[Kyra Phillips, Cnn Anchor:] Prison inmate, hospital patient, fugitive. It's been a busy day for Kelvin Poke. The police in Maryland hope it doesn't get any busier.
[Rob Marciano, Cnn Anchor:] We're also following two big bus accidents: a Greyhound bus and an 18-wheeler mix it up in North Carolina, and a charter bus from Mexico wipes out in Texas.
[Phillips:] And a new year brings new heights for oil: $100 a barrel in New York trading. Susan Lisovicz working the surge. Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
[Marciano:] And I'm Rob Marciano, in today for Don Lemon. And you are in the
[Cnn Newsroom. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news.
[Phillips:] It's happening right now, a manhunt under way in Maryland, where jailers say a prisoner, serving a life sentence, overpowered a guard at a hospital and shot his way to freedom. CNN's Gary Nurenberg is live with the latest. Gary, what do we know?
[Gary Nurenberg, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Kyra, there are late- breaking developments in this story. Moments ago, a law enforcement source told CNN that the car which the suspect here, 45-year-old Kelvin Poke, carjacked this morning from Laurel Regional Hospital between Baltimore and Washington, that car has now been found in Washington, D.C. It's been the last several minutes. The search is now concentrating on that area for this 45-year-old inmate who began serving a life-plus-40-year term in November of 2005 at one of the state's maximum security facilities, the Jessup facility here in Maryland. What happened, Mr. Poke complained of chest pains yesterday and was accompanied to the hospital by two corrections officers. As he was being taken a look at here he overpowered one of those corrections officers. Maryland state police spokesman Greg Shipley picks up the story.
[Greg Shipley, Maryland State Police Spokesman:] The inmate was on the fourth floor of the hospital, overpowered a correctional officer and disarmed that correctional officer, took his handgun. There was a second team of two correctional officers in the hospital, who responded to the room. One of those correctional officers was also disarmed by the inmate. Shots were then fired in the room.
[Nurenberg:] Shipley says what happened when those shots were fired, Poke apparently took the officer's gun and shot the shackles off his feet, then went down a staircase from that fourth floor, encountered another corrections officer, took the weapon away from him. And as he was making his way down the staircase, set one of those weapons down to open the door. Then, armed with a.38 caliber pistol that he took from that Maryland state corrections officer, he went to the opening, the main door of the hospital there's a breezeway there and then took his gun, fired through the window of a 1993 blue Toyota Camry, striking the driver of that car in the head, took the Camry and got his way out of the area. Remarkably, the driver of that car did not suffer life- threatening injuries and is being treated today, is expected to survive. The hospital immediately went on lockdown, as did three area schools. This happened between 8 and 9 a.m. this morning. And a massive search took place. The area was inundated with police. There is a volunteer fire department just down the road. At one point, there was a report of a man in a shed. Police responded, surrounded the area en masse, found this was not the guy. But as we went on the area, we got that word that police found the Toyota in Washington, D.C. Right now, Kyra, that is where this search is taking place.
[Phillips:] And what type of resources are we talking about, Gary? I understand a number of schools are in lockdown, too. Is that correct?
[Nurenberg:] Yes, it is. Three schools in the area in the Prince Georges County, Maryland, area between Washington and Baltimore were locked down earlier this morning. A number of law enforcement agencies involved. As we came, we saw a number of road blocks, police helicopters in the air. But in the last few minutes, with the discovery of that '93 blue Camry in Washington, forces have begun to move that way. Although the suspect is from this area of Maryland, between Washington and D.C. So the search is relatively widespread. The focus now, though, on Washington, where the car was recovered just a few minutes ago.
[Phillips:] All right. Gary Nurenberg, we'll stay on top of that story and that search for the suspect. Appreciate it.
[Marciano:] A nasty wreck today on Highway 1 near the VirginiaNorth Carolina border. It happened about 11 this morning, involving a Greyhound bus and an 18-wheeler. We don't know many details, but respond vehicles shut the highway down in both directions. It happened about 45 miles north of Raleigh. More information on that crash as we get it.
[Phillips:] An old building built in the 1850s, but it housed a world-renowned cancer hospital in southwest London. Today, a shocking sight, as the top floor and the roof of the six-story Royal Marsden Hospital burned. CNN's Max Foster is in London.
[Max Foster, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, according to one leading expert, this is a major setback for cancer treatment not just for the UK and Europe, but for the world. This is a leading center, the world's first cancer hospital. No patients were injured today. Some minor injuries, perhaps, but nothing too serious. But a major logistical exercise when a key part of the hospital caught fire, the roof caught fire, the entire hospital, which is a very large hospital, had to be evacuated. Patients requiring extremely high levels of care were transferred to other hospitals around London. They seem to be coping with a lot of pressure on other hospitals around London today. And also, other cancer patients around the world hoping for treatment will be wondering, can they still come here. Well, the truth is the hospital isn't up and running at the moment. And the area that was affected was the modern part, the really high-technology part where the surgical theaters are. Those are closed. A lot of the equipment may well be damaged. And that's a major concern. This is what the chief executive came over and told us.
[Cally Palmer, Chief Executive, Royal Marsden Hospital:] We had a major fire at the Royal Marsden today. But the most important thing is that all patients and staff have been evacuated safely, and our patients are being cared for in neighboring hospitals by our specialist teams. We're still trying to assess the extent of the damage that the fire has caused, but it's mainly affected one part of the building.
[Foster:] Well, no patients have been too badly affected by this, as long as the other hospitals can cope with their treatment, very high levels of treatment. Some concern about the high-tech equipment here and the damage done to that; it is a world-class facility here. Also some concern about some of the research being lost. But hopefully, there will be backup systems in another hospital, and they're checking that right now. But a big logistical exercise for the authorities here in London. This is a large part of West London that's been affected. Roads have been closed, and hundreds of firefighters and ambulance crews have been involved here. But overnight, there will be efforts made to at least open some parts of the hospital, reopen them. Max Foster, CNN, London.
[Marciano:] Well, we knew it would happen. Some day. Apparently, today is the day. Oil hits $100 a barrel. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us about the spike. I thought a few weeks ago, we at least touched 100. Did we never do that, though?
[Susan Lisovicz, Cnn Correspondent:] We were about a hair way from $100 a barrel. So yes, we all knew the day was going to come. Let's hope it's not an omen for 2008. For the first trading day, oil did, indeed, Rob, hit $100 a barrel. And a very sharp spike. You're looking at, I believe, the NYMEX right now. Sharp spike, $3.50, brought it there. So there's a few factors that really took crude so much higher. One is deadly violence in Nigeria, which is Africa's biggest oil producer. Another is the inventory on weekly supplies we get tomorrow. It's been delayed because of the new year's holiday. We're expecting the seventh weekly decline of about two million barrels in crude stockpiles. We expect that tomorrow. And finally, something that was already pressuring stocks. You're seeing a big sell-off in stocks, which of course, was exacerbated by the big jump in oil prices. But we got a very weak manufacturing report. Follow me on this. If if it puts more pressure on the Fed to cut interest rates. When the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates, it puts pressure on the dollar. So it's a trading strategy. Traders bail out of the dollar, and they go into commodities like crude, and crude hit $100 a barrel today. And by the way, gold hit a 28-year high today. It's trading at just under $850 an ounce right now. So, big moves. Also, we're seeing a big move in the bond market, which is considered a flight to safety. So, a lot of concerns on this first trading day of the year. Could be another tumultuous year, Rob.
[Marciano:] Seems like it. And as you described it, a lot of things to think about other than the international news, but these traders get involved, and they could send it one way or the other, I suppose.
[Lisovicz:] That's right. I mean, it's very it's highly speculative. So they make they tend to make big moves. But they don't make moves in a vacuum. And so there's a lot of news out today, and oil oil prices are reacting.
[Marciano:] And we've got stocks, the Dow down 200, NASDAQ down 48.
[Lisovicz:] We had already seen, Rob, a sell-off right at the get- go. But it was exacerbated by the big jump we saw in oil prices.
[Marciano:] OK. Busy day for you, no doubt about it. Happy second day of the year.
[Lisovicz:] Happy new year.
[Marciano:] See you later.
[Phillips:] Well, final frenzied push for votes underway in Iowa right now. Caucus-goers gather tomorrow night at homes, schools and other places across the Hawkeye state. By tradition, their votes will be the first in the presidential nominating process. We've got live coverage of the candidates as they crisscross the state. We're going to find out what's on the voters' minds as time runs out to make up their minds. Barack Obama is fighting for every last independent, undecided Iowan he can get right now. He's campaigning in the eastern part of the state. CNN's Jessica Yellin is following along. Hey, Jessica.
[Jessica Yellin, Cnn Correspondent:] Hey, Kyra. For a change, we're actually very early to an event. So it hasn't quite started yet. Traveling around Iowa, sometimes it takes time to get here. But Barack Obama has not just tried to win over independents and Republicans; one very influential new poll shows he is succeeding. In fact, at event after event that I've attended, Republicans stand up and say, "You know, I've been a lifelong Republican, but I'm going to vote for you and caucus for you this time around." So his appeal partly is that he is going to bridge the redblue divide, heal the bipartisan bickering in Washington, D.C., because he hasn't been part of those fights of the past. So, he can bring fresh perspective. But I should make it very clear both the Edwards and the Clinton campaigns and all the other Democrats dispute the polls showing that all these independents are flocking to Barack Obama. They say they have strong constituencies. And really, all three of these Democrats are in a dead heat in many of the polls, and they are struggling to get out as many voters as they can tomorrow night, Kyra.
[Phillips:] All right. Jessica Yellin. And work on that microphone for us. We could barely hear you there. We're trying to figure it out, but we had you for the most part. We'll check in with you again. Thanks, Jessica.
[Marciano:] There's always the telephone. And I think that's how we're going to do our next interview. That's right. Mike Huckabee is battling for a last-minute edge over Mitt Romney. Huckabee had two events in northern Iowa this morning. And CNN's Dana Bash joins us. Are you live? Yes, we can see you. Hey, Dana. Dana, tell us...
[Dana Bash, Cnn Correspondent:] Can you hear me?
[Marciano:] I can hear you, I can see you. You're on.
[Bash:] Well, I'll tell you what's happening on the Republican side. Here in Ft. Dodge, this is the town that Mike Huckabee started his day, his final push to try to convince voters that they should come out for him and caucus tomorrow, to try to really stoke the passion that does exist in some corners of the Republican Party here for him because of his stance on really basically on social issues: on abortion, on same-sex marriage and so forth. But his closing pitch really is going back to what he really thinks has worked for him, has made him a surprise serious contender here. And that is his authenticity. In various ways, he told the crowd here in Ft. Dodge that he believes that he is somebody who is honest, he is somebody who's consistent on the issues that matter to them.
[Mike Huckabee,  Presidential Candidate:] People are looking for some consistency when it comes to the support of the Second Amendment. They're not going to find that I once supported some gun control measure and now changed my mind because the polls say I should or because the playbook says I should. I do it because it's a conviction. I think that that is a constitutional right. It's not about hunting. It's about our freedom. It's about protecting ourselves, our families and our future. And we don't have the Second Amendment, we lose the First, as well.
[Bash:] There you heard him talking about the Second Amendment. He said the same thing about abortion. He said the same thing just about generally about honesty and consistency. Now, again, that is sort of his pitch, talking about why people should choose him. You remember, it was very controversial just a couple of days ago, he decided to pull a negative ad, but then played the ad anyway at a press conference. A lot of people sort of looked at that as a stunt. I was there. It was very bizarre. But since then, he had promised not to negative negative campaign and not to attack his chief opponent here, Mitt Romney. So, he's not doing that. But if you listen very carefully to what Mike Huckabee is saying in these final hours here, he is saying, basically, "I am somebody who is consistent on the issues that you are for." The absolute understanding here, there's no question about it, is he's trying to say that Mitt Romney simply is not Rob.
[Marciano:] It's very interesting the way they piece together their words, isn't it?
[Bash:] It is.
[Marciano:] You are inside for a change of pace, with all that cold weather outside. I know you'll be chasing down the candidates over the next day and a half. Dana Bash live for us. Thank you once again. Well, the caucuses coming up. Are you clueless about the caucuses? I am, too. But we're here to help. We're going to show you how you can take part, you know, what the rules are, exactly how many things come together. We're also going to have a live interview coming up with Democratic candidate Chris Dodd. So lots to come. And we may be just one day away from the Iowa caucuses, but anything can happen. For the freshest polls, the final push, the political ticker blog and much, much more, check out cnnpolitics.com, your one-stop shop for the presidential race.
[Phillips:] Driver fatigue, was it the reason for this deadly crash of a charter bus on a Texas highway? We're going to have the latest. And he's a man with high hopes. We're going to hear from Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd, who's counting on surprises in the Iowa caucuses.