Hostage Crisis: 30 Years Later
HARRIS: So, I want to get to Chad Myers in the severe weather center for an update on the activity in the tropics. But, Chad, I also, I've got to tell you, I'm up here in New York City, so you know I need an update on weather conditions for the -- I guess there's a pretty big baseball game here tonight. It's all over the -- splashed all over the papers and, you know, there's this Pedro Martinez character and it's all about your daddy spanking you and who's your daddy. I don't get all of that. But we would love nice temps for tonight's ball game.</s>HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on our top stories now. A Cleveland judge has denied bond for a rapist who had 10 women's bodies hidden at his home. Anthony Sowell is facing multiple charges of murder, rape, assault, and kidnapping. Yesterday investigators discovered four bodies at his home after finding six a few days earlier. And they will continue to keep looking. The Senate's top Democrat hints at a delay in health care reform. Majority Leader Harry Reid was asked about passing health reform by the end of the year. His response, we are not going to be bound by any time lines. Iranians mark the 30th anniversary of the U.S. hostage crisis today with massive protests, but some demonstrators used the national holiday to vent over June's disputed presidential election. Security forces broke up the unauthorized rallies, clubbing and kicking dissidents. Warren Buffett is making the biggest bet of his career. Yesterday, he announced the $44 billion purchase of railroad operator Burlington Northern. Buffett calls it a bet on America. OK. Cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow is here with me now. And, Poppy, the Oracle of Omaha . . .</s>HARLOW: Right.</s>HARRIS: What is he saying about this?</s>HARLOW: This was such an interesting move when we heard about it. When the news broke, I was shocked. I mean you think about railroads, you think about them as a centuries old technology.</s>HARRIS: Yes, exactly.</s>HARLOW: What's even more important here, Tony, this is a huge vote of confidence, betting on the American economy, saying we're going to be better in five years than we are right now. Folks, here's what Warren Buffett told us on why he made this $44 billion deal.</s>WARREN BUFFETT, CEO, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY (via telephone): It certainly is a vote of confidence by us in the future of America. But that's really not too hard a vote to cast. I mean if you look at the -- if you look at the last couple hundred years, I don't see how you could bet any other way than on the future of America. And if America has a bright future, the railroads have a bright future. They are going to move around the goods that people want. And there will be more and more people in the country and they'll be consuming more and more goods. And they have to get from one place to another. And there's no better way than railroads.</s>HARLOW: Yes, I mean, you call this an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States.</s>BUFFETT: Right.</s>HARLOW: Is this an endorsement of President Obama's economic policies? I mean it's coming at quite an interesting time when a lot of folks are asking if his plan's the right one to fix our economy.</s>BUFFETT: Well, it's an endorsement of the American system. I mean we're going to have lots of presidents -- if we own this for 100 years, we're going to have a lot of presidents. And I'm not going to have voted for all of them, that's for sure, even if I live long enough to do it. So it's not an endorsement of any specific president, it's an endorsement of the American system. The American system works. And if you buy a railroad, you can't move it to China or to India or anyplace else. You are betting on the United States. But I can't think of a surer bet. And, like I say, that -- that -- that goes beyond any one president, although I happen to be an enthusiast for Obama.</s>HARLOW: Tony, as you heard there, Buffett, a huge supporter of Obama. A few things here, Tony, that I think are interesting. One, these are jobs you can't outsource if he expands this company. Two, it's a clean energy play. Transporting on trains much more fuel efficient than in cars and trucks. And I asked him later in the interview, how does he grade the administration, Bernanke in particular, the Fed chief. He said he gives him an A, if not an</s>A+. HARRIS: Really?</s>HARLOW: He talked about the guts that Bernanke and Paulson and President Obama had going through this crisis that I thought was really interesting.</s>HARRIS: He would probably lump Tim Geithner in that group as well?</s>HARLOW: He definitely would. He's a big supporter. There -- Tim Geithner was the head of the New York Fed when all of this went down. Now he's the Treasury secretary. So some interesting perspective. That full interview with him, about 15 minutes, is on cnnmoney.com.</s>HARRIS: That is terrific stuff. All right, Poppy, appreciate it. Thank you. Good stuff. Congressman Joe Wilson is back in the spotlight. You remember him. He is the one who shouted "you lie" as President Obama addressed Congress in September. This morning, Wilson and a handful of other Republican lawmakers suggested if Democrats think the public health care option is good for Americans, then members of Congress ought to be required to enroll.</s>REP. JOE WILSON, (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: We will be introducing an amendment that does require members of Congress to take the government-run option. I -- we know why the majority of the Pelosi takeover bill does not provide this. They do know that the government-run option will not be in the interests of the American people. Either individually or for the American citizens at large. And so I'm just very hopeful that they will reconsider, that they will understand if it's good enough for the American people, then it's also good enough for Congress.</s>HARRIS: OK. Another lawmaker with Wilson says the vast majority of Republicans in Congress believe anyone who votes for the public option ought to sign up for it. Rallies against the Democrats' health care reform plan taking place in the heartland. The Tea Party Express rolls in Wichita, Kansas, and Oklahoma City, today. The national bus tour, as you know, is aimed at showing opposition to higher spending and government intervention in the lives of American families and businesses. You know, Republicans have good reason to be giddy today after sweeping the vote in both Virginia and New Jersey. But what about that pesky little district in upstate New York? Our John Roberts poked RNC Chairman Michael Steele about the loss of a GOP stronghold.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Right off the top, the question to ask, you know, you had some big gains last night in Virginia and New Jersey, but did conservatives blow it in the 23rd district there in New York? I mean that district has been sending Republicans to Congress since Ulysses S. Grant was president.</s>MICHAEL STEELE, RNC CHAIRMAN: Yes, well, you know, the -- it doesn't take away from what was a great night in New Jersey and in Virginia. Particularly in New Jersey, where no one even gave us a snowball's chance to come close to beating Governor Corzine. And so, you know, hats off to a great effort to both Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell. New York 23 is an example of what happens if you have a failed process. And there was a failed process there. The days of having a small group of individuals select candidates is over and should be over. I mean, an open primary process works best. You would have gotten the candidate that the people wanted in the first place. Instead of having this long, drawn-out drama. Great Shakespearian theater at the end there. But, you know, the bottom line is that the GOP, last night, became, I think, transcendent in that it moved beyond the past losses and no message and no meaning for the American people. And I think yesterday we had two candidates who set some milestones for us, achieved some milestones in terms of the turnaround, and now hopefully point the way to 2010 and beyond.</s>ROBERTS: We'll talk about Virginia and New Jersey in just a second, but I did want to ask you a couple more questions about New York's 23rd district.</s>STEELE: Oh, sure.</s>ROBERTS: Did conservatives hijacked that race because you had endorsed Dede Scozzafava?</s>STEELE: No, come on.</s>ROBERTS: Pete Sessions had endorsed her. Newt Gingrich had endorsed her. And suddenly Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty and others come in and say, no, we don't like her. She's too liberal. We want to go with Doug Hoffman.</s>STEELE: No. No one hijacked anything. But, look, again, it was a failed process. And the reality of it is, those individuals that endorsed after the nominee was selected, the other candidate, that's their prerogative. That's their choice. But, you know, someone like Pete Sessions and Newt Gingrich and others understand and appreciate she's the Republican nominee. The were supporting the Republican nominee. Whether they picked her or not is irrelevant. Whether they thought she should have been the nominee is irrelevant. She was. My role as the national chairman is to support the nominees of the party. I don't get the luxury of picking and choosing who they are.</s>ROBERTS: So what does this say about next year in the midterm elections, you know, where you have some moderates who are facing off against more conservative candidates. Florida is one of those races. You've got Charlie Crist against Marco Rubio. Are you expecting that there is going to be another big fight?</s>STEELE: No, John, all it says is you've got a primary process and the best person chosen by the individuals in that race in Florida, or elsewhere, will win. And whoever that is, guess who's going to support them? Me. Because that's my job. I'm the national chairman.</s>HARRIS: Well, OK. All right. You've heard from the head of the Republican Party. We will get the Democrats' take just ahead.