Earthquake Hits Southern California: No Major Injuries or Damage; Radovan Karadzic Extradited to The Hague
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Earthquake. Natural disaster strikes in front of a live studio audience. Today, the aftermath and aftershocks in Southern California. And, out of control. Twenty-five homes destroyed. A wildfire on more doorsteps right now on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning. And thanks very much for being with us. It's a Wednesday. It's the 30th of July. Only one more day -- well, two more days including today left in this month. And I can't believe how fast summer is going by.</s>ALINA CHO, CO-HOST: Yes. And lots of news coming out of California this morning. The earthquake, the fires. Boy, natural disasters galore.</s>ROBERTS: The place where it's summer all the time tops our news today.</s>CHO: That's right. And we begin with the latest on the southern California earthquake. More than 70 small aftershocks have been reported, the strongest measuring 3.8. The 5.4 magnitude quake was centered in Chino Hills. That's about 30 miles east of downtown L.A., strong enough to collapse a wall and knock items off store shelves. But no major injuries to report. Several TV shows were taping when it struck including -- take a look there -- Judge Judy. You can see people on the set actually ducking for cover. We'll have much more on that in just a moment. And breaking this morning, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is now in the Netherlands. The plane carrying him landed just a few hours ago, completing his extradition to The Hague on genocide and war crimes charges. Hours earlier, his supporters held a rally in Beglgrade marked by violence. CNN is at The Hague this morning. We're going to have a live report in just a few minutes. And a clean bill of health for John McCain. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic say a biopsy on a patch of McCain's skin shows no evidence of skin cancer and no further treatment is needed. The presumptive Republican nominee had a growth removed from his right cheek during a routine checkup on Monday. McCain has had four bouts with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CBS "JUDGE JUDY") JUDGE JUDY: Well, he got your credit card -- your bank card somehow. And he got your PIN number somehow.</s>ROBERTS: More than the bank card and the PIN number, back now to our top story. Television cameras rolling in Judge Judy's courtroom as that 5.4 magnitude earthquake gave the unshakable judge a scare. Audience members ran out of the studio. Thankfully no one was hurt. This morning the cleanup is under way in and around Los Angeles. The quake ruptured a water pipe at LAX Airport. And a water main shattered under a Los Angeles intersection. An I-reporter Travis Corcoran (ph) says the quake shook water out of his pool in the town of Laguna Niguel. Susan Roesgen is up early. She's working the story. She's got the latest for us now from Los Angeles.</s>SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alina and John, it could have been much worse. But it was just bad enough to remind people here of the danger they face every day.</s>ROESGEN (voice-over): It was just about lunchtime Tuesday and this being southern California, cameras were rolling. The 5.4 magnitude earthquake rattled the taping of "Judge Judy" and "Big Brother." (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FROM CBS "BIG BROTHER") UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Earthquake.</s>ROESGEN: It was the biggest earthquake in the L.A. region since 1994. No serious injuries reported and just some minor damage. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he was relieved no one in his family or anyone else was hurt.</s>GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I, of course, called home right away after the quake and to just see if the family is OK. And I think she was in the middle of a meeting and felt the house rock. But she's OK and everyone else is OK. Like I said, we were very fortunate that there were no serious injuries or the property damage that we know of at this point.</s>ROESGEN: The earthquake was centered in Chino Hills, about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Earthquake experts say it was good preparation for what they call the big one.</s>THOMAS HEATON, CALTECH: It does remind us all that we live in earthquake country. And L.A. has been very quiet for the last 10 years or so. So for all of us, we've kind of grown comfortable with the way things are. But when earthquake sequences get happening, things can get exciting and there's a chance we'll see a big earthquake.</s>ROESGEN: Exciting is right. Actually, they say that the odds of California having a major earthquake within the next 30 years is 99 percent. And this fall they're going to have what they're calling the biggest earthquake drill here in southern California. State and federal officials are going to put this on. And certainly with what happened yesterday, John and Alina, it will make the drill far more realistic.</s>CHO: That's right. A close call and certainly a good preparation for the big one. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens promising to fight corruption charges. A seven-count federal indictment accuses Stevens of failing to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars of gifts and services from a private company that allegedly paid for a major renovation of his home. The senator issued a statement saying he has "never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form." The 84-year-old Stevens is the longest serving Republican in the Senate. He's up for re-election in November. Well, Senator Stevens has been a lightning rod for critics of pork barrel spending, including John McCain. Stevens, you may recall, was behind the infamous $220 million bridge to nowhere in Alaska, a symbol of pork barrel spending. McCain has long railed against the beltways big spenders. He told a town hall meeting in Nevada Tuesday his own party has let spending get out of control.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's got to stop, and it's bred corruption. And my friends, I don't say that lightly. We have former members of Congress now residing in federal prison, and it's got to stop. And I'm going to make them famous. I'll veto every single pork barrel bill that comes across my desk. We will make them famous. You will know their names.</s>CHO: McCain also said his rival Barack Obama has requested nearly a billion dollars for pork barrel projects. Now if Obama is elected, he plans to review executive orders issued by President Bush. That's according to House Democrats who met with the presumptive nominee in Washington yesterday. Several lawmakers say Obama told them that as president he would order his attorney general to scour White House executive orders and expunge any that "trample on liberty." President Bush has increasingly relied on executive orders to bypass congressional approval -- John.</s>ROBERTS: Back now to our other top story breaking this morning. Ex-Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic is now in the Netherlands after having been extradited on genocide and war crime charges. Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is following this morning's developments. He joins us now live from The Hague. So we saw Karadzic but we didn't see him actually, hiding out in the eastern Bosnia in Belgrade under an assumed name and an assumed profession for a decade. What's next for him?</s>NIC ROBERTSON, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's got to appear in court with word from the prosecutor's office here that he will be appearing in court in about 28 hours from now late Thursday afternoon. The prosecutor is getting ready to address journalists to lay out, perhaps, some of the specifics of what Radovan Karadzic could expect to hear in court. We know he is being tried on 11 different counts that includes genocide, complicity for genocide extermination, murder, willful killing and a list of other charges. We understand from the prosecutor's office that this involves Radovan Karadzic's leadership of the armed forces in Bosnia during the 1992 to 1995 war. The prosecutor will say in 12 different Bosnian municipalities those forces under Radovan Karadzic's command killed non-Serbs, forcibly evicted others, putting more than 20 into different detention camps, raping and mistreating many of those in the camps, raping and mistreating many of those in those camps. What is happening right now today in the detention facility just over my shoulder here, the U.N. detention facility for the war crimes tribunal, Radovan Karadzic is being given a prison cell. He has been told right now of his rights, what rights he has inside the detention facility. He will get a routine medical check as all new detainees get. We're told here. Also, he will have it laid out for him what his options are for his defense -- John.</s>ROBERTS: So, Nic, he is the second of the big three alleged war criminals from the Balkans War. Slobodan Milosevic was tried at The Hague. He died in custody a couple of years back. Ratko Mladic is the only other one who's out there. That's Karadzic's right hand man, the general there in Bosnia. Any idea if Serbian authorities have any kind of a handle on where Ratko Mladic may be? And might he be brought to justice soon?</s>ROBERTSON: John, we're not hearing anything publicly but the indications are that very likely the Serbian authorities do have a reasonably good idea, at least good strong leads that might lead them to former General Ratko Mladic. The reason is, there's been a new political shift. A more pro-Western government has been elected in Serbia. They are the ones that are beginning to change the security services that led to the capture of Radovan Karadzic, and the indications are, that may also lead to the capture of Ratko Mladic -- John.</s>ROBERTS: We'll be watching that story very closely. Nic Robertson for us outside The Hague this morning. Nic, thanks so much.</s>CHO: Your money, your wallet. Stocks make a comeback. Gas prices keep coming down. And the value of your home, well, it's worth a lot less. Gerri Willis will break it all down for us.</s>ROBERTS: Rising food and gas prices coupled with sinking investments.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at how much we've lost. Incredible.</s>ROBERTS: Tough times. Crunching the credit card industry.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are having a difficult time paying off their balance.</s>ROBERTS: The snowball effect linked to America's debt. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."