Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

'Credible' Terror Threat for 9/11 Anniversary; Northeast Flooding Crisis Not Over Yet; Saving Money or Paying Debt?

Aired September 10, 2011 - 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: At the top of the hour. Good morning to you all on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

Three people are believed to be part of a possible terror plot against the U.S. and to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary, and government sources say they think two of these three individuals are American citizens. The very latest for you in just a moment.

Also, listen to the week that firefighters in Texas have had. They have responded close to 200 wildfires since Sunday. President Obama has declared a state of emergency there.

Also, in just about an hour and a half, NASA is heading to the moon. The scheduled launch of the Grail is coming up. We will have that for you live.

It is Saturday, September the 10th. I'm T.J. Holmes. Thank you so much for spending part of your weekend here with us.

It's a weekend of mourning and remembering, but also a weekend that the government is telling you to be extra vigilant -- increased security and scrutiny the day before the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. There is a credible terror threat that is causing concern in New York City and Washington D.C. This is what we know.

This threat called credible, even specific, but not yet confirmed. American intelligence network intercepted communications from an area in Pakistan, specifically from an individual who has provided valuable information in the past.

Now, we are getting a lot from the government right now. A lot is being revealed. Usually don't reveal these types of details from this type of intercept. They are confident in the accuracy of the information.

A top U.S. official says the threat likely involves three people. Government source are telling two of them believed to be American citizens. They could be using a truck filled with explosives to carry out any attack.

They could be using a truck, so police in New York are taking closer looks at trucks and any other suspicious vehicles heading into the city. A closer look means they are stopping trucks going through them, right there in the middle of the street. New check points have pretty much shutdown the city to traffic. Our senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is in New York for us.

Allan, New Yorkers are used to gridlock in the streets, but this is something different.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, indeed. Yesterday was quite a sight on many of the streets of New York. Just cars backed up block after block after block, literally for miles. Given the fact that it's early Saturday morning, a bit of a different situation right now. Obviously during the weekend, far fewer cars coming into New York City, into Manhattan in particular and it's the early hour still.

But the cars you see passing behind me and the trucks as well, they have just gone through a checkpoint. Police officers several blocks north of where I'm standing are reviewing cars in a single file.

If they do see any truck or van that they want to check out, they will have it pull over. They will have the driver open up. Have a look inside. They are wearing radiation detection equipment that they vibrate if there were any radiation coming from the vehicle itself.

So, as you said, T.J., tight security just before the anniversary.

HOLMES: And, Allan, you said something earlier that it was so bad yesterday that they are starting to make adjustments to get traffic flowing a little better today?

CHERNOFF: Well, what they did was during the afternoon rush hour, the police eased up on those check points. Instead of one lane of traffic going through, they would allow two lanes in some places. For example, we were stationed at 60th Street and Columbus Avenue. There, they had been merging four lanes into one. So, they eased up for the afternoon rush hour because, yes, the city was getting a ton of complaints. It was very frustrating for drivers.

But at the same time, I saw one driver pulled over by a police officer. He had been in his vehicle for an hour and a half, traveled about three miles during that period -- so, going two miles an hour. He said to the officer, "You've got a job to do." People understand it has to be done.

HOLMES: You know what? That's a good point and good to hear that. It will be a frustrating weekend for a lot of folks, but they understand. And certainly, New Yorkers get it.

Allan Chernoff, thank you so much.

Well, with all of this increased security and scrutiny, a lot of people are on edge about another possible attack on the country. Well, a message went out on NBC News on their Twitter feed that said there had in fact been another attack at Ground Zero. But it was computer hackers -- hackers that are calling themselves the Script Kiddies. They are taking responsibility for hacking NBC's Twitter account and falsely posting that there had been a new attack at Ground Zero.

NBC employees quickly saw this and responded, knocked down the post. Let everybody know this was not the case. NBC is working with Twitter and also working with the authorities on this now.

Also, somebody took 14,000 rounds of ammunition from Ft. Bragg in North Carolina. That's 14,000 rounds of ammunition missing right now. Investigators think it was taken overnight Tuesday. They are certainly trying to hunt this down to figure out exactly what happened.

The missing ammunition belongs to the Army's First Brigade Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne. The brigade was lockdown for it afterwards, but that lockdown has since been lifted.

Egyptian protesters battling security forces in front of the Israeli embassy in Cairo. Egypt's home minister says at least 500 people were injured yesterday. Earlier today, Israel's ambassador, staff and security guards left Egypt. Since former President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February, many Egyptians have called for the end of diplomatic relation with the Jewish state.

Also in Libya, rebels say loyalists to longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi have ignored today's deadline to lay down their weapons. That the fighting has resumed. This is in the final strongholds of Gadhafi right now. Two towns of Bani Walid is one. The other is Sirte. Sirte is the ex-dictator's hometown.

And NASA and the rest of us keeping a close eye on the weather in Florida because they are trying to get this thing off the ground here in the next hour and a half. What you are seeing there on the launch pad is the GRAIL. It will launch heading to the moon. So, yes, NASA is planning to head to the moon today.

This is the Gravity Recovery and International Laboratory, as I said GRAIL. The idea of it is to map the gravity of the lunar surface, trying to figure out what's under the surface. So, they are hoping to launch at 8:29 Eastern Time, weather permitting.

We have our Alexandra Steele, out meteorologist, keeping a close eye on it. And all are saying right now there's about a 60 percent chance it will be able to takeoff. It had to be scrubbed on Thursday because of bad weather.

And the weather is not helping the devastating situation in Texas. The number is just the last -- nearly along -- nearly 200 is what we are talking about. About 200 fires in the past week there in Texas.

And, Alexandra, good morning to you once again. And your map kind of told the story. You put it up earlier and you the word "dry" over Texas. So, the weather is not going to help out there.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, certainly not. Hey, and that was for the winter months. This is just the short-term. You know, near Austin, T.J., over 30,000 acres burning in the last week alone.

So, will the weather help Texas in the wildfires? And what about the swollen Susquehanna? What's happening with the rain in the Northeast?

All those questions are going to be answered coming up. I meet you back here right after the break with the full detailed forecast for your weekend from coast to coast.

See you in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: About 10 minutes past the hour on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

And victims of the wildfires in Texas right now, they need some help. They are getting some from Washington, D.C. now after President Obama declared the fire in Bastrop County, Texas, as a federal disaster. We're seeing some of the worst of the fires there. Nearly 1,400 homes have been destroyed.

They have been dealing with this in Texas for some time now. And for some folks, enough is enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

MONICA TURNER, FIRE VICTIM: I want to get in and I can't right now. I want to have the peace of mind that yes, my house is gone and I can actually look and see that my house is gone from my own eyes. I have to have that for my own eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have lost everything. We have no insurance on our house. We have nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HOLMES: People in one county have it worse, but there are fires burning all over the state. Nearly 200 broke out in just the past week.

Alexandra Steele here with me once again.

And, Alexandra, I think it just came out this week that this summer was one of the hottest on record. And now, that combined with this La Nina situation you are telling me about, the dry keep getting drier, and Texas just going through it right now.

STEELE: And, T.J., the wet getting wetter. It was the hottest. It was the driest for some. It was the wettest for some.

So, it's kind of the misnomer of global weather, what it really is extreme weather. So, the hot is hotter. The wet is wetter. The dry is drier. And that's what we're really seeing.

And we're going to get that exacerbate this coming winter with the return of La Nina. And we'll talk about that again. But, of course, the swollen Susquehanna part and parcel of the whole extremes, right.

Remember, we were talking about the Mississippi and how extreme that was. Now, of course, the Susquehanna, and this water in throughout so much of Pennsylvania because of the sewage treatment plants which are under water, at least them of them. So, this flood of water is toxic and it is polluted.

So, the flood threat continues to be huge. So, here's a look at the big picture in what we're going to see. Back to the wildfires, look at this northwest flow. It is dry. It will continue to be dry and this certainly will spread these wildfires throughout much of Texas and New Mexico.

Here in the Northeast, northern New England will see beautiful day -- sunny skies, clear, blue conditions -- really beautifully. But south of that, this area of low pressure kind of very stubborn, staying around. More clouds, more showers, really from New York south of Virginia, unfortunately.

To the West Coast, waking up early, good morning to you in San Diego or Los Angeles, La Jolla, hot conditions will continue there. Temperatures above average for the Pacific Northwest. Also again, south through Los Angeles.

One quick look, tropical storm Nate. We thought Nate would kind of bring some relief to Texas. But not so. That's what happens, right? You just can't get any water when you need it. Nate is staying south bringing some rain into New Mexico. And it's Mexico, not into Texas, unfortunately. So, too bad with that.

Again, we'll talk about Maria as well off the coast and it shouldn't affect really the East Coast at all in terms of maybe some wave, but not much more than that.

That's a quick picture of what's happening around the country.

Back to you, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Alexandra, thank you as always.

And coming up in just a moment, honoring the victims of those killed. The victims killed on 9/11. I'll tell you about some of the special events planned today from the Pentagon to Shanksville to Manhattan.

Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Quarter past the hour now on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

A live look at Ground Zero in New York City. That, of course, is where we will watch the dedication of the official 9/11 memorial that will open to the public on September 12th on Monday. That, of course, is where the country will take a moment to pause to honor the 2,700- plus people who were killed in the attacks right there at Ground Zero. But also taking a moment to pause to remember those killed at Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

A number of special events this weekend start day. At the Pentagon, former President George W. Bush, he will lay a wreath at the 9/11 Stone. That's an engraved stone in the rebuilt portion of the Pentagon. That's scheduled for 10:00 Eastern this morning.

Then, at 12:30, a dedication for phase one of the permanent 9/11 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania honoring the heroes aboard United flight 93. John King is there for us. He'll join us a little later this morning.

And this afternoon, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will be at the memorial service at St. Patrick Cathedral in New York, honoring the firefighters who died at the World Trade Center -- 343 firefighters died there.

We're going to check in now with the good doctor, Sanjay Gupta, for a look at what's coming up on a special edition of his show this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., last week, we learned the firefighters working at Ground Zero on or after 9/11 had a 19 percent increased risk of cancer. Think about that. I spent the better part of last year investigating 9/11's toxic dust, what it felt like to breathe that stuff in and to be totally enveloped by it. What subsequent tests could have revealed about the dust and what the experience means now for the next time disaster strikes.

It's a special edition of "SGMD." It's called "TERROR IN THE DUST," and that's straight ahead at the bottom of the hour -- T.J.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Thanks to Sanjay, as always.

And tomorrow morning, starting at 6:00 tomorrow, "CNN SUNDAY MORNING," our show will be live in New York. I'll be there at Ground Zero. We'll look at how America has changed, of course, in the past 10 years since 9/11. Starting at 8:00 Eastern. We'll have complete coverage of all of the remembrance ceremonies in New York and Washington, as well as Pennsylvania.

Well, at 17 minutes past the hour.

We're going to say good morning to our financial analyst Clyde Anderson here in just a second. You have debt and you need to pay it off, but you also want to save for your future. If you don't know what is more important, you need to listen to him. He'll help us all figure out, what do you do? Do you save or should you pay off the debt first? Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twenty-one minutes past the hour now.

We all know you are supposed to stash away cash for your future, retirement or college tuition, maybe just a rainy day fund.

But take a look at this. If given the choice, look at what they would do. Americans say they'd actually prefer to pay off their debt first.

But Clyde Anderson said 89 percent of folks might be doing the wrong thing. Our financial analyst is here.

OK. Just in general, we can get into specifics. In general, should you attack that debtor or make sure you got the rainy day fund?

CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL ANALYST: Now, I think the rainy day fund is really important.

HOLMES: OK.

ANDERSON: I mean, I think it's great to pay down debt but we're not saying don't pay your debt. But, again, get that rainy day fund first, because right now, especially in this economy, you should have 10 months of reserves. That's 10 months of monthly income set aside for emergencies. Emergencies do happen -- they happen more now than ever. And so, you want to be prepared.

HOLMES: OK. When you say don't -- you say still you might not be paying down versus paying on. You are saying like make the minimum payment?

ANDERSON: Make your timely payments. Make your minimum payments.

Now, in the case where you have a situation where you are trying to get your debt-to-income better. Maybe you're trying to qualify for a home, you want to pay that down. If you are trying to improve your credit score, you may want to pay that debt down.

So, it really depends on what you're trying to do and what your goals are. So, it's really important to have some financial goals set in place to know exactly what I'm trying to do.

HOLMES: OK. And what we're talking about here is chunks, you say pay yourself first. So, if you got $5,000 sitting on the credit card and some people, you know, the minimum might be $100, whatever maybe. Keep up with the timely payments, but don't pay $1,000 or $2,000. Use that money for yourself.

What could you do with that money because you're saying you could earn more if it's sitting maybe in an account? ANDERSON: That's a good point. Now, it depends on the situation. Now, if we are talking about a credit card where we have a 20 percent interest rate on, that's a different story.

HOLMES: That's different.

ANDERSON: That's a different story.

HOLMES: That's when you go attack the debt.

ANDERSON: That's when you go attack the debt.

HOLMES: OK.

ANDERSON: Now, if you got low interest rates, we're talking 2 percent, 3 percent, 4 percent, it's really not a major issue right now to go ahead and attack it. But if you are paying 20 percent and upwards, or you're in 14 percent on some debt, it's better to pay that off because it's like you are earning 14 percent on that cash.

So, if I got a credit card where my interest rate is 14 percent, I've got a $5,000 balance on it, it makes sense for me to go ahead and attack that because now it's like I'm earning 14 percent of my money, because I'm still paying that.

HOLMES: So, why 89 percent of the folks out there saying, you know what? Why in our mind that we want to do that first? Why do we want? We want a clean slate.

ANDERSON: Yes, we've been taught debt is bad. It's a bad thing. And a lot of people can't sleep knowing that pain over their head. They don't feel comfortable. They can't go ahead and live on, you know, with their lives.

And so, if you are that person, go ahead and pay that debt down. You don't want to cause extra added stress because you got this debt hanging over my head.

So, we want to wipe that debt out and get rid of it as soon as possible. And it's not a bad thing to pay off debt. But you have to be strategic. You make sure you have the plan and look at the interest rates versus look at what you could earn on that money.

HOLMES: OK. You're talking about interest rates. We were talking about student loans and other things, they have those sometimes low interest rates. But when we're talking credit cards, this is an important point -- you need to pay those off.

ANDERSON: Yes. If you got those credit cards -- you got some credit cards where you may have, you know, same-as-cash where you don't have -- you are not paying interest for a set period of time. So, know those windows. Know those periods.

But if you got a credit card where you are paying 14 percent or up, 20 percent, some credit cards are 29.99 percent. You definitely want to pay that off because, again, it doesn't make sense to have money sitting in the bank and you are draining yourself to pay that interest on the credit card.

HOLMES: All right. Important information. But again, the key there is you need to look at your situation. It's not the same for everybody. Some need to pay the debt. Some need to be saving it first.

ANDERSON: Exactly.

HOLMES: All right. Clyde, good stuff. Good to see you.

ANDERSON: Good to be here.

HOLMES: All right. Twenty-four minutes past the hour.

And some people, you know, need a good reason to have a cocktail or glass of wine? Some people don't really need a good reason. But if you need one, I got one for you. This only applies, though, to just some of you. I'll explain this in a second. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Getting close to the bottom of the hour.

And, ladies, drinks on me. A Harvard study that says women who drink moderately in middle age have better health when they get older. Researchers took a look at women who drank one-to-two alcoholic beverage a day in mid-life, this women had significantly better health as they got older than women who didn't drink at all.

And that's not the end of this. Women who spread their alcohol consumption over a week fared better than women who drank just one or two days a week. How do you like that?

All right. Give you a look though at some of the other stories that are making headlines. And the deadline to surrender has passed for Libyan town still backing Moammar Gadhafi. A rebel military commander says forces loyal to Gadhafi are now battling rebel fighters in Bani Walid. The rebels believe key members of Gadhafi's regime may be hiding there, including two of his sons. A rebel negotiator says the deadline for the town to surrender expired. The rebel forces were fired on.

And also, a tragedy today off the coast of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean. Hundreds of people are missing after a ferry capsized. Zanzibar's state minister says at least more than 259 people have been rescued, 40 bodies recovered. But the minister says more than 600 people were aboard the ferry. Rescue crews continue to search for both victims and survivors.

Well, "Terror in the Dust." Dr. Sanjay Gupta taking a closer look at the health effects 10 years after 9/11. Stay here for a special edition of "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." But I will be back with you at the top of the hour with more live news as CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues.

But, right now, time for the good doctor.