Bhutto Under House Arrest Again; Brooklyn Police Shooting; Gas Prices Rise Again
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome once again. And thanks so much for joining us. It's Tuesday, November 13th. I'm Kiran Chetry.</s>JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts. Good morning to you. Breaking news out of Pakistan to tell you about, more chaos for a key ally in the war on terror. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto says it's time for President Pervez Musharraf to go. For the first time, she called on Musharraf to resign as president and military commander. She made that demand early this morning after hundreds of riot police surrounded her home and tried to crush another planned protest against emergency rule.</s>BENAZIR BHUTTO, FORMER PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: We feel that to focus the police force on containing the democratic constitution in Pakistan is leading to the neglect of the real threat to Pakistan which comes from the terrorists and the militants. This police force should be concentrating on investigating and finding Osama Bin Laden, it should not be used to detain political leaders.</s>ROBERTS: Bhutto had planned to lead a 185-mile march from Lahore to the capital city Islamabad. State Department correspondent Zain Verjee is in Pakistan with the latest developments for us from Lahore. Good morning, Zain.</s>ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMETN CORRESPONDENT: John, the rally was really a bust. It fell flat. There were no masses out on the street marching or supporting Benazir Bhutto. Instead, there were clashes in and around Lahore, on the outskirts of the city of Karachi and Benazir Bhutto supporters also blocked the main highway between Lahore and Islamabad. Police sources say there was tear gas and there were some clashes there. Some people burned tires on the street. Behind me is Benazir Bhutto's home a few blocks around that way. She is barricaded by barbed wire, by armed guards and security forces carrying heavy arms, trucks as well. We really can't go anywhere near that home. It's a difficult situation for her but she is out there increasing her hardening of position. Today she says no way she wants to deal with general Musharraf or have a government or any kind of cooperation with him. She thinks that he should leave and leave not only as president, but also take off his uniform and leave as chief of the army staff. Also, deputy secretary of state CNN has learned John Negroponte will be in Pakistan later this week. It was an already scheduled visit on U.S. and Pakistan cooperation but, obviously, this situation is delicate and precarious both for Pakistan and the United States will be the priority.</s>ROBERTS: The crisis in Pakistan not over yet. State Department correspondent Zain Verjee, live via broadband from Lahore for us today. Zain, thanks. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: We're following breaking news coming in to us now from the Philippines. Local media there in the Philippines reporting an explosion in the capital city of Manila. Initial reports saying the blast happened inside the Philippines House of Representatives. The Associated Press saying it happened at an entrance to that building. We're told several people have been injured. We're keeping a close eye on this story and we will bring you an update and the first pictures as soon as we get them. Meantime, border tensions flare between Turkey and Kurdish rebels in Iraq. Iraqi officials say that Kurdish helicopter gun ships attacked abandoned villages inside of Iraq. Now it is the first major action against Kurdish rebels since Turkey's prime minister met with President Bush earlier this month.</s>ROBERTS: Signs of the so-called surge or signs rather the so- called surge may be getting the job done in Iraq. A brigade, 3,000 to 5,000 troops are starting to head home to Ft. Hood, Texas. The Pentagon says its strategy has cut sectarian violence and see if a smaller force can main the level of security and if so cut the current force to 169,000 troops down to 145,000, that will be by next July. U.S. commanders also report a sharp drop-off in roadside bombings, rocket and mortar attacks. They say some of the drop can be explained by the thousands of ammunition caches that they have discovered. Breaking news in New York to tell you about this morning. A mother's frantic 911 call ends with her 18-year-old son dead on a Brooklyn street, reportedly shot repeatedly by police. Officers thought the teen had a gun but witnesses say it was just a hairbrush. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is live in Brooklyn where neighbors are outraged and are demanding answers from the NYPD. Good morning, Alina.</s>ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. Keep in mind the shooting happened a little more than 12 hours ago, so the details are still sketchy, at best. At this point, police are not talking. But here is what we know. Around 7:00 last night, police responded to a 911 call made by the victim's mother. According to several reports, that mother said that her son was threatening her with a gun and some reports say that the 911 operator could even hear a man in the background yelling "I've got a gun, I've got a gun!" Police responded, either way. Once they got here, eventually, the young man, remember, just 18 years old, climbed out of the first floor apartment window and eventually crossed the sidewalk toward police, that's according to initial police report. Unclear whether police actually shouted a warning before firing and also unclear just how many shots were fired. Witnesses say as little as ten, possibly as many as 20. What is clear is that police say the young man was carrying something in his hand when he climbed out that window and had his hand in his pocket at the time. Witnesses say that object was not a gun, but a hairbrush.</s>TYRONE JONES, HEARD SHOTS FIRED: Brush in his hand, come on! No matter how the police came to the scene of this incident, no matter what happened, when it came to the scene, he did not have a weapon, period! He had a brush in his hand!</s>W. TAHARKA ROBINSON, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: The young man did not have a weapon. There was no weapon found. He did not brandish a weapon. He did not act as if he was going to engage in an active shooting with the police.</s>CHO: As police have continued their investigation, the Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network was opened its own investigation. We should mention, John, that representatives of the National Action Network will be holding a news conference not far from where I'm standing later this morning.</s>ROBERTS: Alina, are we expecting to hear from the New York City Police Department today?</s>CHO: Not today. It could happen. What we've gotten from a sergeant from the police department within the past hour is that when police talk, it will be at the highest levels, the New York City police commissioner, Ray Kelly. And what they're telling us, according to the sergeant, they are not worried about time, they're worried about accuracy as they continue this investigation.</s>ROBERTS: Alina Cho for us live this morning in Brooklyn, Alina, thanks. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: There's some new information this morning on the San Francisco Bay area's biggest oil spill in nearly two decades and more questions about why the public didn't know sooner that 58,000 gallons of oil had spilled into the waters around San Francisco. The coast guard says it found out how bad the spill was hours before it told the city.</s>ADM. CRAIG BONE, U.S. COAST GUARD: There's no excuse with a four-hour gap between when we knew what the amount was and when notification should have been made to the city officials. I want to make sure folks know the unified command and anyone within that unified command knew the amount what we knew the amount, however, the gap became in the conversation and in the notification specifically to the entities of the city officials.</s>CHETRY: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi whose district includes San Francisco demanded to know why it took four hours for the coast guard to alert local officials. The bridge ripped a 12-foot wide, 200-foot long gash in its side. 220 cruise ship passengers in Hawaii sick with the neuro virus. It's on the Norwegian cruise liner Pride of Hawaii. The ship returned home yesterday after a seven-day cruise around the island. Passengers who felt sick were quarantined in their cabins for 24 hours. Doctors say that patients can go from feeling fine to severe vomiting in a very short period of time. Children trapped and firefighters making dramatic rescues as a fire burned out of control inside of a Boston home. Eight adults and six kids were injured including a 2-year-old boy in serious condition. A firefighter found him inside of a room filled with thick smoke.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard a faint cry and feeling around in there and I heard the baby on the bed.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just trying to get him out. We know what to do, it's a matter of having enough time to do it.</s>CHETRY: Very brave firefighters saving lives. The firefighter actually put his own mask on the child and passed him out the window. A Boston Fire spokesman says a short-circuit is what sparked that fire.</s>ROBERTS: Nine minutes now after the hour and time to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new this morning. New home foreclosure numbers with cities in California and Michigan hit the hardest. Ali Velshi at the business update desk with that this morning. Not good news.</s>ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. Stockton in fact in California taking the number one spot in the home foreclosures over the last three months. 1 in 33 homes in Stockton is in foreclosure. That means various things. It means you could get the notice or it could be foreclosed on. Detroit, number two. 1 in 33 homes. Riverside, San Bernardino, California, 1 in 43 homes and 1 in 48 for Ft. Lauderdale and Las Vegas which is you know a significant jump from that point. 77 of the top 100 metro areas reported in this report by Reality Track say they have more foreclosures in this past three-month period than the previous one. So still an up trend in those, John.</s>ROBERTS: Las Vegas number five is where the democratic candidates will be this Thursday and maybe we'll get a chance to ask them about that.</s>VELSHI: That's right. That would be good.</s>ROBERTS: Ali Velshi this morning. Thanks, Ali. We'll see you soon. Jacqui Jeras is at our weather update desk this morning for Rob Marciano. She's tracking extreme weather in the Midwest this time. Hey Jacqui.</s>JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have upward trend, too and that has to do with the wind speed. That powerful storm that slammed into the Pacific Northwest yesterday is now bringing extreme winds from Montana all the way over to Minnesota. Let's go ahead and show you the storm system and talk about what kind of impacts you can expect. This is really a dry storm for the most part. You're not going to see a lot of rain ahead of it but expect to see wind gusts 50 to 60-mile-per-hour and critical fire danger conditions back there behind the system into the Dakotas. Elsewhere across the country today, we're expecting some low clouds and fog all across the northeastern corridor and bringing you light rain from the overnight to the early morning hours and when you see a situation like that, as advertised, we told you the airport delays will start to add up and we're really starting to see them now. Take a look at this. A ground stop in Boston until 9:20; Houston Inter Continental also until 9 and Philadelphia looking at ground delays about 30 minutes. So pack your patience with you.</s>ROBERTS: It's one of those Tuesdays. Jacqui, thanks. Kiran.</s>CHETRY: All right. Thanks. There are more questions this morning about the sudden death of hip-hop star Kanye West's mother. Reports are now surfacing that Donda West, 58 years old, died after complications from cosmetic surgery. Here to shed some light on this is CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Thanks for being with us. There are reports that she actually visited one plastic surgeon who wanted her to go through some sort of health clearance with a doctor to get the okay. Is that a routine thing for certain patients?</s>DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty routine. I think most patients after they get over a certain age or if they have certain health conditions will get the sort of clearance. Basically the surgeon will say we're going to have the internist check EKG, check a chest x-ray and make sure a patient is ready for surgery. Let me say just not the surgery, but the anesthesia itself, just putting a patient under general anesthesia is a risk to the body. They have to make sure the body is going to be able to tolerate that. Having these sorts of complications or problems with plastic surgery is pretty unusual, about 1 in 50,000 people have some sort of problem but these are some of the risks. Blood clots for example can develop. You've heard of this. Women, fro example, who are on birth control pills or some sort of hormones are especially at risk. Breathing problems, again due to the anesthesia. Some sort of heart problem that had never been a problem in the person's entire life suddenly may come to light under anesthesia. Allergy to medication, infections, these are the sort of things but really thinking about both the surgery and the anesthesia.</s>CHETRY: Would you say plastic surgery is more or less risky than any type of other surgery that you have to undergo?</s>GUPTA: I wouldn't but I've talked to a lot of people about this. I will say one thing. And that is that we did some investigating into this yesterday. Out of 50 states, only nine states have laws mandating that the facility where this sort of operation is performed be accredited. Again, nine states out of 50 have laws that say the facility where some of these procedures are being performed is accredited. That means 41 states don't. You have to be a vigilant customer here so to speak and check out your doctor and anesthesiologist and the facility. What are they going to do if you have an emergency? What are they going to do if something goes wrong? Do they take you to the hospital? Do they have a team that start your heart again? How does that transpire? That's something you need to check out.</s>CHETRY: I asked that because if you're going in for surgery, let's say you have to have, usually your doctor is going to recommend a surgeon that, you know is highly accredited and that they trust. Oftentimes, with plastic surgery, you know, you can search the internet and find, you know, deals almost for different things and so it did raise the red flag.</s>GUPTA: You hear about things people performing certain procedures in shopping malls and things like that. I think the most prudent customers will say that obviously raises some red flags. What is amazing to me people do home work on children and schools and neighborhoods and you have to do that with your doctor as well. Board certified or board eligible is something to look for and make sure the facilities are accredited to.</s>CHETRY: It is a tragedy for the family of Donda West. Thanks a lot.</s>GUPTA: Thank you.</s>ROBERTS: Coming up on 15 minutes after the hour now. A plant from the Clinton camp. A college student given a prepared question is telling all this morning and the inside scoop how campaign workers prepped her. That's coming up. And raising a child with Down syndrome. Many parents these days choose not to but one congresswoman accepted the challenge. Why she decided it was the right thing to do. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.