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Al Qaeda Suspect Confesses to Role in Various Plots; Grand Jury Considers Whether to Indict Police in NYC Shooting; Prescription Drug Abuse Among Students Skyrocketing; Contest Fosters Future Entrepreneurs; Voices From Capitol Hill Calling For Gonzales' Resignation Are Turning Into A Chorus.

Aired March 15, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CO-HOST: Hello. I'm Don Lemon live at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
KIRAN CHETRY, CO-HOST: And I'm Kiran Chetry in for Kyra Phillips.

The heat is on Alberto Gonzales today. There were moves to subpoena key players from the White House to find out more on the prosecutor purge. The buzz on his future as attorney general.

LEMON: A key terror suspect confesses to beheading Daniel Pearl. He also confesses to being the big mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks. Is he telling the truth? Details to come in the CNN NEWSROOM right now.

And happening now at the top of the hour -- will an indictment come this hour? A New York grand jury is looking at the case against five police officers who killed a man who was about to be married. And there is a new witness in this case.

CHETRY: And the White House briefing is going on right now, as well. Is the president still standing by Alberto Gonzales? We're expected to hear Tony Snow. He's going to be taking questions. And of course, we'll bring you the news.

LEMON: And senior White House advisor Karl Rove was just speaking at a Troy State University, Alabama, speech there. He spoke -- took a question about the fired prosecutors. And here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL ROVE, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR: I would simply ask that everybody who is playing politics with this be asked to comment about what they think about the removal of 123 U.S. attorneys during the previous administration and see if they have the same superheated political rhetoric then that they're having now. And my suspicion is that we won't be able to find they had that same kind of approach back then.

When -- and look, every president is entitled to do it. President Clinton was entitled to come in and, if he wanted to, as he did, ask for the immediate resignation or removal from office of all 93 U.S. attorneys.

We didn't do it that way. We came in, and even if we were going to replace that individual, we said we'd like some time to identify a potential successor, and we'd like for you to stay on the job.

So this, to my mind, is a lot of politics. And I understand that's what Congress has a right to play around with. And they're going to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And -- all right. And again, subpoenas were approved today in that case. We'll be following this for you throughout the day, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

CHETRY: He's locked up at Guantanamo Bay and now confessing to acts of terrorism that span the world. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, long regarded as a key 9/11 player. But if what he's telling the military panel is true, that he's had a hand in much, much more than that.

To the Pentagon now, where our Barbara Starr has the very latest on some of these claims.

Hi, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kiran.

Some very disturbing language from Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. The Pentagon releasing a transcript of what he told a military panel last week. He confessed to an extensive list of attacks, planned attacks, involvement in a number of activities.

Perhaps the most disturbing, however, was his statement about his role of the murder of the "Wall Street Journal" reporter, Daniel Pearl, in 2002 in Pakistan. Of course, Mr. Pearl was beheaded.

That had been known. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's involvement had long been understood by the U.S. intelligence community. But listen to his very chilling, very disturbing words.

He said to this military panel, quote, "I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew, Daniel Pearl, in the city of Karachi, Pakistan. For those who would like to confirm, there are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head."

In fact, the Pentagon delayed for several hours putting out that part of the transcript, because the U.S. government wanted to make sure that Mr. Pearl's family had been notified that this very specific information would be coming out in public.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed went on to say that he had been involved in a long list of other attacks. He said he'd been involved in the planning of the 9/11 attacks from A to Z in his words. That's not a surprise.

He also went on to talk about the 1993 World Trade Center attacks. The shoe bomber Richard Reid, airline plot; assassination attempts or plots, if you will, against President Clinton and Pope John Paul II; plans for attacks in California, Chicago, and New York. A long, lengthy list.

Perhaps only the intelligence community knows at this point how many of these claims of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed may actually be true -- Kiran.

CHETRY: And so what's the word? Are your sources leaning toward believing this he may have had a hand in much of this or could it be that he's just confessing to falsely?

STARR: Well, I think there are a number of attacks that they do believe he did have a direct hand in. He was/is a close associate of Osama bin Laden's. He was a key planner for al Qaeda, a money man, an organizer, all of it. He was near the top. He knew everything in terms of the operations he was involved in.

In terms of the plots that never materialized, never happened, that may be more difficult to determine his exact involvement. But I think we can only assume at this point, after several years of interrogation by U.S. officials, at least U.S. officials probably have a good idea of what they think his involvement was all about, not all of it coming out in public yet -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us. Thanks so much.

STARR: Sure.

LEMON: He was unarmed but died in a hail of police gunfire on his wedding day. A grand jury in New York now deciding whether to indict any of the officers involved.

Senor correspondent Allan Chernoff has been following the case and joins us from New York. And Allan, I understand there is a new twist in this case?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Don. A very dramatic turn, as a matter of fact. Yesterday, a man walked into a police precinct here in Queens and said he witnessed that shooting back in November. And he had some very interesting new information, according to the detectives union.

They say that this man told police that he actually saw a man that night back in November fire one or two bullets at the police officers about the time that the police officers were firing 50 bullets at the car in which Sean Bell and two of his friends were sitting.

Now, this is very critical information, because until now, it's been widely believed and the investigation has shown that the police officers were firing at three unarmed men in that vehicle, Sean Bell and his two friends.

Remember, Sean Bell, the man who was to be married that very day, was killed. His two friends were wounded by the gun fire.

Now, if this account were to be true -- if it is true, that would mean there was a fourth man there who actually was armed. Mr. Bell and his two friends were not armed. So very important information.

Now, we understand from a well-placed source that this witness today has come forward before the grand jury, actually has been testifying. We don't know if that testimony has completed just yet. But very important.

Now, in terms of the Sean Bell family, well, Reverend Al Sharpton has been speaking for them. And this morning, he said this whole situation smells.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: We are collectively calling on the governor and the attorney general of this state to begin looking seriously at bringing a special prosecutor in this matter. The fact of the matter is, that the story as told not only is extraordinarily suspect, it is in fact smells of high heaven.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: We continue waiting now to see whether or not the grand jury will be handing out any indictments against those police officers -- Don.

LEMON: And the question, Allan, is not only why did it take this person so long to come forward, but I think what Al Sharpton is asking is why didn't he go to the prosecutor? Why did he end up in a police precinct where the president of the police union would have you taking, I guess, testimony from this person?

CHERNOFF: It's a very good question, because this man apparently had been questioned previously by the D.A.'s office, did not present this information at that time. And now all of a sudden, apparently, came forward with new information. So there really is no good answer for that right now.

We do know that the man, according to the detective's union, is 55 years old, apparently speaks primarily Spanish, does not speak much English. The detectives union saying apparently they believe the man had been scared, but his conscious told him to finally come forward.

But beyond that, those questions are very good ones and are unanswered.

LEMON: All right, Allan Chernoff, thank you so much. Standing by to find out if there are going to be possible indictments coming down today. We'll bring that, of course, to you live if that does happen, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks, Allan.

CHETRY: Well, they're clearing the way to go forward with the congressional probe into the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys. The Senate Judiciary Committee cleared the way to subpoena the testimony of five Justice Department officials and six of the fired prosecutors.

A vote to approve subpoenas for current and former White House officials, including Karl Rove, was put on hold for a week.

Meantime, the White House is being bombarded with questions today about the future of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Stock in the nation's top law enforcement official has taken a series of hits this week amid those new disclosures surrounding the prosecutor's purge and suggestions they were fired for putting the law above partisan politics.

Just minutes ago, White House spokesman, Tony Snow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president. And these were proper decisions to remove seven U.S. attorneys, and the Department of Justice went through its own process. And I'll let the Department of Justice speak for the metrics that's used.

But certainly, within the right of the president to replace people. Furthermore, as you know, with U.S. attorneys, they've got a four-year term. Each of these folks had fulfilled the four-year term. There are holdover provisions, but it is well within the president's executive authority to replace people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And we'll go right to our White House correspondent, Kathleen Koch, for more as soon as she gets out of that briefing.

LEMON: The numbers are literally staggering. Ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, an alarming new study on college students' binge drinking and drug use.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, young people do today what young people have done for generations: they experiment with drinking and drugs. That shouldn't surprise you. But this will. A study that found an astonishing rate of alcohol and substance abuse among our sons and daughters.

Medical correspondent Judy Fortin got her hands on that study. She joins me now here in the NEWSROOM with the very latest on this -- Judy.

JUDY FORTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Don, the numbers really are stunning. It's been going on for generations. But now they're saying that nearly half of all full time college students binge drink or abuse prescription and illegal drugs. Close to 23 percent meet the medical criteria for substance abuse and dependence. That's 2 1/2 times the rate of the general population.

Earlier, I spoke with Joseph Califano, chairman of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, the group that completed the study. And he says prescription drug abuse among students skyrocketing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH CALIFANO, CENTER ON ADDICTION AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE: The prescription drug abuse numbers have exploded. They've grown 350 to 450 percent.

I think what's happened is that college students have now really moved into the world of opioid abuse and tranquilizer abuse and stimulant abuse. I think students tend to think these substances are safer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FORTIN: Califano told me the U.S. is playing Russian roulette with this issue, losing thousands of the best and brightest students to alcohol and drug abuse each year.

LEMON: All right. There's always someone who's at fault. Who's to blame? And I guess who's going to fix this problem?

FORTIN: Yes, a lot of finger pointing going on.

LEMON: Yes.

FORTIN: Well, one of the major barriers, according to the study, is the perception that substance abuse is a normal rite of passage by college students. Califano says college administrators are often distracted by fundraising and other issues. They're not focusing on this.

Secondly, he says students have way too much time out of the classroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CALIFANO: They allow students to arrange their schedules so that they can have classes only three or four days a week. The partying can begin on Wednesday night or Thursday night and go right through to Sunday.

No. 3, there's very aggressive alcohol marketing to college students. You can see that if you just watch the March Madness basketball games and see all the beer ads on there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FORTIN: Califano calls this a major public health crisis and says parents must be engaged and alert their kids to the dangers and drug abuse when they're in middle school and high school. So for a lot of us parents, that's right now.

LEMON: Yes, and the onus really is the parents are really the ones who are responsible. So it's on the parents. FORTIN: That's true. But you got know what your kid's doing, I guess.

LEMON: Absolutely. Judy Fortin, always good information. Thank you so much.

FORTIN: Thank you.

CHETRY: The ides of March didn't really work out for Julius Caesar. And well, now it's not shaping up as a banner day for Alberto Gonzales either. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, the rising bipartisan clamor for him to quit or be fired. We'll have a live report.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you've got a brilliant money- making idea, I'm going tell you how to turn that into, well, money. Stay with us in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. This just in, a developing story.

Rashes, Fredricka?

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. It sounds strange, and it is.

LEMON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: It's quite the mystery in Alliance, Ohio, where about 13 elementary school students have broken out in rashes or hives. And what's uncertain about this is they don't know why, what's the common denominator.

Well, investigators are focusing on the music room at Beloit Elementary School in Alliance. And some of the kids, in addition to these rashes or hives, were having a difficult time even swallowing.

So certainly, it's starting to sound like an allergic reaction to some sort of exposure there in the music room, if that's where the focus is right now. Still looking into it. More details of this very mysterious story taking place out of Alliance, Ohio -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. And keep checking on that one. And we'll check back with you, Fredricka. Thank you so much.

CHETRY: Build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door, words attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson. But do they apply to a generation who equates the name Emerson with an electronics firm?

Ali Velshi is our father of invention in the NEWSROOM.

Hi, Ali.

VELSHI: Kiran, good to see you. You know, there are great ideas going on at college campuses all across this country. And those ideas end up getting good grades for the students who create them.

But there are some people out there who want more. They want their invention to go further. And they realize that it takes money to make money.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TIA GAO, STUDENT ENTREPRENEUR: We're asking for a $6 million investment.

VELSHI (voice-over): Tia Gao is a biomedical engineering student at Johns Hopkins University.

GAO: And we expect to grow that to an over $140 million company.

VELSHI: She teamed up with brainiacs from the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia to develop a wireless monitor. It would be worn by patients in the waiting areas of an E.R., monitoring their vital signs and sending that information to a nurse's station.

DR. ARJUN CHANMUGAM, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: So while they're in the waiting room, we're actually getting information.

VELSHI: Which could save lives. Every year, according to Gao, patients die needlessly in hospitals because they aren't being monitored.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was price prohibitive to do that for every patient because the existing monitors were somewhere around $10,000 a patient.

VELSHI: This device will cost around $2,000 but $6 million to develop it. So Tia's team headed to Santa Barbara to face other schools at the Spirit of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development competition, or SEED, as in seed capital.

Each team adopts a company name. Their participation at SEED has huge potential upside. That's because judges open their wallets for ideas they like.

DR. DAVID NEWTON, SEED FOUNDER: Have a nice honor roll now of nine companies from the last three years up and running, funded, with revenue. Five of those are profitable.

VELSHI: Over two days, teams make their pitches.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our device captures neurological information from the brain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can tell you whether a restaurant is better on Tuesday or a club is hopping on Saturday night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Describe how you actually hook someone up.

VELSHI: Gao's team believes it can turn $6 million into $140 million. And at least one judge agrees.

RICK IFLAND, ATERA PARTNERS: What I like about this group is that they have a broad range of experiences and talents and aptitudes, and they've collectively made that into a pretty good team.

VELSHI: But is it enough to win?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The second best emerging company investment opportunity to come out of SEED this year is from John Hopkins, University of Maryland and University of Virginia.

VELSHI: Second place. But the consolation prize is pretty good.

DR. DAVID NEWTON, WESTMONT COLLEGE: Three investor groups have already contacted me about, like, Monday morning. They want to be in touch with these folks and start talking about some things. So congratulations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VELSHI: And the competition is really tough. The team we followed didn't win. The team that did win was from the University of Illinois, Kiran. And the guy there invented some kind of device that converts brain waves into speech. So we're talking about some serious ideas here.

CHETRY: Wow, that's unbelievable. Smart kid. We weren't doing that in college, were we, Don?

You know, and is it just college kids, though, that can get on this? I mean, there was a lot of people who maybe have good ideas. Maybe they're marketable. How do they find out about stuff like this?

VELSHI: You know, the thing is, it used to be that these ideas were all over the place. Back in the late '90s, early 2000s, there used to be these sort of sessions in cities across the country where you'd go with your business plan and there'd be people with money.

That's sort of fallen by the wayside. What I think people have to remember is, if you've got a good invention, don't think of it as an invention. Think about how it becomes a business.

And on the Internet, you can go on and look for venture forums and things like that. There is always money for good ideas. You just have to go out there and search for it.

But that is one of the things that has been a consistent throughout the entire time I've reported business. If you've got a good idea, there's somebody out there who wants to invest.

CHETRY: That's great. See, we did the story about the rise in college drinking. And not everyone is doing that. There are some kids that are putting their brains to good use. Ali, thanks so much. VELSHI: OK, Kiran.

LEMON: Let's talk about the war on terror now. It crosses national borders and hurdles and cultural boundaries, as well. Today, it stretches all the way into your grocery store's produce section.

Susan Lisovicz from the New York Stock Exchange with all the details on that.

Susan, what's that all about?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a headline that perhaps is just the tip of the iceberg, Don.

Chiquita brands, something we all know, has agreed to pay a $25 million fine for putting South American terrorists on its payroll. In the volatile farming region of Colombia, the company indirectly paid the united self-defense forces known as AUC to protect Chiquita workers.

The AUC is a right wing paramilitary group that is accused of drug smuggling and involvement in some of Colombia's many massacres. And since the U.S. government designated the group as a terrorist organization, it's a federal crime for any American to pay them.

All told, Chiquita paid nearly $2 million to the group between 1997 and 2004. Chiquita has since sold the Colombian banana operations -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Just because we weren't hearing about it doesn't mean that it's uncommon. Is it a common practice for companies to make this type of arrangement with militia groups?

LISOVICZ: Well, because it's illegal, there's really no way to know how much money is changing hands. But there's little doubt that it's being done.

Colombia has one of the highest kidnapping rates in the world. And Don, it reminded me of a story that I did, an unrelated story on Chiquita about eight or nine years ago. And when we were planning the shoot in Central America, we decided -- CNN decided to shoot in Costa Rica instead of Colombia, because it would cost so much more to shoot in Colombia, because of all of the legal protection we would need.

So it's something that certainly a lot of businesses have to weigh where they do -- where they have their operations. And there are many unstable places in the world.

(STOCK REPORT)

LISOVICZ: Coming up, things are relatively quiet today after the week's mortgage meltdown, but now Congress says it's primed to act. Back to you, Don.

LEMON: Relatively quiet? We like that. And we will check back with you, Susan Lisovicz. Thanks so much. LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

LEMON: The ides of March didn't really work out for Julius Caesar, and it's not shaping up as a banner day for Alberto Gonzales. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, the rising bipartisan clamor for him to quit or be fired.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN Headquarters in Atlanta.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: I'm Kiran Chetry in for Kyra Phillips.

They say, give them the ol' razzle dazzle. That's what he's doing. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger bringing a little of his show biz know-how to national politics. He's just about to announce his plans to turn Super Tuesday to Super-Duper Tuesday. How about that? Here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

More on that in a moment. First, though, we have some breaking news. Fredricka Whitfield is updating us on an outbreak of some rashes on some kids in a school.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: That's right, Kiran. They have a mystery on their hands. They're not quite sure why in Alliance, Ohio, at the Beloit Elementary School, about 13 kids have complained of rashes or hives, or in some cases shortness of breath and having a difficult time breathing -- or swallowing, rather.

This is taking place in Alliance, Ohio. The investigators are on the scene. They're focusing their attention on the music room that perhaps all of the kids were in the music room at some point. That's where they're focusing the investigation right now. Still unclear exactly why they have the new health matter on their hands there -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Fredricka Whitfield, following that for us. Thank you.

LEMON: The White House is being bombarded today with questions about the future of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Live from the White House for us, CNN's Kathleen Koch -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Don, Republican Senator John Sununu, in fact, is the latest to call for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. White House Spokesman Tony Snow says the White House is disappointed in that position.

But Snow made it clear that the president still has full confidence in Gonzales, though he did say he'll be sending him up to Capitol Hill to, quote, "do some outreach". Well, in other words that means damage control. White House Counsel Fred Fielding has already been on Capitol Hill doing plenty of that himself.

Of course, lawmakers are threatening if they have to, to subpoena White House officials, including Karl Rove, including former Counsel Harriet Miers.

Snow, though, this afternoon would not say whether or not the president would invoke executive privilege, presidential privilege, to block that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, SPOKESMAN, WHITE HOUSE: Fred Fielding is busy conducting talks with people in the House and Senate with -- with Democrats -- and I'm not going to -- I'm not going to tell you what's going to be decided. I'm going to let them go ahead, and have their conversations. Again, we're going to give them the information they need, in a manner that is consistent with presidential prerogatives.

The White House and administration officials do tell CNN that it is unlikely Miers, or Rove, or other White House officials will be cleared to testify. And now the Senate Judiciary Committee has delayed a vote on whether or not it will indeed issue subpoenas to any White House officials.

Now, the bottom line, according to the White House today is that it believes that the administration was fully within the rights to dismiss these eight attorneys. Saying it was proper and the only mistakes that were made in the manner in which the attorneys were -- they were notified, the U.S. attorneys. And also, the incompleteness of the information that was given to Congress.

Back to you, Don.

LEMON: All right, Kathleen Koch at the White House. Thank you so much.

KOCH: You bet.

KIRAN: Well, it happens to almost every president who wins a second term. President Bush is no exception. The people that a president trusts the most, call them the inner circle, rarely stick around for all eight years. Anderson Cooper has more on the wave of one-time bush aides who have headed to the exits, and others, who are under fire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Bush was thousands of miles away, but he could not escape the mounting troubles facing his inner circle. One by one, some of his most trusted lieutenants have been forced out or fallen under a cloud of suspicion. Let's look back at his war Cabinet, from the "Vanity Fair" cover picture taken before the invasion of Iraq. Only Vice President Cheney and Condoleezza Rice are left.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We came to the mutual agreement that it would be appropriate for me to leave at this time. COOPER: Secretary of State Colin Powell stepped down in 2004. So did CIA Director George Tenet. Last year, Andrew Card resigned as White House chief of staff. Like their boss, they all pushed for a military response to Saddam Hussein.

In the forefront, Donald Rumsfeld.

DONALD RUMSFELD, FMR. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We will win this war. It's a test of wills. And let there be no doubt, that is what it is.

COOPER: The president handpicked the Defense secretary to lead the war effort. He was the architect. The plans begin to crumble, however, and so did his support.

Remember Harriet Miers?

HARRIET MIERS, SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: I'm very grateful for the confidence, in me, that you have shown by this nomination.

COOPER: The president nominated the White House counsel and fellow Texan for the U.S. Supreme Court. But her qualifications faced questions and ultimately her nomination was withdrawn. Later she resigned from her White House post, another Bush loyalist to go.

Then, of course, there's the Cheney factor.

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Frankly, you're out of line with that question.

COOPER: His influence in the White House may have lessened, especially after the conviction of his former chief of staff, Lewis Scooter Libby. Those in the inner circle have suffered and paid a price. Judging by the polls, the president may have, too. Anderson Cooper, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Heart broken but healing, James Grandey coach of the Bluffton University baseball team, leaves an Atlanta hospital two weeks after his team's charter bus plummeted off an interstate overpass. Seven people were killed including five players; 28 members of the Ohio team were hurt, one still in the hospital. Grandey suffered multiple broken bones in his face. His jaw is still partially wired shut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES GRANDEY, BLUFFTON UNIV. BASEBALL COACH: I remember turning the DVD player off and laying down go to sleep. And the next thing I know, I'm sitting on the median trying to figure out how we fell.

I wonder why I survived, too. I was in the front seat right behind the bus drivers and -- I don't know. God has a reason and there's a reason why we all -- those of us who survived, there's a reason. And there's a reason for those who didn't survive, as well. We'll never know the answer. We'll never know until -- until we ourselves pass away.

We got to try to play baseball and get things back to as normal as possible. Honor the memories of the guys who have passed away. But also try to honor their futures that they have been taken away from them, so that they know that they didn't pass in vain. And that their memories will always be with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Investigators say the bus driver apparently mistook the ramp to the overpass for highway lane. He and his wife were kill in the crash. The Georgia Highway Department has since changed the signage at the exit and added safety features.

CHETRY: A Marine feeling the heat of battle and the anguish of loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was big, he was strong, he was brave. But his whole experience over there almost left him trembling like a little kid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Broken and in desperate need of help, but left out the Minnesota cold. Ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A very busy day at the Breaking News Desk.

What do you have for us, Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Well, Don, this seems to be the day of mysteries. This time a mysterious accident taking place on a refrigerated tanker ship off of the Atlantic Coast, there in Florida. The tanker pulls into the Palmetto, Florida, Port Manatee area. And now we're hearing reports that there's some sort of mysterious accident.

Two people onboard that ship have died. We don't know what the accident involved, or the cause of death, but investigators say they were not suspecting foul play. There was some sort of unfortunate accident taking place. There are 15 crew members total, onboard the Sol De Brazil (ph). The officers are German, the crew consisting of people from Peru, Chile, and Spain.

This is the second time this ship has pulled into port here, at Port Manatee, but this time a horrible accident taking place resulting in deaths of two people. Of course, when we get any more information on this mystery, there in Florida, we'll be able to bring that to you, Don.

LEMON: Not sure if we understand -- we don't know why there were two people who died? There was a smell or we don't know? WHITFIELD: We just know an accident onboard. We don't know about the details of this accident, but that it resulted in the deaths of two people.

LEMON: We'll check back. Fredricka Whitfield, thank you so much.

CHETRY: We know about Super Tuesday. Well, now get ready for what's being called Super-Duper Tuesday. It is shaping up as the do or die primary day in the 2008 presidential race. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is signing a bill, this hour, that would make his state the latest to move its presidential primary up to February 5.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R) CALIFORNIA: Moving our presidential primary election from June to February means that California will have the influence that it deserves when it comes to choosing America's next presidential candidate. Already, more candidates from both parties are coming out here to California, campaigning harder, campaigning more, going to more places, and campaigning than anyone has ever seen.

So the candidates had to bone up on issues that Californians care about. It's important they know we care about more money from the federal government, that we care about our infrastructure, that we care about health care reform, that we care about our environment, and political reform, and so on. Holding our presidential primaries in June used to mean nominees were locked, before we ever had the chance to vote.

So here we were, the number one state in the nation, and candidates for the White House just dropped in, collected millions of dollars of campaign contributions, and then they left as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: All right, well, here to explain the move and why it matters, our Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider. He's in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Thanks for joining us, Bill.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you. Good to be here, Kiran.

CHETRY: So the significance, as the governor talked a little bit about, the biggest state in the Union, then having only a little bit of influence when it came to the primaries?

SCHNEIDER: That's right. They're very upset about that and they want to have more influence. So, they're moving their primary date way up to February 5, the first available date on the calendar.

But here's the problem a lot of other states are considering that move, too. New York, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey -- a lot of states may move the primary up to February 5, sharing it with California. What it means in effect, February 5, the first day of the nominating season could be the last day of the nominating season. The nominee could be decided in what is, in effect, a nationwide primary, for the first time -- nominees of both parties.

CHETRY: So who does this help?

SCHNEIDER: Well, presumably it will help candidates who have money, who have name recognition, who are well-known and can compete in the big states, because they don't need to raise a lot of money to become known.

The theory is, that would be Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, Rudy Giuliani of New York City. Perhaps, John McCain, who ran earlier for president. They're all well known in California, New York, and Florida. They don't have to spend the money that an unknown candidate would have to spend to get name recognition in those big states.

CHETRY: OK, then, so who does it hurt? Some of the lesser knowns, as you said. Would it just sort of knock them out of the running in general for future elections as well?

SCHNEIDER: Look what's already happened? You have good candidates, prospective candidates, drop out of the race before it even got started. Mark Warner in the Democratic Party, Evan Bayh, Tom Vilsack. They all said, they didn't want to spend the time raising money. Because to run in California you have to spend a lot of time raising big money, to become known in that state. So it's already had some consequences.

CHETRY: But didn't -- doesn't Governor Schwarzenegger have a point, the nominees were really locked up. So how much did California matter?

SCHNEIDER: California did not matter. That's what they're angry and upset about.

I'm here in New Hampshire. New Hampshire sees this move by California as kind of the invasion by the evil empire. Look, California has 25 times as many people as New Hampshire. Why should they be shut out?

Here in New Hampshire, they argue, they're uniquely qualified to start the process because it's a small state. You can meet face-to- face with the voters. They have a lot of experience interrogating presidential candidates. So they claim they play a unique role and that role should continue. And under the current calendar it will continue, it's just that because they will come in the middle of January. But it's just that California will come within a few weeks of really two weeks after New Hampshire and the process will shut down very, very quickly.

CHETRY: You know, it's interesting, because 2008, in the election, is so far away. Yet, we talk about it every single day. It's already on our minds. How is this -- I mean, can we just expect more voter fatigue and everything is already locked up and decided, but there's still a year or more to go.

SCHNEIDER: Well, right now you've got a lot of voter interests this early. We're seeing voter interest like it was in the middle of the campaign in 2008. The candidates are here, in New Hampshire. John Edwards is here today. John McCain is going to be here tomorrow. The campaign is well under way here in New Hampshire.

Let me tell you something, here in New Hampshire, they're worried about this move by California. The secretary of state of New Hampshire, Bill Gardner, will have the ability to move the New Hampshire primary even earlier, perhaps as early as January 8 of 2008, a week after New Year's.

What could happen? Well, here's the scenario I like to think about -- if the New Hampshire primary moves to January 8, the Iowa caucuses traditionally take place eight days before. They could move their caucus date to New Year's Eve.

Think of it -- New Year's Eve in Iowa, a quarter of a million voters show up to select the next president -- most likely a lot of them are going to be -- drunk. How about that? Drunken voters selecting the new president? That could be interesting.

CHETRY: You know, that's an angle we didn't think of here. Good one. That's something we didn't think of here. Good one. Bill Schneider, thanks so much.

SCHNEIDER: OK.

LEMON: Underwater and overwhelmed. A community calls out for help. Look at this. We'll have details on all of that straight ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: A small town struggling to recover. You're looking at Browns Valley in western Minnesota, where the flood waters were neck high in some places. Fast-melting ice, and snow the problem. More than 100 people had to be evacuated. Some 50 homes damaged, including the mayor of the town. Several highways and bridges into town are still shut down and Minnesota's governor is planning to pay a visit tomorrow.

LEMON: Look at -- I mean, Minnesota -- you would think that, you know -- oh, how awful.

It's been a tough beginning this spring. If you can call it that.

LEMON: There may be more of this to come, Rob Marciano. Because we're going to get chillier temperatures, I think. We're going to get some snow. So -- it's actually Reynolds. I thought it was Rob.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHETRY: Well, a major slip up for the Chiquita Banana Company. Now they're peeling of 25 million bucks to try to make amends. We'll tell you why ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is pretty delicious, you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, that had better be good for what you paid for it. Pizza for the upper crust, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NINO SALIMAJ, RESTAURANTUER: I call it luxury pizza. It's not for everyone, because it's expensive. Let's face it. But the ingredients and the -- whatever I put in it, is worth every penny. And, of course, people without a job, they cannot afford the pizza, $1,000, but it's worth every penny, and it's a great buy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Yeah, did he just say $1,000 for a pizza? Yeah, he did. It looks like caviar, that is the reason why. Nino's restaurant on Second Avenue, in Manhattan, has joined the ranks of super pricey eats. It's about 250 bucks per slice.

Kiran's going to buy me one right ...

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