At Least 90 Killed in Pakistan Blast
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. It is Wednesday, October 28th. And here are the faces of the stories driving the headlines today in the CNN NEWSROOM. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visiting Pakistan to shore up U.S. support. Details on her trip and her reaction to a deadly marketplace bombing. Senator Joe Lieberman vowing to side with Republicans against the public option in health care reform. And Michael Jackson dazzling fans and getting rave reviews. The premiere of the film "This Is It." Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. OK. At the top, we are checking to see how the countdown is going for the Ares rocket launch at Kennedy Space Center. John Zarrella is there and our Rob Marciano is in the Weather Center. And Rob, let me start with you. You talk to John, and I'll just hang out. What's the latest?</s>ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, same problem we saw yesterday, basically. We're having a problem with clouds. Not so much a problem with the rainfall. The radar, for the most part, is clear. We've got several miles on either direction without seeing any sort of serious rainfall, but it's the high clouds. And it's that triboelectrification, when the rocket goes through those high clouds, had a lot of ice crystals. That creates a static electric charge which gets in the way of their communications, and that's never a good thing. You know, John Zarrella is listening to the T-38 astronauts who are flying basically weather recon. And they're saying that the situation remains the same. And it sounds like to me that we're still a red, meaning still a no go. What are you hearing on the ground there?</s>JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they were saying it's no- go. They thought that they might be able to clear it up in about 15 minutes, which at the time meant that they would have a T-0 liftoff time at 11:08 Eastern Time. That's still very thin (ph), but they also reiterated, the weather officer here, that it's a very fluid situation. And they really are. They're talking, Rob, about high clouds. Not right over the launch pad, but, like, literally at the edge of where this vehicle will fly. So it's not the clouds right over us here, these low clouds at all. It's those high clouds at the end of the range that they're concerned about that would give them that issue with triboelectrification. So, right now, 11:08 is the latest target. And they've only got one more hour. They've got to get off the ground before noon or they're scrubbed for the day -- Rob.</s>MARCIANO: And then what happens? Do we try again tomorrow? I know that launch pad facility may very well be scheduled for something else down the road. Do we go at it again tomorrow?</s>ZARRELLA: Yes, that's exactly right. It's all up in the air right now. There is an Atlas rocket that is on the pad getting ready for a liftoff next month. They're supposed to run through some pad testing tonight on that, which might preclude them -- they will have the range, so to speak -- might preclude them from launching tomorrow, the Ares. But they might have an opportunity then to go on Friday. So, all of that is in discussion. So, now it looks like I'm hearing from my producer 11:20 now. 11:20, I'm being told, is the new target for the Ares rocket to lift off here from the Kennedy Space Center -- Rob.</s>MARCIANO: All right. John Zarrella is live for us. Certainly a full docket -- Tony.</s>HARRIS: All right, gentlemen. Appreciate it. Thank you. A huge terrorist bombing at a busy market in Pakistan to tell you about. At least 90 people now confirmed dead. Another 200 wounded. Most of the victims, women. Let's get straight to our Reza Sayah in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. And Reza, what are you learning about this -- well, it is what it is. It's a horrific blast in Peshawar.</s>REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony. Let's put it in perspective for you. Unfortunately, Pakistan has seen a lot of deadly militant attacks throughout the country this year. This was the deadliest, and police say it was all caused by a push of a button. The numbers tell the story, Tony. Ninety people killed, according to a senior government official, more than 200 injured when a remote controlled bomb blew up in a very busy market in Peshawar, the capital of the northwest frontier province. According to officials, this car bomb packed with nearly 400 pounds of explosives. This market had a lot of buildings that weren't well built. A lot of them were flattened. The market, according to officials, also had a lot of shops that had flammable material. This is just awful detail, but officials say many of the victims were killed in the fire. Here's how two witnesses describe this awful scene.</s>FAREED ULLAH, STUDENT (through translator): We were in the nearby mosque. We only saw a red blaze and nothing else. Everything disappeared. Me and my friends fell from the second floor and we didn't know where we were.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My kids are injured. My house completely destroyed. And my daughters are hurt. We're very miserable and helpless with no one to look up to. We are devastated.</s>SAYAH: Tonight, the main hospital in Peshawar is overwhelmed with all the victims that are being brought in. They're making a call to people to donate blood because they don't want to run short. And Tony, this attack coming just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad. Very quickly, she got a glimpse at the severe security crisis this country is struggling with.</s>HARRIS: Well, you know, Reza, it leads me to a quick follow-up. What's been the reaction to this attack, as you've been able to gauge it there in Islamabad? Because, as you know, of late, attacks in Pakistan are being blamed on the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan.</s>SAYAH: Well, it's more frustration. It's more demand by the Pakistani public for the Pakistani government to do something. And as you mentioned, oftentimes, when these attacks happen, Pakistanis point the finger at what they call a failed U.S. policy in the region. They basically say, look, before 9/11, before U.S. troops moved into Afghanistan, we didn't have these attacks. It's only after these troops went into Afghanistan that these attacks emerged -- Tony.</s>HARRIS: OK. Reza Sayah for us in Islamabad, Pakistan. Reza, thank you. Secretary of State Clinton, as Reza mentioned, calls the militants who launched the attack cowards on the losing side of history. Clinton is in the Pakistani capital right now on her first official visit to the country. She is trying to chip away at anti- Americanism and establish a relationship on more than just terror- fighting operations. We will bring you a live report on Clinton's visit in the next half-hour. And right now we turn to another terrorist attack. This one across the border in Afghanistan. Militants stormed a guest house in Kabul. Officials now say five U.N. staffers were killed, including an American. This was the scene during the attack. Witnesses say it began at dawn; it lasted about two hours. Listen for just a moment here.</s>HARRIS: Listen to that gun battle. Afghan police responding to the attackers, and vice versa, obviously. Some terrified guests managed to flee from jumping from upper floors as flames engulfed part of the three-story building. The Taliban claiming responsibility for the attack. It comes 10 days before presidential run-off elections which militants have vowed to disrupt. The push to include a public health option in the Senate health reform bill hits a stumbling block. A key senator says he will side with Republicans to block any bill that includes government-run health insurance. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is struggle to get the 60 votes he'll need to break a Republican filibuster and allow a vote on the bill. Independent senator Joe Lieberman says count him out.</s>SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: If at the end it's not what I think is good for our country and most people living in our country, then I'll vote against cloture, I'll join a filibuster, and I'll try to stop the bill from passing. It's still a government-run health insurance plan that puts the federal taxpayer on the line, and I don't want to do that at this point in our nation's history.</s>HARRIS: All right. To San Francisco now. Today's morning rush hour looking, boy, especially brutal. Authorities have shut down the Bay Bridge indefinitely for inspection after a rod and metal brace fell from the upper structure onto the roadway. About 280,000 vehicles cross the Bay Bridge every day. You know, it has never been more important to read the fine print on those credit card bills. Ignoring it could leave you exposed to hundreds -- literally hundreds of dollars in fees. We're back in a moment.