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Obama's Big Day; Death of Anna Nicole Smith; Iran's Meddling in Iraq
Aired February 10, 2007 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: In less than an hour, the senator dubbed by some as a political rock star is expected to officially become a candidate for president. We'll be there live for the announcement by Senator Barack Obama
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBORAH OPRI, LARRY BIRKHEAD'S ATTORNEY: We are eager to get the DNA of Anna Nicole Smith, and this has long been a finding of the judge, that it is very important that the DNA connect Anna with the baby being tested.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: The death of Anna Nicole Smith intensifies the battle over rights to her 4-month-old baby girl.
Also, amid the disarray in Iraq, U.S. troops get a new commander.
We're headed live to Baghdad.
From the CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM. It is Saturday, February the 10th. It is 10:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 6:00 p.m. in Baghdad.
Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
And it is a big day, indeed, for Senator Barack Obama. The Illinois Democrat is expected to officially jump into the 2008 presidential race in less than an hour.
Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley is in Springfield, Illinois, where Obama is making his announcement. And she joins us live.
Talk to us first, though, about the place where he is announcing. This has significance.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the place he's picked is Springfield, Illinois. This is the Capitol. This is where Barack Obama served for six years in the state legislature as a senator. But more importantly, behind me is the building where Abraham gave his "House Divided" speech.
This is one of the key themes of the Barack Obama campaign, and that is that he is one of those who can bring people together across party lines. So a lot of symbolism here.
As well, there's been some criticism, as you know, as to whether Barack Obama's actually been in national politics long enough to run for president. Lincoln, we might add, was only in the Illinois State House for eight years, in the U.S. Congress for two years before he won the presidency.
So double symbols here, Betty. This is a man, still, who has been quite a phenomenon. A man who made a splash just over two years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY (voice-over): He streaked into the political atmosphere like a meteor: fiery, dazzling.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: We worship an awesome God in the blue states. And we don't like federal agents poking around in our libraries in the red states. We coach Little League in the blue states. And yes, we've got some gay friends in the red states.
CROWLEY: Emil Jones, Barack Obama's friend and mentor, says the night before that convention speech, Jones was mistaken for an Alabama delegate because someone misread his Obama campaign button.
EMIL JONES, PRESIDENT, ILLINOIS STATE SENATE: After he gave that great speech, the delegates at that convention were all over those persons from Illinois, trying to get an Obama button.
CROWLEY: Name recognition is part of the troika of musts in presidential politics, along with the ability to raise money and a story to tell.
OBAMA: It's a pretty good picture of me, right?
CROWLEY: He has one. Born in Hawaii, son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, Obama writes in his autobiography of struggling with his identity as a teenager. "Pot had helped," he wrote, "and booze, maybe a little blow when you could afford it."
He wrote that 11 years ago. It may hurt or not.
ELLEN WARREN, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": Do I know of any skeletons now that are going to be problems? I don't think so, because he's immunized himself. He's immunized himself by writing a book about all the naughty things when he was young and naughty.
CROWLEY: He got it together. Columbia, Harvard Law, professor, community organizer, Illinois state senator, U.S. senator.
OBAMA: The time for waiting in Iraq is over.
CROWLEY: He opposes the war in Iraq and favors the Bush-backed immigration bill. He's against same sex marriage but supports civil unions. He favors universal health care.
REV. ALVIN LOVE, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, CHICAGO: I've known Barack for 20 years, and I'm not sure that I know whether he's a liberal or a conservative. I really think sometimes it depends on the issue.
CROWLEY: Republicans describe Obama as a pragmatic, left of center politician who works both sides of the aisle to get things done sun up, past sun down.
KIRK DILLARD (R), ILLINOIS STATE SENATOR: Senator Obama had the social skills that helped him as a legislator. In Springfield, he played basketball. He played poker with a number of legislators from downstate Illinois after hours. And he would have an occasional drink. He would smoke a cigarette, bum a cigarette from legislators.
CROWLEY: He spent eight years in state politics, the last two in national politics. It is, in the end, the biggest question on the Barack Obama band wagon. Is that enough to be leader of the western world?
OBAMA: I'm ready. Let's go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: So, why now? Well, friends say that Obama is a sharp political tactician, that he understands in politics you only get your shot maybe once. You've got to grab the opportunity when you can -- Betty.
NGUYEN: And speaking of grabbing that opportunity, talk to us about the strategy for the next few months.
CROWLEY: Well, a couple of things are really interesting.
First of all, from here, he goes to Iowa, New Hampshire, the usual places that you have go. But in terms of how his campaign will be shaped, a couple of things.
One of them is that he is sort of a new generation of politician, that it's time for that next generation, the post-baby boom generation to move forward. You will hear a lot of stress on the idea of bipartisanship, that he can pull things together, that he can sort of move forward and, you know, make America what it should be.
So the newness he will turn -- try to turn into an asset, saying, listen, I know enough about all of this to be able to go forward and bring us all together -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Candy Crowley reporting live. And, of course, when that announcement is made, we will bring it to you live right here on CNN.
Candy, we thank you.
HOLMES: And will the honeymoon actually be over for Senator Barack Obama after he makes his announcement today?
Mike Allen, the chief political correspondent for politico.com, is going to join us to discuss that question. That's coming up at the half-hour. Again, that's 10:30 Eastern Time. Hello, New Hampshire. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton makes a series of campaign appearances there this weekend, and she started last hour with a town hall meeting in Berlin. You're taking a look at that there on the -- on your screen.
She'll also be making the rounds in Concord, Manchester, Nashua and Keene. This is Senator Clinton's first visit to New Hampshire in more than a decade.
Well, of course Democrats aren't the only ones focusing on the 2008 presidential race today. Possible Republican contenders and presidential hopefuls are out on the campaign trail as well.
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks at the Republican state convention in Sacramento, California.
Two presidential hopefuls making appearances in Michigan today. Kansas senator Sam Brownback speaks at the Republican state convention in Grand Rapids. Massachusetts governor -- or former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will be there as well. He's also speaking at that same convention.
And former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is campaigning in South Carolina. He attends a county Republican ball in Myrtle Beach.
NGUYEN: Well, it could be weeks before we know what killed Anna Nicole Smith. Investigators found prescription drugs in the hotel room where she collapsed, but the medical examiner who performed an autopsy says no pills were found in Smith's stomach. That's not stopping speculation, though. Several people close to the former Playmate and reality television actress question whether drugs may be to blame.
So many questions persist this morning about the death of Anna Nicole Smith, but there are some answers for what we know now and what's expected in the weeks ahead.
Here's CNN's John Zarrella.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: We do not make a determination of the cause and the manner of death.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): After a six- hour autopsy, it could still be three to five weeks before tests determine how Anna Nicole Smith died. But, today, we know how she didn't die.
PERPER: The autopsy was able to exclude any kind of physical injury, such as blunt-force trauma, gunshot wound, stab wounds, or asphyxia.
ZARRELLA: The chief medical examiner said, no tablets or pills were found in Smith's stomach.
PERPER: There are no findings which would indicate continued drug abuse. ZARRELLA: Here is what we have learned from law enforcement sources about that happened Thursday.
A private nurse was in the room with Smith. At about 1:39, she noticed Smith not breathing.
The nurse called the bodyguard, who came in and began CPR. Nurse then called Howard K. Stern, Smith's companion. She can't reach him right away. Only after he calls back does the nurse call front-desk security, which called 911.
It is not yet clear how much time elapsed before 911 was called, but a source close to the investigation told us, "It was a longer-than-usual delay."
Smith's attorney said she had fever for several days. The medical examiner said, Smith could have died as a result of natural causes, or medication, or a combination of the two. Seminole police say:
CHARLIE TIGER, SEMINOLE, FLORIDA, POLICE CHIEF: At this point, no evidence has been revealed to suggest that a crime occurred. We found no illegal drugs, only prescription medicines.
ZARRELLA: Smith tried to commit suicide in the Bahamas after the death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel, in September, "Entertainment Tonight's" Mark Steines said today on CNN's "AMERICA MORNING."
MARK STEINES, "ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT": We have found out that, after the death of Daniel, at some point, Anna did jump in her pool, attempt suicide at that point, and was found by Howard face down in the pool.
Howard screamed for help. Her bodyguard, Moe (ph), came out, who is a -- who is paramedic, and took her from the pool, administered CPR, and -- and saved her life at that point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's Anna Nicole Smith.
ZARRELLA: This year, on January 6, a smiling, but subdued Smith attended a boxing match held at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino by fight promoter Don King, one of her final public appearances, ironically, at the same hotel where she died.
John Zarrella, CNN, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And here's another big question. Just who is the father of Anna Nicole's daughter? Three men, one big mystery.
CNN's Brooke Anderson reports coming up in our next half hour.
And with all the bizarre twists and turns in this case, how do you think Anna Nicole Smith will be remembered? We want to know what you think.
E-mail us, weekends@cnn.com. We'll read some of those responses a little bit later in the newscast.
HOLMES: Some rare pictures this morning from inside a police standoff. This story behind this incredible video is coming up in the NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: Plus, a pivotal moment in Iraq this morning. A new leader takes control of U.S. troops.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: An American loss displayed on the Internet. Insurgent video showing the purported downing of a U.S. helicopter in Iraq has been posted on the net. The video was released by an umbrella militant group that includes Al Qaeda in Iraq.
The helicopter crashed in Anbar Province Wednesday. The authenticity of the video cannot be confirmed by CNN. Enemy fire has downed four helicopters in the past three weeks.
And the casualties mount. An explosion in Iraq kills three U.S. soldiers and wounds four others. It happened in a volatile area east of Baghdad. A military statement says the explosion occurred when the soldiers were searching a building for weapons.
Thirty-six U.S. service members have died in Iraq so far in the first nine days of February.
And this morning General David Petraeus officially took command of U.S. forces in Iraq. And the ceremony in Baghdad, Petraeus acknowledged the daunting mission ahead of him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. COMMANDER IN IRAQ: The way ahead will be hard and there undoubtedly will be many tough days. As I recently told the members of the United States Senate, however, hard is not hopeless. Indeed, together with our Iraqi partners, we can and we must prevail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says there is pretty good information and evidence Iran is providing either weapons for militants in Iraq or other methods. And he and other officials in Munich Germany at an international security conference are discussing this.
Our Jamie McIntyre is there and joins us by phone.
Let's talk about the evidence in question here.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, Secretary Gates was sitting in the front row of this security conference today when the United States was blasted by Soviet President Putin for what Putin said was the illegitimate force around the world to breed insecurity, the kind of insecurity that prompts countries like Iran to look for weapons of mass destruction. And that brings us to this question of evidence, both evidence of Iran's nuclear ambitions and, more to the point, evidence that Iranian weapons and expertise have found their way into Iraq and are being used against U.S. troops.
Gates, as you said, said he thinks the evidence is pretty good. And now we're told by Pentagon officials that they're going to roll out some of that evidence as early as tomorrow.
The plan -- the tentative plan is for the chief military spokesman, Major General Bill Caldwell, to lay out that evidence in a briefing in Baghdad, which includes evidence of serial numbers, of weapons parts that can be traced back to Iran, as well as documents and other files that were seized in a raid last month in the northern part of Iraq which purport to show a paper trail of weapons and expertise coming into the country.
But as you can imagine here in Munich, there's a lot of skepticism when the United States says it has firm evidence of something because of the problems of the evidence that led up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. And so there's a -- it really underscores the problem that Secretary Gates faces here, is that there's just a high degree of skepticism whenever the U.S. says it has the evidence to make the case -- Betty.
NGUYEN: We'll watch to see what exactly he rolls out as far as that evidence.
Jamie McIntyre, we appreciate the update on this. Thank you.
HOLMES: And now there are three. Yes, another man has jumped in and claims he could be the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never said I'd be the father, I never said yes, I never said no. So it's stays in the middle. And let's see what happens. I'll leave one door open to jump in if something goes wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So who is the real daddy? This bizarre story coming up in the NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: Plus, all signs point to Barack Obama running for president. We're going to give you a live picture of the crowd standing by in Springfield, Illinois. There it is, and what a crowd it is, waiting for this announcement, which is supposed to happen at the top of the hour, 11:00 a.m. Eastern.
When it does, we will brink you live coverage.
REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Plus, seven to 10 -- not inches, but feet of snow. What's it like to live in all this?
I'm Reggie Aqui. We'll show you when the NEWSROOM continues. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Snow plows, snow blowers, snow shovels, don't put them away just yet. They're all working overtime right now in upstate New York. Parts of the are buried after a week of heavy snow. We're talking it's in the feet, and there may be more feet on the way, we're told.
CNN's Reggie Aqui braving the snow and the cold and the feet we're talking about. He joins us now from Oswego, New York.
Hello again to you, Reggie.
AQUI: Hey, T.J.
Well, I'm actually standing, believe it or not, on top of a fire hydrant. Yes, the snowdrifts and the plowing have created these huge mounds of snow on the sides of the streets, so much so, the city has now come through and put on these orange flags so the fire department, in case of an emergency, would know where to go.
This is some pretty crazy stuff if you've never seen it before. We're talking about between seven and 10 feet of snow in this part of New York. And if you're wondering what that's like to live in, well, we spent some time with a family last night, and they told us you need a lot of patience and a little mac and cheese.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AQUI (voice over): They move here partially because of the water. Lake Ontario, especially at sunset, is pretty. And this week it's pretty overwhelming.
SHARI TAYLOR, OSWEGO RESIDENT: I think we had 70 inches here in Oswego.
AQUI: After 18 winters, the Taylor family, like most people here in this part of upstate New York, is used to lots of snow.
LARRY TAYLOR, OSWEGO RESIDENT: Three to four inches an hour, and sometimes even a little more than that. And that's not unusual, but having that kind of snowfall over this long period of time is what's been unusual.
AQUI: Larry Taylor knew he was in trouble when he had to tell employees not to show up to the power plant where he works, an almost unprecedented move. And when he tried to make the 20-minute commute...
L. TAYLOR: Well, one day it took me about an hour and 45 minutes.
S. TAYLOR: But the kids have been off school all week. So they've been having a ball.
AQUI (on camera): What's it been like for the adults?
S. TAYLOR: Chaos. L. TAYLOR: Yes, our snow blower quit working, which is a big challenge when you're trying to keep the driveway clear.
AQUI (voice over): They are thankful for what is working. The lights are on, the pantry full.
S. TAYLOR: Can't really get pizza delivered. Too much snow.
AQUI: And the kids seem to be content playing in the many mountains now dotting their backyards. But after too many afternoons of mac and cheese buffets and a now weeklong living room card game, even a family used to rolling with the weather punches...
S. TAYLOR: Yes. Yes, I'm ready for a break. It's time to go out somewhere.
AQUI: ... can't wait for spring to wash ashore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. We're having a tough time with his audio there, and he's trying to give us a pretty good picture of what's happening.
NGUYEN: Yes. It looked like they were having a good time.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Spray painting the snow, it's so thick and piled so high there. Obviously they're expecting some more, I think, which is not so good.
Let's get to Bonnie Schneider in the weather center to see what the outlook if for that part of the country.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CROWLEY: I'm Candy Crowley in Springfield, Illinois, where just about an hour from now Senator Barack Obama will announce his presidential candidacy.
I'll have more coming up -- Betty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Did I hit you?
Get out of here!
What? Are you going to hit me? Are you going to hit me? Get the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of here! All right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Perhaps the video of the day. Talk about angry. An unusual twist, though, when a consumer reporter heads out to cover this story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRI: We do not want a bait and switch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Plus, of course, the bizarre battle over custody over Anna Nicole Smith's baby daughter.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN PIPELINE ANCHOR: Coming up, Anna Nicole through your eyes. I'll have more of your I-Reports on Anna Nicole Smith next from the .com/DESK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: In New Orleans the bond hearing is set today for a teenager accused of shooting and killing another teenager after his mother gave him a pistol. The 17-year-old surrendered to police yesterday. The mother also in custody.
It is official. General David Petraeus today assumed command of U.S. forces in Iraq at a ceremony in Baghdad. Petraeus acknowledged the stakes in Iraq are high, but the mission he stressed is, quote, doable.
Still no determination yet on what caused the death of Anna Nicole Smith. The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Smith says it could be three to five weeks before we know the cause of death. Smith collapsed and died Thursday in a Florida hotel room.
NGUYEN: Well, he may be off and running in about 30 minutes. Democratic Senator Barack Obama expected to officially kick off his 2008 presidential bid next hour, in fact, at the top of the hour. CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joins us live once again from Springfield, Illinois where Obama will be making that announcement. And Candy, it's really no surprise that the crowds have really turned out for this one.
CROWLEY: Yeah and you know, a bigger surprise. It's pretty cold here. So to bring this many people out at this time, I have to tell you the press corps is huge as well. So he certainly can draw a crowd, that much we know. And he's -- probably because, number one, he's a great orator. People like listening to him, but also because this is really where he spent most of his political professional life spent six years here as a state senator. So he has lots of friends around him. He's also imported obviously a lot of Illinois lawmakers who will be here. But big crowd, just like -- a number of people that we've talked to were tourists. I talked to one woman who said that she came from the Ozarks of Missouri just to see this. So he is bringing them in far and wide.
NGUYEN: Some may consider him a rock star in the political arena. That said, once his announcement is made, where does he go from here? What are the plans after today?
CROWLEY: His plans after today are first, Iowa. He goes actually this afternoon, then on to New Hampshire on Monday. It's going to be very different when after he announces because everybody knows that people really like politicians until they start running for something. It brings them under scrutiny. It brings them into the klieg lights. So every bit of his past will go under those lights. So it will be different once he announces. Nonetheless I suspect as he goes from Iowa to New Hampshire and other states for the first time, he'll get pretty good greetings, Betty.
NGUYEN: Candy Crowley, will be standing there live waiting for this to happen and when it does, we will take you there. Candy thank you.
HOLMES: And here for us now to shed some light on what we may or may not hear from Senator Obama this morning, Mike Allen with politico.com. Mike, good morning to you sir. Thank you for being here.
MIKE ALLEN, POLITICO.COM: We're a little warmer than Candy is, tough duty.
HOLMES: I hope she didn't hear that and she's going to be upset with us. But she's doing her thing out there, Candy always out there working hard. But you tell me, what are the chances that Senator Obama will come out and say, just kidding, guys, I'm not going to run? Any chance that's going to happen?
ALLEN: I think that that's not going to be our April fool or our February fool for the day. I think you can see, expected to hear Senator Obama really sweeping, big remarks, talking about his desire to build a better America. I think you'll hear him talk about his time in Chicago and how that was where when he came there as a community organizer, he really got some of his best education there, where he really got in touch with his Christian faith there. T.J., I think you'll hear Senator Obama try to make a virtue of maybe one of those drawbacks that Candy mentioned by saying that he hasn't spent a lot of time in Washington, but as he said in an interview with "USA Today," he's been in Washington long enough to know that it needs to change.
HOLMES: Tell me, when does that star factor begin to fade and people say, OK, you're charismatic. You're a good looking guy. You're nice. You're great. You give great speeches, but when are people going to stop and put this guy under a closer microscope and say, what can you do for me and not just be so star-struck by him?
ALLEN: T.J., I think that's a great point. I think Candy's right and that sort of starts today. And one of the Washington banquets the other night, people were joking about Senator Obama being born in a manger. To read some of the coverage, that's almost what it was like. When he was elected the first president of the -- first black president of the Harvard Law Review, there was an 800-word story about that in the "New York Times." Who get coverage like that? And so until now, his coverage is almost good. But T.J. very presciently in one of his books, Senator Obama writes about the fact that if you get that good coverage for that long, it can happen in reverse. So you're going to hear media wanting to make up for some of the fawning coverage in the past. Democrats, the shooting war phase of the primaries they call it is starting and Republicans will be going after him too. They think that he might be harder to run against than Senator Clinton just because he can be anything to anyone.
HOLMES: Race is certainly going to be -- no matter what, it will be a factor here and it will be talked about and we're going to listen now to something his wife Michelle said in an interview with "60 Minutes." We have an excerpt here. We'll listen to it and then we'll talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA: I don't lose sleep over it because the realities are that, you know, as a black man, Barack can get shot going to the gas station, so, you know, you can't -- you can't make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: She was responding to a question there about if she worries about her husband being a target running for president. How much does that need to be talked about? How much do they need to think about it and how much is race going be an issue?
ALLEN: Well, T.J. just to start with the safety issue, that's something you always worry about for someone who is in public life. T.J., you and I both have -- we've covered people we know, people we love who are at risk all the time. There's no question about that. I think if you choose to be in the public eye, that's something you sort of put aside. I think Senator Obama will get a lot of credit for another remark that he made in that "60 Minutes" interview, where he said that if he does not win, it will not be because of the color of hi skin. It will be because he didn't sell his vision to the American people. And I think people will appreciate that. But already, he's saying that that will not be his excuse. And T.J., there's some very interesting new polling data out showing, A, that people are more likely to vote or less likely to say that they won't vote for an African-American than ever in history and the '06 election returns show this, that polls are pretty accurate now about African-American politicians. T.J., as you know, people used to lie to pollsters and say they were going to vote for them and then didn't. But I think those are two signs of progress and they certainly are both good signs for Senator Obama.
HOLMES: We'll be watching closely at the top of the hour. We are expecting that announcement, but Michael Allen from politico.com. Sir, good to see you.
ALLEN: Have a great weekend T.J..
HOLMES: All right, thank you so much and you can see Senator Obama's announcement right here live on CNN coming up at 11:00 Eastern and that's at 8:00 Pacific. And we also want to invite you to join the best political team on television for the first presidential debate of the campaign season. CNN will sponsor back-to-back debates for the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates on April 4 and April 5, the first debates in the leadoff presidential primary state right here on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
NGUYEN: And it could be weeks before we know what killed Anna Nicole Smith because investigators found prescription drugs in the hotel room where she collapsed, but the medical examiner who performed an autopsy says no pills were found in Smith's stomach. Also yet to be determined who fathered Smith's baby daughter? A paternity suit has been brought by a former boyfriend and could determine what happens with the baby's inheritance which could be in the millions. First it was Howard K. Stern versus Larry Birkhead, both claiming to be the father of Anna Nicole Smith's five-month old daughter. Now a third man says he could be the baby's father. CNN's Brooke Anderson sorts it all out and tells us what's at stake.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Anna Nicole Smith created a sensation wherever she went and now even in death, she still can't rest in peace. Not yet.
DEBRA OPRI, LARRY BIRKHEAD'S LAWYER: Judge Snyder of Los Angeles superior court wants the remains of Anna Nicole Smith to be preserved pending the February 20th hearing.
ANDERSON: Debra Opri, lawyer for Larry Birkhead, one of the men claiming to be the father of Anna Nicole's five-month old baby girl, Daniellynn Hope went to court, seeking an emergency DNA test of Anna Nicole's body to help confirm who the baby's parents are. Her motion was denied.
RON RALE, ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S LAWYER: I'm trying to think of a word I can use in front of the media, but that's a bunch of nonsense.
ANDERSON: Ron Rale, Smith's attorney called today's closed door courtroom hearing ludicrous and disrespectful.
RALE: I just didn't like the idea of trying to get her DNA, giving me notice of a court appearance right after she died to come to court here on what I consider a frivolous appearance which was denied.
ANDERSON: The mother's DNA isn't necessarily required to determine who the father is. Opri wanted Smith's DNA for a different reason.
OPRI: It is very important that the DNA connect Anna with the baby being tested. We do not want a bait and switch.
ANDERSON: What's at stake here? The custody of Smith's five- month-old daughter and an inheritance that could be worth millions for the surviving parent of Danny Lynn. So who is the biological father of Danny Lynn Hope?
LARRY KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So you are the father.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
KING: OK. What do you make of that? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one big lie.
ANDERSON: Two men, Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead both tell CNN they are the baby's daddy, but just who are these potential fathers? Larry Birkhead is a Los Angeles-based freelance reporter and photographer. He claims to have had an intimate two and a half year relationship with Smith at one point resulting in a miscarriage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually Anna asked me to marry her several times throughout the relationship.
ANDERSON: Howard K. Stern was Smith's long-time lawyer and friend. He was frequently featured alongside the star during her cable reality show. He says he had an intimate relationship with Smith.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of my relationship as her lawyer, we felt that it was best to keep everything hidden.
ANDERSON: Both men say the other had no intimate relationship with Smith. Just when you thought the drama couldn't get stranger, another character came crawling out of the Hollywood woodwork, Prince Frederick von Anhalt, husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor claimed today that he had a 10-year affair with Smith, suggesting he might be the baby's daddy.
PRINCE FREDERICK VON ANHALT, ZSA ZSA GABOR'S HUSBAND: There are lots of people who could be the father.
QUESTION: Could you be the father?
VAN ANHALT: I don't know. I mean sometimes I'm a bad boy, yeah.
ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: It is enough to make your head spin just following the story and all the different angles. So the question is, how will Anna Nicole Smith be remembered.
HOLMES: Veronica de la Cruz from the dot com desk joins us now with some of your I-reports. Hello to you Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey guys. There's no doubt about it. For the most part, the lens loved Anna Nicole Smith and we've received plenty of your pictures to prove it. Take a look at this one. This is from Dana West. West says she snapped this beautiful photo in South Beach at a trim spa event back a couple of years ago, 2005. She said Anna will always be remembered as a bright light, one who dared to shine brighter than all the rest.
And here is another one also from that trim spa event in South Beach. And our last photo is by Fernando Escovar. This is Anna tending bar while on set at the Bernie Mack show. He says I was a photographer for Anna Nicole and I was on her show twice photographing her for my celebrity photo book. One thing I have to say is she was not as bad as the TV cameras made her out to be. What if someone had a camera and picked all of your worst moments? That is a cute picture. You can send us your photos pictures, video and your stories at cnn.com/ireport. Betty, T.J..
NGUYEN: Thank you Veronica. And all morning long we have been asking you the viewer for your thoughts on our e-mail question. Here it is. How do you think that Anna Nicole Smith will be remembered and we got a lot of responses.
HOLMES: Up first here we have one that says I believe Anna Nicole Smith will be remembered as a tortured soul who was never taken seriously, was used and abused by too many people, including her family.
NGUYEN: Melissa has a different opinion. She says Anna Nicole Smith will be remembered as an example of what good looks, a low IQ and no morals can do for you.
HOLMES: And certainly one here from the lighter side, one that goes along with the theme we've been seeing in this paternity story. This one says from Shelby, I will remember Anna as the mother of my child. Yes, I am stepping forward. It is true that I am the father of Anna's child. Now where do I pick up my check?
NGUYEN: That is so wrong.
HOLMES: That is Shelby, but certainly --
NGUYEN: Shelby, come on.
HOLMES: That goes along with the preview of what's been happening lately, making it a little light.
NGUYEN: Dramatic though, even frightening video that we want to tell you about of a robbery suspect caught in a hail of gunfire. Check this out. You have to stick around for this story. It is right here in the NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh. I'm sorry. Did I hit you? What? Are you going to hit me? Are you going to hit me?
Get the [ bleep ] out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: This is not your routine day in the life of a reporter.
NGUYEN: Thank goodness.
HOLMES: Yes. Stick around. You need to see that story. We've got the full story there, a lot more of that crazy video to come.
NGUYEN: And in about 15 minutes Barack Obama live in Springfield, Illinois. You see crowds have already gathered. We're expecting an announcement in his candidacy for president. We'll bring it you as soon as it happens. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: You're taking a live look here of Springfield, Illinois, where crowds are gathered in the cold to see Senator Barack Obama, expecting an official official announcement about his candidacy for president. You can see that live here on CNN when it happens at the top of the hour.
Meanwhile, in other news across America, the woman who says she is singer James Brown's fourth wife was allowed to return to the home she shared with the singer to retrieve her belongings. A judge made that decision on Friday. Tomi Rae Hynie says she's been locked out of the home since Brown died on Christmas Day.
Got a message here to Blackberry users. You might not get your messages. Service may be patchy this weekend or unavailable at times. Don't panic. I know you want to, but technical work is being done and some Blackberry interruptions should be expected in the U.S. and in South America. What are we going to do?
Also police in Kentucky looking for a man who they say has about $15,000 worth of secrets and they belong to Victoria. They're Victoria's Secrets. They say the man worked as a distributor for the company and police said the man's girlfriend actually revealed to them that his lingerie theft was being kept a secret here.
NGUYEN: Do you just wonder where we get these stories? Sometimes they're hard to believe, but they're real folks. They're what's in the news and you actually won't believe what you're about to see.
HOLMES: We've got some video here from September 2004. We're going to warn you here, it gets pretty intense.
We're actually picking up here the action with the dashboard camera of police pursuing a suspect in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Eventually the chase leads to a running gun battle and car jacking in a residential area. We're just getting started here. Then four days later --
NGUYEN: See that? A robotic camera captures the blaze of gunfire inside a private home that finally ends the stalemate. The suspect was wounded in the shoulder. He was convicted this week of five counts of attempted murder.
HOLMES: And we've got some more out of control video to show you now. A routine news assignment gets ugly.
NGUYEN: Seriously. You want to brace yourself for this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, oh. I'm sorry. Did I hit you? Did I hit you? Get the [ bleep ] out of here. Get the [ bleep ] out of here. (INAUDIBLE) Go ahead and hit me. (END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That's just the beginning. The reporter was 75-year- old Peter Silverman, not that lady there. He is a consumer advocate with "CityNews" of Toronto and had gone to the eyeglass shop because at least two customers believe they'd had been ripped off.
HOLMES: And early this morning we actually spoke by phone to that reporter Silverman. He says the optician lured him to the store to apologize for an earlier confrontation.
VOICE OF PETER SILVERMAN, CITYNEWS REPORTER: Yeah, he call and said that he loved us and that he saw the errors of his ways and that he was willing to talk to us and he had found God. I don't know about the God bit. I'm not too sure about the error of his ways but the love bit went down the tubes.
NGUYEN: And fast.
HOLMES: Did you feel the love in that video?
NGUYEN: Yeah. That was after he returned following the phone call and then you saw the smack down.
HOLMES: Well, that smack down of the optician who was doing a lot of the smacking, he was later arrested.
NGUYEN: And "CityNews" stresses that Silverman raised his fist. You saw him doing this. Well, that was just to defend himself. We're going to get more on the story as soon as we hear more about it. Interesting though.
HOLMES: We got something else interesting.
NGUYEN: It doesn't stop there, folks.
HOLMES: Did you hear about this? The skateboarder who got Tasered? Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got it to almost my groin area and that's when I voluntarily put my hands behind my back because nobody wants [ bleep ] by a Taser.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The guy was copping an attitude and it can lead to a short sharp -- say that three times, shock, that's the point here. It led to quite a big shock. And we're going to tell you about it next in the water cooler.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: A live look there Springfield, Illinois. You see the people standing by. They're all waiting just as we are because any moment at the top of the hour we're expected to hear from Senator Barack Obama and that announcement dealing with the presidential bid. Stay tuned for that. We'll bring it to you live.
In the meantime we have some new stories that are simply leaping off the television that we have to tell you about.
HOLMES: So that means it's time for the water cooler.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) -- this is my happiness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: See that guy? He is the toast of New York. Here's what he did. He found 31 diamond rings in his cab with no identification. Yet he never considered keeping them.
HOLMES: Yeah. I'm upset about this story because he actually spent hours tracking down the owner. The relieved jeweler reward the cabbie with what, $100 for 31 diamond rings and that was better than the 30 cent tip she gave him earlier for an $11 fine. You see why I'm upset now?
NGUYEN: I see.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody wants [ bleep ] by a Taser. That's just inhumane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: What did he say?
HOLMES: Yeah. Nobody wants whatever he said that we couldn't let you hear, but we're talking about a Tasing incident here. At San Diego State University, it's the talk of the campus and it started with a moving violation on a skateboard, went downhill from there.
NGUYEN: Well, campus police say Joshua Organdi (ph) was zapped because he became hostile when he was told to get off his skateboard. This incident, though, is under review but the skateboard ban on campus, that remains in effect.
HOLMES: Short sharp shock.
NGUYEN: You just had to say it.
All right. Let's move on to a major story that we're covering today. It's going to happen any moment now, a major player in the race for the White House is minutes away from making a huge announcement about his political plans. Barack Obama's live news conference next.
HOLMES: And what will the senator's announcement mean for the rest of all those hundreds of folks that are running for president? NGUYEN: There's not a hundred.
HOLMES: Maybe not just quite a hundred, but a (INAUDIBLE) strategist from the Republican and Democratic camps. CNN is your campaign election headquarters. Stay here.
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