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American Morning
Benazir Bhutto Laid to Rest; Crisis in Pakistan: What Will U.S. Do Now?
Aired December 28, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Pakistan has gone through its first full day since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and right now is preparing to lay her to rest in her family's mausoleum in southern Pakistan. And this is the place to catch up on it, everything that's happened overnight, and also what's going on right now and how things are shaping up for the rest of the day, plus the broader implications in the war on terror.
Here's some new pictures. Thousands came to say their emotional goodbyes for the first female leader of the Muslim world. At least 10 people were killed in rioting overnight. President Pervez Musharraf declaring three days of mourning. Today, the prime minister says there are no plans to postpone the parliamentary elections set for January 8th.
The leader of one of the parties running against Musharraf, Nawaz Sharif, has called for Musharraf to step down, and the question still remains who killed Benazir Bhutto. The U.S. is investigating an alleged claim of responsibility by Al Qaeda.
We're also watching live pictures come in all morning as thousands gather for the funeral procession outside of Bhutto's family mausoleum. A giant, but mostly peaceful gathering so far. You're looking at some live pictures on the left-hand side of your screen right now.
Forces in the southern city of Karachi have been ordered to "shoot on sight" to prevent more riots. That order also taking place in the province where she is to be buried. The assassination is inflamed of volatile region, vital to winning the war on terror. CNN's John Vause has been following all of the developments for us live in Karachi, and he joins us this morning with the latest -- John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. What I was going to say, hundreds of thousands of people are turning out for this very emotional funeral for Benazir Bhutto. This is at the family mausoleum at Garhi Khuda Baksh. It's about five hours from Karachi, just to the north, a very difficult place to get to at the best of times.
The mourners that we're seeing at this funeral service are her die-hard supporters. Many of them are, in fact, Pakistan's poorest, the people who are drawn to Benazir Bhutto with her populous message of jobs, of security, of education for their kids, of simply giving them food to eat. She had the support of many of the poorest here in Pakistan. They would flung to her at those political rallies. You saw that when she returned from self-imposed exile in October. Hundreds of thousands greeted her then. There were thousands of people at that rally when she was assassinated. And once again, here in death, hundreds of thousands of people have turned out to pay their respects to Benazir Bhutto. What we are expecting as this funeral procession gets under way, there will be prayers. There will be readings from the Koran. There will then, if it's a traditional Islamic funeral, she will then be carried to that final resting place, then the mourners will throw dirt onto her coffer, onto her body, rather, and then she will be laid to rest -- Kiran.
CHETRY: John Vause reporting for us from Karachi. As you said, this funeral procession and live pictures we're looking at taking place about five hours from you to the north. Thanks a lot, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, financial markets are taking a hit this morning in the wake of Benazir Bhutto's assassination and the continuing turmoil in Pakistan.
Europe is trading lower today. Hong Kong's key stock index, the Hang Seng, closed down nearly two percent today, an end of year trading. Tokyo finished the day down, 257 points and 11 percent lower for the year. It is the first time in five years that the Nikkei is closing lower than it did the year before.
The FBI and Homeland Security are investigating an alleged claim of responsibility for the assassination by Al Qaeda. The Feds issuing a bulletin citing an Italian news agency that an Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan phoned in the claim. The terror organization's number two man and most visible leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri reportedly set the wheels in motion. Al-Zawahiri called for attacks upon Bhutto's return to Pakistan after years in self-imposed exile. Bhutto repeatedly called for the need to step up the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Here in the United States, security is being stepped up in New York City which is home to the nation's largest Pakistani community. Mayor Michael Bloomberg says there will be police officers surrounding the Pakistani Consulate, Pakistani Airlines and Pakistani banks.
CHETRY: CNN's obtained an e-mail sent by Benazir Bhutto just a couple of months ago. She wrote that she feared for her life and if anything happened to her that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf should share the blame. She sent it shortly after the attack at her homecoming in October, where 136 people were killed. She sent it to her U.S. spokesman and long time friend Mark Siegel who shared the e- mail with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Siegel says Bhutto was extremely concerned about the lack of security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK SIEGEL, FRIEND OF BENAZIR BHUTTO: She had asked for special tinted cars. She had asked for four police vehicles to surround her at all times. She basically asked for all that was required for someone standing of a former prime minister. All of that was denied to her. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: That e-mail, she says, she writes "Nothing will, God willing happen. Just wanted you to know if it does, in addition to the names in my letter to Musharraf of October 16th, I will hold Musharraf responsible. I've been made to feel insecure by his minions and there is no way what is happening in terms of stopping me from taking private cars or using tinted windows or giving jammers or four police mobiles to cover all sides could happen without him."
And we talked with Wolf Blitzer about it and we are going to continue to talk with him coming up in our next hour about that e- mail, what he thought when he first saw it and what it means now that Bhutto is gone.
ROBERTS: Five minutes after the hour now. We're hearing that the casket containing the remains of Benazir Bhutto have just arrived at the family mausoleum at Garhi Khuda Baksh, which is about 200 miles northeast of Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan. It's about a third of the way between Karachi and Islamabad near the Indus River there.
This funeral procession has been going on for about the last hour or so. There's hundreds of thousands of people crowding the streets in this funeral procession, kicking up a cloud of dust. It's typically almost on the edge of chaos seen in Pakistan. There's so far, the procession itself appears to be peaceful.
Benazir Bhutto will be laid to rest in a grave right beside that of her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who was hanged back in 1977. The Bhutto assassination is changing the message on the campaign trail. Now the presidential candidates are talking of their foreign policy experience. Just six days to go now until the Iowa caucuses.
CNN's Dana Bash is following the Republicans for us. Suzanne Malveaux following the Democrats. Let's begin with Dana in Des Moines. And Dana, the assassination raised once again this idea of who has the best foreign policy experience, and most of the candidates jumped right into that yesterday.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, the Republican candidates, John, really did scramble to react not only because of the gravity of the situation in Pakistan but also because on the Republican side recently, the issues have really been focused on the domestic side, not so much on national security. Some of the candidates immediately got into a tussle over just what you said. Who has the best credentials on national security? Who is the best to lead in a crisis like that?
John McCain, he jumped right into a town hall here in Iowa and unabashedly touted on national security. The fact that he knows the leaders in Pakistan, the fact that he has been there and really dealt with the region. And afterwards, I asked him if he thinks his campaign can benefit from what has happened and from the new attention on Pakistan and on international issues. He essentially said yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My theme has been throughout this campaign that I'm the one with the experience, the knowledge and the judgment so perhaps it may serve to enhance those credentials or make people understand that I've been to Waziristan. I know Musharraf. I can pick up the phone and call him. I knew Benazir Bhutto.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now John McCain and Rudy Giuliani if you look at the polls, they have the most to gain from new attention on national security because people, at least Republican voters particularly here in Iowa, they think that they are the best to lead on those issues. Now McCain also, he had a surprising dig at Rudy Giuliani, John. He said that he has great experience after 9/11, but he said that that is more about crisis management, not about national security.
As for Rudy Giuliani, he's sort of careful not to step too much into the political side of this. He did, though, over and over again throughout the day yesterday and again on CNN last night, make it clear that he thinks the lesson from this should be stepping up efforts against terrorism.
ROBERTS: Right. Dana Bash for us this morning from Des Moines. Dana, thanks very much.
And from the Democratic candidates' reaction to the Bhutto assassination, let's turn to CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. Also, at the candidates in Des Moines. And Suzanne, question here about has been on the trail, who has the most experience to lead this country? A foreign policy crisis right before these caucuses, what kind of an impact could have that?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sure, John, and it really just depends on what the voters think is most important. It certainly has changed the dialogue and the debate. It started off where people were all offering their condolences but then it quickly turned into this showdown of really an opportunity for all the candidates to prove who had those foreign policy chops to deal with this very volatile region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Barack Obama!
MALVEAUX (voice-over): With the Iowa caucuses just days away, anything can change the political landscape, including the assassination of a key U.S. ally, Pakistan's former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The condolences came quickly.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.
MALVEAUX: But Senator Hillary Clinton was able to add this.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have known Benazir Bhutto for a dozen years, and I knew her as a leader.
MALVEAUX: In fact, in 1995, when Clinton was first lady, she visited then Prime Minister Bhutto as part of a two-week South Asia tour to promote women and children. She brought daughter Chelsea along who was standing high school Islamic history.
Recently, candidate Clinton has been trying to distinguish herself, most notably from Senator Barack Obama over her experience in foreign policy. But her other chief rival, Senator John Edwards, not only asserted his close ties to Bhutto, he said he called Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf to assess the crisis.
Not to be outdone, former Governor Bill Richardson, previously a U.N. ambassador, called for Musharraf's resignation while Senator Joe Biden, the chairman of the foreign relations committee and arguably the Democratic candidate with the most foreign policy experience, lamented his direct warnings to Musharraf to protect Bhutto were rebuffed.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The failure to protect Mrs. Bhutto raises a lot of hard questions for the government and the security services that have to be answered.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And John, Senator Dodd also released a statement talking about his 20 years of experience on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As you have mentioned, the big question, whether or not this really is going to resonate with voters. And so far, the polls are showing the really important issues for the Democrats here in Iowa. That is Iraq. It's health care. It's the economy.
And interestingly enough when covering Clinton yesterday, she got the biggest applause when she was talking about abolishing President Bush's program for education, the no child left behind program -- John.
ROBERTS: Bread and butter and education issues very important in these primaries, thanks. Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning in Des Moines. Thanks very much.
By the way, we're going to be speaking with Democratic Governor Bill Richardson, coming up at 8:15 Eastern and then Republican Fred Thompson will join us for the very first time. That will be at 8:30 Eastern. Hopefully you can join us then.
I want to go back, Kiran, to some more live pictures her at Garhi Khuda Baksh, which is the ancestral home as it's called of Benazir Bhutto and her family. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, her father, buried in this mausoleum which is an extraordinary piece of architecture there. It almost looks like just a not much smaller version of the Taj Mahal.
CHETRY: That's right. It's a vast marble structure there. We got word that the prayers over her body have been completed, and that she is now making her way to what will be her final resting place there at the mausoleum. Meanwhile, there have been hundreds of thousands of supporters coming out to take part in that funeral procession and, of course, in a time of instability there, this has not been without violence. There were people rampaging through the streets, torching cars, trains, even stores, protesting the assassination of Bhutto.
ROBERTS: It's interesting to note as well that just a couple of months ago at the end of October, Benazir Bhutto visited Garhi Khuda Baksh and paid tribute to her father and vowed and saying prayers over his grave that she would carry on the tradition of looking out for the best interests of the Pakistani people. And now, she is back there in extraordinarily different circumstances.
She got elected twice to the prime ministership, once in 1988, again in 1993. Both times thrown out of office for allegations of corruption, none of which were ever proven, none of which she ever faced trial for. And certainly, this leaves a huge void for the United States and what it will do in the future in terms of foreign policy with Pakistan.
She was the great hope to be able to give some legitimacy to Pervez Musharraf as well as sort of broaden out U.S. policy in Pakistan so it wasn't focused on one person. Now the big question is, what happens next?
CHETRY: It sure is a big question especially given the fact that Pakistan is a nuclear power, 70 plus nuclear weapons. A lot of questions there as well about the future of Musharraf and the commitment to fighting the war on terror. But meanwhile, on a personal note as well for her family, it must just be an unbelievably heartbreaking time. Her three children, as well as her husband, her three children were in Dubai making their way back for this funeral procession.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: As you said, her father also assassinated, hanged actually, at the hands of the military dictatorship in charge, and her two brothers also meeting a similar fate as well. So for the Bhutto family, this has certainly been a tragic, you know, attempt at doing what they believed in, which is helping a country they loved so much, see freedom and democracy.
ROBERTS: An entire generation of the Bhutto family and the patriarch wiped out. And now the question is, Pervez Musharraf has said that the elections are not going to be delayed. At least at this point, he's saying that. He could always change his mind and push them off for a little while.
In fact, many people are expecting that they will not go on January the 8th because the Pakistan's People's Party, which is the party that Benazir Bhutto lead for so long, now needs to choose a new leader and there's no one it would appear who could step immediately into that role because she was the central focus of that party. She was the leader. There was no one else who was rising up through the ranks to succeed her because they wanted her to either become prime minister or to, at the very least, install someone as prime minister who she could work with.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: So that party in chaos now and Nawaz Sharif saying he's going to boycott this election so difficult to see how they could come off as scheduled.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: Though, again, Musharraf is vowing that they will.
CHETRY: And, you know, you question the motivations there. I mean, he is in a tough spot. There's been calls for him to resign not only in Pakistan itself but coming from the United States and potential presidential candidates as well.
ROBERTS: Bill Richardson will be joining us.
CHETRY: Yes.
Bill Richardson who was a former ambassador who we'll be talking to about it. You know, those questions as to whether or not he wanted to see Pervez Musharraf, this elections happen in the first place. But now, practically speaking, how would elections nationwide in Pakistan even be pulled off?
Practically speaking, when you're taking a look at the fact that a lot of this violence in the wake of her assassination has led to the burning and torching of government buildings, and as you said, the power vacuuming not only that party but in the rival party that's now threatening to boycott.
ROBERTS: Right. And also, what does this mean for the security of the United States? Will this further destabilize Pakistan? Will it allow extremists and the Taliban to gain an even greater hold than they have right now? They are limited mostly to the tribal areas in the northwest of Pakistan along the border of Afghanistan, also said to be a center of power in Quetta, which is further south along the border, close to the border with Afghanistan.
Will that influence now begin to spread if we are to believe that Al Qaeda was behind this? They have obviously reached right into the heart of Rawalpindi, right into the heart of this procession as she was leaving this political rally yesterday. So what else might they be capable of? And does Musharraf have the legitimacy without Benazir Bhutto potentially backing him as a prime minister or a very influential political figure? Does he have the legitimacy to continue to crack down on Al Qaeda and the Taliban?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: What might the U.S. have to do in terms of foreign policy in the future to bolster the war on terror there in Pakistan?
CHETRY: And, of course, allegations of the misuse of millions upon billions of dollars of aid given by the United States. The question is how much of a crackdown was really happening in Pakistan anyway? Also, questions about whether or not there was enough protection around her at these type of events. There was supposed to be unprecedented protection, but questions as to how a suicide bomber could make its way in there, into that crowd armed on top of the explosives.
So a lot of things to ponder this morning. AMERICAN MORNING is going to be continuing to advance this story and to bring you all of the latest news. Again, you're still looking at pictures right now with the funeral procession as the body of Benazir Bhutto is preparing to be laid to rest in the final resting place of her family mausoleum.
Meanwhile, Anderson Cooper, "AC 360°" is going to be doing a special edition tonight. They will be live from Pakistan. It all begins at 10:00 Eastern.
We also have a lot of other stories making headlines overnight. Alina Cho has been following the very latest development, and she joins us now as well. Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran, good morning to you. Good morning, everybody. New this morning.
There's word that as early as today, Osama bin Laden may be releasing a new Internet message. According to a terrorism monitoring group, bin Laden will talk about Iraq and the insurgent group, the Islamic state of Iraq, a front organization for Al Qaeda. Bin laden was last heard at the end of November. This latest message is said to last about 56 minutes. No word on exactly when it will come out or if it will be a video or audio message.
New details on that horrific shooting that took the lives of six family members on Christmas eve. It happened near Seattle, Washington in Carnation, Washington. Prosecutors are expected to file first degree murder charges today against 29-year-old Michele Anderson and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe.
Police say the couple has confessed to killing Anderson's parents and then dragging their bodies to a backyard shed. Then, according to court papers, four other family members including two young children were killed an hour later because the couple feared they'd be witnesses. Friends and relatives have suggested the shootings happened over a fight over money.
New questions this morning in the wake of that deadly tiger attack on Christmas day. It's looking more and more like the tiger that killed one person and seriously injured two others at the San Francisco Zoo, jumped the fence around its pen. Now the zoo's director has admitted the wall around the pen is just 12-1/2 feet tall. Now, that's below the recommended height of 16-1/2 feet.
A 17-year-old boy died. Two others were mauled. The tiger was shot and killed by police. We're going to have a live report from San Francisco coming up in our next half hour.
And in Illinois, a chance to bust drunk drivers and guess what, make some money at the same time. Authorities in Kane County are offering $100 to every tipster who calls 911 with detailed information like a description of the car, license plate information and the vehicle's location. The program is called drunkbusters, guys, and it kicks off this New Year's eve.
You know, four other counties I know have already done this. They started it back in 1990, and it works. You know, 3,000 arrests, $300,000 handed out, so the chance to help law enforcement and make a couple of bucks at the same time.
CHETRY: How about that. Very creative.
CHO: That's right.
CHETRY: Thanks a lot.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Now getting word just now from Pakistani TV that the body of Benazir Bhutto is being interred at the moment. We'll, of course, continue to follow the story as well.
Holiday express lanes in the sky. Airlines are getting some much needed wiggle room to dodge backups and delays. The good news for travelers ahead.
And what will the assassination of Benazir Bhutto mean for Pakistan's relations with the U.S., and what will it mean for the war on terror? We're talking to someone who might have a few answers, former state department official, when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Live pictures right now of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto being laid to rest. These are hundreds of thousands of mourners thronging the funeral procession which is taking place in her hometown about five hours north of Karachi, Pakistan.
Actually, right at this very moment, we're getting word that Benazir Bhutto is being buried as we speak. There were prayers read over her coffin, as she was, as they were placing it into the family mausoleum. It's a place where her father, who is a former prime minister as well, is also buried.
So hundreds of thousands of mourners coming out, a pretty somber and for the most part peaceful there, yet the country experiencing violence in the wake of her assassination yesterday. At least 10 people killed in violence that is taking place throughout. That would be in the overnight hours and then yesterday also, 20 others killed. A lot of this having have to do with rioting taking place. Supporters of Benazir Bhutto expressing their anger at her assassination, but again, a much more quiet and somber scene at her actual burial site.
And we'll continue the latest developments, the implications for the U.S. ally in the war on terror as well as America coming up throughout the hour and throughout the morning here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Changing gears now, a break for New Year's travelers today. You may remember they did this back on Thanksgiving, and now they're doing it again. Today until Wednesday, military air space up and down the east coast specifically and out west as well, up and down the west coast will be open to commercial flights. Airlines say the extra air space did ease delays significantly over the thanksgiving holidays.
Our Rob Marciano joins us now in New York. He's tracking extreme weather in the Midwest. And remember, we were all here thinking this is strange. For some reason, there's really not a lot of backups and delays.
ROB MARCIANO, METEOROLOGIST: Right.
CHETRY: On what is usually the busiest travel day the day before Thanksgiving.
MARCIANO: Well, I guess it helps when they give you a little bit of elbow room for the airplanes there.
CHETRY: That's right.
MARCIANO: We do have some weather that could very well affect travel. As a matter of fact, a very active weather pattern that is shaping up. Here is the storm system that we're most concerned about at least right now and it is a snow maker. It's a rain maker and it's a severe weather maker as well. It stretches from Kansas and Missouri and in through Mississippi as well.
We are seeing some severe weather warnings across Jefferson County, also across, into Nashville, Tennessee, seeing some strong thunderstorms back through Alabama and northern Mississippi. Some of these have had a history of producing nickel-sized hail, in some cases almost two inches in diameter, and winds gusting to 60 miles an hour, and they're humming along northeasterly about 45 to 65 miles an hour as well.
To the north, we start to break in the colder air. Kansas City some snow, obviously cold enough for snow there and the rain/snow line, pretty much Springfield, north, is where you see temperatures at or below freezing. Snow advisories in effect for Kansas City, two to four inches expected there and a swathe of snow expected through just south of Des Moines, through Davenport, Rockford and Chicago, maybe three to six inches expected there before the day is done. Not snowing there yet, probably won't start for the next couple of hours and heavy snow warnings for the lower hand of Michigan, four to eight inches of snow there.
And off to the west coast, also seeing our next weather system plow into the pacific northwest. Blizzard warnings posted for parts of eastern Oregon with winds gusting there to 60 miles an hour and more rain and snow into the mountains. That's our next weather system. They just keep lining up across the pacific and plowing across the country, so not much in the way of a break. And thank goodness, we have a little bit more elbow room for those planes because we have to bob and weave around some active weather over the next several days.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: OK.
ROBERTS: It's now 26 minutes after the hour. Right now, Pakistan's political future very much in doubt. President Bush condemned the killing yesterday of Benazir Bhutto from his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We stand with the people of Pakistan in their struggle against the forces of terror and extremism. We urge them to honor Benazir Bhutto's memory by continuing with the Democratic process for which she so bravely gave her life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And new chaos this morning in the nuclear armed nation as plans to restore democracy in this U.S. ally seem to be dwindling at this point. So what should the U.S. do next?
Daniel Markey is with the Council on Foreign Relations, former state department official in the Bush administration. He joins us now live from Washington, D.C. Daniel, Benazir Bhutto was seen as a potential stabilizing factor in Pakistan. So where is all this headed now? What happens next? Can Musharraf maintain control?
DANIEL MARKEY, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Well, I think the thing to watch next is actually within Benazir Bhutto's own party. You mentioned it a little bit earlier with respect to their capacity...
ROBERTS: Yes.
MARKEY: ... to actually bring some sort of unity within the party and to find a new leader after her unfortunate death. And that's the key dynamic to watch right now and that will determine whether Musharraf and others within the country can move ahead with elections as scheduled because without leadership there, they cannot do that.
ROBERTS: There has been some report of claim of responsibility from Al Qaeda in all of this. Who do you think might be responsible for this? There are so many groups that would have an interest in seeing her out of the picture. She had a lot of enemies.
MARKEY: I think that's absolutely right. There are too many enemies, and all of them were actively seeking to do away with her. I think at this stage it's perfectly reasonable to assume that it is Al Qaeda, but it could also have been another one of Al Qaeda's affiliates operating within Pakistan's tribal areas or even in other sectarian group working along with Al Qaeda.
ROBERTS: Benazir Bhutto really was the great hope for the United States in the return to democracy there in Pakistan. It also gave them an opportunity to sort of he will spread their chips around to people beyond Musharraf. Now it's back to Musharraf again. It appears that he is going to be more unpopular than ever as a result of this. So what should the U.S. strategy regarding Pakistan going forward?
MARKEY: Well, as I say, they need to reach out to others within Benazir's own party and to work with them as they come around and try to figure out who will take the leadership role in her party.
ROBERTS: Right.
MARKEY: The United States can work with them. The United States can basically find one of them or whoever emerges on top and try to convince them that it's better rather than taking to the streets to work through a Democratic process, to work through the elections.
ROBERTS: And does the U.S. in regard to the war on terror and the growth of extremism there in Pakistan, particularly along the border with Afghanistan, does it need a more robust Pakistan policy, I mean, potentially going all the way to unilateral action in some of those tribal areas, if things start to get out of hand?
MARKEY: Well, I think that's always something that's in the worst case is on the table, but it's also something that the United States shouldn't speak about at great length because it gives Pakistanis a lot of concerns about the United States actually invading their country, so it's very dangerous diplomatically for the United States to push that agenda. But of course, in the worst-case scenario, if the United States has information and the Pakistanis are not able to act, it has to be something that's on the table.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Daniel Markey, good to hear your thoughts. Thanks very much for that. I appreciate it.
MARKEY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: The United States must now consider the implication of Bhutto's assassination on relations with the nuclear armed country. Pakistan has also received billions of dollars in American Financial Assistance and is an ally on the war on terrorism. And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Does the U.S. need to take a greater role in fighting extremism in Pakistan? You heard what Daniel Markey had to say there. Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll have the first tally of votes coming up, later on in this hour.
Kiran?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: We want to show you some more live pictures. Once again, these are pictures from the funeral of assassinated Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. She's being buried at her family's mausoleum. That's taking place in the southern province of Sindh. Meantime, as hundreds of thousands of mourners came out to watch that burial and to take part in the procession. There are many furious supporters who are rampaging through several cities protesting her assassination.
It comes at a very crucial time. Less than two weeks before a crucial election that was said to take place January 8th. In fact, the date set for the parliamentary election, that as well as many, many other elements of the future of Pakistan throwing into question now, in light of this assassination. We have Nic Robertson who joins us right now as well with more details. Good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. The big challenged is, Daniel was just saying, that Benazir Bhutto's party to elect a new leader. I talked with one of the party officials, a senior party official a few hours ago. He told me, he thought of the party was strong right now. That they could come together, that they could select a new leader. But this person would have to be a strong character, a charismatic character to follow on after Benazir Bhutto. But he did say that they could do it and he did say that they could do it relatively quickly, Kiran.
CHETRY: And if you spoke to one of Bhutto's senior officials regarding new leadership, what have you heard about the future and whether or not there is anybody ready to step up to fill the very large shoes that Bhutto left behind?
ROBERTSON: Well, they're not naming any names at the moment and filling those shoes is the biggest challenge they have right now. They haven't -- it is a political "Dynasty." Benazir Bhutto's father was a leader of the party before. The party is as always as old as Pakistan. It has been built around one family. So finding somebody else is going to be a huge challenge. But the party says that they're ready for it. They say that they can do it and then, they say they'll do it quickly. And it's not clear yet whether or not, they'll choose to go for the January the 8th elections. Of course right now, a huge outpouring of support for Benazir Bhutto.
Could the new leader of the party decide they should capitalize politically on that outpouring of support and would it be in their interests to go quickly for the elections in January or follow the leadership of other opposition parties and say they're going to boycott the elections right now because it's not safe to contest them and could drag the country into further disarray.
Kiran?
CHETRY: And have you gotten any word on that as you mentioned, Nawaz Sharif, leader of another opposition party, he is calling for a boycott and saying that his supporters will not show up to the election. Any word on whether or not that's being considered within Bhutto's party?
ROBERTSON: It's certainly under consideration, but it's not clear which way they're going to go. When I talked to a senior party official today, he says the most important thing right now is for us to bury Benazir Bhutto with dignity. Pay our respects to her. After that, we have to move swiftly to finding a new leader. And they will look to that new leader and look to the council of the leadership of the party to decide what is the next political step.
Look, the party looked to Benazir Bhutto to make all those key decisions. She had her advisers, but she was the leadership figure. Now, they have to find somebody else, with those key things and it's very pressing. The elections are less than two weeks away.
CHETRY: That's right. Nic Robertson for us covering the latest on this as well. Thank you for being with us. Also, be sure to catch a special CNN investigation "Pakistan Terror Central." Nic Robertson, in fact, hosting, and it re-airs tonight, 8:00 p.m. eastern on CNN.
ROBERTS: And were coming in just now from Pakistani state TV that the burial of Benazir Bhutto has been completed. She now lies at rest beside her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, former president of Pakistan who was hanged back in 1977. It is a stunning and sobering image. Benazir Bhutto standing in the sunroof of her car, waving to supporters just seconds before a gunman takes her life. It is the last known picture of Bhutto. John Moore, the Getty photographer who took the shot describes what he saw through the lens, in his own words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MOORE, GETTY IMAGES: The vehicle was moving very slowly, because the crowd was all around and there were pushing through. She clearly wanted to get close to her people. And I was surprised she was coming out of the sunroof of this car, considering what happened in Karachi a while back. And I had been photographing her pushing through the crowd, and the vehicle sort of surged forward and I got out of the way and moved a little bit ahead of it. And suddenly, well, I turned around and heard three shots go off and saw her go down, fall down through the sunroof, down into the car, and just at that moment, I raised my camera. Started photographing with the high- speed motor drive and that's how I was able to capture some of the explosion when it went off and the aftermath.
As you can see, the photos are a little bit blurry because I was being shoved around. The crowd was pushing. They were very emotional. And it was a bit chaotic, even before the blast went off. Of course, people were scattered all about. People were in different states of medical crisis. Some could still walk. Others were maimed and just crying out for help. It was just a horrible scene. The carnage was everywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: As you said, just a horrible scene and the pictures tell the tale. Moore tells CNN that had been following Bhutto since her return to Pakistan in October. He was there on October the 19th, when a suicide bomber killed 136 people. He says, since then, Bhutto's rallies had been small. But yesterday's rally in Rawalpindi was announced beforehand and that gave terrorists time to prepare.
We are following other news this morning as well. New questions today about how a tiger escaped at the San Francisco Zoo. It killed one young fellow and mauled two others. We'll have a live report just ahead.
And we continue to follow the scene in southern Pakistan this morning, as Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan, is laid to rest beside her father, the Former President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And some more live pictures this morning of the burial and funeral for Benazir Bhutto, opposition leader, former prime minister of Pakistan. She is, just moments ago, been officially buried at her family's mausoleum in the southern province of Sindh. It was just on our program, yesterday morning, that we first reported the news of her assassination. She was holding her first rally that was to take place for supporters, ahead of the parliamentary elections in January.
And she had actually completed her speech, and was getting ready to leave, actually got into this vehicle, which we had video of, and then right before leaving, there was a group of young people chanting her name. She stuck her head out through the sunroof and that is when she was killed by an assassin's bullet.
All of that taking place just 24 hours ago and now so many questions emerging about the future of one of the United States key allies in the war on terror. The future of Pakistan, will they go ahead with parliamentary elections and will the current President Pervez Musharraf bend to some pressure, both internationally as well as within his country to step down.
ROBERTS: Such a tragedy in that country. She was such a beacon for the promise of Democracy there and changed in the years ahead. Now, as you said, a lot of questions about were the country is headed.
Its 41 minutes after the hour. A lot of other stories making headlines overnight. Alina Cho joins us now and she has got the latest on all of that. Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John, Kiran. Good morning, everybody.
New this morning. Harsh criticism for U.S. companies helping to build a state of the art surveillance system for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Human rights advocates say the Chinese government could use the equipment to crack down on its people. But the Commerce Department says, the sophisticated system does not violate the ban on providing China crime control or detection instruments.
There's new video this morning that shows the incredible force of that Jacksonville, Florida, chemical plant explosion. You may remember, it happened more than a week ago. New surveillance video that were getting of a business next door, shows a man, whoa, sitting at his desk when the shock wave from the blast hits. Another camera, shows an office being shaken there, sending a computer and lots of books flying. And the third camera shows a woman sitting at her desk as the blast hits. Gosh, imagine how scared she must have been. 4 people at the plant died in the explosion. 14 others were injured.
Funeral services today for a young girl who many say has tragically become the face of a broken healthcare system. Nataline Sarkisyan died last week, just one day before her health insurer CIGNA, finally agreed to pay for a liver transplant for her. The 17- year-old from North Ridge, California, had been battling leukemia and CIGNA had initially denied the transplant, calling it experimental. Now after public protest, the company reversed its decision but it was simply too late. The girl's family has since hired a lawyer Mark Geragos and plans to sue CIGNA. The company stands by its decision.
And the American Civil Liberties Union says it might sue Ohio's largest county, if that county changes its voting system. The Cuyahoga County Board wants to get rid of electronic voting machines and instead, use a paper ballot system. But the ACLU was worried that incorrectly filled out ballots won't count, violating state law. The current system tells voters immediately if something's wrong, but there were also problems reported with the accuracy of both totals in the 2004 presidential election.
You may remember, one official says, the new paper system won't produce a winner until the day after the elections. The state's presidential primary, by the way guys, is March 4th. Those are the headlines at this hour. We are going to have much more at top of the hour, including a new message from Osama Bin Laden that may be coming out as early as today. So, we'll have that at the top of the hour.
ROBERTS: Great. Alina, thanks.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Coming up next, we're going to have more coverage of that escape of the tiger at the San Francisco Zoo. Was the closure for the tiger actually not up to code? We'll have a live report on that. And of course, we're following this morning's big story which is the burial of Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto at Garhi Khuda Baksh, which is her ancestor home.
That building in the background there looks somewhat similar to the Taj Mahal. That is the family's mausoleum. She was buried just moments ago beside her father, the former president of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. We'll be right back with a lot more, on this AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 47 minutes after the hour. If you're just joining us, we're following developments right now in Pakistan. Hundreds of thousands crowd in to say good-bye to Benazir Bhutto. She has now been laid to rest, next to her father in the family mausoleum. A lot of blessings were performed over her coffin earlier this hour. At least, ten people died in an overnight protest marking her murder across Pakistan. We'll have a live report on the funeral, the protest and the impact on Pakistan's elections, coming up at the top of the hour.
Pakistan has received billions of dollars in American Financial Assistance and is an ally on the war on terror. It brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. We are asking, does the United States now need to take a greater role in fighting extremism in Pakistan? Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. Right now, let's take a look. 36 percent of you say, yes. It does need to take a greater role. 64 percent say no. We'll continue to track your votes throughout the morning.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, there are some new questions this morning after the deadly tiger attack that happened on Christmas Day at the San Francisco Zoo. The director of that zoo admits now, that the wall around the tiger's pen doesn't meet the recommended height. Now, there are other questions about whether or not the tiger could have actually jumped out of that enclosure.
Dan Simon is following the latest developments in the investigation, joining us live from San Francisco. A lot of these details changing from when we spoke to you last -- yesterday morning. They had kept saying 18 to 20-foot wall and now that's changing this morning.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. They came out here yesterday. They approached the cameras and they had to issue a significant correction, because it turns out, that the wall that protects the public from these tigers is far shorter than previously thought. The wall here is 12 1/2 feet tall. Industry standards call for it to be about 16 feet tall.
What that means is the tiger would have had a much easier time scaling the wall and breaking free of the enclosure. Even so, the zoo's director says he is still stunned that the tiger was able to escape. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANUEL MOLLINEDO, DIRECTOR, SAN FRANCISCO ZOO: I think the tiger, well, if she grabbed on to something, it could have been a ledge. She had to have jumped. How she was able to jump that high is amazing to me, but it's an exotic animal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIMON: We should point out that every couple of years, about every three years or so, the AZA comes out here, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. They take a look at the zoo and they looked at that wall, they found no problems with that wall. Found no red flags.
Kiran, meanwhile, we should also point out, that the police and the zoo officials, they took issue with a bombshell report yesterday. A "San Francisco Chronicle" report that really pointed the strong evidence, that these boys somehow taunted the tiger. "The Chronicle" reported that a shoe and some blood were found, actually in the enclosure, within the enclosure. Well, the police chief said no such evidence was found. She did, however, say that there was a shoeprint found on a fence. The fence that separates the public from the tigers. They're analyzing to see if that shoe print matches any of the victims. Bottom line here, Kiran, we really don't know if these young men were just innocent bystanders or if their actions may have played a role in the attack.
CHETRY: It seems that there are a lot of questions, and also a lot of questions about the future of that big cat exhibit. They were fined. I think it was a year ago or more, for some other problems that happened when it came to having proper mesh in place to feed the animals. And now, they're looking at this problem with the fence not being high enough. Is that exhibit going to be open to the public?
SIMON: What the zoo director says it will not be open. It will not reopen until they deem it to be safe. What that exactly means, we don't know. The zoo was supposed to open yesterday. It remained closed and it's going to be closed again today. We just don't know when this zoo will reopen and when this tiger exhibit will reopen.
CHETRY: All right. Dan Simon for us in San Francisco this morning, thanks.
ROBERTS: Nine minutes now until the top of the hour. "Quick Hits" now. Pakistan has no plans to postpone its January 8th elections. The prime minister announced this morning, that he will consult with all political parties before making any change in the election date. The U.S. State Department is encouraging Musharraf to go ahead with the date. But many people are expecting he may have to postpone.
World reaction coming in this morning about the death of Benazir Bhutto, from financial markets to the campaign trail. Some candidates offering condolences, others calling for President Pervez Musharraf to step down. How will all of it affect the message, in this last week, heading in to the all-important Iowa caucuses? We're live with The Best Political Team in Television, coming up in our next half hour.
And what will the U.S. do now? Will it keep supporting President Musharraf? Does it have any good options? We'll get a live report from the western White House in Crawford, coming up at the top of the hour.
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CHETRY: Well, there it is. That's the Times Square Ball. It will be more spectacular than ever this New Year's. I actually saw it personally. I have it on its way at Macy's for a little while. It's actually prettier in person than what you see here. But workers are actually, attaching new special Waterford crystal panels and LED lights. They do it every year. Designers say that this year is different, because they're energy-efficient bulbs that will make this bulb twice as bright and, I guess, twice as green, using half the energy.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first New Year's Eve Ball Drop in Times Square. And hey, we're going to be there. Be sure to tune in to CNN's New Year's Eve. Anderson Cooper and I will be hosting a special from Times Square along with headline news, Erica Hill, and comedian Kathy Griffin, is going to be joining Anderson as well. It all gets underway at 11:00 p.m. to be a fun show and hope you're watching.
ROBERTS: It will be a fun show. And you know, they did the Rockefeller Tree in LED lights this year as well. And it's right outside my front window. (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: Kenny Rogers Roasters.
ROBERTS: Its 56 minutes after the hour. Of course, we've been talking all morning about the big story, which is the burial of Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. What's the impact of that, economically, around the world? Jill Bennett, from BusinessWeek TV, in for Ali Velshi for us this morning, who is actually on his way over to Pakistan, "Minding Your Business." So, what are we looking at here?
JILL BENNETT, BUSINESSWEEK TV: Well, it's really the first chance of investors there, have had a chance to react to this news from yesterday. So, we have this assassination and it's really a knee-jerk reaction. And that's really what we've seen around the globe. So, starting up in Asia, we have the Nikkei and Hang Seng, both down about 1.5 percent. We also have trading lower in Europe as well. And it's really a follow-up to what we saw yesterday on Wall Street.
Because again, there's just that initial nervousness when they heard about the assassination, because there's a lot of concern that this is raising geopolitical tensions around the globe and ultimately what that means. So, investors tend to jump in there. Do the selling first. Think about the damages later on and then go back and reassess things later. So, taking a look at the numbers that we had on Wall Street yesterday, we did have the Dow lower by 192 points. A big drop there. We have the NASDAQ lower by 47 points. That was about 1.7 percent drop. The S&P 500 was lower by 21 points.
We want to take a look at what this means for oil prices as well, because certainly, there has been a big impact. And we have oil settling about $96.62 per barrel. That's about $2 away, within striking distance of his all-time high. And there's a lot of concern about Pakistan doesn't have any oil that it's spending out. But because, this is happening over in that region, it raises concerns about what it means for oil supplies from the region. Will it curtail supplies?
We also had a report out yesterday that shows that actually supplies in the U.S., a little bit lower than expected and so that raised a lot of concerns about what those home heating bills are going to be like this winter. So, that's where we're having all the concerns about oil prices right now. ROBERTS: Any idea what the markets are looking like today?
BENNETT: It actually looks as though, we're seeing a little bit of a pickup in futures. We'll keep an eye on those. But it does look, as though, we might see a little bit of a bounce.
ROBERTS: Jill Bennett, good to see you. Thanks for pinch- hitting this morning. I appreciate it.
BENNETT: Thank so much.
ROBERTS: But who is going to pay for the ongoing Hollywood writer's strike? Well, Hollywood, itself for one. New statistics show that the L.A. Economy has lost $1 billion, since the strike began eight weeks ago. Businesses like prop houses and transportation companies have taken big hits. They rely on productions to go smoothly for their income. At the moment, there's no end to the strike in sight.
CHETRY: While you're most news in the morning and coming up, how much for a stamp? Brought in a lot more than just 24 cents. There it is. We're going to tell you how much it went for coming up.
And the U.S. takes emergency measures in the wake of the Bhutto assassination. We're going to talk more about that and the future of Pakistan. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING, starts right now.
ROBERTS: Breaking news. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto laid to rest this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was the bravest person I ever knew.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Her country in chaos. Battles with police. Elections in doubt. A nuclear nation and key ally in the war on terror, now on the brink, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning. Thanks very much for joining us on this big news day, Friday, December the 28th. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us. We begin with the latest news out of Pakistan right now. Pakistan is going through its first full day since the assassination of opposition leader and Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. She has now been laid to rest in her family's mausoleum in southern Pakistan. And the burial, just moments ago, was completed. We're going to catch you up on everything that happened overnight. What's going right now?
And also, how things are shaping up for the rest of the day. Thousands came, hundreds of thousands, in fact, to say their emotional goodbye to the first female leader of the Muslim world. At least, ten people were killed in rioting overnight and another 20 yesterday. A lot of fury over her assassination and rioting that had taken place throughout the country. President Pervez Musharraf even declaring three days of mourning. Today, the prime minister says there are no plans to postpone the parliamentary elections either. Those are set for January 8th.
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