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New Jersey Girl Abducted in Mother's Car; Iraqis Object to Construction of Security Walls; Boris Yeltsin, 76, Dies; Virginia Tech Memorializes Victims as Classes Resume

Aired April 23, 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 everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CO-HOST: And I'm Suzanne Malveaux, in for Kyra Phillips.

Are these the building blocks for success in Iraq? We'll take a look at the controversial security walls going up in parts of Baghdad and whether they've worked before.

LEMON: Precision interrupted. As the Navy mourns one of its Blue Angels, experts look at how this tragic crash could have happened.

WHITFIELD: And his presidency, historic; his personality, unforgettable. The world remembers Boris Yeltsin today.

You're in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: We'll get to our top stories in a moment, but we start with some developing news. Let's go straight to the newsroom now. Amber Alert. T.J. Holmes, New Jersey, correct.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: New Jersey. Seven-year-old Jada Cordero is the little girl that police are now looking for. Strange set of circumstances that led to this child being gone.

You're looking at a vehicle here that was taken with the child in it. The mother had just gotten out for just a moment when someone else, a man, jumped into this 2007 silver Pontiac G6 and took off with the 7-year-old in the back seat. This was in Camden, New Jersey.

On the line with us now from the New Jersey state police is Jeanne Hengemuhle.

Please forgive me if I'm not saying your name right. And please correct me on that. And also tell us about the circumstances that went into what appears to be an abduction here.

JEANNE HENGEMUHLE, NEW JERSEY STATE POLICE: What we have so far is at approximately 11:30 a female was driving her silver 2007 Pontiac G6. She stopped on South Broadway in Camden to get out to help an elderly man cross the road. When she did this, an unknown male got in her car and stole her vehicle with her 7-year-old female daughter in the back seat. Her daughter Jada was last seen wearing blue jeans and a green shirt. And again, what we're looking for is a two-door silver 2007 Pontiac G6.

HOLMES: Now from what you -- I'm sorry, go right ahead. If anybody has seen that, I know we have the registration number here: 510-5889. It was a temporary New Jersey registration number.

HENGEMUHLE: Yes, sir. Yes.

HOLMES: A new vehicle: 510-5889. We're going to have that information up.

Can you tell us, does this just appear to be a random crime? She wasn't necessarily targeted and no one was after the child. This seemed to be -- maybe a carjacking here?

HENGEMUHLE: I mean, at this point we received this information from Camden Police Department. And we're conducting it as an abducted child. And we want to get this information out there. And if anybody sees this vehicle to contact 911 immediately.

HOLMES: Any idea, as well, which direction the person -- don't know who took it, but I guess the mother saw the vehicle being driven off? Was the mother in any way involved with the alleged person who took the vehicle? Any kind of confrontation there, or just by the time she turned around car was taking off?

HENGEMUHLE: This is what it appears. We get preliminary information from Camden Police Department. It appears that she got out of her car to help the elderly person cross the street, and at that point the unknown male got in her car and drove off with the child in the back seat.

And we're trying to continue to gather information from Camden and anybody else who might have seen this take place.

HOLMES: All right. Well, ma'am, thank you so much for your time. We will keep an eye on this story. Please keep us updated. We'll try to keep our viewers updated.

Again, if anyone has seen this 2007 silver Pontiac G6, this was happening in Camden, New Jersey, where this abduction, police, say took place, has temporary tag, New Jersey registration number 510- 5889. Again, that's 510-5889.

Please get in contact with your police, state police, as soon as possible. But again, a scary, serious situation. I can't imagine what the mother was going through, seeing her vehicle, Don, taken off like that with the child in the back seat. But hopefully this all works out. But we'll keep you updated.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. WHITFIELD: And now we begin in South Carolina where a jury has found a convicted sex offender not guilty of kidnapping and raping two teenage girls in an underground bunker.

Authorities say Kenneth Henson snatched the 17-year-olds from their home and brought them, one by one, to a makeshift dungeon he'd built behind his house, where he raped them and left them to die, bound with duct tape.

But during the six-day trial, Henson insisted the sex was consensual, and defense attorneys pointed to what they called inconsistencies in the girls' testimony.

If convicted, Henson would have faced a mandatory life sentence without parole, because he was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in 1991.

We're going to have more on this story later in the newsroom.

LEMON: Protection or prison? Huge protests today over the building of security wall around a Sunni section of Baghdad. The U.S. says it will curb violence. But Iraqis say it makes them prisoners in their own neighborhood.

Let's go straight to Baghdad and CNN's Arwa Damon.

Arwa, is the construction of the wall still going on today, or is it halted for now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, that construction is still ongoing, although whether or not it was taking place was a source of quite some confusion here in Baghdad following Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's comments yesterday, saying that he had asked that construction be halted.

We did finally get clarity on that statement from the spokesman for the Baghdad security plan, who explained that the prime minister's comment was related directly to some media reports that this barrier, this wall that was meant to be set up in Adhamiya -- that is a Sunni enclave in the northwestern portion of the city -- was going to be a continuous stretch of concrete.

Today, the spokesmen explaining that it would be a mix of concrete wall, sand barriers, barbed wire.

But no matter what it's made of and no matter what you're calling it, the U.S. and the Iraqi military are calling it a security barrier. The Iraqis are calling it a separation barrier, even nicknaming it the Great Wall of Adhamiya.

It is causing much controversy here in the capital. Iraqis in Adhamiya took to the streets today, some 7,000 of them -- that is an estimate according to the Iraqi police -- to protest what they are calling a sectarian barrier, saying that setting up this wall and other walls like it that are either underway, being currently set up, or in the plans for future setup, calling barriers like this, saying that they will end up further dividing the Iraqi people, not protecting them, Don.

LEMON: And Arwa, the U.S. military saying that the wall is there to stem the violence. But we see that the violence has been ongoing today in the capital. Tell us about that.

DAMON: That's right, Don. Across Iraq, in fact, not just in Baghdad today, at least 48 people were killed and over 100 were wounded. In fact, the deadliest of those attacks did come west of Baghdad in the volatile Al Anbar province, where a suicide bomber exploded in a restaurant there. That attack killed at least 20 Iraqis.

But even in Baghdad, despite these barriers, these walls being set up, despite the ongoing Baghdad security plan, there was still even more violence. A suicide bomber just walked into a restaurant at 10 a.m. in the morning, carried out the attack. That attack left at least seven Iraqis dead.

And one of the main points, the logic behind setting up these walls is to impede the flow of explosives throughout the capital. That is what the U.S. military intends and hopes that these walls are going to do. But many Iraqis, again, are viewing them as being just a further separation of the people -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much.

We're going to have General Shepperd -- thank you, Arwa, so much for that. General Shepperd is going to talk to us about those walls coming up a little bit later on right here in the CNN NEWSROOM -- Suzanne.

WHITFIELD: The death of an empire, the birth of a new nation. Boris Yeltsin oversaw both. The first democratically elected president of Russia died today at 76.

Yeltsin defied an attempted coup in 1991, climbing on top of a tank and bursting onto the world stage. But years later he found himself facing an army of critics.

Jill Dougherty served as the Moscow bureau chief. She joins us now from Washington.

Jill -- Jill, I know you watched him many days, many months, years. What do you think the Russians are thinking about Yeltsin's death today, and what do you think he stood for in Russia?

JILL DOUGHERTY, FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF: Well, I think you really get two different opinions. Among the older people who aren't doing as well after the Soviet Union collapsed, they're probably going to say that "Boris Yeltsin destroyed our life, our economic life, and led to the demise of the Soviet Union," which they would think is bad.

But I think the younger generation, if they really looked at it, would say that he helped them and really created the possibility for democracy and free speech and openness in Russia, which they really hadn't had under the communists.

So it's always a mixed bag with Boris Yeltsin, in both younger people and older people, and around the world, you'd have to say.

And then his -- his legacy and what he did, again I think it would have to be that democracy that was brought to Russia, along with some other failings by him, and the first you'd have to mention is the war in Chechnya.

WHITFIELD: Jill, obviously, it's up for debate, but did Yeltsin, did he ultimately make Russia stronger or weaker at the time?

DOUGHERTY: I think at the time it might appear that it was weaker, because after all, you had the massive Soviet Union and the Communist Party in control. And all of a sudden a lot of that was gone. Things were pretty chaotic in those days. The early '90s in Russia, very chaotic.

And yet, in the long run he had to yank Russia into democracy, and openness, et cetera. And you needed a huge person with a lot of really strong feelings about things. And that was Boris Yeltsin. Big in every sense of the word.

WHITFIELD: Absolutely, Jill. A very big figure who many people mourn today. Thanks very much, Jill.

LEMON: And now to the massacre at Virginia Tech. Pausing to remember at Virginia Tech.

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(bell tolling)

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LEMON: Thousands of people filled the center of campus this morning one week after the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. A bell sounded 32 times to honor each victim of the massacre. Thirty- two white balloons were released in their memory.

Well, classes are again under way, but students have the option of taking the rest of the term off. Now many say they can't imagine staying away.

CNN's Brianna Keilar is in Blacksburg for us.

And Brianna, many are wondering about the mood there with the faculty and the students returning today.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very somber, but a lot of students are heading back to class for the first time since this shooting occurred last Monday.

And of course, as you know, this has also been a day of remembrance. As you said, thousands of students gathering for this tribute here at 9:45 a.m. this morning. This was at the center of the Virginia Tech campus there on the Drill Field, where they gathered where we've seen a lot of tributes and makeshift memorials. And it's really just a stone's throw from Norris Hall where the second shooting happened.

As you've said, 32 bell tolls, one for each of the victims, 32 single white balloons released as each of those bells -- during each of those tolls.

And this was really appropriately representative, because one of the things that I heard from a staff member that I've heard echoed from other people is that there was just this huge loss of innocence. Many students with so much life ahead of them and their professors who had really committed so much of their life to their students. And so of course, this was very, very difficult for people, very somber mood at this tribute.

And these white balloons were followed by the mass release of orange and maroon balloons, those balloons signifying Hokie unity, which is something we've seen an outpouring of here: people banding together and supporting each other.

And that also goes towards a lot of people coming back to class today. And we've talked with a lot of people. They say they're ready to come back. They want to go on. But they admit it's not going to be easy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's going to be difficult. It's going to be looking over your shoulder and not knowing -- you know, when somebody comes late to class, not knowing what's going on. It's going to be full of tension, and I know a lot of people are going to be very nervous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And the feelings here among students and staff run the gamut. A lot of people here in different stages of mourning. Some people were very close with those who were lost here on Monday. Some people maybe didn't know someone who was lost here on Monday or maybe they had a professor who was lost here on Monday.

Also Don, I spoke with one student who said that, had this happened on the Tuesday at the exact same time, he would have been in one of those classes that suffered massive casualties. And so that's his own connection.

But as you can imagine, everyone recovering in their own different way. Some ready to get back to school, some ready to get back to school but really just beginning to mourn -- Don.

LEMON: Absolutely. And Brianna, I don't know if you would have an official number on this, but can you gauge from where you are, maybe the university has given some notice, how many students are returning to the campus? KEILAR: You know, we don't have a figure on that but it really does seem like a lot. We saw a lot of cars streaming back into campus, a lot of people who's come from off campus.

And everyone that I have talked to in the past week said, "I am coming back. It's going to be difficult, but it's important for me to finish out the year."

And I do have one colleague who is a Virginia Tech alum. He went back to his old fraternity house, and he did visit with a couple of brothers there who said, you know, "We're not going back. We're taking our grades as they stand." But for the most part it seems like most of the students are coming back, Don.

LEMON: Brianna Keilar in Blacksburg, thank you so much for that report.

WHITFIELD: And more victims of the Virginia Tech massacre are being laid to rest.

A funeral was held for Matthew La Porte in New Jersey. The 21- year-old sophomore was an Air Force ROTC cadet and musician. He was studying political science and French.

Family and friends are also saying good-bye to Matthew Gregory Gwaltney in Virginia. He was a 24-year-old graduate student in civil and environmental engineering on the brink of finishing his master's degree.

And in Georgia, a funeral for one of the first victims of the massacre. Twenty-two-year-old Ryan Clark was a resident advisor in the dorm where the rampage started. He majored in biology and English and had planned to pursue a doctorate.

Moving on at Virginia Tech will not be easy. Coming up in just a few minutes, we'll speak with a sophomore, Thomas McPhee, about the mood on campus, the students' willingness to return.

LEMON: A tight knit community of Navy pilots mourning one of their own.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are certainly grateful for everybody's well wishes, and together as a community we will get through this.

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LEMON: The life and career of Blue Angel pilot Kevin Davis, ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: And torn apart by tornadoes: parts of Texas trying to pick up the pieces, some still trying to find the pieces. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Live pictures now, a lot of activity around a car in New Jersey, T.J. What do you have for us? This is that Amber Alert, right?

HOLMES: This is that Amber Alert we were talking about a short time ago. A 7-year-old was taken in the back of a car. Her mom just turned her back for a second, hopped out of the car. Someone else jumped in and took off.

Now the vehicle police have been looking for was a 2007 silver Pontiac G6. We're getting this live picture here from WPBI, our affiliate. And that vehicle that we're seeing with all the activity around, the police around, does indeed, in fact from here, no doubt, appear to be a Pontiac G6.

Now, police would know, or should know, unless the tags were ripped off, whether or not this is the vehicle they're looking for, because they know it did have temporary New Jersey registration plates with the number 510-5889. So you would assume police would know if this is, in fact, the car they're looking for.

No word yet on if they found the alleged person who took the vehicle and also where the little girl is.

Again, the Amber Alert was issued after 7-year-old Jada Cordero was taken in the back seat of that car. Her mother had just stepped out of the vehicle to help an elderly person across the street when someone else jumped into the vehicle. A male jumped into that vehicle and drove off. The police then issued this Amber Alert.

What we do not know -- there is a picture of what a 2007 silver Pontiac G6 looks like. You take that picture away for you now. And you look down the street, that live -- or maybe some tape we do have now of that picture of the -- of the vehicle that police are checking out. And that, in fact, does appear to be what you have there. There it is right there on the light with the doors open and the trunk open.

A lot of activity around this vehicle, but we haven't gotten word, again, about where the little girl may be, if she was found with the vehicle, if the assailant also was found with this vehicle. So we're keeping an eye on this situation, which certainly seems to be developing. Hopefully, some good news about the little 7-year-old, but we're keeping our eyes on it, Don.

LEMON: Yes. Absolutely. You saw the chopper shot go down the Delaware River there, Camden right across the street from Philadelphia. Right across the water, I should say, from Philadelphia.

We're going to keep an eye. If we get any developing details on this, T.J., bring it to us, please.

HOLMES: Sure thing.

LEMON: Thank you so much for that.

It is 20 past the hour. Now here are three of the stories we're working on for you at the CNN NEWSROOM.

He was Russia's first freely elected leader. Former president, Boris Yeltsin, has died at 76, reportedly of heart failure. Yeltsin burst onto the world stage in 1991 by defying a coup, but his later years were marked by erratic leadership and also health problems.

Plenty of Republicans are openly dissing Alberto Gonzales. But President Bush isn't one of them. Today Mr. Bush says he's even more confident in his embattled attorney general.

Last week, Gonzales's testimony to senators only added to the questions over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.

Kenneth Henson was accused of kidnapping and raping two teenage girls in an underground bunker. Today, a South Carolina jury found him not guilty. Henson claimed the sex was consensual, said the girls made up the accusations so they could steal his marijuana.

WHITFIELD: And back to class, but far from back to normal at Virginia Tech today. Thousands of people gathered on campus to honor the 32 students and professors killed in the massacre one week ago. Most of the victims died in the university's Norris Hall.

My guest was in class on the third floor of that building when the gunman opened fire downstairs. Thomas McPhee is back on campus today.

And Thomas, first of all, I just have to applaud you for your courage to return today. What was that like, being on campus and actually going to class?

THOMAS MCPHEE, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT: It felt great to be, actually, back on campus, because especially with classes and all, I was able to go to my 9 a.m. class and speak to them, so it was more of a relief than anything.

WHITFIELD: What did you say when you were in class? And what were the kinds of conversations you had with your fellow students?

MCPHEE: My class was actually located in Norris 306, so I was able -- I was able to talk to them, because someone needed to talk to them, about the events and pretty much thanked them for their cooperation and to be able to get to safety.

WHITFIELD: Were there a lot of students who needed help today? Or do you feel like there has been some time that's passed, they've been able to get together with friends and that perhaps today was just a little bit easier than the day before?

MCPHEE: Since classes started on Monday, it seems a lot easier for people to get back into things. And the healing process has, for me and for a lot of fellow people, have been complete, so we're all happy to be back in class and be with our fellow students.

WHITFIELD: Were there a lot of students who came back today?

MCPHEE: Yes. A majority of the students did come back.

WHITFIELD: And what do you think they really needed?

MCPHEE: They needed to be with their fellow brothers and sisters, i.e. the rest of the Hokie family.

WHITFIELD: I understand, too, there was a little bit of difficulty, as well. You were so heroic in what you did, but you also talked a little bit last week about a sense of guilt, whether or not you could have done more. Is that something that you still hold inside? Is it something that you think you're going to have to spend some time to really deal with?

MCPHEE: I took the time, talking to my Marine officer instructor, Major Gibson. And we discussed the events that occurred and what I could have done, more or less. And we evaluated the situation, and found out that decisions that we made as a class were the best decisions at that time, especially with a crazed gunman on the loose.

WHITFIELD: What is the media presence like at the school now? I understand that it really has dwindled quite a bit. And maybe that's a good thing.

MCPHEE: Excuse me, I didn't hear you.

WHITFIELD: The media, the photographers, the reporters, what is that like? What is it like on your campus now? I understand there have been a lot of people who've pulled back and perhaps students like yourself and said that's really a good thing to do now?

MCPHEE: The media has been around, and I mean it's a good thing here and there but a lot of people have been mourning and have pictures being taken while they're trying to mourn. It's -- I mean, it's OK, for the most part.

WHITFIELD: Thomas McPhee, thank you so much for joining us. I know a difficult day but obviously good to get back into a routine as normal perhaps as it can be. Thanks, Thomas.

LEMON: And Suzanne, in a horrible twist of fate, a Virginia Tech student who made it through the massacre died just a few days later in a car crash. Jeff Soriano's father says the freshman was in the engineering school last Monday and came close to being shot.

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ENRIQUE SORIANO, VICTIM'S FATHER: He almost got hit in the massacre because he just left from that building where the massacre is. So, he was so lucky.

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LEMON: Police say Soriano's car flipped several times and hit a tree in Virginia Beach. The 18-year-old died of his injuries Friday after he was pulled from the burning wreckage. WHITFIELD: I understand our own T.J. Holmes has some additional information on a developing story.

T.J., what can you tell us?

HOLMES: Yes, Suzanne. So great to be able to report some good news. That Amber Alert, the 7-year-old in New Jersey, has been found and has been found safe. We were just showing you pictures of the vehicle that police were taking a look at that had been taken.

Again, the mother got out of the vehicle. The man jumped in, drove off with the 7-year-old in the back seat, 7-year-old girl, Jada Cordero. Well, that's the picture we've been looking at. That is the description. And it appears to be the vehicle police had been looking for that the child was taken in. But the child has been found, 7- year-old Jada Cordero, found safe and just fine.

However, no word on a suspect right now. We also do know that a weapon was recovered by police. Don't know what kind of weapon that is just yet.

But CNN has confirmed the most important part of this story, which is that the 7-year-old girl is OK, has been found safe. I'm sure in the process of being reunited with her mother. But that's the good news. If we hear anything else, certainly about the suspect or any more about the circumstances, we will get that back to you as it warrants.

But right now the good news, able to report the little girl has been found. She's OK -- Suzanne.

WHITFIELD: Great. Great. Good for the good news. And of course, we'll get back to you if you've got any developments on whether or not the suspect has actually been captured.

HOLMES: All right. Sure thing.

LEMON: A wall goes up in Baghdad, and so do protests. We'll talk about both with our military analyst, retired Major General Don Shepperd, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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LEMON: We're expecting here in the CNN NEWSROOM, you're looking at Alberto Gonzales, he is expected to take questions from reporters this afternoon. As a matter of fact, that press conference is supposed to get underway at 1:30. He's going to do that with the Federal Trade Commission. He is part of an identity theft news conference happening with the FTC, so he is supposed to take questions from reporters. So as soon as that happens we're going to bring it to you live here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's turn our attention to Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is closing in on the 13,000 level. Again, the 13,000 level. Susan Lisovicz is live on the floor with a look at stocks. I know it's serious when you're on the floor, this is big news.

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MALVEAUX: Don, we have new tape that is coming in from Dana Perino, she is the Deputy White House Spokesperson. She is talking, giving an on-camera statement, reaction from the president from the Bush administration on the death of Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Let's take a quick listen.

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DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESWOMAN: Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin. President Yeltsin was a historic figure who served his country during a time of momentous change. He played a key role as the Soviet Union dissolved, helped lay the foundations of freedom in Russia and became the first democratically elected leader in that country's history. I appreciate the efforts that President Yeltsin made to build a strong relationship between Russia and the United States. We offer our sincerest condolences to the Yeltsin family and the Russian people.

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MALVEAUX: Those White House condolences for Boris Yeltsin and the family as well as the country. Also at a time when President Bush is dealing with his own issues when it comes to Vladimir Putin.

LEMON: We'll check in on that. She's talking now, if she gives more, talks about Boris Yeltsin we'll check in on that. We're always monitoring the White House. Usually we see Suzanne Malveaux there but she is with us. It's a pleasure.

MALVEAUX: Oh, this is great. A good break.

LEMON: We're going to talk about Iraq and the war. A wall goes up in Baghdad. So do protests. We'll talk about both with our Military Analyst Retired Major General Don Shepherd. That's here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A security barrier or a barrier to peace? U.S. commanders say a wall is being built in a Sunni neighborhood of Baghdad is only temporary to help control the violence. But residents say it makes them prisoners in their own neighborhood. Joining us now from Tucson, Arizona, CNN Military Analyst and Retired Air Force Major General, Don Shepherd.

Great to see you, Don, here. And of course, everybody is looking at this wall. But there are examples, the great wall of China, the Berlin wall, the security wall in Israel, against the west bank. Is there any evidence that building these walls, these partitions, actually help improve the security situation on the ground?

DON SHEPHERD, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, there is, Suzanne. I don't know if this is going to do it because it's extremely unpopular. In Israel the fence or wall there, as it has been called, has been extremely effective. It's not really a wall, it's mainly three fences, basically tied to alarms with command posts that dispatch soldiers when people try to cross it. It has cut the suicide bombings in Israel to simply a trickle.

In 2000 they had almost 2500 people killed by suicide bombs, down to less than 50 now. So it's been successful there. Whether it will be successful in Baghdad is a different question.

MALVEAUX: Do you think it will be? What lessons can you apply from the Israeli model to, say, Baghdad?

SHEPHERD: Not many. Baghdad is a different thing where you are walling off a neighborhood, making a fenced community in the middle of Baghdad. And singling out that community, on the eastern bank the Tigris River. The reason for putting the wall around there is, this is a Sunni insurgency. Sunnis have been responsible for mainly for the attacks against the Shia in the Baghdad area and they have been responsible for housing al Qaeda in Iraq. So this is, based upon intelligence, a move to wall off an area that's been a particular problem where attacks have been launched against the Shia and the Shia have retaliated. So again, very unpopular with the residents, it affects their movement, their commerce. Their question is when is the wall going to come down?

MALVEAUX: Let's talk about that. The political implications here because Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki came out, said he wasn't for this wall. But it's hard to believe he's not saying that for his own home audience, domestic consumption. He had to know that this is something that the United States military was engaged in, involved in here. Does this present a problem for his leadership? His credibility?

SHEPPERD: Sure, it does. He's in a very difficult position. The only person I would less rather be than George Bush is Nuri al Maliki. Who is a Shiite politician, he has to maintain his own constituency in the government there. And basically, he has to be against this wall.

But basically he also has to know about it. The governor of the particular neighborhood, if I'm using that right, or the mayor of the neighborhood, said he knew about it but he did not sign off on it and would not have done so unless the residents said so. This is a strong move by U.S. forces, the idea is to build this wall, 12 feet high, and have Iraqi soldiers man the wall. Again, whether it will be successful remains to be seen.

MALVEAUX: We heard the president many times say look, he is not for a partition, we heard Senator Joe Biden (ph) say perhaps you ought to chop up the areas of Baghdad or the country to help give a certain sense of peace and security here. Isn't this really the same thing? Are they not leaning in that direction, seeing now a partition with this wall?

SHEPPERD: I don't think so. On my visits over there I have been surprised. I also thought early on that perhaps partition of the country was wise. But I didn't find anyone over there, Sunni, Shia or Kurd, that wanted the country partitioned. They have a great sense of being Iraqi. They think that is a failure. But of course the problem with the wall here is that it does not do what really needs to be done in the country, which is to get the Sunni to join the political process. It walls them off.

If you're going to wall off all of the neighborhoods in Baghdad and make it a sectarian divide between Sunni and Shia that's a different step. But the multiforces command over there says that is not what's being done, it's taking a particular problem neighborhood, walling it off. That's not the plan for the rest of Baghdad.

MALVEAUX: Complicated situation. Thank you so much, Major General Don Shepperd.

LEMON: Back to Washington live. Alberto Gonzales, the Attorney General, is taking questions talking to reporters there. He's at a Federal Trade Commission press conference. Let's listen in.

ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: To reassure them that we've identified the mistakes have been made here and we're taking steps to address them. But I can't keep focused on the U.S. attorney situation.

I've got to be focused on what's really important with the American people.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: As my colleagues have said, you lost the confidence of a lot of people on Capitol Hill. Virtually nobody's defended you. At the Department of Justice morale is plummeting among prosecutors and U.S. attorneys. My question for you, sir, seem like you are disagreeing with me, but my question is, do you acknowledge that your continued leadership at the Department of Justice could harm or hurt its operations at such an important time when the department is trying to keep us all safe?

GONZALES: Of course. It's something that I always take into consideration. I think a cabinet secretary or head of an agency every day should wake up and ask themselves that question. Am I still effective in this position? I think that's a question all of us should ask every day.

As long as I think I can be effective and the president believes that I should continue to be at the head of the Department of Justice, I'll continue serving as the attorney general.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What about the morale question, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In light of the tragedy at Virginia Tech are you looking into whether state laws are effective enough in preventing the mentally ill from purchasing guns?

GONZALES: Mike Levit (ph) is leading the effort to work with Margaret Spellings (ph), the Education Secretary. Mike Levit being the Secretary of Health and Human Services. And for my perspective, what we're looking at is to see whether or not this information, what information about mental health should law enforcement officials have. And what are the barriers that prevent law enforcement from having that information. So that's what, I will be looking at from the perspective of the Department of Justice, and of course, Secretary Levit will be looking at it from his vantage point and as will Secretary Spellings.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You and the chairman on identity theft.

GONZALES: Good. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I think it deserves the lead story. A lot of the victims had problems because the credit reports were disclosed to thieves who used their Social Security number. States are coming up with a fairly clean solution of this called the credit freeze. To freeze the disclosure of credit reports.

My quick perusal of the report does not show that issue addressed. If you are going to have a comprehensive solution, is that addressed in here, if not, why not? Shouldn't that be something looked at? And have a policy position by administration because the issue is going to be before Congress as well.

DEBORAH PLATT MAJORAS, FED. TRADE COMM. CHAIR: Well, we do address it in this way. You are right, states over time have been passing laws that permit consumers to put what's called a credit freeze on their report.

They started doing that shortly after the Fact Act was signed at the end of 2003. The Fact Act put in place a lot of federal protections for consumers and so we wanted to see --

LEMON: This press conference is about identity theft and that is the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Deborah Plat Majoras. The attorney general said every morning he was asked, you know, I wake up and I wonder am I still effective, am I doing a good job. He says as long as the president thinks he is effective she going to continue to serve.

I have to say the one thing about the press conference, this is exactly what the bush administration with this president wanted. They asked him about his tenure, then they went on to talk about school safety, Virginia tech and also identity theft. And you could see he was almost relieved he got a question outside of the scandal there. It's a good sign that he may weather this.

To move on, as they say, to other things. Thank you very much, Suzanne. Let's talk about, her name supposedly means miracles. Ahead, in the CNN NEWSROOM, surgery did not save her life, it completely transformed it.

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LEMON: Smoky skies from Jacksonville, Florida to Chattanooga, Tennessee, all from relentless wild fires spreading across southeast Georgia. More than 55,000 acres have burned along with almost 20 homes. Hundreds of people have been cleared out. The town of Waycross is no longer threatened but schools in Ware county are still closed because of smoke and erratic winds.

MALVEAUX: And tearing across the Texas panhandle, bulldozing everything in its path, just one of the tornadoes that sent people racing for cover this weekend. The tiny town of Cactus was especially hard hit. Countless homes are flattened. At least 14 people hurt, one critically.

Much of the power is out and a dusk-to-dawn curfew is meant to curb looting. And listen to this. You always hear about it and here's what it looks like. This is golf ball-size hail. It pelted north Texas, part of the same storm that spawned the tornadoes. Amazing.

LEMON: Look at those. Those are huge. We always say golf ball- sized hail. That's golf ball-size hail. You know what I want to know, Jackie. It's dry in Georgia so the wild fires are going to continue that we need rain. And what do you call it when you say you've got the atmosphere is juiced?

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Her name means miracles. These pictures are proof. Ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, surgery didn't just save her life, we told you her story before. This surgery completely transformed her life. That's straight ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM. She's cute, right?

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LEMON: This will make you feel good. It's a milestone for a Peruvian girl known as the "mermaid baby." Milagros Serrone (ph) who will be three next week, I'm going slow because I want to look at this video. Has started ballet classes, just six months after a second operation to separate her legs. Milagros, which means miracles in Spanish, was born with Mermaid Syndrome. The legs connected from the heels up. Remember that? She will need further surgery in about two years but boy, she is getting around and dancing. Good for her. We wish her the best

MALVEAUX: That's amazing. Incredible to see.

A tight knit community of Navy pilots mourning one of their own.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are certainly grateful for everybody's well wishes and together as a community we will get through this.

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MALVEAUX: The life and career of Blue Angel Pilot Kevin Davis ahead in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: As we've been telling you, the first day of class, since that awful massacre at Virginia Tech. They are holding an impromptu meeting. Q and A, not officially a press conference. It's going to be moderated by the school university's relations president. The provost talking to students about what issues they may have and any questions, people who may have questions, they get to hash it out during this informal question and answer session at Virginia Tech on the campus.

First as we go to break, let's look at the Big Board. There you go. A more formal check of the markets coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM with Susan Lisovicz. You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM. And CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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