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Al Qaeda Number Two Appears on Videotape; President Bush Prepares For State of the Union Address; Long Road to Recovery For Two ABC Journalists Wounded in Iraq

Aired January 30, 2006 - 15:00   ET

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


TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: You know, it is hard to tell after just one day, Betty.
(LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: But, according to the Chinese calendar, we are now experiencing the Year of the Dog.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The dog.

HARRIS: Yes.

CNN's Eunice Yoon is in Hong Kong with the poop on what it might mean for you and your best pal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EUNICE YOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Taking a stroll through Hong Kong's busy Times Square is just one way Bobo (ph) enjoys spending his lunar New Year holiday.

Like many in Asia, this French bulldog is excited about the festivities. Somehow, he has got a feeling this is going to be his year -- and for good reason. It's the Year of the Dog.

The start of the lunar new year is often a time for Hong Kongers to get their fortunes told, though, sometimes, it is better not to know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Your relationship is basically good, but, this year, Bobo (ph) will be lonely and have a small accident some time in the summer.

YOON: It's also a time to visit the city's temple, to give thanks for the past year, and pray for good luck in the new.

Just how lucky you are, though, really depends on when you were born, according to celebrity fortune teller Peter So. So says, lucky signs this year are the snake, pig and rabbit. Snakes will have the best year in love and in their careers.

MASTER PETER SO, GEOMANCY CONSULTANT (through translator): It's a good year for unmarried snakes to get married. Pigs will enjoy good luck in their careers, probably getting that hard-earned promotion. Unmarried rabbit people will likely hook up with someone from their past, though the relationship might not last very long.

YOON: Unlucky signs this year, according to Master So, the ox, goat, and dragon. Ox and goat people will be the target of vicious gossip and will be prone to digestive problems. Dragons born in the spring and summer will experience changes, for the worse, in their careers and in love.

But it's not that great for dogs either. According to Chinese astrology, people tend to clash with their zodiac signs.

SO (through translator): Dog people will likely fall into a deep depression around the end of September. So, they should take a holiday that month.

YOON: There is a way, though, to improve your luck.

SO (through translator): Through feng shui. To increase your luck with money, you can place a glass of water to the north. To ward off gossip, you should place a sheet of pink paper in the center of your home or office. To improve your health, you can place a music box or a plate of wet sand in the northeast or southwest.

YOON: And, once you have taken all those precautions, put on your party clothes and hit the town. The start of the lunar new year is traditionally a time to invest in a new wardrobe, be you man or man's best friends.

Eunice Yoon, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Airtight proof, or so it appears, that a recent U.S. airstrike aimed at al Qaeda's second in command missed.

Al-Jazeera today aired a videotape of Ayman al-Zawahri, in which he talks about the airstrike earlier this month. He also says the U.S. shouldn't have ignored a so-called truce offered by his boss, Osama bin Laden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYMAN AL-ZAWAHRI, AL QAEDA LEADER (through translator): I tell you that Bush and his gang are shedding your blood and wasting your money in frustrated adventures. The lion of Islam, Sheik Osama bin Laden offered you a decent exit from your dilemma. But your leaders, who are keen to accumulate wealth, insist on throwing you in battles and killing your souls in Iraq and Afghanistan and, God willing, on your own land.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: CNN national security correspondent David Ensor joins us from Washington.

And, David, first of all, any official reaction from official Washington to this tape? DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes.

They -- counterterrorism officials say they had -- they fully expected that this tape would come out around this time, after the unsuccessful effort to kill Zawahri of -- of January 13. And they say that, while the Central Intelligence Agency will do the normal technical checks on the tape, there is, at this point, no reason to doubt its authenticity.

One official I spoke said he thought that Zawahri was rather agitated on the tape, but the overall purpose of it, this official thought, was to reassure the al Qaeda rank-and-file that he did, indeed, survive the attack and take whatever propaganda advantage al Qaeda could from the fact that the American attack failed to kill the number-two leader.

HARRIS: And, David, let's take a listen to this other bit of sound from this tape, where Zawahri is talking about that attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL-ZAWAHRI (through translator): The American airplanes, in collaboration with their agents of the Jews and Crusaders, Musharraf, launched an airstrike on Damadola, near Peshawar, around the Eid holiday, during which 18 Muslims, men, women, and children, were killed in this fight against Islam, which they called terrorism.

Their claim was to target this poor man and four of my brothers. The whole world discovered the lies, as the Americans Islam and the Muslims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK.

And there it is, David, Zawahri making reference to the attack and, obviously, seemingly, proof of life.

ENSOR: Proof that he's alive.

He's referring to those events. He also could be taken to be confirming what American officials have said, which is that they believed they killed a small group of his followers.

He refers to those four brothers. That is around the number that the U.S. intelligence people I have spoken to say they think they -- they did, in fact, kill. So, my -- for one of these rare instances where we might have U.S. intelligence and al Qaeda agreeing on something -- Tony.

HARRIS: CNN national security correspondent David Ensor for us in Washington -- David, thank you -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Is a victory lap all that's left for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito? Senate Republicans say that they are betting on it, and a few die-hard Democrats shout, not so fast. CNN's Andrea Koppel is covering developments on Capitol Hill.

Andrea, how close is this filibuster vote?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Not close enough, as far as the Democrats are concerned, Betty.

If things kind of play out the way they appear they are headed, we're going to get a vote to see whether or not the Republicans can cut off debate on the Alito nomination. That's going to happen about 4:30 this afternoon. And the expectation is, barring any last-minute surprises, that Democrats will not have the 41 votes needed to sustain the filibuster.

And what that means is that, probably, about 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, some time late morning, there will be an up-or down vote. And the expectation, again, is that Alito will get the votes needed to be confirmed.

As things stand right now, Democrats have not given up the fight, even though they see it as a losing battle at this point. It's been very emotional on both sides.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: This is the time for debate. This is the time when it counts, not after the Supreme Court has granted the executive the right to use torture or to eavesdrop without warrants, not after a woman's right to privacy has been taken away.

History is really not going to care what we say after the courthouse door is slammed in the faces of women and minorities, the elderly, the disabled, and the poor. History will wonder why we didn't do more when we knew what was coming.

SEN. PETE DOMENICI (R), NEW MEXICO: This has turned into nothing more than a political war. Those who are going to vote to continue debate, many of them know that this man is as qualified as anyone we're going to get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Now, about 30 minutes from now, we're going to have a meeting of the so-called gang of 14. Remember, that's the bipartisan group, seven Democrats, seven Republicans, that joined together last year, saying that only if there were extraordinary circumstances, they would support -- and these are -- these are moderates from both sites -- would they support a filibuster.

We can expect, among them, Democrat Ben Nelson to come out after this meeting and say that they do not see grounds for a filibuster. But, Betty, as things stand right now, it's pretty much over.

NGUYEN: All right. So, that being the case, if the votes fall in line where they are expected to, does it mean that Alito could be sworn in, in robes and ready for that State of the Union address tomorrow?

KOPPEL: Absolutely. And that is certainly what the White House is hoping. We heard President Bush say as much during his Saturday -- Saturday radio address, that they would like very much to see Samuel Alito sworn in by the time that President Bush delivers the State of the Union tomorrow evening.

That would make him the 110th Supreme Court justice, replacing Sandra Day O'Connor. Again, even though the Republicans believe they have the votes, they don't expect this to be a slam-dunk, the way it was with John Roberts, who became the chief justice -- Betty.

NGUYEN: (AUDIO GAP) this afternoon.

Andrea Koppel, thank you.

Well, there's more pressure on the White House in the Abramoff fiasco, some now from the president's own party. President Bush says he doesn't know Jack Abramoff personally, but he won't say how much access the disgraced former lobbyist had to the White House staff.

Over the weekend, several Republican congressmen publicly urged the White House to tell all, saying it would help the president's cause.

HARRIS: Well, 30 hours and counting to the president's biggest speech of the year -- it's all about the State of the Union today at the White House, where the Cabinet is briefed, the president is practicing, and speechwriters are on their 23rd draft.

The speech is said to be about 36 minutes long. And that's without all the applause, of course.

Like every president, Mr. Bush will set big goals with his address, and, like every president, he will find most of them hard to achieve.

Here's a look at what happened with last year's agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Bush will try to strike an optimistic tone in his State of the Union address, aides say, not with a laundry list of proposals, but with themes and a focus on issues the White House believes matter to Americans, among them, energy and gas prices, health care and retirement.

In his first news conference of the year, the president also hinted at a theme he will likely push.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we live in a competitive world. And so policies must be put in place to recognize the competition of the global economy and prepare our people to be able to continue to compete so America can continue to lead. QUIJANO: Another issue important to Americans, Iraq. With the American death toll now at more than 2,200, the president will again defend his Iraq strategy. Politically, this year's State of the Union address is a chance for the president to frame issues for November's midterm congressional elections.

NORMAN ORNSTEIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Republicans are going to be looking to this State of the Union message with a little more intensity than they normally would, because it has got some real implications for what lies ahead in the coming year, and what they are going to be able to bring to the table when they go to voters in November.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Speaker, the president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

QUIJANO: This year, President Bush heads into his State of the Union address with fewer Americans approving of his job performance, compared to one year ago. A new "TIME" magazine poll shows his overall approval rating at 41 percent, down 12 points from last year.

After a tumultuous 2005, the Bush White House is sounding a familiar theme from the '04 campaign, that the president and Republicans are strong on national security and the war on terror. President Bush is already using the argument to defend his Iraq policy and the administration's controversial surveillance program.

He told CBS News:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FACE THE NATION")

BUSH: I view this situation that we're in as war, and, therefore, I must protect the American people with the tools available to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO (on camera): Although the president is expected to propose some new initiatives, aides say there won't be any ambitious programs or goals, like last year's push to overhaul Social Security. Aides explain, that's because the money simply isn't there, because President Bush is trying to reassure fellow Republicans who are concerned about looming deficits.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: As you would expect, CNN plans extensive coverage of the State of the Union speech. It starts with a special edition THE SITUATION ROOM at 7:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. We will carry the speech live at 9:00.

Then, Anderson Cooper will have reaction -- and, at midnight, analysis on "LARRY KING LIVE."

NGUYEN: Well, they face a long road to recovery, but two ABC journalists wounded in Iraq may already have taken the first steps.

They're being treated at a U.S. military hospital in Germany, where CNN's Chris Burns has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Doctors here at Landstuhl Medical Center are reporting what they say are good early signs of reaction, signs of slow improvement in Bob Woodruff and Doug Vogt, who arrived early today here, intubated and heavily sedated.

Doctors have been able to run CAT scans and other tests, and they say the result of those indicates that there is improvement. The question is now, should there be further surgery here at Landstuhl, or should they be transferred back to the states as early as tomorrow, which ABC News says that that is possible -- Landstuhl saying that they may stay here further, but not any later than the end of the week.

The two families have arrived here, as well as an ABC executive. They are -- they have been talking with doctors. And -- and that is why the authorities here are not willing to say much, until a -- a decision is made between them. Those results, we will be waiting for here.

Chris Burns, CNN, Landstuhl, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And senior international correspondent Nic Robertson will join me live this hour to discuss the dangers military members and journalists face every day in Iraq.

HARRIS: And coming up on LIVE FROM, the new power in the West Bank and Gaza. Is there room for compromise within Hamas?

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: They're seriously hurt, heavily sedated and face a battery of tests, but there is encouraging news about two ABC journalists wounded in Iraq. Doctors say anchor Bob Woodruff and photographer Doug Vogt are showing signs of improvement. They are at a U.S. military hospital in Germany, along with their families.

Now, here's some history. A roadside bomb struck the Iraq military vehicle the two journalists were riding in north of Baghdad. And an Iraqi soldier was also hurt in that attack. No U.S. soldiers were hurt, though. Iraq does remain one of the most dangerous places for journalists. More than 60 have been killed since the war started.

And no one understands that danger more than our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson.

He joins us now with talk of exactly how this works and the dangers that you face and what you to do to stay alive and to capture the story.

We have some of the gear right here. We understand that Woodruff and his team, his cameraman, did have their helmets and their vests on, their body armor. This is something that you have to wear every day out there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Whenever you go out, when you're -- when you're embedded with the -- the military, you have to wear a helmet. They are the -- they are targets for the insurgents.

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTSON: And this is the only protection you have on your head.

Even if you are an inside an armored vehicle, as they were, you need this on. You can get -- the vehicle will get thrown around. You could bang your head off the sides, if nothing else, if shrapnel doesn't come inside. And -- and the body armor is -- is what we wear as well.

And this provides protection against people shooting at you, as well as explosives going off on the side of the road, but none of this will provide you with immunity...

NGUYEN: Right.

ROBERTSON: ... from a large roadside bomb, which is -- which is what Bob...

NGUYEN: They came across.

ROBERTSON: ... had to go -- had to go through.

NGUYEN: Well, but this stuff is not light. This is heavy equipment that you got to wear, along with carrying your gear and trying to capture the story, and all of it.

Do you -- do you feel, sometimes, that you can get distracted in trying to get that story, and carry this gear, that, sometimes, safety is in the back of the mind, instead of in the front of the mind?

ROBERTSON: Safety always has to be in the front of the mind, absolutely -- absolutely. And the environment in Iraq will teach you that very, very quickly.

Yes, it is an encumbrance to wear this. And, yes, it is heavy. It's not as heavy as all the body armor and everything else that the soldiers would often have to wear. It can become a sort of -- it can put a gap between you and, let's say, the Iraqi people you are trying to talk to on a street. They see in the body armor. They see you with a helmet. They react differently to -- to how they would react if you were just standing there on the street, without -- without wearing all this body armor. But you -- you absolutely have to wear it.

And by -- by the very nature of -- of what we have to do to get the story in Iraq, you need to get used to wearing this. It needs to be like a second skin. You need not to be thinking, oh, I'm bogged down. I'm wearing this. I would rather take it off. No, you absolutely accept that you are wear it and -- and do the -- and do the best job you can with it.

NGUYEN: It's a necessity.

What we know so far about the attack was that Woodruff and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, were in the rear hatch of an Iraqi military vehicle. Talk to us about those vehicles. Do they differ from U.S. military vehicles?

ROBERTSON: It's difficult for me to know at this time, because we don't know exactly the type of vehicle.

And the Iraqi army has been building up its mechanized capability with some tanks and with armored personnel carriers. And that's the kind of vehicle we were under -- we understand they were in. Typically, an armored personnel carrier would perhaps provide you more protection from, let's say, a roadside bomb than if you were in a -- an armored Humvee, because it's bigger, because it's more robust.

But, again, we don't know exactly the type of vehicle they were in. And, of course, this was -- this was not just a roadside bomb. There were reports of gunfire afterwards.

NGUYEN: Small-arms fire, yes.

ROBERTSON: The lead vehicle, the first vehicle to hit. It sounds like a classic ambush technique as well. So, you -- obviously, you would have to watch -- and they would have to watched at the time, not getting out of the vehicle too quickly, that they stay close to the vehicles for protection from the gunfire.

But, at the same time, the fire will be aimed at those vehicles. You have to get away from them. So, there's a lot going on, when you are reacting and responding to that type of situation.

NGUYEN: And this area, Taji, where they were attacked, talk to us about that. Is that a specifically -- I mean, I know it's a war zone, but that area, in particular, very dangerous.

ROBERTSON: Taji is now and was the base for a -- one of the very big bases for the Iraqi military. They have a lot of weapons- producing capability in the area, a lot of bunkers there.

It was pretty much destroyed in the airstrikes during the war. That infrastructure's being rebuilt. The Iraqi army is now using it as a huge -- the new Iraqi army using it as a huge logistics base, and that's where they have their tanks now. That's where they have their armored vehicles. That's where, if you will, the most visible growth in the strength of the Iraqi army is -- is taking place, and perhaps that's why Bob was there, with Doug, his cameraman.

So, it -- it is an area where insurgents have, in the past, been able to pick up a lot of weaponry. I have seen it lying around the roads after right after the war. They have been able to pick up a lot of weaponry. And that's what they use in the roadside bombs.

The old artillery shells, maybe they strapped four or five of these together, perhaps put some inflammable liquid -- a concoction that -- that explodes with the -- with -- when the ammunition explodes, covers the area in fire, these sorts of things.

So, they -- the insurgents are getting more complex, as well, in these bombs. But what they would have been able to find in that area has provided them with a lot of ammunition for attacks in that area. And that's what makes it a dangerous area today.

NGUYEN: Yes, and more reason to have this kind of gear along. Like you said, it's a second skin when you're in a war zone.

ROBERTSON: Absolutely.

NGUYEN: Nic Robertson, senior international correspondent, thank you for your time today.

ROBERTSON: Thank you.

NGUYEN: Tony.

HARRIS: Well, hardly anyone saw it coming, Betty, and the election victory by the Palestinian militant group Hamas still has diplomats scrambling.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is meeting this hour with her international counterparts to respond to the sudden rise to power of a group that advocates Israel's destruction.

CNN's Guy Raz reports from Jerusalem, there is no easy way out of this one.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUY RAZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The diplomatic formula in the Arab- Israeli conflict has always been land for peace. It was the philosophical basis for the 2000 Camp David talks between then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

End of occupation would mean an end to conflict and full diplomatic and economic ties. But Hamas has a very different vision.

MAHMOUD ZAHAR, HAMAS LEADER: Negotiation is not our aim. Negotiation is a missile. If Israel is ready to give us the national demand to withdraw from the occupied '67 -- occupied area of '67, to release our detainees, to stop their aggression, to make geographic linkage between Gaza Strip and West Bank, at -- at -- at that time, and with -- with assurance from other sides we are going to accept to establish our independent state.

RAZ: In other words, Hamas is offering Israel neither recognition, nor an end to conflict, but a long-term cease-fire in exchange for Israeli withdrawal to its boundaries before the Six Day War of 1967.

YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI, SENIOR FELLOW, SHALEM CENTER: I would say that that offer is so ludicrous that it -- it won't even get anywhere near the table.

RAZ: Hamas' charter leaves little room for compromise. Article 11 of the Hamas Covenant states:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf, consecrated for future Muslim generations until judgment day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered. It, or any part of it, should not be given up."

RAZ: Veteran Palestinian peace negotiator Hanan Ashrawi sees Hamas' stated position as problematic.

HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTINIAN LEGISLATOR: When you deal with the land as an Islamic Waqf land, as a trust given by God, then you automatically tie your hands, and you have automatically have linked it to a question of face and absolutism. So, you cannot reach any compromise on the land.

RAZ: Indeed, despite the many pitfalls, since 1994, Palestinian- Israeli negotiations have always been sponsored by the international community. Hamas sees that as a problem.

Article 13 of its chart states:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Initiatives and so-called peaceful solution at international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement. These conferences are only ways of setting the infidels in the land of the Muslims as arbiters."

RAZ (on camera): Conceptually, then, Hamas is in a bind. If the group abandons its uncompromising positions, it ceases to be Hamas. But, if not, the international community may decide to isolate the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

Guy Raz, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Coming up on LIVE FROM, a young mother and her baby girl murdered in their home near Boston -- now police on both sides of the Atlantic search for whodunit and why.

HARRIS: Also ahead, the feds ferret out a suspect in the case of the longest tunnel ever found across the U.S.-Mexican border. We will have details coming up on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: This just in to CNN.

And Betty, it looks like we have been covering this story for the last, oh, month or so -- another large fire burning in Texas this time, 100 acres burning, a grass fire between San Marcos and Martindale, Texas. This is, I understand, south of Austin, Texas.

Three homes have been burned, and fire is threatening a subdivision of about 50 more homes -- no injuries reported so far. Several of -- of the fire agencies from both Hays and Guadalupe County on the scene right now -- Texas Forest Service warning that they are very worried about weather conditions forecast for Texas again tomorrow, heat, low humidity, high winds.

Our affiliate KXAN in Austin with the pictures -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes. They got a little rain over the weekend. We were hoping it would be enough, but, obviously, those fires have sparked back up.

Hey, Tony, if your co-workers or your boss drive you just bananas most days -- I'm going to reserve comment on this one -- you are not alone. A new survey discusses some monkey business in the workplace.

Allan Chernoff has a survey of results live from the New York Stock Exchange.

Allan, this could get you in trouble.

(LAUGHTER)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Not me personally.

NGUYEN: OK.

CHERNOFF: But, Betty, if you have ever gone ape at work...

(LAUGHTER)

CHERNOFF: ... you may relate to the findings in this study.

More than half of workers say they work with a bunch of monkeys, and one in five think this their boss is a monkey, this according to a survey from careerbuilder.com. Now, granted, this was by no means a scientific study.

About half of the respondents say they are planning to leave their jobs within a year. Among the experiences at work, they found, let's say, bizarre, the co-worker who walks up and randomly scratches other people's backs.

NGUYEN: What?

CHERNOFF: The boss who cuts his fingernails while standing in his employee's cubicle. And...

NGUYEN: You have got to be kidding me.

CHERNOFF: My...

NGUYEN: That is nasty.

CHERNOFF: ... personal -- Betty, my personal favorite, the co- worker who was caught sleeping on the job multiple times...

NGUYEN: Oh.

CHERNOFF: ... and then insisted he was praying.

NGUYEN: Oh, yes. Nice. Nice one. I don't think that will work with the man upstairs.

All right. Allan, that is -- that's a really interesting survey. I -- I'm going to have to read up on that one.

CHERNOFF: Yes, certainly a little bizarre.

(LAUGHTER)

CHERNOFF: But, anyway, nobody is going ape on Wall Street, at least it doesn't appear today.

Right now, we have got things very calm on the market, ahead of tomorrow's Fed meeting. The Dow Jones industrial average, at the moment, is slightly lower by about 11 points. And the Nasdaq composite is up by just 2.5 points right now, one-tenth of 1 percent.

In economic news, consumer spending shot up a surprisingly strong nine-tenths of a percent in December. Once again, Americans were buying, rather than saving. Spending outpaced income gains in December. And, as a result, for the seventh consecutive month, consumers tapped into their bank account. The savings rate last year dropped to its lowest level since the Great Depression, 1933.

That is it from Wall Street. Join me at the end of the hour for a wrapup of the day's trading, as well as the closing bell.

LIVE FROM returns right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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