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War Funding Fight; Nuri al-Maliki Loses Support of Countrymen, Neighbors, and Increasingly United States
Aired May 02, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Heidi Collins.
Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday, May 2nd. Here's what's on the rundown.
The president and Democrats. Their fight over war funding escalates after a presidential veto. Both sides meet today. The Democrats vow the president won't get a blank check.
HARRIS: Call it counter-programming. The military uploading its own videos on YouTube to get its point across about the Iraq war.
COLLINS: 1970 revisited. A newly-discovered recording may rewrite the history of the Kent State shooting. Ghosts of Vietnam -- in the NEWSROOM.
The votes, the veto. Now what?
President Bush meets with members of Congress today to discuss a war-spending bill. The meeting comes one day after the president vetoed a mummy bill that also called for a withdrawal from Iraq.
White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us now to look ahead to today's meeting.
Suzanne, what do we expect to come from the meeting? A new bill, perhaps?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, not so fast, Heidi. Of course they'll be meeting about 2:25 here at the White House in the cabinet room, both Republicans and Democrats sitting down with the president. The sentiment here is, is that White House officials, as well as the president, they have heard the concerns of the Democrats, as well as some Republicans.
Congressman Roy Blunt, Republican, as well as Trent Lott, saying the time for ultimatums here, that has passed, that really the time is for negotiations here. And the White House thinks that the president really does have an opportunity here to sound a little bit more conciliatory. Perhaps that is a good idea. Secondly, part of the strategy here, however, is that they are going to emphasize they want to keep those moderate Republicans in line, in lockstep with the fact that there should be no timetable for withdrawing troops, that they keep that veto-proof number that they need for the legislation. So, they're going to be working on that.
And you'll also hear from the president emphasizing the sense of timing here, a sense of urgency. Both sides here really competing for the American people's support, saying, look, this is something that the troops will need, they'll need right away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The need to act is urgent. Without a war-funding bill, the military has to take money from some other account or training program so the troops in combat have what they need. Without a war-funding bill, the armed forces will have to consider cutting back on buying new equipment or repairing existing equipment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And Heidi, of course one thing that the White House always says, officials here, that the president and people here do not care about the polls. But you will see President Bush once again trying to convince the American people that he is doing the right thing for the troops.
We saw it when he asked for that primetime, that 10 minutes yesterday, network time, making a direct appeal to the American people. Again today, he's going to be talking to contractors, making a speech, laying out his case once again, saying this is the reason that we need the funding, we need it right away. But he does not agree with the timetables -- Heidi.
CHURCH: All right. So, look into your crystal ball, Suzanne, for just a moment. Any signs of a compromise?
MALVEAUX: Well, White House officials, as well as Democrats, Republicans, as well, are all talking about the possibility of non- binding benchmarks. That is, to look at the Iraqi government and say, look, this is what we expect from you within a reasonable amount of time. And it might be tied to resources, to money in reconstruction, aid, that type of thing.
Everyone seems to be talking about that as a possibility here, as a possible compromise. But have to remind you, Heidi, as well, we've been down this road before, non-binding benchmarks. The Iraqis have not met a lot of those so far -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Well, they're non-binding.
MALVEAUX: Absolutely.
COLLINS: All right.
Suzanne Malveaux coming to us outside the White House this morning.
Suzanne, thank you.
HARRIS: The Iraq war and the political fight in Washington. CNN Congressional Correspondent Andrea Koppel takes a closer look at the battle lines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was as if scripted from beginning to end. First, the formal signing ceremony in the speaker's office.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Mindful of our responsibility to the Constitution and to the American people, I'm pleased to join in signing on this Iraq legislation, which is so important to our national security.
KOPPEL: Then, there was the timing of the ceremony itself.
SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: Four years after the president declared "Mission Accomplished," four years and over 3,000 American lives later...
KOPPEL: The bill to fund the war with a timeline to bring U.S. troops home may have just been hours away from a presidential veto, but Democrats on the campaign trail and on Capitol Hill still worked every angle to get the most political mileage they could.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: A veto means denying our troops the resources and the strategy that they need. After more than four years of a failed policy, it's time for Iraq to take responsibility for its own future.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: Doesn't this president understand it's time for a change? Doesn't he listen to the voters? Doesn't he read these articles? "Send me the bill. I'm going to veto it," very macho-like. I don't think it's macho-like; I think it's just wrong.
KOPPEL: But Republicans defended the president's expected veto and accused Democrats of wasting valuable time to play politics.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: I think it's an embarrassment, when our troops are waiting on emergency -- emergency spending bill, to provide them essential equipment, that we are staging signing ceremonies and going through political kabuki theater, just to demonstrate, on the part of some, their disagreement with the president's strategy in Baghdad and in Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: But as we reported, congressional leaders are expected to head out to the White House later today to discuss what comes next.
COLLINS: The fight for Iraq: three attacks, at least eight deaths. The attack, the latest, a mortar in eastern Baghdad. Two civilians killed, five others wounded.
Six more civilians killed south of the capital in Mahmoudiya. In one attack, a roadside bomb detonated under a minibus. In the other, insurgents launched mortars on a residential area. At least 17 people were hurt in the attacks.
HARRIS: Iraqi leader Nuri al-Maliki, in charge of a country and in control of very little, it seems. One year after taking office, he has lost the support of his countrymen, his neighbors, and increasingly the United States. And at stake, the future of more than just one man.
CNN's Arwa Damon explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NURI AL-MALIKI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Ladies and Gentlemen, members of parliament, I am honored to present your council which will form the basis of our government. I hope to inspire your confidence.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These were Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's words when he took office back in May of 2006. A public show of support he would not see again.
Now, just about a year later, there's been no letup in violence, basic services have yet to be restored. No law has been passed to divide up Iraq's oil riches. A national reconciliation seems more of an illusion than ever. Iraq's fledgling government is essentially paralyzed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think either the entire political process is going to collapse into an abyss of some kind, or there has to be serious changes made.
DAMON: Iraq's justice minister was so fed up with the government, he submitted his resignation at the end of March.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): In my opinion, there should be a full cabinet reshuffle based on bringing in independent ministers with expertise and skill, and true national spirit and loyalty to the country, and without sectarian or regional influences.
DAMON: Therein lies the problem, many observers agree. Prime Minister al-Maliki continues to insist that his government is one of national unity. Countless others point to its very structure carved out along sectarian lines, allowing political parties to pursue their own sectarian agendas and maintain a suffocating grip over parliament, the prime minister, and his cabinet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's neither strong enough nor free enough to do what he thinks is right, and he himself is complaining very much about the fact that he has no powers.
DAMON: Starting from scratch is not a feasible option. It would signal the failure of America's democracy project in Iraq, and realistically it would take too long to get Iraq's bickering factions back to the drawing board.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy. Arwa Damon joins us now from Baghdad.
Arwa, that last quote, that was a strong line that Nuri al-Maliki is neither strong enough nor free enough.
So, the question is, is this government close to a collapse?
DAMON: Well, Tony, that really has been the issue of much debate here. And realistically speaking, the United Iraqi Alliance -- and that is Prime Minister al-Maliki's party -- it holds just short of the majority of seats in parliament. And there have not been enough withdrawals of other parties from parliament. We have not seen that taking place just yet to bring down the government.
But there most certainly is this increased mounting, daily mounting pressure on the prime minister and on the government itself. There is this increased sense of frustration, and that is part of the reasons why we're seeing so many problems within the government itself.
Just for example, the cabinet seats that radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr holds, six ministries. He has withdrawn his people from those positions. The majority Sunni bloc is right now threatening to withdraw from parliament.
And all of this is happening as the prime minister is in Egypt at this conference with Iraq's neighbors, with the United States, trying to convince them to have confidence in himself and in the rebuilding and securing effort in Iraq. But he's going to be increasingly challenged in his efforts to try to inspire people outside of Iraq when he is right now in a position where he can't even inspire people within his own country -- Tony.
HARRIS: Boy, that's the Baghdad debate, not the Washington debate you're talking about.
CNN's Arwa Damon for us in Baghdad.
DAMON: Absolutely.
HARRIS: Arwa, thank you.
COLLINS: The threat of severe storms a concern today from the southern plains, into west Texas. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, flooding rains and hail could be part of the mix.
This scene near Alma, Kansas, as a funnel cloud dropped down from the sky. There are no reports of injuries or damage, thankfully. It was one of many twisters that formed yesterday in northeastern Kansas.
In Topeka, state lawmakers took shelter in an underground parking garage at the state capitol when tornado sirens started sounding. And this scene in Denver. That's not snow we're looking at either. It's hail. The storms also unleashed flashfloods across the region.
HARRIS: Let me see -- so, flooding rains, hail...
COLLINS: Yes.
HARRIS: ... tornadoes, pestilence, locusts -- what was it?
Chad, what's going on here?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The mail will always get through.
HARRIS: The mail.
Good morning, sir.
MYERS: Good morning, guys.
Boy, west Texas now under the gun again this morning with heavy, heavy rainfall. We will see more high country or up-slope thunderstorm activity around Denver, maybe even to Colorado Springs.
I'll turn your attention to this area here. This is a zoomed-in map of -- well, there's the corner of New Mexico, and down there would be El Paso. But look at these large cells rolling out of New Mexico into south Texas, right into Goldsmith, into Stanton, and eventually probably even dropping on down toward Del Rio -- 2,873 lightning strikes on this map in the past hour.
That would be cloud-to-ground strikes, not including the ones that go across or go up, or don't even hit the ground. So, big-time thunderstorms already this morning popping up there. And we are expecting some more to pop up a little bit farther to the east across the Carolinas, kind of sliding through here. Sliding just south of D.C., into Richmond.
It's going to be hot there today. It was hot yesterday. It's going to be hot again today. But this cold front is going to bump into that warm air and possibly fire some -- probably more like wind- making storms, not tornado storms. But, of course, Tornado Alley, especially down in Texas, really under the gun for some big-time weather today and into tonight.
It's going to be hot again in Atlanta. Hot in Memphis yesterday. Not so hot this morning.
Take a look at this picture from the tower cam in Memphis. Boy, can't see very far. WMC, our affiliate there in Memphis, Tennessee. Visibility about a mile, maybe less. May have some trouble getting in and out of the airport, but not too many planes in and out right now yet.
We'll keep watching the northwest hub. See how that does today.
Back to you guys.
COLLINS: Yes. We were just discussing the heat and how well we will fare. He loves it, I hate it.
MYERS: I see. I see.
COLLINS: Chad has nothing to say. And no comfort.
MYERS: I do like the heat.
COLLINS: Did you know what I did hear Chad, quickly?
MYERS: Yes?
COLLINS: I did hear on the way in today that May is going to be the hottest of all Mays in the world.
HARRIS: On record.
COLLINS: In history, on record that we know of for this area.
MYERS: Maybe. I'm not buying that yet.
COLLINS: OK. Good, good.
MYERS: I'll tell you what. Today, there's already a big ozone alert in Atlanta today, and I think it's going to be a big ozone season, as well. That's the smog, if you will.
COLLINS: The smog. Yes. Yes.
MYERS: Yes.
COLLINS: All right. Well, I'm sticking with you, then.
HARRIS: Thanks, Chad.
COLLINS: Thank you, Chad.
HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, a bad ending to one immigration demonstration. Rubber bullets flying in Los Angeles. Why police moved in.
That story coming up for you in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: A milestone and a big decision today for students at Virginia Tech. What's next?
Coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: The shootings at Kent State. New tapes may now shed new light on what really happened. Will it lead to a new investigation?
That story for you in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Good morning again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Ahead, his decision to go to war, plus mistakes made in planning for it fuels calls for his resignation. Which leader is fighting for his political survival?
That story ahead for you in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. Pain at the pump. The summer driving season almost here, so how much be will prices go up?
A closer look in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
COLLINS: Classes wrap up for the spring semester at Virginia Tech today. The last school bell marking the end of a wrenching year.
More than 30 students and professors were killed in a shooting rampage last month. This is also the deadline for students to let the school know how they want to handle the semester. They could either finish as usual, take a grade based on their work before the shooting, or withdraw from spring courses entirely without a penalty.
HARRIS: Immigration rallies around the country mostly went off without a hitch. But in Los Angeles, the rally there ended with a thud and gunfire.
CNN's Ted Rowlands was there in the middle of the action.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What was otherwise a very peaceful day here in Los Angeles of marches and demonstrations, ended in chaos and dramatic fashion when officers from the Los Angeles Police Department, in riot gear, fired rubber bullets into a very large crowd that had gathered in MacArthur Park. This is a park at the shadow of downtown Los Angeles, this was the spot, the final spot of the final march.
People had gathered here to hear speakers and to get together. A lot of families were in the park.
It's unclear what exactly happened, but chaos did ensue where riot-clad police officers fired rubber bullets into this crowd, trying to disperse them. And we were caught right really in the middle of it.
There didn't seem to be any warning, but officers were trying to systematically clear people from the park as soon as possible. And they were firing weapons with these rubber bullets, not just sporadically, but consistently, to presumably scare people and also to get them moving.
We did talk to an individual who was hit with one of these bullets. They're very soft, but as you'll see and hear, they really do hurt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people, they wanted a peaceful march to demand full legalization and amnesty. What they're doing, they're psychologically torturing the people so that they can go ahead and think this is a police state, right? And all we wanted was to just walk, demanding full immigration rights.
ROWLANDS: Now, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, this started when one of their motorcycle officers was hit by one of the protesters or marchers and fell down. That started what became a very tense situation, and that is what prompted them to clear the park and end this rally.
BRATTON: It's unfortunate that the actions of a few individuals among the many thousands who were here throughout the day marching and demonstrating peacefully, and in a very coordinated, organized way, the actions of a few were clearly intending to cause disturbances and disruptions, that they, in fact, did do just that. And that their actions provoked a response from the police.
ROWLANDS: Now, as dramatic as this all was, with the amount of bullets that were fired, we have not heard of any reports of any serious injuries from any of the protesters or any of the officers involved. But clearly a dramatic and surprising end to a day that was otherwise a very peaceful day here in the city of Los Angeles.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: CNN's Lou Dobbs is tackling the immigration issue with a primetime special edition tonight. He is live with a town hall meeting from Hazleton, Pennsylvania. What it's doing to fight. "Broken Borders," a Lou Dobbs primetime special for you, CNN tonight, 8:00 Eastern.
COLLINS: Al Qaeda on the attack. Reports another top figure killed in Iraq. Will it slow the terrorist attacks? We're going to take a look at that coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: He says he sought jail as a shelter. Now this convicted bank robber is not just getting out, he is getting help on the outside. His story coming up for you in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Startling details of a CEOs private life goes public. Is it big trouble for one of the world's largest oil companies?
"Minding Your Business" ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: So, you think you're paying a lot at the pump right now? Well, you may end up paying even more. The nation's energy secretary says he fears gasoline prices will hit record highs this summer.
The national price of regular unleaded gasoline rose 10 cents over the last week, to $2.97 a gallon. That's just 10 cents shy of the record reached in September 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Industry watchers blame the rising prices on strong fuel demand and oil refinery outages.
HARRIS: Pilot error. Investigators issue their report on that New York plane crash that killed Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle and his instructor.
CNN's Miles O'Brien has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was a sightseeing flight that went tragically wrong. Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor, Tyler Stanger, flying a single-engine private plane in a narrow, uncontrolled corridor up the East River in New York City, straight toward a dead end.
MARK ROSENKER, CHAIRMAN, NTSB: What we'll talk about here is the issue of poor execution of plan and poor execution of maneuver.
O'BRIEN (on camera): So, it's pilots error?
ROSENKER: It can be characterized as pilot error.
O'BRIEN (voice over): Hemmed in by busy controlled air space ahead, to the left, right, and above, they banked hard to turn around, but ran out of room, plowing into an apartment building. Both men died instantly. Three others inside the building were hurt, one serious.
ROSENKER: There were unfortunately a number of bad decisions which resulted in this tragedy. Any one of them, if, in fact, they had made a different decision, perhaps they'd be here today.
O'BRIEN: Lidle was an inexperienced private pilot, here sharing his enthusiasm for aviation with Comcast SportsNet.
Stanger had a lot more flight time, but little or no experience in that type of airplane, a Cirrus SR20. What's more, he was new to New York City and its unique narrow corridor for small planes over the East River. A key factor here, they were pushed toward the buildings by the wind.
LORENDA WARD, NTSB INVESTIGATOR IN CHARGE: With the proper planning, judgment, and airmanship, the 180-degree turn was possible.
O'BRIEN: Lidle and Stanger were not required to speak with air traffic controllers, so long as they flew below 1,100 feet and stayed over the river. Straying into Manhattan would have meant an FAA violation. Were they simply struggling to avoid breaking a rule?
THANE STANGER, FATHER OF TYLER STANGER: I've seen my son fly for years. He's been flying since he's 17 years old. To consider that possibility really sounds outside the bounds of logic.
O'BRIEN (on camera): The Stanger and Lidle families are suing Cirrus Designs, the manufacturer of the plane, contending the flight controls are prone to lock up. But federal crash investigators insists the fault lies not with the controls, but the two men who were at them.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And good morning again, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Hi, Heidi.
I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi, Tony.
HARRIS: Hi.
COLLINS: Nice to see you, everyone.
After the veto, the search for a compromise now. President Bush sits down with congressional leaders today to discuss war-spending legislation. The meeting comes one day after the president vetoed a bill that called for pulling combat troops out of Iraq.
He says a withdrawal deadline would set "a date for failure". The presidential veto puts pressure on congressional Democrats to come up with a compromise.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi say Democratic leaders want to find common ground with the president, but she says he wants, in her words, a blank check, and Congress won't give it to him.
HARRIS: Is he dead ar alive? Still No definitive answer on Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi officials are trying to confirm reports he was killed by rivals north of Baghdad.
A front organization for al Qaeda denies the claim and says he is still very much alive. The U.S. says his death would be significant but would not stop the insurgency in Iraq.
COLLINS: On the diplomatic front, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is en route to the Middle East right now for a two-day meeting on Iraq. She is due in Egypt this morning in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh. She'll meet officials from Europe and the Middle East. The topic, how best to stabilize Iraq and, by extension, the Middle East. That agenda has been overshadowed by another possibility that (INAUDIBLE) could hold talks with Iran and Syria.
HARRIS: He is blamed for rushing to war without good planning. Now Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, is fighting to hold on to power.
He began a security cabinet meeting today by calling for his rivals to slow down . A commission found the prime minister responsible for mistakes in last summer's month-long battle in Lebanon. It began after Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers.
Israel's response caused a massive destruction in Lebanon. More than 1,000 Lebanese and nearly 160 Israelis died in the war. It ended with two Israeli soldiers still in captivity, Hezbollah still intact. And according to Israeli intelligence reports, gaining strength.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Remembering and looking ahead at Virginia Tech. We'll talk with the student body president about what it's like on campus, as a
horrible semester draws to an end today.
HARRIS: South Georgia feeling the heat. A huge effort to stamp out a huge fire underway there this hour. And the toll is rising by the day.
Details coming up for you in THE NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: After the veto, can they reach a compromise?
President Bush and Congressional Democrats meet today. War funding fight, in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
HARRIS: More business news now.
B.P.'s CEO resigns after a British court rules newspapers can publish details of his private life.
Polly LaBarre is in for Ali Velshi, Minding Your Business.
COLLINS: Hi.
HARRIS: Well, Polly, good morning.
Good to see you.
POLLY LABARRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's great to see you guys.
HARRIS: Hey, how big a story is this? How big a deal is this, first of all, for B.P.?
LABARRE: This is a dramatic turn of events. I mean John Browne has been one of the most celebrated and iconic business figures in the last decade. He's really credited with transforming British Petroleum from a second tier European oil company into this global -- really successful global company that it is. And, most importantly, leading the industry into this era of mega mergers and doing a $200 -- a $200 million makeover of British Petroleum into B.P. the company that is beyond petroleum, that embraced an environmental consciousness well before this green envy we've got all over the place.
HARRIS: That's right.
Hey, I have to ask you, Polly, is there a successor in place?
LABARRE: Yes. They've -- they've got someone from inside the company that will immediately take over.
HARRIS: Right.
LABARRE: I mean I think the real point here is well there's sort of a tabloid scandal going on with this story, there was a bigger business story behind is, which is that Browne was already on his way to early retirement because of a string of safety disasters that resulted, really, from all these mergers and the accompanying cost- cutting around safety issues.
So a Texas refinery exploded, causing 15 deaths. There was a massive oil spill in Alaska.
So you have, on the one hand, this green image of a -- of an oil company...
HARRIS: Yes.
LABARRE: ... and then you have this incredible natural disaster.
HARRIS: And Tony Hayward, is that correct, is -- is the successor to...
LABARRE: Yes, Tony Hayward will...
HARRIS: OK.
LABARRE: ... has just been appointed the new successor, yes.
HARRIS: Polly, I don't know if should ask this, but I'll do it anyway.
What is it in his personal life that will be published by those tabloids that has led to this resignation here?
LABARRE: Yes. Well, he's been an intensely private person in terms of his private life, very outside as a CEO personality. He is a gay man. He was in a four year relationship with a Canadian man. That's not at issue, of course. It's that he lied in court proceedings about how he actually met this man, who, in a sort of a sordid fashion, has tried to sell the story to the tabloids.
HARRIS: Oh, boy.
LABARRE: And so this stuff will come out and the British tabloids will eat it up.
HARRIS: That's for sure.
Polly LaBarre in for Ali Velshi.
Polly, thanks for your time.
Appreciate it.
Good to meet you.
LABARRE: Thank you.
COLLINS: Big wildfires staring them in the face -- South Georgia firefighters getting no relief. Right now, the flames have burned more than 135 square miles of forests and swampland. One fire, the biggest in the state's history, in fact, charred 87,000 acres and destroyed nearly two dozen homes. Several smaller fires have broken out near the bigger blaze.
After touring the stricken region, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is calling for federal money to help pay for the firefighting efforts.
The estimated cost right now?
About $18 million. The fire started more than two weeks ago. It has really been an awful story.
HARRIS: It has. And, you know, we asked the question yesterday -- we'll ask it again -- will all of the activity that's going on in the southwest portion of the country...
COLLINS: Yes.
HARRIS: ... Chad, will it slide over and give some relief to the folks there in southern -- oh boy.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Maybe Saturday.
HARRIS: Maybe.
MYERS: This is a -- this is kind of a different little low. It's going to kind of drive itself out of Mexico and then up over the flow, over Mississippi for Friday and maybe sinking as far south there. But, you know, that's just a long way off to even be hoping that.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Four dead in Ohio -- the day the National Guard opened fire at Kent State.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM MAY 4, 1970, COURTESY KENT STATE SHOOTING UNIVERSITY RADIO)
GLEN FRANK, PROFESSOR: I am begging you right now that if you don't disperse right now, they're going to move in and it can only be a slaughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Does a newly found tape answer the question why did they shoot?
Hear it in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We're glad that you already know to catch us weekday mornings from 9:00 until 12:00 Eastern, but we just want to remind you, in case you didn't know, you can take us with you anywhere on your iPod -- the CNN NEWSROOM pod cast.
Did it already do it? Did it already...
HARRIS: Yes. No, it hasn't yet. I don't know -- I don't know what the problem is -- Deidre (ph).
COLLINS: Well, that looked kind of anti-climactic.
HARRIS: And, you know -- really?
COLLINS: Oh.
HARRIS: OK. There's (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
COLLINS: We're hearing now this...
HARRIS: No. I don't buy it.
COLLINS: Twenty-four seven pod cast, pretty cool.
HARRIS: Right.
COLLINS: There you go.
HARRIS: OK, we're living a dark day in American history. The shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University definitely not forgotten, especially now.
CNN's Carol Costello explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
(AUDIO CLIP FROM "OHIO")
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We know it happened in 13 seconds. Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire at Kent State University in Ohio and when it was over...
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "OHIO")
YOUNG: Four dead in Ohio.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: An anti-war anthem was born, mourning the death of four students. That's what we know.
What's always been a mystery is why Guardsmen opened fire.
Did they panic or did someone give the order to open fire?
Because of newly discovered audiotape with sound allegedly recorded before the hail of gunfire, that mystery may be solved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM MAY 4, 1970, COURTESY KENT STATE SHOOTING UNIVERSITY RADIO)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... get set -- point -- fire...
COSTELLO: Alan Canfora was there. He was holding a flag -- the National Guard in front of him. Canfora took a bullet through the wrist. His friend, Jeffrey Miller, 85 feet away, died.
ALAN CANFORA, INJURED IN KENT STATE SHOOTING: The last time I saw Jeffrey, he was lying in the back of an ambulance dead with a bullet through his head. I swore a vow that day, that I would work to try to help the American people understand what happened.
COSTELLO: It was Canfora who stumbled upon the audiotape buried in the archives at Yale University.
He wants the National Guard to reopen the investigation, but the Guard told us it has no official statement.
In 1970 at Kent State, protests against the Vietnam War were raging. And on May 4th, things spiraled out of control. The National Guard opened fire. Professors like Dr. Glen Frank were terrified, running into the crowd to get students to leave before anyone else died.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM MAY 4, 1970, COURTESY KENT STATE SHOOTING UNIVERSITY RADIO)
FRANK: I am begging you right now that if you don't disperse right now, they're going to move in and it can only be a slaughter.
Would you please listen to me?
Jesus Christ, I don't want to be a part of this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And it was over. But the mystery of why has lingered for 37 years.
PROFESSOR TODD GITLIN, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: I think it actually makes stark what the country didn't quite want to face then, even after most of the country had turned against the Vietnam War.
COSTELLO: This newfound tape may help solve the mystery, but it's not likely to cure the pain.
Carol Costello, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: Hmmm.
We also want to let you know, President Bush -- you see him at the microphones there. This is all taking place at the Associated General Contractors of America, Willard InterContinental, Washington.
We do expect he'll be talking a little bit about Iraq. And when that happens, we will bring that portion of his remarks to you live.
HARRIS: An out of work bank robber gets caught on purpose. A phony fainting spell gets him a hot meal. Prosecutors go easy. The judge puzzled.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE NANCI GRANT, SIXTH DISTRICT COURT: I've never seen a matter where the prosecutor says well, they learned their lesson, so let them go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Down and out in Detroit. That story in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Larry Lawson -- yes, Larry Lawson has been called the courteous bandit. Now prosecutors are showing courtesy to him, but not everyone's happy about it.
Christy McDonald of affiliate WXYZ reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DAVID GORCYCA, OAKLAND COUNTY PROSECUTOR: And I've never seen a case where it really cried out for a fair, equitable, compassionate result.
CHRISTY MCDONALD, CHANNEL 7 ACTION NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): David Gorcyca has taken up Lawson's cause. Not only did he make a deal so Lawson could serve minimal jail time, Gorcyca now wants to find Lawson a job and a place to live.
GORCYCA: Because of Michigan's economic climate, he felt compelled to do this and you know what?
And I felt compelled to do something about it.
MCDONALD: Last July, Lawson, an out of work auto design engineer, grabbed a loaded gun and walked into this LaSalle Bank in Troy. He passed a note to the teller and grabbed the cash. But instead of running, he pretended to faint. He says he wanted to get arrested so he would go to jail and have a place to live and three meals a day.
Lawson now says his desperation was no excuse.
LARRY LAWSON, CONVICTED BANK ROBBER: I have learned that incarceration should never been seen as an acceptable way of avoiding life's difficulties.
MCDONALD: But the prosecutor's interest in this case is not sitting well with Judge Nanci Grant.
GRANT: I just don't understand what's going on here.
MCDONALD: Judge Grant sentenced Lawson to the prosecutor's recommendation of one year in jail. But she says joblessness forces defendants in her court all of the time to do desperate crimes and she doesn't see why Lawson should get special treatment.
GRANT: And I've never seen a matter where the prosecutor says well, they've learned their lesson, so they let them go.
MCDONALD (on camera): In about two weeks, Larry Lawson will come walking out of here, the Oakland County Jail, and David Gorcyca hopes he'll be able to help him find a job and a new start at his life.
In Pontiac, I'm Christy McDonald, Channel 7, Action News.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: Putting a horrible semester behind them -- spring semester class wrap up today at Virginia Tech, just a little more than two weeks after that horrific event.
So how are things going on campus now?
Well, student body president Adeel Khan joins us once again live from Blacksburg.
Adeel, nice to see you again.
How do you feel?
The last day of classes for you and your peers.
ADEEL KHAN, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT: It's -- it's definitely a lukewarm feeling. Usually it's -- it's sort of a -- it's the normal studying for your final exams. But right now it's still people mourning. But I'd say the campus is definitely looking a bit up. People are having fun again. People are smiling again. It's getting more and more back to -- to what it was -- had been before the tragedy.
COLLINS: Well, that's good to hear.
I see you with your maroon pride shirt on there, with your school colors. And I remember, also, last time we talked, you said that even though everybody is certainly sad, I mean there's this incredible sense of community and very, very strong sense of community.
Are people still feeling that way or really looking forward to going home now and leaving school?
KHAN: There's definitely a big group of students who are sticking around. And we're -- we're -- the student body is holding a community event, sort of thanking the community for showing that -- their support to us during our time of need.
And tonight, between 6:00 and 7:30 on the Drill Field, we're having Community Appreciation Day, in which students are going to perform and just sort of show their permission -- their appreciation to the community through performances and just a big thank you to the community and everyone who has supported all of us.
COLLINS: Is it getting to the point, though, where it feels like everybody is still talking about the shooting, by way of maybe not even so much on the campus and everyone who experienced it so closely, but coming at you from all directions, whether it's friends from home or family members?
Or -- is there too much of that now? Is it -- is it time to really think about the future or too early for that?
KHAN: I'd say that everyone is in a -- in a different stage of their mourning period. Some of us got to stay the entire time and they got to stay through the entire week that the -- the tragedy occurred, I guess, the main time of what had happened.
But a lot of people went home. So some people are still in that mourning period, that grieving period. And some people have -- are able to move on.
It's really dependent on the person. So we're trying to cater to everyone and we're still having events in which community members can support one another and also events where they can feel like they're back to normal again and they could have -- we had a picnic event so students could get together and just talk to one another.
We've also had events where they could just have fun again.
COLLINS: Yes.
KHAN: We had a Hokie karaoke night just for -- for every student.
COLLINS: Hokie karaoke, that sounds like a blast.
KHAN: Yes.
COLLINS: Quickly, I know it's also kind of a big day, but by way of making a decision as to what students will do about their grades. My understanding is they have three choices. They could either finish up as usual; take a W and withdraw due to the events that happened two weeks ago; or take the grade that they had earned up until the day of the shooting.
Have you had a chance to talk much with friends about what most people may decide to do here?
KHAN: A lot of students are still taking their finals. A lot of people are -- are also taking their grades. It really depends on the student. And I think the administration has been very flexible on what students needed and I think that every student is sort of taking their own path as far as that goes.
A lot of students are taking certain finals and taking some off. But it's been great as far as the flexibility that the administration has provided. I personally think thank them a great deal, because it's been great for myself and definitely a lot of students who I've talked to.
COLLINS: Yes, it sounds like they have been very flexible.
Adeel, though, I wonder, personally, what's next for you as the student body president?
Is your term over now or will you continue on with this path of politics, if you will?
KHAN: My term is not over, actually. It will be over about -- around this time next year. So I will be very hands-on in the grieving process. I know that students haven't completely recovered yet. It's going to be a long road to recovery and I'm going to be there for the student body and the student body is going to be there for one another. And I think that it's going to be -- especially at the beginning of next year, we're definitely going to try to have more community events and have more ways for students to -- to have an outlet for what they're feeling.
COLLINS: Right.
And I think that's obviously going to be the toughest part for a lot of people is just thinking about coming back next year, after being away and being with family for so long.
We'll continue to follow this story.
And, as always, we appreciate talking with you as a representative of that student body there at Virginia Tech.
Adeel Khan, thanks so much.
Nice to see you again.
KHAN: Thank you, Heidi.
HARRIS: And, again, President Bush -- a live picture now -- making remarks this morning to the Associated General Contractors of America. At some point we expect the president will turn his attention to Iraq, the situation in Baghdad and his veto of the supplemental bill last night. The official documentation, Heidi, of the president's veto to land on Capitol Hill next hour with a heavy thud.
COLLINS: Yes.
HARRIS: When the president begins to talk about Iraq, we will bring those comments to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good morning, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.
Stay informed in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Here's what's on the rundown for you this morning.
Who will blink?
President Bush and Democrats staring each other down over Iraq war funding. They will meet today, looking for a way out of the standoff.
COLLINS: Iraqi military and political leaders undercutting the U.S. CNN Baghdad reports on "The Office." Sources say it promotes an extreme Shiite agenda, one that's fueling the fight with Sunnis.
HARRIS: Getting married?
Don't get left holding the bill if your beloved bails. Wedding insurance just in case "I do" becomes "I don't."
It is Wednesday, May 2, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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