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'Confession' in Iran; Pet Food Investigation; Gerri's Top Tips; Showdown Over Iraq

Aired March 30, 2007 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay informed in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown for you this morning.

Britain calls this video outrageous and a disgust. Iran broadcasting tape of British service personnel. One apologizes for entering Iranian waters.

COLLINS: The secret spilled. The catholic nun says her incurable disease is cured after prayers to a pope. Could her claim speed John Paul II to sainthood?

HARRIS: The FDA set to update dog and cat owners on a nationwide pet food recall. See the briefing live just minutes from now.

It is Friday, March 30th, and you are in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Want to quickly show you those microphones once again that we are awaiting the FDA to address the situation with pet food that you may be familiar with. We've been telling you about it here. A recall and whether or not that will be expanded and what will happen next in all of that. Should be coming up any minute now.

HARRIS: New video, no compromise. This morning, Iran aired this tape of a British service member. He is among 15 sailors and marines detained one week ago in the tape. He apologizes for entering Iran's waters. The incident stirring concerns around the world. A short time ago, British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the video outrageous and dismissed it as propaganda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The sooner the Iranian regime realize they're not gaining anything from it, they can't gain anything from it, it's perfectly obvious that these people were in Iraqi waters under a United Nations mandate. There's absolutely no question about the unlawful nature of their catch and, therefore, they've got to be released. Now, we have to manage this and measure it in a determined way, but also a calm way, because it's the lives of the personnel that come first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: British military forces not ignoring this latest act of defiance from Iran. Here now with the very latest, CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

It seems like things just keep on ratcheting up slowly and one notch at a time here, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One notch at a time indeed, Heidi.

Of course, everyone is watching any military movements in the Gulf very carefully. Now, what has happened today is the British ministry of defense is now re-supplying, if you will, the HMS Cornwall. That ship that these sailors and marines were operating from.

As of this morning, a platoon, a small platoon of royal marines has arrived aboard the Cornwall. They are a replacement force at this point. We are told we can also expect to see in the next many hours replacement equipment coming to the Cornwall, including some additional small rib, those zodiac fast boats that the British troops were using to operate when they were conducting that boarding of a cargo ship and then were seized by the Iranian military.

So everyone is characterizing this as replacement, but it also is a message, Heidi, that the British military is making very clear, they're in the Gulf to stay to complete their mission. They won't be chased off.

Heidi.

COLLINS: True. I guess that is the message, for sure. But just in case, Barbara, people don't understand what replacement force is, are we talking about more sailors? Are we talking about re-supplying that vessel?

STARR: Yes, we're talking about all of it, Heidi. What they're doing is they're putting replacement platoon of royal marines on board and some replacement equipment, for what they clearly lost when this incident occurred.

The U.S., for its part, also is sending a replacement aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf. The USS Nimitz will, in the next 24 hours or so, set sail from the west coast to the United States. It is headed to the Persian Gulf. It will replace the Eisenhower, which is there and will turn around and start heading out of that region.

But what that also means is, the U.S. is sending a message. Two aircraft carriers very likely now to maintain their presence in the Persian Gulf region for some time to come.

Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, interesting movement, that's for sure.

Barbara, thanks for watching that for us live from the Pentagon for that.

HARRIS: A message from captivity. That's Nathan Summers there. One of the 15 British service members being held by Iran. In the video he apologizes for entering Iran's waters without government's permission. Alphonso van Marsh is in Summers' hometown, the village of Hale, England. He spoke with the man's brother, Nicholas Summers.

Alfonso, good morning to you.

What did Nicholas have to say?

ALPHONSO VAN MARCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. As you mentioned, we are in his hometown here. We just spent a few moments, as you mentioned, with Nathan's brother Nick. Nick is just 18 months older than Nathan. Also is in the royal navy.

We spoke to him just moments ago. He said that he had a gut feeling when that news first broke last Friday, when some of the news clips were out there, that there had been 15 British service members taken captive. He said he had a gut feeling that his brother was one of them.

He says the family was shocked when they got that confirmation that, indeed, his brother Nathan Thomas Summers was on that ship. He says that the family here is trying to stay strong. Nick does share a home with Nathan, as well as with his mother and stepfather and sister. He says that he was really, really shocked and surprised but that they're getting good support from the military here as to what to do and how to stay calm as they're waiting for more news of when his brother may be released.

As I mentioned, we spoke to him just moments ago about their first reaction when they got the news. This is what Nick had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICHOLAS SUMMERS, BROTHER OF DETAINEE: Initially I was shocked because, obviously, you see the things I see in the news day in, day out. But until it actually, you know, hits home, it's just a big shock basically. It just doesn't feel real. I just don't really know how to put it words basically but (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN MARSH: Now, Nick, again, is the older brother of Nathan, who also serves in the royal navy. Military officials let him get off the ship, his own ship that he's serving on today, to spend more time with his family. When asked what kind of message he may have for his brother being currently held in Tehran, he said stay strong, we're going to get you home soon.

He said that his brother did nothing wrong. He was just simply carrying out his job, serving his country. Both brothers say that they're proud to serve in the British military, both proud to be royal navy, both proud to be doing what they're doing. And the family here says they hope to see their brother, Nathan, come home soon.

Tony.

HARRIS: Alphonso van Marsh for us from Nathan Summers' hometown of Hale, England.

Alphonso, appreciate it. Thank you.

COLLINS: Quickly want to get you to the news conference that we have been waiting for this morning. At the microphone now a veterinarian with the FDA. Let's go ahead and listen in about this pet food recall.

DR. STEPHEN SUNDLOF, DIR., FDA CTR. FOR VETERINARY MEDICINE: Be harmful or lethal. The association between melamine in the kidneys and urine of cats that died and the melamine that was in the food they consumed is undeniable.

Additionally, melamine is an ingredient that would not be in pet food at any level. However, I want to make it very clear at this point that we are not fully yet certain that melamine is the causative agent of illness and death in pets. But we want to share this with you as the investigation has confirmed melamine.

As in any investigation, we follow leads, use advance forensics and try to narrow down the cause. At this time, we do not know how the melamine got into the wheat gluten. FDA's primary concern in this investigation is to identify the source of the continent, ensuring that the recall is effective and providing information to the public. I want to assure you that FDA officials are working around the clock as this investigation continues and just talk a little bit about the level of effort that the FDA has exerted thus far.

The FDA has dedicated each of its 20 district offices to this investigation and approximately 400 employees from the FDA are involved in sample pet food collection, monitoring of the recall effectiveness and preparing consumer complaint reports. At least three field laboratories are directly involved in active sample analysis and each field laboratory is highly capable in standing by to conduct additional analyses as need. FDA's veterinarians and toxicologists from the Center for Veterinary Medicine and elsewhere in the agency have been researching potential causative agents, analyzing possibilities, evaluating the science -- scientific and analytical information and guiding and supporting the overall efforts.

FDA is working with its regulatory partners in all 50 states, all 50 health agencies to inform them of the status of the investigation and analytical efforts. FDA's emergency operation center remains activated and is managing the incoming information from pet owners and veterinarians and others and is making sure that the information gets to our scientists and to our inspection team.

More than 100 samples of pet food have been collected and analyzed at our field laboratories. The agency continues to receive calls from veterinarians and pet owners who believe their pet may have been effected by the recalled pet food. To date, the agency has received more than 8,000 complaints. Confirmation that these may be related to the pet food recall takes time and it requires follow-up by our field staff. Veterinary reports and other evidence needs to be collected from each case before any of these reports can be confirmed. With that I will conclude my -- oh, wait a minute. Another page. Consumers should continue to check the Menu Foods' website for brands of pet food that may have been recalled. And we continue to recommend to consumers that consumers access our website at fda.gov to, number one, find up-to-date information on the list of recalled products, two, find instructions on how to report adverse events, and, three, for answers to frequently-asked questions.

Thank you.

This concludes my formal remarks and I would like to now introduce Dr. Donald Smith, who is the dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University and he will make some remarks.

DR. DONALD SMITH, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: Thank you, Dr. Sundlof. It's a pleasure to be here. But I especially want to thank the members of the FDA for working so closely with Cornell University over the last couple weeks.

As was mentioned in my introduction, I serve as dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell, have served in that capacity for approximately 10 years.

Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine dates back to 1868 when it was involved in the very first instruction of veterinary medicine at Cornell University. Since that time, we have grown both in our teaching capacity and our research capacity and our outreach capacity. The latter being attributed to our land grant mission (ph), which we take very seriously.

Part of that land grant mission is appropriated towards two major facilities we have at Cornell. One being our Cornell University Hospital for Animals and the other being the Animal Health Diagnostic Center, which serves in part under contract with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

The Animal Health Diagnostic Center, the executive director of that unit being Dr. Bruce Achy (ph), he and his staff have been working on this particular problem for approximately three weeks. The reason we were contacted is that we have been involved in a number of investigative problems, whether they're related to canine flu, Avian influenza, the pet food recall in December of 2005, or various other problems. We have approximately 230 members of our staff and faculty at the Animal Health Diagnostic Center and the team went right to work when we heard from Menu Foods approximately three weeks ago.

We received some samples from them of cat food which have been part of a feeding trial. We did not, at the time we received the first samples, know that there was any toxin involved, but the cats were apparently refusing to eat some of the food from that trial. About five days later, we understood that there were issues related to not just taste or palatability, but also toxic effects. We received at that time additional samples which contained urine, tissue from infected animals and pet food itself. We did extensive testing both in our laboratories at Cornell and we also submitted some samples to our partners at the New York State Agriculture and Markets food lab, which is part of the consortium with which we work broadly defined, it's call the FERN (ph), and the Federal Emergency Responsive Network. We specifically asked them to look at things related to antibiotics, antimicrobial and pesticides. Things that we were not as able to work on as they are.

On March 21st, the lab at Albany made a presumptive evidence of a diagnosis of ebinoptrin (ph) present in the food and 36 hours later they confirmed that presence. We participated in a conference call, a press release on March 23rd, a week ago today, identifying their findings of ebinoptrin in the food.

We have not been able to, at Cornell, yet confirm the presence of ebinoptrin . . .

COLLINS: OK. We have been listening in to the promised news conference that we have from the FDA there. A couple of veterinarians. This one, Donald Smith out of Cornell, who has done extensive investigating of these complaints and pet deaths actually that according to the Veterinary Information Network reported just on Tuesday that of the 471 cases of kidney failure in dogs and cats, there were 100 that died. Of course, Menu Foods, the people who have put out this food, have only confirmed 16 of those deaths.

Trying to learn whether or not the FDA is going to extend that food recall. Right now the only thing that has been recalled is the cuts and gravy -- it's a wet food -- for cats and dogs by Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba. So that is what we know at this point.

Allan Chernoff, I believe, is still standing by. Allan has been watching this story for us.

Allan, what did you hear in all of this? We heard a lot of names of chemicals. Apparently one of them is used in making of plastics.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, actually, one of the chemicals that they found in the urine and kidneys of cats who had died and they believe that these cats died from eating the tainted pet food, this chemical is used in fertilizers and also in the manufacture of utensils and plates. The chemical is called melamine. And it was, again, found in the urine and kidney of cats that suffered after eating this pet food.

Now the FDA did say that it is not absolutely certain that chemical was the cause of death for these animals, but it did want to reveal this new finding after doing these autopsies on the cats. The FDA also said that 20 of its offices are working on this right now, 400 FDA officials involved in the investigation.

Heidi, as you said, Menu Foods did institute a major recall. Sixty million cans of food was actually recalled. And they believe that this chemical was actually in the wheat gluten contained within this wet pet food. And this is being traced back to plants in Kansas and New Jersey. Even though the company, Menu Foods, is based in Ontario. Two factories in Kansas and New Jersey, they believe, are the source of all of this.

Heidi.

COLLINS: You know, it's fascinating, too, Allan, with that, the wheat gluten, kind of an issue of mine, believe it or not. But one of the things that we talk about a lot with an entirely unrelated issue (INAUDIBLE) is cross contamination. And sometimes other things can get into the food when they are being prepared. Are they going to talk more about exactly how they think that this chemical could have gotten into if wheat gluten?

CHERNOFF: I believe that's something they are still investigating right now. They're trying to figure it all out. They're giving the latest information that they have. As I said, there are hundreds of people working on this right now. But that certainly is a very good possibility here.

You know, we've had problems recently with bagged lettuce, bagged vegetables, and this also believed to be traced to maybe some of the fertilizers, some of the problems in the field itself. Maybe some of the wheat not adequately cleaned after being harvested.

COLLINS: Yes. Wow. It is certainly fascinating and really tragic for the people who lost their pets. So we'll continue to follow this. Of course, you will, too.

Allan Chernoff from New York. Thank you.

HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the legislative time clock ran out and a young man's attorney is shocked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The entire country is watching Georgia and they adjourn and don't get to this bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Doing time after a change in the crime law. That story in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Defiant Democrats. A veto threat from the president. The stage is set for a showdown over pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq. Find out what happens next in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Household chemicals mixed to make a bottle bomb. The stunt leaves one teenager fighting to regain his sight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the lesson you've learned?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't do stupid stuff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Finding out the hard way. See it in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: This man gets a hankering for a junior bacon cheeseburger. Three of them to be exact. The problem is police say he robbed the very same restaurant just days earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This would probably be on my top 10 list. I'm going to put him at number one right now. And that's about a 25- year list, and this was something you don't see very often.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Craving crime, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Bombings and bloodshed. The death toll is climbing this morning from a string of attacks in Iraq. The interior ministry says 124 people have died from a pair of bombings at marketplaces in Baghdad and Diyala Province. The market bombings were the deadliest attacks in a wave of violence in Iraq yesterday.

In another incident, a roadside bomb exploded along in busy street in Baghdad killing two people and wounding six. This morning, U.S. and Iraqi forces say they have arrested a suspect linked to a network bringing sophisticated bombs into the country. The so-called explosively formed projectiles were among the weapons found during an operation last month in Baquba.

COLLINS: Credit cards, credit scores, topics tackled by CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis, joining us now from New York to answer viewer e-mails.

Gerri, hello to you. Happy Friday.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Heidi. Happy Friday.

COLLINS: I know.

WILLIS: Are we on the same page here or what?

COLLINS: Completely. Completely. All right. Let's go to the first question, because these are some really good ones that can probably help out a lot of folks out there watching today.

First one comes from Sandra in California. She asks, "how often does a credit card company report to a credit bureau? In other words, if I used cash to pay my credit cards down by half, how soon would this reflect on my credit score?

WILLIS: Well, very good question, Sandra. Usually a credit card issuer will report to a credit bureau once a month. Now there's really no rhyme or reason as to what day they report and generally banks don't disclose the information either. But, look, paying down your credit cards are really going to improve your score. You could see your score pop by 70 or 80 points if you pay off most of you're out standings debt. But, vigilance is the key to really bump up your score significantly over the long term. You've got to keep paying those bills on time.

COLLINS: Yes, it seems like it always takes a lot longer for them to notice. But, boy, if you're late, they notice right away, don't they?

WILLIS: Oh, that's right. You bet.

COLLINS: Let's go to the second one now coming from Justin. He says, "my credit score is 619. A local lender will approved me with fixed rate of 10.5 percent. I filed bankruptcy less than two years ago and I was told that after two years my credit score will go up, and I could get a better interest rate. Is this true?

WILLIS: Well, Justin, good job in getting your score to 619 after a bankruptcy. Remember, declaring bankruptcy is devastating to your credit score. It stays on your record for seven to 10 years. I've got to tell you, two years, is just not likely to raise your score enough to get what they call prime interest rates. Those are the best rates out there. Now if you keep paying your bills on time and you keep your debt under control, you may be able to get into prime loan rate territory, but it's going to take three years or so to get that done.

COLLINS: OK. And on to the third one here. This is from Margaret. She asks, "if a person is listed as an authorized user of a credit card, are they responsible for the credit card debt in the event that the primary card holder dies?

WILLIS: Well, Margaret, interesting question. To answer your question, no, you are not responsible. But there's a bigger picture here that will apply to a lot of people out there. If you are listed as an authorized user of a credit card and the primary card holder is late paying bills, your credit score will be dinged and vice versa. That is because payment history of that card will be reflected on both credit histories.

Got a question, send us an e-mail to toptips@cnn.com. We answer them right here every Friday. And we love, love, love to hear from you.

COLLINS: We do. And we love, love, love our weekends. We're just that much closer to it now, aren't we, Gerri?

WILLIS: That's right. Not that I'm counting (ph).

COLLINS: Me (ph). All right, my dear, see you next time.

WILLIS: We will see you Monday.

HARRIS: Ninety minutes -- 95.

Battered and bruised and not yet out of the woods. Parts of the country facing another round of severe weather today. The story, details, pictures from Chad Myers coming up in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: A closely-held church secret now out in the open. For the first time we'll hear from her. She's the nun who claims she's been cured of an incurable disease by praying to Pope John Paul. The story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A defiant Democrat-controlled Congress. A president poised for a veto. Two sides on a collision course over the war in Iraq. The Senate has passed a war spending bill calling for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. The president says he won't accept timetables. Congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins us now from Capitol Hill.

Dana, great to see you this morning.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You too.

HARRIS: Why don't we do this, Dana? Let's listen for a bit to some of the back and forth between the president and the Democrats and then let's try to make some sense of it for everyone at home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We stand united. And saying loud and clear that when we've got our troops in harm's way, we expect that troop to be fully funded. And we've got commanders making tough decisions on the ground. We expect there to be no strings on our commanders.

SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: We're satisfied that we've done the people's work. What is in this bill regarding Iraq is what the American people said they wanted on November 7th and what they have said in a more amplified manner since then. We have given the American people what they want.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: All right, Dana, what are we talking about here, a real showdown over deeply-held positions about how to go forward with this war in Iraq or is this just a PR battle?

BASH: It's actually both. It is -- they're definitely -- there's a huge divide between what the president believes and what now the majority of Democrats in the House and Senate have voted on, which is a deadline for troops to come home in Iraq. But that is -- that is sort of their positions.

The PR battle is exactly what you just illustrated with those two sound bites. And that is what we're going to see over the next several weeks, is the Democrats saying, you know, I'm sorry, as you heard Nancy Pelosi say, Mr. President, there's a new Congress in town and you can promise that you will veto this. You can actually veto it. But we're going to assert our new power here and assert what we, Democrats, believe is the will of the American people. And the president is saying, no, remember, I'm the commander in chief and this is not the way to do this.

So the big question, Tony, is what is going to happen when all of this plays out and it gets to the point where the Democrats -- and the president -- have to figure out how they're actually going to pass this money. We're talking about a deadline. But again, it's on $100 billion plus war funding bill and it needs to go to the troops who are in the field.

So all of this kind of political kabuki dance is going to have to stop relatively soon and they're going to have to figure out just how to do it. And I'll tell you, talking to Democrats here, they don't know. They really do not have the beginning of a strategy in terms of how to move forward and make that happen.

HARRIS: Well, shouldn't they?

BASH: They should. But, you know, this -- what we saw over the past couple of weeks really interesting, Tony, is the Democrats come together and really unite over a concept for the first time in quite a long time. The concept of a time line for troop withdrawal. But it was done in a very difficult and delicate way. Either definitely was some arm twisting, there were some sweeteners put in.

And when this eventually comes back to Congress with the president's veto on it, they're going to have to, once again, go through the process of figuring out how to get a divided Democratic caucus together. And the problem that you have is that eventually Democrats say, we're going to have to give the money to these troops. The question is whether there will be maybe be some benchmarks attached, maybe some loose benchmarks, or something like that.

But the problem is that there are a significant number of Democrats, especially in the House, who are what they call a get out of Iraq caucus. And they say look, we don't support this war, we don't support funding this war, and if it comes down to just not supporting the troops in terms of money, that's fine with us. And that is the big challenge for the Democratic leaders in the House and the Senate trying to balance that.

HARRIS: That is a hard line to take. Congressional correspondent Dana Bash for us this morning. Dana, thanks.

BASH: Thank you.

COLLINS: Storm clouds brewing, tornadoes and flooding possible. The target sites? Central and east Texas. This is the flash flooding north of Dallas. Several high water rescues along flooded roads. A number of residents have had to evacuate but thankfully no injuries have been reported.

In Oklahoma City today, they're cleaning up from yesterday's tornado. Looks pretty rough there that's for sure. At least five people were hurt there. Twisters have killed at least four people in three states since Wednesday. One Oklahoma resident describes what happened when bad weather blew in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I was just sitting watching TV and I saw something flying through the air and I got my four kids and got in the closet in the middle of the house and just stayed safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We are watching the weather. Of course, we'll keep you updated on what could be a very stormy day. In fact, I think Chad Myers does a much better job of that than us. Hey, Chad, sorry about that.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's all right.

COLLINS: You've said earlier today that in the afternoon things are probably going to get even worse for these folks.

MYERS: Right, because the sun is out now. The sun is out in south Texas. And that heats the ground. The ground heats the air. And the air rises like a hot air balloon. And rising air will make those cumulus clouds.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Very good.

COLLINS: You know, I thought you were going show the pollen grains like flying in the air that we saw the other day. I can't get that image out of my head. Crazy.

MYERS: There's a black Dodge Magnum in the parking lot here at CNN and you can't tell what color it is. And it has that windshield in the back that goes like this, and someone has actually used the windshield wiper and just smeared it everywhere. It's just ...

HARRIS: Well, Chad, the problem is that guy is like, where's my car?

MYERS: Dude, where's my car.

COLLINS: Where's my car?

MYERS: Dude, it's a Hemi. Go real fast and blow it off.

COLLINS: All right, Chad. Thank you. Oh there it is. Oh look, iI swear it looks like gnats or locusts or something. Oh, yuck.

MYERS: Yes, you're breathing all that in, too.

COLLINS: Lovely, right? All right, Chad, thank you, I think.

I want to move on now to an ordinary nun with an extraordinary story. Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre of France said she was cured of Parkinson's Disease after praying to Pope John Paul II. The Catholic Church has been investigating her claims. If a miracle is established, it could be the one needed to beautify (ph) the late pope, the first step towards sainthood. Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre told her story in public for the first time today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SISTER MARIE-SIMON-PIERRE, NUN (through translator): I have to say that I've always admired John Paul. I was 17-years-old when he was elected pope in 1978. He's a bit my pope, the pope of our generation and he's helped me a lot to live with this disease. I admired him a lot. Even though I was ill I could not watch him any more on television because he was showing me what I would become a few years later. Seeing the quick evolution of this illness. I was honestly imagining myself in a wheelchair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Joining us now from New York, CNN's Faith and Values Correspondent Delia Gallagher. Delia, if I remember correctly, one of the last times we were talking about beautification, it takes two acts, is that correct?

DELIA GALLAGHER, FATIH & VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Sorry, Heidi, I didn't hear. It takes one miracle for a beautification and then another miracle for sainthood, beautification being the first step towards sainthood.

So what we're looking at here is the first miracle. I mean, without this nun, this process couldn't go ahead to make John Paul II a saint. So this is a very important first step, if it's approved by the Vatican, by the way. But most people are suggesting that that will be fairly simple rubber stamp on this.

COLLINS: Well let's talk for a moment about that process because it is not easy. And then there's so much that goes into the verification of the story, for example, of this nun.

GALLAGHER: Absolutely. What happened here is this started almost immediately after the pope's death. When they talk about fast tracking a pope to sainthood, this is what they mean. Normally they have to wait for five years to even begin collecting all the information. Instead what happened with John Paul II, Benedict XVI, as soon as he was elected said we're putting him on the fast track.

And so there's a Polish priest at the Vatican who is responsible for gathering thousands upon thousands of documents of people that knew him, of the pope's writings, and of these miracles. So he collected -- he told me, about 100 cases that he thought could be legitimate miracles. And all of those cases had to be investigated by medical doctors and verified that there was no sort of medical explanation for this.

And then they narrowed it down, as it were, to this one nun who quite nicely had the same illness that John Paul II had, the Parkinson's Disease. In fact, the medical investigator told me that that was one of the reasons they decided to put her forward versus some of the other possible miracles.

COLLINS: It is really fascinating, though. I mean, she really never even met Pope John Paul II.

GALLAGHER: Well, that's interesting because in order for a miracle to be approved for sainthood, the person has to have already died. The candidate has to have already died. So it doesn't work if he put his hands on her while he was living. That wouldn't count. So he has to have already died and she has to pray to him after he died.

And so what happened was she and her group of nuns in the convent in France, prayed to him and in that two month period from the time he died to the morning she woke up and didn't have these tremors anymore, that's when this cure, as she's calling it, occurred.

COLLINS: Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre. We will be watching this story. It really is fascinating. All right, Faith and Values correspondent, Delia Gallagher. Thanks so much, Delia.

GALLAGHER: Thanks, Heidi.

HARRIS: And still to come this morning, the sex law that sent him away has been changed but he is still in prison. The case of Genarlow Wilson coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Convicted under one law, he'd now be home free under a new law. But Genarlow Wilson remains in jail leaving his supporters outraged.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

B.J. BERNSTEIN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I am shocked. I'm disappointed. The most looked-at bill, a bill that's been repeatedly brought up by every major newspaper in the state as a major bill of concern that the entire country is watching Georgia and they adjourn and don't get to this bill.

HARRIS (voice-over): Unfinished business, the Georgia Senate let the deadline pass without a vote on a bill that could have freed Genarlow Wilson. Wilson is 25 months into a ten-year prison term for having sex with a teenage girl.

GENARLOW WILSON, SENTENCED IN TEEN SEX CASE: When you let someone, a sex offender, a sex offender is someone who has a history of continually committing the same crime with kids, someone who's weak, they prey on the weak. I wasn't preying on the weak when it happened ...

HARRIS: It was New Year's Eve 2003 and Wilson was partying with friends. Somebody had a video camera and captured Wilson receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old. Wilson was 17.

In Georgia at the time that was a felony. The law said receiving oral sex from someone under 16 is aggravated child molestation. Even when both participants are teens and the act is consensual.

Wilson's case prompted an outcry and the law was changed, making the crime a misdemeanor. But that didn't help Genarlow Wilson. So Wilson supporters had one more mission at the Georgia State Capitol, Wilson's freedom.

A bill was introduced that would allow judges to review the case of Wilson and hundreds of others convicted under the old law. But critics argued that would put an unnecessary strain on the legal system.

DAVID MCDADE, DOUGLAS CO., GEORGIA DISTRICT ATTY.: I don't believe you should trade relief for a person's been convicted of aggravated child molestation and child molestation. They've been through courts.

HARRIS: The legislative time clock ran out for Genarlow Wilson and all an attorney could do was console a mother.

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HARRIS: Genarlow Wilson's attorney B.J. Bernstein, a friend of the show, joins us from New York. B.J., great to see you.

BERNSTEIN: Good to see you. But I can't believe we're still having to talk about this case, Tony.

HARRIS: Why?

BERNSTEIN: It's baffling. Because there's been such an outcry. We've had over 100,000 people sign our petition on wilsonappeal.com, CNN, New York Times, almost every Georgia newspaper has come out in favor of Genarlow because the law right now, this young man had the same party that he did back three years ago. It would be a misdemeanor with no sex offender registry. In fact, he's responsible for the change in the law and yet he's still sitting in prison.

HARRIS: You heard the comment, the end of the piece there, no relief. No relief for a convicted sex offender. What do you think?

BERNSTEIN: It's crazy. I mean, the thing is what we're not realizing is the people who should be on sex offender registries are the types who prey on our children, the ones for instance the story that you recently covered about the little boy in Brunswick, Georgia, who was murdered allegedly by someone who was on a sex offender registry and out on probation versus Genarlow who just engaged in a consensual sex act.

He was 17, the girl was 15. It was a crazy party. Yes, they made mistakes but they were youthful errors that quite candidly are happening all over the country. I mean, it's Friday night in America, there's going to be more of this tonight.

HARRIS: Hey, B.J., did your client know that the young woman was 15-years-old when she offered and he accepted the oral sex or was he somehow claiming ignorance to the law? BERNSTEIN: He wasn't claiming ignorance of her age. He's claiming ignorance of the law. And so many kids don't know the law. In fact, that's why I founded a non-profit my5th.org, my, and it's number five t-h .org where there's an interactive map where you can look and see what the age of consent is for having sex in your state and trying to educate kids.

I was just at a high school on Wednesday talking about Genarlow, talking to them about the laws. Almost everywhere in this country it is a possibility to be arrested for a teenage consensual sex act. That's a shock to most parents and certainly to kids.

HARRIS: So B.J., critics say changing the law would overburden the legal system because so many cases would have to be reviewed. That sounds legitimate.

BERNSTEIN: No, it's not legitimate because this bill was specifically designed only to apply to people who were 18 and under, who were engaged in consensual sex acts. It's not going to apply to adult predators. It's not going to apply to anybody older. It's not thousands of cases. And if it were thousands of cases of consensual sex in prison or on probation for a felony then you bet we should look at it. We have time to take care of our kids.

HARRIS: You appealed this to the Georgia Supreme Court, what came of it?

BERNSTEIN: Well, the problem with the Georgia Supreme Court was they were saying it was up to the legislature to fix the law again. And so we've been to the legislature. And unless there's a miracle left in the last few days of the Georgia legislative session where someone can add or amend a bill, then I'm going to have to go back to the courts, which is just, again, astounding when common sense tells you this young man should be out of prison and not on a registry.

HARRIS: Is it true that the supreme -- the Georgia Supreme Court case came down along racial lines?

BERNSTEIN: The initial desire to take the case, they actually were in a fight about whether to accept our case or not. And yes, the initial decision to want to take the case, the three African-American justices on the supreme court wanted to take the case and the other four white justices did not.

HARRIS: What role has race in your opinion played in this case start to finish?

BERNSTEIN: You know, it's hard to say because the young women involved were black and he's black, so you don't have like Marcus Dickson which you and I were -- which you covered extensively and know well where it was a white young woman and a black man several years ago. So we don't have that component. I don't want to accuse someone of being -- I'm being careful not to accuse someone of racism and yet at the same time I'm wondering with a 3.1 GPA, star athlete, if he were white, would I even be sitting here? I don't know.

HARRIS: B.J. Bernstein, great to see you as always. See you back here in Atlanta.

BERNSTEIN: See you soon in Atlanta.

HARRIS: OK, take care.

COLLINS: Animal activists urging the pet food recall be widened to cover dry food. The FDA holding a news conference. We'll have details on what happened coming up in the NEWSROOM.

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COLLINS: Something was in the food that shouldn't have been, but the FDA still not certain it was what killed 100 pets. A news conference just a short while ago on the pet food recall.

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DR. STEPHEN SUNDLOF, DIR., FDA CTR. FOR VETERINARY MEDICINE: The association between melamine in the kidneys and urine of cats that died, and the melamine that was in the food they consumed is undeniable.

Additionally melamine is an ingredient that should not be in pet food at any level. However, I want to make it very clear at this point that we are not fully yet certain that melamine is the causative agent of illness and death in pets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So as you hear there, more investigating to do on this story. We will continue to follow it for you.

Spring tornadoes rip into the Plains states again, and more storms could bubble up again today. We are keeping a close eye on the radar here in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: A second helping. A big mistake for this robbery suspect in North Miami Beach. Police say Gene Bologna (ph) -- maybe I could say it differently, but it works for this story -- returned to a Wendy's four days after he robbed it. On the second visit he ordered three junior bacon cheeseburgers and then argued with the cashier about his change. It seems the cashier recognized the tattoo on Bologna's cheek. Police were amazed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. WARREN HARDISON, NORTH MIAMI BEACH POLICE: This will probably be on my top-10 list. I'm going to put him at No. 1 right now. That's a 25-year list, and this was something you don't see very often. That's like almost going to the police station and saying, hey, I did it.

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HARRIS: Bologna jailed today without bond on robbery charges.

COLLINS: The house, the Senate and troop withdrawal.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ball is in the president's court. We have done what we had to do to take care of people who are fighting for us.

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COLLINS: Democrats versus the White House? Showdown over the war, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: A British detainee on tape. Iran calls it an apology. London calls it outrageous. Judge for yourself in the NEWSROOM.

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