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The Fight For Iraq; College Shooting Stirs Montreal; Real Life Bionic Woman; Remembering Ann Richards

Aired September 14, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: To do it, see it right from space, up front and up close and in person.
All right. Thanks for the questions. The rest of them, 10:30 Eastern on Pipeline. And thanks for being with us this morning. On behalf of Soledad, who had to duck out early, I'm Miles O'Brien. We will see you tomorrow. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the NEWSROOM. See the news unfold live on Thursday, September 14th. I'm Heidi Collins.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

A big capture for U.S. troops. The military says they've nabbed a top al Qaeda figure in Iraq.

COLLINS: Canadian authorities call him a killer in a trench coat. Online clues about the young man police say shot up a college campus.

HARRIS: And meet the bionic woman. So-called bionic woman. Her artificial limb controlled by her brain. You're in the NEWSROOM.

A key al Qaeda figure captured in Iraq? That word a short time ago from Major General William Caldwell, spokesman for the multi- national forces there. He describes the suspect as the personal associate of al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, MULTINATIONAL FORCES IRAQ SPOKESMAN: This is an associate of al-Masri, was the leader of assassination, kidnapping and IED cells in Baghdad. He is known to have directly participated in numerous terrorist attacks, including kidnappings and executions, terrorist acts and others contributing to sectarian violence throughout the city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Caldwell's comments come as more deadly attacks take place in Baghdad. Our Cal Perry joins us live from the volatile capitol.

And, Cal, give us the latest information of the violence in a very violent city.

CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Tony.

And yesterday, about this time, we spoke about insurgents targeting Iraqi police. Today, the same events unfolding. Shortly before 11:00 a.m., a roadside bomb exploded in central Baghdad. That wounded a number of people.

Iraqi police then responded to that bombing. And a car bomb, which was parked near to the IED, targeted those police as they arrived on the scene. Nine people dead in this attack. Some 16 others wounded.

We also heard from Iraqi police overnight, again, more grisly discoveries. Twenty bodies found strewn across the capital. That means in the past 48 hours, Iraqi police, in Baghdad alone, have found 84 bodies they believe victims of sectarian violence.

Tony.

HARRIS: And, Cal, against the backdrop of all of this violence, it was just last week you'll recall that the speaker of the parliament said that the political framework has to come together in the next couple of months in order to keep the country from falling apart. What was the reaction to those comments from the speaker of the parliament and what's been the fallout since?

PERRY: Well, here on the streets of Baghdad, optimism is a very difficult thing to find. And in Baghdad, politics really is sectarian violence. This is the number one concern here when you speak to every day Iraqis.

We heard last month from Iraqi police, 1,500 bodies found strewn across the capital. So what needs to happen, in order for that sectarian violence to stop, are a few things. Sunnis and Shias in the parliament really need to come to some agreements.

One of the key issues here are the militias. There are two major Shia militia, the Mehdi army and the Bada (ph) brigade. These two militias are blamed for much of the sectarian violence across the country. If the prime minister can get these militias to lay down their arms, come into the political fold, maybe even join these security forces we're talking about, that would go a long way in stopping the violence here on the ground

Tony.

HARRIS: OK. And so that's a benchmark. That's something for us to look out for in the days and months ahead. Cal Perry for us in Baghdad.

Cal, appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: Terror on campus. A lone gunman opens fire on students in downtown Montreal. One person killed, 19 others wounded. Allan Chernoff is in Montreal now. And, Allan, we know that there was a news conference a little bit earlier this morning. What's the very latest there?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is that we have confirmed the identity of the gunman. Police tell us that his name is Kimveer Gill, a 25-year-old from the Laval (ph) suburb, northern suburb, of Montreal. And the police do confirm also that they did find three weapons on the gunman.

Yesterday it was just a scene of complete horror at Dawson College, right nearby. The man simply walked calmly around the school outside, then began shooting. Witnesses say he just had a blank stare on his face as students were literally running for their lives.

The gun battle continued inside. Police pursued the gunman. They shot with him for a number of minutes. And about 30 minutes after the entire episode began, he was finally shot dead on the scene. As you mentioned, one 20-year-old woman was killed by gun shot wounds, 19 people injured. The most seriously injured were brought here to Montreal General Hospital.

COLLINS: Imagine what they were thinking. Another thing that we're learning this morning, "The Toronto Star" has found a website or a couple of websites, I believe, that they think belong to Kimveer Gill. I want to put a little bit on the screen there, some of the close-ups they found on that website. The first one says this. "Work sucks, school sucks, life sucks, what else can I say?" And the next one, "Metal and Goth kick ass. Life is a video game, you've got to die sometime."

Do you know, Allan, whether or not authorities there are using any of this information that "The Star" uncovered in their investigation, possibly looking at some kind of motive?

CHERNOFF: Well, most definitely they are checking all of that out. That from the website vampirefreaks.com. On that site, Kimveer Gill also said that he wanted to die in gun fire, in a hail of gun fire. This is so common that we see in these horrific shooting events. So often you do find the website, the person talking about their anxieties. In this case, the person talking about how he hated people who bullied, jocks, principals, teachers he referred to. Again, you know, the web these days does often leave evidence that police can work with to find a possible motive here.

COLLINS: All right. Allan Chernoff for us in Montreal this morning.

Allan, thank you.

HARRIS: Well, Heidi, at the top of the newscast this morning we told you about the amazing story of the so-called bionic woman. The story of Claudia Mitchell who lost her arm years ago in a motorcycle accident. She's taking part in a press conference right now where doctors are talking about the new technology attached to this prosthetic arm that is now her new left arm. Let's listen to Claudia Mitchell talking about her new left arm just a short time ago. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDIA MITCHELL, BIONIC ARM RECIPIENT: This arm I can move forward. I can reach up. And I can't do that. You know, that's something you don't think it's very exciting to be able to reach up into the cabinet and get a big -- a big can of coffee down. Well, I think it's pretty exciting to be able to get up in there. And so this arm will send a -- offer the opportunity to be able to do that.

And I have wrist flexion in this hand. And what's really exciting is that I can do these things at once. You know, I can rotate and have several ranges of motion all at the same time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: That's Claudia Mitchell talking about her new prosthetic left arm that allows her just more flexibility and a greater quality of life. What she can do is she can place, for example, the arm on a table and say there's a banana or something next to her, she can think the thought that I want to grab this banana with this arm and it actually happens. How it happens, we'll take that up with Dr. Sanjay Gupta a little later in the program this morning.

Well, mother nature may come to the aid of firefighters in California. They're battling a blaze that has already charred more than 40 square miles in the Los Padres National Forest. A forestry official says cooler, dryer weather is coming at the perfect time. Flames have marched within a mile of a mobile home park. There's apparently no immediate danger, though. The fire is now about 30 percent contained.

COLLINS: The news not very good in Montana. Boy, that's for sure. Take a look at some of these pictures we have. Wildfires southeast of Livingston doubling in size now. Twenty-nine square miles, in fact, have already burned. Evacuation orders now cover more than 300 homes in Park and Sweet Grass counties, if you're familiar with that area. A second wildfire in the state has burned about 2,000 acres now in the Scapegoat wilderness area. About 50 homes there being evacuated, along with a couple of resort resorts.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And a lot of wind coming this weekend too.

COLLINS: Yes, Chad Myers looking at it.

MYERS: Wind and rain. There will be some rain, but the wind is going to hurt. I mean, you think about this area. It's the river runs through it setting, you know.

COLLINS: I know. It's gorgeous.

MYERS: It really is. It's the most amazing -- some of the best trout fishing in the entire country. I won't tell you where I go, but -- I guess it's my little secret hole. But the whole area there is going to get a lot of rain and a lot of wind and lower humidity this weekend. And then the rain comes in and it probably should help the firefighters a lot.

COLLINS: Yes, would help. I would imagine. I'm going to get out of your way.

MYERS: Well, I just want to show you here the winds here.

COLLINS: Oh, you're going to show me.

MYERS: Actually the wind north of L.A. has been really good so far. The winds up in Montana are basically calm so far. But four miles per hour, two miles per hour.

COLLINS: Yes, nothing.

MYERS: Those are the wind speeds that firefighters want to see, right?

COLLINS: Absolutely. I've never been to the weather area, so thanks for having me.

MYERS: Well, it's nice, isn't it? Bring your roller blades next time, you can skate on my floor.

COLLINS: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: All right, Heidi. Talk to you again.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Still to come, suspected Taliban militant in the cross- hairs, but no one pulled the trigger. Find out why in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: And they're calling her the bionic woman. The first woman with a prosthetic arm controlled by thought. This amazing medical story and Dr. Sanjay Gupta in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. And this just in to CNN. Just getting word from the Pakistani foreign ministry, Pakistan's foreign ministry, that President Musharraf, Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, will meet with President Bush at the White House next week, the 22nd. Again, that word coming from Pakistan's foreign ministry. Sounds like an important time for this meeting.

You'll recall that just a couple days ago, President Musharraf angrily pushed back against accusations that Pakistan is -- and areas of Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan, is this breeding area for terrorists now, particularly the Taliban, moving into Afghanistan and launching attacks against NATO forces. So it seems this would be an important meeting. Next week., Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, in Washington to meet with President Bush. We will keep you updated on that and get further confirmation from the White House on this.

The shuttle mission. Well, takes flight today on the wings of a massive solar panel. The Atlantis crew unfurled the a accordion-like blankets only after resolving a bit of a software glitch. The problem delayed the maneuver for several hours. A tightly scheduled crew is already racing the clock, if not the calendar. Their mission is the first in almost four years for space station construction.

COLLINS: A bump in the road for the much heralded Segway scooter. The company is recalling all 23,000 plus scooters that have rolled off the production line over the last four years. The problem, the wheels can reverse without warning and toss the rider. That's if you know how to ride it in the first place. Segway says a software upgrade will fix the problem. You may recall the Segway was first promoted as so revolutionary that it would change the face of urban transportation.

OK, Lindsay Wagner, remember her?

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: Played the role in the 1970s TV series. But today, the real bionic woman is this woman. Her name is Claudia Mitchell.

HARRIS: And she is the first woman fitted with a high-tech prosthetic arm that she can now move just by thinking. At a news conference within the last hour, doctors talked about how the technology can help thousands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. TODD KUIKEN, REHABILITATION INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: Fifty thousand people a year lose limbs in the United States. And as mentioned, we have people continuing to return from our conflicts, our U.S. servicemen and women, are suffering amputations. And we want to help.

Also, our current technology with artificial arms really doesn't work that well. For people with amputation above the elbow or higher, most people choose not to wear a device at all because they're just not good enough to be carrying the weight around. They don't add enough function. So our goal is to restore function. To enhance the lives of people with limb loss.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Wow. It's incredible. Senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta here now with more on bionic technology. And it's true, we remember the bionic woman, the bionic man.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Was that the '70s?

COLLINS: It was. I loved it. But point being, some real improvements here in the real technology.

GUPTA: The real technology. And, you know, when you think about prosthesis, typically there's a motor, for example, in the joints. And, you know, you actually try to move it. It takes a couple of seconds before you actually have any movement. It's not very fluid. It's not very natural.

What they're so excited about here with this woman -- and there was a man before her, Jesse Sullivan, the first man, bionic man, if you will, who actually had this done. We're talking about the brain actually controlling the movement still.

COLLINS: Synopsis (ph)?

GUPTA: Yes, the synopsis (ph) from the brain going straight down the spinal cord to the nerves. I think I have an animation. Take a look at this. The nerves actually used to go to the arm are retained. And instead of being cut, they're actually taken and diverted into the chest muscle.

To say this, Heidi, let's say you want to move your left arm. You still think about it like you normally would. Instead of the arm moving right away, your chest muscle sort of contracts. That sends a signal to your arm and you can have all these various motions. Your arm can actually rotate. Your elbow can contract. You can turn your wrist and open and close your hand. Pretty remarkable stuff.

HARRIS: Well, I have to ask you, Claudia Mitchell is the first woman. Why has it taken so long for this procedure to be performed on women?

GUPTA: That's a good question. I guess the first man was -- you know, you have to be the perfect candidate for this. He actually was electrocuted and lost both of his arms. We're talking about people who are above elbow amputation, significant amputations who are also going to be good candidates for this procedure.

There was some concern, you know, actually because you're implanting all these electrodes (ph) into the chest wall. Women might be a little bit different in terms of the soft tissue. But it's pretty much -- it looks like it works and it's working pretty well.

Let me add this, too, because I think this is really neat. She still had some sensation as well. And you ask how that's possible. Well, if you actually are touching the chest wall where these nerves come in, she'll say, were you touching my left hand? Were you touching my arm?

COLLINS: We've heard of that before, though, a little bit with amputees, yes?

GUPTA: We have. And sometimes it can be bad pain. It can be sport of a phantom pain. But in this case it's actual touch, which is so important to have that touch component in addition to the motor component. It's not the actual prosthesis touching, but she can still feel things through her chest wall.

HARRIS: Yes. Are we talking about a real breakthrough here or are we talking about just the next level of advancement in this technology? And we're talking about arms at the shoulders now, can we be talking about -- I don't know, legs soon. What do you think? GUPTA: It is very much in the infancy still. We talk about this arm. You talk about anybody's arm. You have 22 discrete movements that you typically make in your arm. You don't even know what you're typically doing with your arm. But you have 22 different movements. She has about four. So does Jesse, as you see him there. They can sort of rotate their arms outwards, do a few things with their elbows and their wrists.

They've got a long way to go with this. It's very much in the infancy. But to actually, for an amputee, give them any kind of movement at all, as the doctor was saying, is a remarkable thing. And to do it with your own thinking . . .

HARRIS: Look at that. Yes.

COLLINS: It must take a really long time and a lot of hard work to get used to using the device.

HARRIS: Yes, very much so. And she talks a lot about that, as does Jesse. But it's so much easier, though, still, Heidi. I mean compared to before, you're still just thinking about it. And, you know, once you see that chest muscle contract, your arm starts to move. It's a pretty remarkable thing.

COLLINS: Well, great. We love noble advancement, don't we.

HARRIS: That's great.

GUPTA: (INAUDIBLE) kind of stories, yes.

COLLINS: I know you do, you doctor you.

All right, Sanjay, thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

COLLINS: Up next, we're going to be talking with Gerri Willis. She has some information about a little bit of a frightening trend here, child ID theft.

Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We're going to tell you how to protect your child's identity from myspace.com to after school programs. Big threats out there. Coming up next on "Top Tips."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You know, Heidi, as I recall, it's been a pretty good week on Wall Street. What's happening today, an hour into the trading day? The Dow down 34 points. But we do understand the Nasdaq is up 12. Check out today's trend with Susan Lisovicz just a little bit later in the hour. COLLINS: All right. Identity theft. This is something we're talking about today. A little bit surprising, in "Gerri's Top Tips," because we're not talking about adults. More and more it's happening to victims to young to even understand it. But parents, you can be their guardian angel against this threat. Here to explain more, CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis.

Gerri, this is certainly a little frightening.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is.

Hi there, Heidi. Good to see you.

Yes, if you're a parent, you really want to listen up here. Look, just because your six-year-old doesn't have a credit history doesn't make them safe from identity theft. You can be a victim of identity theft the second you have a Social Security number. Now if you're told your child doesn't have a credit report when you check it out, that is the good news. Remember, child ID theft can take years to uncover and that means the damage will build up over time, ruing your child's credit even before they hit college.

And, Heidi, I've got to tell you, I talked to somebody the other day who told me they recently checked their credit report for the first time. They found out somebody had opened a credit card in their name when they were 14.

COLLINS: Wow. Yes, you certainly wouldn't think to check their credit history, but certainly that's the number one tip today, check your children's credit report. I never would have thought of it.

And the second one, what can the schools do?

WILLIS: Well, look, if your kids want to participate in after school sports, they'll probably have to show a copy of their birth certificate or even a Social Security card. Now, as a parent, you want to put these papers in a sealed envelope, write your name across the sealed flap in colored ink. Give them the numbers and make sure that that thing isn't opened again. That way you can tell if the documents have been tampered with. It's all about keeping that information very close to the vest.

COLLINS: Next one might be kind of difficult these days, Gerri, try to keep them off the Internet. Not completely off, but certainly by giving personal information on line.

WILLIS: That's right. This is tough. Look, while ID thieves get a lot of their information from dumpster diving, the reality is they can troll the web, too. Make sure your children's profile on sites like MySpace or FaceBook doesn't have any sensitive information that could be a gold mine for ID thieves. This is a place they're looking for information, putting it together and then really hurting people.

COLLINS: Watch out for red flags. We've got marketers who are going after these kids in sort of unusual ways. Mailings and everything, huh?

WILLIS: OK. It's time to look at those marketing solicitations. I know you just want to toss them in the garbage. But if your six- year-old is getting Harley-Davidson catalogs, hey, you could have a problem.

Other red flags out there. Your kid is getting notices of traffic violations or bills sent in their name. I'm telling you, it happens all the time. You definitely want to catch that.

COLLINS: Yes, things that are certainly not fit for kids and normally they wouldn't be consumer stuff.

All right, Gerri, great information. And we always like to know what's coming up this weekend on "Open House."

WILLIS: "Open House" Saturday morning on CNN at 9:30 a.m. Eastern. And on "Headline News," if you can't get up that early, Saturday and Sunday at 5:30 p.m. We'll be talking about what you need to do if you want to sell your house. You know, after thanksgiving, Heidi, the housing market kind of slows down to a crawl. So we'll tell you everything you need to know about selling that house quickly.

And we have a really fun interview with fashion designer Betty Johnson. We went to her apartment right here in New York City. She's starting a new line of household goods. We took a look at that. But also how she lives every day. It was a ton of fun.

And, finally, space saver. Learn how to make the most of your garage in our weekend project.

HARRIS: Oh, good, good.

COLLINS: Sign me up. I'll watch both in the morning and at 5:30.

WILLIS: Oh, wow, Heidi, I love that.

COLLINS: OK. And my parents will, too. All right, Gerri, thanks so much.

HARRIS: That be a permanent item on my honey do list -- that garage. Do something with the garage.

Still to come, suspected Taliban militants in the cross-hairs, but no one pulled the trigger. Find out why in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Silver-haired, sharp-tongued, former Texas Governor Ann Richards remembered today. We'll talk with a Dallas reporter who new her very well, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Missed opportunity, or fighting the war on terror on higher ground? The Taliban targeted, then let off the hook. CNN's Jamie McIntyre has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The single video frame shows a large gathering of suspected Taliban militants in the crosshairs of a U.S. spy plane. Sitting ducks, except that no one pulled the trigger. The picture first surfaced on a Web log written by NBC News reporter Kerry Sanders in Afghanistan, who says the image was declassified at NBC's request.

According to what Sanders was told, the 190 Taliban members, including top leaders, were at a funeral. And Army officers frustration the group was not attacked. "Why?" he wrote, "Under the rules of engagement, the U.S. cannot bomb a cemetery."

Actually, military experts say the U.S. can bomb a cemetery in some circumstances.

JAMES CARAFANO, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Commanders on the ground usually have a degree of flexibility in terms of how they operate these rules of engagement. But, again, a rule of engagement, which essentially puts cultural and religious sites off limits, that's not unusual.

MCINTYRE: Initially the U.S. military refused to comment on the photo, say it should never have been released. In a later statement, the military says the shows a July gather of Taliban insurgents that it first considered a tactically viable enemy target, but then decided not to strike, because the group was on the grounds of a cemetery and were likely conducting a funeral for Taliban insurgents killed earlier in the day.

Another reason for caution, credible intelligence can be wrong, such as the time in 2002 when U.S. planes mistakenly bombed a wedding party in Afghanistan, killing several dozen civilians.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It could be a missed opportunity. It could be a disaster averted. Again, we have had both.

MCINTYRE: The statement noted that a suicide bomber attacked the funeral of an Afghan provincial governor Tuesday, killing innocent civilians, and it said the U.S. holds itself to a higher moral and ethical standard than its enemies.

(on camera): The statement seems to confirm that the U.S. did have a large group of Taliban in its sights and held its fire out of respect for the funeral. The statement says simply the decision was made not to strike this group of insurgents at that specific location in time.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And for a look at all sides of the news, watch "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT," and every weeknight, at 6:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

And quickly want to let you know about a couple of things going on in the near future. Live shot of the White House there. White House has confirmed to us Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf will be meeting with President George Bush at the White House. You see some pictures of him there. That will happen on September 22nd, according to the foreign ministry as well. We are also hearing from the White House that on September 26th, just a few days later, the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, will also meet with President Bush.

We're going to be talking about terror, indeed. That must be the case. And we will see what comes of it and keep our eye on it for you -- Tony.

HARRIS: Flamboyant and feisty, Ann Richards, the silver-haired, sharp-tongued former governor of Texas, remembered this morning. She died last night at age 73 after a battle with cancer, but her words live on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN RICHARDS, FMR. GOVERNOR OF TEXAS: Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.

After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did, she just did it backwards and in high heels.

I had such high expectations of myself. I was going to be the best mother, the best housewife, the best entertainer, the best nurse. You know, whatever it was, I was going to be the best. And I never could live up to my own expectations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And joining us live now from Austin, Texas, Wayne Slater. He's a senior political writer for the "Dallas Morning News." Wayne, good to see you.

WAYNE SLATER, "DALLAS MORNING NEWS": Good to be with you.

HARRIS: Hey, what are your thoughts this morning?

SLATER: Well, I mean, she was one of a kind. It was extraordinary covering her. I remember that electrifying speech to the 1988 Democratic National Convention. As soon as it was over, we went backstage, and she stood there with a couple of us and said, did I do OK? And I thought at the time, my gosh, your rocket is taking off and yet you were doing exactly what she just said, kind of asking herself, have I done enough, am I living up to what I need to do?

HARRIS: Wayne, take us back. How did she make this life happen? A child of the Depression, she finds her way into politics. Who provided the guidance? A couple questions. Who provided the guidance? What was the break and what was the gift?

SLATER: Well, I think part of the guidance was her father. She talked about being a young girl and keeping the window open in her upstairs bedroom and listening at night as the men gathered on the porch and talked about politics in Texas. And she got interested in Texas that way.

I think the break really was when she decided to run for county commissioner in Austin, Texas. And here she was, a woman in pretty much a male-dominated area, and she was very, very successful. She had to overcome some doubts. Some of the road crews, I remember, in Austin, these tough, good old boys, had a yellow dog here in Austin that they named Annie after her. And when she found out about it, she laughed like nobody's business. This was actually good.

The gift was this extraordinary gift of speech. She not only was funny, she was saying something besides being funny. She was talking about a government that offered things to other people, gave folks who needed a little help some help and opened government to people who had never been part of it before.

HARRIS: And she talked openly about her alcoholism. She quit drinking and smoking in 1980. We played it at the top of the segment. Let's do it again. This is Ann Richards talking about herself and living up to her own expectations and feeling somehow or another that perhaps she had fallen a bit short.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARDS: Poor George. He can't help it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: All right. Wait, that's not the byte I was talking about. You know the one that I'm referring to, where she's talking about her own expectations. What did she -- Ann Richards on Ann Richards?

SLATER: You know, she drove herself. She always wanted to do a little more. She felt, I think, the weight of being seen as a role model, especially among young women. And I remember one day here at the Capitol where she was preparing for a state visit of the Mexican President Salinas. She was handling the big logistics.

She walked into a news conference holding a needle, a knitting needle, or a sewing needle. And at the same time that she was planning the large themes and the large logistics of this state visit between a president of a neighboring country and the governor, she also noticed that the flag, the Mexican flag was unfurling -- was falling away from the stand. And she, the governor of Texas, was sewing it back on. She had to do everything.

HARRIS: In the final moments of her life -- I don't know when you talked to her last, but when you last talked to her, what was she talking about? Family, politics? What was she talking about?

SLATER: She was talking about two things. And it was about a month and a half ago. And, you know, she wanted to dismiss the sickness thing. She said, oh, sick is sick, you know, you go ahead and do things. She was committed, obviously, to her four children and her grandchildren. But she was also committed to something here in Austin, and it's the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders. It is part of the public school system that she's a part of and that she wants supported. It's going to open in 1990 -- or 2007. And she was looking forward to being there that day when the Ann Richards School opened in Austin.

HARRIS: Wow. Wayne Slater, senior political writer for the "Dallas Morning News." Wayne, thanks for your time. We appreciate it.

SLATER: Good to be with you.

HARRIS: Heidi.

COLLINS: Running for their lives. Students in Montreal escape a killer's crosshairs. New information out just this morning. Live to Dawson College, ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: China White. Kids think it's cool.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The high school kids and even the college kids are using it as a designer drug. And it's just a recreational drug to a lot of kids until they start dying. And they're dying. It's killing them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: It's a war on drugs. Its connection to the war on terror. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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COLLINS: I want to take you straight to the president here at Capitol Hill. Let's listen in.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: I thanked them for the House Armed Services Committee passing a very important piece of legislation in a bipartisan fashion that will give you the tools and wherewithal to protect this country. I reminded them that the most important job of government is to protect the homeland. And yesterday, they advanced an important piece of legislation to do just that. I'll continue to work with members of the Congress to get good legislation so we can do our duty. It's nice seeing you all. Thank you very much.

COLLINS: We have CNN's Kathleen Koch standing by to interpret a little bit more for us here.

But, Kathleen, we do know the president had gone to Capitol Hill, a little bit of an unusual move here, trying to talk with fellow Republicans about this very legislation that I believe he just said had moved forward. Can you give us the detail on this? KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, this, again, was a rare visit, as you mentioned, that President Bush was making to Capitol Hill to meet with House Republicans. That at the request of House Speaker Dennis Hastert for a variety of reasons. Obviously the midterm elections are less than eight weeks away, but the president was up there to push some very important pieces of legislation.

I just got out of a gaggle with White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, and what he really drove home the point on, was this legislation that would allow the secret CIA prison program to continue. He talked about how very important that was, faces a lot of opposition on Capitol Hill right now, in particular with a lot of very high level Republicans.

The -- Tony Snow said what the White House wants to do is to clarify something called article 3 of the Geneva Convention, that deals with how people are treated who are captured on a battlefield but are not in uniform. And what Snow says is the White House wants to clarify it to specify just what kinds of treatments are allowed to them. People up on the Hill, a lot of Republicans -- Senator John McCain, Senator Warner, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee, they oppose the White House proposal. They say that it would leave American service members open to possible torture, to possible mistreatment if they were ever to become prisoners.

And they also take issue with a couple of measures that the president wants that would allow these military commissions for the -- to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay, measures that would prohibit the detainees from seeing secret evidence being used against them, and would allow the admission of testimony that was obtained through coercion or what critics describe as torture. So a lot of back and forth on that in this meeting today -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, we also know that John Warner, of course, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is drafting some other legislation, alternative legislation to this. Can you remind us, Kathleen, a little bit about how different that will look?

KOCH: Well, that legislation, Heidi, as we speak is being marked up in the Senate Armed Services Committee, and what it would do is IT would remove some of these restrictions that they have problems with. It would allow prisoners, these defendants, in some way, shape or form, or perhaps their attorneys -- legislation, it hasn't been voted on yet -- but it would allow them some way of knowing what type of evidence is being used against them, even if it was classified evidence. It would also prohibit the admission of testimony that was obtained through something tantamount to torture. They simply feel that's wrong.

It's unclear now whether they're even going into this territory of exactly defining what article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, what it will or will not permit, so we will have to see what comes out of committee. A lot of deep disagreements. Tony Snow said they have been talking with these three top Republicans quite a bit about this and trying to work out some agreement. COLLINS: Those discussions going on as we speak. We know you'll be watching that for us.

And on the heels of that, we are also bringing this information to light just a few minutes ago, learning that Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is going to be coming to the White House to meet with President Bush. That will happen on Friday, next Friday, the 22nd.

Also, the following week, September 26th, the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, will also meet with the president. Quite a bit of meetings going on, and this is a positive sign, talking about terror, yes?

KOCH: Certainly, these are obviously two top allies in the war on terror, the president in Afghanistan, the president of Pakistan.

And then today it's important to note that the president is going to be meeting -- actually let me check my watch -- in about 12 minutes with the president of South Korea, who is here in Washington right now. Their relationship is described as cordial, but it is not described as warm. Obviously, the big sticking point between the United States and South Korea right now is the debate over how to handle North Korea, how to get it to come back to the nuclear- disarmament talks. South Korea believes in appeasement, in working with North Korea, its neighbor to the north. The United States says no, we will not have one-on-one direct talks with North Korea, they've got to come back to the six-party talks, the six-nation talks, and they've got to agree to abandon their nuclear program.

COLLINS: All right. Kathleen Koch standing outside the White House with the blow by blow, minute by minute, all the meetings happening today and everything else. Kathleen, thank you very much.

KOCH: You bet.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: It's called China White, and kids think it's cool.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The high school kids and even the college kids are using it as a designer drug. And it's just a recreational drug to a lot of kids until they start dying. And they're dying. It's killing them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: A war on drugs, its connection to the war on terror. You might be surprised. Ahead in the NEWSROOM.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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HARRIS: Angel of death: a Web site's reported description of a man authorities say opened fire at a Montreal college. One person was killed, 19 others wounded during the lunchtime spree. Police identified the shooter as Kimveer Gill. He published an online gallery. You're seeing some of the photos here. More than 50 of them can be found, showing him holding a semiautomatic rifle. Six of the 19 wounded victims remain in intensive care on life support. Police shot and killed the gunman. More details in a live report from Montreal, just minutes away.

COLLINS: Big catch in Baghdad. The military says it has nabbed a key al Qaeda figure. Want to go straight to the Pentagon, coming up on CNN NEWSROOM.

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