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Capitol Hill Takedown; Amber Alert Standoff; Gas Prices Break All-Time Record in U.S.

Aired April 11, 2005 - 14:00   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Takedown on Capitol Hill. A suspicious man who created a security scare in the nation's capital now in custody. We've got the details.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A special mass comes under protest. Priests, sex abuse victims, say this cardinal should not be publicly honoring the pope.

PHILLIPS: And gas prices going up. What, if anything, can put the brakes on what you pay at the pump?

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips.

O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

PHILLIPS: Well, we begin with an abrupt end to a brief and bizarre standoff. The man in black, who approached the U.S. Capitol today with two suitcases, only to stand perfectly still while a S.W.A.T. team surrounded him. In custody this hour and Capitol -- back to the Capitol, rather, it is normal, we are told.

We get the story from CNN congressional correspondent Joe Johns.

Joe, we're actually watching the video right now of the actual takedown of this suspect. Bring us up to date.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what caused all this, what brought it about, still unclear to us at this hour, Kyra. What we do know is the man walked up in front of the Capitol on the west front side, in front of the stairs there -- that is the side of the Capitol that faces the National Mall -- and just stood in between two rolling bags. And police let him stand there quite a while, sort of massing around, then taking some other steps, including moving tourists away from the area.

I saw a lot of tourists actually leaving the United States Capitol. Sometime after that, of course, simply tackled the man and took him away.

It's not clear what was in the bags. And what is clear now is that things are getting back to normal at the United States Capitol. No harm to any tourists, of course, and business continues as usual -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Joe, do you know if the bomb squad was called out and if those bags have been checked out, or if they're still there by where the suspect was standing?

JOHNS: Frankly, I do not, because I'm, at this point, in a place where I cannot see whether the bags remain at that location. I do know that standard procedure, of course, calls for U.S. Capitol Police at all times to check the bags of anyone on the United States Capitol complex, including all the people who work there. And whenever they see someone in a situation like this one, with bags that could be deemed suspicious, they do take a certain degree of caution -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And this could -- and Joe, do you think this possibly was some type of protest, that's what's being considered? This man had a beef about something?

JOHNS: Right. That's certainly what it appeared to me.

I got a chance to look at him from a window on the third floor of the Capitol on the Senate side, and it did appear to be a protest, the type of which you've seen here before, of course. Usually when you have a protest on the U.S. Capitol grounds, you've got to get permission for it, and it certainly appears he didn't have permission today.

PHILLIPS: All right. And looking at our live shot right now, actually, Joe, I know you're not directly in front of where this took place. But we actually do see the bags.

They're still there. We see the yellow tape. It's been roped off.

We'll continue to check in with you as the story unfolds, try and find out what indeed is inside those bags. And also, more information with regard to the suspect that is now in custody.

Well, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

O'BRIEN: And now another kind of standoff to tell you about. This one 55 miles outside of Irvington, New Jersey. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is telling us about this, involving a father, a 4-month-old and the mother of that child.

Deborah, what can you tell us?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, what we do know is that it began as a domestic dispute. You can see the pictures there now.

The police car and that silver Honda, that's the one in question. You can see the suspect apparently, Almutah Saunders, who this morning abducted his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his child. And that -- those two, Jada Saunders and Erika Turner, are the two that police really want to make sure that they get out unharmed. It has been close to seven hours since this whole thing began. Right now where we stand, one man has been shot. His daughter and granddaughter, they are the ones who are in the car. And the suspect there negotiating with police officers.

But what we can tell you, what we're getting from local police, is that the woman, Erika Turner, was beginning to have big problems with the man who had fathered her child. Apparently, she had taken out a restraining order against him. The restraining order was still in the process of being served on him.

It all began over a domestic dispute. Then came threatening phone calls. Last week, he even allegedly abducted her from her home and brought her back a short time later. There was an arrest warrant out in connection with that incident.

Now, his aunt was on a local television station here in the New York-New Jersey area begging him to let Ms. Turner and the baby go unharmed, saying that there was support, that all he had to do was make sure that they got out safely. But this woman was apparently so scared that she'd asked her father to take her back and forth from work to sort of serve as protection.

This morning, Saunders turned up at the home, shot the father in the leg. And that's when he abducted the woman and the child.

So, again, what we saw probably about 20 minutes ago, Miles, is a hostage negotiator got very, very close to the vehicle, actually. Sort of came around in a big arc, got to the driver's side. He was shielded by a member of the S.W.A.T. team, and then dropped off either what was a package or some sort of a white envelope, and then backed away from the car.

Earlier, the suspect had asked for some water. They've been in that car a long time. It's very warm.

The motor is not running, though apparently the window is down. But they have been in communication by a cell phone. And right now police just working to make sure this is all resolved and no one gets hurt -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Deborah, as we look at the picture there, a close-up from our affiliate, WPIX -- and we thank them for that -- of that silver vehicle, it appears the sunroof is open as well. And there you can see, as they pull back, you can see where the authorities have set up sort of a mini command post there, taking cover behind a couple of police cruisers there.

Hard to tell right now, Deborah, if there is an active dialogue under way. But as you say, with cell phones and so forth, it's quite possible they're talking right now. Any word -- no indication, obviously -- they're in the midst of this -- if there is any specific demands that he is making right now?

FEYERICK: No, we don't know if there are any demands. As a matter of fact, there was some sort of hopeful sign earlier this morning.

Apparently, the young woman was able to convince her abductor to let her make a phone call. She dialed 911, spoke to police. And there was even some potential discussion as to whether he may or may not let her go unharmed.

What's interesting is that the area that they're in right now, Miles, once the helicopter pulls back you'll be able to see it. It's really a very enclosed area.

There are homes. There are dead ends. There are cul-de-sacs. It's not the easiest place to get out of.

So whether he sort of cornered himself, boxed himself into this complex, it's actually making it a little easier for police because he cannot get out. And even when he moved the car earlier today, he didn't do it by jumping over the median or gunning the gas. He basically pulled very slowly, maybe about 50 feet, and then backed into that space.

So he wasn't being aggressive at that moment in time. And again, he has been speaking with the hostage negotiator.

O'BRIEN: All right. And Deborah, as you've been talking there, it appears the S.W.A.T. team there has sort of massed and aligned there. I don't know what that indicates. We'd have to have somebody on the line, an expert on such activities.

But I can't imagine a scenario that with a 4-month-old child in that car in which they would, of course, storm that vehicle. It's just in stark contrast to what we saw at the U.S. Capitol, where there was a lone person. They took him down very quickly.

In this case, time is on the side of the authorities. As we zoom in on those S.W.A.T. members, one, two, three, four, five, at least a half dozen of them in their full S.W.A.T. getups there. But once again, taking cover behind the vehicle.

And just to underscore where this all began, there was a shooting that sort of started this all off. The grandfather of the 4-month-old girl, Erika Turner, shot in the leg. And he is expected to be fine. And that, of course, we think might play into the hostage negotiations here.

We -- Kyra at the top of the previous hour talked to a hostage expert about that. And the rationale here being they can say to him, look, you know, you haven't committed murder here, there's a good chance that we can settle this whole thing, and give this person a sense of optimism. But those things take time, don't they, Deborah?

FEYERICK: Absolutely. We do know that local officials are telling us that apparently the man does have a criminal record. But we don't know what kind of criminal record that he has.

So, again, you're right. Kidnapping is a far different degree of seriousness than actual murder. And plus, it's his daughter. So we don't know whether, in fact, he just wanted to spend more time with her, whether he wanted reconciliation. But, again, all reports, what we're being told, is that his behavior was growing increasingly erratic and aggressive towards this young woman. So she was probably trying to protect herself and her child.

O'BRIEN: And one final thought here, Deborah. You mentioned that water went into the vehicle. Four-month-old child, formula, anything for the child that has been requested or given by the authorities?

FEYERICK: No. So far, the only thing that he's asked for is water. The baby is so young that perhaps it's still breast feeding. We don't know that.

You know, all fingers crossed that perhaps the baby's just taking a very long nap right now, which is a possibility. But the tension in that car has got to just be extraordinary as everyone tries to figure out how everyone can get out of this mess.

O'BRIEN: And we can only hope this is one of those babies that sleeps the moments they get in a car. All right.

Deborah Feyerick watching this one very closely for you. We'll keep you posted as developments warrant on that situation outside of Irvington, New Jersey.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, some women say that their health has been ruined by them.

O'BRIEN: But today, the Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to ease restrictions on the use of silicone breast implants. That story straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

PHILLIPS: Some Catholics say a mass at the Vatican today sends the wrong message. Details on why straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A tough-talking diplomat is explaining some of his juicier quotes to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It's the confirmation hearing for John Bolton, selected by President Bush to plead America's case before the United Nations. Some of Bolton's past remarks have sounded to some like U.N. bashing. He says that's not the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, NOMINEE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: A consistent theme of my writings is that for the U.N. to be effective it requires American leadership. I say it over and over again. I deeply believe it. My criticisms during the 1990s were in large measure because of what I thought was the lack of effective American leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, today's hearing was briefly interrupted by three demonstrators who made some loud remarks about the nominee and held up signs suggesting that he's a bully.

Well, turning now to news, it's no surprise to motorists. In the past three weeks gas prices jumped 19 cents, setting an all-time record. The average price per gallon is now $2.29. The cheapest gas appears to be in Newark, New Jersey, where it's 2.06 per gallon, while the most expensive in Bakersfield, California, at a whopping $2.62 a gallon. And despite the sticker shock, it could get worse.

CNN's Chris Huntington with more on that now in New York.

You were ripping up $2 bills, Chris. I think you're going to be ripping up $20s pretty soon.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, we're going to be looking for some large denominations (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It's most likely going to get worse before it gets better.

There's about a 10-day to two-week time delay in the prices that are hit in the futures trading pits here in New York, downtown Manhattan from where I sit, to what shows up at the retail prices on the pumps. And there's still a few more pennies left in some of the spikes we hit in crude oil prices in particular about a week ago that are still to show up.

In fact, the Department of Energy predicts that the average price for the Month of May nationwide for regular unleaded will be $2.35 a gallon. But just imagine you were driving a big SUV and you happened to be driving around Europe. Can you imagine what it would cost you to fill up a 40-gallon tank, say, in Amsterdam?

Well, we just crunched the math. And, in fact, it would cost you close to $300.

Take a look at some of the prices that Europeans pay. And, of course, this is no secret if you've ever traveled to continent or if you have relatives over there. But this is using premium unleaded, which is close to the standard grade mostly on sale in Europe. This is in dollars per gallon.

You can see there in the Netherlands nearly $6.50 a gallon. You'd be lucky, of course, in the United States to find premium unleaded for $2.40 a gallon right now. But take a look.

If you strip out the taxes, which account for more than two- thirds of the cost in most of the European countries, and you can see that what we pay for the underlying cost of the fuel is comparable to what is paid on the continent, and in some cases even a bit more. Particularly, look at the comparison there with the United Kingdom.

So something for everybody there, Kyra. But the fact is, gas is well above two bucks a gallon and likely to stay here for the foreseeable future. There may be some hope as we get a little bit past Memorial Day that those prices will dip down just a bit.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep our fingers crossed. Chris Huntington, thanks so much.

Well, soaring gas prices are driving up the market for gas- electric hybrids. Toyota's Prius is said to be a hot commodity, and new models are selling above list price despite a two month wait time for delivery.

Now, according to a study by "Kelley Blue Book," and Harris Interactive, used Priuses are also commanding top dollar. Some owners listing the vehicles above their original price. You can see the whole story on money.cnn.com.

O'BRIEN: Well, does your vehicle pass the crash test? We've got results of the latest round of smash-ups just ahead on LIVE FROM.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: All right. Take a look at this scene.

This is taped just a few moments ago. It comes into our affiliate -- from our affiliate, KTLA. That is the Ameriquest blimp. The location is the Long Beach, California, airport, Los Angeles area.

As you can plainly see, the blimp is attached to its boom on its nose but is having some difficulty getting straight and level in order for the pilot and crew to disembark. There you see some of the -- these are live pictures now as the firefighters there, I guess as a preventive measure, are spraying something. Maybe they're thinking about spraying some water on it to lower it. I don't' know.

Joining us on the line is an expert who can tell us a few things about this. Martha King, the cofounder of the King Schools, the largest aviation instruction organization in the world, and the woman who holds more ratings for flying than any other woman on the planet, and happens to fly a lot of blimps, mostly for Fuji, but has been on this one in particular, joins us to talk a little bit about it.

Martha, good to have you with us. This is not, first of all, a dangerous situation, right?

MARTHA KING, COFOUNDER, KING SCHOOLS: This is not at all a dangerous situation, Miles. What probably happened is that they got a big wind gust after they had already attached the nose of the blimp to the boom, as you said, or the mast, as it's often called, which could kite it up into the air. Or perhaps we've got a really clear, sunny day here.

When the helium in the blimp envelope heats up, that will tend to make the ship rise up. And possibly -- you were mentioning the fire department and some water hoses -- possibly they'll be thinking of cooling off the airship by putting some water on it, which also adds weight to help bring it down. But it's not a dangerous situation.

The only issue here really is they could bring it down pretty easily if they vented helium, but that's a bit expensive. And so they'll probably try some other alternatives before they do that.

O'BRIEN: And let's do a quick explainer for folks. When a blimp, of course, as most probably know, flies because it has helium, which, of course, is lighter than air, but, of course, it would be very expensive and ultimately difficult and challenging to constantly vent and add helium. So what is done is the blimp is designed to be positively buoyant with the helium, and then air is sucked in and out.

This is a lot how submarines operate. Air is sucked in and out depending on where you want to be, up or down. So, in essence, they were probably trying to suck air into that back portion of this blimp in order to make it heavier to bring it down. And for some reason, it appears that didn't work out.

KING: Well, the primary purpose of the ballonets -- ballonets, there is an air bag, as you said, Miles, on a Skyship 600, as the Ameriquest blimp is. There is a ballonet or air bag in the front and one in the back, and the primary purpose of those is to allow the helium in the envelope to expand and contract and still keep the overall envelope pressure so that your control cables stay good and you maintain a good shape on the airship.

They -- it sounds like they didn't get it -- after they landed, it touched down on the ground to the crew -- that they might not have gotten it trimmed properly with these airbags. And also, normally after you land, they will put on bags of lead shot to help balance the airship and make sure it's heavy enough to stay down on the ground.

And perhaps they had a problem with that. Or it could also be they carry a fair amount of water ballast in a big tank in the back. It could be that that accidentally got dumped -- not on purpose -- and that that made the airship light and, therefore, the back end of it kited up or rose up.

O'BRIEN: All right. So I suppose the simple solution here, as you said, would be to vent some helium, which would cost Ameriquest or the company that owns -- that runs this some money, but would ultimately would level that blimp out and allow people to get out. Just out of curiosity, what would be the maximum capacity roughly of that -- the crew and cabin area?

KING: I'm not sure I understand your question, Miles.

O'BRIEN: The question is, how many people might be on board right now typically?

KING: Oh, I'm sorry.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

KING: There are two crew seats and eight passenger seats.

O'BRIEN: All right. So potentially up to 10 people on board right now stuck waiting for this to happen.

KING: That's correct.

O'BRIEN: And they're not just simply going to vent out helium and save the day here. That's why we're seeing this water being applied to, as you say, change the temperature and perhaps make the balloon -- the balloon -- the blimp less buoyant.

KING: Yes, the water would do two things. One, it would cool the airship off. And also, the presence of the water would add considerable weight and tend to bring it down. And what they -- part of what they want to do obviously is bring it down, the rear of it down gently, without any particular banging.

O'BRIEN: All right. All right. Martha King, blimp pilot and the holder of just about every rating there is for aviation, co- founder of the King Schools in San Diego. Thanks very much for your time and your insights. Appreciate it.

KING: Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And we want to check on the markets real quickly. Live picture from the board there at the New York Stock Exchange. Dow industrials up by six points.

More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 11, 2005 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Takedown on Capitol Hill. A suspicious man who created a security scare in the nation's capital now in custody. We've got the details.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A special mass comes under protest. Priests, sex abuse victims, say this cardinal should not be publicly honoring the pope.

PHILLIPS: And gas prices going up. What, if anything, can put the brakes on what you pay at the pump?

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips.

O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

PHILLIPS: Well, we begin with an abrupt end to a brief and bizarre standoff. The man in black, who approached the U.S. Capitol today with two suitcases, only to stand perfectly still while a S.W.A.T. team surrounded him. In custody this hour and Capitol -- back to the Capitol, rather, it is normal, we are told.

We get the story from CNN congressional correspondent Joe Johns.

Joe, we're actually watching the video right now of the actual takedown of this suspect. Bring us up to date.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what caused all this, what brought it about, still unclear to us at this hour, Kyra. What we do know is the man walked up in front of the Capitol on the west front side, in front of the stairs there -- that is the side of the Capitol that faces the National Mall -- and just stood in between two rolling bags. And police let him stand there quite a while, sort of massing around, then taking some other steps, including moving tourists away from the area.

I saw a lot of tourists actually leaving the United States Capitol. Sometime after that, of course, simply tackled the man and took him away.

It's not clear what was in the bags. And what is clear now is that things are getting back to normal at the United States Capitol. No harm to any tourists, of course, and business continues as usual -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Joe, do you know if the bomb squad was called out and if those bags have been checked out, or if they're still there by where the suspect was standing?

JOHNS: Frankly, I do not, because I'm, at this point, in a place where I cannot see whether the bags remain at that location. I do know that standard procedure, of course, calls for U.S. Capitol Police at all times to check the bags of anyone on the United States Capitol complex, including all the people who work there. And whenever they see someone in a situation like this one, with bags that could be deemed suspicious, they do take a certain degree of caution -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And this could -- and Joe, do you think this possibly was some type of protest, that's what's being considered? This man had a beef about something?

JOHNS: Right. That's certainly what it appeared to me.

I got a chance to look at him from a window on the third floor of the Capitol on the Senate side, and it did appear to be a protest, the type of which you've seen here before, of course. Usually when you have a protest on the U.S. Capitol grounds, you've got to get permission for it, and it certainly appears he didn't have permission today.

PHILLIPS: All right. And looking at our live shot right now, actually, Joe, I know you're not directly in front of where this took place. But we actually do see the bags.

They're still there. We see the yellow tape. It's been roped off.

We'll continue to check in with you as the story unfolds, try and find out what indeed is inside those bags. And also, more information with regard to the suspect that is now in custody.

Well, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

O'BRIEN: And now another kind of standoff to tell you about. This one 55 miles outside of Irvington, New Jersey. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is telling us about this, involving a father, a 4-month-old and the mother of that child.

Deborah, what can you tell us?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, what we do know is that it began as a domestic dispute. You can see the pictures there now.

The police car and that silver Honda, that's the one in question. You can see the suspect apparently, Almutah Saunders, who this morning abducted his ex-girlfriend, the mother of his child. And that -- those two, Jada Saunders and Erika Turner, are the two that police really want to make sure that they get out unharmed. It has been close to seven hours since this whole thing began. Right now where we stand, one man has been shot. His daughter and granddaughter, they are the ones who are in the car. And the suspect there negotiating with police officers.

But what we can tell you, what we're getting from local police, is that the woman, Erika Turner, was beginning to have big problems with the man who had fathered her child. Apparently, she had taken out a restraining order against him. The restraining order was still in the process of being served on him.

It all began over a domestic dispute. Then came threatening phone calls. Last week, he even allegedly abducted her from her home and brought her back a short time later. There was an arrest warrant out in connection with that incident.

Now, his aunt was on a local television station here in the New York-New Jersey area begging him to let Ms. Turner and the baby go unharmed, saying that there was support, that all he had to do was make sure that they got out safely. But this woman was apparently so scared that she'd asked her father to take her back and forth from work to sort of serve as protection.

This morning, Saunders turned up at the home, shot the father in the leg. And that's when he abducted the woman and the child.

So, again, what we saw probably about 20 minutes ago, Miles, is a hostage negotiator got very, very close to the vehicle, actually. Sort of came around in a big arc, got to the driver's side. He was shielded by a member of the S.W.A.T. team, and then dropped off either what was a package or some sort of a white envelope, and then backed away from the car.

Earlier, the suspect had asked for some water. They've been in that car a long time. It's very warm.

The motor is not running, though apparently the window is down. But they have been in communication by a cell phone. And right now police just working to make sure this is all resolved and no one gets hurt -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Deborah, as we look at the picture there, a close-up from our affiliate, WPIX -- and we thank them for that -- of that silver vehicle, it appears the sunroof is open as well. And there you can see, as they pull back, you can see where the authorities have set up sort of a mini command post there, taking cover behind a couple of police cruisers there.

Hard to tell right now, Deborah, if there is an active dialogue under way. But as you say, with cell phones and so forth, it's quite possible they're talking right now. Any word -- no indication, obviously -- they're in the midst of this -- if there is any specific demands that he is making right now?

FEYERICK: No, we don't know if there are any demands. As a matter of fact, there was some sort of hopeful sign earlier this morning.

Apparently, the young woman was able to convince her abductor to let her make a phone call. She dialed 911, spoke to police. And there was even some potential discussion as to whether he may or may not let her go unharmed.

What's interesting is that the area that they're in right now, Miles, once the helicopter pulls back you'll be able to see it. It's really a very enclosed area.

There are homes. There are dead ends. There are cul-de-sacs. It's not the easiest place to get out of.

So whether he sort of cornered himself, boxed himself into this complex, it's actually making it a little easier for police because he cannot get out. And even when he moved the car earlier today, he didn't do it by jumping over the median or gunning the gas. He basically pulled very slowly, maybe about 50 feet, and then backed into that space.

So he wasn't being aggressive at that moment in time. And again, he has been speaking with the hostage negotiator.

O'BRIEN: All right. And Deborah, as you've been talking there, it appears the S.W.A.T. team there has sort of massed and aligned there. I don't know what that indicates. We'd have to have somebody on the line, an expert on such activities.

But I can't imagine a scenario that with a 4-month-old child in that car in which they would, of course, storm that vehicle. It's just in stark contrast to what we saw at the U.S. Capitol, where there was a lone person. They took him down very quickly.

In this case, time is on the side of the authorities. As we zoom in on those S.W.A.T. members, one, two, three, four, five, at least a half dozen of them in their full S.W.A.T. getups there. But once again, taking cover behind the vehicle.

And just to underscore where this all began, there was a shooting that sort of started this all off. The grandfather of the 4-month-old girl, Erika Turner, shot in the leg. And he is expected to be fine. And that, of course, we think might play into the hostage negotiations here.

We -- Kyra at the top of the previous hour talked to a hostage expert about that. And the rationale here being they can say to him, look, you know, you haven't committed murder here, there's a good chance that we can settle this whole thing, and give this person a sense of optimism. But those things take time, don't they, Deborah?

FEYERICK: Absolutely. We do know that local officials are telling us that apparently the man does have a criminal record. But we don't know what kind of criminal record that he has.

So, again, you're right. Kidnapping is a far different degree of seriousness than actual murder. And plus, it's his daughter. So we don't know whether, in fact, he just wanted to spend more time with her, whether he wanted reconciliation. But, again, all reports, what we're being told, is that his behavior was growing increasingly erratic and aggressive towards this young woman. So she was probably trying to protect herself and her child.

O'BRIEN: And one final thought here, Deborah. You mentioned that water went into the vehicle. Four-month-old child, formula, anything for the child that has been requested or given by the authorities?

FEYERICK: No. So far, the only thing that he's asked for is water. The baby is so young that perhaps it's still breast feeding. We don't know that.

You know, all fingers crossed that perhaps the baby's just taking a very long nap right now, which is a possibility. But the tension in that car has got to just be extraordinary as everyone tries to figure out how everyone can get out of this mess.

O'BRIEN: And we can only hope this is one of those babies that sleeps the moments they get in a car. All right.

Deborah Feyerick watching this one very closely for you. We'll keep you posted as developments warrant on that situation outside of Irvington, New Jersey.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, some women say that their health has been ruined by them.

O'BRIEN: But today, the Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to ease restrictions on the use of silicone breast implants. That story straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

PHILLIPS: Some Catholics say a mass at the Vatican today sends the wrong message. Details on why straight ahead.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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PHILLIPS: A tough-talking diplomat is explaining some of his juicier quotes to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It's the confirmation hearing for John Bolton, selected by President Bush to plead America's case before the United Nations. Some of Bolton's past remarks have sounded to some like U.N. bashing. He says that's not the case.

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JOHN BOLTON, NOMINEE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: A consistent theme of my writings is that for the U.N. to be effective it requires American leadership. I say it over and over again. I deeply believe it. My criticisms during the 1990s were in large measure because of what I thought was the lack of effective American leadership.

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PHILLIPS: Well, today's hearing was briefly interrupted by three demonstrators who made some loud remarks about the nominee and held up signs suggesting that he's a bully.

Well, turning now to news, it's no surprise to motorists. In the past three weeks gas prices jumped 19 cents, setting an all-time record. The average price per gallon is now $2.29. The cheapest gas appears to be in Newark, New Jersey, where it's 2.06 per gallon, while the most expensive in Bakersfield, California, at a whopping $2.62 a gallon. And despite the sticker shock, it could get worse.

CNN's Chris Huntington with more on that now in New York.

You were ripping up $2 bills, Chris. I think you're going to be ripping up $20s pretty soon.

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, we're going to be looking for some large denominations (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It's most likely going to get worse before it gets better.

There's about a 10-day to two-week time delay in the prices that are hit in the futures trading pits here in New York, downtown Manhattan from where I sit, to what shows up at the retail prices on the pumps. And there's still a few more pennies left in some of the spikes we hit in crude oil prices in particular about a week ago that are still to show up.

In fact, the Department of Energy predicts that the average price for the Month of May nationwide for regular unleaded will be $2.35 a gallon. But just imagine you were driving a big SUV and you happened to be driving around Europe. Can you imagine what it would cost you to fill up a 40-gallon tank, say, in Amsterdam?

Well, we just crunched the math. And, in fact, it would cost you close to $300.

Take a look at some of the prices that Europeans pay. And, of course, this is no secret if you've ever traveled to continent or if you have relatives over there. But this is using premium unleaded, which is close to the standard grade mostly on sale in Europe. This is in dollars per gallon.

You can see there in the Netherlands nearly $6.50 a gallon. You'd be lucky, of course, in the United States to find premium unleaded for $2.40 a gallon right now. But take a look.

If you strip out the taxes, which account for more than two- thirds of the cost in most of the European countries, and you can see that what we pay for the underlying cost of the fuel is comparable to what is paid on the continent, and in some cases even a bit more. Particularly, look at the comparison there with the United Kingdom.

So something for everybody there, Kyra. But the fact is, gas is well above two bucks a gallon and likely to stay here for the foreseeable future. There may be some hope as we get a little bit past Memorial Day that those prices will dip down just a bit.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep our fingers crossed. Chris Huntington, thanks so much.

Well, soaring gas prices are driving up the market for gas- electric hybrids. Toyota's Prius is said to be a hot commodity, and new models are selling above list price despite a two month wait time for delivery.

Now, according to a study by "Kelley Blue Book," and Harris Interactive, used Priuses are also commanding top dollar. Some owners listing the vehicles above their original price. You can see the whole story on money.cnn.com.

O'BRIEN: Well, does your vehicle pass the crash test? We've got results of the latest round of smash-ups just ahead on LIVE FROM.

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O'BRIEN: All right. Take a look at this scene.

This is taped just a few moments ago. It comes into our affiliate -- from our affiliate, KTLA. That is the Ameriquest blimp. The location is the Long Beach, California, airport, Los Angeles area.

As you can plainly see, the blimp is attached to its boom on its nose but is having some difficulty getting straight and level in order for the pilot and crew to disembark. There you see some of the -- these are live pictures now as the firefighters there, I guess as a preventive measure, are spraying something. Maybe they're thinking about spraying some water on it to lower it. I don't' know.

Joining us on the line is an expert who can tell us a few things about this. Martha King, the cofounder of the King Schools, the largest aviation instruction organization in the world, and the woman who holds more ratings for flying than any other woman on the planet, and happens to fly a lot of blimps, mostly for Fuji, but has been on this one in particular, joins us to talk a little bit about it.

Martha, good to have you with us. This is not, first of all, a dangerous situation, right?

MARTHA KING, COFOUNDER, KING SCHOOLS: This is not at all a dangerous situation, Miles. What probably happened is that they got a big wind gust after they had already attached the nose of the blimp to the boom, as you said, or the mast, as it's often called, which could kite it up into the air. Or perhaps we've got a really clear, sunny day here.

When the helium in the blimp envelope heats up, that will tend to make the ship rise up. And possibly -- you were mentioning the fire department and some water hoses -- possibly they'll be thinking of cooling off the airship by putting some water on it, which also adds weight to help bring it down. But it's not a dangerous situation.

The only issue here really is they could bring it down pretty easily if they vented helium, but that's a bit expensive. And so they'll probably try some other alternatives before they do that.

O'BRIEN: And let's do a quick explainer for folks. When a blimp, of course, as most probably know, flies because it has helium, which, of course, is lighter than air, but, of course, it would be very expensive and ultimately difficult and challenging to constantly vent and add helium. So what is done is the blimp is designed to be positively buoyant with the helium, and then air is sucked in and out.

This is a lot how submarines operate. Air is sucked in and out depending on where you want to be, up or down. So, in essence, they were probably trying to suck air into that back portion of this blimp in order to make it heavier to bring it down. And for some reason, it appears that didn't work out.

KING: Well, the primary purpose of the ballonets -- ballonets, there is an air bag, as you said, Miles, on a Skyship 600, as the Ameriquest blimp is. There is a ballonet or air bag in the front and one in the back, and the primary purpose of those is to allow the helium in the envelope to expand and contract and still keep the overall envelope pressure so that your control cables stay good and you maintain a good shape on the airship.

They -- it sounds like they didn't get it -- after they landed, it touched down on the ground to the crew -- that they might not have gotten it trimmed properly with these airbags. And also, normally after you land, they will put on bags of lead shot to help balance the airship and make sure it's heavy enough to stay down on the ground.

And perhaps they had a problem with that. Or it could also be they carry a fair amount of water ballast in a big tank in the back. It could be that that accidentally got dumped -- not on purpose -- and that that made the airship light and, therefore, the back end of it kited up or rose up.

O'BRIEN: All right. So I suppose the simple solution here, as you said, would be to vent some helium, which would cost Ameriquest or the company that owns -- that runs this some money, but would ultimately would level that blimp out and allow people to get out. Just out of curiosity, what would be the maximum capacity roughly of that -- the crew and cabin area?

KING: I'm not sure I understand your question, Miles.

O'BRIEN: The question is, how many people might be on board right now typically?

KING: Oh, I'm sorry.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

KING: There are two crew seats and eight passenger seats.

O'BRIEN: All right. So potentially up to 10 people on board right now stuck waiting for this to happen.

KING: That's correct.

O'BRIEN: And they're not just simply going to vent out helium and save the day here. That's why we're seeing this water being applied to, as you say, change the temperature and perhaps make the balloon -- the balloon -- the blimp less buoyant.

KING: Yes, the water would do two things. One, it would cool the airship off. And also, the presence of the water would add considerable weight and tend to bring it down. And what they -- part of what they want to do obviously is bring it down, the rear of it down gently, without any particular banging.

O'BRIEN: All right. All right. Martha King, blimp pilot and the holder of just about every rating there is for aviation, co- founder of the King Schools in San Diego. Thanks very much for your time and your insights. Appreciate it.

KING: Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And we want to check on the markets real quickly. Live picture from the board there at the New York Stock Exchange. Dow industrials up by six points.

More LIVE FROM right after this.

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