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Bush Declassifies Intelligence Report; Tension in Pentagon Over Troop Deployment; Intel Report on Iraq Could Be Released Later Today; Red Cross Reps To Meet With High-Level Terror Suspects; Child Slavery in Romania

Aired September 26, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live from the NEWSROOM in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CO-HOST: And I'm Don Lemon.

War of words over the intel leak. President Bush lashes out. Who sees classified reports? Are Americans getting the full story on our security?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I think the hospital is like a zoo. They live like animals all day in their cots. And that makes the children become physically and mentally damaged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Children for sale. Romania's dirty little secret exposed. Inside the institutions. One reporter's exclusive five- month investigation.

LEMON: Manhunt in North Carolina. She had a retaining order against her husband. Now he's accused of murdering her, and he is on the loose.

All these stories from the CNN NEWSROOM right now.

Well, forget the leaks, as President Bush concentrates on the key judgments. At a news conference today with the visiting president of Afghanistan, Mr. Bush attacked what he called a naive conclusion drawn from a major government report on the war on terror. So what's he plan to do about it?

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins us from the White House with some answers for us -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, President Bush actually made some news during this news conference earlier this afternoon. And you can bet the White House is not going to allow Democrats or the critics to shape this debate when it comes to the war on terror, national security.

President Bush announcing that he would allow for this National Intelligence Estimate to be declassified. A portion of it, called the key judgment, really executive summary, it's about eight or nine pages long, of which about a paragraph is devoted to Iraq. And that is the paragraph that the president and other White House officials say has been taken out of context and has not given the full picture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll stop all of the speculation, all of the politics, about somebody saying something about Iraq, you know, somebody trying to confuse the American people about the nature of this enemy.

And so John Negroponte, the DNI, is going to declassify the document as soon as possible, declassify the key judgments, for you to read yourself. And he'll do so in such a way that we'll be able to protect forces and methods of --that our intelligence community uses. And then everybody can draw their own conclusions about what the report says.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So what did the president agree with in this report, at least the leaked portions? He said yes, al Qaeda's become more defused, more independent and that they are using the Iraq war to recruit, these terrorist organizations, terror cells throughout the world.

But he vehemently said that the Iraq war was not a mistake, that he believes these terrorist groups are simply using the Iraq war as some sort of excuse. And Don, have to tell you, a really tense moment during this press conference when the president got a follow-up question from a reporter who said, well, what do you make of people who might think this is simply a political move on your part, to declassify the NIE? The president kind of brushed that aside.

But make no mistake, this White House, the president of course, they have used and made that political calculation before, that if they felt the full story was not out there, that they would go ahead and, as long as it didn't compromise sources and methods, go ahead and declassify former NIE documents.

It happened with the CIA secret interrogation program, which was just a couple months ago, and of course it happened in the lead up to the Iraq war, making the case for weapons of mass destruction -- Don.

LEMON: Suzanne, he also referred to what's being reported, some of what's being reported about this document as gossip, as well.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, another big meeting with Karzai and also Musharraf. Is that right?

MALVEAUX: Oh, yes, that's absolutely right. Tension between those two leaders. You saw Karzai today really trying to downplay it, but he absolutely believes that Pakistan's leader Pervez Musharraf, who was here just last week with President Bush, has been offering a safe haven for the Taliban over in Pakistan, allowing them to cross the border into Afghanistan, conduct these daily raids. Pakistan has denied that recently, made a deal with tribal elders to try to prevent that from happening. But there's still a lot of distrust between those two leaders and President Bush making a little bit light of the dinner, saying he's very interested in the body language between these two. And Karzai said, "I promise I'll be good."

But you never know, Don, it could be a food fight. We'll see.

LEMON: We shall see. Suzanne Malveaux, live at the White House. Thank you very much for that report.

And later today, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf will join Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM". That's at 4 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

PHILLIPS: Well, as the Afghan president at the White House, insurgents were on the attack. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the compound of a provincial governor in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 17 people. Among the dead, Muslim pilgrims wanting documents to travel to Mecca.

In another attack, just south of the Afghan capital, a NATO convoy hit a roadside bomb, killing an Italian soldier and an Afghan child.

Almost five years into the Afghan war, a CNN poll by Opinion Research Corporation shows Americans are almost evenly split. Fifty percent say they favor the war; 48 percent don't. At the time of the U.S. invasion, weeks after 9/11, nine Americans in 10 approved. Three years ago, the approval camp held a two-thirds majority.

Now they've been on guard in Iraq for 12 long months, and they're more than ready to pack their duffel bags. Instead, they're being ordered to stay.

CNN's Barbara Starr joins me now live from the Pentagon -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, some very tough news for some U.S. troops and their families.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): Thousands of Army soldiers will now stay on the front lines in Iraq longer than expected or go into combat sooner than planned. In Ramadi, where al Qaeda and insurgent attacks have raged, a brigade of the 1st Armored Division has been ordered to stay.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: From time to time there may be units that will be asked to increase the number of days in country from what had been anticipated. On the other hand, we're also bringing you some other units in earlier.

STARR: About 4,000 troops had expected to be home by January. But now they will stay so another unit from the 3rd Infantry Division will have at least 12 months back in Georgia with their families before they return to combat.

All of this is happening because the Pentagon has to find a way to keep up to 145,000 troops in Iraq through the spring of next year.

And about 4,000 troops from the 1st Cavalry Division in Texas will go to Baghdad 30 days early, beginning in late October. The Bush administration hopes that will allow soldiers from Alaska's 172nd Striker Brigade to return home, beginning by Thanksgiving. That unit was already extended and has suffered several casualties.

Army chief of staff General Peter Schoomaker now taking the unprecedented step of refusing to sign off on the Army's proposed budget, because he believes it doesn't have enough money for the badly worn out force.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld essentially playing it all down.

RUMSFELD: We've been in discussions with the Army for some weeks, just as we are with the other services.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Kyra, General Schoomaker really does believe that the Army needs billions of dollars in additional funding in the years ahead, especially because, of course, now no one is predicting when the troops will come home from Iraq and Afghanistan -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon. Thanks, Barbara.

Well, this weekend, CNN takes an unprecedented, up close look at Donald Rumsfeld. The defense secretary acknowledges some things haven't gone as expected in Iraq but challenges anybody who questions his planning. An exclusive interview, candid comments. That's "Rumsfeld, Man of War" only on CNN, Saturday and Sunday, 8 p.m. Eastern.

LEMON: We've got some breaking news for you coming out of Miami. It's at the Miami International Airport. Let's take a look at some of the video now. This is from our affiliate WSVN.

We're being told that a suspicious bag was found at a checkpoint. This checkpoint is at Concourse F. The bomb squad is checking out a carry-on bag -- and this is apparently video from WFOR, not WSVN. They're checking out -- the bomb squad, they're checking out a bag. A passenger who owns this bag is being questioned.

Again, it was a carry-on bag. It had gone through the screening machine, where something suspicious was detected. Concourses F and G have now been closed and passengers have been evacuated outside the terminals.

This is news happening right now in Miami at the Miami International Airport. We will update you on this story if it warrants it, during this broadcast. PHILLIPS: Got it. All right, a safe haven becomes a crime scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Does everybody in this town know where that shelter is? Really?

JIMMY ASHE, SHERIFF, JACKSON COUNTY, N.C.: No, I wouldn't say so. The longer that a location is in existence, then, of course, the more well known it becomes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A victim of abuse is now dead, and the hunt is on for her husband who stands accused. Ahead in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: And another round in the trial of Saddam Hussein. Did he survive today's session without getting the boot? You'll see, right here from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Here in the CNN NEWSROOM, what you're watching now are live pictures coming in from the Miami, Florida, the Miami, Florida, international airport, where apparently a suspicious bag has prompted evacuations of two terminals there, terminals F and G. Passengers evacuated outside of the terminals. You're looking at some of those passengers walking there. You can see it cordoned off.

This is live pictures coming in from our affiliate in Florida, WFOR. We're working the story from our Miami bureau and all of our sources in Miami and across the nation. We'll keep you updated on this story in this broadcast -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Murder in the shelter. A week and a day after a battered wife was shot dead in North Carolina, her husband and suspected killer is still on the run.

CNN's Rusty Dornin has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After her husband allegedly beat and choked her earlier this month, Bonnie Woodring decided she'd had enough, so she took out a restraining order, took her 13-year-old son and fled to a women's domestic violence shelter here in Silva, North Carolina.

But days later, police say, her husband, John "Woody" Woodring, tracked her down at the shelter, forced his way in, and shot and killed her. Now the 35-year-old Woodring, a former Marine and ex-con with a history of domestic violence, is on the run.

ASHE: I would say there's a community panic. And as the search continues and the days go by, I think a lot of people are concerned that he still could be in the area.

DORNIN: This little town nestled in the Smoky Mountains is in shock. Bonnie Woodring was a well-loved nurse at the local hospital. Woody was studying at the local college, ironically, to be a counselor. But in their well-kept house on the hill, the Woodring family showed signs of strain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ever since they got married, he was just a real jealous type.

DORNIN: Now Bonnie's family is terrified Woodring will come after them. This close relative didn't even want her name or real voice used.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, of course, everybody's scared, you know, family and even Bonnie's close friends, co-workers, anybody.

DORNIN: Before her death, Bonnie sensed she was in serious trouble. In the restraining order just filed two weeks ago, she wrote, "When I attempted to leave, he choked me twice. He also threatens to kill me if I ever left him."

Bonnie apparently trusted that she would be safe in the shelter, a location that was supposed to be secret.

(on camera) Does everybody in this town know where that shelter is, really?

ASHE: No, I wouldn't say so. The longer that a location is in existence, then, of course, the more well known it becomes.

DORNIN (voice-over): Jean Bockstahler is director of the shelter.

(on camera) He was able to just open the door?

JEAN BOCKSTAHLER, REACH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER: It was when the shelter person was coming out.

DORNIN: A shelter person was coming out, and he was able to force his way in...

BOCKSTAHLER: Right.

DORNIN: ... by pointing his gun?

BOCKSTAHLER: Right.

DORNIN: ... hit the panic button?

BOCKSTAHLER: No, that's as much as I'm able to really say.

DORNIN (voice-over): Words that chilled the hearts of many abuse victims and the people who try to protect them.

ASHE: When you're dealing with an individual that is as determined as Woodring has shown himself to be and with such a twisted obsession, that it becomes very difficult to safeguard them completely.

DORNIN: Rusty Dornin, CNN, Silva, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: We're just getting, actually, an update to the story right now. It's just coming across that Knoxville police are saying that they did find a car there in the North Carolina area. They believe it is the car driven by the suspect that they are looking for in this situation. They said it was found last night near a greyhound bus station downtown, Knoxville.

Once again, police are looking for John Raymond Woodring who they, of course, are believed has been involved in going to this battered women's shelter where his wife Bonnie and their 13-year-old son were staying.

The police at this point saying they have located a car they do believe belongs to that suspect. We're getting that information right now across the wires. We'll keep you updated.

And don't forget: "PAUL ZAHN NOW" will also continue to follow developments in this story. Weeknights at p.m. Eastern, 5 Pacific.

LEMON: What on earth could motivate a mother to sell her child? Coming up in the NEWSROOM, disturbing reports from Romania. Thousands of children at risk.

PHILLIPS: Zeroing in on a killer bug. Health detectives find a link between two bags of bad spinach. We'll have details straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Separated by state, but not by date, plant and shipped. E. Coli detectives trace two contaminated bags of Dole baby spinach, one found in New Mexico, and one in Utah. Turns out both were processed at a natural selection plant in San Juan Batista, California, on August 15 during the same shift.

Now an aggressive search to figure out what else went through that plant on that date.

So far, 175 cases of E. coli have been linked to the outbreak in 25 states. About two dozen cases are still awaiting confirmation. But health experts think we're seeing the tail end of that outbreak.

And just a short time ago, we learned that a third bag of E. Coli contaminated spinach has turned up, this one in Pennsylvania. Again, it was packaged as Dole baby spinach. We're waiting to find out whether it was processed at the same plant as those other tainted bags.

PHILLIPS: It's a big day of reckoning for two former executives whose names have become synonymous with corporate scandal. Cheryl Casone joins me live from the New York Stock Exchange with some developing news. I've been listening to it all morning on the radio until I got into work, Cheryl.

CHERYL CASONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi there, Kyra.

Well, actually, this is just coming in now. Andrew Fastow, let's start with him first. He is the former chief financial officer of Enron. He has just been sensed to six years in prison. He could have gotten as many as 10 years.

Remember, he, you know, cut the plea deal with prosecutors. And he pleaded guilty. And then he helped convict his bosses, Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, for their part in Enron's bankruptcy, in their collapse in 2001.

Now as part of that plea deal, Fastow agreed to serve up to 10 years in prison. But according to wire service reports, A.P., Reuters both saying he was granted some measure of leniency by the judge just now.

Now before he was sentenced, he did get an earful from victims of his misdeeds. Kyra, Fastow had to listen to former Enron employees, shareholders and customers who were hurt by this scandal.

PHILLIPS: But Fastow isn't the only former executive facing the music today.

CASONE: He has. This is really the day of reckoning, like you said. I mean, I don't know about you, but I can't help but look back at Dennis Kozlowski, the CEO of Tyco. And remember that $2 million birthday party in Sardinia? Just -- there's so many things, looking back over the last five years. We've really come a long way.

But today, we're seeing some closure to a couple of these stories.

Now let's go to Bernie Ebbers, he was another one of the poster children for corporate greed. He is beginning his 25-year prison sentence today. He was convicted a year and a half ago for his role in the $11 billion accounting fraud that brought down that company.

Ebbers had built it, if you remember, from a tiny telecom firm back in Mississippi into an industry giant before it collapsed into bankruptcy back in 2002.

Now there's really no word yet on whether he's going to serve his sentence at a prison in his home state of Mississippi or if he's going to serve that in Louisiana.

Kyra, one thing about Bernie Ebbers; he's got heart trouble. He's 65. So that 25-year term, basically in effect, could be a life sentence for him.

PHILLIPS: Well, we have seen what this type of investigation and fallout can affect these guys on Wall Street. Remember the last case, the heart trouble, while inside that jail cell.

Well, let's talk about what else is happening on Wall Street this afternoon.

(STOCK REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Cheryl, thanks so much.

LEMON: Not so fast, Mr. Clinton. Secretary of State Rice fires back at the former president and his angry accusations. Details straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Plus, once held in secret CIA prisons, now at the U.S. prison in Gitmo. Fourteen high-value terror suspects, their first meetings with the Red Cross. That story straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. We want to update you on some developing news we told you about coming from Miami, Florida.

Miami, Florida -- Miami International Airport, two gates were shut down there. Security evaluated a bag, a couple of bags, that they thought had some electronics in it that looked suspicious.

The situation now, we're told, is over. They checked the bags out. Everything checks out. Everyone is being allowed back into the terminal. Again, everything is OK. Everyone let back in. But obviously some delays today.

PHILLIPS: A former president, a current cabinet member, trading shots over the war on terror. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice fires back at Clinton after Clinton's remarks to FOX News, that President Bush had eight months to get Osama bin Laden before 9/11 but didn't even try.

Rice tells the "New York Post", and we quote, "What we did in the eight months was at least as aggressive as what the Clinton administration did in the preceding years. We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al Qaeda."

She was then asked, "So you're saying Bill Clinton is a liar?"

Her response, "No, I'm just saying that look, there was a lot of passion in that interview."

Clinton says he did leave a comprehensive anti-terror strategy for his successor.

LEMON: Still no reliable word on the life or death or health or whereabouts of Osama bin laden, but if he's not dead now, he will be some day and then what? CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To understand what al Qaeda must be like after Osama bin Laden, you must listen to Mohsen al-Awajy. He was a Saudi extremist who spent time in jail. Now he's a lawyer, trying to convince al Qaeda's fugitives to give themselves up.

MOHSEN AL-AWAJY, SAUDI LAWYER: I saw -- some of them during a dialogue, but what would happen if Osama bin laden is captured or killed, they lost their, you know, I would say, concentration -- no, please don't say this. Because for them it would be the end.

ROBERTSON: Osama bin Laden, always larger than life, creating his own cult of personality, demanding from his followers biat (ph) or personal allegiance, not to al Qaeda or his deputies, but to him.

For example, the now dead Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was more than a year into his bloody Iraqi killing spree before he gave bin Laden his oath of loyalty. Only then did bin Laden anoint him as his man in Iraq.

NAWAF OBAID, SAUDI SECURITY CONSULTANT: We do see that him and three or four of the people around him still really hold the main reins of the big attacks, of the big planning.

ROBERTSON: But Obaid believes bin Laden's ideology may be larger than the man.

OBAID: This will not end al Qaeda. This will continue certain groups which are attached, claim to be al Qaeda. They will continue to operate independently as they do today.

ROBERTSON: Groups like the Madrid train bombers in 2004 who killed more than 180 people, and the London bus and underground train bombers who killed 52 people in July 2005.

Jamal Khalifa married bin Laden sister, fought alongside him against the Soviets in Afghanistan, quit when bin Laden formed al Qaeda.

JAMAL KHALIFA, BIN LADEN'S BROTHER-IN-LAW: The problem here, it is an ideology. So if any person in the war on terror think that this war against group or network is 100-person strong.

ROBERTSON: Wrong, because it won't be bin Laden's lieutenant, but an increasingly radicalized ideology that will drive al Qaeda if bin Laden dies.

KHALID BATARFI, BIN LADEN'S CHILDHOOD FRIEND: It will be a disaster, it will be something that might motivate radicalism. And with the fate, his followers or even possible followers will become followers. And it became a fear. It would become a fair and he'd become a saint.

ROBERTSON (on camera): Whatever the analysis of a post-bin Laden era now, it is impossible to know the final chapter until it is clear how he died and how his followers viewed it. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And look for more of Nic Robertson's reports weeknights on "ANDERSON COOPER 360," 10:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

PHILLIPS: A story that we've been following since yesterday, and that is part of that 5-month-old classified intelligence report that was leaked to the media. If you remember, we were talking about it throughout the day yesterday. It has fueled a lot of debate on Capitol Hill over the progress of the United States war on terrorism, specifically in Iraq.

And a lot of questions today, whether the public, all of us, would be able to see exactly what was leaked and that entire report. We're now getting word that a spokesperson from the director of national intelligence is working to release portions of this report -- of this document. And post it on DNI's Web site. You're seeing it right here, it's www.DNI.gov.

Once again, we are getting information now coming from the office, sources within there, saying that the leaked portion of this national intelligence estimate concluding the Iraq war has worsened the terrorist threat, will now be available online. Not sure how much of it, what exact portions of that. We'll stay in touch and bring you the latest as we get it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMAD MAJEED AL-KHALEFA, CHIEF JUDGE (through translator): You are defendant and I'm a judge. You have to respect the courts. We should not allow you to speak. The court decided to remove defendant Saddam. Shut up, no one's allowed to speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Critics of this process are calling it a circus. The chief judge right there says he's heard enough and he orders a defiant Saddam Hussein out of court again. It's the third time in a week the deposed Iraqi leader has been ejected from his second trial. He and six others are accused of killing about 180,000 Iraqi Kurds with poison gas in the late 1980s. After today's session, the trial was adjourned for two weeks.

LEMON: Once held in secret CIA prison, now at the U.S. prison in Gitmo, 14 high-value terror suspects, their first meetings with the Red Cross are coming up soon. The story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: What on earth could motivate a mother to sell her child? Coming up from the NEWSROOM, disturbing reports from Romania, thousands of children at risk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: More now on a story we brought you yesterday. Red Cross reps are in Cuba to talk with what President Bush says are the worst of the worst: 14 terror suspects who were transferred from secret CIA prisons, the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Joining us now in Washington with his expertise, International Red Cross spokesman Simon Schorno. Simon, I know there's a lot you can't talk about and you can't get real specific due to legalities of this.

But what can you tell me about the representatives that will be there? Will they actually sit down and have conversations and be face-to-face with these high-level terror suspects?

SIMON SCHORNO, INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS SPOKESMAN: Yes, that's what we do, when we visit Guantanamo and all detention places we visit around the world. So we will meet those 14 people if they want to talk to us. We're not forcing them to talk to us of course. But if they do want to speak to us, we will meet with them in private, without any witnesses, with our own translators, and allow them to express anything they feel the Red Cross should know about and should be aware of. We might have some questions for them as well. But we certainly...

PHILLIPS: ... What kind of questions would you ask? I'm just curious. Can you give me a couple examples of what you would be interested in asking?

SCHORNO: Well first of all this is not an interrogation by the International Red Cross. It's really a way for the detainee to be able to share with outsiders any concerns he might have had about his detention, any claims to possible ill treatment or any expression about his conditions of detention and those are questions we ask. We are concerned with the conditions of detention and treatment of detainees. And that's what we monitor, so that's what we focus on. But the detainee can address a number of issues.

PHILLIPS: Do you ask them any questions about why they do what they do? Do you get to that aspect at all?

SCHORNO: No, we don't, because we're not concerned with that as strange as it might seem. Again what concerns us is the present for the detainee, what the present is made of. And we don't look into the causes of his behavior, the roots of his behavior or the acts he might have committed. That's not our role.

PHILLIPS: So obviously, it's classified. You can't release the information you retain. What do you do with it?

SCHORNO: We choose not to release it. The ICRC works confidentially with the authorities and that's the way we favor and we use this material -- we use this information for our own understanding of the detention system and of Guantanamo. And we share reports, we share observations with the authorities on a confidential basis.

PHILLIPS: Let's say -- I'm just playing devil's advocate. Let's say they're not treating these terror suspects -- they're torturing them, they're showing them no respect. You find out that it's just a despicable situation. What do you do?

And then let me ask you the other side of that question, what if you find out that everything -- they're treated with the utmost respect, all their rights are taken care of, they are not mistreated in any way. Do you do anything to push the positive side?

SCHORNO: Well, we certainly maintain a dialogue on the conditions and on the facility at Guantanamo with the authorities all the time. So if there are no problems, certainly, you know, we will note that. And we will share that with the authorities, that our understanding, our comprehension of the detention place, is positive.

And that is not a problem for us. We're not there to denounce or to antagonize the authorities. We're there to make sure that detainees are treated according to international standards. And that's what we do.

PHILLIPS: What if one of these suspects decided to confess to you a horrible crime?

SCHORNO: Yes?

PHILLIPS: What would you do?

SCHORNO: By confessing -- I mean, I'm not quite sure what you mean...

PHILLIPS: Let's say through this questioning, they felt very comfortable with one of your representatives, and said, you know what, I've been in here, I've been thinking about what I've done. This is not what I truly believe in. I understand the entire picture now. I want to confess that I was involved with 9/11. This is the planning that I did. I want to turn over this person and this person. I want to come clean. What would you do?

SCHORNO: Right. Well, we would have to assess that if it happens. Usually it does not because the detainees -- we explain to them what our role is and why we're there. And they pretty much instinctively know what to talk about with us.

So it does not usually happen. If it were to happen, we would assess it. And if there was information that could lead to telling the authorities about potential terrorist attacks, certainly we would consider that and act accordingly. But, again, these are not the situations we usually face when speaking with detainees.

PHILLIPS: Now Simon, I understand you're going to be able to deliver messages from these detainees to family members, to loved ones. Are they verbal messages? Are they letters? Are they -- can you tell me what kind of correspondence it is, and how do you get that to family members, and will that be censored at all?

SCHORNO: Sure. What we provide the detainees with the possibility to do is to exchange what's called Red Cross Messages. And those are very simple written messages, forms, that the detainees can use to send greetings to their families. And the families can send those messages back.

And all the messages are checked, are given to the authorities after the detainee writes the message. They're given to the authorities for censorship. So anything that comes out or goes in is censored by the authorities. And we deliver, ourselves, the messages to the families in the countries concerned.

PHILLIPS: So you feel confident no secret codes would be able to leave Guantanamo and get into another country via this correspondence?

SCHORNO: Yes, because, again, all those messages are checked very carefully by the authorities, and we trust the work of the authorities in that regard.

PHILLIPS: International Red Cross spokesman Simon Schorno, appreciate your time today.

SCHORNO: Thank you.

LEMON: In the late '80s, the collapse of communism in Romania exposed a byproduct, a brutal byproduct, of Nicolae Ceausescu's regime. Government bans on birth control along with grinding poverty meant tens of thousands of children abandoned to state-run orphanages in conditions beyond horrific. More than 15 years later, Romania's unwanted children still suffer in unimaginable ways, some sold off to anyone with the means to pay.

Chris Rogers with Britain's ITV news went undercover to find out more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS ROGERS, ITV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): International adoption was banned here to stop pedophiles and sex traffickers from preying on what were effectively child supermarkets. It hasn't worked.

Cameraman Tony Hemmings (ph) and I are posing as married men looking for a child each. Tony's hidden camera will film our undercover shopping trip.

With shocking ease and speed we meet our first child for sale.

(on camera): Leave a message for my wife, yes?

(voice-over): We pretend to film a home video to make a record of our prized finds.

She's told to smile for the camera. How many times has she been paraded as an object to buy?

(on camera): This is Andrea, she's 3 years old, and her mother has said she would like it if we took her away to give her a better life, an education.

Hello, Hi, I'm Chris. (voice-over): And another message for my fictional wife. We can buy an unborn baby.

(on camera): Seven months' pregnant?

OK. So we've just been brought here and by another mother in the village who has introduced us to Adina (ph). She's 18. Her family has decided they don't want to have another baby, and they're willing to sell the baby to us, if we come back in a few months' time to make sure the baby's healthy.

How much money would she want for her baby? How much does she think it's worth?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (speaking in Romanian)

ROGERS (voice-over): "I pray that God blesses my daughter's child with good health," she says, "then we can receive your money. When it's born, we'll talk money."

Of course, we have no intention of coming back. If Adina doesn't sell her baby and can't afford to keep it, it's likely she'll leave her child in the hospital. The authorities are supposed to send unwanted babies to local foster families.

But that is not happening here. The authorities claim only three babies have been held in this hospital. The footage, filmed recently by charity, to prove there are in fact 80. A nurse who works here believes babies have been held back from the foster system by parents and social workers to be sold on.

To find out if they really are for sale, we tracked down the mother of one of the abandoned babies. Eva has five children, but only one is for sale, the three month-old in the hospital, who should be under the care of her local authority.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (speaking in Romanian)

ROGERS: "You can take her," she says, "I haven't signed papers for fostering. She is the most beautiful of my children. You will like her. She has blue eyes like you."

(on camera): What would she expect for her child? I need to know.

(voice-over): Eva says the money she receives from Americans for another daughter bought her house. "I was paid in cash," she says.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's telling us to name the price. She's telling us to name the price.

ROGERS (on camera): Well, certainly, there's been talk of $20,000, U.S., exchanging hands. But maybe we should say $10,000, U.S., for a child.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would be prepared to pay $10,000 U.S. for one child.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $10,000 would be okay.

ROGERS: Sold, a three month-old baby, for the price of a new car.

(voice-over): We never returned to give Eva her money. If we had been genuine buyers, it would have been easy to take the children across the border. As we entered Hungary, our cars and passports were not checked. And this even before Romania joins the borderless E.U. Like thousands of mothers, Eva will now be waiting for the next buyer, whoever they are, whatever their motives.

Chris Rogers, ITV News, Romania.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Certainly tough to watch that. Heartbreaking, appalling, contemptible, yes, yes, and maybe -- coming up later on in the NEWSROOM, a closer look at Romania's foster system and why any other alternative may look better to a desperate parent.

PHILLIPS: I'm going to get a chance to talk with Chris Rogers. The reporter also is going to join us later with more on this story. A couple things, just to let our viewers know, he says journalists are banned from getting in there and talking about this story because the government wants to cover it up. They don't want people to know how bad it is.

And also, he's going to talk about why these women continue to get pregnant and this problem continues, even when they know what's happening in this country. So we'll have a great discussion. There's also a lot of ways you can get involved and help as well.

LEMON: We're getting a lot of questions, we'll get a lot of questions from our viewers, I'm sure, about this story. So you can check out, the website is www.romainianchild.org. And it is an umbrella organization connected to dozens of charities that provide assistance.

PHILLIPS: Political news is straight ahead. Our George Allen's own words again being used against him. The Republican senator strongly denies alleged racial slurs from his college days. We've got it covered, from the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: All right. And it's 0 for an 0. You won't see Oprah Winfrey on a 2008 presidential ticket, but if she has her way, there may be another 0 in the running. Details straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Would you want your career to hinge on something you may or may not have said 30 years ago? What if you're a senator and the remarks in question are racially offensive? That's the latest controversy dogging George Allen, Republican of Virginia, six weeks before election day.

CNN international -- or national correspondent, Bob Franken, has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Senator George Allen seems to be hit on a daily basis with charges that he is not ethnically sensitive.

The most recent one comes from former football teammates with him at the University of Virginia, who say that he used the ultimate racial slur. Quoting one of them, Allen said, "He came to Virginia because he wanted to play football in a place where blacks knew their place. He used the N-word on a regular basis back then."

Allen was quick to deny that.

SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R), VIRGINIA: I have never -- I don't understand why I would ever use such a word and I don't remember ever using it. And, again, for them to assert that that was part of my vocabulary is absolutely false.

FRANKEN: Senator Allen's opponent, James Webb, the Democrat, is saying very little about this. And most political experts say there's really no reason to when Senator Allen seems to be doing himself harm.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, heads or tails? Two state office seekers in Alaska tied at the ballot box after a recount and a court case went nowhere. So Alaska resorted to a coin toss -- why not? -- with a specially-minted coin to decide which Democrat will run in Statehouse District 37. Carl Moses has held that seat since 1932, but yesterday his luck ran out. The new Democratic nominee, Bryce Edgmon, calls his unorthodox win "overwhelming." Any bets on November?

Well, make sure you get your daily dose of political news from CNN's new political ticker. Just go to CNN.com/ticker.

LEMON: Just say O? Oprah Winfrey. Do we really need the Winfrey part? Oprah would like to see an O on the next presidential ticket, but not her own O. She says a Kansas city man who is promoting her candidacy should back a certain Illinois senator instead. And here's what she told our very own Larry King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: Any comment on this movement to make you president?

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: Is there a movement?

KING: This guy's got a movement. WINFREY: I don't know if that's a movement or not. What...

KING: He's got a Web site.

WINFREY: You know what I would say to him? I would say take your energy and put it in Barack Obama. That's what I would...

KING: Is that your favorite guy?

WINFREY: That would be my favorite guy. So I would -- I'm going to call -- I tried to call this guy, Mr. Mann (ph), the other day. Mr. Mann, what's his...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's Crow (ph).

WINFREY: Mr. Crow (ph) the other day in Kansas City. Because my attorneys had sent him a letter and they should not have sent that -- you know how...

KING: He can do whatever he wants.

WINFREY: But you know how attorneys are. They just -- well, cease and desist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very legal-ese.

WINFREY: Yes. So I didn't appreciate that my attorneys did that.

KING: Are you still a Illinoisan?

WINFREY: Yes.

KING: So even though you have a home in California?

WINFREY: Yes, I'm very much an Illinoisan.

KING: So Senator Obama is your senator.

WINFREY: He is my senator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, there you go. And tonight at 9:00 p.m. on "LARRY KING LIVE," Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer, he was there when her son died. And he talks to Larry in his first interview since. That's tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

Getting back to the Oprah thing, it's very interesting, because living in Chicago, a lot of people say they never see Oprah in Chicago. You know, she has a home in California. But she said she is an Illinoisan and she's supporting Barack Obama. Rising, rising star, very fast.

PHILLIPS: We started talking about Barack Obama probably a couple years ago, I remember. And a lot of our political analysts were saying, watch him, he's going to be our rising star. And it will be interesting to see how far he goes.

LEMON: Well, to make -- quickly, what's amazing about him is, even in Chicago, when he first started, a lot of people didn't believe in him because he ran against a state senator who was very popular. And people said -- and he lost by a very narrow margin. But people didn't support him because he ran against this person that they didn't think he should run against, and then all of a sudden, you know...

PHILLIPS: And his trip to Africa...

LEMON: (INAUDIBLE) from Africa recently...

PHILLIPS: Showed his heat, showed his history.

LEMON: Also, he's in Iowa, so...

PHILLIPS: We're watching it.

LEMON: We will see.

PHILLIPS: All right, straight ahead, they were left homeless, left behind, until now. Hundreds of four-legged refugees rescued and relocated thousands of miles away.

LEMON: And we'll talk to the man who led those efforts, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips from the CNN NEWSROOM right here in Atlanta, Georgia.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the hospital is like a zoo. They live like animals all day in their cots, and that makes the children become physically and mentally damaged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Romania's dirty little secret exposed. Thousands of children at risk.

PHILLIPS: This hour from the NEWSROOM, children for sale. I'll talk with the reporter who spent five months on this exclusive investigation.

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