthew VanDyke was a part of it. CNN cannot independently confirm its authenticity, but it does appear to show prisoners at Tripoli's Abu Salim prison freeing other prisoners. And that's what VanDyke, who was a freelance writer, told us happened to him. We spoke with his mom and girlfriend earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARON VANDYKE, FREED JOURNALIST'S MOTHER: Since we realized in March, late March, that he had been captured, I've waited almost six months to hear him say hi, Mom, and that's what I heard yesterday when he was on the phone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: It is still unclear when he'll be able to travel home to the United States.
Casey Anthony reported for probation last night in Florida after an appeals court ruled that she had to return to serve a year of probation for check fraud. And that's not all. A number of law enforcement agencies, including the sheriff's office want Anthony to repay what it cost them and taxpayers to investigate her daughter Caylee's death. Court records show the bills total more than $375,000.
Do you know what a helicopter parent is? How about a bromance? If you have no idea what I'm talking about, well, you are in luck. Those are just three of the 150 words being added to the new edition of Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. If you're wondering, helicopter parent is defined as a parent overly involved in their child's life. And a bromance, a close non-sexual friendship between men. The words tweet, social media and fist bump have also been added.
The battle for Libya. Ahead, a disturbing look inside the compound of Moammar Gadhafi. Our Dan Rivers takes us there in today's "Globe Trekking."
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
KAYE: To Libya now, where the battle for Tripoli and the hunt for Moammar Gadhafi are converging. Two days after the rebels took over Gadhafi's compound, they say he and some of his sons may be pinned down in a cluster of apartment buildings nearby. That's where they are focusing their firepower. But they are also fighting to hold on to Tripoli airport just south of the capital. Inside Tripoli, CNN's Dan Rivers has been exploring the former Gadhafi compound. What he found there is disturbing and difficult to watch. Bodies of what appear to be prisoners tied up and executed. Because of some technical difficulties in the field, will you need to listen very carefully to hear all of Dan's report.
All right. No, we don't have that story for you right now, but we'll bring it to you as soon as we can.
We can also tell you, though, today there is another apparent audio message from Moammar Gadhafi. The speaker is imploring his followers to fight back and not surrender Tripoli.
Now, back in this country, a legendary college basketball coach now diagnosed with early dementia. I'll speak with Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins about her special relationship with coach Pat Summitt. That is next right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Pat Summitt is a legend in her own time. She is the winningest coach in college basketball, men's or women's. But as the coach of the University of Tennessee for over three decades, Summitt has been much more than a coach. She's an inspiration and a fighter.
We told you earlier this week that she has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. Here she is breaking the news to her UT family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAT SUMMITT, UNIVERSITY OF TENNESEE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL COACH: Earlier this year, the doctors at the Mayo Clinic diagnosed me with an early onset dementia. Alzheimer's type, at the age of 59. I plan to continue to be your coach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Longtime friend and Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins wrote movingly this week about Summitt's reaction to the news and the incredible impact that she has had on college basketball and the young women that she's coached. Jenkins says that when a doctor advised her to retire immediately Summitt responded, quote, "Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?"
That hard-nosed resolve has marked Summitt's long career. He her remarkable record includes 1,037 victories and eight national championships.
Sally Jenkins joins us now from Knoxville. Sally, thank you so much for coming on the show today to talk about your friend. How is she doing?
SALLY JENKINS, "THE WASHINGTON POST" COLUMNIST: She's great. I mean, the thing is, any time I feel upset about this, all I have to do is look at her and talk to her. She's doing terrific. She's in a team meeting right now working with her team. She's doing what she loves to do, and it makes everybody around her feel okay about this.
KAYE: What you shared about her reaction to the doctors when she was told maybe she wanted to think about retirement says so much about her, doesn't it?
JENKINS: Yes. Well, she wanted to drop the doctor with one punch. When the first doctor that told her she had this -- she really did say she just about punched him in the face. So, you know, Pat is a fighter. She's -- she will fight this the way she's fought every battle in her whole career, and it's why her friends love her and it's why her players love her.
You know, she puts the fight in the rest of us. That's what she's always done. This is very much an extension of Pat's teaching through the years at the University of Tennessee, the way she's taking this on.
KAYE: What made her go to the doctor? What kinds of symptoms was she showing? Was she forgetting things?
JENKINS: She was. I was here last summer as a friend visiting -- a social visit. And I noticed a few things and I said, Pat, do you feel lake you're forgetting things? She said sometimes I feel like I draw blanks. Her son Tyler noticed she had to ask two or three times what time is the team meeting or what time is practice?
Now, Pat Summitt loves practice more than anything in the world, and for her to not be able to hold on to what time she had to be there was a profound difference actually. And so I think that at the end of this season, you know, Pat knew something wasn't right and knew she had to get a full evaluation. They went out to the Mayo Clinic, Pat and Tyler together and she got this diagnosis.
KAYE: Did you see also some signs of forgetfulness in the time that you spent with her recently?
JENKINS: You know, very minor. I mean, it's very early. What's -- you know, there's such tiny little things it's almost hard for her friends to accept the diagnosis at times.
But I think the people closest to her, her son, her coaches and her players definitely saw signs of things that were very uncharacteristic. You know, again, they are so minor to the rest of us, you know. As Tyler says, she will lose her car keys three times in one day instead of just once, you know. She has a terrible habit of losing her car keys and her cell phone because she has so many obligations and so many responsibilities. And so when it was three times a day instead of once a day, that was the tip-off for Tyler.
But she has a plan. She's very organized in how she's going about this now. She's got a plan, and she's doing great, and she's working her plan
KAYE: You mentioned Tyler, her son, a couple of times. How is he dealing with this? Because a lot of times, this can be harder than the family than it is actually on the person who is suffering from it. JENKINS: Well, of course. I mean, Tyler is her rock. Tyler is a 20-year-old student here at the University of Tennessee, and I don't think he'll mind my bragging on his grade point average. He's pretty close to a 4.0. He's on track to graduate in three years. He's a brilliant young man and a wonderful young man.
You know, as a friend, I will go home feeling so much better because I know what kind of support and what kind of person she's got in her son and in her assistant coaches and in her players. You know, it's very -- it's reassuring for someone like me who parachutes in from out of town to be able to go back home now seeing all that she has around her.
KAYE: What's been the reaction on campus there from the folks at the university?
JENKINS: Oh, I think the reaction here has been stunned, just absolutely dumbfounded. And, again, part of the difficulty in accepting the announcement is that Pat is very much around. She's in the community. She's making public appearances. The night before she made this announcement, she was out at the airport greeting two of her kids who had come back from playing overseas. She looks great. She talks great, and so there's no real significant, profound, outward appearance of this.
It's just very small, minor signs of this. And so I think that the community is probably reacting very much like her friend are. They feel terrible about it until they see her, and then you feel better about it. I personally have a lot of faith in Pat and in her strength and in her ability to fight this fight.
KAYE: Well, it sounds like she's certainly trying to -- I understand, she's working on some mental exercises to try to keep the brain fresh.
JENKINS: Yes, yes. She's doing puzzles every day, all sorts of brain teasers. She's got an iPad, which if you know Pat, is a remarkable occurrence. She's never been the most technologically savvy person, but she loves her iPad. She's on it in the mornings and evenings, again, working on brain teasers and puzzles, math problems, crosswords, whatever she can do to stay sharp.
She's working out her brain the way you work out, you know, a body. She's always been in great physical shape, and she's approaching this as if she's in training with her mind.
KAYE: Yes.
JENKINS: And she's going to see where that gets her.
KAYE: I know your friendship goes back about 15 years or so. So, Sally, I'm sure it's nice to have the two of you -- you can be there at her side and help her through this along with many others and show some support.
We appreciate you coming on, and I would recommend to anybody who gets a chance to read Sally Jenkins' article about Pat Summitt in "The Washington Post." It was really a nice read. Thank you very much.
JENKINS: Thanks. Thank you.
KAYE: As you've probably heard Steve Jobs is resigning as the CEO of Apple. Next, a close look at what some call one of the greatest tenures of any CEO, ever.
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KAYE: We are keeping an eye on Apple stock a day after Steve Jobs announced he's stepping down at CEO. If you take a look there, can you see it's at about $374, down about $1.84. Meanwhile, Apple stock had fallen 2 percent at the start of trading today following an after-hours drop yesterday of 5 percent.
CNN's Dan Simon now joins us to look at the legacy of Steve Jobs and the impact of his departure of Apple's CEO for today's "Taking the Lead."
Dan, you're outside Apple headquarters there in Cupertino, California. Tell us what the mood is like.
DAN SIMON, CNN SILICON VALLEY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the announcement caught everybody off guard. One Apple employee told me this really came out of left field.
But look, if you were ever going to leave a company, regardless of the reason, now is certainly a great time to do it. Apple has never been stronger from a more influential point of view, from a profitability standpoint, and also when it comes to market share. If you look at how Apple is doing, you know, when it comes to tablets, a category they basically invented, they're now at 74 percent market share on tablets. About a third of the smartphones in use are now iPhones. They have $76 billion in cash. They are the world's most valuable technology company, and they have proved that time and time again, Randi.
KAYE: And Jobs will still have a hand in this company as well, right?
SIMON: He's going to remain chairman of the board, but, look, you're going to lose a lot of intangibles with Steve Jobs leaving. You know, he was really so involved when it came to product details. I have a couple of props here, and I just want to show you this because it's fascinating.
I read that Steve Jobs actually had a hand when it comes to this little clasp on the headphones for the iPhone, this little clasp that keeps the wires together. He actually had a hand in designing the power brick for the laptops. So those kinds of things you're not going to get with Steve Jobs anymore. They have a terrific product design person, a guy named Jonathan Ai, who's probably the best in the world at what he does. But you also had a CEO so involved in all of the elements when it came to design, and you're not going to have that.
KAYE: Certainly that's what you call hands on. Dan Simon, appreciate it. Thank you.
President Obama may be away with his family, but a president is never truly on vacation. Dan Lothian joins us to break down the briefings that have been a part of President Obama's day right after the break.
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KAYE: To Libya now where the battle for Tripoli and the hunt for Moammar Gadhafi are converging. Two days after rebels took over Gadhafi's compound, they say he and some of his sons may be pinned down in a cluster of apartment buildings nearby. That's where they are focusing their firepower. But they are also fighting to hold on to Tripoli airport just south of the capital.
Inside Tripoli, CNN's Dan Rivers has been exploring the former Gadhafi compound. What he found there is disturbing and difficult to watch. Bodies of what appear to be prisoners tied up and executed. Now because of some technical difficulties in the field, you will need to listen very carefully to hear Dan's report.
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DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So this is the house of resistance, a potent symbol of Gadhafi's stand against the West that has now been completely overrun by his enemies.
It's difficult to tell what has been destroyed recently and what was left as a monument to the air strikes. So, you can se everywhere here there are these huge rounds, which we think are coming from the anti-aircraft guns that they have mounted on the back of pickup trucks. And 34 mil maybe is what we're being told, but you can imagine how much damage these do.
So, we've been brought here to an intersection where there are just lots of rotting bodies, which is awful to see and smell. The hands have been bound. I've counted 12 bodies here. Don't want to move much beyond this small area. It's a grim, grim scene and just revealing of how fierce the fighting was here. We don't know what happened here, if the people were executed by the rebels or what. But you can see, it looks like some of their hands were bound anyways, looks like they were prisoners of some sort.
Now the big question is, can they not only hold this area, this central compound, but move further south from here to try to flush out the remaining Gadhafi loyalists?
Dan Rivers, CNN, Tripoli.
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KAYE: And no doubt the events in Libya are dominating much of President Obama's vacation. Dan Lothian is in Martha's Vineyard traveling with the president. Hi, Dan.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Well, the president is finding some time to relax. In addition to being out on the golf course, which we've seen over the last few days, he's out at the beach right now with his family. But before he went out there, he did have at least three different briefings starting out this morning with his counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, briefing on the latest development in Libya.
The president also convened a conference call with his emergency management officials and others to get the latest information on the hurricane and make sure that the federal government is coordinating with state and local officials.
And then finally the president also had a conference call with Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner and others on his economic team to get a broad view of the economy. But also the updates on the jobs proposal that the president will be rolling out when he returns.
Now, while all of this is taking place here on the island, while a few people are trickling on to the island, most are headed for the exits going to the airport or on to the ferries to get off the island ahead of the storm. In addition to that, at some of the marinas, boats are being pulled out of the water. One shop is selling hurricane supplies.
So people here a little jittery about the hurricane that might be impacting this area, but so far no changes to the president's schedule. He's still expected to depart on Saturday.
KAYE: Doesn't sound like much of a vacation for him, but good to know.
LOTHIAN: That's right.
KAYE: Good to know he stays on the job. Dan Lothian in Martha's Vineyard. Dan, thank you very much.
And that will do it for me. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Drew Griffin. Hi there, Drew.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Randi. Thanks. In for Brooke today. And boy, have we got a day for you.
