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Insurgents Use New Tactics in Iraq; Mosque Bombing Leads to Year-Long Cycle of Violence; Airline Travelers Call for Congressional Action
Aired February 22, 2007 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips, live at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CO-HOST: And I'm Don Lemon.
The clock is ticking for a final farewell. Allegations in court about Anna Nicole Smith's love life and alleged drug use. Plus, a tense plea from the judge.
PHILLIPS: Two presidential hopefuls. One nasty war of words boiling down to politics or money? Who really has the power in the world of fund-raising?
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: It's the top of the hour. And the judge says time is running out as we look at live pictures from the Anna Nicole court battle. But there's still no decision on who will get to bury Anna Nicole Smith or where.
At the hearing in Florida this morning, with Smith's former boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, on the stand, the judge pleaded with the feuding lawyers to reach some kind of agreement on their own.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE LARRY SEIDLIN, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: You can cut a deal like that. I did it every day in this courtroom. Where you fashion a result that makes sense for this child, you fashion a result where you set up a trust. Three of you could have been the trustees. And you could still get an income from that trust. It's not -- it doesn't become ugly. And then everybody's satisfied and everybody goes home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, you can watch the hearing live on CNN Pipeline at CNN.com. And we'll have a live report from CNN's Susan Candiotti at the bottom of our hour.
PHILLIPS: News from Iraq starts with a dangerous new ingredient. Twice this week, three times this year, insurgents have laced their explosives with chlorine.
CNN's Kathleen Koch following the fallout at the Pentagon.
What more do we know, Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, right now, the U.S. military is talking quite a great deal about this frightening new trend, though it's certainly questionable at this point as to how truly lethal it is.
There was this car bomb explosion in southwestern Baghdad today where the bomb did -- the car itself did have chlorine gas cylinders inside. Six people were killed. Those sickened by the gas, some 70, had respiratory problems. They were sent to local hospitals.
The head of U.S. troops in Iraq, Lieutenant General Ray Odierno, said that troops raiding a car bomb factory northeast of Fallujah two days ago also found these chlorine gas cylinders. So U.S. forces realize that bomb makers are now employing a new and frightening tactic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. RAY ODIERNO, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL CORPS, IRAQ: You know, we have found over -- over the last year, couple -- year or so, a couple years, we have found attempts of them to try to use all different types of -- of chemical mixtures in order to try to make VBIDs more lethal. This is just another way to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: VBIDs being car bombs.
Now, another concern, certainly, beside protecting the Iraqi population is certainly protecting U.S. service members in Iraq. And that is, of course if bomb makers were to take what they were mixing beyond chlorine, which is generally not deadly unless it's in a very small, enclosed area. So if they were to create a more lethal toxic brew.
Because U.S. service members generally do not carry with them gas masks. Even if they had them, it's unclear as to what chemicals they would actually keep them safe from. So Kyra, this does raise some very troubling questions, this new tactic.
PHILLIPS: Well, another troubling question. What about these choppers getting shot down? And how is the U.S. military adapting to avoid further downings?
KOCH: Well, obviously, there are more choppers in the air right now than ever before because of the lethality of roadside bombs. The U.S. military is turning to greater use of them, up 50 percent in 2006 over 2005.
And what they're finding now is that -- is that the enemy is coordinating the attacks. The eight attacks that we've seen, the eight downings of choppers since January, the military now says three of those were ambushes. They say they believe there were organized cells responsible, al Qaeda-related cells. Though they did point out today that three suspects have been apprehended, captured, who are believed to have been involved in those downings.
PHILLIPS: Our Kathleen Koch from the Pentagon, thanks.
KOCH: You bet.
LEMON: After the fall of Saddam Hussein, no date has meant more to the war in Iraq than today's, February 22. On this day one year ago, some group blew up the revered Shiite mosque in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Nobody was killed or even hurt, but the blast lit the fuse on an explosive wave of Shiite/Sunni violence that shows little sign of easing.
It's still so tense, so unstable, so dangerous in Samarra, no effort has yet been made to rebuild the mosque.
PHILLIPS: More now on the impact of that Samarra bombing. Some of the video we're about to show you is very graphic and can be difficult to watch. It actually catalogs the bloody spiral of vengeance that's made the past year in Iraq by almost any standard a disaster.
We've chosen not to show any of the actual executions. But again, images may be hard to watch.
Here's CNN's Michael Ware.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These men are going to die, Shia accused of being militia members, executed by Sunni hard-liners because they believe in a different brand of Islam. Their deaths displayed in this slickly produced video by the Iraqi guerrilla group, Ansar al-Sunnah, loosely affiliated to al Qaeda.
This footage, typical of images released by Ansar al-Sunnah and seen on Iraqi TV stations, was distributed by the group in the last few weeks.
And as Sunnis kill Shia, so, too, Shia kill Sunnis, like these men: kidnapped, tortured, their bodies, hands still bound, dumped in a Baghdad neighborhood controlled by a Shia militia. Dozens of bodies appear on the capital streets every morning.
To Iraqis, this is civil war. What it looks like, what it is, a daily accumulation of terrible moments. Just like these, borne by families on both sides of Iraq's sectarian divide.
Sectarian violence has plagued Iraq almost since the invasion itself. But its full fury was not unleashed until one year ago, February 22, 2006, when this holy place was blown apart, the Golden Dome shrine in the town of Samarra, north of Baghdad, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam. Its bombing so incendiary, moderate Shia leaders who had managed to hold back their faithful in the face of violent provocation for nearly two years, finally lost control.
The weeks after the bombing, said to be by al Qaeda, though it never claimed responsibility, saw scores of Sunni mosques attacked. This one raked with machine-gun fire, the blood of its attendants staining the floor.
What had been ad hoc sectarian attacks turned into systematic widespread campaigns of ethnic cleansing, roaming death squads and indiscriminate suicide bombings.
Included in the insurgent video, a sermon by a senior Shia cleric, calling for revenge against Sunnis just days, says a Mehdi army source, after the Samarra bombing.
HAZIM AL-ARAJI, SENIOR SADR SHIITE CLERIC (through translator): If you want someone to tell you to kill and there's no one, I tell you to kill. I take responsibility. Kill any Wahhabi. Kill any Ba'athist.
WARE: A top aide to the radical Shia militia leader Muqtada al- Sadr, the cleric's words used on this insurgent video as a warning to fellow Sunnis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): it's your responsibility, my responsibility, and the responsibility of every cleric and tribal leader to mobilize a devout Shia army to kill Ba'athists and Takfiri (ph). The imam orders you to kill.
WARE: Though Mehdi Army sources say he was quickly ordered to curb his public anger, the sentiment was widely felt.
This civil war, sparked by the Samarra bombing, defined by the blood-letting that followed, is the legacy of this man, Abu Musab al- Zarqawi, the al Qaeda in Iraq leader, assassinated by a U.S. missile in June.
He planned from the beginning, as this letter, intercepted and released by U.S. intelligence agencies and the coalition administration in February 2004, clearly outlines. Zarqawi, an extremist Sunni, described Shia as the most evil of mankind and believed only by provoking them into the kind of violence seen in the wake of Samarra, would the slumbering Sunni nation awake and eventually emerge victorious.
One year on, death squads, the U.S. military says, are protected by, and hidden within, Iraq's police forces, haunt a terrified Sunni community. Al Qaeda assassination teams and car bomb attacks slaughter Shia in their neighborhoods. Unknown bodies float down the Tigris River.
And Iraq is much closer to what Zarqawi wanted it to be.
Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad. (END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, the gloves come off between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARVEY LEVIN, EDITOR, TMZ.COM: Hillary Clinton's Hollywood base is crumbling. It's crumbling partly because of what she's doing and partly because Barack Obama is magic in this town.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, we'll tell you who sparked this war of words.
PHILLIPS: JetBlue passengers were more than bored while stuck on the tarmac last week. They were ballistic. Just ahead, could an airline bill of rights an actual law passed by Congress, prevent future travel nightmares? We'll take a closer look in the NEWSROOM.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN weather center. A couple of storms on either coast to discuss, both of which will bring a little bit of snow and one of which will bring snow, rain and the potential for tornados over the weekend. A complete forecast is coming up on the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, it was a gorgeous day here in the south. Actually feels like spring. Rob Marciano, are we seeing a turn, maybe?
MARCIANO: You wish, don't you?
PHILLIPS: Just trying to be positive.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: All right. Rob Marciano, appreciate it.
MARCIANO: You bet.
LEMON: And just into the CNN NEWSROOM. Take a look at some of the video. This is what's happening in court, in the Anna Nicole Smith case. Virgie Arthur's attorney...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEIDLIN: You got any -- I'm going to take -- I'm going to take a break. I'm working everyone too hard. You all right? Take it easy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Yes, I paused there because I wanted you to listen in to the commotion there. There is Virgie Arthur's attorney, known as Tex, "Texas". Judge Larry Seidlin refers to him on a first-name basis. He passed out.
We're hearing he's a diabetic. It caused a bit of commotion there in court just a short time ago. That was in this morning's session. And they are in recess now. And they will come back or -- in a short break, they will come back in just a short while and move on.
But again, one of the attorneys in the Anna Nicole Smith case there passed out, apparently a diabetic. We'll have details for you coming up right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Let's move on now to regrets from JetBlue. Recriminations, maybe retribution from Congress. But will anything change for airline passengers at the mercy of overcrowded airports and uncooperative weather?
CNN's Randi Kaye takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kate Hanni and her family bought four seats on American Airlines Flight 1348 from San Francisco to Dallas last December, final destination, Alabama. It was meant to be fun.
But bad weather diverted the flight to Austin, where it sat for hours. Hanni says tarmac rage kicked in.
KATE HANNI, STRANDED PASSENGER: We were begging them to take us to a gate or to send busses out and get us off the plane.
KAYE: Conditions on board, Hanni recalls, became intolerable.
HANNI: We have no toilet facilities that are usable. We had one package of pretzels in 13 hours. And water from the sinks to drink.
KAYE: American Airlines says the plane was restocked with water and snacks, and the toilets did not overflow. Not in dispute: passengers waited on the plane for more than eight hours.
HANNI: I heard the pilots begging for gates and then summarily being told, "No, you can't have a gate."
KAYE: The airport was overflowing with other diverted flights. In the end, it took Hanni and her family 57 hours to get to Mobile. She argues a passenger bill of rights would have changed everything. In less than two months, more than 12,000 people have signed a petition on her blog demanding one.
But even if Congress passes a bill of rights, critics say it won't change anything. The reason, weather.
JOE BRANCATELLI, WWW.JOESENTME.COM: The airlines will drive a 747 through the loophole and everything that goes wrong was weather's fault, nothing that you've mandated in the law will actually happen. KAYE: What would have happened in 1999 when Northwest passengers were stuck on planes in Detroit for 8 1/2 hours? Or this past December when 5,000 stranded travelers spent two days at Denver airport? And what about JetBlue's mess last week?
(on camera) Would a bill of rights really accomplish anything?
BRANCATELLI: They have no rights at all. Oddly, a pilot has more power than a policeman, a prosecutor and a judge put together. He is the absolute lord of that tube.
KAYE: So what exactly are your rights? We checked the Department of Transportation's web site, where most major carriers list their contracts of carriage, a fancy name for customer service policy. While most promise to make a reasonable effort to meet passenger needs, not one of the airlines listed actually limits in writing the number of hours passengers can be made to wait.
(voice-over) After its problems in December, American says it won't keep passengers on the tarmac more than four hours. But that's not mentioned in the carrier's contract.
Senator Barbara Boxer is proposing a three-hour limit.
JetBlue's CEO, who just introduced the airline's own bill of rights, doesn't want Congress mandating one.
DAVID NEELEMAN, FOUNDER/CEO, JETBLUE: And at three hours and one minute, the pilot comes on and says, "We're ready to go. All systems are go. We'll have you -- we would have had you in your destination in two hours, but Congress has mandated that we take you back to the gate and cancel the flight." That would be absolutely a travesty, and I hope they don't do that.
KAYE: Kate Hanni says something has to change. For her 57-hour ordeal, she got four flight vouchers worth $500 each. She would gladly have traded them for a trip back to the gate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A political fund-raiser on its way to becoming a steel cage death match for two top Democrats. Somebody get a referee. A blow by blow account straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. When NEWSROOM returns, I'll tell you why health advocates are all abuzz about new disclosures in the soda business.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Happening now, right now Larry Birkhead holding a press conference in Florida.
LARRY BIRKHEAD, FORMER BOYFRIEND OF ANNA NICOLE SMITH: I'm still -- I'm still, you know, kind of conflicted about that, so not exactly. I'm hoping to make a decision soon, if my decision counts.
DEBRA OPRI, LARRY BIRKHEAD'S ATTORNEY: Our Texan buddy, Mr. Quinn, he didn't eat any lunch. He's a diabetic, but he's up and running, ready for the next court hearing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you do a DNA test without Howard Stern?
OPRI: Absolutely, and we will be. This fight is not over. We've gotten what we needed from this jurisdiction. We have an order turning over Anna Nicole's DNA.
You know lawyers. We fight for every inch of dirt, and we're going on to the Bahamas, and we're going to domesticate that California order here and in the Bahamas.
Long story short, all of you, all of you, had made this an important, important issue -- Larry.
All of you have determined by the public response that this is the good guy. Help us go out there, put the pressure on the Bahamian government to do the right thing and to get Howard K. Stern to submit Dannielynn for a DNA test. Howard K. Stern in the Bahamas does not need to be a biological father...
LEMON: OK, that is Larry Birkhead and his attorney holding a press conference there, an impromptu press conference at the courtroom. You saw Howard K. Stern walk by. They are in recess now.
Again, this fight is over custody not only of the body of Anna Nicole Smith, but they're also talking about who is the baby's father, as well.
There's going to be much more details coming out throughout the day. Wand w want to remind you, the judge said he's going to make a decision as to who gets to bury Anna Nicole Smith no later than Friday -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: For millions of people around the world, it's the pause that refreshes. And now even health groups say you can't beat the real thing when it comes to new disclosures by the two cola kings.
Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with all those details.
Hey, Susan.
LISOVICZ: Hey, Kyra.
Well, this is good news for those of us who read food labels. Both Pepsi and Coca-Cola have agreed to list the exact caffeine content of their drinks on can and bottle labels.
Health and consumer groups, not surprisingly, have been pushing for that for a decade now. They say it's needed to protect children, pregnant women and others from taking too much caffeine.
The popular 20 ounce bottle of Pepsi has about 60 milligrams of caffeine. By comparison, a Starbucks coffee has about 260.
Most experts consider -- well, they say you can safely consume about 300 milligrams of caffeine a day, so you can easily so how many caffeine drinkers become excessive.
Kyra, we don't know anything about that in the NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Oh, no, not at all.
What about energy drinks? Do we actually know how much caffeine is in those?
LISOVICZ: We do, and we will. The companies market those drinks for the punch they pack. Coke already lists the caffeine in its energy drink Full Throttle and its green tea Enviga. In May, its flag ship, Coca-Cola Classic, will get a new label listing caffeine content.
Pepsi plans to launch a new drink, Diet Pepsi Max, this summer. It will have 30 percent more caffeine, plus ginseng. Pepsi says it will market the drinks to consumers in the 25 to 34 age group who like the buzz from sodas such as Mountain Dew, but without all the calories. Just in time for summer -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, some dieters might call it a blessing, but, Susan, I hear you have news of another blessing.
LISOVICZ: This is just a story that, you know -- it's extraordinary.
PHILLIPS: It came to you spiritually.
LISOVICZ: It did. And through a press release, too.
PHILLIPS: Oh, OK.
LISOVICZ: I have to have full disclosure on this one. Ash Wednesday, of course, was yesterday. And that means the beginning of Lent. And for millions of Catholics, that means meat free Fridays. So KFC, known for its chicken, is offering its first fish sandwich. It's calling on a higher authority to bless it.
Company president Greg Dedrick wrote a letter to the Vatican, asking Pope Benedict XVI to bestow his papal blessing on a new Fish Snacker sandwich. Vatican officials confirmed they have received the request. We will keep you posted if the sandwich does, in fact, get a papal blessing.
(STOCK REPORT)
LISOVICZ: And that's latest from Wall Street.
Coming up, Massachusetts is trying to shift the blame on who pays for data leaks. I'll have details when NEWSROOM continues. And Kyra, by the way, thank you for that lunch at Whole Foods earlier this week.
PHILLIPS: It's my pleasure.
LISOVICZ: When you were in town.
PHILLIPS: A little sushi with Susan. It was a great date.
LISOVICZ: Likewise.
PHILLIPS: Appreciate it.
Well, straight ahead, a woman with autism making her way in the world while keeping her sense of humor about her condition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You define yourself as an autistic person, Amanda?
ROBOTIC VOICE: That's the word for people whose brains look like mine last I checked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a story you won't want to miss straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: And a political fund-raiser on its way to becoming a steel cage match for two top Democrats. A blow by blow account, straight ahead right here in the NEWSROOM.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Sibila Vargas, live on the red carpet for this year's Oscars. This year's host is Ellen DeGeneres. I caught up with her. And I'll tell you why you don't want to mess with Ellen. That's coming up straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello, again. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
It's almost a year to the primaries, but a couple of candidates are already getting down and dirty. Back story on the big chill between two top Democrats and the role of the Hollywood heavyweight. Names will not be changed. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It is the bottom of the hour. It's a race against time at the Anna Nicole Smith hearing. It may be taking a toll on some of the litigants. The judge says he needs to make a decision by tomorrow on where Smith's body will be buried.
But the hearing was abruptly interrupted a few minutes ago when an attorney fainted. CNN's National Correspondent Susan Candiotti joins us from the courthouse in Ft. Lauderdale with the very latest on this.
Susan, what's going on?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we -- we'll show that to you first, now that you brought it up first. Just before -- or during the end of testimony, as they were about to break for lunch, during the middle of some testimony, one of the lawyers from Texas who represents Virgie Arthur fell down.
You can see and hear the confusion in the courtroom right now, when that happened. It turns out that the lawyer, John O'Quinn (ph) is a diabetic. He had a fainting spell, low blood sugar.
As a matter of fact, one of our CNN employees, one of our sound technicians, Bethany Swan, had a candy bar with her, was able to bring it into the courtroom, give him that chocolate bar, and that helped him come out of the fainting spell.
They're attending to him. It does appear he will be all right. But that of course, did bring an abrupt ending to the proceedings. They broke for lunch and that's what's happening now.
Coming back out here live, I wanted to give you a bit of a flavor for what it looks like out here. Behind me, that's the exit where parties have been leaving to go to lunch. I want to show you that we are literally surrounded by photographers who have been shooting all the activity. There you are on one side.
Let's cross over here. You can see people also set up along these barricades on the other side. Being that most everyone has left for lunch now. You can see that many of the photographers have left by now. It goes all the way around.
It has been a very, very busy morning in court. A lot of anger, a lot of frustration being voiced. As both sides -- all sides argue over who should get custody over Anna Nicole Smith's remains.
Now, the key person who spent most of the time on the witness stand this day, Larry Birkhead. That is Anna Nicole Smith's ex- boyfriend, who claims that he is the biological father of her daughter. Now, while on the stand, he testified that Anna Nicole Smith, he said, had a substance abuse problem. And that while she was pregnant, continued to take drugs.
He talked about a hospital stay she had in April of last year, while in the hospital, he said, she was not only being detoxed, but she was still taking additional medication, she wasn't supposed to. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY BIRKHEAD, ANNA NICOLE'S EX BOYFRIEND: At times I took her medicine and -- and I was told by Mr. Stern to give it back to her because she needed it to live. And in addition to that, I -- um, I just told her over and over, I said don't -- something's gonna happen to you, something's gonna happen. And, um -- I, um --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a breath, it's OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now, Birkhead also testified that Smith once told him that even though she was living in the Bahamas, she really wanted to go back to California one day. That the only reason she was in the Bahamas was because of the paternity suit, the claim filed by him against her. And that's where she was hiding out in the Bahamas, so she felt she couldn't be touched there.
Now, at the end of testimony this day, the judge has said that's going to be it. At the end of the day, he wants to hear from the attorneys representing all sides, that is Howard K. Stern, that is her mother, and that includes Mr. Birkhead, as well as a lawyer representing her baby, Dannielynn.
He wants to hear how they would like to solve this dilemma. And then he says he will make his decision, and announce it to the world sometime tomorrow. Back to you, Don.
LEMON: Yeah, very interesting, Susan. And if there are anymore developments, we will come back to you.
But also at the end of that -- right after lunch -- or just before they went to lunch, Susan, Larry Birkhead and his attorney held a press conference just out there on the mall or on the plaza where you are, talking about the DNA. Howard Stern's, Howard K. Stern's DNA that is to be turned over, so they can figure out who the father is of this child. Let's take a listen to what they said just a short while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBRA OPRI, ATTORNEY FOR LARRY BIRKHEAD: All of you have determined by the public response that this is the good guy, help us go out there, put the pressure on the Bahamian government to do the right thing, and to get Howard K. Stern to submit Dannielynn for a DNA test.
Howard K. Stern, in the Bahamas, does not need to be a biological father. American law governs that child. She is a U.S. citizen. All of you in the media have the power to put the pressure on the Bahamian government to do what is right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK, what she's talking about there, of course, the baby is in the Bahamas and they're trying to figure out how they're going to deal with the law there because the baby's still there.
But Howard K. Stern's lawyer ordered -- or at least asked the judge that his DNA be turned over, subpoenaed, so they can figure out who the father of the baby is. And apparently that judge agreed on that. So she was commenting on that.
And, obviously, we'll have much, much more. Very tense situation happening there in Florida. And also -- as well as California.
So, CNN Pipeline is carrying this all for you. Go to cnn.com/pipeline and you can watch those hearings as they happen -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, this didn't take long. It's 11 months until the first presidential primary and already the race for the Democratic nomination is getting a little testy. It started when a "New York Times" column featured a slam of Hillary Clinton and her husband by Hollywood big shot and activist David Geffen.
Geffen goes way back with both Clintons. But now he's backing Barack Obama for president. The quote set off a day-long grudge match featuring demands for apologies and assorted accusations. Joining me to debate is CNN Political Correspondent Candy Crowley.
What's going on?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's going on is you're seeing -- and we talked a lot about how the process in this race has started so early. Well, the emotions have started early, too. There's tensions -- these two are competitors.
There's no getting around it. So there is competitive tension. Although both sides say there's no personal tension. We'll have to sort of sort that out, because this was obviously a very personal column to the Clinton camp.
This involves politics. It involves money. Because there was $1.3 million fund-raiser for Barack Obama, that David Geffen was one of the hosts for. And it involves a very, very close race. And it involves some very high stakes. So what we're seeing is the result of a race that has started very early, and the result of the tension between the two front-runners.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let me read a quote that David Geffen said, "I don't think another incredibly polarizing figure, no matter how smart she is, and no matter how ambitious she is, and God knows is there anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton, can bring the country together?"
Now, I thought they were all buddy, buddy. I thought the Clintons were totally tied into Hollywood and David Geffen had stayed in the White House bedroom a couple times. What's the deal?
CROWLEY: Well, no longer.
PHILLIPS: Yes, he's been booted to the apartment down the street.
(LAUGHTER)
CROWLEY: Right, the fact of the matter is, there's nothing that hurts more than a former friend doing this. You read that quote, you can see why the Clinton camp got upset about it. This is a former friend, this is someone who raised a lot of money. He's now backing Barack Obama. And the comments were seen as pretty personal in the Clinton camp.
PHILLIPS: It's interesting. Were they really friends, or is Geffen just thinking about money and what's going to help him?
CROWLEY: Well, hard to know what his motivation is. Other than the fact that we know he backed -- he is backing Barack Obama. And he laid out in that Maureen Dowd column, the things he thinks are wrong with having Hillary running for president, having her be the nominee. He doesn't apparently think she can win. He had critical things to say about her husband. So this is clearly a man who has changed horses.
PHILLIPS: Well, let me -- what kind of power does Geffen have? Will he make that big of an impact on voters? Could he really make or break someone that's going to win the presidency?
CROWLEY: He can help raise money in Hollywood, and that's always important. But, look, let's face it. It's not only 11 months until the first primary and caucus, it's almost two years before the actual election. I find it hard to believe a month from now we'll be talking about this. Hard to believe that voters will take it into consideration by the time the real election year rolls around.
PHILLIPS: All right, let me ask you, Tom Daschle -- interesting timing here, came out today and said this about Barack Obama. Not since the Kennedys and Martin Luther King in the '06s have I seen that ability, that rare ability, doesn't come along often. As I've watched him and as I've come to know him, I now believe he's exactly what we need.
CROWLEY: Well, another reason you can see, why Camp Clinton, wanted to sort of push Barack Obama back just a little. He's getting great press, getting big names. Tom Daschle is one in political circles coming out for him. This has been a bit of a honeymoon for Barack Obama.
The Clinton camp is watching this. Because obviously she's been under great scrutiny because she's in the public limelight for a lot longer time than he's been. This is a big get for Barack Obama. This is a longtime Washington insider who obviously worked very closely with the Clintons.
PHILLIPS: Let me ask you about this Quinnipiac University, national poll, that came out and said if the election were held today, Hillary Clinton wouldn't even win, it's Giuliani or McCain. How closely do we pay attention to this?
CROWLEY: Well, they're interesting -- I think, again, polls are always snapshots. We say that all the time. But it's the truth. This is after some fairly good press for Rudy Giuliani, some fairly good press for John McCain. And, you know, I think Hillary Clinton's press has been pretty good as well.
But nonetheless, there is some polarization that goes on here in the polling you can see. It doesn't tell you that much about where the country is going to be next year. Because these people haven't gone out and laid out their platforms; they haven't gone out and shaken the hands, and knocked on the doors that they really need to do. So you're going to see these poll numbers switch back and forth a lot. And, frankly, that's a pretty close race there you're looking at.
PHILLIPS: Don't forget kissing the babies.
CROWLEY: Exactly, forgot about that.
PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley, talk to you later.
LEMON: Well, show biz mania has got a first name, it's called, O-S-C-A-R. That's it, Oscar, and of course the NEWSROOM is there to catch every special moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You're looking at live pictures in Miami Beach. This is Broward County, Florida, WSVN. Apparently it is a building fire. The information is just coming in. So not exactly sure what caused that fire, but certainly some spectacular pictures, Kyra, when you look at all of this. We will try to find out exactly what's going on. But this is in Miami Beach. We'll get more details for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Huge fire happening there.
Let's move on now to show business. One name reigns supreme in Hollywood this week, Oscar. "The 79th Annual Academy Awards Show" takes place Sunday night at the Kodak Theater. Now they're rolling out the red carpet. Of course they are. Because Sibila Vargas is there, and she's joining us now with a preview.
Hi, Sibila.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN HOLLYWOOD CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don. You know, this is so exciting right now. There are people working all around me. This place is absolutely buzzing. Three days away from the big day. Of course, this is the sixth consecutive year that they're holding it here at the Kodak Theater.
This year, Ellen Degeneres is hosting. What an incredible story this woman has. She started out as a stand-up comedian. She was a great sitcom actress, eventually a talk show queen, and now, the Oscars. It has been a long road for her. And this is definitely a highlight in her career.
I got the chance to speak to her a little bit earlier. And, you know, one thing she definitely has in her corner is a lot of experience.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS (on camera): How excited are you?
ELLEN DEGENERES, HOST, 79th ACADEMY AWARDS: I'm, like, vibrating inside. I wanted to do this for so long. I really want to -- you know, I mean, I'll be nervous and I'll be excited. But I want to relax because I really want to enjoy it.
VARGAS: You want to take it all in.
DEGENERES: Yeah, I do.
VARGAS: You've done the Grammys, you've done the Emmys. Where does this stack for you?
DEGENERES: There's nothing bigger than the Oscars. Nothing. So I don't know what I can do to challenge myself more than this. I like challenging myself. I like, you know, getting out of my comfort zone, which is why I choose to do things like this.
VARGAS: The next day, everyone talks about, how did Ellen do? Are you prepared for that?
DEGENERES: You know, I can't -- you know, you can't please everybody, so I can't worry about that.
VARGAS: Right.
DEGENERES: I just have to -- I have to know that I did the best job, and that I felt good about it. And if somebody doesn't like it, I can't worry about that.
VARGAS: You've got to be so proud of yourself. And your mom must be just beaming.
DEGENERES: She's my biggest fan. She -- you know, I'm telling you, if somebody writes something that's not nice about me the next day, they should look out for my mother because she'll -- I'll let it go, but my mother will be the one who's "How dare you?"
VARGAS: You don't mess with your mom.
DEGENERES: Yeah, no, no.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VARGAS: So there you have it. You don't want to mess with Ellen's mom.
Also, you know, very interesting how Ellen got the job. Laura Siskind who is the producer of the Oscars this year, she got to see Ellen host the Emmy awards back in 2001. This was two months after 9/11. And she thought that Ellen did such a tremendous job. She was extremely sensitive. She was very balanced. The humor was definitely appropriate.
She said if I get to do the Oscars again, I'm definitely going to ask Ellen to do it. The rest, of course, is history. Ellen is doing it. A lot of people are thinking that she's going to really add a lot to this Oscar show. Back to you, Don.
LEMON: Sibila Vargas, can't wait to see your dress, thank you.
PHILLIPS: We've got more on that fire out of Miami, Florida, right now. We want to take you to live pictures via our affiliate WSVN out of Miami. Firefighters trying to tackle this blaze. The Chief Javier Otero from Miami Beach Fire Department on the phone.
Chief, can you tell us where exactly this is?
CHIEF JAVIER OTERO, MAIMI BEACH FIRE DEPT.: The fire's at 41st Street and Liberty.
PHILLIPS: 41st?
OTERO: No, 21. 2-1 and Liberty.
PHILLIPS: 21st and Liberty. What caused the fire?
OTERO: We're not sure about the cause of the fire. Too early to tell the cause right now.
PHILLIPS: What type of building is this?
OTERO: It's a three-story abandoned structure. There's no threat to life inside the building.
PHILLIPS: So no one's inside that building, or any of the buildings next to it?
OTERO: We do have an exposure on the north side of the building. We have a building that is probably within 10 feet of the building fire. And we do have an exposure line on it. We're protecting that building right now.
PHILLIPS: Just to let our viewers know, that live picture actually is not on the fire. You can see we're at the mercy of the helicopter that's giving us the live pictures. This is actually a very nice yacht out there in the Miami Harbor.
Now the helicopter working its way back to the blaze there; an abandoned building according to the Chief Javier Otero.
So, how many firefighters do you have working this blaze, Chief?
OTERO: Right now, we have a full assignment, that's three fire engines, one ladder truck, an incident commander, two rescue units, and an EMS supervisor.
PHILLIPS: Are you -- so you're not worried about anybody being in this building or close to this abandoned building. What about businesses or --
OTERO: Well, we have not done a secondary search of the building. We did do a primary search and did not find anybody. That doesn't mean that we -- that we absolutely ditched on the possibility of somebody being inside. It is an abandoned structure. But we always do a primary search to ensure people are out. Once the fire's under control, we'll complete a secondary search.
PHILLIPS: And it looks like it's getting close to getting under control, is that right? OTERO: No, I wouldn't say it's close to being under control, right now. When we arrived there was already heavy fire on the first and second floor. Soon after our arrival the fire (AUDIO GAP) through the roof. So we do have quite a bit of work still to do on this fire.
PHILLIPS: Are you there on the scene or are you en route?
OTERO: No, I'm on the scene. I'm about a block away from the actual fire, just so I can talk to you, it's still too loud that close to the fire.
PHILLIPS: All right. Well, it sounds like it's good so far. We'll check back in with you for a secondary search. The Chief Javier Otero with Miami Beach Fire Department there. We'll continue to monitor this via our affiliate WSVN; abandoned building there on fire at 21st and Liberty.
We're going to take a quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: This is quite an unusual story. Memo to porn fans: Don't turn up the volume. Memo to neighbors of porn fans: Don't jump to conclusions. Reporter Heather Shannon of CNN affiliate WTMJ in Milwaukee explains this one for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRET STIEGHORST, NEIGHBOR: It's a little weird.
HEATHER SHANNON, REPORTER, WTMJ TV: Brett Steighorst was mistaken for a rapist after his neighbor heard some unusual noises coming from his apartment.
STEIGHORST: I was watching an adult movie.
SHANNON: Apparently way too loudly. His downstairs neighbor James Ben Iveron (ph) heard it. Only he thought a woman was being raped. Instead of calling police, he took matters into his own hands. Ben Iveron (ph) ran up the stairs with his sword, he kicked in the door and he also broke the door's lock.
STEIGHORST: He comes in with his three-foot long sword and starts pointing it at me and going "Where is she?"
SHANNON: Ben Iveron (ph) forced Bret, at sword point, to open all his closets and prove he wasn't holding a woman hostage. When he didn't find anybody, he left. Ben Iveron (ph) is now charged with disorderly conduct. Their encounter is all the talk at the bar next door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would be happy if someone saved me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to see maybe the courts or whatever work with him and -- you know, give the guy a little bit of a break.
SHANNON: Bret now thinks twice when he hears a knock at the door. But will he think twice about watching adult films from now on?
STEIGHORST: No way. I'm just going to watch it with the sound or I'll buy myself some decent headphones.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Maybe he should try "SpongeBob SquarePants."
All right, calamari for anyone, everyone. The big one that didn't get away. Order up, next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Imagine fried calamari rings the size of tractor tires? That's what one expert says you could make from this giant squid off Antarctica, by New Zealand fishermen. It comes in at 992 pounds. May be the largest colossal squid ever seen.
So put away your frying pan, because this massive mollusk is bound for New Zealand's National Museum.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
