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Chasing the Storm; More Than Three Dozen People Killed by Car Bomb in Karbala; Missing White House E-mail; Royal Split
Aired April 14, 2007 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, hello there, everybody.
You're looking at the CNN NEWSROOM. We're here at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. And it is Saturday, April 14th.
Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we survived April 13th. So far, so good.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
We want to thank you for starting your day with us right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HOLMES: Yes, that was a rough night in Texas. Tornadoes, heavy rain and hail the size of baseballs in some cases. New video coming into CNN as this extreme weather now moves east.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He didn't like the way she talked. He didn't like the way she walked. He didn't like it because she was too fat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: OK. Well, the secret life of a preacher's wife revealed in court, and now she is on trial for murder in the shooting death of her husband.
HOLMES: Also, the buzz in Washington this morning, missing White House e-mails. Not just a handful. Possibly five million e-mails gone.
NGUYEN: Yes, we're going to get to the bottom of that. How do you lose five million e-mails?
We'll check that out.
And this. Take a good look. Lost love in the U.K.
Hey, Ladies, Prince William is back on the market. We are live at Buckingham Palace. HOLMES: But first we're going to start with the weather and a warning for those of you in the South and in the East. Brace yourself. Weather is about to take you on a wild ride.
It's already moved through north Texas, pounding hail and wailing sirens. This is an I-Report of that large hail coming to us from Saginaw, Texas. This was sent to us by one of our I-Reporters, Lee Bendix.
NGUYEN: Yes, two tornadoes were spotted in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area yesterday. Look at the damage here. These tractor trailers just overturned like toy cars there.
That storm damage killed at least one person and did a lot of destruction to the north Texas area. Also, businesses were damaged, power lines, those were knocked out as well.
HOLMES: Also, take a look at this. In Ft. Worth, Texas, a church -- you can make out the pulpit there -- destroyed after the storm ripped off the roof. The walls collapsed there as well. It's being described fast and terrible. Those are two words that some survivors of the storm used to describe it.
Reporter Jim Douglas of affiliate WFAA chased the storm last night as it swept through the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM DOUGLAS, REPORTER, WFAA (voice over): White Settlement a little before 6:00 p.m., black clouds drop and start to churn. Radar indicates rotation right above our heads, but there's no funnel. Just a brief, hard blast.
We chase the storm east to Haltom City. A large funnel has descended around Haltom Road and 121. It sucked up motor homes and tractor-trailers at an R.V. center, shredding some, stacking others three stories high. But as we try to shoot more, we discover the tangled power lines around us are not dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa! Everybody all right?
DOUGLAS: One more jolt for residents who saw the twister come.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terrified. I was screaming at him, telling him to turn right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then he says, "Oh, that's not birds. That's trash and debris. Get in the house. This is a tornado."
It was just fast and terrible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: We do want to turn now to Iraq. Another round of insurgent attacks aimed at Iraqi civilians. A crowded market and a Baghdad bridge among the targets.
Want to get more now from CNN's Kyra Phillips in Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can probably see by these pictures that we're just getting in from Iraqi television. It shows the hundreds of people that have crowded around the Karbala explosion. You can see emergency workers placing victims in ambulances, attending to the injured there.
This is what I can tell you right now with regard to the latest numbers. At least 43 people were killed in this explosion, 55 were wounded.
What happened is there was a parked car bomb that exploded right there in the busy area of Karbala, a busy shopping area. People had just gathered for the beginning of the day to start their shopping here in the central area.
We can tell you also that this explosion happened not far from the Imam Hussein holy shrine. The background on that, it's where the grandson of Islam's Prophet Mohammed is buried. It's one of the most important areas for the Shiites. So, once again, in Karbala, still 43 people dead, 55 wounded in that car bomb that exploded there.
Something else that we're learning that happened this morning. The second attack in two days on a popular bridge here in Iraq. This one at the Jadria (ph) bridge. It's usually a very crowded bridge.
We're getting reports that 10 people were killed, 15 wounded. But not a lot of damage done to this bridge like damage that was done to the Al Sarafia (ph) bridge just two days ago. That explosion knocked that bridge out and people could not travel back and forth. A very historic bridge, a very important bridge to Iraqis.
Now this second attack by extremists on this bridge. Not causing much damage, but killing 10 people.
There are 11 major bridges in Baghdad. So now U.S. troops and Iraqis will be taking a look at those other nine bridges, trying to prevent extremists from attacking that mode of transportation for Iraqis.
Kyra Phillips, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And as we just heard there, it's the second bridge attack in three days. Earlier we talked to CNN military analyst Brigadier General David Grange. He told us it's not necessarily a new strategy by insurgents, but rather an attack of opportunity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: The bridge targeted or not. Obviously the other day the bridge was targeted. In this case, you know, bridges are good targets to take out vehicles or people because you have constricted movement area. In other words, everyone is funneled into this line of communication, this avenue of approach. And so it's a good target for that reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, in other news, there is a showdown brewing over missing White House e-mail. As many as five million e-mails, to be exact, could be lost. And that is a possible violation, possibly, of a federal law.
Now, let's get right to our Kathleen Koch who's at the White House this morning.
And Kathleen, as we look at this, OK, maybe one e-mail, maybe two, maybe even a dozen e-mails. But five million e-mails were lost?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, the White House is trying to figure out if that is actually the case. Obviously, earlier this week there had already been some concern that top presidential advisers had been found to be using the server at the Republican National Committee to send e-mails that had vanished.
Now a liberal watchdog group says that e-mails over a period of two years, starting in March of 2003, White House e-mail traffic for hundreds of days has apparently also simply vanished. Now, if so, that is a possible violation of something called the federal Presidential Records Act. It requires these records to preserved, and the White House says it is investigating the allegations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA PERINO, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There are allegations that there could be days, whole days missing. And what I'm saying is we're looking into that, but I would caution people from breaking any broad conclusions about that, for the reasons I've stated, which is there is no indication that that was -- that that would have been intentional, and there are ways that you can find missing e-mails, and that's one of the ways they do that. I'm not a technical expert, but they have the expertise on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, why is all this important? Not only for historical purposes, but also, when investigations are conducted such as that into the recent firing of the eight U.S. attorneys, also the CIA leak case involving Scooter Libby, among others. In fact, it was the special prosecutor in that case, Patrick Fitzgerald, who revealed last year that he himself had discovered that some White House e-mails from 2003 were not saved as standard procedure required.
So, Democrats are very concerned about this, very livid, saying that this raises questions about whether any of these recent investigations have really gotten the full story of goings on in the Bush White House -- Betty. NGUYEN: CNN's Kathleen Koch at the White House for us today.
We thank you, Kathleen.
KOCH: You bet.
HOLMES: All right. We've got a high-profile breakup at Buckingham Palace.
NGUYEN: Yes, we do.
HOLMES: Prince William is eligible once again. We're going to go live to London. That is straight ahead -- Veronica.
NGUYEN: Don't seem so excited, T.J.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN PIPELINE ANCHOR: Lots of ladies lining up for that one.
All right. That story, and this one making the most popular list at CNN.com. A man's arm chewed off by a crocodile, and he lives to tell about it. We're going to have the details next from the .com/DESK.
Plus this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Had you planned ahead of time to shoot him, or did it happen just spur of the moment?
MARY WINKLER, DEFENDANT: Not planned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't planned? It just happened?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The preacher's wife on trial for killing her husband. The defense says she's an abused wife. Now, prosecutors say she is a cold-blooded killer. We are going to ask our legal ladies what they think. That's later in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
NGUYEN: Everybody is talking about the royal split this morning. It is front-page news out in London. Prince William and his longtime girlfriend have, yes, split.
So let's head to Buckingham Palace, where CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh is following this story.
So, any idea, Alphonso, what led to this breakup?
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot of speculation, but at this point, at least coming from Prince William's official spokesman, not much comment. As you mentioned, the news that Prince William has reportedly broke up with his long-term girlfriend, Kate Middleton.
It was reported here in the "Sun" first. There's the headline for you, "Wills and Kate Split".
According to the "Sun," it was an amicable breakup. They're saying possible speculation as to why they may have broken up might be due to the intense media pressure, intense pressure on that couple, as well as Prince Williams' decision to make his army career come first.
Now, of course, Prince William is an army officer. He is currently training to be a tank commander in Dorset. That's about three hours by car south of here. Whereas Kate is an accessories buyer here in the capital.
I did speak with the writer, the person behind this exclusive, and he said even though that Wills and Kate may have split, it's going to be quite some time before she's out of the media spotlight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUNCAN LARCOMBE, "SUN" REPORTER: I think now that this story has broken, possibly Kate Middleton's place in the public eye will continue for some time. She will always now be known as William's first love, the woman who could have been queen.
It didn't work out. And in some ways, that's even more of a heartbreaking story than just the standard, she gets married and they live happily ever after.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN MARSH: Now, it's important to note that she has been very much pursued by the paparazzi ever since it became apparent to some that she was indeed being welcomed into the royal family. Just in January she had launched a complaint against paparazzi reporters who had really, she said, had harassed her in terms of following her down the street as soon as she left her door.
But then at the end today, the news of this reported breakup comes as a shock to many. Many thinking not only would she be the girlfriend of the second in line to the throne, but possibly the future queen of this country -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Oh, what will we do now that they split? I just don't know.
Alphonso, we appreciate that report.
HOLMES: You seem a little too giddy about the whole thing. I mean, people's hearts are broken here.
NGUYEN: I know, but you just said a guy just broke up with his girlfriend. What's the big deal? HOLMES: Let them be. I'm sure it's painful for them both.
NGUYEN: Give them some time. Who knows? They'll be back together in three weeks.
HOLMES: That's how relationships (INAUDIBLE) Betty.
All right, folks.
NGUYEN: Hey, I've been in the news business long enough to see it happen.
HOLMES: All right.
Well, we're going to search for the fountain of youth coming up next. While burning the candle at both ends from multitasking overachievers, like our Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chasing life might mean slowing down.
Those details straight ahead.
NGUYEN: And good morning, New Orleans. Kind of a foggy one. Keeping a close eye on the weather out there this morning.
Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is tracking it for us, and she will have the latest in 15 minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: See them hard at work in the NEWSROOM? That, in itself, will age you.
HOLMES: Will age you. They hope to get to 78, because that's the average life expectancy here in the U.S. Not necessarily an absolute. You can actually change the future with a few easy steps.
NGUYEN: Believe it or not, this is the focus of Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta's new book. It's called "Chasing Life". And what he does is he looks at ways to stay healthy and happy, getting you well into your golden years and even beyond.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I'm 37. And this forensic age progression by artist D'Lynn Waldron shows how I might look if I'm lucky enough to reach the century mark. Handsome, right?
But I wanted to know if I have what it really takes to live to 100. Or even beyond.
To see how my life stacks up, I turned to one of the world's leading experts on centenarians, Dr. Thomas Perls. Perls has devised a formula to predict how long you'll live. And he agreed to follow me over the course of a day.
At the Gupta home, the day starts early.
(on camera): Last night, I didn't get out of the operating room until very late. So I've only had about four hours of sleep.
(voice-over): Wrong answer. For most people, Perls says sleeping fewer than eight hours a night will cost you a year and a half of life.
DR. THOMAS PERLS, EXPERT ON CENTENARIANS: No coffee in the morning?
GUPTA (on camera): No, not a coffee drinker.
(voice-over): Bingo. Much better. Perls says more than two cups a day will trim life expectancy by a year or more.
As we drove to work, something else had him worried.
PERLS: So you're a neurosurgeon who decides to take on another full-time job. So two full-time jobs. And then two babies. So, automatically, on the calculator, in terms of stresses, you would be off the charts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the 8:40 hit, nothing about their brains.
PERLS: In terms of the number of hours, how many a week would you say you're working?
GUPTA (on camera): It's well over 80.
(voice-over): Perls tells most people to work less. Fewer than 40 hours a week if they can.
PERLS: And how many days a week do you exercise?
GUPTA (on camera): I try and do at least three or four.
(voice-over): This interview was a real workout.
Regular family time? Yes. Add years. Blood pressure, good. Cholesterol, not so good.
(on camera): My cholesterol is not great. It's 209.
PERLS: We'll punch your numbers in and see what comes out.
GUPTA (voice-over): Could I look forward to 100 candles on my birthday cake, or was I headed to an early grave?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, to find out, you're going to have to watch "Chasing Life". Yes. And you can catch all of Sanjay's CNN special. That is today at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Sanjay's book "Chasing Life" is now on sale. And you could even win a free autographed copy of that book. All you have to go to is cnn.com/chasinglife.
So we decided to take this test.
HOLMES: Of course, we had to.
NGUYEN: And we did it earlier this morning.
And I'm happy to say that I'm going to live to be a nice and ripe 85 years old.
HOLMES: Eighty-five. I, for whatever reason, am only going to live until 74.
NGUYEN: And why is that, T.J.?
HOLMES: Well, when I put in -- it said your work stress and your co-workers around you...
NGUYEN: The co-workers around you?
HOLMES: Yes. That took some years off my life.
NGUYEN: It's just a hard living that he does.
Don't even blame it on me.
HOLMES: It took some years off of my life.
NGUYEN: But we have some pictures for you. You know we did the age progression with Sanjay. Well, they decided to do a little age progression with us.
HOLMES: Not a very good one.
NGUYEN: And let me just say, T.J. fell on the raw end of this deal.
HOLMES: You know, that's today's picture.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: That's the updated version of Betty and I.
NGUYEN: And there we go.
HOLMES: But for whatever reason, that's us at, what, 74 and 85?
NGUYEN: I guess I'm 85.
The glasses are nice, T.J. They're a nice...
HOLMES: Those are going to be cool when I turn 74.
NGUYEN: ... addition.
HOLMES: Those are going to be hip.
NGUYEN: But hey, look at this. You still have all your hair.
HOLMES: I do have the hair.
NGUYEN: That's a positive thing.
NGUYEN: But if I'm going to look like that, you know what? I don't want to make it to 74.
NGUYEN: Oh, stop it.
But let's look at Sanjay for one more minute, his age progression, because -- if we can get that up.
OK. There he is at 37. And then he starts to age -- 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100. OK, right there, 100.
Still not too bad, but if you go back a couple years, he looks a little bit like Bob Barker when he ages. I mean, look right here -- the 70s.
HOLMES: That's the one.
NGUYEN: If you could just hold 70 for a second...
HOLMES: Bob Barker is a good looking guy, though.
NGUYEN: Yes, he was. And Sanjay, not too bad. Not even at 100 years old.
Don't even get us down that road to 100, because I can only imagine what you'd be wearing.
HOLMES: Bigger glasses.
NGUYEN: Yes.
All right. We're going to move on now, because police say she confessed to killing her husband. The preacher's wife, she's on trial. And straight ahead, we're going to take a closer look at the Mary Winkler case.
HOLMES: Also, if you're on the Mississippi Gulf Coast this morning, want to keep an eye on the sky. From severe storms to high winds, the weather is the big story. And our meteorologist, Bonnie Schneider, is tracking it all for us right here.
An update on the watch areas, that is straight ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Welcome back, everybody, on this Saturday, April 14th. Full into spring.
Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could be here with us.
Up first here, in her own words, jurors hear Mary Winkler's own description of what happened the night her preacher husband died. Those details ahead in the NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: Also, all charges are dropped. An apology issued, but what about the accuser in the Duke rape case? Should her identity be revealed? We're going to tackle that issue straight ahead.
HOLMES: Pounding hail, sirens blaring, dangerous weather in north Texas, part of the severe weather roaring across the south towards the east coast this weekend. This I-report video, baseball-sized hail coming from Saginaw, Texas sent to us by Lee Bendix, one of our I- reporters. Two tornadoes were spotted last night in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, killing at least one person and overturning tractor trailers there. The storm also damaged homes and businesses and knocked out power to thousands of people.
NGUYEN: My family Bonnie still lives in the Dallas area and they called me yesterday just talking about how these storms were blowing through the area. Apparently they're still blowing through eastward and other people are being affected.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's absolutely true Betty. We saw tremendous hail yesterday. You saw the video, golf ball-sized, softball-sized hail. What happens is, when you have a storm as vigorous as this one, it's not surprising that you see such powerful hail. We have colder air in the upper levels of the atmosphere and warm air at the surface. And what happens is those ice particles can go up and down through the clouds at 60 miles per hour. And as they do, they freeze, freeze, freeze again. You get layer up layer of hail stones. Eventually the weight becomes too heavy to sustain itself in the air and it falls to the ground and we saw that yesterday. We're seeing that today as well.
Here's our threat for severe weather today, parts of Georgia, Mississippi and especially Alabama. We're seeing some strong storms right now across much of the reason as well. The severe threat will stretch straight through the weekend and then we're going to see, unfortunately, a nor'easter develop Saturday night for areas into New York City and New Jersey and then eventually on Sunday we'll really see it take shape for areas into New England including the Boston area. Interior sections will actually see snow Sunday and Monday. That's right, snow even in April. So be watching out for high winds, heavy rain and coastal flooding.
Now, right now our threat is for severe thunderstorms. We don't have a tornado watch at least not right now but that does not mean we won't see one issued later on today. The thunderstorm watch includes most of Mississippi, all the way down through Louisiana, including Baton Rouge where we have some heavy downpours of rain at this time. Right now you can see much of the rain is really to the north of New Orleans, but we are getting some bands moving through. We have a live picture to show you of the New Orleans area. You'll see overcast low, low clouds on the ground. There's the dome there. Unfortunately we're going to see some heavy rain for New Orleans. You can see it coming through Baton Rouge right now, through Mississippi up to Hattiesburg. We're getting reports that these thunderstorms are producing pea-size hail, so not as large as the hail we saw yesterday, but any hail coming down will be damaging and something we're watching closely throughout the day today. Betty, T.J.
NGUYEN: OK. Bonnie, thank you for that.
Well, court is again in session this morning in the trial of Mary Winkler, the Tennessee woman accused of murdering her preacher husband. Winkler does not have to take the stand and that's her right as a defendant. But even if she never testifies, the jury heard her describe what happened in March of last year. What she said may say a lot about the case and the case against her. CNN's David Mattingly has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I rack this gun, it makes a distinctive sound, does it not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, it does.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mary Winkler's best defense against first degree murder charges may be the very shotgun she was holding when she killed her husband. Small town preacher Matthew Winkler died after being shot in the back while lying in bed. An attorney for Mary Winkler argues she never planned to kill her, that it was the weight of the gun that caused her to accidentally pull the trigger. But the investigator on the witness stand couldn't say one way or the other if that theory could work, setting off this exchange.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't you agree with that? Why don't you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't agree with you, because I don't know that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't agree because you don't know. Let me ask you that, could that be correct?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't know whether it could or not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if it could apply pressure on your trigger finger, no, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me ask you this. Could a meteorite hit you in the head right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess it's possible, yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But this is not? MATTINGLY: For the first time the jury was allowed to hear Winkler's taped confession and when the investigator asks why she shot her husband, we hear a soft-spoken and polite Mary Winkler say problems had been building at home for some time and that her husband had threatened her.
MARY WINKLER: He said something and that really scared me.
INVESTIGATOR: Like what, what was it?
WINKLER: I don't even know, it was something life threatening.
MATTINGLY: But throughout the hour-plus recording, Winkler frequently seemed confused and unable to recall details of the moment she pulled the trigger. At the time, she said she didn't even know if her husband was alive or dead. But she did say she did not plan to kill him.
INVESTIGATOR: Had you planned ahead of time to shoot him or did it happen just spur of the moment?
WINKLER: Not planned.
INVESTIGATOR: It wasn't planned? It just happened. Were you scared or something when it happened?
WINKLER: I don't even know right now.
MATTINGLY: Now in a Selmer, Tennessee courtroom, cameras watch as Winkler sits quietly. She once told investigators she did not want the public to think badly about her husband. Each day she's been seen wearing a cross around her neck and what appears to be her wedding ring. David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. So let's look into this case a little bit closer. Our legal ladies are back to talk about this case. Lida Rodriguez-Taseff is in Washington this morning and Nelda Blair joins us from Houston. Good morning to you both.
LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Good morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: Nelda, let me start with you. Mary Winkler, at least her defense is trying to paint her as a battered wife, scared. How is that going to hold up in court?
NELDA BLAIR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: I don't think it's going to hold up very well in this case. The abused wife killing her husband defense is a pretty difficult one to carry off anyway because being abused, wives usually have some other outlets in order to get help besides actually killing their husbands. In this case, Mary Winkler does not come into this courtroom wearing a white hat. Number one, she has been involved in some financial problems that are of her own making, check fraud schemes. And so that is going to paint a bad picture to the jury. And in addition to that, she says herself in investigations that after she went to work for the post office, she actually became more bold and more sure of herself and this encouraged her to stand up for herself. I don't think the jury is going to look kindly on that.
NGUYEN: It's also very interesting and Lida let me ask you, do you buy this battered abused wife who was scared and this was just a crime that occurred at the spur of the moment?
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: It's entirely possible and let me tell you why. I think most of America understands that the dynamic of an abusive relationship is very complicated and that there are things that Mary has said and done that indicate possibility of abuse, such as the fact that her husband was controlling, such as the fact that he locked her out of her home. He threatened her one-year-old child. He was abusive, verbally and physically and that he had often threatened her with guns. America now understands that those things can all co-exist at the same time that a woman feels like she's empowered, appears like she's strong and Nelda well knows that as soon as women become empowered in a relationship that's abusive, that's exactly when the abuser takes more actions and that's when the abuse is stepped up. So it's absolutely believable and I think the defense is doing a very good job so far.
NGUYEN: What do you think Lida though, I mean guilty or not guilty?
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: I think she's going to be acquitted.
NGUYEN: You think so? Nelda?
BLAIR: Oh, no. I do not think she'll be acquitted because she killed him. I mean being abused and having other outlets to help yourself and your children is one thing. What happened to divorce? Killing a man because he abuses you is still not an acceptable thing in this country.
NGUYEN: Well, we're going to watch and see how that plays out. In the meantime, let's shift over to the Duke case. And let me start with you Nelda, should the accuser's identity -- we clearly know that -- actually, the accusers, we do know their identity. But what I'm asking is the victim -- she's still the accuser at this point because they were all acquitted, yeah, so again, the accuser's identity, should that be revealed in this?
BLAIR: The attorney general has said that these people are innocent. He has said there is no credible evidence at all that a rape occurred, so we don't have a victim anymore. We have an accuser. Why not reveal that name? I don't think that's a problem any more at all. With victims of rape, particularly of rape and sexual assault, we try not to reveal their names because of their own personal situations. But when we have an accuser that either is falsely accusing people as this lady might have been or delusionally accusing people as this lady might have been, I see no reason to withhold their names. NGUYEN: But at the same time Lida, let me ask you this. If her name is revealed, is this going to prevent other women from coming out there in a case where they were truly victimized?
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: No, absolutely not because the issue here is that these people, that she's an accuser and she was always nothing more than an accuser and the only time that she has the right to call herself a victim is when these people are convicted. They were not convicted and I don't understand why we treat alleged victims of rape crimes differently than alleged victims of murder, robbery, rape, any other crime needs to be treated exactly the same. We should be in this country willing to disclose the names of all alleged victims and treat them all with dignity and respect, but treat them as alleged victims because by saying we're going to withhold your name because you're a victim, we're basically convicting these people. And we did convict these young men before they were even in trial. That's exactly what the problem is, is that if you're a victim, you'll be a victim once there is a conviction. Before that, you're an alleged victim and you're an accuser. Nobody, except for minors, should withhold your name.
NGUYEN: All right, ladies, as always, we appreciate your insight into all of this cases and of course, we're looking forward to seeing you once again. Thank you.
BLAIR: Thank you Betty.
HOLMES: This just in to us, in New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine reportedly undergoing another surgery this morning, this one on his left leg. Governor Corzine was badly injured in a car accident Thursday, suffered multiple broken bones and remains in intensive care and on a breathing tube. State police are still looking for a red pickup truck believed to have caused the accident. The extent of Corzine's injuries may be partly to blame from the fact that he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. The governor was in the passenger seat. The state trooper driving the SUV was released from the hospital Friday. We do expect a live news conference updating us on the governor's condition at noon Eastern and CNN will bring that to you live.
NGUYEN: I want to talk now about the realities of war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How have deployments been in terms of trying to raise all of those boys by yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've been getting harder. With the boys getting older and understanding a whole lot more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: CNN's Kiran Chetry take a closer look at families with loved ones on the front lines.
HOLMES: Also, to draft or not to draft, a tough, tough question. No easy answers here. Veronica de la Cruz will have the results of our quick vote. That is straight ahead.
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HOLMES: More strain on U.S. Army families. This week the Pentagon announced longer tours of duty, from 12 months to 15 months and that is effective immediately. Critics say this is one more sign of a military stretched too thin and raises the question, could a military draft be next? Earlier this morning we asked our military analyst, retired Brigadier General David Grange about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN DAVID GRANGE: I don't think the draft politically would be acceptable or would it be acceptable to the American people right now. At least the draft in the old sense of what it looked like, in other words, the old draft, and I remember that from Vietnam. Though it goes a cross section of society, there are loopholes in there where some people don't have to serve. It wasn't fair. I don't think that you can employ a draft. I do think you can employ something like a national service that has people do some kind of citizenry responsibility for at least a year sometime during their younger years. But it's for not just for the military, but other public service needs, which the whole country could use anyway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, we are also hearing from you about this notion of the draft. Veronica de la Cruz has been fielding your e-mails on the draft question all morning and she joins us now from the dotcom desk. I know that there's been a lot of traffic on the Internet about this one.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM: A lot. We knew that, bringing back the draft would be a hot button, but wow, Betty, our in box has been jammed. Those e-mails still coming in fast and furious. We only have time to read a couple of them. But the responses have been fairly similar. Let's talk about this one from Maureen Horsley who writes, both my sons are U.S. Marines. They have served in Iraq, are serving but both say they do not want someone next to them who is there because their number came up.
This e-mail from Bob in Virginia who says, yes, we need a draft but for just two people, George Bush and Dick Cheney. Bush never faced combat and Cheney never served at all. They need to experience what they're asking others to go through.
George in Kansas writes the draft is the killing of innocent people and would be a major atrocity. Is the president willing to put a rifle in the hands of his twins with a draft and send them out in a Humvee or patrolling the streets of Baghdad or Kirkuk.
Beth Mosely says I'm a 25-year old from Indiana. If we can do it without the draft, great, but if we need it, go for it. I think the American people should learn to stand behind their troops and president. Think about your thoughts on September 11th. Where are those feelings now? And finally, this e-mail from Robin who says I hope the people voting yes, are heading to the recruiting office and enlisting. Now, speaking of voting, let's go ahead and take a look at the quick vote right now. Since 7:00 this morning, many of you have voted. I can't believe how many votes have come in, more than 20,000. 22,842 votes is what we're looking at. Thirty eight percent say that the U.S. should reinstate the military draft; 62 percent are saying no. So as you can see, most people feel that we don't need to bring the draft back. But there are those out there who do and if you still want to weigh in with your thoughts, there's still time. We're going to be reading more of those e-mails in the next hour.
NGUYEN: All right, Veronica, we appreciate that.
I do want to let you know this, starting Monday, it is an all new AMERICAN MORNING with John Roberts and Kiran Chetry. Kiran is debuting a new series in fact that she's been working on called the children of war and she joins us now with the preview.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Betty. It's great to see you. We wanted to take a look at the sacrifices here at home that thousands of military families across the country are making each and every day. And we actually had a chance to spend a quite exhausting day with the Snell family. Techie (ph), the mom has seven boys ranging in age from 12 years old all the way down to 20 months and everything in between and her husband Joe is in Iraq once again. And she is left to tend to them as best that she can, quite an exhausting job with seven of them. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: When he first told you he was going to Iraq again, how did he tell you guys?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: He was crying.
CHETRY: Were you guys crying too?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yeah.
CHETRY: Your dad has been gone, it'll be nine months. What's the hardest part?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Helping my mom can take care of all the brothers.
CHETRY: No small task. After putting Andrew down for a nap, Techie plays with Jonathan, then it's off to the doctor and back in time to see the older kids home from school. There's Christopher's tears to tend to and Jeremiah in a tree. How have deployments been in terms of try to deal with raising all of those boys by yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've been getting harder with the boys getting holder and understanding a whole lot more, the oldest, especially because of his age, he's just at that age group where it would be great to have a daddy there with him. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: So just spending a little bit of time with them, we really can see just how difficult it is not only for Techie to take care of all seven boys, but also the toll that being without their dad has taken on the boys, especially the two older ones who are really quite aware of where their dad is and just how dangerous a place that Iraq can be Betty.
NGUYEN: Obviously this family is shouldering a lot, seven kids. Does the mother have any help at all?
CHETRY: That's the thing we just couldn't believe. She has family, but the closest family, three hours away in Rochester. So for most of the day, from the time she gets up in the morning until she gets them to bed every night, she is literally watching those seven boys when they're not in school. It's just an example. Our hearts really went out to her and to the thousands of other families who are doing the same thing while their spouses are sacrificing. They're certainly holding up the home front here at home and it really is a very, very difficult task.
NGUYEN: It is the realities of war. Kiran, we appreciate your time. Thank you.
CHETRY: Sure.
NGUYEN: And be sure to join Kiran and John Roberts on CNN's "American Morning. They'll be in Washington for the Alberto Gonzalez hearings and much, much more. CNN's "American Morning" airs weekdays starting at 6:00 Eastern.
Want to give you a riddle this morning. Here it goes, the man who makes it doesn't use it and the person who uses it doesn't know it.
HOLMES: I have no idea what you are talking about right now. But folks, maybe you all can tell from this video what the answer is. That's coming up in our "water cooler."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHNEIDER: Good morning, everyone. I'm meteorologist Bonnie Schneider in the CNN weather center. We are tracking extreme weather, two tornado warnings now for two counties in Mississippi. In Walto (ph) County we have a tornado warning in effect until 10:00 and in Marion County until 10:30. That does include the city of Columbia in Mississippi. Now take a look at this. We have a severe thunderstorm watch happening right now. This will go for the next couple hours. We're likely to see another tornado watch issued because we are getting reports of severe weather. A closer look at those thunderstorms down in Louisiana and Mississippi will show that they're moving to the east at about 35 miles per hour. We have a history of pea-sized hail reported and wind gusts as strong as 35 miles per hour. So some very damaging storms with the potential of tornadoes in this area in south central Mississippi. We'll keep watching it for you. NGUYEN: Thank you Bonnie.
HOLMES: We'll move on here and why would you settle for a plain old coffin when you can be buried and make a fashion statement? There's an undying appetite out there if you can believe it for exotic coffins these days.
NGUYEN: An undying appetite, lovely. The funky funeral business is actually booming for this custom casket maker in Britain. Whatever your particular passion, skiing perhaps, the sky is the limit.
HOLMES: This whole thing really took off when one woman wanted a coffin that was shaped like a jet fighter. Not exactly sure why. Maybe wanted to zoom off to heaven.
NGUYEN: So have you decided. Do you know what yours would be?
HOLMES: I was trying to think of it earlier. It would have to be big Twizzler's (ph) package.
NGUYEN: You love your Twizzlers. I think mine would probably be a big stiletto heel, just kind of cram me into the bottom of that. All right, check this out. This is not really out of this world, but, boy, is it impressive, a sand sculpture on its way in Sydney, Australia almost didn't survive opening day because an hour and a half of hare rain nearly washed it all away.
HOLMES: The artist there, he didn't give up. Within hours they had repaired most of the damage. The weather may look like summer at the beach, but the theme is winter wonderland, and who knows why?
NGUYEN: Yeah, go figure that.
For something really different, a unique foot race in South Africa between one of the world's fastest humans and one of its fastest animals.
HOLMES: This rugby star, Brian Havana (ph) he went toe to toe with the tame cheetah to help call attention to the cat's fight as an endangered species. He was given a 35-yard head start.
NGUYEN: Oh, gotcha.
HOLMES: He still lost.
NGUYEN: Of course he did. But do want to tell you this. On his second attempt, Havana beat the cheetah by a whisker. We're not joking. Maybe the big cat held back a little. If you look at the video, it looks like the big cat held back.
HOLMES: He felt bad for him.
NGUYEN: You can check out the whole story from CNN's Jeff Koinange at cnn.com/mostpopular. The guy is still running right now.
HOLMES: We're going to take a closer look inside the Titanic. You can do it while staying on dry land actually. The full passenger list from the ill-fated voyage being posted on the Internet for the very first time. You can see the handwritten passenger logs themselves.
NGUYEN: It was 95 years ago today the Titanic hit an iceberg and more than 1500 people died. Around 700, though, did survive. If you want to search the names, just go to www.findmypast.com.
We also have a closer look at a multimillion-dollar industry built on words that we can't even say on television.
Words that Snoop can say and make a lot of money from it and words that many, especially in the African-American community, even among young people now are doing some real damage. We'll have that story next hour.
HOLMES: And New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine reportedly in surgery again this morning. We'll have an update on his condition and bring you a live news conference expected in the 12:00 Eastern hour. Keep it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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