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CNN Saturday Morning News
Vice President Cheney in Charge While President Bush Undergoes a Colonoscopy; Counting Down to the CNN/YouTube Debate; South Carolina Primary Could Be Crucial; "Harry Potter" Released
Aired July 21, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, I'm T.J. Holmes. Good morning to you all. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, I'm Susan Roesgen filling in for Betty Nguyen.
If you're just waking up, Vice President Dick Cheney is now in charge, temporarily, that is. He's been in charge for about two hours while President Bush is under sedation for a colonoscopy.
HOLMES: Also this morning, we're counting down to the CNN/YouTube debate. Just listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can go to the doctor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The blogs the presidential Web sites are getting the hits.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barry is just a phony.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Love him or hate him, Barry Bonds is nearing the home run record. Will it fall this weekend? We are all watching.
We start this morning with firefighters in north central Utah who had their work cut out for them. They're fighting to keep a huge brush fire from reaching a small town about 85 miles south of Salt Lake City. It started Thursday in a private campground, and it has already burned thousands of acres plus a motel and forced the evacuation of about 18 Boy Scouts and two hikers. Fire officials believe it started with a spark from a flat tire.
HOLMES: And Reynolds Wolf in the Weather Center for us keeping an eye on conditions of still dry, still hot in a lot of places. REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Very much so. It looks like they're not going to get much of a break in parts of the Great Basin. We're talking about Salt Lake City, where it's just been so dry lately and should remain so for much of the weekend and into next week. Temperatures today should get into the upper 90s, but as we make our way into Monday and Tuesday, we're looking at triple digit heat. Other places dealing with rough stuff, we're looking ahead to Sunday. We're looking at places like Florida, but they'll get some scattered showers today and tomorrow. That should help matters for them.
Temperatures, we make our way from Sunday and, of course, today, it's going to be a fairly warm today. For today, we're expecting this frontal boundary that's going to drift into the Deep South and bring scattered showers to north Florida. The places that are threatened by those fires, they'll get a tremendous break today. That's good for the rain. Bad in terms of rainfall will be in parts of Texas, where we could see some heavy rainfall today from San Antonio, maybe even in Austin, as far south as Brownsville. The rain could pile up, maybe one to two inches of rainfall. Doesn't sound like a lot, but with ground that's already saturated, you could get flash flooding.
High temperatures for today, in places like Albuquerque northward into Denver will be in the 90s, 106 in Las Vegas, 97 in Salt Lake City But check out the northeast, we are looking at just a beautiful weekend for today and tomorrow. New York, 81 degrees, plenty of sunshine, 79 degrees in Boston, 81 in Detroit. That's your forecast. Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
HOLMES: Now New York gets plenty of sunshine once I get back. It rained on me for three days while I was there. Oh, Reynolds still can't hear us.
ROESGEN: That's all right. Thanks anyway.
Just wave. We'll just wave.
Caught by the law and caught on tape. This is surveillance tape from Auburn Hills, Michigan. It's from the lobby of the police station where officers were forced to taser this unruly guy to try to get him under control. But it's what happened before that incident that's really strange. Christie McDonald of our affiliate WXYZ has the story.
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CHRISTIE MCDONALD, WXYZ (voice over): The attack came out of nowhere. Unprovoked, this man started punching an Auburn Hills police officer and had to be stopped by a taser gun. Police say that was only part of 38-year-old Allen Adler's bizarre behavior. It started Wednesday morning. Auburn Hills police got a call that someone was trespassing at the palace. Investigators say Adler actually drove his car inside of that loading dock, into the palace, and asked to use Mr. Davidson's, who's the owner of the palace, bathroom. That's when police arrested him, and as a precaution, they evacuated the building.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He never gave us an indication he was going to be violent toward us at all. MCDONALD: So police took Adler to the station, ticketed him and released him. There he stood in the lobby. When the officer came out to drive Adler to his impounded car, he attacked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The officer defended himself, separated himself from the subject. There was a second officer in the lobby who pushed the subject away from the first officer and then used the taser to immobilize the subject.
MCDONALD: Action news cameras were the only ones in court when Adler was charged with assaulting an officer, and his temper flared again at police and at the judge.
ALLAN ADLER: I've never seen anything like that. This guy is not my attorney. This guy is a real [ bleep ]. This guy -- I don't have a public defender. Your honor, this is an important thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a seat for a second.
ADLER: This is very important. What facility is the attorney coming from?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll let you know as soon as we find out.
ADLER: Is ma'am, that's not good enough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, just be quiet for a minute. OK.
MCDONALD: Now Adler is facing a four-year felony in addition to trespassing. Auburn Hills police are still baffled by the attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: And by the way, the officer that was jumped got minor scratches. He's expected to be back at work on Monday.
HOLMES: When thieves stole a car from outside a Ronald McDonald House, they took much more than the car.
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EILEEN HILL, MOTHER: I mean, what kind of person can, you know, prey on families that their children are sick?
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HOLMES: Eileen Hill was taking her daughter to her room when she heard a bang. When she got outside, someone was driving her car out of the Greenville, South Carolina parking lot. All that is horrible enough. But inside the car, her daughter's leg braces. Police recovered the car, but the braces were gone. Her 10-year-old daughter, who has Spina Bifida, is going to have to use a wheelchair until new braces are made for her. And police tell Hill, that while the car was missing, it was used in a drive-by shooting.
ROESGEN: A vacation for an Ohio lawyer turned into a trip to the hospital when he was bitten by a shark at Hawaii's Honolulu Beach. Harvey Miller was attacked in an area not known for shark attacks. He says he punched the shark twice to scare it away but not before the shark sunk its teeth into his leg. Miller has already had one surgery and will need more. So much for the Hawaiian vacation.
HOLMES: Well Taliban leaders in Afghanistan say they've killed two German hostages. The Germans were kidnapped Wednesday along with at least five Afghan nationals. A man claiming to be a Taliban spokesman says the Germans were shot to death because Germany has not pulled its troops out of Afghanistan. The Taliban spokesman says the fate of a bus load of South Korean church volunteers kidnapped Thursday will be decided later today.
ROESGEN: And the U.S. military has announced the death of another American soldier in Iraq. The soldier was killed in an explosion in northern Iraq's Diyala Province, 53 American soldiers have died in Iraq this month, 3,632 killed since the beginning of the war.
HOLMES: To politics now, we've got some new numbers to share with you. This is how the primary voters, the Democratic primary voters in South Carolina are leaning right now. Hillary Clinton leads the latest CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll with 39 percent support. That compares with Barack Obama 25 percent, John Edwards has 15 percent, Al Gore says he has no intention of running, but 10 percent of voters in South Carolina just don't believe him. They want him to change his mind. None of the other contenders topped 2 percent.
ROESGEN: Well democracy and diversity, African-American voters in South Carolina carry a lot of clout, especially with Democrats, and that state's primary could be a crucial test for the presidential hopefuls. We've got the story from our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.
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CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At Mac's on Main in Columbia, Barry Walker serves up soul food, peach cobbler, and a fair amount of politics. This year scrambled politics.
BARRY WALKER, RESTAURANT OWNER: You know, Bill Clinton was one of our -- one of my greatest presidents. I love him so much. I supported him. Hillary Clinton, I'm supporting her too, but I'm not really sure that I want to go with another Clinton in the White House right now. Barack Obama is -- to me, is a bright star.
CROWLEY: It's like that in South Carolina right now, an abundance of riches for African-Americans who make up 40 to 50 percent of the Democratic primary vote. Coming after Nevada, Iowa, and New Hampshire, this first southern primary also offers the first truly diverse set of voters, which is to say the state can make or break the candidates who get this far.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN, (D) SOUTH CAROLINA: I think that Democrats in South Carolina want to be with a winner. They would want to really be able to say we did launch this campaign. CROWLEY: Every year Congressman Jim Clyburn has a fish fry in Columbia, more food and politics. Democratic candidates dare not miss the occasion because few are more influential and more in tune to South Carolina politics than Jim Clyburn.
CLYBURN: Hillary has an opportunity to be the first woman president, and that plays well with black women as well. Obama, an opportunity to be the first African-American president, and that plays with black people, male and female. You got Edwards, born in the state and carried the state last time. And being a homeboy means a lot to people, black and white.
CROWLEY: In the latest snapshot, a poll by CNN Opinion Research Corporation, found that black South Carolinians favor Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama by 16 points, a sizable gap explained in part by her husband's popularity among blacks and by overwhelming numbers showing blacks believe she is more experienced, more elect able, and better understands community problems.
Obama opened his Charleston headquarters this week. There is time yet and work to be done.
TODD SHAW, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA: What he really does have to do is to give all voters, African-American voters in particular, a certain level of assurety (ph) that his newness does speak to new ideas, is sort of breaking out of a mold.
CROWLEY: Politicos in South Carolina think that Clinton's lead is nowhere near a state in community in flux over the '08 election. At Mac's on Main, Barry Walker has proof of that at home with his two 18- year-olds.
WALKER: He's a Barack Obama supporter. He believes that this guy looks like him, is young like him, and represents what he believes in. I have another 18-year-old who is totally different. She's behind Hillary because she's a woman and she's a woman, and she says, this is what we want in America.
CROWLEY: For African-American voters in South Carolina, politics has never been so sweet.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Charleston, South Carolina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: And politics has never been so groundbreaking. CNN is raising the bar on the presidential debates, and you can take part. Anderson Cooper will host Monday's first of its kind debate live and interactive on TV and online. It's CNN/YouTube Democratic Debate. You can see the Republican debate on Monday, September 17th. Submit your questions right now. Log on to CNN.com/americavotes. CNN your political headquarters.
HOLMES: All right. We're talking Harry Potter this morning. You'll still have to wait to find out how the saga ends. If you don't want to wait, look, I'll just go ahead and tell you. This is what happens. At the end, Harry gets into this big -- I'm you kidding. I have no idea what's going to happen at the end of this book folks. I'm not going to spoil it for you. The wait it is over for the book. Potter fans around the country finally got a chance to buy the last book of the series shortly after midnight. One store in suburban Atlanta was swamped. You know Potter fans just thrilled about it.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am the most excited girl in the world. I have been waiting for this all -- like since the last book came out. This is the happiest day of my life.
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HOLMES: No, really. It gets better, sweetheart. You're young. You'll have some good days. A midnight reading of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling to 500 contest winners at a London Museum.
ROESGEN: Dick Cheney in command, a temporary transfer gives the V.P. presidential powers. We've got the story.
HOLMES: And if you're planning on relaxing on one of these today, don't. A recall to tell you about.
ROESGEN: And watching Barry Bonds. He's heading for sports history, but not everyone thinks he's worthy. CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: Presidential powers have been transferred to the vice president this morning. About two hours ago, President Bush signed the official letter giving temporary power to Vice President Cheney. The president is under sedation still for a routine colonoscopy. The White House says President Bush will resume his duties as soon as he feels well enough. We'll get a live report from the White House at 10:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: Another possible standoff between the White House and Congress again over the fired prosecutors controversy. The white House now saying Congress can't seek indictments for contempt of Congress. The president issued executive privilege for current and former White House employees who might have been involved in the firings.
And we go from executive privilege to an executive order now.
ROESGEN: The president has signed an order spelling out the rules of interrogation. It forbids the CIA from using cruel or inhuman treatment on detainees, and that includes suspected terrorists. The order is an attempt to clarify the rules set by the Geneva Convention.
HOLMES: Well first-time homebuyers, listen up. There's lots and lots of course you need to know, and our personal finance editor has details now and a look ahead on "Open House." GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J. coming up at 9:30 a.m. on "Open House," we'll talk about buying your first home. It's a huge step in anyone's life, but with the housing market where it is, it's getting more and more difficult. Banks have tightened their lending standards to stop the rash of foreclosures they are experiencing. Today they're putting down zero percent are gone, and some borrowers will have to put down 20 percent.
First off, if you're looking to buy a home, my advice, be patient. It's better to rent and save for the down payment than to get stuck with a mortgage you can't afford. Also, be wary of taking money from your retirement account for a down payment. That money is in tax advantage accounts, and you don't want to lose those advantages.
Plus, you'll be putting a large chunk of your retirement funds into a house. If that house loses value, well, you're out of luck. It might be better to leave that money in diversified mutual funds or stocks.
And one more thing, be suspicious of interest only or option only mortgages. My advice, avoid those bells and whistles. They cost you a ton of dough, and it's hard to predict monthly payments. And avoid spending more than a third of your income on housing. That includes your insurance, maintenance, and taxes for the house.
We'll have more on problems for first-time homebuyers with best places to live and an affordable new vacation trend.
Plus how to get what you want through negotiating. Coming up on "Open House" at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Well, when should you buy groceries?
ROESGEN: Who knew that one-day was better than any other day? Coming up in our next hour, learn the best days to get the best buys.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN DOT COM DESK: Clicking on at CNN.com this morning, could it be Harry Potter maybe? The latest on Lindsay Lohan? We're going to take a look at the most popular stories when CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: Before you plop down in a backyard lounge chair today, watch out. About 15,000 of them are being recalled because of faulty support brackets and weak frames. The Consumer Products Safety Commission says that could cause this kind of chair to collapse underneath you. It's the Rockingham Deluxe Chair. It has an orange mesh covering that attaches to a steel frame. It was sold between March and May of this year.
HOLMES: That can mess up a barbecue.
DE LA CRUZ: I don't have that one, but I saw you checking it out. That was not in your backyard either?
HOLMES: It's not. These chairs that were recalled several years ago that we're sitting in.
DE LA CRUZ: You're just always so uncomfortable in that chair. I feel for you. I'm sorry.
HOLMES: I'm just fidgety. That's all. What's going on?
DE LA CRUZ: I'm sorry to tell you Harry Potter is still on the most popular list.
HOLMES: That's OK.
DE LA CRUZ: T.J. has such an affinity for the movie and the book.
HOLMES: I'm getting into it.
DE LA CRUZ: Let's tell you all about Harry Potter. It's not something that's magical; it's just simply a great story. This article on CNN.com doesn't give away the ending. No spoilers here. But it does give a great review. What it does say is from the outset it's a struggle to the death in the magical world of good versus evil. Rowling delivers a blood bath, the death toll rises alarmingly, almost casually, as Harry Potter continues his struggle to rid the world of Lord Voldemort. In regards to the ending, it does say Hallows is a final problem that does provide fitting closure. And that's all it says.
HOLMES: But a lot of people go down, apparently?
DE LA CRUZ: Yeah.
HOLMES: Is a lot of deaths.
DE LA CRUZ: Like I just said, the death toll rises casually almost. That's what I'm going to say about that.
Also making the most popular list, a shark attack in Hawaii. This Ohio man says after an eight-foot tiger shark chomped into is left leg, he thought he might die. He was snorkeling off the Oahu Coast about 150 yards from the beach looking for sea turtles when he noticed the fish around him looking spooked. He says the only thing he remembers is saying, oh, god, not like this, no way. You know what he did, T.J., is he punched the shark a couple of times under the dorsal fin. He got away. A stranger waded into the water to help him, and doctors were able to save his leg.
And lots of you also clicking on this story this morning. It's all about Lindsay Lohan turning herself in to Beverly Hills police, getting booked and fingerprinted. T.J. is rolling his eyes. Don't blame me. The folks who are Web surfing CNN.com, this is what they're clicking on. They want to know about Lindsay Lohan's traffic mishap she had over Memorial Weekend, which sent her to rehab. Police say her blood alcohol at the time was above the legal limit. She's also facing misdemeanor charges of leaving the scene of an accident. Lohan was released on her own recognizance after Thursday's booking. She's due back in court August 24th. You can find all of those stories online at CNN.com/mostpopular. Tell them out there not to click on the story, and then I won't bring it to you.
HOLMES: We hear about her a lot. Like I said earlier, just one day we're going to hear a nice story about her donating money to charity or doing some community service, something positive, and I'm waiting on that story. That's all.
DE LA CRUZ: OK.
ROESGEN: Like Paris Hilton, right?
HOLMES: Veronica, thank you.
ROESGEN: OK, well some people love this guy. Others hate him. Either way, Barry Bonds is batting his way into history. And all of America is watching. That story next on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: Well it's a sport with big biceps and a big controversy. Baseball and Barry Bonds.
HOLMES: A lot of fans say Bonds is what's wrong with the sport. He's chasing, though, one of sports' most celebrated records, but why are people not celebrating? Here now, CNN's Richard Roth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): His name is Barry Bonds, and he has a lot to smile about. He's about to own a precious piece of Americana.
CHRIS HALT, MBL.COM: It's a special focus because he's going for the home run record, which is one of the most revered records in all of American sports, maybe the most revered record.
ROTH: But much of the country is not cheering Bonds' blast into history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barry is just a phony.
ROTH: As the San Francisco sensation edges closer to the record, many fans think there is something to the suspicions that Bonds used steroids to advance his home run hitting process.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not a hero.
ROTH: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because he cheats.
ROTH: And Bonds' attitude doesn't help. The star's hitting offense is not accompanied by a charm offensive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think about your place in history right now?
BARRY BONDS: No.
ROTH: If Bonds was on steroids, which he denies knowingly using, it's possible he had company on the field, perhaps hundreds of other players before a league testing policy began.
BRUCE BECK, SPORTSCASTER: You know, I think this record is tainted, but I also think that he is the poster child of an era, the so-called steroids era.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hot dogs!
ROTH: Others believe Bonds is being made a scapegoat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm against, you know, booing him. I just think that nothing's been proven yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I challenge any member of the press to take steroids and hit a ball out of the park.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I certainly want to see Barry break the record.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's an accomplishment for baseball, and I hope he achieves it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he gets it, we should celebrate.
ROTH: The home run is part of baseball legend. The New York Yankees' Babe Ruth turned baseball into the national past time starting in the roaring '20s. Ruth clobbered 714 home runs, 40 years later; Hank Aaron endured racial abuse when he broke Ruth's record. Now with scandal in the air, Aaron does not plan to be at the game when Bonds breaks his record. Saying recently, I don't even know how to spell his name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any comments on Hank Aaron not wanting to be there when you break the record?
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