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Democrats Prepare to Send Troop Withdrawal Deadline to President Bush; Boris Yeltsin Dies at Age 76; Georgia Fire Fight
Aired April 23, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Suzanne Malveaux, in for Kyra Phillips.
Protection or de facto prison? Reviews are definitely mixed, as walls go up in Baghdad.
LEMON: Also, they are too young to enlist, but if a mom or a dad goes off to war, these children, well, they are the ones who make the sacrifice.
MALVEAUX: And scorched earth in Georgia, more than 55,000 acres so far, and the wildfires are still going strong.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It is the top of the hour.
And Democrats in Congress are getting closer to sending President Bush a deadline for U.S. troops to leave Iraq, despite new insistence it will be dead on arrival.
Let's go straight to the White House and CNN's Kathleen Koch.
And, Kathleen, I understand Senator Harry Reid has been out there again today criticizing the president. What can you tell us about all of this?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, the stakes are very high.
Congress is expected to vote some time this week on this supplemental bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And the fight is getting nasty. Congress wants to, as a condition of funding, require that a troop withdrawal begin on October 1. And the White House vehemently rejects that.
But the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, in a speech today, blasted President Bush's recent comments about progress in Iraq, in the war in Iraq, saying the president is -- quote -- "in a state of denial."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: We cannot afford to forget the past, nor should our President condemn us to repeat it. He is the only person who fails to face this war's reality -- and that failure is devastating not just for Iraq's future, but for ours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: White House spokesperson Dana Perino today, though, responded that it was Senator Reid who was in a state of denial, in her words, about the enemy the U.S. faces in Iraq.
President Bush, for his part, when he had an opportunity to react to Reid's statements today, did not respond. But he did repeat his continuing refusal to sign any measure that sets any sort of timetable for a pullout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: An artificial timetable of withdrawal would say to an enemy, "Just wait them out." It would say to the Iraqis, "Don't do hard things necessary to achieve our objectives." And it would be discouraging for our troops.
And, therefore, I will strongly reject an artificial timetable withdrawal and/or Washington politicians trying to tell those who wear the uniform how to do their job.
I will, of course, be willing to work with the Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, on a way forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, President Bush made his remarks after meeting with his top general in Iraq, David Petraeus, who's here in Washington, again, to brief the president, officials at the Pentagon.
The president acknowledged, though, in his remarks that, while Iraq is experiencing a -- quote -- "tough time," he insisted U.S. troops there were implementing what he called a very good plan, and that there has been, again -- used the P-word -- some progress -- back to you.
LEMON: All right, Kathleen Koch, thank you so much for that.
KOCH: You bet.
MALVEAUX: And 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 on to the world stage. But, years later, he found himself facing an army of critics.
Jill Dougherty served as CNN's Moscow bureau chief, of course, joining us from Washington. Jill, obviously, you followed the story very closely, very carefully. What do you think Russians are thinking about Yeltsin's death today? What did he stand for...
(CROSSTALK)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN INTERNATIONAL U.S. AFFAIRS EDITOR: You know, Suzanne, I think it could be two different approaches.
You know, if you look at people who are, let's say, the older generation, the people who lost out when the Soviet Union disintegrated, they would feel that Boris Yeltsin destroyed the Soviet Union, and that their lives became worse because of it.
If you get the younger generation, who are succeeding in the new Russia, they might say that Boris Yeltsin actually, on the contrary, brought them freedom and some economic opportunity. This is a very black-and-white explanation. And there are a lot of views in the middle. But you would have to say that it's the way Boris Yeltsin is interpreted many times, a very -- you know, a black-and-white situation, a very, let's say, black-and-white situation.
MALVEAUX: Do you think that Russia's stand of Putin and all of the things that he fights for politically could have even been possible without the role of Yeltsin?
DOUGHERTY: I think that, if you look at the challenges that he had at that particular time, you needed a politician who was as forceful and as bold as Boris Yeltsin.
After all, you are dealing with -- you were dealing with -- at the end of the 1980s and into '91, you were dealing with communism, which had controlled Russia for 70 years. You were dealing with great economic change, wrenching economic change.
And all of -- you needed a new constitution. You had to basically rebuild Russia. And, so, in his boldness, he went very far in doing that. Now, were there downsides? Absolutely, and some very serious ones. You could argue that it became a kleptocracy, you know, rich people getting richer and taking over the industries of the old Soviet Union.
You could look at Chechnya and say what a big mistake and how many lives were lost in that. So, there were a lot of negatives, but you would have to say there were very many positives with him.
MALVEAUX: And, Jill, when historians look back on his life, how do you think they are going to -- what kind of conclusion do you think they are going to come up with? Do you think they are going to see this as a Russia who he made stronger or weaker at the time?
DOUGHERTY: You know, I think, Suzanne, you would have to say that it -- at the time, he improved it. At the time, he was able to break that divide between the old Soviet Union and the new Russia. He was able to bring in economic reform. He was like a Peter the Great of that time. Now, did it all work out the way everyone might have hoped or even he might have hoped? Not necessarily. And that's where the other side of the story comes in. But he will be remembered, I'm sure, as a hugely important historic figure in Russia.
MALVEAUX: Jill Dougherty, thank you so much.
DOUGHERTY: Mm-hmm.
LEMON: Pausing to remember at Virginia Tech -- thousands 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.
As classes resumed today, one Virginia Tech employee described the mood this way: a lot of sadness, a lot of sorrow, and a lot of silence. Students have the option of taking the rest of the term off, but many say they can't even imagine staying away.
MALVEAUX: 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 20-year-old sophomore was an Air Force ROTC cadet and musician. He was studying political science and French.
Family and friends are also saying goodbye 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 -- 22-year-old Ryan Clark was a resident adviser in the dorm where the rampage started. He majored in biology and English and had planned to pursue a doctorate.
Cartoonist Charles Schulz told us, happiness is a warm puppy. Most pet owners don't need to be told how emotionally beneficial a wet nose and a waggy tail can be. And now those benefits are freely available at a place in dire need of healing.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck reports from Blacksburg, Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sunday on the drill field at Virginia Tech, people visit the half-circle of granite stones set out to remember the dead in last Monday's massacre. They leave flowers. Some leave notes. Tears are still being shed here. Faces express just how hard the last week has been for this college community.
DAWN EISCHEN, HOPE ANIMAL ASSISTED CRISIS RESPONSE: We don't expect overnight success.
WHITBECK: A few feet from the memorial Dawn Eischen and her dog Ginger keep an eye on what's going on. Ginger is a crisis therapy dog, part of a nationwide group that provides emotional support to victims of catastrophes. The Red Cross asked for a team to be sent to the Virginia Tech campus.
EISCHEN: Some of them have opened up to us and said some things that, you know, it kind of takes us by surprise sometimes what people will tell you when you're a complete stranger but having the dogs here they just feel like they can open up to you and they just feel more comforted by having you there.
GRACE KAO, VIRGINIA TECH PROFESSOR: Actually, I have had a lot of media requests.
WHITBECK: Grace Kao is a professor at the university. She was so moved by the therapy dogs she invited Dawn to bring them to her class on Monday.
KAO: I think I associate therapy dogs with so much kindness and I know they have been in so many other tragedies and I guess I never thought that I would be someone who would need to hug a therapy dog.
WHITBECK (on camera): There's a lot that goes into becoming a therapy dog. These animals are trained for about a year before they're certified and before they're deployed to crisis situations such as this one.
(voice-over): Training and experience to provide comfort in times of need and the unconditional support only a pet can give.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Blacksburg, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Thousands of kids are left behind when moms and dads are sent off to war. And you are going to hear from some of them ahead in the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: And torn apart by tornadoes -- parts of Texas trying to pick up the pieces, some still trying to find the pieces.
That's ahead -- right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: It's 3:12. Here are three of the stories we're working on now here in 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 on to the world stage in 1991 by defying a coup. But his later years were marked by erratic leadership and health problems.
Plenty of Republicans are openly dissing Alberto Gonzales, but President Bush is not one of them. Today, Mr. Bush says he is even more confident in his embattled attorney general. Last week, Gonzales' testimony to senators only added to the questions over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.
Kenneth Hinson was accused of kidnapping and raping two teenage girls in an underground bunker. Today, a South Carolina jury found him not guilty. Hinson claimed the sex was consensual and said the girls made up the accusations so they could steal his marijuana.
LEMON: Gaining ground on wildfires in southeast Georgia -- firefighters say the largest is about 45 percent contained. It's been burning for a week now, threatening several communities. All told, more than 55,000 acres have burned.
Reporter Dan Leveton of our Jacksonville affiliate WJXT joins us from Waycross, very near the flames.
What's the update on this?
DAN LEVETON, WJXT REPORTER: Well, Don, if you look around me right now and you look outside here, you see bright blue skies, absolutely beautiful.
And that's actually part of the problem here with this fire, is, you never know which way the winds are blowing and which way the smoke is going to come in. And that's one of the concerns here, is that, right now, as you said, they do have this fire somewhat under control, about 39 percent under control, they told us, right now, as of this morning.
But they are concerned that things could flare up and it could go the other way again. Now, outside here, it's nice. But, if you go behind the fire lines, which we have had a chance to do over the last few days, you can, by the video, that it's absolutely still very treacherous back there. There's flames on the ground, a lot of bulldozers back there trying to put this fire out.
But there's pretty much little brushfires everywhere. And what they are talking about today is, even though the fire itself, the major line might have been stopped, there are a still a lot of what they're calling spot fires that they are in there and trying to get out, as you said, about 56,000 acres now that have either burned or are still burning right now.
Three major roads are still closed in this area in and around Waycross -- schools in Ware County closed today for the fifth straight day. They are trying to get them back tomorrow, back reopened. But they are worried about the smoke on the road and school buses driving in that smoke.
As I said, the folks here are still fighting this fire. But, as of today, at least, they are still a little bit optimistic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BYRON HAIRE, SPOKESPERSON, GEORGIA FORESTRY COMMISSION: I am pretty optimistic today. Things really, although there was a lot of smoke, a lot of fire and a lot of activity yesterday, from my perspective, to me, it looked better than it did a few days ago. It really did.
You are hitting these spot-overs, and they are aggravating, and they're hard to handle. But we have got a lot of -- a lot of machinery. We have got the helicopters there. It can hit these lines pretty quick when it goes over, and we hope to be able to just keep doing that as they go over, until, eventually, something happens; it quits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVETON: Now, they have about 500 firefighters, that gentleman said, as of last count, or more, some from other states. Louisiana, he talked about, some from Florida, a lot from the Georgia Forestry Commission here, everybody fighting this fire, using everything possible, planes, helicopters -- you saw those bulldozers -- everything they can to try to put this thing out, again, about 500 people working on it.
So, they really are working around the clock to try to get it under control. But, again, the winds, and the humidity is kind of low today. That's still their concern, but they are still working on it.
We are live in Ware County. I'm Dan Leveton -- now back to you.
LEMON: All right, Dan Leveton, thank you for that.
And I'm sure everyone there is hoping for some rain. Thanks again, Dan.
MALVEAUX: Really amazing pictures there.
And, so, I guess the question is, is there any relief in sight?
LEMON: Yes.
MALVEAUX: Our own Jacqui Jeras joining us from the CNN Weather Center.
Jacqui, what do you think?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's coming. You know, and it's been a long way coming. We're talking -- it's been a week- and-a-half that they have really been dealing with this almost.
You can see dry conditions across the area right now. The winds have been rather changeable. They were coming in out of the south yesterday. We could even smell it here in the Atlanta metro area -- not good for allergy sufferers and asthma suffers either, not to mention the thick smoke in the area.
Here's the Waycross area right now, winds coming in out of the northeast at five miles per hour. So, it's changed directions once again. Now, there is a chance of rain in the forecast. That's going to come into play late in the week, probably on Thursday.
But, before it gets there, it could cause a lot of damage across parts of the Plains states -- this storm developing here today, and expecting to see some severe weather late this afternoon and this evening into the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles, on up into eastern parts of Colorado, and then also into western Kansas.
But tomorrow will be the big story with this storm, as this system intensifies, we have strong upper-level winds, a lot of warmth and moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, dry air coming in from the west. And that spells a big recipe for tornadoes. And we have got a large area under this threat for tomorrow, from Kansas City all the way down to Dallas-Fort Worth -- back to you guys.
MALVEAUX: Jacqui, thanks so much. We will be keeping a close eye on all those developments. Thank you.
LEMON: Yes, checking back with her.
Thousands of kids are left behind when moms and dads are sent off to war. You will hear from some of them -- just ahead right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We have been reporting about this Navy SEALs crash all weekend here on CNN. And we want to update you on it now.
The Navy says it may take weeks to know what caused the fatal crash of the Blue Angel -- I should say the Blue Angel fighter.
CNN's Miles O'Brien is looking into that crash for us.
And, Miles, let's run through some of the possibilities, if you will. What do you know about the maneuver that he was doing at the time of that crash? The diamond formation, you said?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
Well, essentially, what they are trying to do is rejoin. It comes near the end of the Blue Angels' performance. All the jets have gone in separate directions after a previous maneuver. And they are all trying to fly back in together. They are rejoining into the delta formation.
There you see it there -- and not quite a full formation of all six jets. And there you see coming in -- there's the jet, as he's trying -- he's doing a very sharp left turn, descending left turn.
Now, here's the interesting thing about this. His position in that delta formation is below, or to the left, of the leader.
LEMON: Right.
O'BRIEN: When you are flying in the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds, tight formation, it's all look at the leader. You never look at anything else but the boss, the guy who is flying ahead, because you are trying to keep in such close proximity to him. So, as he was making that turn, he is trying, visually, to catch up with the boss. He isn't necessarily looking at the ground. And he is headed toward the ground with a lot of speed, of course. And the group that he's trying to catch up with is only 500 feet above the ground as it is.
So, it's -- it's a tricky position to be in, to be on the inside lower part of a descending turn, because you are looking up, instead of down, as you would, normally, as a pilot. So, your reference point becomes the boss, but you lose reference to the ground because of where you are looking.
LEMON: There are many things, Miles, that could have -- that could have happened here. He could have, you know, lost consciousness. There could have mechanical failure. Who knows.
What are some of the factors, though, that might come into play here, when you are looking at the -- at this video and discussing this formation you are talking about?
O'BRIEN: Well, you know, just a little while ago, you were talking to "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" reporter who flew with them not too long ago, flew with this particular pilot.
And that was a -- that was that video which we -- you shared with us gives you a very dramatic example of what can happen to you when you are in a high-G situation. When you -- when you feel the force of gravity times seven, the blood just rushes out of your head, and you -- and you can black out.
Now, these pilots in the Blue Angels do not fly with G-suits. G- suits are like wearing chaps, like you would wear -- a like a cowboy would wear...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Yes. Let's -- show us, Miles. And put Miles back on camera.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Yes. Well, here's what -- here's what they do. The chaps would be here. And they are attached. I don't know if you can get it wide enough. You can pull back a little bit, and I will show you.
And, basically, what happens is, they have got little balloons in them, and they inflate automatically when you are pulling a lot of G's in the airplane. It squeezes your legs to keep the blood from flowing down, keeps it up in your upper body, where you want to do it.
Now, the -- the Blues do not fly with those G-suits, because they fly like this. They got have their hand resting on their leg. And they do all the work this way. As a matter of fact, it's a spring- loaded stick. So, all they do is pull. That's all they do, is -- is reduce or increase the amount of pull that they do. If they had that G-suit on, and every time they did a high-G maneuver, it started pumping up, it would jostle their arm.
LEMON: Right.
O'BRIEN: Now, you can imagine, if you are 12 inches away from the guy you are flying next to and you're getting jostled like that, that's not a good thing. So, they fly without G-suits.
But, you know, these guys train and train, and they fly thousands and thousands of times, and deputy a G tolerance. And, of course, they have tremendous upper body conditioning. And they do a straining maneuver, kind of bearing down.
So, there's -- there's -- it -- but, nevertheless, that G-suit gives you about an extra G, they say. So, in other words, a 7-G maneuver would feel like 6 G's if you were wearing it.
LEMON: Yes.
And you said trained techniques and not wearing that suit. Miles, I have got to ask you real quick, will we know ever the cause of this?
O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
LEMON: Any kind of device, mechanical device...
O'BRIEN: Yes.
LEMON: ... that will tell us what happened?
O'BRIEN: Just quickly running through it, it could have been a bird that flew into one of the engines...
LEMON: Right.
O'BRIEN: ... causing one of the engines to flame out, could have been caused a real problem. Could have been some kind of mechanical issue, which, of course, they will find one way or another.
And it could have been a simple case of pilot error. Or it could have been a combination of all of those, added to with some sort of problem, you know, maybe something that happened in the case of graying out because of those G-forces. Or it could have been a combination of all those things.
LEMON: Right.
O'BRIEN: That's -- usually, in these accidents, it's not one thing.
LEMON: All right.
Our aviation expert, Miles O'Brien, we're so glad to have you here for stories like this. Sad that we had to have you on this occasion, but thanks again for your expertise.
O'BRIEN: You're welcome.
MALVEAUX: And, on Wall Street, we have been watching the Dow all day to see how close it gets to the 13000 level.
So far, with the final hour of trading under way, let's go to the New York Stock Exchange and Susan Liscovicz to see if the Dow can make another record-setting session.
Hi, Susan. What are you seeing?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not looking good in the final hour of trading. You know, it was really quite tepid for most of the session. Then we started to see a little bit more impetus in this sell-off.
The Dow industrials, however, Suzanne, climbed within 17 points of that milestone this morning -- right now, blue chips moving in the opposite direction.
Let's take a look at the Big Board, the Dow right now down 20 -- let's make it 30 points, or about a quarter-of-a-percent, lower. The NASDAQ is down three points.
Earnings likely to be the main focus again this week, especially with nearly 200 of the S&P 500 companies, including six Dow components, reporting, but, for today, no major economic reports or market-moving earnings.
And, while we're talking about making green on Wall Street, there are a number of companies working green on this Earth Day week. Patagonia is recycling all of its fleeces, which can now be used again for new apparel. S.C. Johnson is removing some harmful compounds from its reformulated -- reformulated, rather, Windex glass cleaner.
And Hanger Network says its recyclable paper hangers can reduce the 3.5 billion wire hangers that end up in landfills each year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN PRICKETT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP IN BUSINESS: When environment ends up on the cover of "Fortune" magazine, "Newsweek," "Vanity Fair" and "The New York Times" magazine, you know something is going on out there in the public's mind about the environment.
And I think that's also reflected in the business community. And, in some sense, that awareness on the part of the problem is even driven by the moves of some leading companies, like Wal-Mart and GE and others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LISOVICZ: Wal-Mart recently said it intends to cut energy use in its stores by up to 30 percent by '09. And General Electric has introduced its Ecomagination line, which is dedicated to clean energy services and products -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Really interesting. I have a lot of those wire hangers, of course.
But, you know, I guess there's another benefit that isn't easy to quantify for these companies. I suppose it's the reputation. I mean, is that something that really resonates with some consumers?
LISOVICZ: It does. I mean, they are willing to pay more. And it's something that is called brand loyalty, Suzanne. Green has spawned a new category, and, increasingly, a lifestyle. This month, it gave birth to a new magazine called "Verdant" from the Latin word for green.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARON KING HOGE, EDITOR, "VERDANT": You can have paints that don't give off toxic chemicals. Your fashions -- we have beautiful fashions in the magazine made of seaweed fabric and fabrics made from Japanese leaves.
There are new spa treatments that take advantage of local resources. You can go to Vermont and have a maple syrup spa treatment or you can go to Napa and have a wine spa treatment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LISOVICZ: Suzanne, I think we will opt for the Napa Valley spa treatment.
There are other incentives as well, if lower energy cost and reduced waste aren't enough. A report out today by Challenger, Gray & Christmas says green businesses could have a recruitment advantage in this tight labor market -- so, a lot of reasons.
But I -- I personally was interested by the Napa Valley spa treatment.
(LAUGHTER)
LISOVICZ: All natural.
MALVEAUX: I don't blame you.
LEMON: Did you say au naturel?
LISOVICZ: Au naturel.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: All right, Susan Liscovicz.
MALVEAUX: Thank you.
LISOVICZ: I will see you in 30 minutes.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: She will be doing her spa treatment.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Yes, she will be getting her nails done.
You remember the Super Bowl?
MALVEAUX: Yes.
LEMON: The Indianapolis Colts?
MALVEAUX: Yes.
LEMON: Take a look at this now, video of them meeting with the president just a short while ago. They presented him with a jersey. As a matter of fact, Peyton Manning, there he is.
Bush number 43 -- Peyton Manning, the quarterback. Of course, they -- I guess I will have to say they won. Being from Chicago, I was a little upset that the Colts won.
But congratulations to them.
And there's the president.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: New video, meeting with them, getting that jersey, Bush 43. And, again, he got a cowboy hat, I understand, with a horseshoe. You don't see it here in that video.
But congratulations to them. They so deserved winning that. And now they are meeting with the president. It is indeed an honor, don't you think?
MALVEAUX: And I -- I imagine the press corps is probably going a little crazy, too, during these occasions.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: People start dressing up and asking for autographs.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: So, you know, it's -- it's not just the president.
LEMON: Yes.
MALVEAUX: Gladiators wrestled lions. Frazier boxed Ali. But this was all thumb -- high-tech and drama ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It is the bottom of the hour and we've been following developing news here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Out of Houston, Texas, T.J. Holmes working on it for us. What do you have T.J.?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well we got more information now, we certainly can confirm to our viewers about that shooting in Houston. At least two people dead. Also know that another two had to be transported to the hospital. This happened around the area of the galleria in Houston. People familiar with Houston or know anything about Houston really might be familiar with this area. But this happened at a luxury apartment complex called the Post Oak at Woodway, where police are now saying that it appears that someone went into the front office of the complex and shot someone. Apparently shot another person and then pistol whipped another person and then turned the gun on himself. We can confirm now that the gunman in the shooting today is among those that are dead, so at least two dead. One of the two is the shooter, another person shot had to be taken to the hospital and then one more person had to be transported to the hospital because they had been pistol whipped. According to reports and police as well, this could have all been over an eviction. The person possibly was about to be evicted, so that might be at the heart, the root of this whole thing. But it appears that the gunman is among those dead. So still a developing story, we'll continue to keep an eye on it as it warrants. We'll get more information to you. Don?
LEMON: What do you say to that? All right T.J., thank you so much.
MALVEAUX: Security barrier or barrier to peace? At issue, a concrete wall being built around a neighborhood in Baghdad. Of course, the U.S. military says it will curb violence, Iraqis say it makes them prisoners in their own homes. Earlier, we asked CNN military analyst and retired Air Force General Don Shepperd what he thinks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's extremely unpopular, but in Israel, for instance, 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 the year 2000, they had almost 2500 people killed by suicide bombs and it's down to less than 50 now. So it's been very 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?
SHEPPERD: Yeah, not many. Baghdad is a different thing where you really are walling off a neighborhood. You're making a fence community in the middle of Baghdad and singling out that community. The community is Azamiyah on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and it's very close to Sadr City. The reason for putting the wall around there is this is a Sunni insurgency. Sunnis have been responsible for main -- for mainly for the attacks against the Shia in the Baghdad area and they've 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, a very unpopular with the residents of the neighborhood, it affects their movement, it affects their commerce, it makes them prisoners. And their immediate question is, when is the wall going to come down.
MALVEAUX: And let's talk about that a little bit, obviously, the political implications here because Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki he came out, he said he wasn't for this wall, but it's hard to believe that he's not really saying that for his own home audience, domestic consumption. He had to know from his own security 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 is in a very difficult position. The only person I would less rather be than George Bush right now 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, has said he did not -- he knew about it, but he did not sign off on it and would not have done so unless the residents had 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've heard the president many times say, look, he is not for a partition. We've heard Senator Joe Biden say perhaps you ought to chop off the different 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've 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 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. In fact it walls them off. Now, if you are going to wall off all the neighborhoods in Baghdad and make it a sectarian divide between Sunni and Shia, that's an entirely different step. The multi-forces 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.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: The military emphasizes that these barriers are temporary and will be moved once the Sunni neighborhood is secure.
LEMON: U.S. troops facing death and destruction in Iraq. Troops' families facing loneliness and fear back at home. Who can forget this tearful reunion in Seattle? Sailor Bill Hawes surprising his young son John that was after serving in Iraq for seven months. It made us wonder, how other military children are hoping. What they miss most. What they fear most. "AMERICAN MORNING's" Kiran Chetry paid a visit to West Point and the Snel family and here's her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Not every family can instantly organize a pickup game in their yard. But the seven Snel brothers are in a league of their own. While they play kickball, their mom Teki runs interference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't mean to hit him in the head.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to understand.
CHETRY: The only family member missing from the game, their dad, Major Joe Snel, who is serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.
(on camera): When he first told you he was going to Iraq again, how did he tell you guys?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was crying.
CHETRY: Were you guys crying, too?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
CHETRY: Your dad has been gone it will be nine months. What's the hardest part?
ZECHARIAH SNEL, FATHER SERVING IN IRAQ: Helping my mom take care of all the brothers.
CHETRY: No small task. After putting Andrew down for a nap, Teki plays with Jonathan. Then it's off to the doctor and back in time to greet the older kids home from school. There's Christopher's tears to tend to and Jeremiah in a tree. How have the deployments been in terms of trying to deal with raising all of those boys by yourself?
TEKI SNEL, HUSBAND SERVING IN IRAQ: They've been getting harder with the boys getting older and them 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.
CHETRY: Besides the occasional phone call, 12-year-old Jacobs' only contact with his father is through e-mails. What is it that you miss the most about your dad?
JONATHAN SNEL: Taking us bowling, to the pool or to movies.
CHETRY: The younger boys have a tougher time remembering their dad.
TEKI SNEL: Yeah? Looks like daddy, huh?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not daddy. TEKI SNEL: No, that's not daddy.
CHETRY: Jonathan wasn't quite two when he last saw daddy in person.
Do you worry about him getting hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not really.
CHETRY: Why do you say yes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I've heard a lot of news stories that many people have gotten killed.
CHETRY: And you said you don't worry. Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I know he'll be safe.
CHETRY: You just know that in your heart?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
CHETRY: Confident words for a boy who must now face the worries of a man. If you guys had a genie in a bottle and you could wish for three things and they would happen immediately, what would you pick?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After dad to come home, I can't think of anything else.
CHETRY: Kiran Chetry, CNN, West Point, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: The earliest the Snel brothers can hope to see their father is September. You can catch the "Children of War" series all week long on "AMERICAN MORNING" starting at 6:00 a.m. eastern. And later this week, the war comes to Broadway. Meet an actress who's caring for a one-year-old daughter and taking over the lead in a hit musical all while her husband serves in Iraq. Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Teachable moments, a college professor uses the Virginia Tech massacre in a lesson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I walk around the class when I teach and I just went, bang, bang, bang.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Now he's learned a lesson of his own. The story ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Another developing story in New Jersey, again, T.J. wow!
HOLMES: Yeah, heading to New Jersey again, this time a school bus accident, some really scary pictures. You hate to see these, we see every once and a while, school bus accidents. But this is a live picture from our affiliate WPBI and there it is, that bus on its side. And it appeared to maybe flipped over or don't know if it just tilted on its side or maybe turned a time or two before it ended up in that position. But, this is in Woolwich Township in New Jersey. This is 30 minutes or so south-southwest of Philadelphia, to give you an idea of where it is. Don't know exactly what happened to cause this accident or if another vehicle was involved. We were looking at the pictures. It appears there may have been another vehicle involved in the wreck that we saw off to the side. Not sure there. This is on the rainy road Oldman's Creek Road. As far as injuries go, we have seen helicopters, seen video of helicopters certainly transporting people. Don't know how many people were on that bus right now, or about the severity of the injuries. We've got now more information coming in that six or seven -- at least six or seven people were injured with serious injuries and had to be taken to area hospitals. Several medivac helicopters had to come to the scene for this transport. So we're keeping an eye on this, trying to get more word on the condition of the people injured and we'll stay on top of this and get back to you when we have more. Don?
LEMON: Ok, thank you so much for that.
MALVEAUX: The senate homeland security committee is turning its attention to campus security. A hearing this afternoon is examining how schools can prepare for and respond to crisis. One member says they could be even be vulnerable to terrorists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R) MAINE: Campus safety officers confront the daunting challenge of defending campuses that are largely open to anyone who chooses to walk in, whether it is a troubled student with a gun or a terrorist with a suicide belt. Our college campuses, when one starts to think about it, are, in many ways, attractive targets for those who intend to harm Americans. (END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MALEVAUX: And there's a variety of experts who are testifying.
LEMON: A classroom discussion about Virginia Tech has cost a professor in Boston his job. Now he and his students are speaking out about that. Reporter Anne Allred of CNN affiliate WHDH has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANN ALLRED, WHDH: Emanuel college sophomore Pete Bretton showed up for an accounting and finance class and got a lecture on the lives lost instead.
PETE BRETTON, EMMANUEL COLLEGE STUDENT: He started talking about the VT shootings, and he said who cares. Thirty three people died. It's a tragedy. I feel bad for the parents, but put it in perspective.
NICHOLAS WINSET, FIRED EMMANUEL COLLEGE PROFESSOR: I said that more U.S. soldiers will die this week than died in Virginia Tech. I said that more people will die of AIDs this day in the United States alone than died at Virginia Tech.
ALLRED: And then Professor Nicholas Winset acted out the shooting.
WINSET: You know I walk around the class when I teach and I just went bang, bang, bang.
ALLRED: Using his marker to represent a gun, he shot six students. I had a signal rearranged with another student. I put my hand to my head and he took out another marker and went bang. I fell down. I'm quite the ham.
ALLRED: Words and actions that got him canned. Now Winset is defending his controversial class.
(ON CAMERA): Were you delivering a pro-gun message?
WINSET: I guess. It didn't -- I was delivering a message to be open-minded about it, I think.
ALLRED: So you weren't saying --
WINSET: Go buy a gun, God, no. You know if I came off as cold and insensitive, well you know that's part of academia, isn't it? You're not always going to agree with your professor.
ALLRED: And sharing those strong opinions is something this student supports.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Entirely, I would agree with him. If teachers didn't express their views, you could just earn everything you wanted from a book.
ALLRED: The only comment we've received from Emanuel college says, "We cannot tolerate any behavior or action which makes light of or mimics the terrible tragedy at Virginia Tech."
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Ann Allred from WHTH in Boston.
That fired professor has posted a video defending his lecture on Youtube and again our thanks to Ann Allred of WHTH.
MALVEAUX: And the closing bell and a wrap of the action on Wall Street ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Singer Sheryl Crow and film producer Laurie David are meeting with leaders of congress about global warming today. This after a dust-up the two had with presidential adviser Karl Rove at the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night. David, who produced the Al Gore documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" walked over to Rove's table to talk about climate change. She says Rove, quoting here, went zero to 100 with me. I've never had anyone be so rude.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURIE DAVID, PRODUCER/ENVIRONMENTALIST: So we tried to have a conversation with him and, you know, it was odd because he got immediately hostile. And very combative and, you know, the conversation went downhill from there.
SHERYL CROWE, ACTIVIST/SINGER: I thought it was very disappointing because you want to with leadership -- you want to be able to engage because we're all Americans here and we all have the same concerns and to be shot down it was very disappointing.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Rove counters that David, quote, came over to insult me and she succeeded.
LEMON: There you go. Ok. Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
MALVEAUX: He is standing by in THE SITUATION ROOM to tell us what is coming up at the top of the hour. Wolf you and I were both at that dinner. Who could imagine all of that was going on just a couple tables away?
WOL FBLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah and I saw both of them, they came over to our table. We're going to have a lot more by the way on that story coming up here in THE SITUATINO ROOM. Guys, so you'll want to stick around for that. Also, the battle over a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq now heading for the final showdown. The war of words between congressional Democrats and President Bush reaching new levels. We'll talk about it with decorated veteran outspoken war critic, Democratic Congressman John Murtha. We'll also find out why the first President Bush now says the country may be suffering from, quote, Bush fatigue. His words and how he says that could impact one of his other sons.
Plus, results from the first round of an historic presidential election with important ramifications for the U.S. We're going to take you to Paris. All that coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Back to you.
MALVEAUX: Thanks, Wolf. Looking forward to seeing a good show, thanks again Wolf.
LEMON: The closing bell and a wrap of all the action on Wall Street just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Twenty-five thousand bucks for texting? No it's not Suzanne Malveaux's cell phone bill, but it would be a humongous cell phone bill, wouldn't it? But luckily we're talking prize money here. Thirteen year old Morgan Posner pocked all that cash for winning the first ever national texting championship. Morgan won with a line from the Mary Poppins' song, Morgan can write it, I can't say it. Supercalifragilistic expealidocious. That's 151 characters, if you're counting. That was in 42 seconds. I've already asked Suzanne Malveaux to sing it, she won't. But I know Susan Lisovicz will, she has a --
MALVEAUX: Singing.
LEMON: Suzanne you did it.
MALVEAUX: You didn't think I was going to do it.
LEMON: Come on Susan, Supercalifragilistic --
MALVEAUX: What do you have for us, the closing bell is almost --
LISOVICZ: You know I'm just saying that that's 34 words in 15 seconds. She's got a future. That was a point I wanted to touch upon, Suzanne I know you're going to weigh in on this because there's a study out today, she earned $25,000 for that. A study out today saying that women earn 80 percent of men one year out of college working full time. And by 10 years it's 69 percent. And this study from the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation says, it's got to be discrimination, folks. They've ruled out everything else. So let's hope that Megan improves those odds over time, right Suzanne?.
MALVEAUX: That's right, I'm going to steal some of Don's money.
LISOVICZ: Yeah, that's a solution.
LEMON: You'll be waiting a long time.
LISOVICZ: You and me both, I'll invest it for both of us. There's the closing bell, no record highs today. Now to the "SIT ROOM" and Wolf.
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