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Confronting Muqtada al-Sadr; British Government Weighs in on 'Big Brother' Controversy; Authorities in Missouri Believe Michael Devlin Kidnapped Two Boys And May Have Kidnapped Others
Aired January 19, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Kyra Phillips.
It has been 30 years since they took the helm at the White House. today, they sat down with our own Wolf Blitzer. Wolf joins us live with more on his chat with former President Jimmy Carter and former Vice President Walter Mondale.
LEMON: And aren't you just the tiniest relieved that British reality TV -- it's a show there taking the heat this time? "Big Brother" causes a big ruckus in the U.K. Even government officials are weighing in on this one.
WHITFIELD: And on the edge -- a controversial shooting at the U.S.-Mexico border erupts into an issue that has the president speaking out.
You're in the NEWSROOM.
Right now, the Associated Press is reporting that an F-16 fighter jet with the California National Guard has crashed near a remote area in Eastern California, near Owens Lake. The pilot apparently ejected. The condition of the pilot is unknown.
In fact, the identity of the pilot is unknown right now, according to the military, and the cause of the crash also unknown. They continue to investigate why the pilot in this F-16 had to eject, and, consequently, the aircraft then crashing -- more on that when we get it.
LEMON: And, in Iraq, the capture of an aide to powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr offers a test for Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki and his pledge to challenge Shiite militias.
Al-Sadr's spokesman was seized overnight in Baghdad, as militias reported being under siege by U.S. and Iraqi forces. Well, until now, al-Maliki has been seen as going easy, if not giving free rein, to Shiite militias and so-called death squads, some of whose leaders form his base of support.
Well, confronting al-Sadr is a tricky proposition in the best of times, but it may now be unavoidable, or it may not. From Baghdad, here is CNN's Cal Perry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAL PERRY, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Sadr City, home to two million Iraqis, most of them poor Shiites, and most of them loyal to the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. He has long been a thorn in the side of U.S. forces here. And it's his Mahdi army, a militia of some 7,000 men, that is in day-to-day control of the city, not the Iraqi police, not the Iraqi army, and not American soldiers.
U.S. commanders say, if the new plan for Baghdad is to succeed, that has to change.
GENERAL GEORGE CASEY, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCE IN IRAQ: The prime minister is quite clear, and, as the ambassador mentioned in his opening statement, that militia will not be allowed to be an alternative to the state or to provide and then take on local security around the country. They won't do that.
And he also was very clear to both the Iraqi security forces and the coalition forces that we should target anyone who breaks the law, regardless of their political or sectarian affiliations.
PERRY; Technically, the Mahdi army is an illegal militia. So, are U.S. and Iraqi forces about to take on the largest and best organized militia in the country, as they try to reclaim Baghdad? Perhaps not.
CNN is hold that Sadr, himself, has put the word out: Let the Americans in. Don't fight -- his strategy, patience, wait until U.S. forces are gone.
CNN spoke to a cleric inside Sadr City, one familiar with Sadr's orders and the Mahdi militia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mahdi army, they have order now, because they are popular, people people, normal people.
They don't have guns or bases for training or bases for the guns or these things. But scholars, the ulema, the wisdoms people, they told all the al-Sadr movement, all the Iraqi people, don't have any reaction against these crazy people, against these terrorists. You know the American soldiers are a terrorist. They are killers.
PERRY: U.S. forces may not focus on Sadr City, concentrating, instead, on neighborhoods where Sunni are strongest, and the sectarian warfare bloodiest. So, Iraqi forces may take the lead in Sadr City.
(on camera): Mid-level U.S. commanders tell CNN, they expect the Iraqi group that enters Sadr City to be largely Kurdish, but that there will be a U.S. presence on the ground, in their words, to make sure things go as well as possible.
(voice-over): Three years ago, in the city of Najaf, U.S. forces confronted the Mahdi militia in running battles that killed dozens of people, as they tried to arrest Muqtada al-Sadr. Now U.S. officials say Sadr is an Iraqi problem.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: When I say the Iraqis have to deal with Sadr, I mean they have to deal both with the violence he causes and with the political problem that he causes. But I do think that it is best done as an Iraqi responsibility, because of the nature of the problem.
PERRY: In the battle for hearts and minds of the millions of poor Shiites that live in this sprawling slum, the Mahdi army is changing, casting itself as not just a militia, but also as a grassroots organization that delivers services and protection.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We call it army in Arabic language (SPEAKING ARABIC), and that is the problem with the translation. It is not a real army. It's like an association, any education, any association doing a service. What we do, we organize the roads when there is no police traffic there. We keep the peace between the people.
PERRY: Which may make the Mahdi army even more entrenched in Sadr City, as a state that delivers within a state that doesn't.
Cal Perry, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And Defense Secretary Robert Gates touched down unannounced in Iraq today again. In his second trip there in less than a month, Gates met with a host of military commanders, including the head of the British contingent in Basra.
Now, echoing President Bush, Gates says failures in Iraq is not an option. Gates returns to Washington this evening, and is to brief President Bush tomorrow, along with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who toured the Middle East this week.
WHITFIELD: Two Border Patrol agents are sentenced to prison. The drug dealer they chased into Mexico is free. And the pressure for a presidential pardon for the agents is growing.
Here is CNN's Casey Wian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a sight supporters of former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean hoped they would never see, two brave men dedicated to securing the nation's southern border ripped from their wives, six young children, and other grieving family members.
IGNACIO RAMOS, FORMER BORDER PATROL AGENT: And I have to be strong for my kids. They're all I have got.
JOE LOYA, FATHER-IN-LAW OF IGNACIO RAMOS: It's just heartbreaking. It's been a nightmare for 22 months.
WIAN: They began serving 11- and 12-year prison sentences for pursuing, shooting and wounding a Mexican drug smuggler, and not properly reporting the incident.
REP. TED POE (R), TEXAS: Altercation on the Texas border, a drug dealer trying to escape with 700 pounds of drugs, a million dollars worth of drugs -- he flees from law enforcement. They try to stop him. There is a scuffle. Shots are exchanged. The border agents don't know whether they shot the offender or not, because he escapes back to Mexico.
And the next thing they know is, the federal government now gets involved. They chose the enemy, the drug dealer, gave him immunity, as I already said, gave him immunity a second time after he picked up another drug case, comes in and testifies against our border agents. And, today, they're going to prison.
REP. DANA ROHRABACHER (R), CALIFORNIA: Today is a day of infamy and disgrace. The policy set down by this president is sending the defenders of our borders to prison, while rewarding illegal alien drug smugglers.
Shame on you, President Bush. You have betrayed us and our defenders.
REP. BRIAN BILBRAY (R), CALIFORNIA: This is an example of the lack of perception of just how out of control our frontier is, that, if the administration or anybody in Washington doesn't believe that these agents and every agent that's working down the border are in a battle zone, then, they have to look at what's happening on the other side of the border, where police officers and prosecutors are being murdered and killed week by week.
WIAN: Federal Judge Kathleen Cardone denied the agents' request to remain free on bond while their convictions are appealed. In her ruling, she found no exceptional reason exists to allow the agents to remain free, despite the facts that three jurors now say they were coerced into voting guilty, that federal prosecutors did not oppose the motion for continued bail, and that the agents' families are in financial and emotional ruin.
Scores of lawmakers and 250,000 Americans are demanding a presidential pardon. President Bush now faces a full-scale revolt from members of his own party.
REP. TOM TANCREDO (R), COLORADO: ... that, over the Christmas break, the president of the United States pardoned 18 felons. Five of those people were drug dealers. Five drug dealers pardoned at Christmas, but we cannot even get a response to the letters we have sent asking him to pardon the Border Patrol agents. What greater example of where this president's priorities are than that?
REP. WALTER JONES (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Well, Mr. President, look at your poll ratings. They will soon be less than 20 percent. Certainly, Iraq is one factor, but another factor is the fact that you do not care about protecting our borders and our heroes who try to arrest a drug smuggler.
Mr. President, I hope tonight, as you sit with your wife watching TV, that maybe you will see the faces and the families of these two men as they enter federal prison, and you have done nothing about it.
WIAN: Supporters and the agents say they will continue to fight, even from prison.
Casey Wian, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Earlier today, President Bush was asked about a pardon for the former border agents. Here is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Law enforcement have no stronger support than me.
There are standards that need to be met in law enforcement. And, according to a jury of their peers, these officers violated some standards. I -- on this case, people need to take a hard look at the facts, that -- the evidence that the jury looked at, as well as a judge.
And I will -- that's -- I will do the same thing. Now, there's a process for pardons. I mean, it's -- and it's got to work its way through a system here in government. And -- but I just want people to take a sober look at the reality. And, you know, it's a case, as you said, it has got a lot of emotions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Lou Dobbs has been tracking this story from the beginning. He will have more on the president's remarks tonight at 6:00 Eastern on "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT."
LEMON: And this just into the CNN NEWSROOM -- that hotel fire that killed 12 on October 31, Halloween night, 2006, the woman accused in that has pleaded guilty to all charges. It's a deal that would allow her to avoid the death penalty. That woman is 47-year-old Valerie Moore.
She was a casino cook, and she had been charged with 12 counts of murder and one count of arson for setting that fire to a mattress there on Halloween night. Folks in the hotel said they saw her arguing. And, then, she apparently came back and set this fire. That's according to prosecutors.
Thirty-one people were also injured in this blaze. But the woman accused in this fire Halloween night in Reno, Nevada, has pleaded guilty to all charges. And she will -- she will avoid the death penalty in this.
This is what she will probably get. Sentencing is set for March, but she will face life without parole for each of the 12 murder charges, and five to 15 years in state prison, and a felony arson recommendation charge on that -- more to come. WHITFIELD: Charged in two kidnappings, now a potential suspect in two more -- police in Missouri look at other missing-boy cases, with Michael Devlin in mind -- details straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Is a big mouth on "Big Brother" about to get buttoned?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER BAZALGETTE, CHAIRMAN, ENDEMOL: You can infer what you wish from the remarks made. We have examined them very carefully. And we cannot state, with absolute certainty, that the motivation behind the comments was racist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Ahead in the NEWSROOM: The British government weighs in on a reality show controversy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: More than 20,000 troops have been wounded in the fight for Iraq, some of them severely. And they don't suffer alone. Their family's lives are often ripped apart for months, even years.
But one organization is working to make things a bit easier.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: When an IED, an improvised explosive device, blew up under Sergeant Brian Fountaine's Humvee back in June, his injuries were devastating. He had to fight to stay alive.
SERGEANT BRIAN FOUNTAINE, WOUNDED IN IRAQ: You can see my driver screaming, my gunner just, you know, freaking out and you see me laying there, with pools of blood forming on the bottom side of my legs.
You just kind of sit there, and you're like, all right, I have got a choice. I can either sit here, lay back and die, or I can save myself. Well, I chose the latter.
O'BRIEN: Today, he is still fighting to recover. Just 24 years old, Brian lost both legs. They have been amputated below the knee.
FOUNTAINE: They might have took from me, you know, a physical part of my body, but they will never take from me the fighting spirit.
O'BRIEN: Now it is an excruciating battle to get better. It was made worse for Brian, who was separated from his family and his girlfriend while being treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
FOUNTAINE: Everything hurts my back. O'BRIEN: Now Fountaine is being helped by the Fisher House, a non-profit organization in D.C. Ken Fisher is chairman of the foundation, which provides homes for families and loved ones of hospitalized military personnel and veterans.
KEN FISHER, CHAIRMAN, FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION: Our troops today don't make policy. They're out there to do a job, and that is to defend this nation. And Fisher House Foundation is there to support them and their families, because, quite frankly, the need is there.
O'BRIEN: More than 21,000 American soldiers have been wounded in combat in Iraq. Ken Fisher says, these homes away from home are crucial to a soldier's recovery.
FISHER: It's not just having a place to sleep, but it's also having people to help you. So, it's the support network that forms in the houses, which is a byproduct of the foundation.
O'BRIEN: Brian lives free of charge at the Fisher House with his girlfriend, Mary Long.
MARY LONG, GIRLFRIEND OF BRIAN FOUNTAINE: Just not having to worry, being able just to be here and see for my own eyes that he's walking, see for my own eyes that he's getting better, that this problem is going away. I'm so grateful for it.
FOUNTAINE: When I first started walking, one of the first things that I did was, I took her up and I held her hand. And, for the first time since we started dating, I was able to just walk down the hall and hold her hand at the same time. You know, as other people might take that for granted, that was huge. That was huge.
Soledad O'Brien, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, CNN is supporting the good work of the Fisher House Foundation. This is Warrior One, one of the vehicles seen and used to cover the war in Iraq.
After a complete makeover, complements of the TLC program "Overhaulin'," Warrior One will be auctioned off tomorrow, with all the proceeds going to the Fisher House Foundation.
And you can find out more information on the Hummer One at CNN.com. Just go to CNN.com/warriorone.
WHITFIELD: In the meantime, I know we're starting to sound like a broken record, because it's really cold out there, and it's very chilly and stormy. Well, folks are bracing for yet another weekend to maybe stay indoors or try to brace for the cold temperatures that are heading their way.
Reynolds Wolf is in the Weather Center.
Reynolds, poor folks in the midsection, particularly, right? REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, absolutely, yes, right back in the same place.
We're talking about the usual suspects, parts of -- of Texas, back into Oklahoma. Heavy snow is going to be a possibility. But, at this hour, we're also seeing some scattered snow showers in Upstate New York, back into Pennsylvania, as well, mainly lake effect action at this time.
Meanwhile, as we make our way back into the Central and Southern Plains, here it is. It's this big area of low pressure, got a lot of moisture that is coming in from the Gulf of Mexico -- so, along I-25, north of Las Cruces, back over to Albuquerque, we're seeing some snowfall there, also some near Amarillo and Lubbock.
And, in Oklahoma, for the time being, it is just rain, just rain for now. But, as we make our way into tomorrow, we're expecting some snowfall to develop, all because of this big system. And, as it continues to churn all that moist air up into parts of the Plains, and we have got that cold air coming in right behind it, the snow could really begin to pile up, especially in parts of New Mexico and west Texas, where snowfall totals could exceed a feet -- a foot, rather -- 12 inches, a foot -- in some places, especially south of Amarillo and Lubbock.
However, when you get into Oklahoma, it gets very interesting. There are some spots, again, as we have been telling you throughout the day, that are still clogged up with ice. They don't -- they're without power, still thousands of people without power, places like, for example, just to the east of Oklahoma City, south of Tulsa.
Now, they are not going to be getting a foot of snow, but one to three inches of -- of -- of snowfall, on top of the ice they have in places like Krebs, Oklahoma, or even McAlester. They don't want to deal with a single snowflake. But, with snow in the forecast, and so many people trying desperately to stay warm, that's not good news for them whatsoever.
But that is certainly the way it should pan out, as we make our way over the next 12 to 24 to 48 hours. Certainly, a place you want to try to avoid would be parts of Oklahoma City. Let's keep our fingers crossed for those people trying to battle the cold -- back to you.
WHITFIELD: And, Reynolds, meantime, we talked about how windy it was in parts of Europe. And I understand we have got some pretty frightening video of...
LEMON: Oh, my goodness.
WHITFIELD: Whoa. That plane coming in for a landing...
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: You know, there is really no -- no happy seat on a plane like that. WHITFIELD: No.
WOLF: You know? It's -- this is part of that storm system -- not what you're seeing there -- but these planes trying to battle these crosswinds, trying to land.
They had that strong system that was just churning right along parts of the...
WHITFIELD: Wow.
LEMON: Goodness.
WOLF: ... the English Channel. You see the breezy conditions there in London. Got up to a Category 2 hurricane-force.
WHITFIELD: That is crazy.
WOLF: Now, it wasn't a hurricane, but had hurricane-force winds, and certainly...
LEMON: That is unbelievable.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: ... caused some headaches.
WHITFIELD: But you know what? That's one heck of a pilot.
WOLF: Yes.
LEMON: Have you ever been on a plane that has done that wind- gust landing?
WHITFIELD: Not like that.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: If I did, I don't want to know about it.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEMON: It happened to me once...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: ... going into La Guardia. And you know how La Guardia...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: ... that short runway going right over...
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEMON: ... Flushing Bay -- very, very scary. Whew. WHITFIELD: It is. It is, indeed.
All right. Well, that was scary, too.
LEMON: That is.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Is a big mouth on "Big Brother" about to get buttoned?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAZALGETTE: You can infer what you wish from the remarks made. We have examined them very carefully. And we cannot state, with absolute certainty, that the motivation behind the comments was racist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Ahead in the NEWSROOM: The British government weighs in on a reality show controversy. You don't want to miss that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Reality TV, brutality TV, not just in this country -- there's a big bother over "Big Brother" in the United Kingdom. And it's got the Brits in a snit.
What has got London talking and all of the U.K. watching Channel 4 tonight?
Well, Let's ask CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh -- Alphonso.
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
We are outside Channel 4 studios. That is the British broadcaster of the British version of "Big Brother," the reality TV show that has been the subject of so much controversy here, controversy over allegations of racial abuse between members in the "Big Brother" house.
The show is getting started in just a few minutes. And, in less than an hour, we will find out which one of two contestants who are up for eviction, well, which one will stay and which one will go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry.
VAN MARSH: When Jade Goody, the "Big Brother" contestant accused of racially harassing Indian contestant Shilpa Shetty, apologized to the Bollywood star Thursday, the reality TV train wreck over race appeared to be headed on a track towards reconciliation.
On Friday, the British public determines the resolution. Following "Big Brother" programming format, the public gets to vote either Goody or Shetty off the program. And Britain's finance minister, who has been dogged by the controversy while traveling in India, wouldn't tell reporters who he would vote for.
GORDON BROWN, BRITISH FINANCE MINISTER: A vote for Britain is a vote for tolerance and fairness.
VAN MARSH: Reportedly, neither of the "Big Brother" contestants have any idea of the international attention this year's "Big Brother" has gotten. Tens of thousands of voters are expected to call or text in, no surprise, given Britain's broadcasting regulator has already logged a record number of complaints over the program.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shut up.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... out and outlaw...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shut up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I won't shut up. You shut up.
VAN MARSH: Bollywood star Shetty has been a target of vicious tirades from Goody and other "Big Brother" contestants. They have mocked her Indian accent, her name, and her country.
But the program's producers say they have reviewed the arguments, and say they won't pull the plug on "Big Brother," despite the show's main sponsor pulling its support.
PETER BAZALGETTE, CHAIRMAN, ENDEMOL: You can infer what you wish from the remarks made. We have examined them very carefully. And we cannot state, with absolute certainty, that the motivation behind the comments was racist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It wasn't.
VAN MARSH: If the public votes to oust Goody, the government of India is offering a consolation prize. In an ad running in the British press, the Indian Tourism Office invites Goody to Shetty's home country to -- quote -- "experience the healing nature of India."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAN MARSH: Now, because of the controversy, Channel 4 and the show's producers are breaking with tradition. They have decided not to allow members of the public to be outside the "Big Brother" house when whomever is evicted comes out of the home, they say, because of concerns for security.
WHITFIELD: And, so, Alphonso, what is the conventional wisdom? Who do folks think will be kicked out, evicted?
VAN MARSH: Well, it depends on who you talk to. Those who are supporting the Bollywood actress, there is a big, big, huge Asian community here.
Many of them will be hitting their text phones and phoning in, to be sure that the other person is evicted. Now, at that same time, there are many people here that support Jade. A lot of people, they may not agree with what she is saying, but they are saying she is one of their own.
She is a British national. They want to see a British person win this show. And many of those folks will be going to their phones, texting in, messaging in, to be sure that...
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.
VAN MARSH: .... the Bollywood actress, Ms. Shetty, is actually evicted.
I mean, everybody is talking about...
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Everybody is talking about it.
VAN MARSH: You go to the watercooler, you go down the street, you go to McDonald's, everybody is talking about this. The -- it's high drama for television and what many people think is just kind of ordinary TV, or even, you know, navel-gazing television.
WHITFIELD: Uh-huh.
VAN MARSH: People are talking about this. It's brought the whole issue of racism to the national agenda.
WHITFIELD: They are losing their hats, as they say, over this reality TV. Alfonso Van Marsh, thanks so much.
LEMON: A blast from the past in more ways than one. Wolf Blitzer sits down with some former White House occupants. An ex-V.P. sounds off about the current one. That's next in the CNN NEWSROOM. .
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The African country of Mali, one of the poorest places in the world, life expectancy is only 48 years. But to Judy Lorimer, Mali is a place of hope.
JUDY LORIMER, VOLUNTEER, SAVE THE CHILDREN: It just shows you that, you know, you can make a difference, even if it's just a little the at a time. When they started, literacy rates were only about 20 percent. Now, 69 percent of the kids in the district are in school.
VELSHI: The drumbeat of Africa began calling more than a decade ago while Lorimer was a kindergarten teacher in a Boston suburb.
LORIMER: I started taking down some drum classes because of a course that I had taken called Africa Through The Arts, and after I started dancing, I decided to go to Senegal in '95 to learn more about the culture there and it just sort it took off.
VELSHI: Lorimer was soon making regular trips to Mali. The trips inspired her to sponsor a child from the country and it changed her retirement plans.
LORIMER: I knew that I wanted to do some volunteer work for Save the Children. They had built classrooms in nearly all of the 205 villages in the Kolondieba District, so I offered to go in 2004 as a volunteer and they accepted.
VELSHI: Lorimer spends much of her time raising money in the United States for the school building and she goes to Mali twice a year to check on the progress.
LORIMER: They can build a school in under three months for under $25,000, including furniture. Oprah spent $40 million on the school for 152 kids and that would build 1,600 three-block classrooms in Mali! I think what Oprah is doing great, but $40 million is a little excessive when you can build a school for $25,000.
Ali Velshi, CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I'm sure you've heard this before: If you can't say something nice, well, presidents and vice presidents usually don't say anything at all about the people who succeed them in office, but wait until you hear what Walter Mondale said about Dick Cheney.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer interviewed Mondale and former President Jimmy Carter today. He joins us from "THE SITUATION ROOM" with a preview.
Wolf, it sounds very interesting.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: They were both very blunt. This is the 30th anniversary of Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale taking office. Tomorrow it will be exactly 30 years since the four years started of the Carter-Mondale administration.
I had a chance to speak with them at length earlier today, and the vice president -- the former vice president, Walter Mondale, was, as you point out, Don, very critical of the current vice president, Dick Cheney, at one point saying he seems to have stepped across the line that we thought was important at this time, namely that the vice president is an advisor, not in his words, sort of like "a deputy president or a prime minister or anything along those lines."
He was pretty tough, and both of them also said one of the greatest things that they thought their four years accomplished was that they both were willing to work within the law -- implied criticism of this current administration.
Listen, Don, to the former president, Jimmy Carter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obviously, I can't change the character of the president. I don't want to comment on that. But, obviously, what needs to be done is to reassess some of the mistakes that have been made that are patently obvious to everyone -- the violation of basic law, some of which Mr. Mondale and I passed, that is getting the judicial approval before you start spying on American people.
There seems to be some acknowledgment in the last few hours, as a matter of fact, that they violated a law there and the basic elements of the Constitution, to reassert America's status in the entire world as a champion of human rights instead of a foremost violator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: There is no doubt that it's very rare to hear a former president, a former vice president, speaking out critically of a current sitting president and a sitting vice president, but that's what happens in this interview.
We go on to talk about the war in Iraq. Former President Carter saying it's very appropriate for the Congress right now to use the so- called power of the purse to try to tamp down, stop this war, go into the Jimmy Carter controversial book which he refers to -- the book entitled "Palestine Peace, Not Apartheid."
We go through all of that and we also go through the 30-year legacy of the Carter administration, so it's a wide-ranging interview. I think our viewers will find it very interesting.
LEMON: Yes, and you sort of answered my question. I was going to ask you about the rarity of all this, of someone criticizing someone who's already in office.
But another topic. I know that you're going to Scottsdale tomorrow for the Warrior One auction. What do you think it will go for? A lot of money, hopefully?
BLITZER: I hope it goes for a ton of money because all the proceeds will go to the Fisher Houses, all these houses around the country that help our wounded U.S. military personnel get through very, very difficult times with their families so I'm really looking forward to this assignment, going out there and trying to encourage all those who have gathered for this auction to come up with as much cash as they possibly can.
They're going to get a great Hummer in the process with a lot of history there, but all of the proceeds go to an extremely important cause so I'm just happy that CNN asked me to go out there and show the flag, be there and encourage everyone to go ahead and raise the ante and come up with a lot of money.
LEMON: It's good that you're going there. Are you going just to show your support or are you going to do any reporting from there, Wolf?
BLITZER: No, I'm going there just to show the flag, to show my personal support for this. This is a great, great cause and I want to be there and I'm looking forward to it. It's not a hardship assignment and I'm more than happy to do it.
LEMON: Wolf Blitzer, thank you very much. We look forward to your interview tonight. Safe travels going to Scottsdale, and you can see Wolf Blitzer's full interview with former President Carter and former Vice President Mondale later today in CNN's "SITUATION ROOM."
WHITFIELD: Purdue University is being turned upside down for a student missing almost a week now. 19-year-old Wade Steffey was last seen leaving a frat house Saturday, January 13th. Yesterday, more than 500 people joined police to help search the campus and nearby grounds in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Police say a $50 ATM withdrawal was made from Steffey's bank account last Friday night before he vanished. His cell phone was last used about 12:30 Saturday morning.
In the meantime, Michael Devlin told a judge he is not guilty, but authorities in Missouri strongly believe Devlin kidnapped two boys and may have kidnapped others.
CNN's Jonathan Freed takes us back 19 years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scott Kleeschulte was 9 years old when he disappeared in Saint Charles, Missouri, a Saint Louis suburb.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have never been able to put his picture out yet. And that -- it's just -- that would be too hard.
FREED: Scott's family has been searching for him, for any answers at all, for 19 years.
The hardest part?
RICHARD KLEESCHULTE, FATHER OF SCOTT KLEESCHULTE: Not knowing, is he still out there, or, if he's not, what -- what did happen? We would -- we would like to have a closure, one way or the other.
FREED: Saint Charles police haven't stopped working on that. And that's why they are going interview Michael Devlin, the man accused of kidnapping 13-year-old Ben Ownby last week, and 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck more than four years ago. The two boys were found at Devlin's apartment last Friday in nearby Kirkwood.
At his arraignment in the Ownby case today, Devlin pleaded not guilty. However, the prosecutor in the case said Devlin confessed to kidnapping the boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Mr. Devlin was taken into custody, he did confess that he had kidnapped Ben Ownby from Franklin County.
FREED: Devlin's attorneys did not comment on that or about investigations into whether Devlin is linked to other cases of missing children. And they have not returned calls seeking comment.
They did say intense media attention to the case would make it hard for Devlin to get a fair trial.
The judge said Devlin would face 30 years to life if convicted in the Ownby case alone. Saint Charles police say Devlin has been living too close to their community to ignore him as a possible suspect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going do everything we can. We're going to cross our Ts and dot our Is to get to the bottom of if Devlin is involved or not with our case.
FREED: Saint Charles is the latest police department to look for possible links between Devlin and unsolved missing-children cases.
Up the road, in Lincoln County, investigators say the details of Shawn Hornbeck's disappearance resemble the Arlin Henderson case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please let him go, he's all I got.
FREED: Like Hornbeck, Henderson was 11 years old when he vanished in 1991. And the two boys were both slight with close- cropped hair.
(on camera): Arlin Henderson was last known to be on this stretch of Chantilly (ph) Road in Lincoln County. He was just riding his bike, and he disappeared. They found his bike a couple of months later about two miles away.
(voice-over): Shawn Hornbeck was also last seen riding a bike on a rural road.
LIEUTENANT RICK HARRELL, LINCOLN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Well, I think it's common sense. And it's good -- good law enforcement. If they develop a suspect in the -- in the region that fits a -- a certain profile of a case that we have had since 1991, then, we are going to look back into our archives.
Scott Kleeschulte's family doesn't even know what Scott looks like today, if this age-progression image even comes close. But they refuse to give up looking for him, and say, if Shawn Hornbeck could eventually come home:
KLEESCHULTE: Down deep, I -- I -- I think there is hope. I mean, this just proves you can't give up. And I have just got a gut feeling that something might come out of this.
Jonathan Freed, CNN, St. Charles, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So one chapter ends and another begins. Shawn Hornbeck and his family must somehow now find a way to put the past behind them and heal. No easy task, indeed. But this is an amazing family. Hear what they have to say about that tonight at 9:00 Eastern on LARRY KING LIVE.
LEMON: And we have a happy ending to tell you about. A little girl has been found, an Oklahoma 10-year-old as an Amber Alert is called off. Her name is Marisa Marie Graham and she has been found in New Mexico.
She is in police custody waiting to be returned to her family. Investigators aren't releasing any other information about it but the little girl was last seen in the city of Texahoma in Texas County, Oklahoma, around 6:30 last night. An Amber Alert was issued today. She has been found.
WHITFIELD: Well, how about this? How would you like to go to the Super Bowl and see your own commercial during the game? Up next, you'll see who just might be able to make that happen.
LEMON: Wouldn't that be cool?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A historic find in the Georgia archives -- one that herald the birth of a nation. What you're about to see is believed to be one of the 13 original copies of the Declaration of Independence. This one just coming to light again.
Georgia archivists say it was sent to the state in 1777 and over the years bound and rebound in books along with other documents. Apparently the last book was labeled something completely different and filed in a vault.
An archivist recently stumbled onto it while scouring the microfilm catalog. It goes on display at the state Capitol library, February 12th, Georgia Day.
LEMON: How cool is that?
WHITFIELD: It's incredible.
LEMON: Unbelievable. OK.
Let's move on to a different subject. Struggling with weight is a common problem for many Americans, but now researchers have uncovered an intriguing new angle in the weight loss war.
Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains in this week's "Fit Nation."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Laura Brown shocked herself when she became an award winning tri- athlete.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now for the fun part.
GUPTA: Victoria Stagg-Elliot was surprised to find she loved and excelled at ice skating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And yes. Get it there and lift it.
GUPTA: Both are unexpected athletes. Once so obese their lives were at risk.
LAURA BROWN, STRUGGLING WITH WEIGHT: By the time I was 28, 270 pounds, I remember walking into malls and stores and I would look down at the ground because I didn't want to look up and see somebody looking at me with disgust on their face.
VICTORIA STAGG ELLIOT, STRUGGLING WITH WEIGHT: Ten years ago, I couldn't climb a flight of stairs without feeling like I was dying. I had to sit down.
GUPTA: And they have something else in common. They're both lesbians. Researchers are finding a link between sexual orientation and a woman weight.
DR. DEBORAH AARON, EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGIST: There were significant differences between lesbians and heterosexual women.
GUPTA: Epidemiologist Deborah Aaron says recent studies show lesbians are more likely to be overweight or even obese. As for why, Aaron speculates it may be stress, feeling discrimination, some may overeat. That was Laura Brown's explanation.
BROWN: I got depressed, I'd eat and then I'd gain weight and then I be depressed, so I would eat to feel better.
GUPTA: Others suggest gay women are more comfortable with the bigger bodies than straight women.
LORI, LAURA'S PARTNER: She was gorgeous then and she's just as pretty now. She didn't believe that. But it didn't change one way or the other for me. I still love her as much as I did the first day.
GUPTA: Scientists want to do more studies targeting gay populations. In the meanwhile, Victoria Stagg Elliot says everyone can be healthier if they find a passion as she has.
STAGG ELLIOT: The best exercise or playing or whatever you want to do is something you enjoy and you want to keep doing.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: How about this? Still on the topic of sports. How would you like to go to the Super Bowl? And, of course, we all watch the commercials but how would you like to create your own commercial? And it runs during the Super Bowl. Pretty awesome, right?
LEMON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Some ideas, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK
WHITFIELD: Super Bowl ads, they are in a league of their own -- super creative, super entertaining and almost as eagerly awaited as it is game itself. But have you ever seen one and say I can do better? This is your year, apparently.
CNN's Jacki Schechner shows us how.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With Super Bowl ads running up to $2.6 million a pop, leaving one to the amateurs would be hugely a faith.
Turns out, some of America's top companies are willing to take the plunge. Chevy and the NFL asked consumers to submit ad ideas and sent the best one off to be produced by the pros. But Doritos truly let the chips fall where they may.
The company posted some rules and regulations on its web site: keep it clean, keep it to 30 seconds, but other than that, you make it, we like it, we'll air it.
(on camera): They picked five finalists and our showcasing them on Doritos.com. It will be up to America to pick who scores on Super Bowl Sunday. The grand prize winners ad will be the second commercial after the kickoff right after the Budweiser spot.
(voice-over): Each of the five finalists gets a trip to Miami to attend a private Super Bowl party and $10,000 which translates into roughly $2,857 bags of Doritos!
Jacki Schechner, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: I don't know if it works but suddenly I'm craving tortilla chips. OK, gigolo alert, Forbes.com is naming the richest women in showbiz. And let's just say, Mr. Judge Judy better keep a close eye on his beloved. Love it!
WHITFIELD: Plus the closing bell and a wrap of the action on Wall Street straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FIELD:: Pay attention. A talk show titan and sorceress with words and a lifestyle guru, those women now share another glittering title -- richest women in entertainment. As ranked by "Forbes" magazine, Oprah Winfrey tops the list, no surprise there, right?
With a fortune estimated $1.5 billion. Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling is second with a billion. Martha Stewart's troubles, apparently behind her. She's happy now. Forbes figures she is worth $638. Madonna, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Lopez round out the top 10.
And lucky number three? Well, that would be Judge Judy, of course.
The closing bell.
What are you laughing at?
LEMON: The music. "If I Had a Million Dollars." What is wrong with you?
WHITFIELD: You're not laughing with a bank wad (ph), they are, right?
LEMON: I was kind of hating. I was like...
WHITFIELD: OK. All right. Well, let's check in with Susan Lisovicz.
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