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CNN Saturday Morning News

Tunnel to Miners Near Completion; The Ugly Side of Politics Comes Front and Center; Jobs That Ruin Marriages; Fall Back on Spending; Captured British Aid Worker Killed

Aired October 09, 2010 - 07:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you all. Once again, from the CNN Center, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you can start your day right here with me.

We're going to be getting into plenty of politics throughout this half hour, also throughout the day. This one could go down in history.

Hello to you all, once again from the CNN Center. This is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. I'm glad you could start you day right here with me.

We are going to be getting into plenty of politics throughout this half hour and also throughout the day. But first, we're going to turn to a story we are keeping an eye on.

This drama playing out right now in Chile where those 33 trapped miners are still trapped, but we're told literally we're minutes away, could be minutes away from rescuers finally cutting through and breaking through to the area where those miners are.

Our Patrick Oppmann is there for us. He is live for us where this is Camp Hope they have called it now, but first, just give us the update. We heard just a short time ago they were literally feet away from breaking through.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN ALL PLATFORM JOURNALIST: Meters away. Meters away and this is -- this breakthrough is imminent though after months of waiting. Very, very close. Drillers tell us, plan B drillers, this is the drill that is going to make the break.

So today we are expecting that they're only six meters away. This is out of 624 meters so just a matter of feet like you said and that breakthrough could come in the next hour or two. They have been drilling all night long. We were told a breakthrough could come today.

Expecting now this morning, it will an incredible moment here at this camp. I'm already seeing smiles, people patting each other on the back. A lot of excitement. They have been waiting so long for this day.

Really the - the beginning of a rescue operation when the mine shaft is drilled down to the 33 men who have been waiting in days and days of darkness and confinement, this is the beginning of the rescue. T.J.

HOLMES: Yes, it's important to note here, this is just the beginning. Just because they breakthrough to the shaft where the men are, it doesn't mean they are coming up quite frankly anytime soon. Explain why we may have to wait until at least Tuesday before the first man starts coming up or even later.

OPPMANN: Tuesday at the - possibly at the earliest. You know, still a lot of work after the breakthrough happens today, still quite an ordeal ahead for these men.

What will happen after that is rescue officials will have to look and see how stable this hole is, whether or not they could put a rescue capsule down or whether it needs to be re-enforced.

That re-enforcement could take days or it could much longer. Regardless after that, a capsule will be lowered down with rescuers. We'll start the rescue operation, hoisting these men one at a time up to the surface even that process of bringing 33 men up to the surface could take a day or more.

HOLMES: One more thing and you kind of hit on it, Patrick, but just the mood out there. Can you feel it? At Camp Hope as it's called, the people, there's an anticipation now that this is finally going to be over sometime soon?

OPPMANN: It has been building for days. You see tension and excitement, people know that something is changing, a very positive development after so many setbacks here.

They know their relatives will be coming back to them now. They feel they will be back much sooner than expected. Remember, they were told they may not see them until Christmas. Well, Christmas came a little bit early for these people.

They're very excited. Also a little bit tense because they know this is the most dangerous part of the operation. Still thing that is could go wrong. They are keeping their fingers crossed, but a lot of smiles, a lot of excitement.

When the breakthrough happens in the next few hours, it's just going to be an explosion of emotion here.

HOLMES: All right, Patrick Oppmann on the scene for us. We'll continue to check in with our folks there live. Patrick, thank you so much.

Also ahead here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, we are going to be talking to a professor of mining. He's going to focus on the difficulty of the rescue operation. He's talking about it from an engineer's perspective and also the potential dangers that still remain.

Yes, there's a lot of hope and optimism as you heard Patrick talked about, but still there are some dangers that could still put these men's lives at risk. We'll continue to follow throughout the morning.

Also, 24 days, folks, 24 days until one of the most contentious midterm and important midterm elections we have seen in some time.

CNN asked likely voters out there, which party is their choice for Congress. Take a look, 52 percent said the Republican Party is the choice, 45 percent said the Democratic Party is the choice right now.

The CNN Opinion Research poll also shows Republicans with big leads over Democrats. Among independents, men and blue collar whites so much at stake.

Again, 24 days. We are counting down now. We always see campaign seasons turn ugly. It's turned a little dirty on the campaign trail on this one as well. Are voters going to be turned off by that or will that all ugliness work? Brian Todd has more on what's becoming a no holds barred race to the finish.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A conversation that was never meant to be heard publicly. Jerry Brown, Democrat running for California governor talks with his aids about support his opponent, Meg Whitman, might get from police unions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They know Whitman will cut them a deal, but I won't. She's a whore.

TODD: It's not clear who made the whore comment. The Brown campaign later apologized. That conversation was inadvertently taped, but other personal attacks in campaign ads are proliferating on the air.

(on camera): Darrel West of the Brookings Institution has written a well-known book called "Air Wars" about campaign ads. He says this year unlike in previous election cycles, candidates are just not holding back on vicious personal attacks on their opponents. We are going to go over some of these ads with him now.

CARL PALADINO (R), CANDIDATE GOVERNOR NEW YORK: When somebody went after my 10-year-old daughter, I got angry.

TODD (voice-over): New York Republican gubernatorial hopeful Carl Paladino rails on the media for tracking his young daughter. Then for reports about his extramarital affair then the kill shot on the sex life of opponent, Andrew Cuomo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Andrew is legendary.

TODD (on camera): Do you ever seen anything like that in an ad talking about someone's prowess?

DARRELL WEST, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: This is such a cheap shot. It's hard to imagine voters are going to be affected positively by this. They are going to view it as unfair, going beyond the grounds of fair play.

TODD (voice-over): Cuomo's response, a statement from a spokesman saying of Paladino, New Yorkers know he is unfit to be governor with his unstable outbursts, smears and total lack of substance.

(on camera): Some political experts though argue that that actually does work. That going negative is effective.

WEST: Going negative works in the sense of you can raise the negatives of your opponent, but if voters tune out and people stay home, you may end up losing support from people who otherwise might have cast votes for you.

TODD (voice-over): No one insulated. Right-wing commentator Rush Limbaugh levels this broadside on President Obama during his radio show.

RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK SHOW HOST: He's a jackass. He's an economic illiterate. He's an economic ignoramus.

TODD (on camera): Does it reflect a certain mentality on the campaign trail and on political discourse overall this year?

WEST: It reflects a mentality of mean spiritedness. That people are not focusing on the issues. They are insulting the opposition.

TODD (voice-over): Why is the nastiness at such heightened levels right now? Darrell West says, a few factors are unique to this year.

Candidates and commentators clearly sense the voter anger out there and they want to tap into it. They realize the stakes are especially high for the balance of power this year.

He says candidates sense the media is not doing as much fact checking on ads and public statements. They don't think they will be held accountable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Despite what you heard there from Jerry Brown, that recording with an one of his aids calling his opponent, Meg Whitman the word that rhymes with bore, a prominent women's group has announced though they are endorsing Jerry Brown.

The California's National Organization of Women, this is what they had to say about the Democratic gubernatorial nominees as quote, "For California women, actions speak louder than words. We know Jerry Brown's record and we know Meg Whitman's record. The choice is clear. We strongly urge California women to vote for Jerry Brown for governor."

And of course, you know where to go, all the latest political news, our web site, CNNPolitics.com. What does your spouse do for a living? We have a list of things you hope your spouse does not do because if they do these particular occupation occupations, your marriage could be in trouble.

Divorce rates are high for certain occupations. Can you imagine which ones? Should I give a hint before I go? If your spouse mixes drinks you might be in trouble.

It's eight minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Always like to hear what you have to say about such topics. The song is appropriate. Why do fools fall in love, maybe specifically, why do fools fall in love with bartenders.

Reynolds, we got a new study out. At Randford University broke down with Census numbers now. They use actual Census numbers, the occupations that have the highest divorce rates.

So if your spouse works in one of these particular fields, good chance you are going to end up in divorce. Number one on the list, dancers and choreographers. So if your wife happens to be a dancer of some kind, maybe a rocket, you might be in trouble.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: When you are talking about dancer, you could go a lot of directions with this. I mean, there's the answer that you would have. You know, they might be performing in front of a large crowd or a dancer that maybe performing for a dollar at a time. Either way, you know, you have to think about that. I'm sure there's a difference.

HOLMES: Put it back up, the next one here, the bartenders were number two and again, the divorce rates were talking about for dancers is 43 percent, Reynolds. Bartenders is 38 percent. That's a high number.

WOLF: Interesting.

HOLMES: Number three, massage therapists also at about 38 percent.

Now, the study that came out, they didn't explain why these folks or give any reasons for possibly why these folks would have high divorce rates, but what would anyone guess, a bartender or massage therapist. Why would they have a high rate?

WOLF: I would have to say opportunity.

HOLMES: What do you mean by that?

WOLF: I'm just going to leave it right there. That's one of the great things, we can bring it to the press and you the viewer are able to just go on there. You can expand on your own.

HOLMES: But, would you say, the hours. Bartenders have to work until 2:00, 3:00 in the morning serving drinks with a bunch of ladies around. There were a couple interesting ones on here. An extruding machine operator, 32 percent divorce rate, who knew? Telephone operators, didn't say what kind, 29 percent, other entertainers and performers 28 percent. Waiters, waitresses were on the list as well at 27 percent. Maids were on the list as well whose number 15 at 26 percent.

WOLF: I'll be darned.

HOLMES: Yes.

WOLF: My gosh, there's so many -

HOLMES: We could talk all morning about that. Let's move on to another one.

WOLF: That would be a good idea.

HOLMES: Yes, this next one will make parents feel good actually. Central High School in Bridgeport, cheerleaders there had a controversy with their uniforms. They were too skimpy, but it wasn't the parents who said they were too skimpy, the students, the cheerleaders themselves came out and said, you know what, they are too skimpy. We don't want to wear these.

They took their case to the Board of Education. They requested new uniforms. It was granted. The midriff was showing and we all seen these cheerleader outfits -

WOLF: Sure.

HOLMES: College or high school, they are the same, short skirts and the midriff is out. But the girls said we don't like these, we want different ones. Now they are getting undershirts, the covers, black tights if you will to go under it. They don't have to expose the skin.

WOLF: It's amazing how the look of the cheerleader changed over the changes. They started with the skirts below the knees.

HOLMES: But to see them make that decision is great. Congratulations to the girls.

All right, it's 15 minutes past the hour. We'll be back shortly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, 18 minutes past the hour.

Summer, of course, is wrapping up. Fall is here. It's almost that season, sorry, it's the holiday season almost. You might want to start saving some money getting ready for that season.

A little home schooling we need right now these things - Clyde Anderson our financial analysts here. These things seem so -- they are so simple. This is important to remind folks of how much money they can save because we are about to spend like crazy.

CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL ANALYST: It's definitely. I learned math at an early age. Those little numbers turn into big numbers when you start adding them up and that's what we got to be careful.

HOLMES: That's the thing. We don't add them up. We don't think about the little thing we do every day even if it's that one cup of coffee.

ANDERSON: That's it, exactly and we take that for granted.

You know, that cup of coffee that you pay $2 a cup for. You can go to the store and buy it for $10 a bag. Talk about the savings that you do right there. Those things start to add up. We have to watch those things.

HOLMES: OK, add this up for me. I don't drink coffee, so I don't know how much a Starbucks is. I see people down and lined like crazy? How much is a Starbucks coffee these days?

ANDERSON: Two bucks if you're talking about a basic coffee. You're probably talking about two bucks. You are talking about where you can buy a bag of coffee for $10. You know, and get 30 cups or where you can buy one cup for $2.

So after seven days of doing that, you spent $14. We are talking about a savings of $432 a year. Now think about it, most people don't get the basic cup. Think about it, $432. You can do a lot of things with $432.

HOLMES: You know, that's the saying with lunch and everything else you do if you pack your lunch as well. It's probably a bigger --

ANDERSON: Yes, you are talking about packing lunch. Most people go out for lunch and spend $10 a day on lunch so you're talking about $50 a week that you're paying for lunch.

Where if you brown bag it, think a little bit in advance. Pack those things that you like. I mean, you could save a huge amount of money. That one is like $1,700 that we're talking about and saved a year just by brown bagging as opposed to going out every day.

HOLMES: OK, already you got us over $2,000 for coffee and lunch. Around the house, the simple things like cut the lights off. Can I save more money?

ANDERSON: Yes.

HOLMES: What else?

ANDERSON: Cut the lights off. I mean, there's a web site, energy.gov, where it tells you all these tips and ways to do an assessment to see where you're losing power or where your energy is escaping out of the house. People won't think about phantom electricity or phantom power. Phantom power is that computer that's on all the time. We plug them in the power strips on. So you are talking 5 percent that you are losing on that phantom energy.

Think about it. If your monthly bill is $100, that's maybe five bucks, right? That's five bucks a month that you're just throwing out the window. It is given away.

HOLMES: So we're talking about even it's plugged, you have to turn the whole power strip off?

ANDERSON: Yes, you have to turn those things off. They are using electricity. They're feeding from that so if you've got the power strip, you need to turn the power strip off.

HOLMES: All right. I've got one more here. A lot of people, they want to go out, but the movies and restaurants can be expensive. Can you still have a good time on that budget?

ANDERSON: Yes, you can and it's going up every day. I took my kids to the movies recently. I thought we were going to Disneyworld because a lot of money I've spent.

But really, I mean, before refreshments and everything, you're talking about movies. You know, we are talking 50 bucks a month to go to the movie.

There are so many other alternatives now. There are online choices. There are things like Netflix, Red Box and all these other tools that you can use that you can really save a lot of money. Pay $9 a month instead of $50 a month to see that movies and maybe get that family time.

HOLMES: You saved us about three grand this morning with a few graphics. Again, stuff people to keep in mind, you don't think about the little things you do every day, but it adds up. Appreciate it.

ANDERSON: My pleasure.

HOLMES: Thank you so much my man. You can see him here every weekend with us.

We're going to have the latest on those miners in Chile. The rescue mission that's going on that's coming up next.

But first, another quiz for you out there from the "Fortune 500" list of "America's Most Powerful Women."

Clyde while you're here, we told our viewers earlier, Oprah Winfrey, she is not at the top of the list of Fortune 500 Most Powerful Women.

Actually, it's the CEO of Pepsi Co, Indra Nooyi. What number did Oprah land at? Was it 15, 10 or 6 on the list?

It's 22 minutes past the hour. Clyde has no clue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back.

Before the break, we asked you what number is Oprah Winfrey on the Fortune 500 list of Most Powerful Women, 15, 10 or 6. The answer, you got it right if you said six.

After 25 years at the top of daytime talk, Oprah Winfrey ending her show and launching the Oprah Winfrey Network hits the air January 1st.

We are continuing to keep an eye and update you on a story. Over in Chile, we have been monitoring a story really since August when these miners, 33 of them got trapped.

We were told they wouldn't be rescued until sometime in Christmas, but they have been down there about two months now. We were told that a drill that is drilling the hole, the tunnel that is going to pull them up from some 2,300 feet from below the surface that is supposed to breakthrough literally at any moment.

That breakthrough is imminent. Once that hole is completely drilled, they will send down a rescuer and also doctor to check these 33 men out and then they will start to pull them up, one-by-one.

You see that capsule there, that's what they're going to have to come up in. But again, the actual rescue of the men won't take place until at the earliest, on Tuesday. Here is a graphic showing three different options they are doing, different drills are drilling these holes, but the one that got there fastest is plan B, which goes all the way down as you see in this graphic.

It has to be pulled up, again. Won't start until at least Tuesday, at the earliest, pulling them up, but it could take some ten days as they try to make sure everything is right and the men are in no further danger trying to pull them up. We'll monitor that. We'll be taking you there live throughout the morning.

I want to take you live now to Kabul, Afghanistan to our Ivan Watson who's monitoring a story. Sad news we are getting about a woman, a British aid worker who had been kidnapped. A rescue was attempted and it turns out, Ivan, it doesn't sound like certainly this rescue attempt went the way people were hoping it would.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, T.J. grim and tragic news from a bloody battlefield in eastern Afghanistan. Britain's foreign office, the foreign secretary has released a statement. He's expected to make a televised statement within a matter of moments announcing that this 35-year-old British aid worker, Linda Norgrove, was killed last night in a rescue attempt to try to free her from her captors nearly two weeks after she was kidnapped in the eastern Afghan Province of Kunar.

Now, Linda Norgrove was working with USAID project. She was a regional director in the eastern city of Jilabad overseeing $150 million project to create jobs in Afghanistan.

She was captured along with three fellow Afghan employees while traveling through that province nearly two weeks ago. We know that over the course of her captivity, there had been a two-pronged effort to free her.

There were some military operations, helicopter troops that had been brought in more than a week ago to try to make some effort to free her. Local tribal elders were trying to negotiate for her release.

The British evidently, some kind of rescue operation went out. The Foreign Secretary William Hague saying in his statement that she was killed at the hands of her captors in the course of this rescue effort and that the decision to try to free her was made after learning who she was being held by and how dangerous her predicament was.

A sad piece of news coming from eastern Afghanistan about a woman who spent at least three years here in Afghanistan working on aid projects. She was an environmental science major and had advance degrees in environmental studies and she had learned (inaudible) and even had taken previous vacations to come visit Afghanistan.

HOLMES: Well, sad news. Ivan, we appreciate you hopping in front of the camera to give us that update. We are going to check in with you again sometime throughout the morning with more details on that.

But again as Ivan said, British aid worker has been killed during a rescue attempt. We'll have more details for you at the top of the hour on that and other stories as we continue with live news on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

But right now, I want to hand it over to "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D."