Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Combat Zone Crime?; NASA Astronaut Lisa Nowak Back in Houston; Ted Haggard Resurfaces; Insurance Companies Cut Coverage of Small Accidents

Aired February 07, 2007 - 13:59   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 today for Kyra Phillips.

Allegations of money laundering, bribery and fraud in a war zone. Charges against members of the U.S. military and military contractors in Iraq due to be announced this hour.

LEMON: Also, a little more than two weeks and now five U.S. soldiers down in Iraq. We'll have details on that latest crash.

WHITFIELD: And NASA plans a psychological evaluation on arrested astronaut Lisa Nowak. And we'll hear from a sex therapist on possible reasons behind Nowak's alleged actions.

You're in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: It is the top of the hour. Graft (ph), bribery, money laundering and bid-rigging in Iraq -- the Justice Department will be announcing these charges against a few members of the U.S. military and contractors any minute now. And CNN's Brianna Keilar is following developments live in Washington.

It should happen soon, right, Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don. We're waiting any minute now.

Five people -- this is what we're expecting to hear soon -- five people have been charged. This includes military personnel who have served in Iraq, as well as contractors who have served in Iraq. And these are the latest criminal charges to come down in connection to the fraudulent use of money in Iraq, money that was supposed to go toward reconstruction efforts.

Now, it's particularly interesting here as these charges go as high as an Army reserve colonel. This is a man named Curtis Whiteford (ph). In 2003, he was on active duty in Iraq. And actually, he was the second in command of the Coalition Provisional Authority's south central.

The Coalition Provisional Authority, of course, the U.S.-led government at that time. And it was divided into three geographical regions. He was number two in one of those three regions.

Ahead of this announcement that we're expecting any time now, we have the first 10 pages of the indictment here, and the charges include conspiracy, bribery, interstate transport of stolen property, bulk cash smuggling, money laundering, and also charges relating to the presentation of a false and fraudulent return. These charges came down in Trenton, New Jersey. These are federal charges, of course. And officials familiar with this case say they came down because of an investigation involving many agencies that began in October -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Brianna Keilar.

We will monitor this news conference. And as soon as it happens we'll bring it to you.

Thanks again.

WHITFIELD: And now out of Texas, a broad smile lights up her official NASA photo, but Lisa Nowak hid her face today as she flew home to Houston after her bizarre journey to Florida. The astronaut accused of trying to kidnap and kill a romantic rival is being checked by doctors now.

Here's CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lisa Nowak arrived here in Houston this morning on a flight, a commercial flight from Orlando to Houston. Remember, she drove to Orlando, according to authorities there.

When she arrived here in Houston, she did not come out through the terminal of the airport. She was whisked away down the escalators, or down the stairs on to a ramp, the tarmac, where she was escorted by Houston police. And we've been told by officials here in NASA, just south of Houston, that Lisa Nowak is here now meeting and undergoing a physical and a psychological evaluation.

Officials won't say anything beyond that, but they will confirm that she is here undergoing those evaluations. They won't get into any more details as to exactly what that entails.

And we haven't heard from her family or many people near her other than what some people have been saying, that they are completely shocked by all of this, at least at the very initial developments here. Many people unaware of exactly what was going on. That might change, of course, in the coming days.

But we do know that Lisa Nowak here in Houston undergoing psychological and physical evaluations now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And at the top of the hour, 3:00 p.m. Eastern, NASA says it will be holding a press conference out of Houston concerning the Lisa Nowak case. We'll be carrying that live for you. Meantime, friends, family and fellow astronauts are dumfounded. They say the Lisa Nowak they know is not the woman arrested in Florida this week and charged with attempted murder. Here's how sex educator Dr. Laura Berman put it in her discussion with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. LAURA BERMAN, SEX EDUCATOR: Certainly, many people harbor fantasies of getting rid of the person that is standing in the way of their love interest, but very few of them actually carry out such a drastic plan as this woman did.

So, I think what we're looking at is someone who is definitely not mentally stable in the here and now. Whether she was mentally stable when she went up in the space shuttle, I'm sure she was. But something happened between then and now to cause her to have some sort of breakdown.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": Well, clearly, too, this has been going on for a while. I mean, if they separated three -- three weeks ago, yet, two months ago, the woman that Nowak was after, Ms. Shipman, filed a restraining order, basically, or...

BERMAN: Right.

COOPER: ... or got a restraining order against her -- she said she had been stalked for the past two months.

What kind of a person stalks somebody?

BERMAN: Well, that's really interesting to me, because stalking usually occurs because someone is broken up with -- you know, because -- it -- it involves delusions or imagining things are different than they are.

And, so, if Lisa was stalking this person who was competing for her love interest, that seems a little strange to me, only because she was very clear, at least in the interviews that I read, that she is not in a relationship with this man, that they are friends, that they're not romantically involved.

And, usually, when someone's a stalker, they really do believe that this person is in their life, that they're in a relationship. They have delusions about the nature of that relationship. And, at least in the little bit I read, it didn't seem like she was delusional in that regard. So...

COOPER: But it's interesting. She described the nature of her relationship with this astronaut, the male astronaut, as more than a working relationship, but less than a romantic relationship.

BERMAN: Right. Right.

COOPER: They -- I don't get that.

BERMAN: Well, she probably was harboring romantic feelings for him. There might have been a bit of flirtation, but it had never been, you know, clear, or -- I mean, that's what was promising to me that she is not a stalking, because she was able to recognize that she's not in a relationship with this man, that he doesn't secretly love her, that they're not meant to be together, necessarily, that she saw him, perhaps, as someone who she wanted to be in a relationship with, and this other woman stood in the way of that, potentially.

COOPER: Nevertheless, though, to -- to go to the extent of...

BERMAN: Right.

COOPER: Whatever...

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: To drive across the country in diapers...

(LAUGHTER)

COOPER: Right. Yes. I mean, that's...

BERMAN: ... you know, with weapons, is extreme.

COOPER: Yes.

And that's -- I mean, when you first hear that she drove across the country in diapers, I mean, that's just sort of one of those details...

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: Yes.

COOPER: ... that makes you think...

BERMAN: It's shocking.

COOPER: ... what the heck is going on with her?

BERMAN: Right.

And you can't say it's a passion -- you know, a crime of passion, because there was such significant premeditation, and she had the whole drive across the country to cool down. So, there was a potential for her to cool down.

So, we can't say that it was a crime of passion. And I don't feel that we can comfortably say that it was a stalking situation. It probably was more that she had some sort of mental breakdown, or some sort of emotional break, at some point between the time she entered the space program and now, which led her to be susceptible to this kind of really bizarre and destructive behavior.

That's not the nature of a happy, healthy, emotionally stable person.

COOPER: And, certainly, the pictures of her today in court did not -- it did not look like a healthy woman, or a woman...

BERMAN: No.

COOPER: ... you know, who -- who seemed aware of what was going on in that moment.

BERMAN: No.

And that's certainly what the reports are saying, that she seems very disoriented, and not really clear on what's going on. So, something has happened to her that has caused what seems to me to be an emotional or mental break in her -- in her psyche and in her life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And catch Anderson Cooper tonight and every weeknight at 10:00 Eastern. "AC 360," only on CNN.

Meantime, 3:00, about 50 minutes from now, NASA out of Houston will be holding a press conference on the Lisa Nowak case. We'll be carrying that for you live.

LEMON: And also, hearings under way at the Justice Department in Washington now. Three Army reserve officers and a U.S. contractor have been charged in a bid-rigging scheme involving millions of dollars worth of Iraq reconstruction projects.

We'll monitor that for you and bring it to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Disgraced evangelist Ted Haggard says he's back on the straight and narrow, or at least the straight. Three months after a gay fling and a drug buy prompted a spectacular fall from grace, Haggard says he's redeemed, restored and completely heterosexual.

CNN's Anderson Cooper looks back at Haggard's rise, fall and apparent return.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PASTOR TED HAGGARD, NEW LIFE CHURCH: I'm talking about that secret part of your heart that other people don't know about. I'm talking about the thoughts that go through your mind.

COOPER (voice-over): That was the Reverend Ted Haggard preaching in August 2005, a sermon that now seems like a crystal ball.

HAGGARD: All right, everybody ready to study the Bible, yes or no?

COOPER: At the time, Haggard was a spiritual superstar, the leader of a 14,000-member church he had built from nothing, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, a man of God who had the ear of the White House, but wasn't afraid to talk about sex on the record.

HAGGARD: You know, all the surveys say that evangelicals have the best sex life of any other group. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, come on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

HAGGARD: There's a lot of love in this place. And you don't think these babies just come out of nowhere, do you?

COOPER: Haggard and his wife, Gayle, have five children, but his image as a family man was about to shatter.

HAGGARD: I have never had a gay relationship with anybody. And I -- I'm steady with my wife. I'm faithful to my wife.

COOPER: His fall from grace began when a former male prostitute claimed he had had a sexual relationship with Haggard for three years.

Haggard, a vocal critic of gay rights, denied the allegations.

HAGGARD: I have never said that I'm perfect, but I haven't had sex with a man in Denver. And I have been faithful to my wife.

COOPER: But Haggard's accuser, Mike Jones, who had failed part of a lie-detector test, kept talking.

MIKE JONES, HAGGARD'S ACCUSER: You know, look at the position he's in. What I think is unfortunate is, the more denial that he gives, the messier it looks.

COOPER: Finally, Haggard did admit to contacting Jones for a massage and to buying crystal meth from him.

He claims, though, he never took it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what did you call him about?

HAGGARD: I called him to buy some meth, but I threw it away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And who were you buying the meth for?

HAGGARD: No one. I was buying it for me, but I never used it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you ever used meth before?

HAGGARD: No, I have not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So...

HAGGARD: And I did not ever use it with him.

COOPER: No criminal charges were filed against Haggard or against Jones.

However, days later, the church fired Haggard. He apologized in a letter read to the congregation. PASTOR LARRY STOCKSTILL: "The fact is I am guilty of sexual immorality, and I take responsibility for the entire problem. I am a deceiver and a liar. There's a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life."

COOPER: Ted Haggard isn't the first man of God to fall from grace and disappoint his faithful. The church panel that's been advising Haggard has urged the one-time star preacher to stick to secular work.

In the e-mail he wrote his congregation this weekend, Haggard says he and his wife plan to leave Colorado and go back to college. They want to study psychology.

Anderson Cooper, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Banged up in a fender-bender, then beat up by the insurance company. Sound familiar? How many Americans walk away from thousands of dollars they should be getting? Drew Griffin has the story insurance companies don't want you to see.

LEMON: Home again in Houston, but so much has changed since Lisa Nowak left. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, the latest on the rise and meteoric fall of an American astronaut as we stand by for that NASA news conference coming up at 3:00 p.m., live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM.

Lisa Nowak, astronaut, Navy captain, married, mother of three, now charged with attempted kidnapping and attempted murder. A press conference, a joint press conference is to happen in just about 45 minutes from now out of both Washington and Houston from NASA officials on this case. CNN will carry that live for you.

LEMON: And a press conference happening now in Washington, specifically the Justice Department. They are announcing charges against five individuals. Three former Army Reserve officers, a U.S. contractor, two civilians have been charged with a bid-rigging scheme involving millions of dollars worth of Iraq reconstruction projects. Serious charges including conspiracy, money laundering and bribery.

Now, just moments ago, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty talked about these charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL MCNULTY, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: The indictment alleges that these five defendants, along with several other individuals, conspired to steal millions of dollars from funds slated for the reconstruction of Iraq. These individuals, including three military reserve officers, Army colonels and lieutenant colonels who were placed in positions of trust, used the CPA funds as their own personal ATM machines.

They allegedly stole millions of dollars from this CPA and rigged valuable reconstruction projects, all while helping themselves to cash, SUVs and luxury cars, jewelry, and other valuable items. These defendants actually took bricks of stolen cash, cash that was stolen from the CPA, and smuggled them out of Iraq and back to the United States for their own personal use.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That is Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty announcing charges against five people involved in a bid-rigging scheme in the Iraq reconstruction project.

More on this story straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM as it develops.

WHITFIELD: And here's the mystery in Iraq. Did it crash or was it blown out of the sky? No answers yet, but another American helicopter, another one, went down in Iraq today, and there are casualties.

It happened northwest of Baghdad. A Marine transport helicopter with seven U.S. troops on board hit the ground and burned. The Pentagon says all seven are dead. It's the fifth U.S. helicopter down in Iraq in 19 days.

Plenty more on this subject ahead in the NEWSROOM. Major General Don Shepperd joins us to talk about the role of military helicopters in Iraq and why so many have been lost in such a short time.

LEMON: Sent to war or sent to die? One of the recent chopper crashes in Iraq killed several U.S. security contractors, all from Blackwater USA. Their chopper came under fire, and it's not the first time Blackwater contractors were targets. And their families, well, they say they've had enough.

Testifying to a House panel, relatives of four contractors killed in a 2004 attack in Falluja accused Blackwater of not protecting their loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONNA ZOVKO, MOTHER OF SLAIN CONTRACTOR: When my son Jerry (ph) was in the Army, he was the best that he could be. He loved it, and he was taken care of and protected. He was to do his job, but he was given the tools to do it with.

He was the best of the best in the world, 82nd Airborne, MP Company, Ranger. He didn't lack anything.

Well, his experience and his knowledge from the Army he was going to use with Blackwater. But they shot off his arms and his legs. They just let him out there to die. They did not provide anything for him.

He had his discipline. He has his know-how. The -- knowing the Middle East as he did. But they didn't give him the tools to work with.

They just simply send them out there to die. They did. And, you know, if you do what your job requires you to do, and if you are making the laws, you're not making them only for our country, the America, it's the world that we make because we are the number one.

My son was the number one. Blackwater and the companies like Blackwater, they are recruiting from other countries. And they are not paying them well enough or taking care of them well enough at all.

So that needs to be seen. If we're going to police the world, then let's do it right. Let's start at home, taking care of what we need to do here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And Blackwater's chief counsel is also at that hearing.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, Jacqui Jeras has more from the CNN weather center -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I was busy working over there.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Well, we said you were busy working on stuff.

JERAS: I know. I am. You know, there's a lot going on today.

You know, we've been talking a lot about the frigid conditions in the upper Midwest, the Great Lakes, the Northeast, and all of the snow that they've been having. Well, what about the West? Hey, guess what? They are getting in on the action.

The latest on a series of storm systems heading your way, that's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Less than 40 minutes from now, a joint press conference from NASA from both D.C. and Houston on what NASA is going to do next in the ongoing investigation involving astronaut Lisa Nowak.

LEMON: Speaking of that, imagine what it takes to become an astronaut. She worked 10 years to get into space. And that was just at NASA.

Like all astronauts, Lisa Nowak spent virtually all of her pre-NASA life just trying to get a foot in the space agency's door.

CNN's Randi Kaye looks back at Nowak's dream come true.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE LINDSEY, NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION: I knew here well. I have flown with her. She did a fantastic job on the mission. She's been a great astronaut for all the years that I have known her.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lisa Nowak was one of less than 300 Americans to make it into space and the first Italian- American woman.

She had dreamed about it since being mesmerized by Neil Armstrong's moonwalk when she was just in kindergarten.

LISA NOWAK, NASA ASTRONAUT: I thought, if there was a chance to be able to come here, that I would love to do that.

KAYE: She spent 10 years training, and then waiting for a space assignment. But, eventually, she saw the stars up close in July 2006, spending 13 days in orbit, a mission specialist on board the space shuttle Discovery.

Like all the astronauts, Nowak was an extremely motivated student, calling herself competitive, determined and energetic. NOWAK: I watched the development of the space shuttle program, and in particular when they started including women in the program, and it started to look like something that I really could do.

KAYE: She is only one of 38 women to make it into space, a fact not lost on her former high school classmate Dennis Alloy.

DENNIS ALLOY, HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATE OF LISA NOWAK: I wasn't surprised at all. I think that she was going to be an astronaut if she wanted to be an astronaut, or whatever she wanted to be. She was a hard worker, and she was determined to do what she wanted to do.

KAYE: After high school, Nowak enrolled in the Naval Academy, and became a Navy captain. Eventually, she became a test pilot. It was not an easy entry for her. She applied six times before being accepted.

Nowak even fought a policy that required she have longer legs to fly fighter jets. She got a waiver and has logged more than 1,500 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft.

(on camera): In 1996, Nowak was finally accepted into NASA's astronaut program. Every two years, 3,500 men and women apply for about 20 spots as mission specialists or pilots. She passed a battery of medical, physical, and psychological exams before being allowed into space.

NOWAK: I want to make sure that I can support and do everything that I have trained to do in a timely manner, and keep on schedule, and keep everybody safe.

KAYE (voice-over): Before she reached the stars, Nowak offered one word for other women looking to follow her there -- persistence.

NOWAK: Exploration is just part of our destiny. It's what we feel inside of us, that we have to go and find out what more there is.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: So here are the new developments here.

Lisa Nowak was released. She's wearing a satellite tracking bracelet. Just got back to Houston this morning.

And now a press conference, a joint press conference from NASA from D.C. and also Houston, Texas. It should happen at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, in just about 35 minutes.

We'll bring that to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: And let's talk a little weather right now. It runs the gamut.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Banged up in a fender-bender, then beat up by the insurance company. How many Americans walk away from thousands of dollars they should be getting? Our Drew Griffin has the story insurance companies don't want you to see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone.

I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield in today for Kyra Phillips.

NASA has had to handle breakdowns before, but this time it's not mechanical. It's personal. We're waiting to hear from the space agency on the arrest of astronaut Lisa Nowak. That's at the top of the hour.

You're in the NEWSROOM.

In less than 30 minutes from now, a press conference involving NASA both from Washington, D.C., as well as Houston about the Lisa Nowak case. She is charged with attempted kidnapping and attempted murder. Earlier today, arriving back to Houston from Florida, where she was arrested and charged. NASA will have a joint press conference at the top of the hour. We'll be bringing that to you live.

LEMON: And astronaut Lisa Nowak may be back in Houston, but her travel from here on out will be very, very limited. An ankle bracelet with global positioning device mechanisms -- they're tracking her every move. Some wonder with all the rigorous training astronauts undergo, didn't anyone at NASA have a clue Nowak had a problem?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUZZ ALDRIN, FORMER ASTRONAUT: It strikes me that we're dealing with something that has to do with supervision after people are part of the astronaut business. And I really hate to raise that, but it seems to me that there needs to be a little bit more oversight somehow. And I don't know how to carry it out. But this is certainly an indication that had somebody been overseeing the performance of people under their jurisdiction a little closer, maybe they could have dictated -- or detected this and then maybe issued a warning of some sort, "Hey, it's time to cool it," or whatever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was Buzz Aldrin last night on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE".

On arrival in Houston, Nowak was taken to the Johnson Space Center for medical and psychological testing.

Let's talk about insurance now. Allstate and State Farm, you know the slogans: "You're in good hands", "Like a good neighbor". But what if you have a minor accident with long-term health problems? An 18 month CNN investigation found a good chance those claims will end in disgust for the policyholder or either in court or both. CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin joins us now with all the details on that.

Sounds very interesting.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, this is one of those stories. People are going to watch this tonight and say, "Hey, hey, they're talking about me. They're talking about my case."

This investigation focuses on the millions and millions of minor crashes, those small crashes, you get hit from behind. You're hurt the next day. You might need a little medical treatment, maybe some time off work, some rehabilitation. But the insurance companies have been saying, "No, we are not going to pay for a lot of that treatment."

And what we found in our investigation is this has been a deliberate plan by the insurance companies to do this and to reap the profits.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): When Ann Taylor's car was rear-ended...

ANN TAYLOR, ACCIDENT VICTIM: I woke up the next morning. I couldn't move. I had severe pain in my back, down both legs were numb and tingly.

GRIFFIN: The doctor diagnosed herniated disc muscle tears and the treatment would mean time off work, therapy and medical bills. The person who hit her was a State Farm employee driving a State Farm car, so Taylor thought at least financially, she'd be covered. It added up, said Taylor, to $15,000. But after dragging out her claim, State Farm offered her only $2,000.

TAYLOR: I was just very insulted. GRIFFIN: Taylor hired attorney Jeff Cook (ph) and decided she would fight. It turned into a major legal battle, eventually ending up in this courtroom three years after the accident. Taylor's case is an example of how the two largest auto insurance companies, State Farm and Allstate, have changed the way they handle claims when people are hurt in minor impact crashes.

CNN's investigation reveals a strategy to increase profits by limiting payments to accident victims. And former insurance insiders say most of the industry has adopted the strategy.

Allstate and State Farm, the industry leaders, would not talk to CNN for this report. But Jim Mathis, a former insurance company insider, who now testifies against the insurance business in court, did. And he says cutting payments to people like Taylor has meant billions for the insurance companies.

JIM MATHIS, FMR. STATE FARM & ALLSTATE EMPLOYEE: It's not based on what should be a settlement value or offer to this client. It's not based on ethics. It's based on -- it's not based on profit. It's based on how much profit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And I think you're right. People are going to say, "Hey, that's me."

That's just a preview of it because it's going to be on "A.C. 360" tonight, the entire report. But you know what I want to ask you? Of course, the obvious question: insurance companies, they say anything about this?

GRIFFIN (on camera): They wouldn't -- State Farm and Allstate would not even talk to us, wouldn't sit down with us, wouldn't answer our questions via e-mail. In fact, Allstate said -- when we started this, Allstate said, "We don't think we would get a fair shake at CNN. We're not even going to respond to you."

We went to the Insurance Institute, whose President Robert Hartwig said, "Look, there is no blanket policy. We don't handle all claims the same. And the only thing that these policies are aimed at doing is to try and fight fraud in the industry."

LEMON: OK, so I think I heard you right. You said this has saved billions for auto insurers, right?

GRIFFIN: Billions and billions.

LEMON: OK. What does it mean for us? Did our rates go down because of it?

GRIFFIN: Our rates did not go down. Our rates went up. Our rates went up 30 percent over the past 10 years since this policy went into effect.

But, Robert Hartwig with the Insurance Institute said, "If we didn't do this, your insurance rates would go up even more."

LEMON: Right.

GRIFFIN: They certainly have not dropped in comparison to how much these profits have risen.

LEMON: When people see this tonight on "A.C. 360", they're going to have a lot of questions. You're blogging about that. How do we get to that blog?

GRIFFIN: You just go to the "A.C. 360" blog. I think it's at CNN.com, and go up to the "A.C." show -- Anderson show, click on "Blog" and..

LEMON: It's there. And you're going to get some very interesting comments. It will be interesting tomorrow if you can come back and tell us what you found.

GRIFFIN: I'd be happy to.

LEMON: All right, what happens when you go up against one of the nation's largest auto insurers? Tune in tonight. "Anderson Cooper 360" 10:00 p.m. Eastern. It's a report you'll only see right here on CNN.

Thanks, Drew.

WHITFIELD: In about 20 minutes from now, perhaps some insight as to what astronaut Lisa Nowak may have been going through prior to her arrest and charges of attempted kidnapping, attempted murder charges, as well. She's now back in Houston, but in about 20 minutes from now, a joint press conference out of both Washington, D.C. and Houston by NASA. We'll be taking that live. You'll want to tune in to CNN here in the NEWSROOM.

Meantime, British Prime Minister Tony Blair says he regrets the long delay in investigating the friendly fire death of a British soldier in Iraq. The soldier was killed almost four years ago in a terrible mistake involving two U.S. warplanes. Just yesterday the Pentagon agreed to release the tell-tale cockpit video to a coroner's inquest and the victim's family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We deeply regret the distress caused to the Lance Corporal Matty Hull's family by the delay in concluding the inquest into how he died. And I can assure the right honored gentleman that we will do everything we can to cooperate with the coroner and also make sure that the additional distress that's now been caused the family is minimized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Neither U.S. pilot was disciplined. The U.S. military investigation found both pilots followed procedures. Street to street, house to house, person to person. That's the new security focus in Baghdad. And it's no longer just a plan on paper. CNN's Michael Holmes went along on a very dangerous mission at daybreak.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Dawn in a militia stronghold as Operation Arrowhead Strike VI gets under way and the Baghdad security plan rolls out.

Two battalions of Stryker vehicles, Iraqi army units, too, sweeping through the suburbs of Shaab and Ur, a main base for the Mehdi army. There has long been suspicion that the militia led by the firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr would go underground, not take on the Americans. And so it was this day -- not a shot fired.

But the American and Iraqi troops were after other things, weapons, suspects, hideouts, targets selected after weeks of intelligence gathering. Five hours into a 14-hour operation, and no hitches.

SGT. BILL MONTGOMERY, U.S. ARMY: We found some contraband, some of the other objectives. They're already pushing some detainees out.

HOLMES: One of the primary targets, the biggest mosque in Shaab, Sharufi (ph), suspected of being a Mehdi meeting place. Two workers are held. Iraqi troops, not Americans, enter the mosque. U.S. forces stay outside searching the perimeter. But it's an Iraqi soldier who finds all this.

(on camera): We're at the rear of a mosque. The soldiers have managed to unearth quite a little cache here -- magazines for AK-47s. There is a couple of AK-47s there.

This is used for balancing a mortar, and this is part of an RPG. These are all for heavy-duty machine guns in the back of a mosque.

(voice over): Not much in the scheme of things in this city, but evidence that the mosque is used for more than praying. The two suspects become detainees, photographed with the weaponry and taken away.

Patrolling this area is tense for the troops, movement usually at a jog. Snipers have been active here and have killed.

The key to what's happening today and for the next week or so is that neither the Americans, nor the Iraqi army, are going away. They will stay here after a massive clearing of thousands of houses and buildings.

At one House, evidence of the sectarian bloodletting that has (INAUDIBLE) Iraq. A Shia man tells of having to flee Sunni Al Anbar Province.

Another house, a far more tragic example. Five Shia families who say masked gunmen came into their homes, killed seven of their men folk, and told the rest to leave their Sunni village. Twenty-five men, women and children now live as squatters in a half-finished house.

A common theme here, the elusive militiamen, none found on the streets. Seemingly, they've vanished.

And talking to the locals, no one seemed to have ever seen one. "Makal (ph) Mehdi," says this woman. "No Mehdi army here, no militias at all."

The same from this man. "I don't know anything," he tells us. "Never seen them."

Whatever the locals say, the Stryker battalions take no risks. Smoke grenades pop to provide cover in case those snipers are out there. These troops know one quiet day doesn't mean the next will be the same on these streets.

Michael Holmes, CNN, Shaab, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Charged with first-degree attempted murder, astronaut Lisa Nowak is back in Texas after an early morning flight from Orlando. She is wearing a satellite tracking bracelet. A news conference is expected about Nowak from NASA 3:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll bring it to you live. It's a joint news conference from D.C. and Houston. We'll bring it to you live, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Astronaut Lisa Nowak is back in her hometown or where she lives now, Houston, Texas, after a cross-country odyssey to Orlando, Florida. She's in the middle of a love triangle. She's been charged with first-degree attempted murder and now today a press conference in just about 12 minutes. It should happen, NASA is holding a joint press conference in Washington, D.C. and also Houston to talk about astronaut-related information. And some of that will, no doubt, include Lisa Nowak. We'll bring that to you here live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: How about some business news now? Wal-Mart is the nation's largest private employer and the class action lawsuit against the company is equally large. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details on that -- Susan?

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's the latest from Wall Street. Coming up, TiVo and Amazon teaming up, entering the digital download war. But they are offering something different. I'll have details next hour. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We are just minutes away from a press conference happening at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. There's supposed to be a press conference -- NASA will hold a press conference to talk about astronaut Lisa Nowak.

And our very own Ed Lavandera is at Johnson Space Center. He's going to be at that press conference.

Ed, what's going on there?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the officials here at the Johnson Space Center are preparing for the press briefing. The way we understand this will happen, there will actually be two press briefings. The first one right at 2:00 Central Time out of Washington, D.C. And then it will -- there will be another one following here in Johnson Space Center, where we're told they're going to answer questions related to Lisa Nowak's situation.

What we've been able learn so far is that Lisa Nowak, after arriving here in Houston this morning, was brought directly here to the Johnson Space Center, where all we've been told is that she has been undergoing physical and psychological evaluations.

And because of privileged -- issues of privilege and that sort of thing, officials here have not commented beyond that. So it's hard to say exactly what more the officials here at the Johnson Space Center and at NASA headquarters in Washington will be able to add to this situation. But we are anticipating that they will at least take the questions and we'll try to figure out from there just how far and how much information we'll be able to gather.

Of course, the big question with all the family and friends and the community here in NASA, many people wondering just exactly what has happened and what drove Lisa Nowak to get into this situation.

So whether or not the beginning of those answers -- those questions get answered here today, we'll see -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Ed Lavandera, just a couple of minutes.

NASA, of course, used to deal with space related tragedies, but this is something of a different ilk.

More from the NEWSROOM in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, NASA will be taking questions today, no doubt about Lisa Nowak. They're expected to hold a press conference in just a few minutes. Lisa Nowak, of course, back in Houston this morning after several court appearances in Orlando, Florida. She's wearing a tracking device. Details hopefully from a NASA press conference coming up at the top of the hour. We'll bring it to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: And no one is more shocked by the charges facing Lisa Nowak than the people who actually know her. One is former NASA flight surgeon Jonathan Clark. Clark lost his wife Laurel in the Columbia disaster of 2003. On CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING", Clark told our Miles O'Brien about his family's friendship with the Nowaks. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Laurel and Lisa had a lot in common, and thus you became friends. Tell us about your relationship with her.

JONATHAN CLARK, FORMER NASA FLIGHT SURGEON: Well, Miles, we started our first astronaut class with a lot of social functions. And because Lisa and Laurel were both naval officers and flyers, they had a natural bond. They also were very much into their families. Both of them had young sons. They had a common interest in gardening and flowers. And they actually were very similar in many ways. So we got a chance to know the Nowaks pretty well. We would certainly go over to their house for parties and vice versa.

O'BRIEN: And you described her as someone who loved her family, loved her kids, a working mom, I guess.

CLARK: Absolutely. She was a mother before she was an astronaut. I mean, she really was into family life. And what's happened in the last few days has just been totally a shock. She is a really wonderful, good, caring person. And I think that's important for people to remember, that she, above all else, was and is a wonderful person. And you have to find forgiveness and love in your heart to get her through this.

O'BRIEN: You know, there's a picture you shared with me yesterday of Lisa Nowak with your son Ian. And she was instrumental in helping you and him out after the Columbia tragedy. She sort of stepped in and helped serve the role of an absent mother, didn't she?

CLARK: Oh, absolutely. I think all of the female astronauts who are moms have a common bond there. This is a high-risk endeavor and they're almost torn between being a mom and being a career astronaut.

And Lisa just stepped right in there with us. Obviously, my son, losing his mom, has this tremendous void in his life. And Lisa, who also looks a lot like Laurel, just was able to come in and be a part of that. And it was just a wonderful thing. You could just see a smile on his face whenever he was around her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Just heartbreaking. Well, Clark says NASA needs to have a stronger psychological health support system for their astronauts.

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