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Iraq Names Prime Minister; Weather Gone Wild
Aired May 28, 2004 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Kyra Phillips.
Here's what's happening at this hour.
Baltimore police say they're still seeking a motive to explain the brutal slayings of three young children. They say the two men charged with first-degree murder seemed emotionless under questioning. The bodies of two boys, both 9, and a 10-year-old girl were discovered last evening in a Baltimore apartment. One of the children had been beheaded, the other two partially beheaded. A police official spoke this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNETH BLACKWELL, BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We said last night that this was an act of someone who obviously has no conscience, very unconscionable act, despicable act, in an area where it's very uncustomary for these types of incidents to occur.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The two suspects are ages 17 and 22 and both are believed to be related to the victims.
Iranian officials say a strong earthquake has left at least 23 people dead north of Tehran near the Caspian Sea. Damage reports are still coming in. Officials say dozens of people were injured.
And President Bush pledged today that Iraq will regain complete and full sovereignty. Mr. Bush met at the White House with Danish Prime Minister Anders Rasmussen as part of the administration's bid to persuade world leaders that the U.S. is willing to relinquish control of Iraq come June 30.
One for all and all for Allawi. Iyad Allawi, Shiite member of the Iraqi Governing Council, is the council's unanimous pick for Iraqi prime minister once sovereignty returns June 30. Coalition officials had stressed not a done deal. But at U.N. headquarters, they're calling Allawi prime minister-designate and a U.S. official now confirms it's official.
We get details from CNN's Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.N. special enjoy to Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi respects the decision by the Iraqi Governing Council to name a new interim prime minister.
The Iraqi Governing Council made the name of Iyad Allawi public after an hours-long meeting in Baghdad. That meeting was attended by Mr. and by Brahimi U.S. administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer. U.S.-led coalition spokesman Dan Senor said the U.N. has and will continue to be involved in the process of putting together a new interim Iraqi government.
The names of those government officials should be made public early next week. Iyad Allawi is a former Iraqi dissident who spent years in exile during the Saddam Hussein regime. He founded the Iraqi National Accord, an opposition political group made up of in part by military defectors. Allawi was known to have close ties to U.S. and British intelligence. He was at one point a member of the Baathist Party, but in 1996, he tried to stage a coup against Saddam Hussein.
People we have spoken to on the streets in Iraq shortly after the announcement was made said that they would support whoever was in government, as long as that person was an Iraqi and worked for the best interests of the Iraqi people.
Meanwhile, on the military front, military officials are still holding out hope for the sustaining of a cease-fire in the embattled holy city of Najaf, this despite skirmishes between radical militias and U.S. forces that left several people dead and wounded on Friday.
And more detainees have been released from Abu Ghraib prison. About 600 were sent to their homes today. The release started early Friday morning. And when it started, one 13-bus convoy came under a brief attack by small-arms gunfire. That attack was repelled by U.S. forces and the convoy was allowed to continue on to its final destination.
Meanwhile, two freelance Japanese journalists were killed in Iraq today. They were returning to Baghdad after having visited Japanese troops in the southern city of Samawah. A hospital official in the town of Mahmoudiya, the site of the attack on their vehicle, said the burnt bodies of two Japanese citizens were in the local morgue.
Japanese Foreign Ministry officials have not yet confirmed the identities of those two bodies. The attack occurred in the same place where several journalists have been attacked and sometimes killed in drive-by shootings.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: it took nearly 60 years, too long for many veterans of World War II, but now a monument to their bravery, courage and sacrifice will finally be dedicated in Washington tomorrow afternoon. Thousands of card-carrying members of the greatest generation will be there to bask in the gratitude of a nation.
CNN's Brian Todd has had the good fortune of meeting with some World War II vets recently and sharing their stories of courage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Tuggle passes his days at the Armed Forces Retirement Home looking at his dance trophies, leafing through mementos, remembering a time few others could comprehend. The Philippines, March 1942, John Tuggle, Navy petty officer 1st class, machinist mate on PT-41, the boat that carries General Douglas MacArthur on a dangerous route to safety as the Japanese overpower American forces on the Bataan Peninsula. Tuggle is awarded his first Silver Star.
JOHN TUGGLE, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: That was given to me by General MacArthur. Everyone on the PT boat that took him off (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and to Mindanao was given a Silver Star.
TODD: Not long after on another mission after his boat runs aground, Tuggle and his mates find themselves virtually alone when U.S. forces surrender Bataan. Surrender is not for John Tuggle.
TUGGLE: I was supposed to surrender and I refused. A lot of us refused and took to the jungle.
TODD: The jungle, where Tuggle and other Americans would join with local Filipinos to engage the Japanese in a guerrilla campaign that would last more than three years. By the time U.S. forces get back into the area to rescue them, John Tuggle has met a young Filipino woman running from the Japanese and married her.
John and Esperanza (ph) make it to America and make a life that would last more than 50 years until her death.
MIMI RIVKIN, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: This is our photo lab group.
TODD: Not far from John Tuggle's room, a woman who has a lifetimes worth of memories from a brief adventure.
RIVKIN: Wasn't I cute?
(LAUGHTER)
TODD: Mimi Rivkin spends the last two years of the war outside Calcutta at a key allied base in what's called the India-China-Burma theater. She works at a lab processing aerial surveillance photos. She brings back a few shots of herself.
RIVKIN: It was a tremendous adventure. In those years, India was, you know, fairy land, some place you'd never dreamed of going.
TODD: Think of this lady as a 20-something, half a world away from home, the world opening up. Not so hard to imagine.
RIVKIN: Now, this is me sitting on the mess sergeant's lap, OK? (LAUGHTER)
TODD: Mischief, bravery, loss, reflection, the war's memories.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Be sure to join CNN for extensive live coverage of tomorrow's dedication of the World War II memorial. Paula Zahn will anchor that coverage. Her special guest, a war veteran you may know, former President George H.W. Bush, exclusive live interview there. It all begins right here tomorrow afternoon 2:00 Eastern.
WHITFIELD: In other news happening across America today, we're getting word police in Miami have tracked down the mother of a 3-year- old boy who was abandoned last night along with his birth certificate and medical records at a downtown McDonald's. The child is said to be confused, but unhurt. His mom is charged with neglect.
In Hillsboro, Oregon, this photo evidence is part of an investigation into vicious dog attacks on a young boy and his sister. And get this. Police say the parents routinely allowed it to happen, though both are pleading innocent to the 10 counts they face. Investigators say the dog bit off part of the boy's ear. The girl needed stitches to close puncture wounds in her arm.
DNA test results are expected back today in the case of this 3- year-old girl abandoned earlier this month in Baltimore. Investigators are trying to determine whether a man and a woman fighting for custody are her real parents -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Hollywood outdoes itself with the latest doomsday thriller.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: A wall of water coming towards New York City.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: "The Day After Tomorrow" hits theaters nationwide. Tinseltown not known for trifling too much with the facts, of course, but could this really happen? Egads. Get your popcorn, a good seat on the couch, maybe get your slicker. I don't know. We'll take a look and uncover the truth. Because that's our goal, the truth, right?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER UPDATE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW") UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Are you there?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Yes, I'm here. These tornadoes are forming so fast.
Oh, oh my God! Lisa, are you getting this on camera? This tornado just came and erased the Hollywood sign. The Hollywood sign is gone.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Is anyone hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I wouldn't be surprised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Yikes. It's weather gone wild, understatement of the year, in "The Day After Tomorrow." The movie, which features breathtaking special effects, opens today at theaters. Well, it's from the director of "Independence Day" and "Godzilla."
The movie is a doomsday look at what happens when polar ice caps melt due to global warming. So far, the forecast for the movie has been quite chilly from the reviewers.
O'BRIEN: "The Day After Tomorrow" opens today, not Sunday, even though that would in fact be "The Day After Tomorrow."
But, of course, I'm quibbling. As a matter of fact, quibbling is what this next segment is all about. Over the years, when it comes to science fiction, vs. fact, Hollywood has set the bar pretty low. Is it possible this movie slides under that bar?
For some answers, we're joined by executive producer for science and technology, Peter Dykstra. He just saw the matinee with his kids. And depending on what he says, I might see it the day after tomorrow.
PETER DYKSTRA, CNN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Day after tomorrow, whenever you want to see it. It's a movie. It's a good movie. The kids loved it because lots of things get destroyed. That's what kids want to see.
O'BRIEN: And that's the important thing.
All right, let's talk about, first of all, the big issue of global warming here. There's scientific consensus out the wazoo on this, right?
DYKSTRA: As close as you can get to scientific consensus. There's always debate. There's always disagreement. It's always a train wreck with money and politics and a whole lot of other things that sort of clash with the pure science.
But the overwhelming number of climate scientists say we've got a problem. Do we have the kind of problem that this movie portrays? No. O'BRIEN: All right, some scriptwriters may have gone off to the races here. Let's ask a couple of questions which might be on your mind as you consider going to see this movie, see the promos, whatever.
The first one is, climate change, which we know pretty much, by and large, is a fact right now, could it lead to some sort of Armageddon-style disaster?
DYKSTRA: Well, I'll have to go over the movie without giving away the whole plot, but a lot of people and a lot of places kind of get destroyed. And it happens very, very quickly, and it happens because the ice cap melts. It changes all the weather in the world. New York City is under ice. There's all sorts of other calamities happening across the globe.
Climate and weather don't work like that. When they say quick climate change, if it happens, to whatever degree it happens, we're talking about decades, we're maybe talking about a century. It's not going to happen the way it happens in the movie.
O'BRIEN: So our next question, then, on, could it happen in five days, you've answered. What sort of time scale are we talking about when you say quick climate change? Could it happen in years, months?
DYKSTRA: The scientists that have studied this say that we could see sea levels rise, we could see temperatures rise over the course of the next century. And we're talking about a few degrees. That's a lot. That's enough to affect crops. That's enough to affect health and the spread of diseases. It's enough to maybe wipe out some beaches if the sea levels rise.
O'BRIEN: All right, explain this one, global warming leading to an ice age. On the face of it, it doesn't sound like it makes much sense.
DYKSTRA: That's where we start the potential to get really, really confusing. And we'll give you the scientific summary version of this.
The ice caps are melting. There's been marked loss of ice, rise in temperature in Antarctica, in the Arctic. If the Arctic ice cap goes away, it may trigger a series of events that knocks out the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is what keeps a lot of the Eastern U.S. warm. It's what keeps Europe warm. It could make parts of the Earth very, very cold while the rest of the Earth is getting warm. You with me?
O'BRIEN: I'm following you completely. The Gulf Stream.
DYKSTRA: The Gulf Stream.
O'BRIEN: The Gulf Stream is an important thing. If you move around, if you when mess with that Gulf Stream, you could end up very cold.
DYKSTRA: But not in five days, not in the kind of calamity we see in the movie. It's Hollywood. It's not supposed to be real.
O'BRIEN: All right, so, with all that, tornadoes in L.A., glaciers in New York City, blizzards in New Delhi, I guess in the grand scheme of time, possible?
DYKSTRA: There are things like that that can happen.
The weather, from what the best climate science we have says, could get very erratic, more storms here, less storms there, more rain here, less rain there, hot weather here, cold weather. We don't know. But tornadoes in L.A., there are probably a lot of serious climate scientists who will see this movie and they would love to see Hollywood get hit by a tornado now.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: All right, Peter Dykstra, thank you very much, our executive producer for science and technology and our in-house environmental expert, who actually got paid to watch a movie today. Not bad.
DYKSTRA: Not bad.
O'BRIEN: All right, we appreciate it. You have a good weekend.
Log on to CNN.com/Science for an in-depth story on "The Day After Tomorrow." Scientists give their take on the film and the realities of global warming.
Well, baseball has gone to the dogs. Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself. This pooch takes the game of fetch to a new level. Jeanne Moos has his tail. Plus, one last check of Wall Street coming up, which we'll retrieve for you.
LIVE FROM continues after a few tales from our commercial sponsors.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(FINANCIAL UPDATE)
O'BRIEN: At the French open, tennis fans got a little more than topspin and lobs. Russian player Marat Safin will never be called the most stylish man of all time. He was so proud of his drop shot apparently that he decided to drop his shorts.
WHITFIELD: Intentionally?
O'BRIEN: Was it intentional?
WHITFIELD: I don't know. That doesn't make sense to me. Why would he do that?
O'BRIEN: It was intentional. He mooned the crowd. And it cost him a point with the umpire. The umpire didn't love it, if you know what I mean. WHITFIELD: No, they didn't like that.
O'BRIEN: Right?
WHITFIELD: No.
O'BRIEN: He went on to win the match and advance to the third round. All right.
WHITFIELD: He got a bum rap.
O'BRIEN: He got a bum rap.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: That's the very truth.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, talk about teaching a dog new tricks -- i don't if we were really talking about that. But, anyway, this dog outdoes them all. When it's time to play ball in Trenton, New Jersey, it's the guy with four legs that's the biggest attraction.
Jeanne Moos has the story of the incredible bat dog.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Down, bat boy, down. Here comes the bat dog. Batting averages aside, there's nothing average about having a dog pick up bats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty cool.
MOOS: This is the second full season that Chase...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Chase, Chase, Chase!
MOOS: Has served as bat dog for the Trenton Thunder, the Yankees AA farm team.
Trying to impress George Steinbrenner, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, even Derek Jeter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good boy.
MOOS: Doesn't get his own pool at the stadium to cool off between innings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go get the bat. Go get it.
MOOS: You don't have to worry about bike marks on the bats?
RICK BRENNER, GEN. MANAGER, TRENTON THUNDER: Golden retrievers are a very soft-mouthed dog. As a breed, they're used for hunting and retrieving birds. You don't want puncture marks in the birds.
MOOS: Chase lives with general manager Rick Brenner, though a professional dog trainer trained him.
STUMP MERRILL, TRENTON THUNDER MANAGER: We enjoy him in the clubhouse. How he's almost one of us.
MOOS: Just like the bat boy, Chase brings water in a basket to the umpires. He only fetches bats in the first inning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's pretty good at it.
MOOS: Is he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MOOS: Better than you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. We'll see to that.
MOOS: Chase committed no errors though he sometimes moves his mouth to avoid the pine tar players use to grip the bat. He also catches Frisbees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That a boy!
MOOS: And even caters to the press, fetching microphones on cue. The club sells his image on bats and T-shirts. Chase is already a stuffed animal. And they're making a bobblehead of him. What dog wouldn't want to hear...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Play ball!
MOOS: And though he doesn't bite the bats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little slobber, maybe.
MOOS: In this game, slobber is a plus.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, Trenton, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: My favorite story of the day. I love that.
O'BRIEN: I don't know if we needed a slow-mo of the red man going out there, did we?
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: All right, that wraps up this Friday edition of LIVE FROM.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 28, 2004 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Kyra Phillips.
Here's what's happening at this hour.
Baltimore police say they're still seeking a motive to explain the brutal slayings of three young children. They say the two men charged with first-degree murder seemed emotionless under questioning. The bodies of two boys, both 9, and a 10-year-old girl were discovered last evening in a Baltimore apartment. One of the children had been beheaded, the other two partially beheaded. A police official spoke this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNETH BLACKWELL, BALTIMORE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We said last night that this was an act of someone who obviously has no conscience, very unconscionable act, despicable act, in an area where it's very uncustomary for these types of incidents to occur.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The two suspects are ages 17 and 22 and both are believed to be related to the victims.
Iranian officials say a strong earthquake has left at least 23 people dead north of Tehran near the Caspian Sea. Damage reports are still coming in. Officials say dozens of people were injured.
And President Bush pledged today that Iraq will regain complete and full sovereignty. Mr. Bush met at the White House with Danish Prime Minister Anders Rasmussen as part of the administration's bid to persuade world leaders that the U.S. is willing to relinquish control of Iraq come June 30.
One for all and all for Allawi. Iyad Allawi, Shiite member of the Iraqi Governing Council, is the council's unanimous pick for Iraqi prime minister once sovereignty returns June 30. Coalition officials had stressed not a done deal. But at U.N. headquarters, they're calling Allawi prime minister-designate and a U.S. official now confirms it's official.
We get details from CNN's Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.N. special enjoy to Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi respects the decision by the Iraqi Governing Council to name a new interim prime minister.
The Iraqi Governing Council made the name of Iyad Allawi public after an hours-long meeting in Baghdad. That meeting was attended by Mr. and by Brahimi U.S. administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer. U.S.-led coalition spokesman Dan Senor said the U.N. has and will continue to be involved in the process of putting together a new interim Iraqi government.
The names of those government officials should be made public early next week. Iyad Allawi is a former Iraqi dissident who spent years in exile during the Saddam Hussein regime. He founded the Iraqi National Accord, an opposition political group made up of in part by military defectors. Allawi was known to have close ties to U.S. and British intelligence. He was at one point a member of the Baathist Party, but in 1996, he tried to stage a coup against Saddam Hussein.
People we have spoken to on the streets in Iraq shortly after the announcement was made said that they would support whoever was in government, as long as that person was an Iraqi and worked for the best interests of the Iraqi people.
Meanwhile, on the military front, military officials are still holding out hope for the sustaining of a cease-fire in the embattled holy city of Najaf, this despite skirmishes between radical militias and U.S. forces that left several people dead and wounded on Friday.
And more detainees have been released from Abu Ghraib prison. About 600 were sent to their homes today. The release started early Friday morning. And when it started, one 13-bus convoy came under a brief attack by small-arms gunfire. That attack was repelled by U.S. forces and the convoy was allowed to continue on to its final destination.
Meanwhile, two freelance Japanese journalists were killed in Iraq today. They were returning to Baghdad after having visited Japanese troops in the southern city of Samawah. A hospital official in the town of Mahmoudiya, the site of the attack on their vehicle, said the burnt bodies of two Japanese citizens were in the local morgue.
Japanese Foreign Ministry officials have not yet confirmed the identities of those two bodies. The attack occurred in the same place where several journalists have been attacked and sometimes killed in drive-by shootings.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: it took nearly 60 years, too long for many veterans of World War II, but now a monument to their bravery, courage and sacrifice will finally be dedicated in Washington tomorrow afternoon. Thousands of card-carrying members of the greatest generation will be there to bask in the gratitude of a nation.
CNN's Brian Todd has had the good fortune of meeting with some World War II vets recently and sharing their stories of courage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Tuggle passes his days at the Armed Forces Retirement Home looking at his dance trophies, leafing through mementos, remembering a time few others could comprehend. The Philippines, March 1942, John Tuggle, Navy petty officer 1st class, machinist mate on PT-41, the boat that carries General Douglas MacArthur on a dangerous route to safety as the Japanese overpower American forces on the Bataan Peninsula. Tuggle is awarded his first Silver Star.
JOHN TUGGLE, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: That was given to me by General MacArthur. Everyone on the PT boat that took him off (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and to Mindanao was given a Silver Star.
TODD: Not long after on another mission after his boat runs aground, Tuggle and his mates find themselves virtually alone when U.S. forces surrender Bataan. Surrender is not for John Tuggle.
TUGGLE: I was supposed to surrender and I refused. A lot of us refused and took to the jungle.
TODD: The jungle, where Tuggle and other Americans would join with local Filipinos to engage the Japanese in a guerrilla campaign that would last more than three years. By the time U.S. forces get back into the area to rescue them, John Tuggle has met a young Filipino woman running from the Japanese and married her.
John and Esperanza (ph) make it to America and make a life that would last more than 50 years until her death.
MIMI RIVKIN, WORLD WAR II VETERAN: This is our photo lab group.
TODD: Not far from John Tuggle's room, a woman who has a lifetimes worth of memories from a brief adventure.
RIVKIN: Wasn't I cute?
(LAUGHTER)
TODD: Mimi Rivkin spends the last two years of the war outside Calcutta at a key allied base in what's called the India-China-Burma theater. She works at a lab processing aerial surveillance photos. She brings back a few shots of herself.
RIVKIN: It was a tremendous adventure. In those years, India was, you know, fairy land, some place you'd never dreamed of going.
TODD: Think of this lady as a 20-something, half a world away from home, the world opening up. Not so hard to imagine.
RIVKIN: Now, this is me sitting on the mess sergeant's lap, OK? (LAUGHTER)
TODD: Mischief, bravery, loss, reflection, the war's memories.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Be sure to join CNN for extensive live coverage of tomorrow's dedication of the World War II memorial. Paula Zahn will anchor that coverage. Her special guest, a war veteran you may know, former President George H.W. Bush, exclusive live interview there. It all begins right here tomorrow afternoon 2:00 Eastern.
WHITFIELD: In other news happening across America today, we're getting word police in Miami have tracked down the mother of a 3-year- old boy who was abandoned last night along with his birth certificate and medical records at a downtown McDonald's. The child is said to be confused, but unhurt. His mom is charged with neglect.
In Hillsboro, Oregon, this photo evidence is part of an investigation into vicious dog attacks on a young boy and his sister. And get this. Police say the parents routinely allowed it to happen, though both are pleading innocent to the 10 counts they face. Investigators say the dog bit off part of the boy's ear. The girl needed stitches to close puncture wounds in her arm.
DNA test results are expected back today in the case of this 3- year-old girl abandoned earlier this month in Baltimore. Investigators are trying to determine whether a man and a woman fighting for custody are her real parents -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Hollywood outdoes itself with the latest doomsday thriller.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: A wall of water coming towards New York City.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: "The Day After Tomorrow" hits theaters nationwide. Tinseltown not known for trifling too much with the facts, of course, but could this really happen? Egads. Get your popcorn, a good seat on the couch, maybe get your slicker. I don't know. We'll take a look and uncover the truth. Because that's our goal, the truth, right?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER UPDATE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW") UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Are you there?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Yes, I'm here. These tornadoes are forming so fast.
Oh, oh my God! Lisa, are you getting this on camera? This tornado just came and erased the Hollywood sign. The Hollywood sign is gone.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Is anyone hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I wouldn't be surprised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Yikes. It's weather gone wild, understatement of the year, in "The Day After Tomorrow." The movie, which features breathtaking special effects, opens today at theaters. Well, it's from the director of "Independence Day" and "Godzilla."
The movie is a doomsday look at what happens when polar ice caps melt due to global warming. So far, the forecast for the movie has been quite chilly from the reviewers.
O'BRIEN: "The Day After Tomorrow" opens today, not Sunday, even though that would in fact be "The Day After Tomorrow."
But, of course, I'm quibbling. As a matter of fact, quibbling is what this next segment is all about. Over the years, when it comes to science fiction, vs. fact, Hollywood has set the bar pretty low. Is it possible this movie slides under that bar?
For some answers, we're joined by executive producer for science and technology, Peter Dykstra. He just saw the matinee with his kids. And depending on what he says, I might see it the day after tomorrow.
PETER DYKSTRA, CNN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Day after tomorrow, whenever you want to see it. It's a movie. It's a good movie. The kids loved it because lots of things get destroyed. That's what kids want to see.
O'BRIEN: And that's the important thing.
All right, let's talk about, first of all, the big issue of global warming here. There's scientific consensus out the wazoo on this, right?
DYKSTRA: As close as you can get to scientific consensus. There's always debate. There's always disagreement. It's always a train wreck with money and politics and a whole lot of other things that sort of clash with the pure science.
But the overwhelming number of climate scientists say we've got a problem. Do we have the kind of problem that this movie portrays? No. O'BRIEN: All right, some scriptwriters may have gone off to the races here. Let's ask a couple of questions which might be on your mind as you consider going to see this movie, see the promos, whatever.
The first one is, climate change, which we know pretty much, by and large, is a fact right now, could it lead to some sort of Armageddon-style disaster?
DYKSTRA: Well, I'll have to go over the movie without giving away the whole plot, but a lot of people and a lot of places kind of get destroyed. And it happens very, very quickly, and it happens because the ice cap melts. It changes all the weather in the world. New York City is under ice. There's all sorts of other calamities happening across the globe.
Climate and weather don't work like that. When they say quick climate change, if it happens, to whatever degree it happens, we're talking about decades, we're maybe talking about a century. It's not going to happen the way it happens in the movie.
O'BRIEN: So our next question, then, on, could it happen in five days, you've answered. What sort of time scale are we talking about when you say quick climate change? Could it happen in years, months?
DYKSTRA: The scientists that have studied this say that we could see sea levels rise, we could see temperatures rise over the course of the next century. And we're talking about a few degrees. That's a lot. That's enough to affect crops. That's enough to affect health and the spread of diseases. It's enough to maybe wipe out some beaches if the sea levels rise.
O'BRIEN: All right, explain this one, global warming leading to an ice age. On the face of it, it doesn't sound like it makes much sense.
DYKSTRA: That's where we start the potential to get really, really confusing. And we'll give you the scientific summary version of this.
The ice caps are melting. There's been marked loss of ice, rise in temperature in Antarctica, in the Arctic. If the Arctic ice cap goes away, it may trigger a series of events that knocks out the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is what keeps a lot of the Eastern U.S. warm. It's what keeps Europe warm. It could make parts of the Earth very, very cold while the rest of the Earth is getting warm. You with me?
O'BRIEN: I'm following you completely. The Gulf Stream.
DYKSTRA: The Gulf Stream.
O'BRIEN: The Gulf Stream is an important thing. If you move around, if you when mess with that Gulf Stream, you could end up very cold.
DYKSTRA: But not in five days, not in the kind of calamity we see in the movie. It's Hollywood. It's not supposed to be real.
O'BRIEN: All right, so, with all that, tornadoes in L.A., glaciers in New York City, blizzards in New Delhi, I guess in the grand scheme of time, possible?
DYKSTRA: There are things like that that can happen.
The weather, from what the best climate science we have says, could get very erratic, more storms here, less storms there, more rain here, less rain there, hot weather here, cold weather. We don't know. But tornadoes in L.A., there are probably a lot of serious climate scientists who will see this movie and they would love to see Hollywood get hit by a tornado now.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: All right, Peter Dykstra, thank you very much, our executive producer for science and technology and our in-house environmental expert, who actually got paid to watch a movie today. Not bad.
DYKSTRA: Not bad.
O'BRIEN: All right, we appreciate it. You have a good weekend.
Log on to CNN.com/Science for an in-depth story on "The Day After Tomorrow." Scientists give their take on the film and the realities of global warming.
Well, baseball has gone to the dogs. Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself. This pooch takes the game of fetch to a new level. Jeanne Moos has his tail. Plus, one last check of Wall Street coming up, which we'll retrieve for you.
LIVE FROM continues after a few tales from our commercial sponsors.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(FINANCIAL UPDATE)
O'BRIEN: At the French open, tennis fans got a little more than topspin and lobs. Russian player Marat Safin will never be called the most stylish man of all time. He was so proud of his drop shot apparently that he decided to drop his shorts.
WHITFIELD: Intentionally?
O'BRIEN: Was it intentional?
WHITFIELD: I don't know. That doesn't make sense to me. Why would he do that?
O'BRIEN: It was intentional. He mooned the crowd. And it cost him a point with the umpire. The umpire didn't love it, if you know what I mean. WHITFIELD: No, they didn't like that.
O'BRIEN: Right?
WHITFIELD: No.
O'BRIEN: He went on to win the match and advance to the third round. All right.
WHITFIELD: He got a bum rap.
O'BRIEN: He got a bum rap.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: That's the very truth.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, talk about teaching a dog new tricks -- i don't if we were really talking about that. But, anyway, this dog outdoes them all. When it's time to play ball in Trenton, New Jersey, it's the guy with four legs that's the biggest attraction.
Jeanne Moos has the story of the incredible bat dog.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Down, bat boy, down. Here comes the bat dog. Batting averages aside, there's nothing average about having a dog pick up bats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty cool.
MOOS: This is the second full season that Chase...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Chase, Chase, Chase!
MOOS: Has served as bat dog for the Trenton Thunder, the Yankees AA farm team.
Trying to impress George Steinbrenner, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, even Derek Jeter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good boy.
MOOS: Doesn't get his own pool at the stadium to cool off between innings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go get the bat. Go get it.
MOOS: You don't have to worry about bike marks on the bats?
RICK BRENNER, GEN. MANAGER, TRENTON THUNDER: Golden retrievers are a very soft-mouthed dog. As a breed, they're used for hunting and retrieving birds. You don't want puncture marks in the birds.
MOOS: Chase lives with general manager Rick Brenner, though a professional dog trainer trained him.
STUMP MERRILL, TRENTON THUNDER MANAGER: We enjoy him in the clubhouse. How he's almost one of us.
MOOS: Just like the bat boy, Chase brings water in a basket to the umpires. He only fetches bats in the first inning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's pretty good at it.
MOOS: Is he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MOOS: Better than you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. We'll see to that.
MOOS: Chase committed no errors though he sometimes moves his mouth to avoid the pine tar players use to grip the bat. He also catches Frisbees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That a boy!
MOOS: And even caters to the press, fetching microphones on cue. The club sells his image on bats and T-shirts. Chase is already a stuffed animal. And they're making a bobblehead of him. What dog wouldn't want to hear...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Play ball!
MOOS: And though he doesn't bite the bats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little slobber, maybe.
MOOS: In this game, slobber is a plus.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, Trenton, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: My favorite story of the day. I love that.
O'BRIEN: I don't know if we needed a slow-mo of the red man going out there, did we?
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: All right, that wraps up this Friday edition of LIVE FROM.
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