Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Oprah On The Campaign Trail With Barack Obama; President Bush Has A Plan To Help Americans Get Out Of Their Mortgage Crisis; More Information on the Attacker at the Omaha Mall; CIA Admits Destroying Tapes

Aired December 08, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's probably one of our most common questions. A great one as well. The flu starts like a cold but has more severe symptoms like fever, chills, extreme tiredness and possibly leads to death, rare. Colds are milder and include a runny nose and congestion. Even knowing these symptoms, it can be very difficult to tell the difference. But a good rule of thumb is this. If your symptoms come with a fever or last more than a week, see a doctor.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning, everybody. From CNN center in Atlanta, it is December 8th, I'm Betty Nguyen, thanks for joining us.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and I'm T.J. Holmes, good morning to you all. Glad you could be here at the big buzz. We used to hearing this word a little while, "Oprahbama." Oprah on the campaign trail with Barack Obama. The queen of talks getting political. What impact on the (INAUDIBLE)?

NGUYEN: Do we always have to give them a one-word name.

HOLMES: It's cool.

NGUYEN: Benifer, Oprahbama, Brangelina?

Plus, who is really to blame for that mortgage meltdown that we are all experiencing in this country? If you don't care, you really should. We're going to show you how this is hurting every American, even those of you who don't own homes.

HOLMES: But we are going to start in Omaha, Nebraska. Right now, some stores already open at the mall where that deadly shooting rampage happened.

NGUYEN: 19-year-old Robert Hawkins shot and killed eight people on Wednesday before killing himself. While the mall itself reopens today, the Von Maur Store where the shootings took place will remain closed. The mayor of Omaha, and the mall manager expected to hold a news conference at any minute now. We're going to bring you any new information as soon as we get it.

Also, surveillance video captured pictures of Hawkins as he walked into the mall Wednesday. He was wearing a sweatshirt with a Jack Daniels logo on it and another image from the video shows Hawkins with his automatic weapon raised as he carries out the shooting spree. Hawkins was a troubled young man who had spent four years in treatment centers, group homes, even foster care.

In a suicide note released by police, he apologized to his friends for what he put them through. He also said he would be remembered as some sort of monster. And in a separate note to his family, Hawkins again said he was sorry and that he just snapped. He also told specific people they loved them, naming his mom, dad and others. Hawkins also left a will giving his mother back his car and then leaving anything else to his friends.

HOLMES: Well, his victims included three men and five women. Janet Jorgensen was one of the eight killed. She was a 67-year-old employee who had worked at the store for 14 years. She survived by three children and eight grandchildren. One of those granddaughters talked about how the family is going to go on now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREA HUSK, VICTIM'S GRANDDAUGHTER: Grandma is really here with us, and she would be upset with us if we didn't go on and make it the best Christmas just like every other Christmas. And she -- like I said, she just wouldn't want it any other way. So we're going to pull through this and we're going to have a great Christmas and we're going to remember her and she's going to be there with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Jorgensen's husband called her, "a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother." The couple had planned to celebrate their 50th anniversary next year.

NGUYEN: So tragic. Well, a tip doesn't pan out in the Stacy Peterson case. And police say, a trucker who claimed he saw suspect Drew Peterson hours after his wife's disappearance didn't. You may remember last weekend, police put out a statement saying two truckers thought Peterson may have approached them about transporting a package.

While they're still investigating one of those claims, meanwhile though, Peterson's lawyer says all the media attention has made him a prisoner in his own home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL BRODSKY, DREW PETERSON'S ATTORNEY: You have to understand what's going on with Drew in front of his house is absolutely unprecedented. I cannot think of any other person who has been held and siege for a month. Their house turned into basically a bunker. And you know, the media just thinking, the police will not or cannot, I think it's they will not get the media to get away from the front of his house. 3:00 in the morning, the generator comes on. They wake everybody up. It's unreal. And what he's doing to some extent is a reaction to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: All right. Well, Peterson's wife Stacy has been missing since October 28th. Peterson denies any involvement in her disappearance.

HOLMES: There's a whole lot of talk this morning about the CIA and its destruction of interrogation videotapes of al Qaeda suspects. (INAUDIBLE) sources tells CNN that four of White House council, Harriet Miers did know about the tapes and they say she advised the tapes not be destroyed. Well, President Bush and Vice President Cheney say they only learned of the tapes two days ago. Some in Congress are only skeptical or openly skeptical of the White House claims.

NGUYEN: Defense Secretary Robert Gates pushing for more international pressure now on Iran. A security conference in Bahrain today, Gates said Iran must vow not to develop nuclear weapons and to open up its facilities for inspection. A recent intelligence report said Iran's suspended its nuclear weapons program back in 2003, but Gates says Iran's leaders could decide to restart that program at a moment's notice.

HOLMES: So, Pakistan's president gets defensive about al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. In an exclusive interview with CNN Wolf Blitzer, President Pervez Musharraf says there's no proof that Bin Laden is in his country or that al Qaeda is regrouping there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN: Give me the proof. What proof do they have? Nil. Zero proof. They are just talking. It is just their guess. So, I don't want to make such wild guesses. It is their guess that they may be in the Fattah. They can be anywhere. Do they have any proof? Do they have any intelligence to substantiate whatever they are saying? No, sir, they don't. Let me challenge them. Give me the intelligence. What is your judgment based on?

It is just based on the fact that there is al Qaeda in our mountains. Yes, indeed, they are there. I have been saying it all along. But what is the confirmation that they are, Osama Bin Laden are in Pakistan? Then, (INAUDIBLE) can be in Afghanistan, why can't they be there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, you can see Wolf's entire interview with President Pervez Musharraf tomorrow on "Late Edition," that's at 11:00 eastern.

NGUYEN: On the campaign trail, Democrat Barack Obama is banking on star power this week. And actually, you better make that superstar power.

HOLMES: Yes, give her the proper respect.

NGUYEN: That's true. It is Oprah. HOLMES: It is Oprah. The queen of daytime herself will appear with Obama today and tomorrow in three key states. Nobody really knows more about how important this can be for Obama than CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They are calling it the Oprahbama.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oprah is the girl, she's the woman and Obama is the man.

CROWLEY: From Iowa to South Carolina to New Hampshire, presidential candidate Barack Obama will campaign this weekend with the woman of daytime TV. It's a programming trifecta that's selling out tickets in South Carolina and lighting up the gray winter of New Hampshire and Iowa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the secretaries was just so excited about the fact that Oprah was coming. And she said, who would have thought Oprah coming to little old Iowa.

CROWLEY: Oprah speaks daily to almost 9 million viewers, turns books into best sellers, makes experts into household names. Can she boost Barack? Oh, how this campaign hopes so.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that having Oprah here on Saturday will definitely pull women out and I think it will just show that women in Iowa are Barack Obama supporters.

CROWLEY: Operative word, women. The crux of the '08 election. Did we mention that Oprah's audience is 75 percent female? 44 percent make less than $40,000. 25 percent have no more than a high school education. More than half are women over 50. It is a profile of the female Clinton voter and this is a direct pitch for that demographic. Linda Peterson from North Liberty, Iowa, is leaning Obama.

LINDA PETERSON, NORTH LIBERTY, IOWA RESIDENT: I think it's going to help him with the women my age because she's very popular, very respected among my age group.

CROWLEY: While Oprah's support is unlikely to translate directly into a significant number of Obama votes, we are talking loads of free media and, if they come to see her, they'll hear him.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And if you stand up in this caucus for me, then I promise you that I will stand up for you.

CROWLEY: Like all Obama precinct captains in Iowa, Monique Washington got as many tickets as she wanted. She's dispensing them to supporters and waivers.

MONIQUE WASHINGTON, OBAMA PRECINCT CAPTAIN: When I make phone calls, a lot of people say they are undecided. And I say, well, would you like to come see Oprah and Obama and Michelle and they go, yes, I want to come out.

CROWLEY: Obama workers also handed out tickets to anyone who volunteered four hours to the campaign or signed up for a caucus seminar. The tickets that were left went to the public. But to pick one up, you had to go to an Obama Campaign Headquarters and give them your name and address. This is not just a happening. It's a campaign organizing tool.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Des Moines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: It really interesting to see the crowd today. Because, you know they are coming out in full force. It doesn't matter who they are there to see. They're there to see one of them if not both.

HOLMES: You want to see Oprah, they get a little Obama on the side. And that's all he needs.

NGUYEN: Well, Candy Crowley is part of "The Best Political Team On Television." And she's going to join us live from Des Moines next hour, 10:00 a.m. eastern. And we will also take you live to Des Moines this afternoon for the Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama event. Join us at 4:00 p.m. eastern, right here in the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: Right. Well, a recall to tell you about here. We're not talking toys this time. We're taking cars. A potentially dangerous problem now prompting a recall by Chrysler. Some of their Dodge trucks slipping out of park, even when the key isn't in the ignition. That is a problem. So far, nine people have been injured. No fatalities to report. The 2001, 2002 Dodge, Durangos and Dakotas and the 2002 Dodge Rams all being recalled. That's nearly 600,000 vehicles.

NGUYEN: Men, that's a lot of problems. Hey, speaking of vehicles. An unexpected detour for drivers in Chicago this weekend. This was the scene on the Bishop Ford Freeway in South Chicago where a dump truck with its bed tilted up slammed into a bridge. Luckily, no one was seriously injured. The bridge, however, well, that's another story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH WILSON, I-DOT: We've had a lot of bridge hits but not too many that have actually picked up and moved the bridge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Officials say they hope to have the freeway opened up in time for Monday's rush hour.

HOLMES: She said, a lot of bridges?

NGUYEN: It's not a good sign, is it?

HOLMES: Used to taking a lick? We see it all the time. NGUYEN: We'll let's talk about some weather here. Heavy snow, damaging winds and the aftermath of major flooding, all part of the weather picture we've got going on this weekend.

NGUYEN: All right, as much as two feet of snow has fallen on parts of Colorado. It was a welcome sight though, for skiers and resort operators but the snow did cause a lot of headaches for drivers. Take you now to Las Vegas. Look at this. Strong winds knocked down trees, including this one that landed on top of a house.

HOLMES: In Washington State, Interstate 5 back open this morning. A 20-mile stretch of highway was shut down for days because of flooding. You don't see any water or any flooding in this video, but it's back open now so we can show you that. But it was the result of a lot of flooding going on, that it was closed.

NGUYEN: All right, snowfall, flooding, winds knocking trees into homes. Reynolds, what's going on?

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Coming up in Italy, they are dealing with a problem that just really cuts to the core.

HOLMES: The culinary life. The culinary way of life may have to change as prices soar.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, time for some "Quick Hits." We're bringing you more news in the morning. Big piles of drugs and cash in Atlanta. Check this out. Federal agents say two Mexican drug cartels have been using Atlanta as a major hub to move drugs across the country. The federal investigation netted 67 arrests this week along with millions of dollars in cash and hundreds of pounds of cocaine, as well as crystal meth.

HOLMES: Turning to Barry Bonds now. He says he is not guilty. The baseball home run king entered that plea yesterday to perjury and obstruction of justice changed in San Francisco. Bonds, you'll remember, was indicted last month on charges stemming from his appearance before a federal grand jury investigating steroids in baseball. That was back in 2003 that he testified.

NGUYEN: Well, here's some encouraging news now. Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett is walking under his own power. That's according to one family member. You will remember Everett injured his neck in the first game of the year. While, some doctors thought he might never, ever walk again. But he's still not walking normally, still though. He's step in the right direction. And we applaud his efforts and hopefully he will receive a full recovery. That is just amazing he's come this far.

HOLMES: That is so nice to hear. And if you know, getting back on the football field, that's an afterthought. Just getting up and walking is a big deal. That is great to hear. NGUYEN: Best of luck to you.

HOLMES: Well, Italian food fans, need to take note of this. The price of your favorite plate of pasta may be going up, thanks to the growing demand for Biofuel.

NGUYEN: Really? OK. Well, that's the sacrifice most of us can live with. But, in Italy, it is a national dilemma. This is serious business, folks. And CNN's Alessio Vinci has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are not easy days for pasta makers in Italy. The average price of Durham wheat, an essential ingredient to produce one of Italy's most-loved staples has gone up 60 percent in just the last five months. This means that for producers like Massimiliano Giovannotti, third generation pasta maker, production costs have gone up as well. Pasta making, he says is not a business where you can save a little money by using a lesser amount of ingredients.

MASSIMILIANO GIOVANNOTTI, PASTA MAKER (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Making pasta is like making a small object in ceramics, he says. You need the right ingredients, otherwise it doesn't cook properly and it doesn't have the right elasticity.

VINCI: Analysts say the skyrocketing price of wheat and other grains is generated by stronger than usual demand on the world markets. Bad weather conditions are partly to blame and so are environmental concerns. Durham wheat is increasingly sold to produce biofuel. Pasta producers say the price of raw materials like Durham wheat is more than half their costs, leaving them with no choice but to charge more. They say farmers who grow wheat and cereal are also to blame.

MARIO RUMMO, PRESIDENT ITALIAN PASTA MAKER: It is a problem of speculation also because you can easily understand that farmers -- not all the farmers love to speculate on this and make more profit. In fact, hedge funds starts to work on cereals.

VINCI: It hits consumers in the wallet and the pasta world. The cost of Italy's best known food is up almost 8 percent since May. But if high prices usually mean fewer customers. That is not true in Italy when it comes to pasta.

I notice the price has gone up says marina, a housewife. But if I don't eat pasta, I don't feel like I had a full meal, she says.

We eat pasta anyway because we are used to it. As Pascolina (ph), a pensioner. Perhaps in the future we'll have to eat less of it, but we are small family so it's not such a big deal. 500 grams or just over a pound of pasta typically feeds a family of four. And here in Italy, they still cost 50 percent less than an Espresso. We have been here one hour talking to Italian shoppers and yet we haven't found a single person willing to give up their favorite spaghetti, regardless of the price. Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: She doesn't have a full meal unless she has pasta. Anything you feel that way about?

NGUYEN: Just quite a few things. I'm trying to cut out some of these carbs that I've been eating, though.

HOLMES: Well, President Bush has a plan to help Americans get out of their mortgage crisis.

NGUYEN: Yes, but who is qualified and who isn't? Our Gerri Willis will help you figure it all out, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. It's time to talk about the mortgage meltdown. President Bush has a plan to help curb the nationwide foreclosure crisis. CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis, of course, is always here to tell us who qualifies and who doesn't. So, the question is, so for those people who didn't see the headlines this week, what is the government looking to do to help struggling borrowers?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, hey there, T.J. There are two ways the government is hoping to help people. One is that they'll fast track people into new loans. Or they will freeze the interest rates on their subprime loans, so they can continue to be making those payments. Now, the people who are eligible for this program are some 1.2 million borrowers. Experts say that the likely number of people who will actually get help at the end of the day, who will meet the considerations here I've just described are some 250,000.

Now, these folks will get divided into three different groups. And some of them, you can have missed mortgage payments and others you cannot. For loans that reset starting January 2008, that is another criteria that borrowers are going to have to make. And borrowers with mortgages, they have to be issued between January of 2005 and July of 2007. Rates re-setting between January 2008 and July 31st, 2010.

HOLMES: Well, if you need help, here's the number you need to call. Its 1-88-995-hope or you can go to www.995hope.org.

And coming up in ten minutes, Gerri interviews treasury secretary Henri Paulson. She'll ask him about the mortgage meltdown, so please, you need to stay tune or open up.

NGUYEN: All right, T.J., I know, it's only about 9:25 eastern today, but people are clicking on some pretty risky and, I don't know, racy things on the web. Josh, what are they looking up?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, they get an early start don't they? Here's a look now today. Weekly house parties known as naked twisters that have been band. The family behind a MySpace hoax is now being shunned by the community and we've got a heart-wrenching video that you can't miss. So its sex, lies and video picks ahead. CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: OK. If you haven't checked out cnn.com this morning, well, you ought to take a little look there. A lot of stories that you might want to know about.

HOLMES: Yes, Josh Levs, keeping an eye on this stuff for us monitoring. You left us with sex, lies and...

LEVS: Video clips.

HOLMES: That will get people's attention.

LEVS: To get people to stick around for that.

HOLMES: So deliver, all right. Go ahead.

LEVS: Let's take a look starting with this video. It's a number one video on dotcom today. It really is very moving. It's the story of a man who has triplets. Well, he lost his wife just before the triplets were born. She became very ill. You can learn that story. They managed to save the triplets. Now, he's looking for help and especially this time of the year. Holiday's time, ways to give help. That story really moving a lot of people.

Let's move on to this is one. This is one of the top stories today also on cnn.com. It's about neighbors shunning this one family. You might remember this family behind a MySpace hoax that ultimately may have led to a teen's suicide. Well, we've got all the details on dotcom for you, but this family right now, is being shunned by the community. And some very serious ways and sometimes through having these sort of ritual ceremonies outside their home. You can learn the details here.

And one of the people interviewed here says it's like something that happened in the 1700s or 1800s where people are bringing back this sense of a village trying to reject people who live among them. Really fascinating.

All right, finally, guys, the number one story this morning. Number one story, naked twister. It's about some clubs in a tiny little suburb of Dallas that have now officially been banned. They are getting rid of them. In Duncanville, Texas, an area of just about 36,000 people, and in this town there were these swinger parties known as Naked Twister Nights. Well, now the authorities have gotten involved. They've actually stopped it. But here's what's interesting. The authorities are saying this is actually a quote from here.

They say, "They don't want to come across as a prudish Texas town. They are arguing that there's some actual laws that are been broken, that this was effectively a business that can't be there. But there are other people saying now the government is trying to come in and put their morality into us, shove their morality down our throats." That's it word for word and, guys, that story has been number one since late yesterday. Sticking around for a while.

NGUYEN: Well, you put the words naked out there and I'm sure people want to see what that's all about. Naked twister. We're talking about the board game here? Not a board game, the one that you'd lay out on the floor.

LEVS: It went a little bit beyond that. That was the official name but it was a swinger's club. So, I think they did more than play twister.

HOLMES: They were swinging. They weren't really playing naked twister but it was just a club and they just called it that code word.

LEVS: They sometimes played twister.

NGUYEN: I don't know. Do you want to do some research on that?

HOLMES: I will.

NGUYEN: Oh, stop it.

HOLMES: No, I mean. You can go to cnn.com where the story apparently is. Oh, Betty.

NGUYEN: Josh, we've got to go.

LEVS: Yes, no kidding.

HOLMES: All right, well, 9 million viewers watch her every single day. Now Oprah Winfrey has a weekend gig hitting the campaign trail with Barack Obama.

NGUYEN: A big gig. We're going to take you live to Des Moines, Iowa, at the top of the hour for the latest on Oprah and Obama, that's 10:00 a.m. eastern.

HOLMES: But first, "OPEN HOUSE" with Gerri Willis starts right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com