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CNN Saturday Morning News
Deadly Violence Rising in Chicago; Fatal Shark Attack Off the Coast of California Yesterday; Preparing for Indiana Primary on May 6th; Rally Expected Today to Protest Verdict in Sean Bell Case
Aired April 26, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He shouldn't have to go through that. You know, he shouldn't. He only 12. And for somebody to try to hurt him, he's sweet as gold. All he want to do is dance all his life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Young people gunned down in the streets of Chicago. Police are desperate for help as deadly violence keeps rising. Everyone is asking when will the blood shed end.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And demonstrators in New York protesting the verdict in the trial involving the death of Sean Bell.
HOLMES: Protests rally happening this morning.
From the CNN Center here in Atlanta, Georgia, hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes and this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
NGUYEN: Yes. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Let's get started right now with this.
HOLMES: Live picture showing you out of Chicago. It looks calm. It looks peaceful this morning. But there is a heavy police presence down on those streets.
NGUYEN: Police are trying to stop a deadly wave of crime that is killing so many kids.
CNN's David Mattingly has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Blood in the streets of Chicago and police say they can't stop it alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The bottom line is we need the community's help.
MATTINGLY: April 23rd, five people were found shot to death in a single home. The latest in a series of spikes in deadly violence. Experts blame a barrage (ph) of social ills for the continued blood shed, unemployment, drugs, gangs and guns, even bad parenting. But solutions have been elusive. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What can we do?
MATTINGLY: Last year, neighborhoods of the city's southside rallied after the death of teenager Blair Holt, an innocent by-stander killed in a gang shooting. Holt's father, a Chicago police officer, tearfully vowed to honor his son's memory.
RONALD HOLT, FATHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: I'm going to be strong for him no matter what. No matter what. That's what he wants and that's what he's going to get.
MATTINGLY: Holt's parents became high profile activists, attacking black state gun laws, pushing business to create more urban jobs and challenging adults to be better parents. Their son was the 20th of 31 Chicago students to die violently last school year. They hoped to make this year safer.
Instead, the violence seems to be getting worse. In a single spring weekend in the city, 36 people were shot and two were stabbed. Almost half of the victims were young people, students from Chicago's public schools.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're sick of burying our children oh, God.
MATTINGLY: Eleven months after the death of his son, we find Ron Holt still fighting. How many of these demonstrations have you been to?
HOLT: Countless. Countless, David. Seriously, I don't even know the number now.
MATTINGLY: Holt lobbied unsuccessfully to press tighter restrictions on gun sales. The economy slowed, more young men are out of work and two dozen school-age kids have been killed so far, an even faster pace than last year. Holt's newest enemy is despair and he looks to his departed son for strength.
Can you imagine what he might be saying to you?
HOLT: I think he would probably say, keep going dad. Keep going. Keep going.
MATTINGLY: Holt believes demonstrations like this will embolden neighborhoods to be more aggressive against gang violence. Meanwhile, police are stepping up patrols, sending S.W.A.T. teams to troubled areas and strictly enforcing curfew laws. Everyone hoping to avoid a long and bloody summer.
David Mattingly, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, a deadly attack possibly by a great white. The shark attack forcing the closure right now of eight miles of southern California beaches until at least Monday. Helicopters, they resumed their patrol of the area just a couple of hours. Here's what they're doing. They're looking for that shark off the coast of Solana Beach, the shark that killed a man that happened just north of San Diego. It is the first confirmed shark attack in the area in nearly 15 years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ROSENBLATT, MARINE BIOLOGIST: Shark attacks in Southern California are very rare, but no, I would say it's not unusual to be 100 or 150 yards offshore. I understand the water was possibly 20 to 30 feet deep. The only thing that's perhaps a little unusual was that it was out over a sandy bottom. And typically the white sharks tend to hunt over more of a rocky bottom where they are camouflaged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Sixty-six-year-old Dave Martin was swimming with friends when the shark bit deep into his legs. He bled to death. And friends gathered on the beach to remember Martin, not far from where he was carried to shore.
We're going to take you live to Solana Beach for the latest with our Ted Rowlands. That's coming up in our next hour.
HOLMES: We turn to presidential politics now. It's all about tar heels and Hoosiers for the next couple of weeks. The next primary states to vote are on May 6th. That's Indiana and North Carolina. Here's our first poll of polls in Indiana. A dead heat between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. But take a look at the 10 percent undecided. That is a pretty big number just a couple of weeks unite.
Now, both candidates are in Indiana today. We'll be taking you there live. Hillary Clinton holds a rally at Ft. Wayne at 10:00 a.m., Barack Obama with the town hall meeting in Marion, Indiana at 10:45. John McCain is in Florida today. However, he has no public event scheduled but he does have a fundraiser there tomorrow.
NGUYEN: Well, John McCain able to focus on the big prize, that of course being the White House.
HOLMES: But he is not quite above the fray, adding his own campaign attacks as he looks ahead to November.
More now from CNN's Dana Bash, part of the best political team on television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A trip to Arkansas for a reunion with an old republican rival. But John McCain's focus was on his potential democratic competitor, Barack Obama.
On a conference call with bloggers, McCain volunteered that Obama is Hamas's choice for president. "I think the people should understand that I will be Hamas's worst nightmare," said McCain. "And Senator Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments."
The reality is a Hamas leader did say they want Obama to win the White House. McCain chose the blogsphere and audience right for feeling that fact to highlight an Obama soft spot, especially when it comes to his rocky relations with Jewish voters.
An Obama spokesperson shot back that he rejects Hamas's terrorist action and said McCain "makes claims he knows not to be true to advance his campaign. McCain advisers call it fair game. The candidate said he stands by his statement.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That Hamas apparently, their North American spokesperson is endorsing Senator Obama. People can make their own judgment from that. I don't view that as anything but a statement of fact.
BASH: But McCain gave Obama a pass on another political hot potato, the controversial comments by his pastor Jeremiah Wright. So did McCain's traveling companion, former preacher Mike Huckabee.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It can be a little bit presumptuous to ever assume that just because a pastor says something uncool that everybody in the pews agrees with it. That's rarely the case.
BASH: But Huckabee made clear that he's working for McCain to defeat Obama or Hillary Clinton and said he is reaching out to potentially skeptical social conservatives to make sure they are too.
HUCKABEE: His conservatism is unquestionable. And that's why I can't imagine anyone not rallying towards his campaign.
BASH (on camera): Huckabee stayed in the republican race well after it was clear McCain would be the nominee. But they always got along. Huckabee joked that they had plenty of time to bond when both were underdogs and didn't get much attention from moderators in some of those early debates.
Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And you can see more of the candidates on the campaign trail today at CNN's "BALLOT BOWL." It's back today at 3:00 p.m. Eastern and also at 5:00 p.m. Eastern today.
NGUYEN: Rain, storms and even snow. I know it's hard to believe because it is spring after all. But meteorologist Reynolds Wolf takes joins us now from the severe weather center and you're following all of it today, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. That's what we kind of do here in the weather center. When it comes to weather, we do follow and Betty, we've got a lot to keep an eye on today. Starting off with that snowfall. We've been talking about this much of the morning. You know, it's unusual for there to be snow in Minnesota at this time of year.
In fact, last year during the entire month of April, they had roughly 13 inches of snowfall in the twin cities. Now, today we're looking at the potential of a foot of snow in parts of north central Minnesota. We've got that area of low pressure, a lot of cold air surging in from the north. We got plenty of moisture too and that's going to give us that combination of anywhere from eight to 10, maybe even as much as a foot of snowfall through much of the region.
Now, farther to the south, we're seeing something different. A few pockets of thunderstorms right through Tennessee and now moving into Alabama, as far south as Jackson, Mississippi. And as we get into Texas, we've got some thunder boomers this morning off the coast of Galveston, Aransas Pass and even into South Padre island.
If you happen to be staying in a hotel, you're tuning in this morning, you step over to the window and you look out over the golf, chances are you're going to see some lightning strikes way off in the distance. All that is pulling away from you.
However, in parts of north Texas from the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex back over to midland Odessa, south along I-35 into Austin, Texas, where we have a live image this morning in Austin. There's the capital. Beautiful, beautiful shot, not far at all from Sixth Street or Betty's Held on (ph), Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium. Beautiful place to watch a football game. Today, plenty of rain there possible, maybe even some strong thunderstorms, even tornadoes.
That is a look at your forecast. Betty, tried to give the shout out.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, how much I appreciate taking a nice look at Austin on this Saturday morning. Although, it's probably not going to be nice to look at later today. That's OK. They'll get past it. Thank you, Reynolds.
HOLMES: You got a picture for me coming up later?
WOLF: We do ...
NGUYEN: From West Memphis.
WOLF: Absolutely, of course. Got to.
HOLMES: Thank you, Reynolds. We'll see you soon.
NGUYEN: Well, there is a frightening wake up call to show you. An early morning fire sweeps through an apartment building. That story is coming up. Also ahead ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This city is going to pay for this, man. This city is going to pay.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: A groom killed on his wedding day. Three police detectives acquitted on all charges on the shooting. And this morning, a protest planned in the Sean Bell case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Take a look. These are live pictures from Cincinnati where the body of Army Staff Sergeant Matt Maupin is being returned home. Maupin was kidnapped in Iraq four years ago and just last month, the Army found his body. Maupin will be buried tomorrow afternoon in Montgomery, Ohio.
HOLMES: All right now. Let's turn to a few other stories that are making some headlines this morning.
NGUYEN: A fire destroyed a north Connecticut apartment complex early this morning. Here's a look at those flames. The city's fire chief believes all of the 150 tenants got out safely.
HOLMES: The Olympic torch relay, familiar scene here involving the relay. This time, it's going through Nagano, Japan, this was today, the site of the 1998 winter games. A few scuffles broke out but no major disruptions however. The Chinese well wishers outnumbered pro-Tibet demonstrators. The relay now heads to South Korea.
NGUYEN: All of the children removed from a polygamist ranch in Texas are now in foster homes. The last of the 462 children were bussed from their temporary shelter yesterday. The final move came after a court rejected a petition from the sect mothers to keep the children with them.
HOLMES: A rally is set to begin shortly to protest the verdict in a deadly police shooting. Sean Bell died in a hail of bullets on the morning of his wedding. Three New York police detectives acquitted of all charges.
The story now from CNN's Deborah Feyerick.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't be proud.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Immediately after the verdict, cries of disbelief and anger. Police formed a human chain protecting Sean Bell's fiance, his parents and his supporters as they left the courthouse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, back it up. Please, just let them get to that car.
LLOYD NELSON, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: We have zero confidence in the criminal justice system.
FEYERICK: The three detectives were found not guilty on all charges, including manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment in the shooting death of Sean Bell and the wounding of his two friends, following Bell's bachelor party at a Queens strip club. Those friends who had testified during the trial angrily left the court. The detectives call the verdict fair.
DET. MARC COOPER, ACQUITTED NYPD OFFICER: First and foremost, I would like to thank the Lord Jesus Christ for bringing this to fruition. For my family and secondly to the honorable Judge Cooperman for his fair and accurate decision today.
FEYERICK: Judge Arthur Cooperman said he did not believe prosecution witnesses. Two of them were in the car with Bell when police open fire some 50 times. The judge cited what he calls inconsistencies, contradictions and the possibility some of the witnesses have motive to lie.
The judge said the detective responded to a perceived threat after hearing one of Bell's friends saying he was going to the car to get a gun and the prosecutors had not proven the detectives were wrong in shooting when the car began moving and it appeared one of the passengers was reaching for a weapon, though none was later found.
The Reverend Al Sharpton supported the victim's families throughout the trial.
REV. AL SHARPTON, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: What we saw in court today was not a miscarriage of justice, justice didn't miscarry, this was an abortion of justice.
FEYERICK: The one detective who faced only charges of reckless endangerment apologized for the shooting.
COOPER: I would like to -- say sorry to the Bell family for the tragedy.
FEYERICK (on-camera): Following the verdict, Sean Bell's fiance went to his grave site. She has followed a wrongful death lawsuit against the police. The NYPD still has to weigh in and see whether detectives violated any police procedure. And federal prosecutors are now investigating to see whether the detectives violated any civil rights. So, all the detectives may have been cleared of criminal charges, this case is far from over.
Deb Feyerick, CNN, Queens, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Hey, we're keeping an eye on a rally expected to start a short time this morning in the Sean Bell case here where people are starting to gather. Speakers are beginning to talk to the crowd. We expect that rally to come up within the next hour or so.
Reverend Al Sharpton, also Bell's fiance and other family members expected to attend that rally. Reverend Sharpton says the rally is aimed at keeping up the pressure to hold the officers accountable for Bell's death.
NGUYEN: Well, another kind of pressure. You're feeling it at the pump.
HOLMES: Yes. Pain, I think a lot of people would describe it as. We got some tips to make your dollar travel a whole lot further.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, the checks are in the mail and the President wants you to spend it.
NGUYEN: Yes. He said the tax rebate checks will start going out Monday to some 130 million wage earners. The President says the money should help us pay for the rising cost of food and gas and give the slumping economy a boost.
HOLMES: Rice is a staple in much of the world, but just like many other foods, the cost of rice is going up. Some fear a shortage. Now scientists are developing hybrid rice as a possible solution to the worldwide food crisis.
CNN's Dan Rivers has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Beneath the majestic silhouette of the Cereme (ph) volcano, the fertile thick mud of West Java. The rice patty fields have been here for centuries. But now, a quiet revolution is under way that could be one solution to the current food crisis.
Nearby Nerita (ph) and (INAUDIBLE) are planting a new variety of rice, a hybrid made in the science lab from two different types that delighted with the results. He says, I've had a very successful experience. He explains his yields are up and so is his income from $1,200 to $2,000 a year.
RIVERS (on camera): Normally, a strip of patty fields like this would yield about two tons of rice. But with the special hybrid variety, they're getting about three tons, that's a massive 50 percent increase in yield. This technology is not without its problems.
In a local government lab they are trying to refine the hybrid rice. Experts say the combination of Chinese and local varieties makes it more susceptible to disease and to weather changes.
HASIL SEMBIRING,INDONESIAN RICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: So this is the challenge for the scientists, how do you make the variety of the hybrid rice adapted to the tropical conditions? That's the key issue.
RIVERS: But there's another issue. Normally rice farmers keep some of their harvest for seeding the next crop. But with hybrid rice they can't. The hybrids high yielding genetic trait only lasts one generation, meaning farmers have to buy new seeds each growing season. For some, hybrid is over hyped by big multinational companies who stand to make billions. The head of an Indonesian environmental advocacy organization is not a fan. RIZA TJAHJADI, BIOTANI FOUNDATION: The seed does not belong to farmers again. The technology is highly dependent outside, not belong to the farmers. So, this is the (INAUDIBLE) problem that we face.
RIVERS: For some, scientists are convinced the problems can be overcome and think the potential is dazzling. Yields up by 50 percent. More food from the same land and perhaps an easing of the food crisis.
Dan Rivers, CNN, West Java, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. So maybe you can't find cheap gas prices out there but you can be a smart shopper, CNN's Gerri Willis is here with some tips.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi, Betty.
Gas prices are breaking records every day, but there are few things you can do to reduce your pain at the pump. Big retailers and discount stores like Wal-Mart and Costco often have the lowest prices around so go there first. But remember, you usually have to pay for membership at warehouse stores and that fee could outweigh your savings at the pump.
Head to gasbuddy.com or gasmob.com to sign up for free text message alerts on the cheapest gas prices in your area or check out gasprices.mapquest.com. Just plug in your zip code for the list of the least expensive stations in your area. And if you're planning a trip, estimate your gas bill using the site's gas price calculator.
And finally, consider a gas rebate card. You want to look for a card with five percent cash back on your purchases and no restrictions or caps. But remember, a rebate card is only good at stand-alone stations, head to cardratings.com to compare the rates and terms of each card.
Coming up on "OPEN HOUSE," a look at the state of the housing market, going green in your home and how to save on spring cleaning. That's "OPEN HOUSE," 9:30 a.m. Eastern -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. So, gas prices, food prices and stock prices, we are following your money trail weekdays. The economy is "Issue #1." So join us at noon Eastern.
HOLMES: And now we have a timely question in these days of record high gas prices.
NGUYEN: Yes. Where does your dollar go? We'll break down the cost of filling up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: OK. Let's get you to the rising cost of filing up your gas. The price seems to break a new record every single day. HOLMES: Yes. So as the price keeps going up, you might be wondering all that money as those numbers get bigger and bigger on that gas machine outside. You might be wondering where all that money is going. Josh has found the money. Show me the money.
NGUYEN: The money trail.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're going to break it down. And you know, even when you're adjusting for inflation it is still more than ever, literally. Ever I mean, even going back to the gas crisis, it has never been this high. So, what we want to do is show you where every penny goes when you spend at the pump.
Let's start of with this pretty graphic we got here. These are going to be the latest figures. The first figure that's going to be there at the bottom, crude oil, 73 percent is going to crude oil. That's historic. I'm going to tell you more about that in a second. So, 73 cents on every dollar.
Then you've got about seven percent that's going to refining costs and profits. That is where the big oil companies make a lot of their money. Then about eight percent or eight cents on the dollar for distribution and marketing. That's where local gas stations can make money but don't always. Often, they're not making a lot there.
And finally, you got about 11 percent in taxes. When you hear about the taxes, that's about how much of each dollar is going to the taxes, about 11 cents.
Now, I mentioned before, crude oil is historic, that amount, take a look at this. I know it's a lot of numbers but what I want to show you here, this traces is over the last year, how much in each dollar goes to crude oil. It was 46 cents on the dollar a year ago and it's shooting upward to 73 cents on the dollar, given our latest figures from Friday afternoon when that crude closed at 5 yesterday. So, what we've got now is more than ever.
So, if you're spending, let's say 100 bucks a month at the pump, about three quarters of it, about 75 dollars are going straight to that crude oil. When you hear about the crude oil price, that's how it hits you in the wallet. Three quarters of every dollar you spend at the pump right there.
NGUYEN: You say 100 bucks a month at the pump? A lot of folks spending 100 bucks every time they go to the pump.
LEVS: Yes, sure, yes.
NGUYEN: So, on a whole, how much gas are Americans using and paying these astronomical amounts for?
LEVS: Whopping. It's -- we are now consuming 142 billion gallons of gasoline a year.
NGUYEN: Wow. LEVS: I think we have a picture. 142 billion gallons, and the thing is -- there you go. And the thing is you know, sometimes you hear it in terms of barrels, but no one buys a barrel of gasoline. So, I translated it into gallons. That, as a nation, is how much we're continuing to buy even with these high prices, 142 billion gallons a year.
NGUYEN: That's huge. And when we talk about supply and demand, I mean, look at that. It doesn't look like the demand is going down any.
LEVS: No, I mean, we will see, you know, what happens this year. But the truth is so far, there's no clear sign that even these high prices are having the dramatic effect on how people buy.
NGUYEN: All right, Josh Levs, thank you.
HOLMES: Josh, thank you so much.
LEVS: Thanks.
HOLMES: Stay here, folks. We're going to be talking about this story of from boys to men, a mentoring program to help teenage boys become successful, independent young men. What is the key? That's next hour in the NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: But first, "OPEN HOUSE" with Gerri Willis starts right now.
