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Dick Cheney Criticizes Comments by Harry Reid; Hearing on Alleged Military Misinformation; 9 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq

Aired April 24, 2007 - 14:00   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.

The radar tells the story, code red in a big chunk of the plains states today. The severe weather center has the latest on possible tornadoes.

And despite an unplanned trip to the doctor this morning, Vice President Dick Cheney feels well enough to take a swing at Democrats on Iraq war funding. We'll hear the response from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

You're in the NEWSROOM.

And just moments ago we heard from Vice President Dick Cheney, who was speaking about the war supplemental and, of course, the war of words that is taking place between the Democrats on the Hill, as well as the administration, just what kind of funding, what kind of bill will get the president's approval or a veto.

Joining us from the White House with more is CNN's Kathleen Koch.

You've been following all of this, obviously, the back and forth and latest salvo that was launched by the vice president.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, Suzanne. And there has been a lot to follow. The president coming out with speeches Thursday and Friday on the road, then making remarks here at the White House yesterday and today, really hammering the Democrats, calling on them to give the president a clean emergency war funding bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a bill that does not set any kind of timetable for withdrawal.

Now, Vice President Cheney was up on Capitol Hill this afternoon attending the weekly Senate Republican policy lunch. He's a regular attendee. Normally he doesn't stop at cameras, but today clearly he had plenty to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What's most troubling about Senator Reid's comments yesterday is about his defeatism. Indeed, last week he said the war is already lost, and the timetable legislation that he is now pursuing would guarantee defeat.

Maybe it's a political calculation. Some Democratic leaders seem to believe that blind opposition to the new strategy in Iraq is good politics. Senator Reid himself has said that the war in Iraq will bring his party more seats in the next election.

It is cynical to declare that the war is lost because you believe it gives you political advantage. Leaders should make decisions based on the security interests of our country, not on the interests of their political party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Obviously very strong remarks from the vice president on Capitol Hill today, and they were much more personally directed at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The president in his remarks this morning did call on Democrats again to give him a bill that would not tie the hands of the generals in Iraq, but the president at the same time said -- he was conciliatory, he said he was willing to meet with congressional leaders "as many times as it takes to resolve our differences."

But clearly this more combative tone from the vice president may reflect that the remarks by Senator Harry Reid, the very critical remarks directed at the president yesterday may have struck a nerve. Harry Reid saying that President Bush is "... the only person that fails to face this war's reality," insisting that President Bush is "in a state of denial."

Back to you.

MALVEAUX: But Kathleen, obviously a kind of good cop-bad cop routine that they often play.

Also, we didn't hear the vice president talk about his health. We do know that he took a trip to George Washington Hospital, the medical center earlier today -- that is where his doctor is -- for a check-up.

And they said that the doctor said that the ultrasound showed the blood clot in his leg was resolving, that the blood-thinning medication is working, and that's a good thing. So we understand that he is in good shape, as we saw earlier today.

KOCH: Quite so.

MALVEAUX: And also, I guess we're expecting to hear from Senator Reid very shortly to respond to Cheney?

KOCH: Certainly. And yes, as you mentioned, that visit by the vice president this morning to his doctor's office was an unscheduled visit, so it did cause a bit of concern amongst the media about whether or not this was something more than just a check-up. But again, as you said, it looks like everything is good. Spokeswoman Megan McGinn saying that he's being encouraged to follow this current course of treatment. So, again, yes, we are waiting next for the statements by Harry Reid, probably equally combative -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And a lot to keep up with. All right. Thank you, Kathleen.

KOCH: You bet.

LEMON: More than a mistake, more than a misstep. It was flat- out lying. That's how Pat Tillman's family describes the U.S. military's account of Tillman's friendly fire death in Afghanistan.

Let's go straight to the Pentagon now and Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, it's been famously observed that truth is often the first casualty of war. And today, Congress is taking a look at two cases, Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch, where inaccurate information from the battlefield undercut U.S. military credibility and raised questions about whether the cases were being used for propaganda reasons.

The most startling testimony coming in the case of Pat Tillman's, whose mother said that despite four separate investigations into the case, she still doesn't know how or why the lie about her son was created.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY TILLMAN, PAT TILLMAN'S MOTHER: We have been asked over and over again, well, what can we do for your family? How can we appease you?

And it makes me sick. It's not about our family. Our family will never be satisfied, we'll never have Pat back. But what is so outrageous is this isn't about Pat. This is about what they did to Pat, and what they did to a nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: One of the things about this case is the facts aren't really in dispute. It was known by virtually everyone at the scene that Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire from some of his fellow Army Rangers, but that account was not passed on. In fact, one of the soldiers who was with Pat Tillman when he died said today, testifying before Congress, said he was told not to tell the family what happened, even though he wanted to tell them the truth right off the bat.

Tillman's brother Kevin, who served alongside him in Afghanistan, says he believes the motives of the U.S. government were the worst.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN TILLMAN, PAT TILLMAN'S BROTHER: And we believe the strange had the intended effect. It shifted the focus from the grotesque torture at Abu Ghraib, and a downward spiral of an illegal act of aggression, to a great American who died a hero's death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: One of the questions that has not been able to be answered is who wrote the Silver Star citation that inaccurately described Pat Tillman's actions on that day? No one has admitted writing it, and no investigation has uncovered the author, apparently written by many people. All of them say their accounts were changed.

Now, the Jessica Lynch story was a little bit different. That's a case where an inaccurate report in a newspaper, "The Washington Post," got ahead of all efforts of the Army to correct the record.

Jessica Lynch testifying today she felt the actions of the real soldiers were heroic enough. And as it turns out, after some investigation, many of the heroic actions that were inaccurately described to Jessica Lynch, who was basically unconscious after her convoy was attacked, actually were done by other members of the 507th Maintenance Company, who were later awarded the Silver Star for their actions correctly in that action.

So two different cases, two different scenarios -- Don.

LEMON: Heroic enough, and didn't have to be embellished, I guess, is what she's saying. Thank you.

Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

MALVEAUX: They haven't seen casualties like this in a year and a half. U.S. ground troops in Iraq the target of a brazen insurgent attack in Diyala province.

CNN's Arwa Damon is in Baghdad with the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. military is now saying that it believed that it was two 30-ton trucks packed with explosives that slammed into that small American outpost in the province of Diyala, just north of the capital, Baghdad. The Islamic State of Iraq has claimed responsibility for the attack. It is the umbrella group that also includes al Qaeda in Iraq, as well as various elements of the Sunni insurgency, and in the last six months has managed to firmly establish itself in Diyala province, very much making that volatile area the new frontline in the battle between al Qaeda and U.S. forces here.

U.S. troops have been conducting aggressive combat operations in various parts of the province, trying to root out the insurgency, but are constantly finding themselves challenged, and have been paying quite a heavy price in that area. The brigade that is currently operating there in just the first six months of its deployment has already lost more than twice the number of troops that their predecessors lost in the entire year they spent in-country.

Now, west of Diyala, in the volatile Al Anbar province, a suicide bomber targeted Iraqi security forces just outside of Ramadi, but the attack took place in a residential area. And amongst the casualties were civilians, as well as members of the Iraqi security forces.

The insurgency is demonstrating once again its ability to morph and constantly challenge the Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops who are operating here. Many of them saying that the biggest difficulty is trying to stay one step ahead of the insurgency.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: U.S. casualties in Iraq still climbing. With the most recent deaths, the number of American military personnel killed in the war now stands at 3,332. The official number of American GIs wounded is approaching 25,000.

Put a name, face and story behind each of the American casualties of the Iraq war in a special report on CNN.com. Just go to CNN.com/war.

LEMON: A shaky peace deal gets shakier as rockets flare in the Middle East. We'll have the latest from Jerusalem.

That is next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

MALVEAUX: One week and counting. That raging Georgia wildfire won't die down. We'll see how it's affecting people's lives, coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It's 2:13 here. Three of the stories that we're working on here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Pat Tillman killed in Afghanistan, Jessica Lynch captured in Iraq. Were they also casualties of misinformation? House lawmakers hold a hearing into allegations the military made up accounts of Tillman's death and Lynch's rescue. Tillman's family and Lynch herself accuse the military of lying.

More bad news for World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz. A source close to the probe in his alleged misconduct tells CNN bank directors are refusing to hear his explanation about getting his girlfriend a State Department job. The former deputy defense secretary is under heavy pressure to resign his World Bank post, but he and his lawyer insist that's not going to happen.

And an insurgent umbrella group that includes al Qaeda in Iraq is claiming responsibility for yesterday's suicide attack in Diyala province. Truck bombs killed nine American paratroopers and wounded 20 other troops.

LEMON: Well, it is dangerously dry in south Georgia. CNN has been reporting on that all week. And that's where crews have been fighting wildfires for nine days now. Now, drought conditions have been raised to extreme there, and there's no rain to speak of in sight. We're going to talk to our Jacqui Jeras about that in just a little bit. That's not encouraging for firefighters.

But right now we want to talk to Jerry Rohnert. He is on the phone with us, and he is with the Bureau of Land Management.

Fifty percent contained, but you guys still have a ways to go there, correct, sir?

JERRY ROHNERT, FIRE INFORMATION OFFICER: Yes, we do. Right now it's at 50 percent contained. The acreage has decreased a little bit due to accurate mapping using GPS. We're looking at now at about 53,000 acres.

LEMON: Tell us about manpower and what you're doing to combat these fires.

ROHNERT: Well, what we're -- we finally got our line around the whole incident yesterday. We have a little over 500 personnel here out on the fire doing cat work, patrolling, such like that. We're in the process of mopping up, which right now mopping up can be very dangerous because of...

LEMON: We are going to interrupt you, sir. We'll get back to this -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid here at the microphones.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: As I said yesterday in my remarks at the Wilson Center, the president sends out his attack dog often. That's also known as Dick Cheney. And he was here again today attacking not only me, but the Democratic Caucus.

The president is in a state of denial.

We believe the troops should get every penny they need, and we have put our money where our mouth is with the supplemental appropriation bill. We believe there must be a change of direction in the war in Iraq. It's so important that people understand what we did in this supplemental appropriation bill for our troops.

In this bill, there's $4 billion more for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. We put that in the bill, the president didn't. In addition to that, there's $4.3 billion for military medicine and our veterans.

This is a good piece of legislation. I would hope the president would stop being so brusque and waving it off. This is a bill that is good for the troops, it's good for the country.

We believe that General Petraeus is right, the war cannot be won militarily. That's what he said -- 20 percent military, 80 percent political, economic and diplomatic. Not only is General Petraeus this, but the Iraq Study Group said it. The most important measure that the Iraq Study Group came up with is a regional conference -- sit down with Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and yes, Iran, and see what can be done to alleviate the condition in the region.

The president should look at this piece of legislation and sign it. It's good.

The bill transitions the U.S. mission. That is so important that be done. It begins a phased redeployment, as we talked about, holds the Iraqi government accountable.

We've been talking about this for a long time, led by Senator Levin. It launches a diplomatic, economic and political offensive.

And finally, what this bill does is begins the very important mission of rebuilding our depleted military. We do not have a single army unit that is not deployed now that is battle ready.

Senator Schumer?

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: And that, of course, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Very strong words, saying he sent out his attack dog, meaning Vice President Cheney, and what we're seeing again is that good cop- bad cop routine.

The president trying to sound conciliatory, Cheney much tougher language. And I noticed, too, it really is about credibility here. Both of them saying we're not blind, Cheney saying Reid is blind.

LEMON: Yes. A state of denial Reid used...

MALVEAUX: Yes, exactly, the state of denial.

LEMON: ... which he's used before. But it appears Reid is much more calculated than he was before, grabbing his chin and really thinking about his words. So it's really...

MALVEAUX: I'd be very curious to see if we see Cheney come out again.

LEMON: Absolutely.

This press conference is still going on. If something happens in that, we'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We want to tell you, though, we were talking about the wildfires just as this happened. We're going to get back to that right after a break.

And then we're going to take a look at the Big Board, Wall Street. The Dow up 62 points. We'll get an official check from Susan Lisovicz, coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Back now to the wildfires in Georgia. We were talking about that before Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid came out.

And on the phone with us again, Jerry Rohnert, who is with the Bureau of Land Management.

Sorry about that interruption. Thank you for sticking around with us.

ROHNERT: No problem.

LEMON: You -- we understand that you still have some issues, but for the most part, you believe that you can contain this. But the weather is certainly not helping you, right?

ROHNERT: That's correct. Even though the firefighters did make some good progress on fire breaks yesterday, the fire still poses a threat because of the possibility of some winds this afternoon.

Now, the communities of Waycross and Manor are possibly a threat, depending on the winds, as well as the northwest portion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

LEMON: Yes.

ROHNERT: But even though fires are devastating as they are, in the refuge it would be a benefit, because this is a fire-dependent ecosystem.

LEMON: And Mr. Rohnert, our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras is listening in as well, and she has a few questions for you.

ROHNERT: Sure.

LEMON: Jacqui, go ahead.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I just wanted to know how -- rain is expected in the forecast. It looks like a decent shot by Thursday. How significant is that going to be in terms of helping you?

ROHNERT: It all depends on the amount of the rain we get. It could be a great benefit if it's a good dump of rain, but if it's just a slight sprinkle, all it will do is just kind of calm the dust a little bit.

JERAS: Right. And winds...

ROHNERT: The biggest factor is the winds.

JERAS: Right, and that's going to be changing direction as that front comes on through, so this actually could be more of a problem potentially?

ROHNERT: Yes, it could.

JERAS: What's the number one thing that would help you contain this fire?

ROHNERT: The change in weather, rain, humidity. That would be the biggest thing.

What they're going through right now is hot spots, mopping up. These are spots that are covered, you don't see them unless you're right upon them or if you step in a hot hole. Then you'll find the hot spot.

That's the big thing right now. If we get moisture to calm this thing down -- or to cool it down, that would be the biggest benefit.

LEMON: Yes. Well, we are all keeping our fingers crossed for you and hoping that you do get that.

Jerry Rohnert, thank you so much for joining us. And we may be checking back with you to see how this situation is being handled and what's going on there. Thanks again.

ROHNERT: Thank you.

LEMON: Jacqui Jeras, other weather happening as well.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: And Dow 13,000. We've been talking about it since Friday. Now the blue chip average is closing in on that milestone level.

Susan Lisovicz in the New York Stock Exchange, of course, to tell us just how close we are.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

LEMON: An unwelcome distinction for White House political mastermind Karl Rove. The "Los Angeles Times" reports Rove is the subject of the broadcast and high profile -- or the broadest, I should say, and high-profile investigation ever launched by the Office of Special Counsel. That independent federal watchdog is looking into the encroachment of partisan politics into policy endeavors of the executive branch. It will examine the firing of at least one U.S. attorney.

On CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," John Roberts spoke to "L.A. Times" writer Tom Hamburger and asked him whether Rove is really in trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HAMBURGER, "LOS ANGELES TIMES": One of the things that's been interesting in all of these investigations, the three that we talked about, prosecutors and the e-mail, is that investigators on the Hill have always been probing, with every question, what was Karl Rove's role in this? Rove has been mentioned in some of the e-mail correspondence. We know that in one of the U.S. attorney cases he was contacted personally. His name keeps surfacing, but investigators have yet to penetrate what his role really is. Now what we have is an executive branch agency saying this is serious enough that we want to launch our own inquiry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: As you said, Tom, this is an independent agency, but it is inside the executive branch.

HAMBURGER: That's true.

ROBERTS: Can we expect that this will truly be an independent investigation without political influence?

HAMBURGER: John, of course, that is the question: will they -- will they investigate independently? Will the fix be in? And will the White House waive...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this being launched to exonerate rove, or do you think they'll dig here?

HAMBURGER: Here's what I can tell you. I talked with Scott Block, who is the special counsel last night. He's a person who has not been without controversy himself. But he says he came to the decision to launch this investigation entirely independently, and he came to it because he was concerned there was sufficient evidence to warrant digging deeper into violations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The head of the Special Counsel's Office says the probe grew out of two narrower investigations.

We spoke with Private Jessica Lynch testifying today in Washington, talking about her experiences there, and also Pat Tillman's experience. And we'll have that in just a bit right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

In the meantime, the CNN NEWSROOM continues right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Hello, I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

MALVEAUX: And I'm Suzanne Malveaux in for Kyra Phillips.

Do not call her Rambo. Former Army Private First Class Jessica Lynch says the U.S. military hyped her capture and subsequent rescue in Iraq. She joins us with her side of the story. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: It is the bottom of the hour. We start with this. She was the most famous POW of the Iraq war. But Former Army Private Jessica Lynch says she's also a prisoner of military misinformation. Lynch told a House panel today the U.S. military fabricated accounts of her capture and rescue in Iraq. She was joined by Pat Tillman's family, who says the military lied to them about the Tillman's friendly-fire death in Afghanistan. And we talked to Lynch, just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA LYNCH, FORMER POW: It was important to come out and set the record straight. I think I've done that for the past four years and now it's kind of more up to everybody else, you know, to not believe the fake lies anymore. I know what I did, and I was here for the Tillmans. I think it's really important for them to get their answers to the questions that they need.

LEMON: And we're going to talk about the Tillmans in just a minute. You say you want to get the truth out. You're not that hero that everyone is making you out to be? You did good things, absolutely, but why do you say you're not the person you were made out to be by the government and by the media?

LYNCH: Well, because I didn't do any of those, I didn't go down shooting like a Rambo G.I. Jane. I didn't even shoot my weapon.

LEMON: Why do you think those stories came about then?

LYNCH: I don't know. I have no idea answer for that.

LEMON: This is the first time you've met the Tillman family? Today, correct?

LYNCH: Yes.

LEMON: What was that like?

LYNCH: They're a wonderful family and they deserve to know the truth.

LEMON: Deserve to know the truth. Do you think by you testifying today, will that help them get the truth?

LYNCH: I don't know so much as, you know, me doing it, but I think using both of our testimonies as an example, yes, it may bring about answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And also testifying, an army ranger who was with Pat Tillman when he was killed. The ranger says the hire-ups told him not to tell Tillman's family that friendly fire was the cause.

MALVEAUX: Condolences from Baghdad to Blacksburg. Students at the Baghdad University have hung a banner denouncing the massacre at Virginia Tech. College students in Iraq have been frequent targets of insurgents. The banner says the sanctity of campuses must be protected around the world.

So how did the obviously disturbed Virginia Tech shooter slip through the cracks? How was he able to buy weapons? We know Seung- Hui Cho got past Virginia's safety net, but as CNN's Brian Todd reports, he shouldn't have been able to slip past the federal government.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Under U.S. law, this man should never have been able to buy a handgun. The law says anyone deemed a danger to himself or others is prohibited from buying a gun.

More than a year ago, a Virginia special justice determined Seung-Hui Cho to be an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness. That would have placed him in the federal government's background check system called NIC.

REP. CAROLYN MCCARTHY, (D) NEW YORK: Unfortunately that information never got into the NIC system so he was able to buy a gun.

TODD: Cho's information didn't get into the NIC system, because Virginia officials didn't notify the feds of his mental status. Why not? Cho was never involuntary committed to a mental institution, and in Virginia, that made the difference, allowing Cho to make the purchase.

ROBERT MCDONNELL, VA ATTORNEY GENERAL: It was clearly authorized by state law, we're taking a good look at whether the federal law would have been an absolute disqualifier, but the gap clearly is there.

TODD: Gap or no gap, every state is required to notify the feds when someone is deemed mentally ill so it can be seen on a federal background check.

Only around 20 states do it. Because legal experts say, it costs money to train people and put the computers in place to share the information. Some states cite privacy reasons as well, but of those states that do put mental status entries into the federal background check system, the ATF says Virginia leads the way. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

MALVEAUX: As for the Virginia loophole, Governor Tim Kaine said this morning, it's possible an executive order could ensure that court orders like Cho's appear in background checks for gun purchases.

LEMON: A good chance of tornadoes today from Texas to Kansas. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is watching the danger on the plains. Straight ahead, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The battle over smoking is moving out of the office, away from restaurants, and into homes. Our own CNN's Allan Chernoff has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Doris Swackhammer loves her home.

DORIS SWACKHAMMER, RESIDENT: I've been here in this apartment for 25 years, last December.

CHERNOFF: And so does Donna Gray.

DONNA GRAY, RESIDENT: When I moved in here six years ago, I thought I would be here the rest of my life.

CHERNOFF: Both women rent apartments at Vicklesville Hall (ph) in Marysville, (ph) Michigan. And suddenly their public housing complex is a major battlefield in a vicious war over smoking.

This is one of the several dozen public housing authorities in a growing number of states that are banning smoking. Not just in hallways and lobbies, but also in every room of every apartment because of growing complaints about secondhand smoke.

SWACKHAMMER: I go by some of these apartments and they smoke. I have to hold my breath to go by that apartment.

CHERNOFF: Doris Swackhammer should know. She was a smoker for 49 years and has emphysema. After several family members died of cancer, she quit cold turkey.

SWACKHAMMER: I just took my cigarettes, put them in a drawer and I didn't touch them.

CHERNOFF: About a quarter of Vicksburg Hall's residents smoke. They have got 18 months to either quit or move. Doris says that's plenty of time for her neighbors to abide by the new house rule.

SWACKHAMMER: Why do they need over a year to make up their minds to quit smoking?

GRAY: There's no one in the world more self righteous or sanctimonious than a former smoker.

CHERNOFF: After smoking for 55 years, Donna says there's no way she's going to give up cigarettes.

GRAY: I don't want to quit. I don't plan to quit. I've told my kids, when you put me in the box, to put me in the crematory, make sure I have a cigarette in one hand and a martini in the other.

CHERNOFF: So against her will, Donna is making plans to move. Smokers' rights advocates like Audrey Silk, who rolls her own cigarettes at home, says the controversy should worry all Americans.

Is this really a smokers' rights issue here?

AUDREY SILK, SMOKERS' ADVOCATE: When they come into your private home to tell you what kind of legal behavior you can and cannot do there, we are on a downward spiral into losing all of our freedoms. It's almost not about smoking anymore.

CHERNOFF: Those pushing landlords to make their rental apartments smoke free, insist it is all about smoking.

JIM BERGMAN, SMOKE FREE ENVIRONMENTS LAW PROJECT: Smokers are not a so-called protected class like race or gender or religion are being protected classes. Smokers don't have a constitutional right to smoke.

CHERNOFF: So under these new rules, there might not be any smoke, but there is a growing amount of heat.

SWACKHAMMER: We're the ones that should be shunning them, because they smoke, you know. They're doing it to us.

GRAY: And the meanness and the hatefulness and the vindictiveness that is being displayed here really upsets me.

CHERNOFF: And some tenants will be moving away for good. Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A House sub-committee got some food for thought today on food safety. Lawmakers are looking into the government's role in overseeing the nation's supply. The hearing comes about a month into the tainted pet food recall. And with peanut butter and spinach contamination still fresh in our memories, kicking off today's testimony, the father of a 3-year-old girl badly sickened by E. coli tainted spinach.

Michael Armstrong talked about the first days of his daughter, Ashley's, illness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL ARMSTRONG, DAUGHTER SICKENED BY E. COLI: Two days later, it wasn't getting better it was getting worse. We called her pediatrician, and we went into the hospital, and they said an IV will do the trick.

About 24 hours later, she was again even worse than before. In fact, she was in a hospital bed banging against the walls, almost like a caged animal. She was inconsolable, trying to pull the IV out of her arm. At that point, we realized there was something much more wrong with her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Ashley Armstrong suffered kidney failure and underwent months of dialysis. Doctors say she will eventually need a transplant.

MALVEAUX: A sad story.

Straight ahead, entertainment news with CNN Entertainment Correspondent Brooke Anderson.

Brooke, you have all the good news, the fun stuff. BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Unfortunately this isn't quite so fun. We're talking about Hollywood's ugliest custody fight. It goes another round, Suzanne. We'll have the latest details on a dust up between Kim Basinger and ex-hubby Alec Baldwin. That's straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons says it is time to clean up the lyrics. The co-founder of the Def Jam label says he wants to lose the "N" word and other words that he calls extreme curses. Simmons' call comes weeks after radio host Don Imus committed professional suicide with an ugly slurs directed towards the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL SIMMONS, HIP-HOP SUMMIT ACTION NETWORK: I think that the artists deserve the right to paint a picture of society, whatever that picture is, sometimes it's offensive, but they deserve the right to express themselves. The suggestion is that on the air waves, we clean these words up.

In other words, Snoop even said he doesn't want his mother and children to hear those words. He's an adult artist. And the pictures that we paint of our society, just like your news show, they're not always pretty.

The fact is we live in a misogynistic, sexist, racist and violent society. The rappers are certainly not as sexist as their parents, they're not as violent as the choices that we make with government, they're not as homophobic, certainly, as the previous generation. And they would never talk about racist subjects because they're not as racist as their parents, but the records that are truthful are reflections of our sad truth, and that truth needs to be looked at and we need to change it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And offensive language is not the only controversy in the hip-hop world these days. In the 3:00 Eastern hour, Anderson Cooper is joining us to talk about hip-hop's campaign to stop snitching, and what the effect it's having on police.

LEMON: All right, Suzanne, we look forward to that.

A new twist in Hollywood's most notorious custody battle. New York djs find out the hard way that racial jokes just aren't funny, and the godfather of punk dives into a monumental birthday.

CNN's Entertainment Correspondent Brooke Anderson has it all from New York. A lot of stuff today in entertainment, Brooke.

BROOKE ANDERSON, ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: We have a full roundup of everything, Don. And I'm going to get to those stories in just a moment. But first, we're talking about the bitter custody battle between Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger. It is really heating up, a quick recap for you. Actor Alec Baldwin angrily shouted, he exploded, berated his 11-year-old daughter Ireland in a voicemail. Well, that voicemail was released to TMZ.com. Baldwin accused his ex-wife Kim Basinger of releasing the tape to gain the upper hand in the ongoing custody dispute over their daughter.

Well last night, a spokeswoman for Basinger denied that the actress released the tape, and added that the tape was not covered under the courts gag order, contrary to what Baldwin claims. The spokeswoman went on to call the actor's behavior "unstable and irrational."

Over the weekend, pictures appeared of Basinger and Ireland being accompanied by a bodyguard Basinger's spokeswoman, Don, said that the bodyguard is there to help deal with all of this media attention. And you know, there are two sides to every story, but bottom line, it's a terrible situation for everybody involved, especially that 11-year-old child.

LEMON: Absolutely, you took the words right out of my mouth, an 11-year-old with bodyguards. I mean, you know ...

ANDERSON: It's awful that it's come to that -- that it's gotten to that point, you know, that it's escalated to a point of such extreme anger, it's terrible.

LEMON: Sadly, it has.

Let's talk now about the shock jocks. You know, when the Imus story broke, there were a lot of questions about what it might mean for radio djs, and now two New York jocks have gotten themselves into trouble? Didn't (ph) work for Imus, right?

ANDERSON: Hot water, you know, timing is everything sometimes Don, and you know Don Imus of course fired by CBS Radio after insulting the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team on the air. The day after Imus made his statements, two New York City disc jockeys on CBS- owned Free FM (ph) made an on-air prank phone call to a Chinese restaurant. Among other things, djs JV and Elvis asked for fried lice, talked about how they studied king fu and made other lewd comments about Asians.

It didn't get a lot of attention at first, but the bit was replayed, and some Asian-American advocacy groups complained to CBS. Now the two djs have been suspended indefinitely without pay. Don, there hasn't been an announcement about their future at this station, but for now, they are airing replays of old shows.

LEMON: All right, Brooke, let's take a happier note here.

ANDERSON: Yes.

LEMON: All this heavy stuff in entertainment news. Who had a birthday over the weekend? ANDERSON: Iggy Pop. I know you listen to the Stooges on your iPod, Don, when you're working out, that sort of the thing.

LEMON: I do, of course.

ANDERSON: You know, Iggy Pop, called Godfather of Punk, turned 60 on Saturday night, if you can believe it. He celebrated with a stage dive during a concert in San Francisco, an appropriate move for Iggy, considering some credit him with being the first to try that stunt on stage.

Iggy Pop and the Stooges paved the way for bands like the Ramones back in the '60s and they have reunited for this current tour.

All right, moving now to "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," coming up tonight, Hollywood and divorce, the inside story on the nastiest divorce battles, plus the secrets of celebrity pre-nups. That is on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on Headline Prime.

Don, back to you.

LEMON: And of course we'll be watching. Just real quick back to Iggy Pop, you know, 60 is the new 30.

ANDERSON: It is, isn't it? And 50 the new 20, and 40 the new -- well, I don't know, we won't go there. But yes, he still acts like he's 20, 25-years-old, doesn't he?

LEMON: Good for him, good for him. All right, thank you so much, we'll be watching, Brooke Anderson.

ANDERSON: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: And a tot takes a late hit, this video, painful to watch every single time, but thankfully he comes up OK, but who let him get this close to the action? We'll tackle that issue next in the NEWSROOM.

And a good chance of tornadoes, today from Texas to Kansas. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is watching the danger on the plains, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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MALVEAUX: A Colorado boy gets an early taste of the gridiron after a big time tackle from a college player. As part of a kids festival, 4-year-old Caden Thomas was playing on the sidelines of Saturday's Colorado state game when wide receiver George Hill (ph) caught a touchdown pass. Hill's momentum carried him right into Caden and the padded stadium wall. Caden's dad explained what all of that was like.

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VOICE OF MICHAEL THOMAS, CADEN'S FATHER: There's this sickening thud. It was just -- tremendously worried about ...

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