Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Saturday

Immigration Reform Bill Demonstrations; Mexico Wants Role In Running Guest Worker Program; Rescued Peace Activist Norman Kember Returns Home; Soviet Republic Of Belarus Election Suspected Rigged; Sleepy Hollywood; Seven Dead In Seattle Shooting; Zalmay Khalilzad Says Iraq Is At Defining Moment; Great Robot Race; Sheriff Billy McGee, Modern Day Robin Hood; Country Music Singer Buck Owens Died Today

Aired March 25, 2006 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: After spending nearly four months in captivity in Iraq, freed British hostage, Norman Kember, is back home. He arrived in London earlier today. Coalition forces rescued the Christian peace activists and two colleges, both Canadians, two days ago. The body of a forth hostage, American Tom Fox, was found two weeks ago. He had been tortured and shot to death.
In Afghanistan a deadly firefight between coalition troops and Taliban fighters. An American soldier was killed and another wounded in today's battle in the southern part of that country.

In Africa, Nigeria has agreed to let Liberia pick up former Liberian President Charles Taylor to face war crime charges. Taylor went into exile in Nigeria after he was forced out of office three years ago.

Police in Milwaukee are urging potential witnesses in a missing boy's case to come forward. Two boys who are 11 and 12 years old disappeared last Sunday while heading to a park to play basketball. Investigators say they believe there are witnesses with more information who have not contacted police.

A Tennessee preacher's wife accused in his death is expected to return home today. Mark -- Mary Winkler is accused of gunning down her husband, Matthew, in the church parsonage and fleeing then to Alabama. Police in Selmer, Tennessee, say they know of the motive in the killing, but they haven't revealed it as yet.

At the Vatican scenes of celebration. Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass, earlier today, with his 15 new cardinals. The group joins the College of Cardinal in helping the pope run the Catholic Church.

Up first this hour, the hot button issue of immigration reform, thousands of immigrants and their supporters are marching in the street as Congress takes on that divisive issue. Lawmakers are looking at options, including census, penalties, and a guest worker program, all of this at the heart of the massive protest this week and now this weekend. CNN's Kareen Wynter joins us from Los Angeles where demonstrations are already heating up -- Kareen. KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. Good morning. And this demonstration expected to officially start an hour from now, but there's an incredible scene all around me, just an amazing site. You take a look, panning off a bit, even in the billboard you can see people standing up there, just a sea of sprawling supporters here in downtown Los Angeles.

There are people here protesting a bill that's already passed in the House that would basically criminalize immigrants, illegal immigrants who are already here in the United States. And also those who help them as well as tightening up our border security. People who are against that bill, who are out here today, say they want some sort of amnesty, that the bill is just too tough.

Also yesterday an equally impressive scene when thousands, thousands of students here in Los Angeles took to the street in protest. Here's what some people are saying about this legislation currently being considered in the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA SAMBRANO, IMMIGRATION RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Hr-43337 turns 11 million people into felons. It criminalizes their families and everybody that provides them with support or helps them in any way, including employers. That is wrong. And that's the message that we want to send to Congress and the Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WYNTER: And, Fred, it's hard to put a number to how many people to expect today. We've heard from 100,000 to maybe 500,000. We'll know a little better toward the end of the day, but there's no doubt there's a heavy security presence here on several streets that are blocked off. This is about to take place in about an hour from now, a three-hour march. We'll have that for you -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kareen Wynter, thanks so much from Los Angeles.

Well in a number of cities across the U.S., immigrant workers stayed home from work and headed instead to demonstrations just like that one. In Atlanta, many immigrants reject a proposal that would deny state benefits to illegal immigrants and put tough penalties on human trafficking. And now Mexico is weighing in. It not only wants the U.S. to establish a guest worker program, it wants a role in running it. Here's our Lisa Sylvester.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A handshake and a peck on the cheek for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Mexico's foreign secretary, Luis Ernesto Derbez, is in Washington, reaffirming his cozy relationship with the Bush administration.

LUIS ERNESTO DERBEZ, MEXICAN FOREIGN SECRETARY: And the relationship between Mexico and the United States proves very well that no longer do we have ties, friendship ties.

SYLVESTER: Mexico wants to use that friendship to leverage a guest worker program. The Mexican government took out full-page ads on Monday in several U.S. newspapers. In the ads Mexico says it wants a safe, orderly guest worker program, and it wants to participate in the design, management, supervision, and evaluation of the program. Listen to what Mexican president, Vicente Fox, said a few months back.

PRES. VICENTE FOX, MEXICO: What we need to do is to define and agree upon how many, in which way, for what sectors of the economy should Mexicans be working in the United States.

SYLVESTER: But critics say Mexico has a double standard. At the same time it wants to help decide U.S. domestic policy, its own constitution forbids meddling from outsiders. "Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of country."

MIKE CUTLER, FMR. INS AGENT: But they come here, they send members of their government here, as well as the president of Mexico, and then they go ahead and make demands on our country in terms of how they're going to treat Mexicans who are in the United States, but if anybody ever attempted to do that in Mexico, I'm certain that they'd be sent packing in short order.

SYLVESTER: Mexico has another double standard, it wants the United States to have an open southern border, but Mexico is notoriously strict about enforcing its border with its own southern neighbors.

(on camera): Mexico's constitution also explicitly says Mexicans will be given preferential treatment over foreigners when it comes to granting employment, concessions, and benefits, so Mexico recognizes the rights of its native-born citizens, but is in many ways is asking the United States not to do the same.

Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, President Bush says a guest worker program is a key part of his immigration proposal. The president plans to attend a naturalization ceremony in Washington on Monday. Mr. Bush says he'll share his own vision for immigration reform at that time. Here's a preview of what we can expect to hear.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America does not have to choose between being a welcoming society and being a lawful society. We can be both at the same time. As we debate the immigration issue, we must remember there are hard working individuals doing jobs that Americans will not do, who are contributing to the economic vitality of our country.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the White House in Washington.

And Kathleen, I imagine this is now taking center stage.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It is, indeed. Last week the focus was Iraq and the war on terror and this week immigration reform. And it's a very critical point for the president's immigration proposals. As we've heard, the Senate begins debating immigration reform next week, some of those plans very controversial. The president, himself, heads to Mexico later in the week to meet with the Mexican president. So, in this morning's radio address, President Bush thought it was important to explain just why his plan is need.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

G. BUSH: Comprehensive immigration reform requires a temporary worker program that will relieve pressure on the borders. This program would create a legal way to match willing foreign workers with willing American employers to fill jobs that Americans will not do. By reducing the number of people trying to sneak across the border, we would free up our law enforcement officers to focus on criminals and drug dealers and terrorists and others who mean us harm.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KOCH: Most members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill do favor a guest worker program of some type, but that committee has not yet come up with its own bill, so another measure, as Kareen Wynter was describing, has been drafted and could be introduced that would make it a felony to be in the United States illegally and impose penalties on employers who hire illegal immigrants and would even invest in erecting fences along the a third of the southern U.S.- Mexican border.

Hill watchers though, believe this bill stands a better chance of passing in an election year than the Bush plan. The calculation that getting tough on border security will be much more popular with voters then showing compassion for illegal immigrants -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kathleen Koch from the White House, thanks so much.

KOCH: You bet.

WHITFIELD: Meantime, way across the pond, a joyous home welcome for freed Christian peace activist Norman Kimber. He arrived in London two days after his rescue by coalition forces in Iraq. He and three other colleagues were held hostage for nearly four months. CNN's Paula Hancocks is with us now from Pinner, near London -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Fredericka, well, Norman Kember is back at home now, he's inside the house just behind us. This is a house he hasn't seen for about four months. And he's with those that he loves most. He's with his very close family, he's with his wife, Pat Kember, who actually went a little earlier on today to Heathrow to meet him off the plane. And he's taking -- a little bit earlier on, gave a statement saying that he thanked those that had been part of this daring rescue. But you could see his face when he arrived here at his house. As soon as he got out of the car, he gave a big wave and was beaming from ear to ear.

And there were a lot of neighbors on the streets, as well, who were cheering and applauding when he got out of the car, to welcome him home, and there were a couple of shouts of "welcome home Norman." He wondered into his front yard and leant across the hedge to greet his next door neighbor, and then he was inside with his house with his family and that's where he expects to stay for the rest of the day.

We won't expect to see him again this Saturday as he is just having an inmate family reunion. But in that statement, though, he did point out that he wanted to be left alone a little bit so that he could actually reflect on what had happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORMAN KEMBER, FORMER HOSTAGE: I thank the media for agreeing to share the news and reduce the stress on me on this occasion. I now need to reflect on my experience, was I foolhardy or rational? And also to enjoy freedom in peace and in quiet. Thank you all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: He also said in that statement that the world's attention was focused in the wrong area. He said that they shouldn't be focusing on him, they should be focusing on the Iraqi people still. Even, just as he's found his newfound freedom, and he's having this emotional reunion with his family, he still wants to make the political statement that the Iraqi people should be thought about and their suffering.

He is also deciding that he's not going to be coming out for the rest of this Saturday. So now just a homecoming, just an intimate family reunion, which is behind closed doors and behind closed curtains -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Paula Hancocks, thanks so much.

Well still to come, a Mississippi lawman hauling ice. How a small town sheriff got in trouble for cooling off the hurricane homeless.

And Hollywood's dark side, long days, sleepless night, what happens when fatigue goes to the movies?

And we'll look in on a race in the desert, who's driving that Hummer anyway? Would you believe me if I told you no one?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Reynolds Wolf, and if you happen to be sneezing and coughing and your eyes are runny and you just feel awful, there's a chance you may have the flu and you're not alone. Especially if you live along the Missouri River, any spot east.

It has been pretty widespread to regional, to say the very least. However, out to the West Coast, it's not as quite as prevalent, only sporadic to just local activity in many places back towards California and into the four corners.

I'm Reynolds Wolf with this "Flu Season Report."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This story just in out of Seattle, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, police are investigating a shooting that took place just about an hour ago. Investigators arrived on the scene. Six people have been killed, including a suspected gunman.

Three others have been injured and one of the police officers is quoted as saying the shooting did not immediately appear to be related to domestic violence. Of course, when we get more information, new video now coming in of the shooting taking place in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle, we'll be able to bring that along to you.

Meantime, in other news, in the former Soviet Republic of Belarus, more unrest over the country's disputed presidential election. Protesters are back in the street, and the hard-line government is targeting opposition leaders for arrest. With us now from Moscow, CNN's Ryan Chilcote -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredericka, the demonstrators were out in Minsk, the capitol of the former Soviet Republic of Belarus, about two to 4,000 of them, according to eyewitnesses, to protest the results of a presidential election in Belarus last Sunday.

In that presidential election, the incumbent leader, Alexander Lukashenko, who had been in power for 12 years was re-elected. These protesters say that election was rigged. The United States says the same thing and has imposed sanctions on the leadership of Belarus as a result.

Now, the demonstrators tried to gather in a central square in Minsk, they were turned back. They held a very small demonstration in another park, and then one of the opposition leaders called on the crowd to march towards a jail where about 200 protesters are being held after a very similar demonstration was broken up by the police yesterday. That is when the riot police moved in, using overwhelming force, according to eyewitnesses on the ground.

The police told the demonstrators to lie down on the ground if they didn't want to get hurt. Apparently several hundred of them did. The police, according to eyewitnesses, then used percussion grenades, teargas, and clubs, beating many of the protesters and hauling them off. We understand among those individuals that were hauled off to jail was one of the opposition leaders Alexander Kozulin -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ryan Chilcote, thank you so much for that update.

Meantime, let's take a look outside and check in with the weather picture. Let's see how Reynolds Wolf is doing in the Weather Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: But my fingers are crossed. I know there's hope toward the end of the week that maybe it will start to feel lining spring everywhere. Thanks a lot, Reynolds.

Well, this story when we come right back:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ended up falling asleep at the wheel, taking my car into a tree at 50 miles-an-hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I woke up when a cop stopped me and I said, what'd I do wrong? And he said, well, I've been following you, you ran seven red lights this in a row.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Sound anything like your life? It's not that glamorous working on a Hollywood film after all. Straight a head, the life threatening dangers of not getting enough sleep. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN ANCHOR: Conserve energy and save money. Lower your thermostat when you leave the house or while you sleep. You can even buy a programmable thermostat that will do the job for you. Best of all, it pays for itself over time.

Fifteen percent of the average energy bill goes to heating water, so try to lower the temperature on your water heater. Also, unplug any unused appliances, like your TV, stereo, or computer. That blinking clock on your VCR could be costing you as much as $21 a year.

For more energy-savings energy, to the Alliance to Save Energy's Web site, you'll find it at ase.gov. I'm Gerri Willis with "Your Energy Tip."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Working on a Hollywood movie set, it's a dream job, right? Not so fast. It turns out the hours are long and they're getting even longer. Some in the industry say it's time for a change. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like he's in very bad shape, like his car is totaled. There's a whole lot of smoke. HASKELL WEXLER, SLEEP DEPRIVATION DOCUMENTARY: I started shooting the document when a friend and fellow worker died driving home after a 19-hour day.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brad Hirschman fell asleep after working more than 15 hours for five straight days on the movie "Pleasantville." Normally Oscar winning cinematographer, Haskell Wexler, is the quiet guy behind the camera shooting movie classics like "In the Heat of the Night" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?" But in his own documentary, "Who Needs Sleep" Wexler becomes vocal.

WEXLER: So I'm saying, who do we go to?

GUPTA: Calling on union leaders, even the federal government to set limits on the number of hours a day movie crews can work. Wexler points out in the documentary that working long hours on movies is now the norm in Hollywood.

WEXLER: Since there have been a lot more of more accidents and a lot more people injured until...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we were shooting the "Lethal Weapon" series, it got so bad that we had three or four major automobile accidents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I fell asleep at the wheel a quarter mile from my house after working 17 hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I wake up going...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ended up falling asleep at the wheel, taking my car into a tree at 50 miles-an-hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I woke up when a cop stopped me and I said, what'd I do wrong? And he said, well, I've been following you, you ran seven red lights this in a row.

GUPTA: Wexler interviews stars who confirm the long, grueling days.

JULIA ROBERTS, ACTOR: As an actor, I am given a kind of union buffer in that I have to be allowed a certain number of hours from the time I leave work and the time I have to come back to work. So, if I see the crews getting worn out, and tired, and overworked, I won't -- then I'll say, no, I have to have my 12 hours. Because if I have 12 hours, then I know they have a fighting chance at a nap or something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The question is, how much do these long hours affect creativity? For actors, maybe not as much as one would think because we go back to our dressing rooms, we sack out. The people on the line, though, the cameramen, the assistants, the people who don't get that chance to rest for a while, you can imagine what 18 hours does to their concentration.

BILLY CRYSTAL, ACTOR: When we were making "61" I knew it was going to be long hours. We had a lot of baseball stuff to shot. If you think a baseball game moves slowly, try shooting a baseball game. Haskell was very eloquent in saying, nothing good happens when there's long hours. People don't function well, people get hurt.

GUPTA: Putting in long hours on the set is a relatively new phenomenon. When Wexler worked on movies like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," 12 hours was considered a long work day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If Mr. McMurphy doesn't want to take his medication orally, I'm sure we can arrange that he can have it some other way.

WEXLER: "Cuckoo's Nest" was not long -- it was long hours at that time, because long hours then was like going over nine hours.

The average day is 15 days, 14 or 15 hours.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twelve on and 12 off.

GUPTA: Nowadays Wexler says a group called 12 on/12 off is fighting the movie executives and those who budget and schedule movie crews to reduce the work day to 12 hours. Not everyone agrees with Wexler's message. Some crew members in the movie industry say if you can't work the long hours, get out of the business.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes our jobs require long hours to get our shots, and there's plenty of 9:00 to 5:00 jobs out there if you can't hack it.

GUPTA: Wexler's response, be careful because studies shows lack of sleep dumbs down intelligence, slows reflexes, and reduces memory. It can lead to diabetes, obesity, and then again, it just might kill you. And another thing, says Wexler, isn't there more to life?

WEXLER: It poses a question, what do you want out of life? What's really important to you? What do you think that bloody 10th hour overtime is going to buy you that's going to make you happy? And it has to be guys like me that don't give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) or at least are to a point in their career where you can make a lot of noise and realize that there's more to life than roll and cut.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And you don't want to miss Dr. Sanjay Gupta's prime time special on sleep coming up tomorrow. Stay up for it, Sunday night at 10:00 Eastern.

In the meantime, we want to bring you up to date on this story taking place in Seattle, Washington. In the Capitol Hill neighborhood, six people have been shot to death at a home there. On the line with us is Sergeant Deanna Nollette of the Seattle Police Department.

And Sergeant, what happened? SGT. DEANNA NOLLETTE, SEATTLE POLICE: Well, we received reports of shots fired at about 7:03 this morning, and arrived in the area. The first arriving officer actually saw a victim who was staggering on the sidewalk in front of the house.

As he went to the victim's aid the suspect appeared around the corner, or someone who we believe is the suspect, carrying a shotgun. The officer confronted the suspect, and at that point, the suspect actually turned the gun on himself and shot himself. We searched the residence and we actually, at this point, have seven fatality victims and two additional victims that are at the local trauma center, Harborview.

WHITFIELD: So those seven fatalities including this gunman?

NOLLETTE: Correct, that includes the gentleman we've identified as our suspect.

WHITFIELD: OK, and all of the other victims were all in this one household?

NOLLETTE: Apparently, there was some kind of a party going on at the house, and this gentleman had been at the party. At some point, we believe that he left and then returned. Beyond that, we don't know what the relationship was between him and the victims. We have taken about 12 to 15 potential witnesses out of that residence, all of them late teens to early 20s.

WHITFIELD: And tell me a little bit about this particular community, the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Where is it in relation to, say, downtown Seattle?

NOLLETTE: It's essentially a hill that's just east of our downtown business core, one of the hills that Seattle's built on. It's just a neighborhood in Seattle, one of the most established neighborhoods that we have out here, and it's predominantly working class, if you ask me to describe it. We don't believe that we had any significant history at this address or in this neighborhood.

WHITFIELD: OK, and you said most of the people at the party, late teens, 20s. Does that describe the seven fatalities as well?

NOLLETTE: It does. It appears that most of our victims are going to be younger, and it's a mix of male and female.

WHITFIELD: OK. And what about any parents or any adults at that household or anyone who's come to, perhaps, offer any aid?

NOLLETTE: You know, we just don't have anything else really at this point. And we're going based on just the appearance and age of the witnesses that are there. Our crime scene investigators are actually on the scene processing it now, our homicide investigators are here, so we just don't have any more info on the victims right now.

WHITFIELD: OK, Sergeant Deanna Nollette of the Seattle Police Department, thank you so much.

So this shooting now resulting in seven deaths, including the person being described as a gunman. The sergeant was describing that is seems as though there was a party taking place at this Capitol Hill neighborhood home when somehow, something went awry and it led to the shooting deaths of these people. Of course, we'll bring you more information as we get it. For now, we're going to take a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look now at our top stories. Police in Seattle say at least seven people were killed in a shooting at a home today. Three people were injured. Police aren't sure of the motive. They say one of the dead was described by police as a gunman who turned his weapon on police.

Other stories now. Former British hostage Norman Kember is finally back home after four months of captivity in Iraq. Two Canadian colleagues who were rescued along with him also left Baghdad today. A fourth member of their party, American Tom Fox, was killed in Iraq. His body was found two weeks ago.

In New Jersey, mourners are gathering for a memorial service for 10 people who lost their lives in a tour bus crash in Chile. A dozen people were killed in this week's crash. The cruise ships passengers were on an excursion when their bus tumbled down a mountainside.

And Canada's controversial seal hunting season begins today. More than 300,000 baby seals will be clubbed or shot to death for their plush fur. Activists have protested, called the slaughter barbaric and unnecessary. The fishermen say they're just trying to make a living.

Another day in Iraq, another day of carnage. A bomb killed four civilians in Baghdad. South of the city, seven were killed in a big gun battle between a local a Shiite militia and insurgents, who were mostly Sunnis. The American ambassador to Iraq says the country is at a defining moment.

Our Nic Robertson caught up with the ambassador and asked him about the latest efforts underway to form a national unity government.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the ambassador was in the west of Baghdad to open a sports center and youth club. He watched young people boxing and wrestling. This was a sport center that required renovation. About half a million U.S. dollars were spent on repairing and renovating this sports facility.

The ambassador gave rings of recognition to former Olympians, Iraqis who had taken part in the Athens Olympics, but his message for them was very political. He told them that the country was at a crossroads. He told them that youth sports should help defeat terrorism, that young people needed other opportunities. He said he thought Iraq had a good future, that the future was in the youth of the people. But he told them that while they were there, that their leaders were currently meeting to form a new government of national unity. And when I asked him a little later what was the main stumbling block behind the delays of forming this new government, he gave me his explanation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: I think it would be compositions and names. And that's where the rubber will meet the road, names with jobs, assignments, and that's what still is left. Prime minister, you need someone who is a unifier and is competent to do the job, and then key ministers to fill up the presidency and speakership. I think it will still take some weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: But the biggest point of contention has been that position of prime minister, who should get that particular job. Another big issue that there seems to be division on over the last week or so is whether or not it would be a government of national unity.

Even a few days ago, some very senior politicians here believed that the parliamentarians hadn't even decided whether it should be a government of national unity. That is one with Sunnis, Shias, Kurds, all having some of the top ministerial positions.

However the ambassador, Ambassador Khalilzad, said quite clearly to me that he believed a government of national unity had been agreed by the politicians of Iraq.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: As President Bush deals with growing criticism over his Iraq policies, First Lady Laura Bush speaks out. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Larry King, Mrs. Bush says Americans should be proud of U.S. efforts to build democracy in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: It's very difficult to watch on television and see the loss of our soldiers in Iraq, and to get the idea that the Iraqis don't care, that they don't want us there, that it's a sacrifice they don't respect or regard.

I do think they do. I think the people in Afghanistan -- I know the people of Afghanistan from when I've been there say, don't leave. You know, don't leave us let. Let us build our democracy. Let us get all of the institutions of democracy into place before you go.

There are many, many countries that want the help of the United States, and that get the help of the United States. And I hope the American people can feel proud of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And you can watch the entire exclusive interview with First Lady Laura Bush coming up at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."

An Afghan man facing a possible death sentence for converting from Islam to Christianity may be freed soon. A senior government official says authorities met today to reconsider the charges. The U.S. and other western governments have expressed outrage over the prosecution.

And take a look at this. It's an amazing road race with no one behind the wheel of that vehicle. Straight ahead, we'll meet one of the team leaders of the great robot race.

And later, this Mississippi sheriff could be in hot water for passing out, of all things, ice. His story is still to come to this hour. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think I can do it with this car. I can't keep up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first race ever where the machine makes all the decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Scientists pursuing a supped-up computer on wheels in the great robot race, captured in an upcoming episode of the PBS series "Nova." Well, in this race there are no drivers, no humans behind the wheels at all. The robots are on their own.

The race is the DARPA Grand Challenge. DARPA stands for Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, and it's sponsored by the Pentagon, who else? This past October, driver-less vehicles ran a brutal 132- mile course through the Mohave Desert, and at stake, $2 million in prize monies. Winner takes all.

William "Red" Whittaker led two teams from Carnegie Mellon University. They didn't win, but they came close. Red joins me from New York, and Red, congratulations on your two teams.

WILLIAM "RED" WHITTAKER, CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY: Thanks much. It was a thrill to race.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that's great. And this race could be described as the Kitty Hawk of robotics, why?

WHITTAKER: Like inventing computers or airplanes, there's always a beginning, and never a second chance to do it the first time. WHITFIELD: But, you know, even though $2 million -- you know, that's the big prize -- it really is about more than that, isn't it? People are involved in this, all of these colleges and universities have teams involved because it really means that, perhaps, putting a fingerprint on something of the future, right?

WHITTAKER: What's important now is to take these robots from an early technology to develop the world, perform construction, farm, security, defense, and to explore other worlds.

WHITFIELD: So I can see how most people would understand how, perhaps, this could be used in military defense. You're talking about vehicles, and, perhaps, like in the case of Iraq IEDs, if means some of these vehicles, if they were used like this, could go into combat without putting many military men and women in danger. But how about in the industry of farming and the other things that you mentioned?

WHITTAKER: Already, guidance technology can steer a tractor, can control the blade of a bulldozer, can go into sewers to service every day, and almost everything that we know of, Mars and the planets, comes to us through the eyes of robots.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So let's talk about what it took for your students at Carnegie Mellon to be involved with this and to have a couple of devices, vehicles in which to enter into the race. What did you have to go through?

WHITTAKER: Wow, what does it take? Well ...

WHITFIELD: A lot of money for one, right?

WHITTAKER: If all we're doing -- money's overblown, and no team had money and no team had time, and only the question of whether you do it anyway. These are works of love, people committed to something they choose where they can give absolutely everything of themselves and it doesn't get much better than that.

WHITFIELD: And does it mean donated vehicles, donated equipment, et cetera, and just learning how to be real resourceful about it?

WHITTAKER: As much as the people, the team, and the horsepower, nothing runs on vacuum and air, so it really matters to have the alliance of great companies like Caterpillar, SAIC, Intel, Boeing, Google, that in life it's wonderful to have friends, and when you're up to something big, never run alone.

WHITFIELD: So many hundreds of vehicles were -- acted as entrants from around the world, but only a certain few really get to get to this part, where they're at the Mohave Desert, where they're seeing their vehicle in the race. How -- what's the process of elimination like?

WHITTAKER: Well, nothing that's worth doing is either easy or quick, and so there are many, many aspirants to the great dream, and that's different than those that would get a technology together, and show up and the hundreds would be distilled to 10s and maybe 20 on the start line, and a small handful to the finish line. This is a team that entered to finish, and just had a great time doing it.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that's great, because some of the vehicles didn't finish. They kind of went off, awry off the racecourse all together, didn't they?

WHITTAKER: Well, it's a little bit like first flying machines where you see people flapping their wings off barns and jumping off hilltops. It doesn't get done just because you want it to get done. In the early going it can be mechanical, electronic, software, all, but that principle of what it takes for a machine to see, think, and drive is a big deal.

WHITFIELD: Well, William "Red" Whittaker, thanks so much for being with us, and congratulations for your two vehicles being in the race and actually finishing the race, because it's all about finishing, right?

WHITTAKER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much.

And take a look at this. Look at these pictures. They're out of this world, literally. They're the first test images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The black and white photos show deep channels and scattered surface debris around the Red Planet's midsection. A mission scientist says those features were probably formed by what else? Water.

Straight ahead, the story of a small town sheriff honored with his own song.

(MUSIC)

WHITFIELD: But now this local hero may face federal charges for hauling that ice. We'll explain why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: After Hurricane Katrina -- you all know this by now -- many people suffered for days without supplies, but a Mississippi sheriff refused to sit back and do nothing. He gave an order that made him a hero to his people, and a bad guy to the Feds.

Here's CNN's Sean Callebs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sheriff Billy McGee is a local hero in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. His story a modern twist on Robin Hood. He robbed from the federal government to give to the needy in his county.

It was six days after Katrina. Sweltering heat, steamy desperation. No food, no water and no end in sight. So the sheriff and his merry men hijacked two huge FEMA trucks loaded with ice.

Like any good hero, McGee doesn't like to talk much about what happened.

SHERIFF BILLY MCGEE, FORREST COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI: Just that at some point that we can see the end of the road, that this passes.

CALLEBS: The ice was under lock and key at nearby Camp Shelby. McGee gave his deputies orders to take the trucks and when a National Guardsman tried to stop them, the sheriff had the soldier handcuffed. And they drove off with the government's ice and doled it out to those in need, a dream story for the local newspaper.

RICH CAMPBELL, EDITOR, "HATTIESBURG AMERICAN": It's one of those stories that just -- it almost has a life of its own, because you've got a small town sheriff who took on the federal government, basically, for the good of his people.

CALLEBS: And for that, the sheriff may get prosecuted by the government. But locals remember the relentless despair after the storm and haven't forgotten the sheriff's actions. A newspaper poll showed nearly 88 percent of the county residents don't want McGee prosecuted.

Reports said he had worked out a plea bargain. But then the U.S. attorney in Jackson, Mississippi recused himself because he's a former National Guardsman. Now the case is with the U.S. attorney in Baton Rouge, who is deciding whether to pursue charges.

CAMPBELL: That doesn't sit well with people here, especially people in South Mississippi who lived through the frustration and the incompetence -- if I could be so bold -- of the federal government.

CALLEBS: As much as McGee wants the attention to go away, it won't. Bumper stickers have cropped up and naturally they've already got a folk song to honor their folk hero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a hurricane in Hattiesburg so he didn't think twice. Sheriff McGee was hauling ice.

CALLEBS: And it's also good fodder for lunch chat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would have probably done the same thing if I would have been in his shoes, you know? I mean, we was hurting up here for awhile.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean he stepped up and did something for the people. That's it.

CALLEBS: McGee is a four term sheriff and many here would like to see him run again, arguing his career should not come to an end over this -- a sheriff who's more popular than ever after becoming a modern day Robin Hood.

Sean Callebs, CNN, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, it is official, spring has sprung in the nation's Capitol. We'll tell you what's in the air in Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This just in. Country music singer Buck Owens died today at his home. Owens helped shape the country music sound with songs like "Act Naturally." He had a string of more than 20 number one records. Owens also starred on the long-running TV show "Hee Haw." Owens was 76.

And on the phone with us, a long-time friend and former bandmate, Jim Shaw. He's joining us from Bakersfield, California. And Jim, we know that Buck Owens had undergone back in '93, he had pneumonia back in '97. How did he die.

JIM SHAW, OWENS FAMILY SPOKESMAN: Well, we hear that he died peacefully in his sleep this morning at about 4:30, and he did perform at the Crystal Palace last night, and wasn't feeling great. We could tell. But at this point, we don't know the cause of death.

WHITFIELD: Well, give me an idea of what life had been like for him in recent years. If he wasn't feeling well, but he still performed last night, what had the weeks prior been like for him?

SHAW: Well, he enjoyed having a place to play without having to travel. Travel is tough, especially when you're not feeling good. So for the last nine years, he's had his own venue here in Bakersfield, and he could drive in from the ranch and play for an hour and a half on a Friday and a Saturday night and then go back and sleep in his own bed.

So he was enjoying that, but he'd had a small stroke recently and was struggling with his health. And I think he was frustrated. He wasn't able to sing and play like he had in the past, but he was hanging in there.

WHITFIELD: And how about his family? How are they doing?

SHAW: They're doing OK. They're flying in from out of state and will all be here by 6:00 tonight and make they'll decisions on arrangements.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's pretty remarkable to hear you say that, you know, he hadn't been feeling good, but somehow it sounds like he would always feel better if he still performed in some capacity.

SHAW: Oh, absolutely. He was the consummate performer. He wanted to be up there on the stage and entertaining.

WHITFIELD: Jim Shaw, thank you so much for joining us from Bakersfield, California, and helping us to remember the life and legacy of Buck Owens, dead at the age of 76.

And I'm Fredricka Whitfield. More news coming up later. Right now, time for "IN THE MONEY."

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com