Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Israeli Airstrikes Bring Revenge Threats; Severe Weather Hits US Again; Post-Christmas Sales; Broadway Hit by Economic Crisis

Aired December 27, 2008 - 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: Good morning, everybody, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, I'm T.J. Holmes. And this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
ABBI BOUDREAU, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Abbie Boudreau. Betty Nguyen is off today. This morning, a threat of revenge after Israel launches air raids in Gaza. Details in a live report.

HOLMES: And it's tough to have a nice vacation if you don't have power where you are vacationing. That's what happened to the President-elect and also hundreds of thousands of others in Hawaii. They are in the dark. The power is out across much of Oahu.

BOUDREAU: Also this morning, the curtain closes for some well-known titles on the Great White Way.

HOLMES: A lot going on this morning. But we do start with that breaking news out of the Middle East. The death toll is rising in this breaking story we are following after air strikes by Israel left hundreds of people dead. According to officials there on the ground, Palestinian officials as well as Israeli officials at least 150 people have been killed and some 250 had been injured.

Our Paula Hancocks is in Jerusalem at our bureau there with the very latest. Paula, this may not be over yet?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, T.J. certainly we're hearing from our sources in Gaza that they have been hearing more explosions over the past couple of hours and the Israeli military is saying it's not over yet, this is ongoing and we reserve the right to continue these air strikes if we deem it necessary. And we have been hearing from Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, that they are going to continue rocket attacks.

We had a press conference just a couple of minutes ago from Hamas saying, "we will not renew the calm with Israel and we will not raise the white flag." So just eight days after a six-month truce between Israel and these Palestinian militant groups expired, we are seeing significant violence in Gaza and its surrounding areas. As you say, more than 155 have been killed so far. Israel saying it is only targeting Hamas installations, Hamas infrastructure in Gaza itself. And Hamas is saying that its infrastructure is being destroyed, its security compounds are being destroyed by these air strikes. But these compounds are in the middle of residential areas, and there are many civilian casualties with these air strikes. It's an incredibly densely populated area. You hit one building. Inevitably, civilians are going to be injured and killed in the surrounding areas. And also we know that one Israeli has been killed in a rocket attack in (Nateva) just about seven miles east of Gaza. T.J.

HOLMES: And Paula, how productive was the truce anyway? It was a six-month truce, some might even say a pseudo truce. For six months, it was supposed to be in place. Egypt helped negotiate that thing. But was much achieved in the six months?

HANCOCKS: Well, the first four months things were actually looking fairly positive. There was a little bit of violence on both sides, but not very much. It really was a very welcome breather for both sides. But then about two months ago it really just became a truce in name only. There were continued rocket attacks on Israeli towns and cities surrounding Gaza and there were Israeli missile attacks on these rocket launchers, on Hamas installations. So really for the past couple of months, you couldn't really call it a truce. And certainly even in the past few days, things have escalated. We had heard earlier this week talk of a possible renewal of this truce. And now here we are with more than 155 killed in Gaza, at least one killed in Israel. Truce is just out of the window. T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Paula Hancocks for us there today in Jerusalem. Paula, we appreciate you this morning.

BOUDREAU: The White House has issued a statement on this escalating violence. CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano is near the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas. She joins us by phone right now. Elaine, what's the latest from the White House? What have you heard?

VOICE OF ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Certainly the White House is keeping a very close eye on this situation, Abbie, and the reaction coming from White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe focusing on Hamas saying, "Hamas' continued rocket attacks into Israel must cease. If the violence is to stop, Hamas must end its terrorist activities if it wishes to play a role in the future of the Palestinian people." The statement goes on to say that the United States urges Israel to avoid civilian casualties as it targets Hamas in Gaza.

Now, we should tell you that President Bush has no public events on his schedule right now. The question has been raised whether or nor we might perhaps see President Bush on camera reacting to this news, the developments happening in Gaza. Unclear at this point. Certainly the - they are keeping a very close eye, monitoring the situation as it develops, and right now all we have from the White House is just this brief statement coming from Gordon Johndroe, White House spokesman. So we'll continue to press and see whether or not perhaps things might change. But right now, that is the reaction from White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe, again urging Israel to avoid civilian casualties, but really centering the reaction on Hamas and the role that Hamas has played in the U.S.'s view, in this situation.

BOUDREAU: All right. Elaine Quijano, CNN White House correspondent. Thank you very much. HOLMES: Well, you know all that snow and all that ice, those pictures we've been showing you the past several days, all that stuff that blanketed parts of the country, it's starting to melt now. That sounds great to a lot of folks, but it's not entirely a good thing. In the Chicago area in particular, freezing rain caused some of the worst driving conditions people there said they've seen in decades. Countless accidents we saw yesterday. But we have this sudden warm-up that has officials worried now about the possibility of flash flooding. Seattle, we'll take you there now, also beginning to melt just a bit. Christmas snow there. Pretty rare. Kind of a sloppy mess they've got going on right now. Elsewhere around Washington, a different story. Spokane, we saw record snow on Christmas day, now expecting another four inches.

Let's take a live look outside some of these places we just mentioned. New York and Chicago. WGN providing the picture for us of Chicago this morning. A live look outside. Also on the right side there, a live look in New York. Everything looks kind of quiet, it looks a little wet in New York right now. Turn it over to Bonnie Schneider. We talked about cold and wet and dreary and this and that but it's pretty active in some places right now. Could be a little violent even if you want to call it that.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You're right, we do have the threat for severe weather across the midwest. Mild temperatures in New York City. But the threat for tornados exists all the way from Illinois down through Missouri, well into Arkansas and Oklahoma. I'm talking about tornado watches. And some of these will extend well into the afternoon hours, like this one for Oklahoma City. It goes until 2:00 today.

That's because we have two colliding air masses that are really making an impact on the weather. The colder air, where we have snow in Omaha, Nebraska, for example, and then in advance of the front in Kansas City the thunderstorms are rumbling on through. But behind it, it's quickly changing over to a wintry mix. It's a real mixed bag of weather, very dangerous to be driving in. That holds true as well for Oklahoma City, especially to the east and into the Tulsa area. We still have the threat for tornadoes.

We also have the threat for flooding in Chicago. Overcast conditions, more rain on the way. You add that fresh rain to the snow pack that's on the ground and then the threat exists for flooding. We could see possibly two to three inches of additional water being released from the rain coming down on that snow pack. We also have fog over a good portion of the eastern half of the country and fog coming into the west as well. This is kicking up those airport delays. New ground stop for Charlotte. This airport delay will go straight into about 9:30 this morning. I think we'll have a lot more of these coming up because the fog is thick from the southeast all the way down to Florida. Lots of fog out there. But that should burn off into the afternoon. T.J., Abbie, back to you.

HOLMES: Well, it should. All right. Even the warming temperatures still causing some problems with all the snow and whatnot. We appreciate you, Bonnie. We'll talk to you again here shortly. BOUDREAU: And severe weather being blamed for a power outage on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. More than 800,000 people are in the dark. Lightning is suspected of causing the outage. Power company officials expect to restore power within a couple of hours. President-elect Barack Obama is vacationing there with his family. The island's governor says a generator was delivered to the home where Obama is staying.

HOLMES: Seven family members are dead after a fire in their Philadelphia home. They lived in the basement of a three-story house. Most of the victims, according to officials, were found huddled together at the door of the home. The kerosene heater may have started this fire. Four family members actually were able to escape. City's top firefighter says the victims simply had no way out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WADE LEE, FIRE VICTIM'S NEIGHBOR: It burned our room literally from light to dark within seconds. I mean, with the lights on, it was completely black.

First thing that disappeared were my feet, then my legs, then I couldn't see anyone after that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, two survivors of the fire are being treated for their injuries at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. But again that family lived in the basement. Other families lived on the other floors of that home so there wasn't really a stairwell to go upstairs to any other parts of the home. So there was just one way to get in, and one way to get out. And they weren't able to get out.

We turn now to a story out in California. Take a look here at the suspect. This man is Jeffrey Pardo. Police say he had $17,000 on him and a plane ticket when he gunned down several people at a home in suburban Los Angeles. He had been wearing a Santa suit when he knocked on the door of a home of his former in-laws for a Christmas eve party. Police say he came in and opened fire. The first person to open the door was an eight-year-old child who was shot in the face. He then set the home on fire. You can see the blaze there. Police say his Santa suit actually caught fire. He suffered severe burns and then later committed suicide. Nine bodies were found in that burned- out home. Police say Pardo had that ticket that was going to take him for a flight to Canada.

BOUDREAU: Keeping tabs on the economy. Here are the headlines. Gas prices dropped again. The average price of regular unleaded is now $1.64. That's about half a cent less than yesterday. The National Retail Federation is asking President-elect Barack Obama to include three tax-free shopping holidays in his economic stimulus package. The group estimates that that will save shoppers about $20 billion.

If the numbers don't lie, new figures tallied for the holiday season between November and December could add up to big trouble for retailers across the country. CNN's Susan Candiotti is live in New York at Macy's with what can be done to save the season. Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what can be done? Sales, sales, and more sales. And of course, many retailers are offering sales to try to get people to bring out the green and bring out the plastic. As you may have heard by now, sales figures, according to spending polls, a retail tracker down anywhere from five to eight percent. And everything is down. Clothing is down. Apparel sales down. Shoe sales down. Luxury items and electronics, for example, down 34 percent. 25 percent. This is hurting a lot of people. So, all the stores are asking - are offering sales and discounts to bring people in. For example, here at Macy's, we're noticing there are signs offering up to 70 percent off. And if you open a credit card, a charge card, charge account here, you know, most stores give you about a 10 percent discount. Here they're saying anywhere from 30 to 40% on top of the sales price. So, that's what stores are trying to do to try to get the economy going. Why aren't people spending more money? Well obviously, they're worried about the possibility of losing their job and because the economy is making everybody pinch their pennies even more.

And so once this weekend is over, that's when retailers will start adding up how well or how not so well they did this holiday season. The question is, will things improve in the coming year? Well, that's hard to say. We will get those sales figures, they say, around January 8th to see just how the economy did this holiday season. Back to you, Abbie.

BOUDREAU: Well, hopefully you'll have a chance to do a little shopping while you're out there. I'm not sure. But thank you so much, Susan Candiotti. We appreciate your report.

CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.

HOLMES: Do you remember the days of 60 percent approval ratings for George W. Bush? A lot of people don't. But he did at one point come into office with those types of approval numbers. Things aren't the same. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A day of remembrance in Pakistan today. It was a year ago today that former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, there she is, was assassinated during a campaign rally near Islamabad. Meanwhile, the United Nations is working on establishing a commission to probe her death. She had returned after several years of self-imposed exile to try to participate in elections there.

The Secretary-General of the U.N. says discussions with Pakistan and U.N. security council about structuring of a panel to possibly investigate her death is already under way.

Also in Pakistan, military officials there say the country has moved troops to its border with India because of fears of a ground incursion. Officials also admitted all military personnel have been called back to active duty. Tension between the neighboring countries has been escalating since the terror attacks in Mumbai. India insists the terrorists were trained in Pakistan. Pakistan says they are not looking for war but need to be vigilant protecting against threats.

BOUDREAU: President Bush came into office with a flurry 60 percent of you saw him as strong and decisive. But, wow, have times changed. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider looks at the popularity of the outgoing president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: As President Bush prepares to leave office, the American public has a parting thought. Good riddance. At least that's the way three quarters feel. Fewer than a quarter say they'll miss President Bush. It's been like a failed marriage. Things started out well. When President Bush first took office more than 60 percent saw him as strong and decisive. That impression was reinforced after 9/11.

PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

SCHNEIDER: The public still saw Bush as strong and decisive when he took office the second time in 2005. No more. The public's confidence in this president has dropped dramatically, especially over the past two years. President Bush did once have a reputation as a good manager. Then came Hurricane Katrina.

BUSH: And Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.

SCHNEIDER: And Bush's reputation as a manager got blown away. Mr. Bush got elected on a promise.

BUSH: I think people look for someone who is a uniter, not a divider.

SCHNEIDER: But the vast majority of Americans believe he betrayed that promise. He took a country that was divided under President Clinton and he divided it worse. Even some conservatives feel betrayed.

PAT ROBERTSON, FOUNDER, CHRISTIAN COALITION: I think we've had some serious goofs along the way. The Katrina matter was terrible. The rebuilding of Iraq has been terrible. The handling of the economy right now is terrible.

SCHNEIDER: Fewer than 1/3 of Americans believe George W. Bush will go down in history as a good president. 40 percent say he left a poor legacy. Another 28 percent call Bush the worst president in American history. President Bush's job approval rating has been at or below freezing since the beginning of the year. Where does it stand now? 27 percent. One of the lowest ratings for any president ever. Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOUDREAU: Caroline Kennedy is stepping up her efforts to be named Hillary Clinton's successor in the Senate. The 51-year-old daughter of President John F. Kennedy has conducted her first interviews since asking the New York governor to consider her for that spot. Among the topics, how her late mother and brother would have reacted to her entering into politics and what she could accomplish as a first time officeholder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROLINE KENNEDY, JFK'S DAUGHTER: And I think that I have relationships in Washington that I would like to put to work to benefit the people of New York. You know, I ran - helped run the vice presidential search process for Barack Obama. I have a good working relationship with him. You know, and I saw - I know what, you know, people in Washington. And I want to be able to be part of the team that uses all my relationships.

Most people don't realize that my mother loved campaigning, you know, and -- because you just get to meet people and it's such an education. And, of course, she would - you know, she would roll her eyes about the whole thing, but she was, you know, an incredible patriot. And herself and I think she would be really proud that, you know, that I was doing this.

Well, he would be laughing his head off, there's no doubt about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really? Why?

KENNEDY: Because, you know, that was the kind of relationship that we had. But, you know, we were, you know - he'd be, you know, 100 percent behind me. He always was. You know, it would be great if he was here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOUDREAU: Kennedy says she's always considered political office but was finally moved to action after working on Barack Obama's presidential campaign.

HOLMES: Well, as you've been seeing with us this morning, we have been continuing to follow all the developments coming to us out of Gaza this morning.

BOUDREAU: Our Josh Levs will be giving us some context on this, on an area only about twice the size of Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Again, we continue to follow breaking news out of the Middle East. The militant group Hamas firing back at Israel after massive air strikes pounded the Gaza strip. At least 155 people are dead in Gaza. 250 wounded. Those numbers coming to us by Palestinian and Israeli officials. Israel says it was targeting Hamas leadership and Hamas strongholds. Hamas has retaliated with at least 15 missiles being fired into the surrounding areas. And Israeli, one Israeli civilian has been killed, at least two others wounded. These reports coming to us from Palestinian and Israeli officials, but the violence may not be over yet. As our Paula Hancocks is reporting, both sides are reserving the right to continue to fire at each other as they see fit.

BOUDREAU: Our Josh Levs is here to give us some context on what we're seeing in Gaza. Josh, what can you show us?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I just want to show you guys the size of what we're actually seeing here exactly. Now as we're seeing the videos, it helps to get a sense of how big the area actually is. Let's zoom in. This is a map of Israel, it's available from the U.S. government right here. Everything you're seeing in light beige, that is Israel. Now Israel itself is just about the size of New Jersey. The area where we're seeing everything take place down here is this little tiny strip of land there. That's called Gaza. And that area is what Abbie was just saying, just about twice the size of Washington, D.C.. So what we've been seeing in recent days with these rocket attacks is some attacks from the northern section and the eastern sections launched by what Israel said was Hamas. And Palestinian officials said Hamas was doing this, launching some rockets into Israeli space where some people live.

You hear about the Israeli city of (Ashkalan). Over here, you hear this place called (Brasheva). Now, this area - keep in mind, this is the violence that we're seeing today, that little stretch of land up against Egypt here, up against Israel on the other sides. And that's where a lot of this has been focused. Now you can continue to get a lot of this context on cnn.com. We stay on the map for a moment. Let's pull out slightly. I want to show you some of the pictures we're getting at cnn.com. These are really powerful images and we're going to keep updating this throughout the day. As you see, some of these disturbing pictures, you can get a sense of how big and how serious it can be inside that area.

Obviously, we're seeing some serious violence. But it helps to keep in mind the size and scope of what we're seeing and the fact that it's this little stretch of land down here that has been the source of so much violence. As we were just saying, guys, only about twice the size of Washington, D.C. itself.

BOUDREAU: Wow. That's unbelievable. Those pictures that you're getting in are just - I mean, I don't know. They're horrible to look at. I can't believe this is actually happening right now. Thank you very much, Josh Levs.

HOLMES: Josh, we appreciate you. We will of course, continue to follow that story and all the breaking developments here on CNN.

Meanwhile, another story, another sign of the times, the economic times, the tough economic times. You know, the show must go on. That's just something people say. Right now, the show - many of the shows not going on right now.

BOUDREAU: Right. We'll tell you what's killing some of the top titles on the Great White Way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Melodrama on Broadway. Maybe you're used to those. But this is a different one we're talking about here. The nation's lousy economy has killed some of the top plays on Broadway.

BOUDREAU: And keep in mind, this is traditionally the busiest time of year. CNN's Maggie Lake has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Great White Way is bleeding red. Some of the biggest titles on Broadway are preparing to close their doors as the economic downturn turns away would-be theater goers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, definitely. Everybody is, is tightening their purses a little bit. And instead of going to two shows a month, maybe only going to one. I think everybody's looking at tightening up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was hoping to take advantage of the poor economy and get some for half price.

LAKE: Among those that will see the curtain fall for the last time in the coming months are "Spring Awakening," an eight-time winner at last year's Tony Awards ceremony. Box office sales are down more than half from a year ago to just $350,000 a week. Also turning off the lights will be "Hair spray," Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" and Monty Python's "Spamalot." The producers of that last show are even offering 45 percent off ticket prices, provided you get a coupon from this guy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They see this and think it's a great deal. I'll go see the show.

LAKE: Audiences cut back on spending, new shows are being canceled or put on hold. At a recent press conference, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said small shows will be among the hardest hit.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY: I think there's no question that Broadway is not immune to people's willingness to spend money. I actually think off-Broadway probably is going to suffer a little more just because there are probably fewer people who are willing to go out and risk venture capital to stage small Broadway productions. Many of which are done just for the love of theater.

LAKE: Though he acknowledged the challenges, Bloomberg says discount tickets and promotions will keep theaters full. Long-time Broadway veteran Chris Boneau is also confident the community will find a way to weather the downturn.

CHRIS BONEAU, BONEAU/BRYAN-BROWN PROMOTIONS: This story is a cyclical story. We've had strikes. We had the horrible disasters of 9/11. We've had things where people have stopped going to the theater for a short term but we always rebound. There's that thing about wanting to be in a crowd of people in a dark theatre watching a show and experience that will never go away.

LAKE: For some it may be the perfect tonic for these tough times.

Maggie Lake, CNN, New York. HOLMES: All right. Your pictures and your stories, we're counting down the best iReports of 2008. See if your entry is a possible winner.

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