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CNN Saturday Morning News
Gadhafi Son Captured; Penn State Child Abuse Scandal, Battling for Iowa; Woman Injected with Cement; President Obama Security Breach; Trip On A Tank; Natalie Wood Death Case Reopened
Aired November 19, 2011 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING for November 19th. I'm T.J. Holmes. I'll give you a look at what's ahead at this hour.
After weeks on the run, Moammar Gadhafi's second oldest son is captured in a fire fight. And he's accused of crimes against humanity.
Also, Joe Paterno's son is speaking out on the child molestation scandal at Penn State and he says his father wants the focus to be on the victims.
Also in Australia, a word of a serious security breach while President Obama was visiting there.
But Moammar Gadhafi's son, Saif is his name, he is in custody. A Libyan Revolutionary commander says, Saif al Islam Gadhafi was captured in a Libyan desert near the border with Niger. He's Gadhafi's second oldest son and he's wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
Let's join now Jomana Karadsheh she's standing by for us in Tripoli. What do we know? How does this all go down?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., every hour, more details are emerging about this capture. The latest we are hearing from a commander of a brigade from the western mountains, this is the area from which the fighters who detained Saif al-Islam Gadhafi came from.
We are being told that special units from the Zintan brigade were in the southwestern area near that town where he was found in a triangle close to the border with Niger. And they had been on a stakeout there for the past 18 days, having intel that he was there.
And finally, overnight at about 2:00 a.m. local time, they saw a convoy moving. As they approached that convoy, it opened fire as it tried to flee and they exchanged fire for about two hours. And finally, they managed to stop that convoy and they say that Saif and members of his entourage surrendered to them.
We understand that Saif along with three other former regime elements are in custody in the city of Zintan where they arrived about nine hours ago. They were transported by a military plane. T.J., we're hearing conflicting reports on the state of Saif al-Islam. Some pictures emerging showing that he as other commanders have told us earlier today is slightly injured in that fire fight that took place.
HOLMES: What's the reaction there?
KARADSHEH: There has been a lot of celebration taking place. And celebration in Tripoli is usually a lot of celebratory gunfire and people honking their horns, going around with loud speakers, chanting a "Allahu Akbar" is a congratulations over what they see as a great victory, yet another victory in their revolution -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. To Jomana for us there in Tripoli thank you so much.
A little more about Saif al-Islam Gadhafi; 39 years old. He's the oldest son of Gadhafi's second wife Sofia. He was educated at the London School of Economics, speaks fluent English. Also while his father was in power, he was considered a possible successor. Was once seen as an advocate of reform but later became an outspoken defender of his father's brutal regime.
Four minutes past the hour now.
Let's turn back to Washington, D.C. Time is running out for the congressional super committee that's trying to trim the federal deficit. The deadline is Wednesday.
Right now, the panel is still deadlocked. A committee must cut more than $1.2 trillion from the deficit. If there's no agreement, that would trigger automatic across the board cuts.
The Democratic Party Chair Patti Murray says taxes are the key sticking point.
Also President Obama is headed home this morning after a week-long trip to Asia. The trip focused on job creation and cooperation. The President wrapped things up in Indonesia just a couple of hours ago after meeting with Thailand's new Prime Minister.
Before that, the President sat down with China's premier. That meeting was added at the last minute. President Obama is expected back in Washington early tomorrow morning.
Well, there's a report of a security breach during President Obama's stop in Australia this week. The "Sydney Morning Herald" says one of its reporters found a confidential briefing booklet in a gutter near the Australian Parliament building. The newspaper says the booklet contained minute-by-minute details about the President's schedule and it was discovered while the President was still in Australia.
I talked to the reporter a short time ago who found that booklet. You will hear that interview in 15 minutes.
Also in the Penn State child molestation scandal, former coach Joe Paterno's son is now speaking out. He says his father who was fired after the scandal broke has had his world turned upside down. He says the main concern, though, should be focused on the victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY PATERNO, PENN STATE ASSISTANT FOOTBALL COACH: It's pretty surreal. I mean it's almost like the book of Job. I mean, it's -- I'm not a -- I'm not a bible scholar by any stretch of the imagination. But Job went from having everything to having nothing. And it's not quite like that, but I think to keep things in perspective, one of the things Joe has said to me throughout all of this is we've got to make sure we keep focus on the -- to the victims of -- of this whole tragedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Also new development in this story, is the former Coach Paterno has now been diagnosed with lung cancer. We're told it's a treatable form.
Also on the investigation front, the NCAA which oversees college athletics is now getting involved.
CNN's Mike Galanos is with us from University Park. Mike, where should we start here?
MIKE GALANOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's so much, T.J. and it all went down yesterday. Everything from the Joe Paterno situation with the treatable form of lung cancer that you mentioned to the NCAA. It's a formal review and it could lead to a formal investigation.
T.J., let met hit on some of the high notes. It was a three-page letter, NCAA to Penn State basically we're going to review, how this happen? How can we prevent it from happening again I think the general statements here. Here is one that hits to the coach in the midst to that three page letter. "Basically the coach needs to monitor activities of assistant coaches and administrators who are in and around the program."
Another portion that catches your attention, T.J., talking about "basically people need to do more than avoid improper conduct or questionable acts." Another overarching piece of terminology in there is "lack of institutional control". So that's what's happening.
At the end four page, four questions that Penn State will have to answer. And here is the fourth one, T.J. This one really hits it. "What policies and procedures does Penn State have in place to monitor, prevent and detect the issues identified and related to that grand jury report?"
So, again, how did it happen? How do you prevent it from happening again? Penn State has to come back with some answers by the middle of December and they say they're going to be fully cooperative here.
HOLMES: All right, one other bit of news today there seems to be so much, but Second Mile, the charity that Jerry Sandusky where he works and that he founded, what are we hearing about that? Is that going to be able to survive?
GALANOS: Yes, that was -- that's a great question. Because there were a lot of reports yesterday that they may be folding. Well, basically they came back with a statement and that's one of the things that's on the table.
Three things could happen here. They may scale down their operations, continue to operate, again, just in a smaller way. They may transfer out or farm out what they do, like this charitable organization may take this portion. Another charitable organization may take that portion of The Second Mile.
Or number three, as I mentioned, they could fold and they could be done. What's sad there is, T.J., a lot of kids have been helped. A lot of kids have been helped. They say 100,000 kids per year. I saw an event just a couple of nights ago, these kids running around working with Penn State students. So you hope that they'll get the help they need. At the very least, many are saying the name Second Mile has to go. Just the connotations are just so horrific right now.
HOLMES: All right, Mike Galanos for us there, thank you as always. We're at nine minutes past the hour.
Now we'll turn to some politics and the campaign trail. Just about all of the Republican hopefuls are in the same state this weekend, but one of the front-runners is skipping out. We'll explain why. Stay with us on this CNN Saturday Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well about 12 minutes past the hour now. This is a big day for Republicans who want to be president. Most of them are in Iowa. This is the first state to hold a presidential contest.
Our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser is in D.C. for us. Now who is I mean, in general, they're trying to win over all the folks in Iowa, but who in particular are they trying to win over today?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Some of the most influential voters at least on the Republican side. You know we're just over six weeks away from those January 3rd caucuses which kick off the primary caucus calendar.
Listen T.J., in Iowa social conservatives are very influential on the Republican side. Today the family leader, one of those social conservative organizations having a forum. Look at this, six of the candidates are going to be there, all just about all the major ones. And you can see Gingrich, Cain, Bachmann, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum.
So who is missing from there? Well, Mitt Romney in particular. And he's one of the front-runners in the polls in Iowa, but he hasn't campaigned there a lot. Today Mitt Romney is going to be in New Hampshire state votes second that's where he's been campaigning more. Also not there is Jon Huntsman. And it is interesting both Romney and Huntsman are Mormons and with some of those social conservative voters in Iowa, the Mormon religion, you know, not -- they have questions about it Iowa and that was one of the reasons Romney had some troubles four years ago in Iowa when he made his first run for the White House -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, about another candidate now, Herman Cain, I think it might have thrown some people off to hear Cain is now getting Secret Service protection. Why?
STEINHAUSER: Yes. And he is the first Republican presidential candidate to get that. It started late Thursday night. Why? Well this is what we've learned sources inside the government tell us that there were some threats against -- unspecified threats against Cain and that led Cain to ask the Secret Service for their protection.
They looked at it and they said, yes, we agree. And he has it now as of -- as of Thursday night. He was on the campaign trail yesterday afternoon and last night and he kind of changed his mind on what he wanted to say about it. Take a listen to what he said yesterday afternoon and then last night.
Take a listen.
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The thing about Secret Service is that things are secret. So we don't discuss any details about it, because that would not be appropriate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: Some of the concerns that we were beginning to get, we were in New Hampshire and there were some things that quite frankly made us feel a little bit uncomfortable. So we are glad that the request was approved and it feels great because they do a great job of making things move seamlessly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: There you go. At first, not wanting to give any details and then, as the day went on, yes he wanted to talk about it a little bit, T.J.
HOLMES: Well then, that's all right. Last thing here, I love these debates. And some people might have been getting tired of them. It seems like they were so many. But they're good for the country to get to see these candidates. But so -- when are we going to see them on the stage again?
STEINHAUSER: And we had a good time at that debate in Vegas, didn't we? But yes let's get back to business here. The next debate, Tuesday night, it's the CNN debate that's why we're talking about it right here in Washington, D.C., we're teaming up the Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute. It's mostly on national security, but let's be honest the economy is coming up.
And look on the left side there that good looking guy, Wolf Blitzer he will be moderating and hosting the debate -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Paul Steinhauser, good to talk to you. We'll talk to you again here soon.
Also a reminder to our viewers. You can join Fredricka Whitfield every Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. She does a special hour dedicated to the presidential contenders in the 2012 election. That's every Sunday. You can catch that here. But you can catch her here with me in about 30 minutes. She'll give me a preview of what she has coming up at noon.
Also, a story you just have to hear to believe. Even when you hear it, you probably won't believe it. Police say a doctor -- actually, a fake doctor injecting at least one person with cement. But the picture you're seeing, maybe not what you think you're seeing. We'll explain this in a moment.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Don Lemon. Coming up on tonight on "CNN WEEKEND PRIME", it's being called one of the most elaborate card cheating scams in modern history. These guys raked in millions from casinos all over the country, but their luck ran out. And it's all caught on surveillance tape. We'll tell you how they did it.
That and more coming up tonight on "CNN WEEKEND PRIME" at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. This is one we just can't make up here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. A Florida man who dresses like a woman and claims to be a doctor is now accused of injecting a patient with cement, seriously.
We get this story from our affiliate WPLG.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's crazy.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police say it was a crazy concoction. Cement, Super Glue, mineral oil, even Fix a Flat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's definitely life threatening.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: All of it allegedly injected into a patient at this Miami Gardens Home.
It's empty, but looks like someone, maybe police, once busted in. Neighbors had no idea what procedures were possibly being administered next door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No idea.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Never heard of anything like that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: for only a few hundred dollars, police say a patient wanted some permanent enhancements.
SGT. BILL BAMFORD, MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA POLICE: They agree on a price of $700 for him to enhance her buttocks.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The problem was, this man, O'Neal Ron Morris was no doctor, police say. And had pumped up the patient's backside with a potentially deadly mix.
BAMFORD: A short time later, she develops very serious pains in her abdomen, throughout her body. She knows something is wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The woman went to two local hospitals and then finally drove here to Tampa General where she was treated for pain, pneumonia, and even a MRSA infection.
BAMFORD: That cocktail had serious complications and serious effects on this young lady.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Police caught up with the suspect in North Lauderdale and arrested him for practicing without a license and causing bodily harm.
BAMFORD: It's just crazy. If you're going to have medical procedures done, find a licensed physician, go to a licensed facility and get the proper medical treatment.
HOLMES: We have learned that that suspect, O'Neal Ron Morris is now out of jail. Our affiliate tells us he posted bond of over $15,000.
Also coming up, sometimes you just stumble across the big story. That was the last thing an Australian reporter expected to find in a gutter was a briefing book with sensitive information about President Obama's visit. You will hear from the reporter who found this sensitive book.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: 23 minutes past the hour now.
President Obama is heading home this morning after wrapping up a week- long trip to Asia. One of the headlines centers on a potentially disastrous security slip-up. You're looking at it now. A confidential booklet detailing the President's trip to Australia. He was there earlier in the week.
A "Sydney Morning Herald" reporter by the name of Dylan Welch says he found the book in a gutter near the Australian parliament building. I talked to Dylan just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Did you even realize what you had found at the time? How long did it take you to figure it out?
DYLAN WELCH, "SYDNEY MORNING HERALD": Well, funnily enough, actually it was early in the morning. I hadn't had much sleep, 6:00 in the morning. We had to arrive three hours early for the President's event at the Australian War Memorial at 9:00 a.m.
I walked past it. It was just past dawn. It looked to me like a discarded notebook. I walked past it. Then I stopped, my brain clicked and I though, hang on, the U.S. President is here. So I went back, picked it up. It looked official and I thought, oh, this is interesting.
Put it in my bag and I was in such a rush until about 2:00 p.m. I didn't even really look at it. When I finally got back to the office after all the presidential events, I then went through it and realized that it was certainly something that you wouldn't have wanted, say, a foreign intelligence service to pick up.
HOLMES: And we have it right. An important detail here is that you found it while the President was still in Australia.
WELCH: Yes. I think about -- he would have been there for about another 14 hours. So I mean, there is a big if in this story, obviously. The big if is if it was foreign intelligence of a lone wolf kind of a person with a significant capability. But if they did find it, they would have had 14 hours and during that 14 hours they would have known to the minute where the president was. They would have known exactly what his convoy was comprised of. As you said earlier, there would have even know exactly which side of the limo he was going to be getting out of.
HOLMES: Dylan, what kind of reaction have you been able to get from the White House, from the Administration in response to what you found? Did you try to give it back to them? What did you want to do with it because as a reporter, you know you've got your hands on something but you know there's a serious security issue here.
WELCH: Well, look, like I said, by the time I realized how significant it was and I went through some stuff, the President had left Canberra, our nation's capital and gone to a Dyland (ph) which is a northern city. So I think there was people were fairly -- they weren't too concerned about the immediate threat, but certainly, pleased that I had it and I returned it the next day to the prime minister's office or at least it was returned to the prime minister's office the next day.
I think, to be frank, though, stayed fairly quiet about it. I don't think it exactly is to the Australian government's benefit to be talking about it at the moment. And to be frank, I haven't been able to get a hold of the White House since then.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And, again, that's Dylan Welch of the newspaper the "Sydney Morning Herald". He found that discarded booklet containing all that information about the visit.
We'll keep an eye on that. The President and the White House and Secret Service is not exactly commenting just yet.
Coming up, another Republican presidential candidate comes under scrutiny after rising in the polls. Some are saying that Newt Gingrich peaked too soon. Stay with us on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're at the bottom of the hour in this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'll give you a look at some of the stories making headlines.
And that picture's making a headline right now and Libyans are celebrating after the news that Moammar Gadhafi's son is in custody. Libya's National Transitional Council released this photo of Saif al Islam Gadhafi, that's Moammar Gadhafi's second oldest son. Revolutionary fighters say he was captured after a fire fight in the Libyan desert. He's wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
And also, Former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno has now been diagnosed with cancer. We're told it's a treatable form of lung cancer. That word from Paterno's family. Paterno was fired when word broke of that child molestation scandal at the school. Former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky is accused of abusing young boys.
Also, in Nevada, firefighters are doing everything they can to bring a fast-moving wildfire under control. This one's burning near Reno. At least 25 homes have been damaged or destroyed. Fierce winds caused the fire to spread to more than 2,000 acres overnight.
Well, Newt Gingrich is rising in the GOP presidential polls, but now coming under fire for money he earned working for Freddie Mac. That's the government-backed mortgage giant Gingrich has attacked in the past. Earlier I spoke with CNN political contributor and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, as well as Republican strategist Lenny McAllister, about Gingrich and his political liability.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: I had a political guest suggests to me earlier today that Newt has peaked too early. Would you agree with that?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well I think, again, it all depends on the voters, T.J. And that has been the bottom line for this topsy turvy primary process. Because what we're seeing is though for the elite Republican strategist, Romney has been and continues to be the front-runner and the presumed nominee.
Evangelical conservative voters have never been enamored with him and they have been looking desperately for the anti-Romney candidate. Right now, Newt is -- it's Newt's turn because everybody has seemed to rise and fall by whatever it is they do or don't do and say or don't say and now it's Newt's turn. The issue with Newt is that he has a huge record that could be scrutinized and that's what we're seeing now.
HOLMES: And, Lenny, if we all agree that Mitt Romney has been the one that hasn't been rising or falling. He has been steady at that, what, 20 to 25 percent in all these polls.
LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: He has been steady. But here's the thing. Newt Gingrich is going to fend off his critics in a way that Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry have not been able to. And let's be honest, too. Mitt Romney had basically -- basically he had Rick Perry coming after him at a debate and he didn't do it very well. He wants no part of Newt Gingrich coming after him in a debate. If it becomes between Gingrich and Romney in a debate, Gingrich wins that. He would move on to get the nomination.
He has a little bit of turbulence right now, but he's going to deal with that turbulent water a lot better than the other three predecessors that were towards the top of the polls just a couple months ago.
HOLMES: Maria, do you agree with that?
CARDONA: I don't -- no, I don't think so because the issue with Newt is that -- and we saw this when he first came into the race, he's got two issues for him. The one that -- one of them is disciplined. He is very undisciplined. And he is very -- it's difficult -- very difficult for him to stay on message.
And the other one, and I think this is counterintuitive, is that he is actually too moderate for the primary process. And that has really come up to haunt him as well. He -- the first time that he started to run this time around, he came out and the first thing he said about Paul Ryan's plan was that it was right wing social engineering -- social engineering. And so I think that, on another issue, the mandate for health care, the individual mandate, he was for that as well.
HOLMES: But --
CARDONA: And at one point he was for cap and trade. I think all of those things are going to come back to haunt him.
MCALLISTER: But here's the thing about that, though, Maria. Here's the thing about that. If that were the case, how come he didn't stay buried at the bottom in the poles? Rick Santorum hasn't been able to get above two. Jon Huntsman hasn't been able to get above one. Jon Huntsman is too moderate for this primary process. He's never peaked over 1 percent. How come Romney's been able to go from one to two to eight and now to 22, 23, 24 in these polls?
The truth of the matter is, he is a conservative with a record that liberals will attack, but he's going to be able to fend this off well. And he is catching lightning in a bottle right at the time. He's able to swing past Cain, swing past Perry and I do believe he is going to gain momentum just in time for Iowa. He's going to fend off these attacks and he's going to do just fine because he's going to be able to talk about things and articulate them well in a way that no other candidate on that stage has been. The only one that's been super presidential on those debate stages has been Newt Gingrich, and everybody admits that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We're 35 minutes past the hour now. And stay with us because we're heading to earn Tennessee. One tank of gas. How far can our Reynolds Wolf really get?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, 37 minutes past the hour. Let's say good morning once again to our Reynolds Wolf. Reynolds is trying to get me to ski. He's been telling me how this is apparently a pretty fun activity for some people.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is a wonderful activity.
HOLMES: Is that right?
WOLF: And I mean you, my gosh, you've lived on the West Coast. You never went skiing?
HOLMES: Never went skiing.
WOLF: You have the opportunity. You go in -- you go out west for quite a few things.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: Sometimes to Vegas. Sometimes with higher elevations.
HOLMES: Yes. They don't ski in Vegas, though.
WOLF: No, but they could. They could. If you leave Vegas and go to a higher place where there's snow.
HOLMES: No, I don't leave certain place.
WOLF: You know one of those places would be this spot. Check this out. This is a live image we have this morning from Lake Tahoe. It looks beautiful. You see the lake. There's something more you see up here in the mountains. You see some snow.
They had a big snow storm that rumbled (ph) right through the Sierra Nevada. Leaving in its wake, some really strong winds which, of course, fanned the flames we had in Reno with the heavy -- the heavy wind gusts there. Some gusts topping 80 miles per hour, which helped really spread a lot of those flames.
Conditions are better there. However, that big snowstorm is now moving into parts of the northern plains and into the western half of the Great Lakes. Fargo southward to Sioux Falls is all snow. Anywhere from three to seven inches of snowfall coupled with winds that could range anywhere from 35 to 40 miles per hour. Maybe some gusts stronger. You might have some whiteout conditions in a few locations. Mainly along parts of 94 and I-90. Delays, are we going to have any today? Yes, I would think so. Some in San Francisco due to the showers. In Boston, Chicago, Miami, showers and wind. In Minneapolis, the snow and the wind mainly kicking into the afternoon. The winds will get even stronger. With that you're going to have some delays in that spot.
For parts of the southeast, it should be beautiful. A mix of sun and clouds. For parts of the northeast, a mix of sun and clouds also. But when you make your way into Texas, things begin to dry out for central and west Texas. East Texas, still a chance of scattered showers. And then when you get to California, about San Lewis to Bisbo (ph) northward, mostly rain. But then when you get to higher elevation along the coastal range and back in the Sierra, that's when you run into the possibly of some snowfall.
Again, back to that big storm system, we have the watches and warnings across parts of the northern tier of the U.S. But when that low really begins to ramp up, intensifies, it's going to bring the snow to parts of Minneapolis. About two to maybe three inches of snowfall, but mainly a wind event and rain event for parts of Chicago.
As we wrap things up, your high temperature, 67 the high in Kansas City, 55 in Chicago, 68 in Memphis, 55 in Atlanta, all on the eastern seaboard. Things pretty good out west. We'll get the snow, of course. And in Texas, looks pretty good.
T.J., let's send it right back over to you.
HOLMES: Reynolds, back by popular demand. I love these. The "Trip On a Tank." You get one tank of gas and you hit the road. Where we going?
WOLF: We've got a theory. The thing is, is just because the -- we're going through a tough time economically, that doesn't mean that the fun has to go away.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: Sometimes you just have to hit the road and an adventure is still out there and you can do it on a very fun, economical way. And we went on a "Trip On a Tank" going through parts of eastern Tennessee. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Well, today's "Trip On a Tank" starts in Chattanooga, Tennessee, home to the Incline Railway. It's been taking people to the top of Lookout Mountain for over 100 years. Well, the train has left the station. We're hitting the road.
Next stop, we're still in Chattanooga. The world's only towing museum. Let's go inside and take a peak. This place is remarkable. If you're a fan of tow trucks, you've got every type you could ever imagine through history here. But the question remains, why would you have something like this in Chattanooga? Cheryl Mish, the executive director, is here with us.
What's the scoop?
CHERYL MISH, MUSEUM DIRECTOR: Well, back in 1916, Ernest Holmes Sr., developed and patented the first twin boom wrecker right here in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
WOLF: An important moment in history. Incredible. You know what, we're history too.
Well, before we go another mile, we have to introduce today's crew. Photojournalist John Purse (ph) is with us.
John, how you doing today?
JOHN PURSE, PHOTOJOURNALIST: Great. I'm great.
WOLF: All right. Good deal. And, of course, we've got producer Alicia Eakin (ph) with us.
Alicia, how many miles we going and where exactly are we headed?
ALICIA EAKIN, PRODUCER: One hundred and eighty-five miles to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
WOLF: With happy places around every single turn.
But this is not one of those happy places. We're in Cleveland, Tennessee, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the haunted mausoleum. And this mausoleum belongs to the Craig Miles family. A group of people that have been dealing with tragedy for generations. And, John, let's show everyone what we have up here. Right along parts of the marble, you see these reddish stains that are almost, well, like blood stains. And the locals tell us that despite the best efforts, they clean them off and they always come back. Boo.
We've gone from boo to moo. We're here in Athens, Tennessee, home of Mayfield Dairy Farms.
Alicia, is it open?
EAKIN: Actually, yes.
WOLF: Well, what have they got?
EAKIN: Ice cream.
WOLF: Three, two, one, stuff face. I have a sneaking suspicion this is not fat free.
We've gone from Mayfield Farms to Millennium Manor here in Alcoa, Tennessee. This house was built to last. Take a look at that. Now up close, the house is even more impressive and so is Dean Fontaine, the owner.
Now, Dean, what is this house made of? DEAN FONTAINE, OWNER, MILLENNIUM MANOR: It's rock all the way through. It's not just a veneer, it's rock on the outside, on the inside and all the way in between. It's like three feet thick in some place.
WOLF: Not too many problems with termites, I imagine.
FONTAINE: No.
WOLF: Yes. Those can be pesky bugs. And we're going to stop bugging you.
Next stop brings us to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which is home to the only salt and pepper shaker museum in the world.
These things are cool. They've got things like totem poles, you've got tom tom drums. And then way down here you've got a duck and some pumpkins and -- you know what, let's be honest, there are 20,000 of these things and we can't go through every single one. So we've got to cut it short.
Mission accomplished. We made it all the way from Chattanooga to here, the heart of the Smoke Mountains, where things look absolutely beautiful. Yes, it was an incredible trip. We had all kinds of amazing stops. Some were kind of spooky. Some were kind of wired. And one spot was absolutely delicious. And we'll do it again very soon. We'll see you next time down the road.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: OK, gas was $89. Coffee, $14.32. Lunch, $33 -- just around $33. Snacks, about $12. So, overall, the total was $149.74.
HOLMES: Wow.
WOLF: And you can make it a lot cheaper if you just -- you know, if you're going to bring your own drinks, you're going to bring your own lunch, your own snacks. You can make this pretty cheap. You know, the gas is the one thing you can't get around, $89.
HOLMES: Is this one that the viewers recommended? I know you were taking suggestions from them for your trips.
WOLF: This is one that the viewers actually did bring up.
HOLMES: Wow.
WOLF: But, please, any viewers that have any idea, any place where they'd like us to try to go on one tank of gas, just simply go to my Facebook page, which is reynoldswolf -- that's it, reynoldswolf, Facebook. You're going to see my ugly face and so go there and friend me and offer some advice of where you'd like us to go.
HOLMES: Good stuff, as always. Reyni (ph), thanks, buddy.
WOLF: Thanks, man. HOLMES: All right, we're about a quarter of the top of the hour now and Natalie Wood's death three decades ago shocked the world and now police have reopened the case. We'll give you the latest from Los Angeles.
And, it is that time of the morning. One of my favorite times of the morning because this is when she sachets into the studio. Fredericka Whitfield is here.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, you were counting down the minutes, aren't you?
HOLMES: Counting down the minutes to see you.
WHITFIELD: Until your hour is over.
HOLMES: No, until I see you.
WHITFIELD: OK, just checking.
HOLMES: We'll talk to Fredricka here in just a second.
WHITFIELD: OK.
HOLMES: Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, we are about 12 minutes of the top of the hour and investigators in Los Angeles are taking another look at the death of actress Natalie Wood. This was some three decades ago. At the time, her death was ruled an accidental drowning. But the case is now open again. Our Kareen Wynter is in L.A.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says Wood's husband at the time, Robert Wagner, who was on the yacht the night she died, is not a suspect in this case. But still, this hasn't stopped investigators from taking another look at this mysterious case.
WYNTER (voice-over): Natalie Wood was one of the most popular, sought- after actresses in Hollywood, which made her death in 1981 at just 43 years old all the more shocking, and for some, inexplicable. Sheriff officials were vague Friday about what led to the reopening of the investigation after 30 years.
LT. JOHN CORINA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Recently we have received information which we felt was substantial enough to make us take another look at this case.
WYNTER: It was Thanksgiving weekend, 1981, when Wood and her actor husband, Robert Wagner, went sailing on their yacht, The Spendour. They were joined by actor and friend Christopher Walken. That Saturday night, Wagner and Walken apparently got into a heated argument. A short time later, Wagner notified the fourth person the yacht, Captain Dennis Davern, that Wood was not on board. On Friday, Davern told CNN he thought she might have tried to take the yacht's dingy to shore.
DENNIS DAVERN, FORMER CAPTAIN, "THE SPLENDOUR": And I said to Robert Wagner, I said, well, you know, let's turn on the search light to see if we can see her. And he says, no, we don't want to do that right now.
WYNTER: Natalie Wood was discovered hours later, dressed in a nightgown and socks, floating a mile from the yacht. The autopsy revealed dozens of bruises on her body. Still, a coroner sought (ph) to squash rumors Wood was killed or committed suicide, insisting the "Splendour in the Grass" star died of accidental drowning, with alcohol to blame. An autopsy showed Wood had an alcohol blood level of .14.
Even more perplexing, Wood once told an interviewer her greatest fear was dark sea water and her sister Lana later claimed Natalie didn't even know how to swim. Thirty years later the question remains, how did Natalie Wood end up floating in the Pacific?
WYNTER (on camera): As for Dennis Davern, well, investigators say they want to talk to him, see what he has to say this time around.
Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Natalie's sister, Lana Wood, spoke exclusively to our Piers Morgan last night about this mystery and about her sister's relationship with Robert Wagner, who she called R.J. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANA WOOD, SISTER OF NATALIE WOOD: I would prefer to always believe that R.J. would never do anything to hurt Natalie and that he loved her dearly. Which he did. And I don't believe that whatever went on was deliberate. I've always cared about him. I always will care about him. And I would prefer to continue living the prior explanations, but I don't think that's going to happen. And it's -- as I said, very painful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now Wood and Wagner married in 1957, divorced five years later, then remarried in 1972. Now here's what a spokesman for Robert Wagner had to say after yesterday's announcement. And I'm quoting here. "Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the L.A. County Sheriff's Department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department."
And at eight minutes till the top of the hour, let me bring in now our Fredericka Whitfield. WHITFIELD: Good to see you.
HOLMES: Always good to have you. Your legal guy is going to take this one on?
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, they're going to talk about that. In fact, they're also going to zero in on what else do investigators have besides the boat captain's memory and his recollection in which to reopen this case to get homicide now detectives involved as well.
HOLMES: Yes.
WHITFIELD: We're going to delve into that.
And then holiday travel. A lot of people are already hitting the road or hitting the skies for the Thanksgiving holiday. But how about for the December holidays. Do you have to travel anywhere? Have you bought your tickets, if you're going to?
HOLMES: I have. I'm good to go.
WHITFIELD: OK. But you have noticed that the airfare is very high, right, to most places?
HOLMES: Always, yes.
WHITFIELD: It's incredible.
So the Dolans, that great financial duo --
HOLMES: Oh, yes.
WHITFIELD: They're going to be around to let us know some of the backdoor ways in which to get some deals.
HOLMES: The backdoor --
WHITFIELD: Some great -- uh-huh.
HOLMES: Can you -- are there really deals right now? You're just going to get doused (ph) during the holiday.
WHITFIELD: You're going to have to listen to them, 2:00 Eastern hour --
HOLMES: 2:00. All right.
WHITFIELD: Because they have great ideas.
And then, were you a big "Grey's Anatomy" fan when -- at the beginning?
HOLMES: I never got into it. No. No, I never got into it.
WHITFIELD: No. OK. Well, you recall that Isaiah Washington played Dr. Burke? HOLMES: Of course.
WHITFIELD: A very powerful doctor, powerful character. And you know the demise of the departure why Gray's and Isaiah Washington split ways.
HOLMES: Went their ways, yes.
WHITFIELD: OK, well, I sit down face to face with Isaiah Washington. He has a new book out. And he will talk about that moment, why he and the television show went their separate ways and the self-discovery that ensued thereafter and what he's been involved in ever since. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Do you ever watch the show?
ISAIAH WASHINGTON, ACTOR: I peak in. I'm not going to lie to you, because I love Sandra Oh.
WHITFIELD: What happens when you -- OK, Sandra Oh. That was --
WASHINGTON: Oh, man, yes, I see her with that Owen guy and I'm like, oh, man.
WHITFIELD: Because that was your counterpart.
WASHINGTON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Your love interest on the show.
WASHINGTON: I'm not going to -- I'll be lying to you -- I'll be lying to you about that if I said I don't -- I peek in because I just adore me some Sandra Oh.
WHITFIELD: Do you ever tune in and say, I wish I was still there?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: OK. You'll have to tune in to find out what his answer is. Does he ever wish that he was back on that show? Noon Eastern time. Again, 2:00, 3:00 and 4:00. We talk about a host of things throughout the day.
And then I know what you were doing this week. You were on the red carpet.
HOLMES: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Along with --
HOLMES: You.
WHITFIELD: CNN's Wolf Blitzer as well.
HOLMES: And you. And you.
WHITFIELD: I was part of his entourage. There you are with your beautiful wife Marilee there on the red carpet. Soul Train Music Awards. So 40th anniversary of soul train, peace, love and soul train.
HOLMES: Wow, we're getting a lot of air time here. Look at this -- look at this lovely couple.
WHITFIELD: You are. OK you all were there. And then I was part of, yes, Wolf's entourage. We call it the "Wolf pack." At first I was like, OK, Wolf's angels, it was Suzanne Malveaux, Brooke Baldwin and I. And then -- and there's Malcolm Jamal Warner. You remember him from "The Cosby Show." And there we are just kind of cheezing it up, having a good time hanging with Wolf. This is what life is like when you hang with Wolf Blitzer, you get the red carpet treatment. People are like climbing over seats, hurdling chairs just trying to get to Wolf Blitzer. And there is Bootsy Collins.
HOLMES: I swear. What was that get-up he had on?
WHITFIELD: Bootsy, baby. Yes.
HOLMES: What was that he was wearing?
WHITFIELD: Well, that -- that's part of his brand.
HOLMES: It is.
WHITFIELD: Come on, funkadellic (ph) and beyond, are you kidding me? Anyway, we've got a lot of good stuff coming up later on today, but we had to revisit our week because it was fun seeing you out there as well.
HOLMES: It was a good time there.
WHITFIELD: Good times.
HOLMES: And, Wolf, we have the pictures now, we don't have the video of his performance just yet.
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, that's right. That's right. There's a great surprise performance too.
HOLMES: Yes.
WHITFIELD: You'll probably recall from last year he did the Dougie with Doug E. Fresh. Well, he and Doug E. Fresh are tight.
HOLMES: Yes.
WHITFIELD: They have another routine this year. That's just a hint right there. It involves a scramble board. Remember this day? So you're going to have to watch this -- this taped performance on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the 27th.
HOLMES: All right, Fredericka, coming up in just about four minutes. WHITFIELD: Yes, peace, love and soul train.
HOLMES: She was having a good time the other night, folks. You have no idea.
A quick break. We're going to come right back. She's only a couple of minutes away. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: As we get close to the top of the hour and close to Fredericka Whitfield, give you a look at more stories making news today as we go cross country. Check it out.
Take a look at this scene. An SUV embedded in a vacant building. Police say it rear-ended two other cars triggering the accident. The SUV then jumped a curb, hit a 59-year-old man before careening into the building. The pedestrian was airlifted to a local hospital. Local reports say he was seriously injured. The SUV's driver taken to the Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital and two Marines, passengers in one of the vehicles, wound up with minor injuries.
In Georgetown, South Carolina, a sinkhole swallowed up the foundation of this building at a shopping mall causing it to partially collapse. You can see what's left of the roof and walls. No injuries, but cleanup work will be happening all weekend. Firefighters have started to inspect other buildings after spotting several new smaller sinkholes.
And this may be going a bit too far. We all know that the day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday. That's when the stores have all those really good deals. But can you believe people are already camping out for Friday's deals? This is what it looks like outside one Best Buy store in St. Petersburg, Florida. One family pitched their tent on Monday. They're not moving until they get a good deal on a TV.
It's time for me to hand this over to Fredericka Whitfield.
I asked a question earlier about that story to people.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
HOLMES: What could get you to camp out for a week in front of the store? How good would the deal have to be for you to camp out for a week?
WHITFIELD: You could just stop at the camp out part because I will go camping.
HOLMES: You'll go camping.
WHITFIELD: That's fine.
HOLMES: OK.
WHITFIELD: But I'm not going to camp out at a store. HOLMES: In front of a store.
WHITFIELD: It's not going to happen.
HOLMES: Some deal -- there's got to be some deal that you would line up for.
WHITFIELD: Nope. Nope, nope, nope.
