Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
New Hampshire Countdown and Preparations; More Severe Weather
Aired January 06, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: From the CNN Center here in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Good morning, everybody. January 6th, I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: And hello, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes. We're here in Atlanta, Georgia and in New Hampshire where things are little busy. The final push is on for presidential candidates. The Granite state, two days away. And here at CNN, we've got a little something for you to tell you about this morning, actually, that has to do with Republican and Democratic debates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BANKHEAD, GBI: A lot of evidence has been uncovered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Your tips helped police make a move in the case of that hiker missing along the Appalachian Trail. Now, a suspect is facing charges. We have the latest details in a live report.
But first: Let's get to this. Three storms in three days. The west can't seem to catch a break. Huge winds sent trees crashing into homes, power lines knocked out. Hundreds of thousands are without electricity at this hour.
HOLMES: And there is more. Heaps of snow, buckets of rain. California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington all slammed by this winter storm. At least two people are dead. Also this morning, new concerns. Warnings of avalanches, flash floods, even mudslides.
NGUYEN: Let's take you to Fernley, Nevada today where just 30 miles east of Reno, the water is finally receding. But yesterday, a levee burst, releasing what the fire chief called a wall of water. Hundreds of homes were flooded. Dozens of people had to be rescued by helicopter and boats. They were taken to a nearby makeshift shelter. Now the town is cleaning up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR TODD CUTLER, FERNLEY, NEVADA: Our focus is turning to getting the damage fixed. It's focused on making sure that any other residents that have not been evacuated are and taking care of those residents at Fernley High School and looking forward to what we're going to do next in regards to those residents up in the coming days
NGUYEN: Officials are still trying to figure out what caused the break. But on Friday, the area did get almost two inches of rain, which is a record. Fernley averages only about five inches of rain each year.
HOLMES: All right. We'll continue on this weather path. Do you want the good news or the bad news first from the sierra?
NGUYEN: Let's go with the bad.
HOLMES: Let's go to the bad. All right. Well, the travel nightmare there continues. Snow has shut down parts of I-80 and US-50. That ain't good.
NGUYEN: No, not at all, but, unto the good news, the snowfall could relieve the water shortage out east. CNN's Reynolds Wolf is in Truckee, California where able to snowing are just, you know, it was coming down fierce yesterday and today, I guess, it seems still a little bit of the same.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is a little bit of the same this morning, guys. We have about 12 inches of snowfall that fell overnight. We're expecting another two to four inches of snow. And when you're looking at the positive aspect of this, I mean, you have to remember much of the region has been mired in an awful drought, for north California and southern California. Southern California benefiting from the rainfall; northern California benefiting of course from the snow. I mean, look at the snow here. I mean, you have to think, this snow at some point is going to be a glass of water for someone in Sacramento, although, I wouldn't drink that because these gloves are kind of dirty. Anyways, I've got to tell about the traffic, too. You've mentioned about the traffic problems, we have some issues along parts of I-80. That would be something that we could deal with through a good part of the morning because the snow will continue to familiar fall. They do have plows out there right now. Doing what they can to scrape off the roads. Take a look at what we have right now; we've got some video for you from some people just traveling up and down parts of 80. You see jack knifed trucks and cars that have been pushed into snow banks by the strong winds. Winds will not be a huge issue today. Even though we have that winter storm warning in effect, winds, I repeat, should not be a huge problem. The snow, as I mentioned is going to begin tapering off. And those traffic trouble, problems, they're going to be with us for a good chunk of the day. That is the latest that we got here from beautiful Truckee, California. Let's send it back to you in the studio.
NGUYEN: All right. Looking forward to more of you today. We're going to put you to work, Reynolds, out in the snow. Thank you.
WOLF: You bet.
NGUYEN: I take you to southern California now, one woman died when the truck she was in was swept away by flood waters. As we've said, there could still be more flooding and mudslides there today. But right now, the mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted. CNN's Kara Finnstrom joins us live this morning from Santa Clarita, California. What's the latest there, Kara? KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, we did just speak with someone with the L.A. County Fire Department who tells us that this entire area came through the latest round of rain last night without any major problems, and that is very good news. They also tell us that they will be keeping their swift water rescue team on stand by through this evening because there is more rain expected later today. And yesterday, that swift water rescue team was put to work. As you just mentioned, one woman killed. We do have some videotape of that rescue, which took place in the Chino area. The girl's boyfriend, who was with her, you can see him in this video clinging to a tree. He was rescued by this team. The two of them were driving down a road and actually try tried to cross over an area that had been washed out when their car was carried for about a half mile. He was rescued. Again, she was killed. There have been a total so far of four -- at least four deaths related to these storms. And most of those have been due to traffic accidents. And back here live in Santa Clarita, we did find some teams with the U.S. Geological Survey yesterday already coming out here and trying to study the impact that this storm has had on areas like this one, which you can see were devastated by some of those recent wildfires. Some of these hillsides not only the trees aboveground and the shrubs burned, but also the roots systems underneath destroyed. So, these hillsides considered very unstable and the big concern with all these rain was that it could possibly trigger some major mudslides. We spoke with some of these experts yesterday who says at least so far, southern California seems to have escaped that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN STOCK, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: What we found so far is that it looks like we've walked right to the edge of the rainfall precipice, stirred over the edge, kicked a few stones over and then walk back. Thus far, in the Malibu area and what we've seen here, there hasn't been a whole lot of debris flows. Most of the water is simply running over the hill slope and transporting sediment particle by particle. So, there's been a low hazard. But, we walked right up to the threshold. We got a little under two inches in Malibu. And according to Workday (ph), Sue Canon (ph), and other U.S. G.S. colleague, that's right the tipping point where you a little bit more than that, and we could have walked over the edge into some hazardous debris flows.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FINNSTROM: So, again, the good news is that southern California has come through the first few bands of those storms. Well, authorities here are cautiously optimistic that we have fair the worst of this. But they say, they'll stay on stand by at least through this evening because there is some more rain expected through today. Betty?
NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Kara Finnstrom joining us live. Thank you.
HOLMES: I guess, some disturbing new developments this morning in a story I think follows the hikers really across this country. The authorities now no longer believe that a 24-year-old missing hiker is alive. NGUYEN: Yes, she disappeared while hiking the Appalachian trail in the north Georgia mountains. And this morning, a 61-year-old man has been charged in the case.
HOLMES: And Reggie Aqui joins us now live from Union County, Georgia, with the latest on this story. Good morning to you, Reggie.
REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, T.J. I talked to you 24 hours ago and so much has changed since then. As you mentioned an arrest for the suspect in this case, they are now say it's connected to the disappearance of Meredith Emerson. Another thing that they are questioning this morning is where this search is going to go on now. Because there is so much evidence that may point the searchers in a different direction. Let's talk about some of the evidence right now. Last night, we were told that there are court documents, and we read them ourselves, that show all of this evidence that was found in a Dumpster about 50 miles from where I'm standing, in other words, 50 miles from where Meredith Emerson was last seen on the trail with the suspect that they have on custody. And authorities are telling us, they found a few things. They found a wallet. Inside that wallet, they say they found Emerson's I.D., including her driver's license and her old University of Georgia I.D. They also found clothing that matches the description of the clothing that she was wearing the day she disappeared. On that clothing, they say a significant amount of blood. In addition, they found a portion of the seat belt that looked to be cut out of a car. They say that seatbelt was also covered in blood. That's significant because we're told the suspect's car was later found and in that car, a missing seat belt in the back. Let's show you a picture of the suspect that we're talking about. We're told he is 61 years old and he is charged now with kidnapping with intent to injure. Let's show a little bit of you how we got here since Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AQUI (voice over): Sixty-one-year-old, Gary Michael Hilton now sits in a county jail and authorities are focusing their efforts into finding the body of 24-year-old Meredith Emerson.
JOHN BANKHEAD, GBI: This is a search and recovery effort.
AQUI: Up in the woods, that's a big loss to family and friends who had been searching for her since she disappeared on New Year's Day. This is the first time we watched Emerson's roommate, Julia Karrenbauer break down. Earlier, she talked to CNN about police arresting Gary Michael Hilton Friday night at a suburban Atlanta gas station. Police say he was the last person seen with the University of Georgia grad when she disappear hiking with her dog, Ella. However, Karrenbauer was willing to give Hilton the benefit of the doubt.
JULIA KARRENBAUER, MEREDITH EMERSON'S ROOMATE: The fact that he didn't turn himself in, it is a concern you know. I mean, maybe he didn't hear, it sounds like he was living out of his van. But I mean, you never know. He was in clear daylight you know. He might have not have known. AQUI: But now, authorities say not only does Hilton know what happened to Emerson, but that he orchestrated it. Kidnapping her with intent to hurt her.
BANKHEAD: Well, given the fact that that's pretty much -- I've pretty much confirmed that, yes. I can't elaborate at this point. There is considerable evidence that will come out at an appropriate time during any court hearing, but right now, I'm not at liberty to be specific about what that is.
AQUI: Officials say they have recovered a lot of evidence, but a scaled down search will continue in the Georgia mountains. Meanwhile, Emerson's dog, Ella, was safely found from an implanted microchip, 50 miles where she disappeared.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AQUI: OK and that dog was found in the parking lot of a grocery store tight next to that parking lot was that Dumpster we're talking about where police found all the evidence, including the blood that they say was on her clothing. I should also mention to you, T.J., that today, again, we're expecting the searchers to go out this morning. They really reduced the amount that they're searching. It started off as a 400 square mile search. Now they're down to about a 500 mile radius.
HOLMES: Reggie, tell us, as well, a lot of folks will remember a North Carolina couple that went missing I believe it was last month and not too long ago in the north Georgia mountains. We have a picture of them here. Is there any possible connection or is a connection even being looked at between the case of this missing 24- year-old and this elderly North Carolina couple?
AQUI: Well, I can tell you that authorities are definitely looking into it. We want to be careful about this. Right now, there is no irrefutable evidence that shows that there is a connection, but there are some similarities and authorities are quick to point that out. What you're talking about is this couple that went missing in October in North Carolina, basically along the same stretch of woods here in the southeast part of the country. That couple, they went walking in the woods. The woman's body was found a few weeks later. And then, someone used their ATM card. In this case, again, you have a woman walking in the woods, goes missing and a few days later, police are telling us as of last night, the suspect in this case according to police, used her credit card or at least tried to at a nearby bank. So, you have some similarities in the cases. Again, authorities don't know if they're connected. But they're certainly looking at all the evidence.
HOLMES: All right. Reggie for us there in Union County, Reggie, we appreciate you getting here this morning.
We will turn back to some politics now. We, of course, know that Iowans have spoken. Well, voters in New Hampshire will be speaking in two days. The candidates are speaking right now and debating each other. We'll show you how things got a little testy at one debate yesterday. NGUYEN: Also, a true story, a man living on food stamps and struggling to make his rent finds a check worth close to $200,000. What would you do if you were him? We're going to tell you what he did.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. We do have some voting results to share with you this morning. Wyoming Republicans went to the polls for their state caucuses. And Mitt Romney picks up his first win for the GOP presidential nomination.
HOLMES: All right. This is how it turned out. Romney, big blowout up there. He got 67 percent of the vote which gives him eight delegates at the national convention. Fred Thompson got 25 percent of the vote, that gives him three delegates and Duncan Hunter gets one delegate by winning eight percent of the vote. Now, Wyoming Republicans lost half of their national delegate as of (INAUDIBLE) for holding their caucuses so early in the defiance of party rules. What Wyoming and some other states tried to do was actually move their primary and caucuses up to have more influence, but they got punished, so they end up having less influence, anyway. Well, the Democrats will have their caucuses in Wyoming on March 8.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's take you now to New Hampshire where the candidates are counting down to Tuesday's critical primary.
HOLMES: It's a pretty tough battle going on and it got a little testy as you might expect. Last night, during back to back debates for the Democrats and the Republicans. CNN's Dan Lothian live in Manchester, New Hampshire, always keeping his cool, at least. Good morning to you, sir.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Trying to, at least, right? Good morning, T.J. There really were some tough exchanges between the candidates as they sparred over immigration, terrorism, healthcare, and over which of the candidates had changed their positions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Joe Lieberman said John McCain has never supported amnesty and anybody says that he does is a liar, is lying. Now, no better authority than Governor Romney believe that it's not amnesty, because two years ago, he was asked and he said that my plan was quote, "Reasonable and was not amnesty." It's a matter of record.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, do you want to explain that.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Absolutely. What he describes is technically true. Which is this plan does not provide amnesty because he charges people $5,000 to be able to stay. And that technically -
MCCAIN: That's not true. That's not a complete response to it and Governor Romney, it was explained to you and you said it was reasonable and not amnesty. That's just, you can look it up.
ROMNEY: $5,000.
MCCAIN: It's not amnesty, and for you to describe it as you do in the attack ads, my friend, you can spend your whole fortune on these attack ads, but it still won't be true.
ROMNEY: Barack Obama looked at several senators, stiff and long history in the Senate and completely blew them away in the Iowa caucus. It's a message of change. When we sit down and talk about change, Barack Obama and myself in that final debate as you're positing, I can say, not only can I talk change with you, I've lived it.
MCCAIN: I just want to say to Governor Romney, we disagree on a lot of issues but I agree, you are the candidate of change.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You criticize Senator Edwards and saying that he was unelectable because he had changed positions over the course of four years. That four years ago, he wasn't of universal healthcare, now, he is. Well, you've changed positions within three years.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I never said John was unelectable. Somebody asked me specifically what did I think was the difference between myself and John and I pointed out some areas where I thought we had some differences.
CLINTON: And you said that he had changed positions, did you not.
OBAMA: I did because I thought I had been more consistent on those positions. I have no problem, Hillary, with you pointing out areas where you think we have differences.
JOHN EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I didn't hear these kinds of attacks from Senator Clinton when she was ahead. Now that she's not, we hear them. And anytime you speak out for change, this is what happens.
CLINTON: Well, making change -- wait a minute. Now, wait a minute. I'm going to respond to this because obviously, making change is not about what you believe. It's not about a speech you make. It is about working hard.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I've been in hostage negotiations that are a lot more civil than this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: That was just one of the light moments during the two-party debates last night. These debates are especially critical for Governor Mitt Romney and Senator Hillary Clinton after their big losses in Iowa. They seemed to be taking much of the punches last night as all the candidates tried to stand out and win over New Hampshire voters. T.J.?
HOLMES: All right. Dan, at least you gave us a light moment there at the end. It was getting a little testy there all night.
NGUYEN: It was. That was a good debate, though.
HOLMES: It was. Dan, we appreciate you, we'll see you again here shortly. And remember folks, CNN'S BALLOT BOWL is back. It will begin this afternoon; it's all about the candidates in their own words. CNN'S BALLOT BOWL kicks off at 1:00 p.m. eastern.
NGUYEN: Also, you can hear from the candidates going into New Hampshire's primary. CNN presents back to back debates. First, the Republicans and then, the Democrats. It's the ABC News Debates, a CNN special replay. You don't want to miss them, tonight beginning at 7:00 eastern only on CNN.
Well, millions of you around the world read this book we're about to talk about.
HOLMES: Yes. But did you ever wonder where most bibles are printed. It ain't Bethlehem. The answer kind of ironic maybe. We're going to tell you in our Faces of Faith segment.
NGUYEN: And check out these flames. A brush fire on the move, residents on the run. When we come back, we'll tell you how it all ended. You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Here is a check of the stories making headlines this morning.
HOLMES: Yes, first here, a sixth person has died in a small plane crash in Alaska. That is according to the Associated Press. Four others survived that crash. The plane plunged into the waters off coast (ph), Alaska, after take off yesterday. And investigators say, the pilot reported a problem and was trying to head back to the airport.
NGUYEN: In southwestern Oklahoma, a fire flares up, then, it's put down. People though had to leave their homes but now, they're being allowed back in. Firefighters from 22 stations managed to stop the quick moving grass fire yesterday. It burned about two barns and about 10 square miles of grasslands. But no one was hurt.
HOLMES: And a window washer who survives a 47-story fall makes more progress and his remarkable recovery. Doctor say, Archimedes Moreno (ph0, under went successful spinal cord surgery. The operation increases now his chances of being able to walk without pain in the future. Moreno and his brother fell from a New York skyscraper December 7th. His brother did die.
NGUYEN: That is amazing. 47 stories and he survived.
Well, the west coast is still facing some fierce weather. Meteorologist Brad Huffines is tracking the wind, the rain, the snow, all of that stuff for us. Good morning, Brad. BRAD HUFFINES, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You forgot the pestilence, the locust, the frogs. We do it all here. Lots of weather activity outside across the western coast. And what we're seeing now, the center of circulation, see that circle of the clouds there north of Seattle, as that center of circulation pulls back up to the north, more spokes of energy continue to swing down across the west coast. Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, you're still seeing plumes (ph) of moisture coming ashore and as they do and the moisture hits those mountains, it rises, squeezes water out in the form of snow or rain showers. And that continues to be the case out down especially southern California, where we still have flash flood watches in effect. From Cambria down to Santa Paula, Los Angeles, Huntington beach, Oceanside, down towards San Diego as well and that means that already flood-ridden areas or water-ridden land could see enough rain to cause more flash flooding. Meanwhile, you look out in the Atlantic Ocean, you still see more waves of energy way out here coming toward the west coast. So, it looks like we have still stormy pattern for the west coast specifically, you look inside, rain showers here from Sacramento all the way down to L.A. and across Reno and the Lake Tahoe areas, more high elevation snows to pile up in the couple of feet today in the highest elevations but a lot lighter winds, rains and snows than we had yesterday. That I guess is some calm in this storm. OK.
HOLMES: Some calm, nice to hear about some calm. United States had been a mess out there. Brad, we appreciate you keeping an eye on it. We'll talk to you again here soon, sir.
HUFFINES: OK.
HOLMES: All right. So, which is more important for the candidates. They need to do better in Iowa or New Hampshire? Our own Josh Levs keeping it real for us. Good morning to you, sir.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you. You know what? New Hampshire track records offer some serious hope to certain candidates but do either of these states actually pick the people who end up becoming president? I'm going to have that, coming up. Betty?
NGUYEN: Plus: Winter storms just ripped through the west. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're hanging in there, you know, it just getting around a little bit. I'm going to take some people over to see if their house is under water or not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a rude awakening and we're all working together to get it under control.
NGUYEN: Man, what a rude awakening. A levee breaks, sending water just rushing through one Nevada community. Find out what happened to residents who were forced to run for higher ground.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: Welcome back, everybody, on this SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. A series of storms in California devastated the area and the precipitation; the gusty winds sent trees flying into homes, thousands of people without power now. This morning, there are threats of mudslides in the southern parts of that state.
NGUYEN: And moving over to Nevada now, take a look at these pictures from Fernley. Look at that. We told but the levee break. There were cars that were newly submerged and there it is. People had to paddle their way out of flooding homes. And we're talking about freezing temperatures there and you wake up and that water is inside your house.
HOLMES: In the house. So, that rushing water stranded more than 3,000 there.
NGUYEN: Yes, some of them were forced to spend the night in a shelter. (Elanie) Kim of our affiliate KOVR has much more on this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(ELANIE) KIM, KOVR, REPORTER: Several hundreds of residents of this rural community woke up to find snow, but also water waste high in some places around their homes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a break in the canal and it flooded our streets and everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like Texas. Not Nevada.
(ELANIE) KIM, KOVR, REPORTER:: Help for the flood victims arrived quickly and from all around northern Nevada including nearby Fallon Naval Air Station.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're hanging in there, getting around a little bit, going to take some people over to see if their house is under water or not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a rude awakening and we're all working together to get it under control.
(ELANIE) KIM, KOVR, REPORTER:: Those trapped by flood water even pets got evacuated by helicopter and boat. KC Allen, a long-time Fernley resident wasn't surprised to hear there was a break in the canal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's worse this time, but I'm not surprised. A canal breaks.
(ELANIE) KIM, KOVR, REPORTER:: Allen and several other people we spoke with have a theory about what caused the break.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The musk rats and the gophers digging into the side of the bank causing it to break.
(ELANIE) KIM, KOVR, REPORTER:: The official cause is under investigation. In the meantime, with another winter storm looming, the irrigation district diverted water from that section of the canal and by mid afternoon, the water had receded considerably. Most of the residents were able to return home and about 100 will be spending the night in a local shelter.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: OK. Take a look at this. The flooding may be gone down in Fernley, but cleanup could take quite a while. These were some pictures form i-reporter Derek Smith. This is what it looked like to the cameras of some CNN i-reporters after that levee failed. It may not be so obvious, but the water was really, really cold as we mentioned. Imagine, waking up to find murky, freezing, cold water invading your house. These are photos from Tiffany Smith.
HOLMES: We got some have new developments in the case of that missing hiker in Georgia and they are not positive developments this morning. A 61-year-old man is now charged with kidnapping and the disappearance of that 24-year-old woman.
NGUYEN: A lot of us were hopeful that she would be found. Here is what we know so far. She went missing while hiking in the Appalachian trails. Authorities fear she is dead. Police have charged Gary Michael Hilton with kidnapping with the intent to cause bodily injury after discovering what they say is evidence linking him to Meredith Emerson's disappearance. Emerson went missing on New Year's day. Investigators say they have recovered her driver's licenses and blood- stained clothing matching hers. These items were found in a dumpster near a convenience store for about 50 miles from where she disappeared. Investigators hold out little hope that Emerson is still alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this still a search and rescue mission?
JOHN BANKHEAD, GBI: This is a search and recovery effort.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you elaborate on that?
BANKHEAD: It does not look favorable for that to be the case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And that is just so hard to hear. A scaled down search for Emerson will continue today. What a shame?
HOLMES: Yes, a mess there. Already we were on that story for us. We were so hopeful yesterday and the family was upbeat and the friends were upbeat.
NGUYEN: She was an experienced hiker and they did find her dog and they thought maybe she would still be alive and she would, you know, come behind somehow. But now we've learned that blood-stained clothing has been found, her license has been found. So, we'll hear much more on this. We are on story and bring you the latest. We want to shift over to this though because the dust hasn't settled from the Iowa caucuses and already we are racing to New Hampshire. The quick timing well, that could affect Tuesday's outcome.
HOLMES: CNN's Josh Levs, also known as Mr. Reality.
NGUYEN: OK. Mr. Reality.
HOLMES: He's looking into the history of New Hampshire and how it alters the race here.
JOSH LEVS, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Because, you know, the majority of the voters in New Hampshire are the same voters that have voted in the past. What kind of lead do they take from Iowa and what can we actually learn from that? And as you guys know, I keep talking about the fact that we hyper fixate on one early state and then the next early state. So, let's get to the reality here, is it a case that as a rule New Hampshire follows Iowa? Well, the answer in that for this race anyway, certain candidates have reason for hope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS (voice-over): All eyes are on New Hampshire for the new showdown. The nation's first primary offer rebounds to those knocked down in the Iowa caucuses or reward Iowa's winners? Most of the time, the New Hampshire primaries yield different winners, particularly when there's no incumbent president or vice president in the race, like the races in both parties in this year.
2004 was an exception. Both Iowa and New Hampshire went for John Kerry. But in the 2003 GOP race, Iowa went for George Bush while New Hampshire chose John McCain. For years earlier, Iowa chose Bob Dole. New Hampshire picked Pat Buchanan. 1992, Iowa democrats chose their own senator Tom Parkin while Paul Tsongas won in New Hampshire. Bill Clinton went on to win the nomination. In the 1988 democratic race, Dick Gephardt won Iowa while Michael Dukakis won New Hampshire. This year's race is a shortened time frame between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. They're just five days apart, instead of eight days, which means a tougher post Iowa scramble to change minds and a tougher task for those hurt in Iowa to regain momentum.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Well, speaking of that momentum, there's going to be a lot of talk about that but today just starting a few hours, candidates we got Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Fred Thompson and Bill Richardson. They're all going to be appearing on "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer." With, well I can talk with Wolf Blitzer. That's today 11:00 a.m. Eastern. So, that's a basic idea here, guys. They often go in difference directions and also often neither state even picks a person who ends up becoming president. So, it's important to show...
NGUYEN: So early in this game.
LEVS: It's a marathon. It really is.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Josh.
There is a lot more coming up. And we want to tell you about a big debate that we're going to be showing later today.
HOLMES: Yes, it got a little contentious made between the presidential candidates on ABC. Tonight, you have an opportunity to see it again. CNN is teaming up with ABC and running both the republican and democratic debates. That will be back to back, a special CNN replay. Don't miss it tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.
NGUYEN: And you know, we aired a little bit of that earlier and it did get contentious. They were going at it. So, this is a debate that you don't want to miss, tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern on CNN.
HOLMES: And we continue now with the best political team on television. We'll be talking to our Paul Steinhauser about what the candidates is gunning for heading into the New Hampshire debate, rather the New Hampshire primary.
NGUYEN: Exactly. They're still debating on the trail somewhere but if you found a check, listen to this, worth over $100,000, would you give it back? We kind of know what T.J. would do. No, not really. He's a better guy than that. We'll tell you what this man did.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The new numbers now coming out of New Hampshire. I'm sure good news for some. Bad news for others. With just two days to go until Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. Joining us live now from Manchester to New Hampshire, CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. Paul, always good to see you, man. Tell us, we've got new numbers. Who is it good for? Who is it bad for?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN, DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, you know, T.J., it's a big question. The big question coming out of Iowa, who is going to get the bounce? Who's going to get the bounce? What's Iowa going to do? Is it going to make a difference here in New Hampshire? And it seems it did make a bit of a difference on the democratic side. Let's take a look at some of these democratic numbers. In our last poll before the caucuses, right after Christmas, before the caucuses, Hillary Clinton had a slight lead over Barack Obama.
But in our new polls that came out last night, CNN-WMUR was conducted by the University of New Hampshire. You see it all dead even, 33, 33 and John Edwards at 20 percent. Now a little bit of a gain there, as you can see the previous numbers, both Obama and Edwards went up a little bit. And you know, where the big difference, though, the big difference though on the democratic side was electability. We also as New Hampshire democratic voters here, who has the best chance of beating republican nominee? And before the caucuses, Hillary Clinton was beating Obama two to one. As you can see now, it's a much closer division between the two. And why is that? Because Barack Obama won. It's as simple as that. He won Iowa and that makes a difference and now people think he can win the big one. So, it did make a difference.
HOLMES: And what is the problem here going to be for Hillary Clinton? Because with the numbers close among democratic voters, independents are there, as well. They seem to break for Barack Obama. So if it's that close for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama among democratic voters, is she in a bit of trouble here because he's already won Iowa, it's this bounce and now the independents who already tend to lean towards him, they're really going to go towards him in New Hampshire now.
STEINHAUSER: They could. They could up here in New Hampshire. Almost, about 40 percent of the voters here in New Hampshire are registered as independents. They can vote on either side. They can either vote for the democrats or they can vote for the republicans. They can go to either primary. And as you said, in Iowa, our entrance polls showed that independents, when they voted on the democratic side, they went for Barack Obama. So, that makes Hillary Clinton's job even tougher up here. But you know, the Clintons have a strong organization in this state, and she's out every day, every minute here campaigning. So, it makes her job tougher, but we'll see what happens.
HOLMES: All right. Paul, let's talk about the republicans there. Romney needs a win. He needs a good showing or he needs something positive coming out of New Hampshire. But John McCain is giving him fits. What are the numbers looking like on that side?
STEINHAUSER: You are absolutely right. And on the republican side, you know, with the last time we polled which was again just before the caucuses, Mitt Romney and John McCain were pretty much tied. But take a look at these numbers right here. Now you see John McCain up by much more than the margin of error, much more on the sampling area. It was dead even the last time we polled. But now, McCain is up and it looks like you can see Huckabee down there at the bottom at 11 percent. It seems that coming out of Iowa, even though Huckabee won Iowa, he didn't get much of a bounce. It seems like the person that got the bounce was John McCain. They like him here. Remember, republicans voted for John McCain in 2000. He beat George W. Bush in the primary here. And right now according to our new poll, it seems like John McCain is the front-runner.
HOLMES: John McCain, the front runner. What did he end up, fourth or something in Iowa? That's his Iowa bounce, huh?
STEINHAUSER: Well, thanks to Huckabee, I guess.
HOLMES: Thanks to Huckabee. Paul Steinhauser, our deputy political director. Sir, always good to see you. And I'm sure we'll see you back out there on the trail soon.
STEINHAUSER: Take care, T.J..
HOLMES: All right.
And folks, that was a pretty contentious debate. Excuse me.
NGUYEN: So contentious, you got choked up.
HOLMES: It was because there's some rough stuff.
NGUYEN: It was.
HOLMES: And you know, some of those rough stuff gets me a little worked up. Let me clear my throat here so I can tell you exactly what happened between these presidential candidates. It happened last night on ABC. And, you know, we've been talking about things are so close, you just saw the close numbers there from Paul Steinhauser. So we can expect things to get a little contentious right now because a lot of these candidates have a lot on the line going into New Hampshire on Tuesday. Well, that debate was last night. You're going to get a rare chance to see it again. CNN teaming up with ABC. We don't do that often but still we appreciate it when we are able to do it. And we're rerunning both the republican and democratic debates back to back this evening. A special CNN replay. You don't want to miss it tonight beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, only at CNN you can see it again. If you already saw it or you can see it for the first time this evening again right here on CNN.
Also, the "Ballot Bowl" is back. We're doing it again this afternoon. It's all about the candidates in their own words. Our "Ballot Bowl" kicks off the 1:00 Eastern time.
NGUYEN: Well, you know the Golden Rule, right, T.J., do unto others as you would have them do to you.
HOLMES: That's how I live my life.
NGUYEN: Is that how you live your life? That's a good way to live your life. And this man right here, is an example of that golden rule by giving up thousands of dollars. Why did he do it? Especially when he needed it. We're going to talk to him.
Also from the red book to the good book. China's role in sharing the scripture. That's head in our "Faces of Faith" segment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRAD HUFFINES, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Hi. I'm meteorologist Brad Huffines with your cold and flu report around the country. You're seeing mostly sporadic activity. That's all the counties and states in green right now. You get into local activity into purple, especially from Michigan up towards Illinois, Montana, California. Then you get into regional activity in places like Utah and Arizona, down to sections of Colorado and Texas. Out west, you start seeing activity to continue to be more local or regional with widespread activity reported in no states than no activity reported in the Mississippi and South Carolina. But remember, as much as we travel, that can change in just a heartbeat as we touch each other, move on back home and start to affect each other. Be careful. Please be careful through the cold and flu season that we are continuing to be right in the middle of. I'm meteorologist Brad Huffines. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, where did your bible come from? Chances are, like so many other things, it came from China. It's a communist country, of course, but it's quickly becoming one of the world's leading printers of the good book. CNN's Eunice Yoon has that story in today's "Faces of Faith."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold up your bible! Say it like you mean it!
EUNICE YOON, CNN, CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): No matter where they are in the world, Christians cherish their bible. So, what's the connection with China? A country more familiar with communism's little red book than the good book.
QUI ZHONGHUI, AMITY PRINTING PRESS (through translator): People overseas might think it's ironic, the bible is being printed in China. But, in fact, we're one of the largest bible printers in the world.
YOON: Yet the government here isn't about to let bibles flood this country. Authorities worry that could lead to social unrest. Only state-approved churches can legally distribute the holy richt, and in limited quantities. Independent churches are forced underground. Those caught smuggling bibles outside official changes face arrest.
Even so, selling scripture to the rest of the world earns this government's blessing. The state sanctioned bible turns out bibles for firms like Rodman and Holman, a top publisher for America's southern Baptist.
PETER DEAN, UNITED BIBLE SOCIETIES: There's a great demand for different types of cover materials, finishes, colors, types of stitching.
YOON: And all can be made for cheap.
DEAN: In China, labor is more available. We can produce labor- intensive material, books, at a good, economical price.
And the company is building a second factory to keep up with all the demands. Once this new plant is up and running, it alone will be able to print at least 1 million bibles a month.
That's good news for evangelists like Franklin Graham.
FRANKLIN GRAHAM, EVANGELIST: I love China so much. He sent his own living god and son for China.
YOON: The son of the Reverend Billy Graham held his first ever mass prayer event in Hong Kong, the only Chinese city where religion is not subject to government control.
FRANKLIN GRAHAM, EVANGELIST: China in the next few years will be the largest printer of bibles in the world. It's good for China. YOON: But with so few people able to get their hands on a bible here, perhaps for now, it's providing more for their pockets than their souls. Eunice Yoon, CNN, Nanjing, China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Tele-evangelist Pat Robertson is predicting China will become the largest Christian country on earth. Robinson says he is praying that more people in China turn to Christianity. He says he hopes 250 million people in China will become Christians.
NGUYEN: I hear a lot of snow and rain falling out west. Reynolds Wolf joins us from Lake Tahoe. Good morning, Reynolds.
Man, look at that come down.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. Good morning, Better. We're in front of the Truckee Train Station. And you know, it isn't the appropriate place to be today. Because we're going to be talking not just about the weather but we're going to be talking about the travel troubles that we're going to be having with it. That and so much more coming up in just a few moments right here on CNN Sunday morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
He's really become a member of our family, and so it's - you know, unfortunately, it's just not right for her to hang on to him. But we want to do everything we can to make this right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: You have to hear this story. Coming up at 8:00, an alleged dog napping that came with an apology note and some money. Why she says she took it and how the owners plan to get it back.
HOLMES: Also, remember, a debate to show you - kind of a nasty debate. I wouldn't ask maybe that's not the right word. But a bit contentious that you can expect these days with everything so tight in the presidential race. All the candidates have debates and they talked last night on ABC. And tonight, you have a chance to see it again but you don't have to go to ABC to see it, you come right here on CNN
We're teaming up with ABC, rerunning both the republican and democratic debates. It's going to be back to back for you tonight starting at 7:00 Eastern with a special replay. Don't miss it. Again, that's tonight 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Pop star Britney Spears reportedly is back home after a brief hospital stay. Now, it's still not known why she went to the hospital late Thursday. Phil McGraw, you know, TV's Dr. Phil, well reportedly he met with Spears yesterday as she was being discharged and he was quoted saying, "she is in dire need of help." HOLMES: Well, Reggie Demone, he needs cash just as much as anybody. He gets by with a job at McDonald's and food stamps. But when he found a check worth $185,000, do you think he considered keeping it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REGGIE DEMONE, RETURNED $185,000 CHECK: I walked in and I said to the teller, I said, I'm just here, I was supposed to meet a lady here. And she said, you must be Reggie. I said, I am. And she was very thankful and I handed her the check. My mother used to tell me when I was a kid, she always told me that, she always said if you take somebody from somebody, you're going to probably lose three times that much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: My mama told me finder's keepers.
NGUYEN: Stop.
HOLMES: She did. Losers weepers, something like that. You remember, ring a bell.
NGUYEN: OK but if it gets you in criminal trouble, you may not want to keep it.
HOLMES: She didn't mention that part.
NGUYEN: Oh, she didn't.
HOLMES: No, but for his honesty and you know he says he didn't consider keeping it. He honestly, spoke to him yesterday, he had a brief moment, OK.
NGUYEN: Anyone would. Man, what could i get with that money?
HOLMES: He had a moment. Now, for his honesty... that's what he thought. I talked to him yesterday. He actually did get a $50 reward for turning it back in.
NGUYEN: Come on, folks.
HOLMES: Talked to him yesterday about why he passed it on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEMONE: Honestly?
HOLMES: yes, please tell me honestly.
DEMONE: Yes.
Honestly, I stood there and thought about it and I thought, wow, this could pay my rent for a long time. I don't know why just my rent came to my mind. I stood there and I thought for a moment, but then, you know, things that my mother said just came to my mind and I'm saying, but still, I was struggling with this would be a lot of money. But I knew that the right thing to do was to give it back. It would be impossible to cash that.
HOLMES: And it was pretty random that you found this thing. You were just looking for a scrap piece of paper and you saw this on the ground?
DEMONE: Yes. I was looking for a scrap piece of paper to write down my phone number for a friend of mine. And, in fact, I was talking to him about that yesterday and you know, still, at that point, I didn't know that something was inside because the envelope was flat. And I was - I wrote down my phone number, tore off the paper and handed it to him and I was going to throw the remains in the garbage until I saw something greenish sticking out. And I pulled it out and I said, wow, somebody lost a check for $185. At that point, he looked at it and said, no, that's $185,000. And at this point, I still thought he was joking, and I looked and for a while there, we stood there. We had a moment of silence. Then after about two minutes, we didn't say anything to each other.
HOLMES: And the $50, do you think that's good enough, if you will? Were you a little disappointed? I know you didn't hand the check in expecting anything in return. But still you gave somebody $185,000 that they lost. They gave you $50.
DEMONE: Well, I went there. Honestly, I went there and I was in, hopefully, hopefully they'll give me some money, maybe enough to pay my rent this month. I'm being honest.
HOLMES: Please. I appreciate it.
DEMONE: I thought, maybe they'll give me enough money to pay my rent this month and that would put me a month ahead of myself. If I can just put my paycheck aside. You know, I was just thinking about that to myself but then, even then, I said, after I got the $50, I thought I was thinking selfishly. It was $50 more I had and I went to Dunkin Donuts.
HOLMES: Well, you know that's a good point and that's a great attitude to have. Like you said, it's $50 bucks more than you have and you didn't do it for anything in return but Reggie Demone, sir, it's an interesting story. A fascinating story. Wish you had gotten more. How much is rent, by the way? If you don't mind me asking.
DEMONE: It's about $800 a month.
HOLMES: All right. Well, with the $50 at least, $750 you got to pay now because you got the $50 bucks.
DEMONE: Yes.
HOLMES: Reggie Demone, we appreciate your time, sir. Thank you so much and keep up the good deed.
DEMONE: OK. And thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: You want to say it or you want me to say it.
NGUYEN: Someone needs to pay that $800.
HOLMES: Someone needs to pay. $185,000. He gives you your money back. Helps you out.
NGUYEN: And you get $50 for it.
HOLMES: Here's a percent50.
NGUYEN: But you know, what I love about him is he has such a good attitude and a good heart. Not only did he give it back. He said that, you know, it's $50 more than I had. So, hey, good things happen to good people. And Reggie, I feel it coming your way.
HOLMES: It's coming your way, Reggie. We appreciate him and that was a great story.
NGUYEN: Yes, it was.
HOLMES: $800 bucks, folks. We'll take ...
NGUYEN: Somebody.
HOLMES: Let's stay here and right now, we continue here on CNN Sunday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It's January 6th, good morning everybody. It's 8:00 a.m. at CNN headquarters right here in Atlanta and 5:00 a.m. out west. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: And I'm T.J. Holmes. You're home, comfortably, hopefully in front of that television this morning but thousands of people out west, they're in the dark right now. Power is out thanks to major storms and that's not the only problem. Travel also a mess.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love snow. And this is just part of what you do. You get in line and wait your turn and just come down the mountain when things open up. That's not a big deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, we'll have the latest on this winter storm as it moves eastward now.
NGUYEN: And two Republican presidential candidates get a little testy in front of the New Hampshire audience. You have to see this. That's coming your way this morning. First: Let's take you to Nevada. The floodwaters, they are receding, that's good news but a clean up has just getting underway. Yesterday, a levee burstening (ph) rushing water into the town of Fernley. More than 3 thousand people were stranded.
HOLMES: And CNN's Susan Roesgen travel up there, she has the story for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This was the only way out for a few desperate people in Fernley, Nevada. In this small town near Reno, people woke up to find water all around their homes and in some cases, inside. Yvonne Clare (ph) showed us where the family jumped out the bedroom window when the water rushed in.
YVONNE CLARE, FERNLEY RESIDENT: It's freezing cold water and it's starting to snow.
ROESGEN: The family made it as far as the pick up in the driveway, but it was submerged before they could move and the water was coming from a mile away. The culprit was a 50-foot gash (ph) in an irrigation canal and no one knows yet how it happened.
JOE SANFORD, LYON COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT: It was a typically Friday night and Saturday morning and sleepy Fernley and this is what happened.
ROESGEN: The flooding covered about one square mile, several feet deep in some places just inches in others. But the force of it tore away pavement and affected as many as 400 homes.
GOV. JIM GIBBONS, NEVADA: Nevada is a state that needs water, but we don't need it all at once.
ROESGEN: Nevada governor, Jim Gibbons has promising state and federal help. In the meantime, Yvonne Clare and her family will stay with relatives. Others may take refuge in a local high school, already filled with piles of supplies.
(on camera): But with continuing bad weather here, Red Cross volunteers from Reno have been ordered to leave and head for home. They might wind up needing shelter here too. Susan Roesgen, CNN, Fernley, Nevada.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. So, we have some good news and we have some bad news to tell you about from the sierra. The bad news is that the travel is just a nightmare and a continue snow shut down parts of Interstate 80 and also U.S. highway 50.
NGUYEN: All right. So, let's shift to the good news, shall we? This snowfall could relieve the water shortage out west. So, that is good and CNN's Reynolds Wolf is in Truckee, California. He joins us live. You see the snow is still coming down and you know, that is in some ways a bit of a relief. Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It really is. I mean, there's no question about it that it is definitely part of a relief. You know, we have plenty of snowfall here about a foot we see overnight and we could see another two to four inches snowfall here today in Truckee, California. Throughout the Tahoe Basin but the higher levels obviously, will could see more snowfall today for all these tapering off in the afternoon. Now, this is great news. As you mentioned, both Nevada and California have been mired in a horrible drought. No one wants to deal with the issues with the levee breaking and with the flooding in California, the potential mudslides or the avalanches and the problems we have with the snow. But when you look at the big picture and you realize how this is going to benefit so many people in terms of relieving the drought and it certainly some good news. Now, let's talk a little about the bad news. The bad news in terms of travel. We still have the winter warning. It's going to be in effect until 7:00 p.m. today. Right now, right in front of the Truckee train station, it also doubles as a bus stop. And you're some hearing noise. These were actually from some vehicles that have been tripping the roadways that look like this. Check out this video showing people trying just maybe make it to the relatives' house. Maybe try to get to their business. Maybe just trying to go skiing and there is skiers up here. Roads are very dangerous and right now, along I-80, there are many parts of the road that are closed. What they're telling people is that, if you're going to travel, you're going to need some chains on your car unless, you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle with snow tires. And many trucks are being stopped right at the California- Nevada state line. That's part of the interstate is closed at the time being. Again, that's all we have here from Truckee, the snow continues to fall and certainly, it's pretty at this time and certainly, it means a lot of different things to many different people. Back to you.
NGUYEN: You sure said it. All right. Thank you, Reynolds.
Well, the west coast is where the weather at and meteorologist, Brad Huffines is tracking the wind, the rain, the snow, all that stuff for us.
BRAD HUFFINES, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And one thing that happens when snow fall is you start seeing snowfall totals. Rainfall totals and to give you an idea as to where the worst of weather is. And this morning, San macros peak, about nine inches of rain overnight and the past two days, White Ledge Peak, about eight inches of rain changing to snow. Blackcap Basin snow tail (INAUDIBLE) there is an estimate of about 71.3 inches of snow. Mammoth Lakes, 60 inches, so, five feet of new snow, a ski resort. Squaw Valley about 36 inches.
So, not uncommon to see new amounts of three to four feet of snow in some of these ski resorts. Meanwhile, the rain showers continue to plague much of southern California. Flash flood watches in effect all the way from the Mexico border through and past Los Angeles. Scattered rain showers are moving ashore now. Two-day totals have been basically an inch to an inch and a half in the lowest elevations. So, not a washout yet, but could still cause mudslides problems up into the foothills as you see the rainfall totals by Monday accumulate up to two to three inches of snow. That's possible especially up in the portions of southern California.
Then, lastly, across the inner mountain west, we have a winter storm watches, warnings, advisories. This is where snowfall continues to pile up today across Utah and Colorado driving may be difficult at times, you may have travel delays or shutdowns on I-70 as the system passes across the plains. And in the plains that's when the storm could turn to some severe thunderstorms. We will be covering that this week guys.
HOLMES: Well, happy, happy. Joy, joy. Brad Huffines, we appreciate it. See you again here soon.
HUFFINES: You're welcome.
NGUYEN: Or maybe the worst possible ending in the case of a hiker missing while hiking the Appalachian Trail.
HOLMES: The authorities no longer believe the 24-year-old woman is alive. And this morning, a 61-year-old man is charged in the case. Our Reggie Aqui joins us now covering the story for us from Union County, Georgia. Hello to you again, Reggie.
REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. In just a moment, we're going to talk to a family member of the Meredith Emerson, as you know, the 24-year-old who has been missing now since New Year's Day. The last person she was seen with, he is now in custody. He had spend the night at the jail, of the Union County jail, just down the road from where I'm standing. We are near the area where Meredith disappeared a few days ago. That search has been going on in the woods for a couple of days. They still don't know where Meredith Emerson is, but we do have a lot more information about the reason they were able to get this kidnapping charge against the suspect.
And I want to show you not only the suspect's picture and the 61-year- old who is now charged with this kidnapping, but also show you some of the evidence that we're talking about and some court documents we received last night. They're telling us that about 50 miles from where I'm standing, where they found Meredith Emerson's dog wandering around a parking lot at a grocery store, they also searched a trash dump and they say that inside this dumpster, they saw a lot of evidence. They say they found a wallet that belonged to Meredith. They say that inside that wallet they found her Georgia license, they also found her old University of Georgia student I.D. and additionally, they found clothing that they say matched the clothing that she was wearing the day that she disappeared.
On that clothing they say with a substantial amount of blood. In addition, they found a portion of a seatbelt. And on that seatbelt, also blood again. Police is saying that's significant because they believe that the suspect, that his car on the back seat, those are missing portion of the seatbelt there too. So, they're obviously making that connection. So, police are describing a bunch of evidence in this case that they hope will help them in the prosecution of this case. I'm joined by Meredith's godmother who is acting as the family spokesperson this whole time. And I know yesterday was probably one of the most difficult day of this entire journey that your family has been through. As you heard the authority say that this is now a search and recovery effort, so, what is the process now that your family goes through?
PEGGY BAILERY, MEREDITH EMERSON'S GODMOTHER: Susan and Dave and Mark and those of us near this family are in a transition state right now. That was a hard announcement. We were not -- unfortunately not surprised because of the time that's gone by, but you can't prepare for that and so that hit the family very, very hard. They had to sort of stop and assess and regroup mentally. And you know what? They're still doing that. That's what we're doing this morning. Today for Dave and Susan and Mark will be a planning day. I believe that that will help us all to process a little bit, that change now that we're in recovery. Are they accepting that term? We're hearing the words and we're saying yes, we understand, but we still hold out hope. And that would be what any parent would do. And so that's where we are in transition right now. I'm just being very honest. That's where we are.
AQUI: Right. And so, you're still leaving the possibility open that there could be a miracle on this case.
BAILERY: Miracle is exactly the word that Susan said when GBI folks have been wonderful and said is there anything we can do for you. She said I want a miracle.
AQUI: Thank you so much for joining us, Peggy. And that search does continue. We're still waiting to hear from the authorities exactly where that search will be and how many people will be out on the trails or other areas that maybe investigated. Back to you, guys.
HOLMES: All right. Reggie Aqui for us on the story. Reggie, we appreciate you this morning.
NGUYEN: Well, we are just days away from the nation's first primary of this election year. And political rivals fire shots at each other and last night's debate, did you see it? Hope you did, if you didn't, you will get another chance. Who said what on both sides? We have a live interview as well coming from New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB VELEVIS, MISSING DOG'S OWNER: Someone who actually does have the information about where Scooter is comes forward. We hope someone would drop him off at an office if they want to make it anonymous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: OK. So, a family whose little dog went missing, but now, the appearance (ph) takes a very strange twist. We're going to hear from the family in just a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Here's the countdown, it just two days left until the New Hampshire primary. Each of the candidates are looking for that edge. HOLMES: And it maybe getting a little edgy. It might be to describe last night's Democratic and Republican debates. The candidates not exactly playing nice so much. There was so much writing on Tuesday primary. CNN's Dan Lothian. Excuse me. Can you talk to Dan? I have to cough here.
NGUYEN: I want the good stuff Dan. You're joining us live from Manchester, New Hampshire. Give us the latest on what went down last night.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it really is an important debate because it was the first since the Iowa caucuses and especially critical for Senator Hillary Clinton and for Governor Mitt Romney. One of the things that we kept seeing throughout the entire debate. The two-parter, the Republicans and the Democrats is that they kept pointing out between each other, flip flopping and the changing of positions and those exchanges usually were the most heated as they talked about how you know one had taken a position on the issue of healthcare or on issue of immigration and then changed it. And that's when you saw some of the sparks really flying. But they also talk on issues, general debating on issues of health care, terrorism and immigration. There were some light moments as well though. After one heated exchange, Governor Bill Richardson said that he had been involved in hostage negotiations and he had never seen anything quite like that. Also, Hillary Clinton was asked the question about the likeability issue and how Barack Obama had been sort of portrayed as a person who was so likeable. Listen to this exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBATE MODERATOR: What can you say to the voters of New Hampshire on this stage tonight who see your resume and like it but are hesitating on the likeability issue where they seem to like Barack Obama more?
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, that hurts my feelings.
DEBATE MODERATOR: I'm sorry, Senator.
CLINTON: But I will try to go on. He's very likeable. I agree with that. I don't think I'm that bad.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You are likeable enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: That was one of the light moments of the two-parter debate last night. They're all obviously trying to separate themselves with just days to go before the New Hampshire primary. T.J.?
HOLMES: All right, Dan.
NGUYEN: You are likeable enough.
HOLMES: Likeable enough. Was there a laugh after that Dan? It seems like he was pretty serious when he said that.
NGUYEN: Yes.
LOTHIAN: Yes, I think some people didn't know how to take it or what exactly what he was after, but it was sort of a humorous moment with some laughters.
HOLMES: Dan Lothian for us. We appreciate you as always and tonight, both Republican and Democratic candidates face off on CNN. This is a really unique opportunity for you out there to see this. Because you can see the entire ABC News, Facebook, WMUR Debate in a CNN special replay tonight beginning at 7:00 eastern. Do not miss this. This is the CNN special replay tonight on 7:00 eastern only right here on CNN.
NGUYEN: Well, Josh Levs was with the Dotcom desk and he has been surfing the net for political sites. What do you found, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I'm going to show a couple coming up. But can I just ask, you guys think that I will catch on as a national slogan now? You're likeable enough?
NGUYEN: Yes, it was hard to read you know, because he said it and there was no smile.
LEVS: Yes and I'm wondering about that.
HOLMES: You see the bumper stickers now.
NGUYEN: Hillary: She's likeable enough.
LEVS: Well, if it's a good thing, you're both likeable enough to me. All right. Moving on. So, here's the deal. More and more people are paying attention to the presidential race now, right? I mean, as we talk about it more, people are jumping in. So, what I want to do today is give you information so you can make your decision when it's your chance to vote. We've got some good, trustworthy resources that are coming up right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So, if you've been watching a lot of political coverage who might focus on the horse race, but here on CNN we are committed to giving you depth and detail on the candidates and the issues.
HOLMES: Yes, they're all informed voters, they are very critical to making this system work. Josh Levs, it's up to you to making these the voters informed right about now.
LEVS: We do have our burdens this morning, don't we?
NGUYEN: It's a reality. Break it down for us.
LEVS: I'm doing my best.
HOLMES: She snapped at you. LEVS: No, she was snapping for me. You go, guy kind of snap, right? That's how I'm going to take it.
NGUYEN: That's how it was.
LEVS: Thank you. So, here's the deal. So, I want you to have a lot information as you go in this. And what's really interesting to me is how incredibly, many people are starting to pay attention right now to the horse race. I want to show you something. I'm really proud of this. CNN.com, I generally believe that CNN.com has the most advanced and fascinating look at the presidential race in general. What I am showing you right now is just New Hampshire page alone. And I'll say, I wouldn't even bring this up if I wasn't amazed by it. This is just the New Hampshire page, right? We have not only the standing but it links to like 10 different articles and keep going down.
Look at this. The demographics throughout there, median household income, where they have fallen in every previous race and reason this is important is that the people, the vast majority of the people who are voting in New Hampshire this week, they are the same people who voted the previous time. So, this actually does tell you a lot about whom they are and where they come from. Quickly moving on to the ticker page now, if you want to get frequent updates on the horse race, where it stands, what's going on, just sign up on Political ticker at CNN.com. Click on a political ticker when you sign on right there. We give you emails, couple of times a day where you get all of the top stories. And you will be able to yes, I am squinted, aren't I?
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Yes, the ticker. That's Barack Obama
HOLMES: And Hillary Clinton. What was that?
LEVS: They must have just updated it.
The political ticker. Check it out. And we're telling you one more thing here. If you want outside CNN, you have an interesting site that follows every big debate, every big event that goes out and they piece through what's been said lately. As of now, they were talking about Obama's creative clippings, they look at how his pitching his own healthcare plan. They do a very good job to do a fact check on what the candidates are saying. They updated everyday.
NGUYEN: That's important because a lot of times you hear the words being said and if you don't have the background and you don't have the information to fact check yourself, then, you may be misguided and this is a way to keep on track.
LEVS: Exactly. You have check CNN to fact check and we have a lot of good stuff.
NGUYEN: Thank you.
HOLMES: Josh, we appreciate it. And folks, tonight, both Republicans and Democrats candidates face off on CNN. Now, this is a really a unique opportunity for you folks. I mean, we're showing clips over clips that we can't even keep it together.
NGUYEN: This is exciting because the debates were so contentious last night.
HOLMES: You can see the entire ABC News, Facebook, WNUR debates on CNN, a special replay tonight. And usually, we like the folks over at ABC, but you know, we don't hang out that often.
NGUYEN: We are today.
HOLMES: But we are on this one. So, we've seen that and you don't want to miss a CNN special replay tonight, seven eastern, only right here on CNN.
NGUYEN: Yes, don't miss it.
Coming up though, a (INAUDIBLE) family is in a desperate search to get Scooter back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM VELEVIS, MISSING DOG'S OWNER: We raised Scooter since he was a puppy and he's really become a member of our family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The dog disappearance takes a strange twist. We're going to tell you about that and whether Scooter's ever going to come home.
HOLMES: I've been waiting to hear the story. So, I'm looking forward to that. In this story here, we were hoping for better news, but disturbing new evidence in this case of a hiker who went missing on a popular trail. A suspect now facing charges.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. A beloved family pet goes missing on Christmas Eve when the Dallas couple distraught after dog, Scooter dug his way out of the back yard disappear.
NGUYEN: Yes, so, I talked earlier with Kim and Robert Velevis about the ordeal and the strange twist that occurred. The day after New Year's, they receive an anonymous letter saying Scooter had a new home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLI
KIM VELEVIS, MISSING DOG'S OWNER: The first thing I noticed was a $20 bill falling out and I thought that was strange and then, I started reading and it was from the person who took Scooter from us.
NGUYEN: This was hard to believe. I will read part of the letter that says, quote, "The puppy has a different name now, but he has plenty of food and toys. My daughter adores him. He sleeps with her every night." The person goes on to say, "I have been sober for six months and I'm trying to turn myself around but I have lost everything. My little girl wanted a pug dog like your little dog very much." When you read something like that, Rob, did you think it was a hoax?
ROB VELEVIS, MISSING DOG'S OWNER: No, the description of Scooter and description of the park by her house was so dead-on that we didn't think it was a hoax at all. We thought that it would have been pretty impossible for someone from Tulsa to figure out our address and to have sent us this letter and to put it forward. If it is a hoax, it's pretty impressive hoax.
NGUYEN: And that's all that you know is that this letter came from Tulsa because there was no address on it. And Kim, let me ask you this because the woman goes on to say that she can't ask for forgiveness, but she did want you to know that the little girl who has the dog, loves that dog very much. That being the case, would you want your dog, Scooter back, would you want to take it out of the hands of the little girl who does love the dog?
K. VELEVIS: Well, you know, we feel like it could be a win-win situation for everybody where you know, we get Scooter back. We'll be happy to you know, get her a new pug or a new dog, you know, to make her extremely happy and to give her her own dog to love and to care for. You know, we've raised Scooter since he was a puppy and he's really become a member of our family. And so, it's you know, unfortunately it's just not right for her to hang on to him.
NGUYEN: How do you find him now I mean? What are you hoping from all of this?
ROB VELEVIS: Well, we're hope that enough people watching this or reading about it in the newspaper understand what's going on and that someone who actually does have the information about where Scooter is comes forward. We hope that someone drops him off at a vets office or something if they want to make it anonymous. So, something to bring him forward. We will get Scooter back and like Kim said, we are so happy to buy this girl a dog to reward her for taking such good care of Scooter during the last week. We just want this to be a great situation for everybody and we really think that it can be.
NGUYEN: And hopefully, yes. That it will be. I have to ask this question though because you are five and a half.5 months pregnant. What kind of an emotional toll has this taking out of you?
KIM VELEVIS: Well, you know, being pregnant as it is already pretty stressful.
END
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
