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Tobias Resigns; Army Colonel Speaks Out on the Iraq War; More Iraq Violence; Campaigning in California
Aired April 28, 2007 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, the checkout counter could hold the key to predicting your future health problems.
Plus, the so-called "D.C. madam," her escort service and a member of the Bush administration. It's all adding up to a bit of intrigue in Washington.
And a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel firing powerful warning shots about the way the war in Iraq is being carried out. He's declaring a crisis in the war zone.
Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and welcome to the NEWSROOM.
Dozens of people are dead today after a suicide bombing south of Baghdad. The blast went off as Shiite worshippers streamed toward evening prayers in the holy city of Karbala.
From Baghdad now, here's CNN's Hugh Riminton.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, BAGHDAD (voice-over): It was approaching nightfall, half an hour before evening prayers at one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam.
A suicide car bomber pulled up at a checkpoint. It was as close as he could get to the Shrine of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.
The explosion left sacred ground strewn with the bodies of the dead and the dying.
It was two weeks to the day since the last car bombing here killed 44 people and injured scores more.
This time, local hospitals were unable to cope with the casualties. Some of the injured were ferried to neighboring provinces.
Karbala suffered one of the first post-invasion sectarian atrocities, more than 100 killed in March 2004, when an explosion ripped through pilgrims during Ashura, the holiest of the Shia festivals.
It was the bombing of another sacred Shia site, the Golden Mosque at Samarra, north of Baghdad, in February last year that sparked Iraq's full-throttle descent into a sectarian civil war.
RIMINTON (on camera): Since then, thousands have died across Iraq. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes. Entire towns have changed hands between Sunni and Shia.
Where the Sunni alliance terrorist groups favor massive suicide bombings, the Shia militias strike back with death squads, every night leaving bodies to be found across the streets of the major towns.
RIMINTON (voice-over): This latest explosion came just hours after radical Shia cleric and militia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, taunted U.S. President George W. Bush in a letter read to the Iraqi parliament.
"You say there will be chaos if America leaves," he said. "How could it be worse than the chaos now?"
Hugh Riminton, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEO)
WHITFIELD: And this news just breaking. We're now learning that five U.S. troops have died in the Al-Anbar province there in Iraq, three of whom were soldiers, two Marines. We're not sure of the circumstances of these deaths, whether it was all in one attack, or if there were a series of incidents. When we get that information, we'll be able to bring that to you.
As the war now enters a fifth year, several U.S. commanders have criticized the effort. Most have held their tongues until they retired, but not this time.
Here's CNN's Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT, THE PENTAGON (voice- over): It's a damning indictment of the U.S. generals running the Iraq war from an officer currently serving who has done two tours of duty there.
In the latest issue of "Armed Forces Journal," a privately owned magazine, Army Lieutenant Colonel Paul Yingling writes, "America's generals have repeated the mistakes of Vietnam in Iraq." He calls it "a crisis in American generalship."
Yingling says, like the Vietnam years, America's generals throughout the 1990s failed to anticipate the need to train their forces for the type of unconventional war that has emerged in Iraq.
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: Now, I don't think anyone would say that were not mistakes or that there were not a variety of areas in which we could and should have done better.
STARR: Lieutenant Colonel Yingling, now a deputy commander at the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood, Texas, says there have never been enough troops and the generals "did not provide Congress and the public with an accurate assessment of the conflict in Iraq." Again, something many say occurred in the Vietnam War.
It's rare for an active duty officer to go public. Retired officers have, however, been speaking out for months. Some say General David Petraeus, the new top commander in Iraq, just won't be able to make a difference.
COL. DOUG MACGREGOR, U.S. ARMY (RET.): The notion that he is going to have any profound impact on this thing, tactically or otherwise, is open to very serious debate.
STARR (on camera): Lieutenant Colonel Yingling doesn't name any generals. In fact, he says it's not a problem with individual generals, but rather a crisis in the military institution.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO)
WHITFIELD: And tomorrow on LATE EDITION, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the Bush administration and Congress' battle over Iraq.
Also joining Wolf Blitzer, two key members of Congress. That's LATE EDITION tomorrow morning at 11 Eastern.
Well, this much we know about the battle in Washington. Next week the Democratic Congress will send its Iraq funding bill to the desk of President Bush, and Mr. Bush will shoot it down with a presidential veto.
CNN's Kathleen Koch has more on the story. She's following Mr. Bush in Miami, who has a commencement address later on - Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, MIAMI, FLORIDA: That's right. The president is due to arrive here in about 35 minutes, Fredricka. He'll be speaking here at Miami-Dade College, delivering his first commencement speech of the year.
And what he may or may not see when he arrives is a very large crowd of protestors that's gathered near the main entrance to the campus. A variety of protest groups, most of them angry about U.S. involvement in the war in Iraq, are out carrying signs, placards - some of them calling for the impeachment of President Bush.
I said it's unclear whether or not he'll see them, because generally at events like this, protestors are kept quite a distance away from where the president is, so he generally doesn't see them. But we're not sure if that will be again the case today.
As for the president's topic today, he will not be speaking about Iraq, but instead about immigration - Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Kathleen, so, this veto is nearly imminent. What happens after that?
KOCH: Well, the president is due to get the emergency war funding bill from Congress, likely on Tuesday this week. And that is when the Democrats would like to see him use his veto pen.
Tuesday marks the fourth anniversary of the president's speech that he made, if you'll recall, on that vessel, declaring "mission accomplished," declaring an end, basically, to major combat operations in Iraq.
Now, it's unclear whether or not the president will veto it Tuesday, but he's got a meeting scheduled with congressional leaders on Wednesday, going to sit down with them and see if they can hash out a compromise. And some compromise points are emerging.
Democrats are talking about setting benchmarks for progress by the Iraqi government, making that be something that would be - would have to occur - before U.S. funding for troops would go on, or also the possibility of funding the troops for just a couple of months.
But Fredricka, both sides really want to get this settled, because they want to make sure that U.S. forces in Iraq have what they need to do their jobs.
WHITFIELD: All right, Kathleen Koch, thanks so much, from Miami.
KOCH: You bet.
WHITFIELD: Well, newly surfaced video of a dramatic 2003 rescue. You'll remember the rescue and the subject.
Private 1st Class Jessica Lynch was wounded and captured when her convoy came under attack during the early days of the Iraq war.
She was held in an Iraqi hospital for 10 days until U.S. military forces arrived to free her.
This new video of the rescue turned up on a Web site, LiveLeak.com.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The doctor, myself, Clifton (ph) and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All we're going to do is we're going to put cuffs (ph) on you. That's what we're doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Are you (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in pain?
JESSICA LYNCH, POW: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
LYNCH: Just my back, only when you carry me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Earlier this week, Lynch appeared at a hearing on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNCH: On April 1st, while various units created diversions around Nasiriyah, a group came to the hospital to rescue me. I could hear them speaking in English, but I was still very afraid.
Then a soldier came into the room. He tore the American flag from his uniform and he handed it to me in my hand.
And he told me, "We're American soldiers and we're here to take you home."
And I looked at him and I said, "Yes, I'm an American soldier, too."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Former prisoner of war, Jessica Lynch, describing her rescue in Iraq four years ago.
Well, Congress wants to know when the White House learned that the Army's Pat Tillman died from friendly fire. A House committee is requesting White House documents concerning the death in Afghanistan of the former NFL football player.
For weeks after his death, the Army claimed Tillman died at the hands of the enemy, even though investigators knew from the start he was killed by mistake by his fellow Army Rangers.
The former head of the CIA appears bent on revenge. With a scathing book due out, George Tenet is making the rounds deflecting blame for the war in Iraq and naming names.
Here's CNN's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON (voice-over): The former CIA director describes palpable tension between himself and Vice President Cheney before and after the Iraq invasion.
In his new book, "At the Center of the Storm," George Tenet boasts of helping to kill a speech Cheney planned just before the war linking al Qaeda and Iraq.
Tenet writes that during the finger-pointing over pre-war intelligence, the president publicly supported him. But at a meeting he had with then-secretary of state, Colin Powell, "Colin let me know that other officials, particularly the vice president, had quite another view."
The quote, excerpted in the "New York Times," and confirmed to CNN by two sources familiar with the book.
Assistants for Cheney and Powell say they won't comment before reading the book.
Then there's this comment from the vice president on NBC's "Meet the Press" in September.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When George Tenet sat in the Oval Office and the president of the United States asked him directly, he said, "George, how good is the case against Saddam and weapons of mass destruction," the director of the CIA said "It's a slam-dunk, Mr. President. It's a slam-dunk."
TODD: Tenet fires back in the book and on CBS's "60 Minutes."
GEORGE TENET, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: The hardest part of all this has just been listening to this for almost three years - listening to the vice president go on "Meet the Press" on the fifth year of 9/11, you know, and say, "Well, George Tenet said 'slam-dunk'" - as if he needed me to say "slam-dunk" to go to war with Iraq. As if he needed me to say that.
TODD: Tenet's former deputy, John McLaughlin, now CNN's national security adviser, was at that 2002 meeting where Tenet said "slam- dunk." McLaughlin says the phrase has been taken out of context.
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: What he meant was that it's a slam-dunk that we can put more information into the mix to make it clearer why analysts believe there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
TODD (on camera): White House officials tell CNN the decision to go to war was based on many other reasons apart from the slam-dunk comment.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO)
WHITFIELD: Another inflammatory quote from Tenet's book, "There was never a serious debate that I know of within the administration about the imminence of the Iraqi threat."
Dan Bartlett, the counselor to the president, disputes that saying the president did wrestle with those questions and made the decision very carefully.
George Tenet will be joining Larry King early next week, Monday night, to talk about the administration and its push for the war in Iraq. LARRY KING LIVE starts at 9 Eastern, right here on CNN.
Well, so much for keeping your cool.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL LANG, MONTANA STATE HOUSE: Well, my message to the governor is stick it up (BLEEP). That's my message to him. Stick it up your (BLEEP).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Yikes! What triggered this tirade at Montana's state house? The story straight ahead.
Plus a resignation with a twist. A high-ranking State Department official steps down, a casualty of the so-called "D.C. madam" scandal. Details in about five minutes from now.
And beam me up, Scotty. The late actor, James Doohan, launches an eternal journey to the final frontier. We'll explain all of that later in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In news across America right now, flames and smoke billow out of an oil refinery in Oklahoma. The fire began Friday when lightning hit a tank containing unrefined gasoline. Hours later, an explosion set a second tank on fire.
A live report from the scene coming up in about five minutes from now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL LANG, MONTANA STATE HOUSE: So, my message to the governor is stick it up your (BLEEP). That's my message to him. Stick it up your (BLEEP).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Somebody's angry. That foul-mouthed fellow is the majority leader in the Montana State House. He and his fellow Republicans have been locked in an ugly budget debate with Montana's Democratic governor.
Michael Lang later apologized for his tirade, but lawmakers failed to pass a budget by last night's midnight deadline, so now a special session and more bitter arguments are ahead.
A New York man is charged with a horrific crime - brutally beating and robbing a 101-year-old woman last month. The attack was caught on tape by a surveillance camera, and police say they recognized 44-year-old Jack Rhodes from that tape.
Rhodes is also charged with robbing an 85-year-old woman the same day.
Behind in bars in Colorado, 49 suspected gang members accused of distributing drugs and firearms. They were arrested in a massive sweep this week that followed an 18-month investigation. Police say they also seized about $1.5 million in cash and 42 guns.
Ordinarily, the resignation of a State Department official wouldn't be news. But this time, there's a twist. Randall Tobias stepped down yesterday, a State Department official telling us that Tobias had patronized a local escort service run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the woman known as the alleged "D.C. madam."
(BEGIN VIDEO)
WHITFIELD (voice-over): He is the first high-profile official to step down in connection with the alleged D.C. prostitution ring. The State Department's foreign assistance director, Randall Tobias, resigned Friday, a day after he told ABC News he was a client of Pamela Martin and Associates escort service.
His private cell number appears on a list of thousands handed over to ABC.
Tobias said he never had sex with any of the women. He says he called the company for a massage.
The company's owner, Deborah Palfrey, is charged with federal racketeering and money-laundering. She has pleaded not guilty.
Palfrey maintains every part of her business was legitimate and legal.
DEBORAH PALFREY, OWNER, D.C. ESCORT SERVICE: No promises or claims, directly or indirectly, was ever made to a client that he should expect the associate to perform illegal acts for hire.
WHITFIELD: Tobias is the latest and biggest name to be released in connection to Palfrey's business. The 65-year-old Indiana native is a former top business executive of AT&T and Eli Lilly, and is credited with turning the pharmaceutical company around in the 1990s.
He has received numerous awards. At Indiana University there is a foundation in his name for leadership and excellence. In 2003, President Bush nominated him to lead his global HIV/AIDS initiative.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said, "We are sad and disappointed by this news. Randy was an extremely effective leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS in places like Africa, and at USAID."
(END VIDEO)
WHITFIELD (on camera): Putting out a different kind of fire. An oil refinery on fire. You're looking at live pictures as they get ready for a live shot for us from Oklahoma, where firefighters have been battling the blaze for hours now.
We'll take you to the scene live in a few moments.
Plus, the fire in southeast Georgia still not fully under control. Rain the only thing that might help. Jacqui Jeras will give us an update - Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST, CNN WEATHER CENTER, ATLANTA: Yes, it's not looking good. Not a lot of rain in the forecast there.
In fact, today, Fredricka, weather conditions are so brutal for fire growth that we're under a critical area there for that fire. We'll have more details on that and the rest of the nation's forecast. That's coming up.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. Fingers are crossed for the folks in southeast Georgia.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Take a look. The view from Wynnewood, Oklahoma, where smoke and flames are still pouring an oil refinery.
Lightning sparked the initial fire yesterday morning when a bolt hit a storage tank containing an unrefined form of gasoline. The explosion was felt miles away.
We get the latest now from reporter Adam Slinger of CNN affiliate, KOCO.
It's still burning back there.
ADAM SLINGER, KOCO-TV REPORTER, WYNNEWOOD, OKLAHOMA: Fredricka, it is. That black cloud of smoke still looming over Wynnewood more than one day after the fire started. You can see that it is filling up most of the sky down here.
Now, when we last spoke, Fredricka, a couple of hours ago, the general consensus was that they were going to let this burn out. Now there is talk that they may try to use foam again here at the top of the hour to put it out, if at the least, calm it down.
But again, this fire started, as you were saying, yesterday, 11:30 local time, when lightning struck this refinery over here. They thought that the fire was dying out most of the day. By around 8:30, though, that tank collapsed.
Now, the tank that's on fire right now at first held two million gallons of gasoline. When it collapsed, the fire then spread to another tank that was carrying about a million gallons of diesel.
So, those are the two tanks. We actually have two fires that are burning at this minute.
Now, the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency, has been out here all throughout Oklahoma, testing the air, making sure that it still safe. They say it is safe, indeed. There have been no injuries and so far, Fredricka, no evacuations.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Pretty remarkable, no evacuations, when you look at that smoke.
And now the smoke behind you is very black, whereas the last live shot over an hour ago from you, the smoke was very light gray. Is that any kind of indicator of maybe it is getting close to being extinguished?
SLINGER: Wynnewood also has a train that comes through very often, Fredricka, so I wasn't able to hear you just now.
But again, you were saying that black smoke, yes, it has been filling the air here consistently for the past 24 hours. Again, it started at 11:30 yesterday morning.
So, Wynnewood is about 60 miles just south of Oklahoma City. So, we'll, of course, keep you updated on this. You can see the smoke from at least 30 miles away.
WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Adam Slinger, thanks so much.
Well, in Georgia a problem with fire, but very different circumstances. Nearly 700 firefighters now are still struggling to contain this massive wildfire.
It's been burning for 12 days now in the Okefenokee Swamp. That's near Waycross in the southeastern part of the state.
Right now, firefighters are trying to keep the blaze from crossing U.S. Highway 1 and reaching tinder-dry forests beyond. So far, the fire has burned nearly 100 square miles of forest and swamp lands.
Well, it's a good thing no homes are being directly threatened. Right, Jacqui?
JERAS: Yes. This is a huge fire, Fredricka, 92 square miles. Can you imagine that?
WHITFIELD: Huge.
JERAS: This is now the largest fire in Georgia history, the largest wildfire, anyway, in Georgia history. And weather conditions just terrible there today, unfortunately. The winds are gusty.
Relative humidity now is down to about 29 percent. Once you get below 35 percent, that is extremely. So we've got a very dry, very clear air mass across the area.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Well, there's a party going on in California. Doesn't it always seem like there's a big party in California going on?
Well, this time, all the Democratic presidential candidates are making an appearance. So, just what exactly is at stake?
Peter Viles is live at the convention center for us.
And she works in a liquor store, runs in the Boston Marathon and chases down a thief. Oh, and did I mention, she's 70? Her story when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Happening right now in the news, in Iraq a suicide car bomb attack in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. At least 58 people killed.
It happened as the faithful were going to evening prayers. A suicide bomber blew himself up in northwestern Pakistan as well, at least 28 people there killed, dozens more wounded including Pakistan's interior minister and his son.
And in Turkey a presidential crisis. The Turkish military is vowing to take action to protect the country's secular government if parliament selects an Islamist-rooted president.
Convincing the undecided and solidifying the base, that's what presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle -- we should say all sides are trying to do this weekend. The most recently declared GOP candidate Senator John McCain is attending rallies in his home state of Arizona and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is also campaigning in familiar territory, Michigan, where he was born and raised. The Democrats are focusing on the south and west, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and former Senator John Edwards were among the candidates attending South Carolina's Democratic convention today.
Their next stop - California. Another state holding a Democratic convention this weekend. The event is attracting all of the political heavyweights and for good reason. CNN's Peter Viles is live at the convention center in San Diego. What's the latest Peter?
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, California hasn't really mattered in the nominating process for a long time, more than a generation, not since the 70's because they had such a late primary here. They had it in June where both parties by then had usually chosen their nominee. They changed the date, the governor here signed a bill, they moved the date up to February 5th in what is shaping up as a national primary day, super-duper Tuesday or super- sized Tuesday. But here in California, which of course will be the biggest state on that day, they think this means that California will finally have a say in picking presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle. Here's one Democratic strategist talking about why he thinks this will help California have a bigger voice in this whole process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It means a lot here because we're going to have -- we moved up our primary. Not only are we going to be the most influential state as far as issues and as far as money, but also as far as making votes. We have more voters in the county of L.A. than Iowa and New Hampshire do combined.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: More voters in Los Angeles than Iowa and New Hampshire combined. That's why all of the major Democrats except for Joe Biden of Delaware are going to be at this convention this weekend trying to woo these California delegates who have really in their lives not been wooed since the 1970s if they've been around that long. Senator Hillary Clinton spoke this morning. A big topic here because there is a very large and vocal antiwar contingent in the Democratic Party here. A big topic, the war, tough language from Senator Clinton. She said she expects the president to veto that funding bill and she thinks Democrats need to get out there and put pressure on Republicans to join them to override that veto. Here's part of what she had to say this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I were to guess based on past history, he will veto it. And then, we have to get more Republicans to stand with us to try to overturn that veto! [ applause ]. Across California and America, not just Democrats, but Republicans and independents, you know better than this. Talk to your representatives. Talk to your senators. Tell the Republicans to stand with us to end this war now!
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
VILES: Senator Clinton a little raspy there, as you can hear, Fredricka, she's been working hard on the campaign trail. A lot of expectation, a lot of high hopes for Senator Barack Obama. He speaks this afternoon. As I said, all of the candidates except for Joe Biden here wooing these California delegates for the first time really in a long time. Fred, back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, that campaigning physically grueling, evidence there. All right, thanks so much, Peter.
Political ads, well they are a staple in any campaign. But that menu just might change when the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on just what kind of ads we're allowed to see. With that story here's CNN's Gary Nurenberg.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Remember these commercials from the 2000 campaign?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Al Gore wants you to believe he supports the second amendment but his record says something else.
NURENBERG: They're called issue ads, paid for by interest groups, companies and unions, not by the candidates' campaigns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Al Gore wins, you'll lose.
NURENBERG: To be called issue ads and not campaign ads under the law as it existed in 2000 they didn't explicitly say vote for or against candidate X or Y but critics say they came close.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George W. Bush proposed weakening the clean air act and took more than $1 million in campaign contributions from Texas' worst air polluters.
FRED WERTHEIMER, DEMOCRACY21.ORG: There were hundreds of millions of dollars spent on these ads so that you had all of this money which is not legal to use to pay for campaign ads being spent in campaigns. It was a circumvention of the campaign finance laws.
NURENBERG (on camera): Congress agreed and passed the McCain- Feingold bill, banning those issue ads immediately before primary in general elections. In 2003, a divided Supreme Court upheld the ban as generally permissible.
JOE PONDER: The accusations that John Kerry made against the veterans who served in Vietnam was just devastating.
NURENBERG (voice-over): That Supreme Court decision is why you didn't see issue ads like this one close to election day in the 2004 races, and why so many interest groups across the political spectrum are furious.
WAYNE LAPIERRE, EXECUTIVE VP, NRA: They can put all the limits they want on contributions to politicians, we don't care. They can't put limits on speech, and that's what they've done with this campaign finance law.
NURENBERG: The Supreme Court has two new members who weren't on the bench when it ruled the law generally permissible in 2003. This new court seemed receptive this spring to arguments that the law as applied to specific commercials in 2004 is unconstitutional.
ED LAZARUS, CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER: Those ads are like a lot of other ads and so it will have broad implications.
NURENBERG: Meaning potential exemptions to McCain/Feingold big enough to drive a swift boat through and adding a multimillion dollar boat load of money to campaign 2008. Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well how about this for some inspiration, a 70-year- old store clerk in New Hampshire takes on a shoplifting suspect 52 years her junior. So who came out on top? Well the clerk Judy Brenner. It's not surprising if you know Judy, right before she had this run-in with the suspected criminal, well she ran in the Boston Marathon. Remember, she's 70. She joins us live on the phone right now from Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Miss Brenner, tell me what happened that day.
JUDY BRENNER, 70-YEAR-OLD CLERK: Hi. I was working part-time in the New Hampshire state liquor store in Wolfeboro and this young man came in and he did not come by the cash register station. He walked out of the door and he looked like he had something under his coat or under his jacket.
WHITFIELD: So instead of just saying, hey you, you decided to put your feet in motion and go after him? BRENNER: Well, it did look a little suspicious, so I went to the door and watched him go down, start going across the parking lot. And then he turned and looked at me, and then I could see that he had a bottle of liquor in his hand. Actually, he had a half a gallon of Jim Beam whiskey, which is -- you know, kills a $20 bill easily. So I decided to go after him because he did not pay for it and he looked much younger than 21.
WHITFIELD: So you weren't nervous or intimidated or anything? I mean anything could have happened. This really could have gotten rather physical.
BRENNER: I didn't think. I just saw that he had stole the bottle of alcohol, you know? He didn't come by the cash register to pay for it.
WHITFIELD: So you took care of business.
BRENNER: I just flew after him.
WHITFIELD: You caught up with him and then what happened after that?
BRENNER: Well when I was getting -- he started to walk a little bit faster so I'm running real fast and then there was a car load of fellows, construction workers, maybe 40, 50 years old, and they saw all of this. They saw him come out of the liquor store with the bottle, and not in a bag, you know and he looked very young. So they hopped out of their car and they grabbed the kid. And then, I grabbed the bottle.
WHITFIELD: So you got an assist there. And then police got involved and they had their suspect and I'm glad --
BRENNER: We have a wonderful community. Everyone pitches in and helps. And these fellows saw that this kid was doing something illegal so they hopped out of their car and grabbed him.
WHITFIELD: Well Miss Brenner, you are awesome. I mean you did this two weeks after running the Boston Marathon that you had energy to even do that is remarkable. So glad you're able to be with us and share the story and big kudos to you for both the Boston Marathon and for catching a bad guy.
BRENNER: Thanks loads.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much.
BRENNER: Um-hmm, bye-bye.
WHITFIELD: Coming up, can the software used in checkout lines help keep you healthy? Dr. Lloyd is in the house.
And also in the house in the NEWSROOM house right here, there's Rick Sanchez clearing the way getting ready for the rest of the NEWSROOM and the rest of his team. He joins us in a few minutes with a preview.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Forecasting health with technology at the checkout counter. Imagine doctors predicting illness by comparing your personal medical information to that of millions of others, it's called predictive modeling. And Dr. Bill Lloyd joins us live with some insight into data mining for better health. You hear predictive modeling, you start thinking, you know strike a pose. It's not that, what is it?
DR. BILL LLOYD, SURGEON: Fredricka it's still pretty theoretical right now but it's coming to a clinic near you. You know every time you go to a store and use your credit card to make a purchase they track that purchase so the next time you come they're going to know how long you're going to stay, the kinds of things you're going to buy, the types of brands that you like to buy. Well health care wants to use the same kind of information and compare your data with the data of millions of other people. They call it predictive modeling and like you said its mining data from medical records to predict an outcome.
WHITFIELD: So how do they match up the products that you consume, buy, with the outcome of your health?
LLOYD: Well just like there are thousands of purchases in a given store, and when you group them by zip codes, individual merchants know, well we need to stock more socks because we sell a lot of tube socks in this store and less over in this store. Now when you're looking at the health records of thousands of individuals you can reshape the way doctors and patients communicate. Now, in the past, a doctor would say something very general like, you know, if you keep smoking you're going to get lung cancer. But you know, we all know plenty of people who smoke and never got lung cancer. It's not very precise because there aren't that many indicators. Now, imagine having 2, 5, 10 million people the same age as you, with the same health history as you, maybe perhaps taking the same medications, the same type of work and thousands of other variables that computers can search for. So the next time the doctor gets with you the doctor can say, now, Fredricka, when we compare your medical data with the data mined from millions of others, I can tell you with certainty, or maybe 99 percent certainty, that within 10 years you are at a very high risk of getting diabetes. Let's do something about it today to prevent it from happening 10 years from now.
WHITFIELD: So we're talking about looking into the future. But is anyone using this technology right now?
LLOYD: Well we use the technology right now to collect the data. And anybody who's been to a doctor's office knows more and more often you spend a lot of time looking at the back of your doctor's head because a doctor is now sitting at a computer, entering all kinds of information on what they call electronic medical records, stripping away the personal information on those medical records, you know, your name and social security number, there is a gold mine of valuable information involving demographics, involving medications and medical treatments that have worked. Collecting that data, putting it through computers, doctors then are able to predict an outcome for an individual in the future. It's not here yet but believe me Fredricka, it's coming our way.
WHITFIELD: All right, it's fun to know what's ahead. Dr. Bill Lloyd, thanks so much.
LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.
WHITFIELD: Also straight ahead, illegal immigrants get on with the business of living while politicians debate their future.
And Scotty finally beamed up, almost two years after his death. You're watching CNN the most trusted name in news.
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WHITFIELD: Much more of the NEWSROOM straight ahead with Rick Sanchez. Take it away Rick.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: You like that, I grab it, got it right now.
McClatchy Newspapers, probably haven't heard of them, right? But they broke this story last week and we're going to be following up on it now. The story about how there is a new strategy going on in Iraq, a strategy to deemphasize the training of Iraqi troops. Now think about it, wasn't it all about at one point they stand up, we stand down? What's going on? It's certainly a significant question, as citizens of this country we should be aware of. So we're going to be asking that question of one of the former generals who's going to be talking with us about strategy in Iraq, not to mention the wall that they're now billing to try and separate the Sunnis from the Shias.
And we're also going to be talking about Randall Tobias. Now when I say Randall Tobias to you, when people say Randall Tobias to us, the first thing we do is say, who? Exactly. Who is Randall Tobias, right? Well it turns out he's got a pretty significant role, assistant secretary of state in the Bush administration. But still he's caught now, allegedly, in a sex scandal in Washington, D.C. and there are a lot of questions about this because we now learn that Randall Tobias isn't just somebody who happened to get a job in government. He's been around for a long time and has been a really big dog in the business world in such companies as Eli Lilly and AT&T. So we're going to be asking a lot more questions and specializing on that story tonight at 10:00. We're blowing out our coverage on it.
WHITFIELD: And now a massage gets him in big trouble.
SANCHEZ: That's what he says, right? He says it was just a massage. Boy, those are words I hope I never have to use.
WHITFIELD: I hope so too, for your sake.
SANCHEZ: Thank you Fred.
WHITFIELD: Rick, thank you very much.
All right, well President Bush re-ignites the hot-button issue of immigration reform using his weekly radio address today to push Congress to take another crack at the complex issue.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BUSH: Our current immigration system is in need of reform. We need a system where our laws are respected, we need a system that meets the legitimate needs of our economy and we need a system that treats people with dignity and helps newcomers assimilate into our society. We must address all elements of this problem together or none of them will be solved at all.
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WHITFIELD: Tougher border patrol, a temporary worker program and a pass to citizenship are some of the president's proposals. They could impact an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. CNN's Ines Ferre looks at one of them.
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INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As she sorts tomatoes at her sister's tiny shop in Manhattan, Carmen can't stop thinking about her family's immigration status.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fifteen years here and I'm still not a resident. We want to sort out our papers, my husband, my son and I. My daughter and her husband are getting them sorted, too.
FERRE: She has a stake in the immigration reform debate. If current immigration law is changed, her life could change enormously. You haven't gone back to Mexico in 15 years?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No I haven't, neither has my husband.
FERRE: And now you have high hopes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I'd love to go. I want my papers to go through because I want to see my parents.
FERRE: Virginia Morales understands Carmen's situation, she was undocumented for eight years. Now that you have your residency how has your life changed?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You feel like you have wings now. You want to fly everywhere.
FERRE: But her happiness isn't complete. Victor, the father of her child, is still illegal. She's frustrated over the endless nature of the debate.
Do you think that's what's going on is politics or an intent based on good faith?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Political. Politics as usual. It's always been politics. I don't believe in politics.
FERRE: Do you believe in President Bush?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I did or not, what difference does it make? He's on his way out. What is he going to do in two more years?
FERRE: But Carmen and others among the millions of America's undocumented workers are hoping something will get done much sooner. Ines Ferre, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: We're turning the spotlight on the issue of immigration tomorrow night, Lou Dobbs joins Rick Sanchez at 10:00 p.m. eastern, Lou Dobbs and "Immigration in America," that's Sunday on the Sunday Spotlight, tomorrow night, 10:00 eastern. Meantime immigration is still a topic of concern for the president as he takes to the stage there at Miami Dade College for a commencement address. Immigration among the topics he'll be focusing on.
And even if you weren't a fan of "Star Trek," chances are you know that famous line -- beam me up, Scotty. Well, now the actor who played Scotty has reached the real final frontier. His last wish when CNN NEWSROOM returns.
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WHITFIELD: Live pictures right now, President Bush there, the keynote speaker at the commencement ceremonies at Miami Dade College. Live pictures right now of him just arriving there. Listening to -- I'm trying to listen, too. Well I think it's just the arrival of the graduates who are entering the room. All right we're going to continue to watch the developments there out of Miami Dade College and hear the president's address later on as well.
All right, well how about fulfilling a last wish? After James Doohan, best known as "Star Trek's" Scotty, just got exactly what he wanted today. One final trip into space. The rocket blasted off this morning from the New Mexico desert with some of Doohan's cremated remains on board. Doohan was following in the footsteps of "Star Trek" creator Gene Rodenberry, who also had his ashes shot into space. Doohan died nearly two years ago at the age of 85.
The "Star Trek" franchise spun off several series, all of which live on reruns. But many of today's diehard Trekkies want something fresh. So here's CNN's Jim Boulden.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's "Star Trek," but not as we know it. Star-crossed lovers, of all things, "Star Trekkers" spending thousands of their own dollars to make new "Star Trek" episodes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we went into it with the sentiment and naivety as you tend to do, none of us had a background in film making or anything like that, obviously.
BOULDEN: Fans in the United States and Europe are saying if franchise owner Paramount doesn't make new episodes, then they will don cling-on outfits and Vulcan ears and make videos themselves. This group in Dundee, Scotland started the film "Intrepid" four years ago. They thought it would take only a year or two.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was an awful lot more hard work than we really thought it would be, and an awful lot of challenges that came up, really stuff we didn't foresee in the slightest.
BOULDEN: Sure it's amateur video and no one is paid for their work, but one website boasts 30 million downloads for its series. And the reviews are pretty good, especially for scripts that follow creator Gene Rodenberry's optimistic vision of the future.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The visuals can be a bit more standard (INAUDIBLE) the script, (INAUDIBLE) people were standard. And that's one of the good things that we've focused on to begin with.
BOULDEN: These episodes are just one symbol of "Star Trek's" allure. A recent Christy's auction of "Star Trek" props brought in $7 million, more than double what had been expected. You might be asking what does Paramount television think of all this? It won't say, but it hasn't hassled the Scottish production.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the time being Paramount seemed happy to keep quiet. When the day comes that they come knocking with a cease and desist letter, well, our videos will just have to say hey gang and stop. But until that day I think everybody is just kind of enjoying the ride, really.
BOULDEN: But many Trekkies say Paramount must be pleased, its 40-year-old "Star Trek" franchise is going where none have gone before. Jim Boulden, CNN, London.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
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